Chapter 2846
If you look at Gaizhou's location from a traditional military perspective, it is both a transportation hub and a key pass. Its importance is even as important as the Jinzhou Isthmus at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula.
But the problem is that the Manchus and Qing Dynasties lost control of the sea very early, so materials entering and exiting the Liaodong Peninsula could only be transported by land, and Gaizhou became the only way. Haihan also seized on this weakness of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and directly launched an offensive against the Gaizhou Acropolis in the form of an amphibious landing battle. By occupying this important node, he forced the Qing army south of Gaizhou to voluntarily withdraw from the Liaodong Peninsula.
Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty also tried to counterattack after losing Gaizhou, and even left a small group of troops to continue fighting guerrillas in the Liaodong Peninsula, these methods did not have the effect expected by the Qing court.
The Haihan army that captured Gaizhou Acropolis did not advance rashly, and soon switched from offense to defense and entered the fortress defense mode. This forced the Qing army that came to counterattack from other places to stop outside the city. With more than ten years of combat experience in the Jinzhou Isthmus, the Qing army did not dare to easily launch an offensive against the Haihan position guarding the solid fortifications.
The special geographical environment of the sea to the west of Gaizhou Acropolis allowed the Haihan army to continuously obtain supplies and personnel from the outside world through sea transportation. Even if the Qing army adopted a long-term siege strategy, it would not make much sense, and it would not be possible to achieve siege at all. Click to hit the aid purpose.
As for the small group of troops remaining in the southern part of the peninsula to fight guerrillas, their situation is also very difficult. Due to the continuous harassment wars by the Haihan Army for many years, only a few garrison camps and almost no villages and towns remained in the southern part of the peninsula. This made it difficult for the small Qing army to continuously obtain stable supplies.
Almost all the supplies of the Haihan Army were transported by sea, and the Qing Army's plan to conduct raids on the supply lines basically came to nothing. After being ambushed several times by the Haihan Army using the grain transport team as bait, the Qing guerrilla troops also suffered heavy casualties and were unable to receive timely assistance from the rear. The remaining troops had to give up the fight and withdrew to the north on their own.
Of course, it seemed easy to listen to Chen Yixin at this time, but the whole battle process was not like that. The Qing army's counterattack against the Gaizhou Acropolis lasted for several months. Although there were only two major battles in the middle, there were actually more than 20 large and small battles. The Haihan army also inevitably produced some conflicts while defending the city. casualties.
Everyone listened with excitement. Although the combat processes Chen Yixin talked about were also reported in domestic newspapers at the time, they were probably only a few words. How could he explain it in such detail.
Bai Letong said: "I particularly remember that at that time, the newspaper promoted the 'Great Victory in Gaizhou', Sanya was full of joy, and the school even had a day off so that we could participate in the celebrations in Victory Square. It was just that we were too young at that time. I don’t know where Gaizhou is.”
Ning Zijing also responded: "My father took me to Victory Harbor to watch the fireworks on the night of the celebration. I asked him where Gaizhou was. He said it was thousands of miles north of Sanya and it took more than a month to travel by boat. I At that time, I thought, the country is so big, I probably won’t be able to go that far in my life... I didn’t expect that today, I would actually come to Gaizhou!”
But the real Gaizhou Acropolis looks like the size of an ordinary county town, not a big city. The city outline has basically been preserved, but the southern barbican that was blasted by the Haihan Army has been completely demolished. Only the broken crenellations and bomb craters on the top of the city still remind people of the fierce battles that took place here.
There are many fishing boats docked on the banks of the Daqing River that goes around the city. According to Liu Shang, who is accompanying him, this is currently one of the most important industries in Gaizhou.
When Haihan occupied this place, there were almost no Han Chinese in the city. The people living here now basically migrated from the south after the war, and they mainly make a living from agriculture and fishing. "Gaizhou Acropolis is located at an important land and sea transportation route. Why doesn't it look very developed? It's just that the Qing Dynasty didn't manage it well. Isn't there nothing we can do about this place?" After Ning Zijing got off the boat and saw the local scene, he couldn't help but ask doubt.
Liu Shang explained: "Young master Ning is not aware that nowadays bulk cargo transportation is carried out by sea, unlike during the Ming and Qing Dynasties when it had to pass through Gaizhouwei, so there is not much passenger flow. In addition, the population in Liaodong is relatively small. Many people prefer to settle in big cities or mining areas with higher incomes. There are no special industries in Gaizhou, so it cannot be said to be developed. ”
Ning Zijing nodded slightly, agreeing with his statement.
Looking at the areas under the jurisdiction of the Northern Region, most of the more prosperous places have advantageous industries, such as Fushan Copper Mine, Zhaoyuan Gold Mine, Longkou Coal Mine, etc., or they have innate ports, such as Zhifu Port, Dalian Port, Qingdao Port and other places. Such places have many employment opportunities and are more likely to attract people to settle there.
However, Gaizhou does not have high-output specialty industries. It is located on the coast but has no good harbor. Now it has lost its role as a land transportation hub, and its development situation is naturally not much better. Fortunately, the area around Gaizhou Acropolis has good water conservancy conditions and is suitable for farming and growing grain. Immigrants who settle here can be allocated thirty acres of fertile land according to their household registration, and can support a large family just by farming.
It's just that there is a lack of agricultural technicians in Liaodong, so Gaizhou has not promoted the planting of cash crops for the time being. The people have enough food and clothing to grow, but they are still far behind if they want to get rich.
Everyone entered the city and found that most of the houses in the city had been newly built in recent years. Chen Pingliao explained that this was during the attack on the Acropolis. After the city was broken, the defenders set fire to the city to cover their retreat and burned many houses. It was not until later when immigrants came in that the ruins in the city were gradually cleared and new houses were built.
Like other places that have experienced wars, there is also a Martyrs' Shrine in the city to commemorate the Haihan soldiers who died here in the "Great Victory of Gaizhou". After everyone entered the city, they first went to the Temple of Heroes to offer incense.
"In the Battle of Gaizhou, 283 of our troops were killed, including a captain and deputy battalion commander. Although we achieved a great victory, the sacrifices our soldiers made for this battle cannot be forgotten!"
With a solemn look on his face, Chen Yixin introduced the losses in the Gaizhou Battle to everyone. At this time, everyone knew that the battle to attack the Gaizhou Acropolis was not as easy as Chen Yixin had said before, and the Qing army was not a softie who could be defeated in one strike. Even though they lost the city, they still caused a lot of damage to the Haihan army. of human losses.
However, domestic propaganda at that time was biased towards the results of this battle, and did not specifically report the detailed battle losses of the Haihan Army. If they hadn't come here in person, they would probably never know that hundreds of Haihan soldiers died here in order to capture this seemingly inconspicuous town.
(End of chapter)