Chapter 3236
April 15, 1657, Lushun Military Port in Liaodong Peninsula.
Although it has entered April, Port Arthur has not ushered in the warm spring. Especially in the early morning, the temperature is still as cold as winter.
Chen Pingliao walked out of the barracks and immediately shuddered. The warm barracks seemed like two completely different worlds compared to the outside.
"Why is this damn weather getting colder every year!"
Chen Pingliao looked at the still dark sky, picked up his backpack, and walked quickly to the officers' mess. To combat such low temperature weather, the best way is to eat a hot breakfast quickly to warm up your whole body.
He remembered that when he was a child, he came to Lushun with his father to participate in the National Day military parade. It seemed that it was not so cold at that time. But my father said at the time that this was the "Little Ice Age" that would last for decades, during which the entire northern region would remain in a cold period. It seemed that it was really coming true bit by bit.
When Chen Pingliao walked into the cafeteria, the more than 20 officers who were eating immediately put down their chopsticks and stood up in unison. Chen Pingliao gestured for everyone to sit down, and then ordered the cook who came up to him to bring him a bowl of Fushan noodles.
This kind of pasta can be regarded as a traditional delicacy in Fushan County. It is made with flour ground from local wheat in Fushan. It is not only large in portion, but also rich in ingredients. It is one of Chen Pingliao's favorite foods.
The war is about to begin, and it will be difficult to eat such delicacies during the war. Chen Pingliao must enjoy this breakfast before leaving the base.
Soon the cook brought out a big bowl. Half of the bowl was noodles and half was noodle soup made with various ingredients.
Many soldiers here in Jinzhou are from Dengzhou across the sea, so the noodle stew, as well as the chef who makes the noodles, are all from Fushan County to ensure that the taste is absolutely authentic. Chen Pingliao picked up the chopsticks and ate hungrily.
Chen Pingliao's military qualifications are still relatively young, so his current position in the army is actually not high, he is just a captain. This is due to his background and study abroad experience in Sanya. Otherwise, based on his qualifications, he would usually be just a second lieutenant platoon leader as a standard for military school graduates.
Chen Yixin originally planned to arrange for him to stay in Dengzhou or Jinzhou first, work as a combat staff officer for a few years to familiarize himself with the environment, and then gradually improve his position. But Chen Pingliao couldn't stay in the yamen, and soon he took the initiative to lead troops.
Chen Yixin couldn't resist him, so in the end he could only appoint him to the position of battalion commander according to the upper limit of the captain's rank, and he continued to hold the post of combat staff concurrently.
Chen Pingliao spent several years in the army and traveled to most places in Shandong and Liaodong, so he had a certain amount of experience. Therefore, during this expedition, Chen Yixin asked him to lead a team from Lushun Port to the hinterland of the Bohai Sea.
However, Chen Pingliao understood that he was only responsible for the marching stage. After arriving at the combat area, the command authority should be taken back by his father. It is not yet known whether there will be a chance to join the battle in the future.
Chen Pingliao dug down a large bowl of noodles three times, wiped his mouth, stood up, and said to the officers waiting nearby: "Get ready to go!"
The troops participating in this expedition had already assembled on the dock, and after receiving the order, they began to board the ship.
This time, the Sixth Army Division stationed in Liaodong dispatched a total of four regiments, accounting for almost two-thirds of the total strength.
One of the regiments was personally commanded by Sun Zhen, commander of the Sixth Lu Division, and went south along the coast from the direction of Liaodong Bay to attack Shanhaiguan. It was responsible for containing the Ming army's border guards so that they could not withdraw for reinforcements.
The troops of the other three regiments crossed the sea from Jinzhou and went straight to Tianjin, where they met up with another landing force from Dengzhou, and then jointly attacked the capital. There is another force from Shandong direction that will pass through Qingzhou Prefecture and Jinan Prefecture along the coast and attack Hebei all the way to put pressure on Ming Dynasty's defense from the south.
From Chen Pingliao's point of view, this battle plan was simple and crude. There was no link such as luring the enemy or feigning an attack. What it wanted was to attack the capital all the way and force Ming Dynasty to surrender again in the shortest possible time.
But this is also the tactic that the Haihan Army has tried repeatedly over the past thirty years. It uses its firepower advantage to defeat its opponents on the frontal battlefield and quickly achieve its goals and end the battle.
Chen Pingliao was traveling on the Weineng, one of the flagships of the Northern Fleet. This warship has been in service for a long time and has undergone two major repairs during this period. If nothing else happens, this may be the last time it goes to sea to perform combat missions.
However, the Weineng will not be dismantled after it is decommissioned. Chen Pingliao heard that the North Koreans intend to buy this old ship to expand their maritime military power.
Even though this is an old ship that is about to be decommissioned, it still has great value for the North Koreans who have limited military spending. If such a warship was used to control the battle, Li Hao would surely have a little more confidence when facing Li Xie in the south.
This time, without exception, Li Hao sent a group of officers to participate in the operation as military observers.
Chen Pingliao is not very interested in the dispute between the north and the south of Korea, because he knows that even if a war breaks out between the north and the south one day, there will not be a clear outcome.
After all, behind the two imperial courts in the north and south stood the East China Sea Region and the North Region respectively. In the end, it was Haihan who had the final say as to how far the fight could go and what the outcome would be.
Chen Pingliao once heard his father say that the Executive Committee was also considering applying the Korean partition model to the Ming Dynasty and splitting the Ming Dynasty into several vassal states. This might make it easier for Haihan to annex the Ming Dynasty.
But the disadvantages of this are also obvious. Once it is divided into multiple small countries, it will be difficult to win people's hearts together over time.
Chen Pingliao believed that the most feasible plan was to capture the capital of the Ming Dynasty, capture all the emperor's relatives, and then have the Ming Emperor issue an edict of abdication, acknowledging that Haihan was the common ruler of the world.
As long as you get the name of orthodoxy, it will be easy to slowly clean up the mess left by Ming Dynasty.
However, Chen Pingliao feels that it is still unclear whether he will really capture the capital in one go this time. As far as he knew, the combat plan currently only provided a plan to attack the capital, but the final combat goal did not include capturing the capital.
This means that if Ming Dynasty surrenders again, perhaps the Executive Committee will still leave some room for negotiation with the opponent, which makes Chen Pingliao, who is bent on victory, a little uncomfortable.
Nearly 5,000 Haihan troops landed at Lushun Port. For this reason, troop transport ships from the entire Liaodong Peninsula were gathered here. In addition, dozens of civilian ships were requisitioned to transport such a large force to the Bohai Bay. The destination on the other side.
The personal space left for the soldiers on each ship was extremely limited. Many of the requisitioned civilian ships were cargo ships and did not have perfect living conditions. The soldiers could only spend the voyage in the cargo hold.
Fortunately, Port Arthur is only about 600 miles away from the destination. If everything goes well, we can reach it in about two days. It will be over with a little patience.
(End of chapter)