Chapter 3581
Although Shi Chengwu's suggestion sounded very tempting, Tao Hongfang was keenly aware of the problems.
"Chengwu, according to you, we use public opinion to create tension, cause a wave of refugees to appear on the other side, and then drive the fleeing people towards us. But how can we achieve this with the Yangtze River in the middle?"
"If we send a boat to pick them up on the other side, it will probably only scare ordinary people and make them flee further, right? And the government on the other side probably won't just sit back and watch the people cross the river and run towards us."
After hearing Tao Hongfang's doubts, Shi Chengwu explained calmly: "This is where we need to guide through public opinion... Let me ask you, when war is imminent, where is the safest place to flee?"
Tao Hongfang responded without thinking: "Of course we should flee to places that have not been affected by the war. Take Jiangpu and Liuhe counties on the other side as an example. The safe zones are Chuzhou and Fengyang in the rear."
Shi Chengwu nodded and said: "If the people on the other side of the river are fleeing because of the war, the fundamental reason is that they are not optimistic about the resistance ability of the Ming army. And we need to make the people on the other side realize that even if they flee to Chuzhou or Fengyang, they may not be able to completely avoid it. War, it’s not a real safe zone.”
When Shi Chengwu said this, he simply stood up and walked to the map hanging on the wall, pointed to an area adjacent to Liuhe County and Fengyang Mansion and said, "In comparison, is this place safer?"
Tao Hongfang looked over intently and saw that the area Shi Chengwu was pointing to was Yangzhou Prefecture under Haihan's control.
Haihan controlled Yangzhou much earlier than Nanjing, but in order to ensure Yangzhou's special trade status in the Jiangnan region, Haihan never used Yangzhou as a front line for military operations.
In fact, even after taking over Yangzhou, the area has maintained freedom of movement from the Ming Dynasty, which is equivalent to a buffer zone between the two countries. Although relations between the two countries are tense, a large amount of materials and money are still flowing between the two countries through the special channel of Yangzhou.
Even the offensive launched by Haihan last year did not choose to send troops directly from Yangzhou to attack the north bank of the Yangtze River. Therefore, the two counties of Liuhe and Jiangpu located on the north bank of the Yangtze River in the original jurisdiction of Yingtian Mansion are still under the control of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty also maintained a tacit understanding and would not use force against Yangzhou. On the one hand, Yangzhou's trade involved the interests of too many people, and on the other hand, it also avoided giving Haihan an excuse to launch a war.
As a result, in the safety rankings of the Jianghuai region, Yangzhou is really ranked ahead of Fengyang, Chuzhou, Luzhou, Hezhou, Anqing and other state capitals under the control of the Ming Dynasty. The possibility of being affected by the war is extremely low.
But Tao Hongfang still has a question: "If the refugees from the other side of the river flee to Yangzhou, all the benefits will be taken over by Yangzhou. Wouldn't our work be in vain?"
Shi Chengwu shook his head slightly and said: "This work will not be in vain. We can first negotiate with the Yangzhou Management Committee and transfer a proportion of the refugees accepted by the local area to Yingtianfu for resettlement."
The special resource of population has always been better for Haihan, and its priority is even higher than land. If a large number of people can be obtained from the Ming Dynasty without going to war, then this will definitely be a great achievement that can be reported to the Executive Committee.
Regarding the consequences of creating a refugee wave, the two of them thought of how to bring these refugees to Yingtian Mansion to make up for the population loss caused by the war last year.
As long as Yangzhou has good reception measures, it can obtain a group of cheap people, and naturally it will not refuse such a good thing that comes to its door. Of course, if you want to achieve such an effect, the scene must be made bigger. Otherwise, it won't scare people, and it won't be able to create a refugee wave at all. The public opinion guidance mentioned by Shi Chengwu is an important means to promote the plan and must be implemented before the military launches it.
To create public opinion, Shi Chengwu's manpower was almost all menial work, and they were really not suitable for this task. He had to rely on Tao Hongfang's side to have any hope of success.
The next day, the government on the other side had just received the news and believed that the armed fleet that appeared in Yanziji was just as Tao Hongfang claimed. It was just a normal defense change and would not launch a war against the Ming Dynasty. But at this moment, Ming Dynasty's spies returned some different rumors from Yanziji Pier.
It is said that Yanziji Pier has begun secretly mobilizing civilian ships and combat supplies, seemingly preparing for some kind of logistical task of crossing the river.
And this statement is not groundless. Qin Jian, the superior official at Yanziji Pier, convened a meeting with managers from various shipping companies to assign tasks. The Ming Dynasty spies got the first-hand information from this meeting.
According to the information disclosed by Qin Jian, the number of civilian ships that Haihan needs to assemble is huge. It is estimated that there will be three to five hundred ships, which far exceeds the needs of daily river patrol tasks.
Of course, there is only one possibility to mobilize so many civilian ships, and that is to carry the Haihan army to attack the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Although Qin Jian did not announce the specific time of the operation at the meeting, he made clear requirements for each shipping company to make corresponding preparations. Once the government orders, they must immediately gather their ships to the Yingtianfu River section to cooperate with the sea. The Han army acted.
As for the target of the attack, even a fool can think of it. Of course, it is Jiangpu and Liuhe counties, which are only separated by a river from Nanjing City.
The statement made by Tao Hongfang the day before was immediately regarded as a smoke bomb that disturbed the public. Compared with "changing defense" as Tao Hongfang said, launching an offensive is obviously more in line with Haihan's consistent style.
The news that came out from the shipyard meeting was quickly verified from other places.
Yanziji Terminal claimed that due to business needs, it began to recruit a large number of temporary workers, and the wages were nearly one-third higher than usual.
Various rice stores in Nanjing suddenly announced that due to the recent shortage of food supply, they would implement purchase restrictions on rice, flour, oil and other commodities to prevent people from hoarding goods and malicious speculation.
Various garrison troops in Nanjing began to cancel their vacations and called personnel to report back to the team.
All these signs combined were clearly a precursor to the outbreak of war. The total number of Ming troops stationed in Jiangpu and Liuhe counties was less than 3,000, which was obviously unlikely to withstand Haihan's massive attack. Once a war breaks out, these two places may soon be pushed aside by the Haihan Army.
However, the bad situation did not stop there. News soon came from Yangzhou. It was said that another Haihan army would launch an offensive southward from the direction of Hongze Lake in Huai'an Prefecture. At that time, not only the people originally belonging to Yingtian Prefecture would be attacked. The two counties and even the eastern region of Fengyang Prefecture will fall into Haihan's wave of north-south attacks.