Chapter 1511 Who does Liaodong belong to?

However, this feeling of freedom did not last long, and someone knocked on Mei Shengchuan's door: "Sir, there is a secret report!"

The voice of the person outside the door was not loud, but it was just enough for Umeikawa inside to hear clearly. Umeikawa, who was lying on the rattan rocking chair, suddenly opened his eyes, got up and walked quickly to the door to open it. Outside the door was one of his entourage.

One person, whose external identity is a clerk, is actually a spy of the Jin Yiwei. Although it is difficult for the Jin Yiwei to enter the Jinzhou area in Liaodong under the occupation of Hou Jin, almost all the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town and the civilians hired by Haihan in Shandong are Han. Jin Yiwei

It's not too difficult to mix some sand into it. So long before Mei Shengchuan arranged this trip, there were actually Jin Yiwei's eyes and ears in the Liaodong area secretly collecting all kinds of information.

After Mei Shengchuan and his party arrived in Lushun today, some people naturally looked for an opportunity to contact their colleagues lurking in the local area to learn whether Haihan had any special arrangements for Mei Shengchuan's arrival. Although Mei Shengchuan was sure that the Haihan people would not do anything specifically for him.

Setting up a Hongmen Banquet, but being able to learn more relevant information through secret channels will always be beneficial to the subsequent negotiations.

The spy reported in a low voice: "Sir, Shen Zhixiang from Dongjiang Town suddenly disappeared from his station a few days ago and is currently missing. In addition, the main force of the Haihan Northern Fleet also left the port at the same time. It is suspected that the Haihan people may be launching an attack on the north from the sea.

An offensive."

Mei Shengchuan frowned slightly. He remembered that at the banquet just now, Sha Xi had clearly said that Shen Zhixiang was leading the army to fight on the front line. How could he suddenly disappear? This was inconsistent with the spies' intelligence. Could there be some inside story involved?

Mei Shengchuan came here from the capital more out of trust in Shen Shikui, an old friend of Dongjiang Town, than because of his confidence in the Haihan people. He knew that Dongjiang Town chose to embrace Haihan, but he also knew that the top management of Dongjiang Town

In fact, they still care about the Ming Dynasty, at least they have nothing to hide in providing Haihan intelligence - of course, perhaps the intelligence they provide to the court is the information that the Haihan people want to let the court know through this special channel.

Mei Shengchuan dared to come to Liaodong with only a few dozen followers, partly because he was convinced that the Ming army in Dongjiang Town would protect his personal safety during this period. However, he had not yet met the generals in Dongjiang Town after arriving in Lushun, and the guard work

The Haihan army was all in charge. At this time, they heard that Shen Zhixiang had been missing for several days. Some prisoners couldn't help but wonder, did the Haihan people arrange this intentionally or unintentionally?

He was not worried that Haihan would suddenly attack the generals of Dongjiang Town, because according to the intelligence that Dongjiang Town had previously sent back to the capital, Haihan was also very concerned about the military training of the generals of Dongjiang Town. Shen Zhixiang, in particular, had received many favors from the Haihan people.

Special care was taken. Even in military operations that Dongjiang Town did not participate in, the Haihan people would often arrange for Shen Zhixiang to accompany the army, so that he could observe the battle closest to the battlefield and learn these rare combat and command experiences.

The Haihan people want to train Shen Zhixiang, and Mei Shengchuan understands their thoughts. After all, talents like Shen Zhixiang, who were born and raised in the north, understand the customs, geography, and lead troops in battles in Liaodong, must be extremely rare among the Haihan army who came from the south.

. And Shen Zhixiang has always shown an attitude of being close to Haihan, so the other party will naturally think that he is someone who can be used for his own purposes, and it is reasonable to spend more money to train him.

But Mei Shengchuan didn't dare to make any rash judgments about this. Since Sha Xi said that he would see the Dongjiang Town general in a few days, there must be no need for the other party to be careless about this kind of thing. They can only wait and see if there are any new changes in the situation.

.The other information sent back by the Jinyiwei spies did not have much intelligence value. Many of them were things that the Haihan people had already reported to him on their own initiative. For example, the family members of Dongjiang Town were placed in a house 30 years away from Lushun Fort.

In a place miles away, more than 3,000 people have settled in the area. Another example is that the main force of the Haihan Army is almost concentrated on the front line of the Jinzhou Isthmus, while the Lushun Fort in the rear only has less than 1,000 people stationed there.

Army and Navy.

When the Haihan people informed Mei Shengchuan of these military intelligence, they did not seem to worry at all that he would pass the news on and attract the Ming army to attack this place. Mei Shengchuan believed that this was probably because Haihan had very strong confidence in his own defense capabilities. After all,

There were so many artillery warships moored in the port, and there were several forts on the shore, and the defense of the Port Arthur Fort was not bad. When he came, he noticed that the outside of the fort had been transformed into an irregular wall outline. Umeikawa did not know this kind of

The fortification is called a bastion, but he could also intuitively feel that the defensive capability of this new fortress should be very strong - after all, the number of forts has increased several times compared to the old Lushun Fort. If someone tries to attack Lushun Fort,

The cost of casualties will certainly be considerable.

Mei Shengchuan dismissed his men, closed the door and digested the intelligence information he had just learned. He felt that there were almost no measures he could take. After all, there were only dozens of people around him who could use it, and most of them were still being used.

It was arranged to be stationed outside Lushun Fort, and it was extremely inconvenient to mobilize. Mei Shengchuan decided to find an opportunity to see the station in Dongjiang Town. Maybe there were many people there who were committed to the Ming Dynasty and could be used for his own purposes.

Early the next morning, Sha Xi arranged for Umeikawa to review the local garrison. This process was supposed to be carried out yesterday, but it was dark when Umeikawa arrived yesterday, so the review was arranged for the next day.

Mei Shengchuan has been accustomed to reviewing the Ming army for a long time, but this was the first time in his life to review foreign troops. He couldn't help but wonder how Haihan's army would perform. And Haihan's military parade basically drew on the practices of later generations.

Get a group of drum and trumpet players to play, and then Sha Xi will accompany Mei Shengchuan to review the formations of the army and navy on foot.

Mei Shengchuan didn't have any special feelings about the formations and weapons of the Haihan Army. After all, the Ming Army could also produce these things. At most, the performance of the weapons was just a bit inferior. As long as the formations had been trained seriously for a few days, they were afraid of standing still.

Isn't it neat enough? What really shocked Mei Shengchuan was the aura exuded by these Haihan soldiers. It was the murderous aura that could only be acquired after fighting bravely for several times on the battlefield. It was the constant victory in the battle.

The confidence that only one can have. Although the troops being reviewed were only one company each from the army and navy, the invisible aura displayed by such troops who had been on the battlefield during the review left a very deep impression on Umegawa.

"These two companies have participated in our country's combat operations to eliminate the pirates Shibazhi in the South China Sea in the early years. In recent years, they have participated in many operations in Fujian, Taiwan, and Zhejiang. They can be regarded as troops forged on the battlefield." Sha Xi

He was very attentive in introducing the situation of the troops being reviewed to Umeikawa. I don’t know if he meant to show off or to intimidate the other party.

Sha Xi said that in these places, except for Taiwan Island, which is not the official territory of the Ming Dynasty, regarding the wars in Fujian and Zhejiang, the Ministry of War has some places to submit battle reports. Regarding the several military affairs that Sha Xi did not mention in detail

However, Mei Shengchuan had a general impression. Haihan took many islands from the Ming Dynasty through these military operations. Fujian let the Haihan people do what they did and acted in collusion. Although Zhejiang took some actions, the price they paid in the end

But it was even bigger. Not only did several high-ranking officials disappear mysteriously, but an arson case was also committed later, which gave the Haihan people an excuse to send troops to Hangzhou and signed a so-called armistice agreement on the bank of the Qiantang River, which opened up Haihan's trade rights in Zhejiang in disguise.

.

At that time, there was great controversy in the court over the way the Zhejiang government handled the war. Many people believed that the armistice agreement was suspected of treason. However, some officials believed that it was a great achievement for the Zhejiang government to calm down the war as soon as possible. After all, everyone knew it.

, the Ming Dynasty simply did not have the extra energy to open up a new battlefield, not to mention that the opponent was the Haihan Army, which had never been defeated in the south.

Officials from Fuzhou and Guangzhou had many entangled interests with Haihan. Naturally, they were also the main faction on the side of Zhejiang in the court. In the end, Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to take the risk of re-escalating the settled matter and could only acquiesce.

The Zhejiang government envoy Wang Ji, the commander-in-chief Liu Feng, and the Hangzhou prefect He Guanzhi all received secret edicts from the palace afterwards, requiring them not to give any other special treatment to the Haihan people.

We cannot allow them to acquire large amounts of real estate and recruit immigrants in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, it is not the Emperor Chongzhen who has the final say as to how far these demands can be realized. The Emperor is far away, and thousands of miles away from the capital. How can he obey the emperor in the palace who can only govern the country through memorials?

Your Majesty's Thoughts. Haihan's cross-border trade in Zhejiang has been booming in the past two years, and more and more people in Zhejiang have begun to have interests with Haihan through these trade channels, either directly or indirectly.

It was precisely because the situation in the south gradually became peaceful that Haihan was able to mobilize his troops to the north and began to have the idea of ​​​​Liaodong Peninsula. Although Mei Shengchuan was not too clear about the details, it was not difficult for him to grasp it himself.

Use the information to deduce causes and consequences.

"Your army is accustomed to fighting on the battlefield. Only a victorious army can have such momentum!" Mei Shengchuan praised Haihan from the bottom of his heart, somewhat jealous of Haihan for having such a strong army.

Sha Xixin said that you are also a knowledgeable person. After visiting the queue, he arranged a shooting training that the Haihan Army was proud of, which opened the eyes of the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty.

Before Mei Shengchuan came to Liaodong, like many people, he believed that the description of the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army was exaggerated. In particular, the intelligence sent back from various places claimed that the performance of the Haihan Army's guns and artillery was invincible. Mei Shengchuan never mentioned this.

This is completely true. There are many skilled craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and it takes less than a year or two to make muskets. Moreover, the Ministry of War has studied the rifles exported by Haihan and believes that although its performance is good, the manufacturing process is extremely complicated and its cost is not suitable for mass production and installation.

Troops. If the two armies confront each other, the Ming army can also use its strength advantage to smooth out the gap in weapon performance.

But the weapons displayed by the Haihan Army at this time were obviously very different from the guns he had seen exported by Haihan. It could even be said that they were not the same thing at all. The rifles equipped by the Haihan Army could not only fire several times in a row

Its ammunition loading, range, accuracy, lethality, and performance are almost all-round superior to all musket weapons Umeikawa knows.

Finally, when the sniper came out and demonstrated how to accurately hit a head-sized earthen jar from a hundred feet away, Umeikawa swallowed hard. Although Sha Xi did not explain this in detail, Umeikawa could tell that this was far from the truth.

The shooting limit of this terrible rifle. And once this kind of weapon is put on the battlefield, its ability to influence the battle situation is beyond the ability of ordinary single soldiers. As long as you kill a few officers and generals of the enemy who are commanding the battle, the opponent will naturally retreat.

Chaos can be won without a fight.

The performance of the artillery did not disappoint the audience. Mei Shengchuan was very interested in the breech-loaded artillery, but he could not understand Sha Xi's explanation at all. He wanted to touch this sharp weapon up close and see.

He wanted to see what the secret was, but Sha Xi seemed to have read through his mind and deliberately did not arrange such a visit. Although Umeikawa was extremely curious, he could only endure it.

He remembered that the intelligence sent back by the spies yesterday did not mention these powerful weapons at all. It goes without saying that the Jinyiwei people were not able to sneak into the Haihan Army's garrison and were not aware of the existence of these standard weapons.

Although this is not a dereliction of duty, it is at least incompetent. If the two armies confront each other, the Ming army, which has a serious lack of understanding of Haihan, will definitely suffer heavy losses.

In the previous intelligence sent back by Dongjiang Town, it was mentioned that the Haihan Army could defeat the cavalry with infantry, and that the infantry alone could deal with the Houjin Cavalry, which was stronger than itself. At that time, Mei Shengchuan still scorned such intelligence, thinking that

Dongjiang Town was probably intentionally exaggerating the facts and bragging for the Haihan Army. But after seeing the performance display of the Haihan Army's weapons, he suddenly realized that the intelligence sent by Dongjiang Town was not a lie, but that it was really possible.

If not, how could Hou Jin be willing to give up this good port in the south of Jinzhou and provide the Haihan people with a stepping stone to enter Liaodong.

The more powerful the Haihan army showed, the more Mei Shengchuan felt that the Ming Dynasty had little chance of retaking Liaodong from it. If calculated in terms of combat effectiveness, Haihan could repel thousands of post-Jin soldiers stationed in Jinzhou.

, and firmly defended the captured area, so how many troops did the Ming need to achieve such a goal?

Mei Shengchuan silently calculated in his mind and believed that at least 20,000 Ming troops need to be sent to the Liaodong region to achieve the same goal. But the problem is that the Ming Dynasty currently does not have such maritime capabilities in the Bohai Bay area.

Projection ability, otherwise we would not have watched the troops in Dongjiang Town being expelled from Liaodong by the Jin Army.
Chapter completed!