Chapter 1519: Interest comes first

Of course, such an eye-catching performance has come at a high price for Haihan. In addition to the astronomical military expenditures, the Haihan Army stationed in Liaodong has also suffered three-digit casualties.

This is a rare number in the past combat operations of the Haihan Army.

The characteristics of the Haihan Army are that they are small but sophisticated, have rich experience, are highly mobile, and have strong firepower. They are suitable for defensive warfare based on fortifications, or assault warfare where the enemy is unprepared. However, if the war enters a long-term confrontation, it will begin to rely on attrition.

Fighting by using resources and personnel is extremely disadvantageous for an army like Haihan that does not have sufficient troops and relies heavily on logistical supplies. No matter how great the advantages of the Haihan army are, it will be difficult to survive in this long tug-of-war.

Avoid casualties.

However, such casualty figures sounded like thunder to the ears of Mei Shengchuan and Jin Sangxian. Haihan fought in Liaodong for half a year, with only a hundred people killed, but he achieved results that they could only look up to.

Looking at the way Qian Tiandun described these figures, it seemed that he was still dissatisfied with the situation, which they simply couldn't understand. If the Ming or North Korean troops could achieve such a record, it would definitely be a joy for the whole country.

Qing, all kinds of rewards for leading generals are naturally out of the question.

"For our country, a war with huge casualties and too small returns has no meaning at all in the long term." Qian Tiandun said to the envoys of the two countries with a stern face: "If there is no motivation to support us in continuing the war, then we

A ceasefire order will be issued soon, and we will no longer take the initiative to fight with the Jin Army."

Qian Tiandun's statement can be said to be quite clear, and he almost said "If you don't form an alliance, the war will cease here." Naturally, the envoys of the two countries could not continue to pretend to be confused.

Looking at each other, one could see a look of helplessness on the other person's face.

At this time, Mei Shengchuan could no longer wait for Jin Sangxian to express his position first. Otherwise, if the other party directly agreed with Qian and agreed, wouldn't he be roasting himself on the fire? He coughed dryly and said: "Your country

Sending troops to Liaodong to rescue the Han people was a righteous act. Now that the battle situation is favorable, if we give up and continue the pursuit, wouldn't it be a waste of the previous months of hard work?"

Qian Tiandun said: "Since Mr. Mei said it was a righteous act, I will also open the skylight and speak frankly. This part of the friendship should be discussed. In fact, you have already discussed it before you came to the battlefield to inspect. Now it can be brought out in this place.

There is no friendship, only interests. If there is no benefit at all, will our soldiers continue to fight for your country in vain?"

Mei Shengchuan thought to himself, isn’t it a benefit for Haihan to use force to occupy our Ming territory? Isn’t it a benefit to have kidnapped thousands of Liaodong Han people? Now even an entire Ming army like Dongjiang Town has been kidnapped.

Okay, what other benefits do you want?

Of course, he could only think about this complaint silently in his heart, but did not dare to blurt it out. The Haihan people were obviously impatient with the slow progress of negotiations and could not do anything to add fuel to the fire at this time.

If Haihan ceased fighting in Liaodong, it would at most be a timely stop of losses and would not really harm its national strength and national security. Even if Hou Jin could mobilize a large army to break through the isthmus defense line operated by Haihan Army in the future and regain control of the Lushun area,

Haihan should be able to escape safely from Liaodong. After all, Haihan's strength in maritime transportation is obvious to all. Since he can transport these troops to Liaodong from thousands of miles away, he will naturally have a way to pick them up safely from Liaodong.

But for Ming Dynasty and North Korea, this is by no means good news. If Haihan ceased fighting in Liaodong, it would mean that Houjin would have one less opponent that they would have to concentrate on dealing with. And from this battlefield

The most likely option for Hou Jin, who has freed up his hands and feet, is to make up for the losses within the embankment and outside the embankment. He will first attack the Ming Dynasty and North Korea to recover the losses from these two fat sheep. And by that time, Hou Jin will probably not be able to do it again.

No matter how much effort is left, the predators that the Ming Dynasty and North Korea will face are probably more ruthless than in previous years.

In view of the deteriorating performance of the Ming Dynasty against Hou Jin in recent years, Mei Shengchuan did not have much confidence in whether his own army could resist the predators. If Haihan could sell a large amount of standard weapons to the Ming Dynasty, maybe the Ming Dynasty would still be able to fight.

But Mei Shengchuan also understood that the other party had already made clear its attitude and would only sell weapons to the allies. As for the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that there are only military garrisons in Fuguang and Guangzhou provinces that are closely related to it, and Dongjiang Town, which only has an empty shell of the Ming army.

Only then can we hope to receive military assistance from Haihan.

As for North Korea, whose military strength is far less than that of the Ming Dynasty, the situation will only become more passive. Hou Jin has long planned to completely conquer North Korea. If Haihan hadn't intervened in Liaodong last year, the 100,000 Hou Jin Iron Cavalry would have

Going south to Seoul, forcing the Koreans to cut ties with the Ming Dynasty. Although this situation did not happen in this time and space, the Koreans may never know that they may have faced such a disaster, but they are aware of the danger.

In fact, his perception is not bad, otherwise he would not have sent Kim Sang-heon to Liaodong just after watching the Northern Fleet's armed exercises on the Han River.

Kim Sang-hyun may be more sensitive to the changes in the situation than Mei Shengchuan. He believes that if Haihan chooses to suspend the war indefinitely, the first person to be unlucky will be North Korea and not the Ming Dynasty. There is no other reason, as long as Hou Jin is a little bit like that

With a little brain, he would know to avoid the two hard bones of Haihan and Ming Dynasty, and first pinch the soft persimmon of North Korea. Although Kim Sang-hyun did not think that Hou Jin could conquer his country in just more than ten days, but no matter how big-hearted he was, he could not conquer his own country.

I know that if Hou Jin was serious about his actions, it would be difficult for North Korea to survive until the day when Ming Dynasty sent reinforcements across the sea for reinforcements.

For Mei Shengchuan and Kim Sang-heon, an important issue to be solved at present is to understand what the actual benefits sought by the Haihan people are. The de facto occupation of Liaodong is obviously not the fundamental purpose of the Haihan people, but to achieve their ultimate goal.

It is just a means. Haihan repeatedly emphasized that the alliance that requires the consent of the two countries will bring Haihan exactly what kind of benefits. The two believe that this may be the key to resolving the differences in the current negotiations.

It's a pity that their contact with Haihan was too short, and they were unable to understand Haihan's methods like the bureaucrats in the southern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. It was difficult to draw correct conclusions just by guessing.

Seeing that the envoys of the two countries were both embarrassed, Bai Kesi spoke at this moment: "Actually, I would like to ask you two not to narrowly understand this thing as the unilateral benefits of our country, Haihan. Between countries,

, there are also common interests. For example, if our three countries form an alliance and jointly attack Houjin and eliminate this threat from the north, it will be a common interest for us."

Mei Shengchuan asked: "Is it true that what your country wants is just an alliance?"

"Of course there will be corresponding conditions for alliance. I believe Lord Mei has heard what my colleagues have said before. Trade, immigration, recognition of our country's rights and interests in the actual control area, our country's requirements are that simple, for the Ming Dynasty and North Korea

They are all the same." Bai Kesi repeated Haihan's request again. As for the military command authority of the coalition, logistical support, etc., he did not repeat it again, as long as the two countries could relax on the alliance issue.

, then these detailed issues can be postponed and negotiated slowly.

"Our country has no objection to this framework, but the specific details still need to be discussed." Kim Sang-heon noticed that Mei Shengchuan's face was not very good during the middle of the sentence, and quickly added: "Of course, the alliance between you and me must also be done.

Only with Ming’s consent.”

Seeing that Jin Sangxian was well-informed and knowledgeable, Mei Shengchuan said with a bright face: "Some of the conditions proposed by your country are too sensitive. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get approval after reporting them to the court."

Bai Kesi said: "There is no need to pick out the words in the agreement so carefully. Just write down the main conditions. As for how to implement it, it can be changed flexibly when the time comes. Rules are dead, but people are alive!"

Mei Shengchuan felt that Bai Kesi's statement was somewhat inappropriate, but at the moment he didn't know how to refute it. The Haihan people undoubtedly took the initiative in this tug-of-war negotiation. Although Mei Shengchuan wanted to safeguard Ming's interests,

But Haihan pressed forward step by step, leaving only a small space for him to choose yes or no. It was very difficult for him to do Tai Chi. Facing such a strong negotiating opponent, Mei Shengchuan was really worried about his hand.

There are simply no terms on which to bargain with the Haihan people.

Kong has the background of a great power, but he has no bargaining chips in this kind of negotiation. For the first time after serving as an official for many years, Mei Shengchuan truly feels powerless. Facing the tyrannical Haihan, Mei Shengchuan feels that he can get what he can

The conditions for threatening Haihan seemed to be no match for the Haihan people's muskets and cannons.

At this time, he couldn't help but think of a Hai-Han proverb that Shen Shikui, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, once mentioned in a secret report - the truth only exists within the range of the cannon. The arrogance and absolute confidence in force revealed in this sentence,

This was something that Mei Shengchuan before coming to Liaodong could not understand. Even though the intelligence given by Dongjiang Town at that time showed that Haihan was a powerful country beyond Ming Dynasty's imagination, Mei Shengchuan, like most officials in the court, thought that this was just

A small southern country that focuses on maritime trade is only good at deceiving people and tempting people with benefits, so it has created quite a situation in the south.

But after seeing the Haihan army with his own eyes, Mei Shengchuan knew that the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, including himself, were very wrong. This small country was more powerful than the rumors said, and it even made it difficult for the Ming Dynasty to come up with any effective countermeasures.

Let both parties negotiate as equals.

At this time, at Qian Tiandun's instruction, some soldiers brought several telescopes and distributed them to the envoys and entourage of the two countries respectively, and then taught them how to use these observation tools.

"About five or six miles further north from here is Hou Jin's control area. You can see from the telescope the fortress group that Hou Jin is building in the north. We have done calculations. If they maintain the current situation,

If this construction speed is maintained, then the fortress can be built to the edge of the firepower range of the isthmus defense line by the end of the year." Qian Tiandun introduced the current battlefield situation to the visitors in a steady voice: "Once such a fortress group is completed

Due to the climate, it is unlikely that our army will advance northward in the future. What the enemy probably wants is to stop our army here, and then free up its hands to deal with Ming Dynasty and North Korea."

The envoys of the two countries quickly learned to use this tool. In fact, Mei Shengchuan was not completely unfamiliar with telescopes. The Ministry of War already had telescopes donated by Western missionaries, but the workmanship and field of view were indeed not as good as those of the Haihan people.

They quickly confirmed from their field of view that there were indeed dots of small fortress buildings scattered in the northern wilderness. The distance between the fortresses was only about a hundred feet, and they were indeed very dense when viewed from a distance. If they wanted to use war to destroy them,

It would indeed take a lot of effort to destroy them one by one. Obviously, the Haihan people probably came up with the idea of ​​​​a truce after the opponent used this seemingly stupid but actually clever method of challenge.

As Mei Shengchuan watched, he was also thinking about how the Ming army would respond to such a method to be effective. After thinking about it, apart from using a large number of troops to push back, there seemed to be no other immediate method. And Haihan

The army was already complaining with three-digit casualties. How could he be willing to sacrifice his life to fill up this fortress? However, he still believed that Haihan must have some countermeasures, otherwise he would not sit back and watch the enemy troops continue to move southward.

Building fortresses was just a way for the Haihan people to threaten the Ming Dynasty and North Korea with a truce, so they deliberately described the current situation as if there was nothing they could do.

This day's inspection operation was uneventful. Houjin may have adapted to the kind of scenes that Haihan deliberately created from time to time, and did not try to organize a field offensive at all. It seemed that Geng Zhongming was at ease and wanted to do it.

The fortress iron barrel formation will no longer try to compete with Haihan in a field duel. This is indeed not a battlefield environment that is convenient for the Haihan army, which uses fire suppression as its main attack method.

For the envoys of the two countries, it was more or less a little regretful that they could not see the fierce battle between the two armies on the firing line. Of course, according to the Haihan people, the confrontation with the Jin army was often

There were no fierce battles. Almost all the Hai and Han troops fought overwhelmingly. Just imagining such a scene made the envoys of the two countries feel a lot of pressure. After all, their armies had fought on the battlefields of their respective countries.

Having been overwhelmingly suppressed by the Hou Jin Army, I never thought that such a powerful opponent would be ravaged and defeated.

On June 9, representatives of the three countries finally sat at the negotiating table again and began the final stage of consultations on the issue of an alliance to resist gold.
Chapter completed!