Chapter 2014

As the end of the year approaches, the intelligence agency in Sanya has become increasingly busy. Under the supervision of the Executive Committee, the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau have recently stepped up investigations into gun cases that have occurred in various places, trying to find out the secret connections between these incidents.

After investing a lot of resources, the intelligence agencies have successively received investigation reports from various places at home and abroad, and the conclusions seem to be exactly what the Executive Committee was worried about before.

In several gun cases that occurred in Hainan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Liaodong, muskets and ammunition manufactured in Spain were found. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Liaodong, it was even discovered that Spanish people were suspected of helping local armed forces conduct military training.

From these evidences, we can roughly infer a situation that must attract Haihan's attention, that is, Spain did not stop its efforts after losing Manila this year. It still secretly continues to operate certain methods to blackmail Haihan, and its coverage is so wide that it has

Far beyond the past few years, this is a new situation that Haihan has never had before.

How the Spaniards went to these places and successfully established a cooperative relationship with local forces is a question that puzzles the Haihan intelligence department.

Since Haihan seized the two ports of Tamsui and Jilong in the northern part of Taiwan Island from the Spanish colonists in early 1633, the relationship between the two parties has been completely broken. From that time, Haihan began to control the island of Taiwan.

Surveillance was implemented in the surrounding waters to prevent Spanish ships from entering the waters north of Taiwan Island. As Haihan gradually expanded in the eastern and northern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, control of the sea lanes and major trading ports in the area became increasingly tight. Spanish ships occasionally

It may not be difficult to sneak in once or twice, but it is impossible to avoid being hit by Haihan for several consecutive years.

Therefore, in the final report compiled from the Ministry of Security and Military Intelligence to the Executive Committee, the views on this issue are relatively consistent, that is, they believe that the Spanish method of activity is not simply to send a fleet to sneak into the incident area, but also to have

Other intermediate forces intervened, providing the Spaniards with some special channels for activities.

It is actually not too difficult to solve this mystery. After all, many relevant personnel have been captured in Danzhou on Hainan Island and Yangzhou in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Executive Committee is still very optimistic about finding out the truth. As long as we pry open these

The human mouth is bound to be able to obtain certain key information.

The first person to open a breakthrough was not Hainan Island, which captured the relevant personnel first, but the special operations team who captured a bunch of injured people in Yangzhou. On the day they returned to Zhoushan Island, they successfully obtained important information from the prisoners.

After Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing returned to Zhoushan, they only received short-term treatment and then devoted themselves to the interrogation work again. It's not that they didn't want to rest for a while, but the situation really waited for no one. These injured people who could survive to Zhoushan Island

, may not be able to recover from their injuries so that they can be interrogated slowly. If they are delayed for another day or two, these prisoners may not be able to speak.

But what is more regrettable is that neither of the two commanders of the Yangzhou Salt Merchant Musketeers were captured alive. The information these minions have must be relatively limited. It is estimated that they have no chance to access some important information. But there is

Some basic information can be verified from their confessions.

The first is the establishment time of this musketry team. These people began to be selected one after another in March of this year, and then secretly gathered for training in a place called Huaisi Town near Yangzhou City. And the identity of the Spanish commander,

He was relatively clearly identified in the confessions of many prisoners.

According to their confessions, the Spanish officer known as "Mr. Ricardo" appeared in Yangzhou in mid-April this year and was responsible for training them. Several subsequent operations, including the last battle,

Inside, it was this Spanish officer who was directing operations on the front line.

They were not informed of the real reason when they first assembled. They thought they were working for a militia organized by Lu Kangtai. It was not until Spanish officers arrived who issued muskets to them that they gradually realized that their mission was not

It is as simple as guarding a warehouse or a salt ship, but it exists as a secret armed force dedicated to performing special tasks that are not convenient for the public to see - such as dealing with competitors in the region.

However, as soon as they had achieved some success in training, the low-priced refined salt from Ningbo replaced the Huizhou salt merchants and became the target of their first attack. And the subsequent actions did cleanly solve the opponent, which gave them a sense of urgency.

The illusion of being invincible lasted until it ran into the iron plate of the Special Operations Team. As for how and at what price Lu Kangtai obtained these muskets, no one knows about these minions.

"The Spaniards had to cross the ocean to get to Yangzhou, and they took great risks for this. The purpose was actually to help Yangzhou salt merchants build a musketry team to deal with competitors. This certainly doesn't make sense." Shi Di

After reading the report submitted by Ji Yuanqing, Wen Zai disagreed with this statement: "They are not warm-hearted good people. If they make such a big noise, they must have a bigger conspiracy!"

"Also, previous intelligence stated that there were North Koreans in this musketeer team. Why was this part not seen in the interrogation report?" Shi Diwen asked Ji Yuanqing.

Ji Yuanqing explained: "According to the prisoners' confessions, there were indeed two unidentified Koreans in this musketeer team, but they escaped by chance this time, so we currently have no more information to confirm their identities and

The reason for joining the Musketeers. In addition, regarding the real purpose of the Spaniards, I thought it should be to open a special channel in the Ming Dynasty, so that salt merchants could contribute money to form an armed force that would obey the orders of Spain, so that under certain circumstances,

Make a difference.”

The possibility that Ji Yuanqing mentioned was also the conclusion he reached after discussing with Gong Qiqi. If there is not a big enough profit prospect, there is really no need for the Spaniards to take great risks to do such a thing under Haihan's nose.

.If the Spaniards wanted to be a transnational arms dealer out of economic interests, there would be no need to risk their lives as commanders and charge into battle after providing basic military training to Yangzhou salt merchants.

Judging from the situations that occurred in several places from south to north during this period, the Spanish were obviously not only satisfied with providing weapons and equipment to many parties, but also intended to intervene in the affairs of the region. Back then, Haihan supported Li Jifeng to become the number one in Guangdong.

merchants, and used their prestige to establish the armed organization Golden Shield, which indirectly affected and controlled the business environment in the Pearl River Basin. Nowadays, the Spaniards' practice of supporting local salt merchants in Yangzhou to establish private armed forces seems to have the same effect.

Of course, the implementation of the Spanish's small move in Yangzhou was not so smooth, because the conflict of interests among the salt merchants caused their methods to be exposed to Haihan's vision early, and then they quickly attracted Haihan's attack.

Since the armed organizations of the local salt merchants were far from forming real combat effectiveness, Zhoushan Island simply dispatched an action team and destroyed this cooperative project that had been in operation for more than half a year.

Neither Ji Yuanqing nor Gong Shiqi believed that the local salt merchants' armed forces could develop to a large scale. On the one hand, the government could not sit back and watch civilian armed forces of this nature grow too large. On the other hand, the Spaniards may not have the corresponding weapons and equipment production.

ability to meet development needs. After all, in addition to Yangzhou, it is said that the musketeers that appeared in the Qing army formations in the east of Liaodong are also related to the Spanish, and the demand for weapons there will obviously be several orders of magnitude greater than that in Yangzhou, and it is directly

When confronting the Haihan people, whether it is from an economic benefit or a political perspective, the Spaniards will definitely give priority to their big patrons in the north.

After sorting out and summarizing the conclusions of the interrogation, Shi Diwen sent the investigation progress back to Sanya Victory Fort via the radio, and also took credit for the team that carried out the mission. This operation in Yangzhou actually resulted in casualties.

It is considered relatively tragic. It has rarely appeared in the overseas operations of the intelligence agencies in recent years. However, because the significance of this operation is quite special, the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau did not have much objection to the final result. They believed that Gong

Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing had done the best they could within their capabilities. Casualties were unavoidable under the circumstances and could only be compensated for later in the form of awards and pensions.

"Look, it's the Spaniards again!" Bai Kesi walked into the conference room with the telegram he had just received and said to everyone who was already seated: "The results of the interrogation in Zhejiang have come out. It is indeed the Spaniards who caused trouble and sent people to Yangzhou.

The salt merchants provided weapons, equipment and related military training. Several previous attacks have been confirmed to have been carried out by Yangzhou salt merchants."

"The Spaniards have been very restless in recent months!" Tao Donglai sighed: "They have made disturbances in several places one after another. Could it be that they still want to counterattack north?"

"Isn't that a bit difficult? Our troops stationed in Manila are not rookies. If the Spaniards want to play the trick of attacking from the east and attacking in the west, and sneaking into Chencang secretly, they will hit an iron plate." Yan Chujie expressed objections to Tao Donglai's idea.

I don't think the Spaniards can use these tricks to divert Haihan's troops from the South China Sea, and then take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack Manila.

Moreover, although the current situation in Liaodong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang has successfully attracted the attention of the Executive Committee, this small battle is far from enough to drive Haihan to carry out large-scale cross-regional mobilization of overseas troops. Zhoushan Garrison

It is enough to intimidate the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and protect Haihan's local interests. Even if the war in Liaodong direction is serious, they can be mobilized in Shandong. The North Korean garrison will go north for reinforcements, and it will not reach the level of using the South China Sea garrison.

In fact, although the military has successively transferred several elite troops back to the north after the war in Manila, the troops currently stationed in Manila are still the front-line combat troops of the Haihan Army. Regarding the possibility of the Spanish counterattack, the military

In fact, the Fang side has always been cautious and specially maintained a basically fully-equipped fleet in Manila to ensure its advantage in a sea battle.

Tao Donglai thought it made sense when he heard it, nodded and said: "Lao Yan, what do you think the real purpose of the Spaniards is to carry out these actions?"

Yan Chujie said: "The real purpose should be to try to contain our actions in the north. At present, the partners the Spanish seek to cooperate with basically have direct or indirect conflicts of interest with our country. They provide these forces with weapons and

Military training will eventually affect us. But with the capabilities of the Spanish, even if they try their best, I think they will only cause some minor troubles that are not painful at most, and will not change the international situation in Northeast Asia.

"

"Don't underestimate them." Ning Qi interjected from the side: "The people who cooperate with them may be far more than those we have found so far, otherwise there is no way to explain how they entered these areas to carry out activities."

"You're right." Tao Donglai nodded and agreed with Ning Qi's view: "As for how the Spaniards got in touch with these local forces, we still haven't got a reasonable answer. Lao He, where are you?

Is there any new development?"

He Xi, who had been listening quietly, saw that Tao Donglai finally called his name, and responded: "Several people we captured in Danzhou have spoken one after another, but the circumstances they confessed are a bit special, unlike Ning.

The issues mentioned by the minister just now are also related to a certain extent, but until it is confirmed, I have not planned to write it into a formal report to avoid being led astray in the direction of the investigation by wrong information."

"Tell me first, what did they confess?" Ning Qi asked curiously.

He Xi glanced at Tao Donglai and saw that the other party nodded slightly, then continued: "According to the criminal Xue Zheng and others, they are serving some maritime merchants in the south of the Ming Dynasty. All the equipment, funds, and transportation are

, even their false identities were all provided by these employers, and their role was actually bounty killers. As for why they came to Hainan Island to assassinate the crown prince of Joseon, they didn't know the reason, they were just following orders.

"

"Then they must have also recruited the identities of these employers? What does this have to do with the Spaniards?" Baix asked.

He Xi was silent for a moment and then explained: "But we have never heard of any of the names they gave. It is very likely that they used false identities. As for the relationship with the Spaniards... there are several people in their team.

It comes from Luzon, and it is said that the employer behind it is Spanish."

"This means that the Spaniards not only provided weapons, but also directly participated in the assassination of the Joseon Crown Prince?" Tao Donglai frowned: "What was their purpose in assassinating the Joseon Crown Prince?"
Chapter completed!