Chapter 2037

Because the appearance of the Spanish sailing ship is too obvious, if it is discovered by the Haihan Navy during the long voyage between the South China Sea and Liaodong, it will be pursued mercilessly. And the destinations of the colonial authorities' military assistance to the outside world are...

Haihan Navy operates in sea areas frequently, so in order to reduce the risk of being discovered by Haihan as much as possible, arms and personnel from the Philippines to these destinations are secretly transported through Chinese-style sailing ships provided by middlemen.

But the problem is that this middleman is not a simple role. These underground forces who call themselves maritime merchants are willing to take risks to bridge the gap between all parties. Of course, they also have their own interests and demands. For example, they also have military assistance provided by the colonial authorities.

You want to take a share of the benefits.

This kind of sharing of benefits is not just about earning the price difference from the arms trade, but means that while the Spaniards provide military assistance to other forces, they must also provide them with equivalent weapons, equipment and personnel training support. In other words, these serve as

Maritime merchants who were middlemen were also recipients of military assistance from the colonial authorities.

In fact, Bayano has never quite understood why the Governor trusted these unidentified middlemen so much that he agreed to so many conditions. Although these maritime merchants have great skills and eyes, they have never made it clear to Bayano

His true identity made it difficult for Bayano to establish enough mutual trust with him.

But this is also the only information channel through which Bayano currently gets in touch with the Philippine colonial authorities. No matter how much he distrusts these intermediaries, he can only hand over the secret letters he wrote to them and send them to the distant port of Cebu. And in the news

Within a few months of traveling between the two places, he basically had no choice but to wait in Liaodong.

The demands put forward by Azig are indeed reasonable, but they are not easy to realize. What Bayano can do to help the Qing army now is probably to slightly exaggerate the effects of some military assistance. In this way

It may allow the colonial authorities to increase their efforts in supplying weapons and equipment.

The other party in this confrontation did not feel that it had won a great victory. In fact, this was the military operation with the largest casualties among the Haihan Army since the end of the Korean War last year. Moreover, it was the military who performed this mission.

The Marine Corps, one of the elites in China and regarded as the ace amphibious force by the Ministry of Defense, still inevitably suffered a relatively large number of casualties under the pursuit and encirclement of the Qing army.

This is not because Wang Tom underestimated the enemy when deploying his troops, nor is it because Sun Bing was too reckless when he decided to launch an attack. This operation needs to go deep behind enemy lines. In order to maintain concealment and not send too many troops, there is already a relatively large

The risk is worth it compared to the expected results. Even if Sun Bing is asked to make a choice again, he will definitely choose to take action and will not let go of such a rare opportunity, but he did not expect the retreat process.

It turned out to be so tragic that he almost couldn't escape.

According to the retreat route planned in advance, the fleet did not go eastward back to the Korean Peninsula after leaving the shore, but quickly turned southwest and sailed towards Jinzhou.

When formulating the evacuation plan, Sun Bing, as the commander of the operation, certainly considered the need to treat the wounded nearby. However, it would undoubtedly take too long to return to the Datong River base across the entire Yellow Sea, and the medical conditions on the ship were limited, which was not conducive to the treatment of the wounded.

Treatment. Therefore, after retreating, it is the most sensible thing to go directly to Dalian Bay in Jinzhou under the control of Haihan.

At that time, Sun Bing did not expect that his side's casualties would be so serious. The deck of the troop transport was almost full of wounded soldiers, and the few military doctors and medical soldiers on board were all very busy, trying their best to deal with the casualties.

Wounded soldiers receive medical treatment.

The two injuries on Sun Bing's body have received basic treatment. The arrows were pulled out, the wounds were disinfected, and then bandaged with gauze and trauma medicine. Although the injuries on his arms and legs were not minor, they were all good.

The muscles and large blood vessels were not injured, but he was temporarily unable to move and needed to rest for a period of time to recover.

It's not like he hasn't been injured in battle since he joined the army, but the situation this time was undoubtedly more dangerous. If the injury on his arm had been more skewed, he might have been stabbed to the core on the spot. But no matter what, he finally

Sun Bing also felt very lucky to have left the beach alive. But thinking about the casualties this time, he couldn't feel relaxed.

After the ship left the coast, Sun Bing immediately ordered each squadron to count the number of people and compile the list of missing and casualties. Although this combat operation achieved its goal, the price paid was really high. Sun Bing felt that

It is also generally known that how to explain to Tom Wang after returning home will also be a very troublesome task.

The shortest voyage from the retreat point to the dock in Dalian Bay was only more than twenty nautical miles, which was quite a short distance. The fleet arrived at its destination before dark.

After receiving the news, the officials who rushed to the dock to greet the troops were Wei Lin from the Military Intelligence Bureau and Liu Shang, who manages local civil affairs propaganda affairs. The local administrative officer Sha Xi is currently handling official business in Lushun and will definitely not be able to come for a while.

The chief military officer, Chen Yixin, went to inspect the isthmus defense line in the north. It is estimated that he will not return until nightfall at the earliest.

Most of the people who got off the two troop carriers were injured, and many of them were even carried off on stretchers. This scene also made Wei Lin and Liu Shang a little dumbfounded. They had long been accustomed to the triumphal return of the Haihan Army.

The scene of the return was very rare to see such a tragic scene. For a moment, I couldn't help but think that this unit was withdrawn from the front line after being defeated.

When they saw Commander Sun Bing being carried off on a stretcher, Liu Shang and Wei Lin were both shocked. The Marine Corps had been stationed in Jinzhou for a short time, and Sun Bing was already considered a senior officer in this special force.

, naturally many people recognize him.

The two people hurried forward to inquire about the situation. Sun Bing immediately struggled to sit up from the stretcher, signaled the soldier carrying the stretcher to put him down, and explained to Liu Wei and Liu Wei: "There was an arrow in both his left hand and left leg. He is on crutches."

There is nothing I can do, so I can only lie on a stretcher."

Liu Shang said with a worried look on his face: "With so many people injured, could it be that this operation did not go well?"

Sun Bing did not deliberately hide it, nodded and said: "We encountered some troubles when we retreated. We were driven back seven or eight miles by thousands of Tatars. Fortunately, there were ships at sea to meet us. Otherwise, these brothers would have to explain where they are.

.”

Liu Shang didn't know about Sun Bing's secret mission, but Wei Lin next to him knew the inside story very well. After the patrol was attacked earlier, he was the one who followed up on the follow-up investigation. The Marine Corps was in the north

The Qing army has been lurking in the area controlled by the Qing army for a long time. This time it suddenly withdrew from the north in disgrace. It was obvious that its whereabouts had been exposed and it was no longer possible to lurk in the area. However, in front of Liu Shang, an outsider, Wei Lin did not

In order to ask how the mission was completed, I could only offer a few words of comfort and let Sun Bing recover from his injuries in Jinzhou.

Sun Bing lay back on the stretcher, remembered something again, and said to Wei Lin: "We have captured a few Tatar prisoners. Go and take them in quickly. If you delay for a long time, something will happen."

Welin knew as soon as he heard that the condition of the prisoners was not ideal, and immediately took someone to hand over the prisoners. Usually, prisoners captured by combat troops are handed over to the Military Intelligence Bureau for subsequent interrogation, but this time the Marine Corps

The miserable situation when they returned, it was obvious that it took a lot of trouble to capture him alive and bring him back alive.

Sun Bing and other injured people were sent to a nearby field hospital as soon as possible after disembarking from the ship, where their injuries would be further treated. The statistics on casualties also became more accurate later.

There are a total of twenty-seven people missing in the battle. These people were unable to board the ship and are undoubtedly in bad luck. They should be included in the list of casualties in the official battle report later. In addition, there are five people on the ship who have passed away due to injuries.

He died before returning to Jinzhou, so the number of casualties should be 32 so far. The number of wounded is even higher, with two-thirds of the survivors suffering from varying degrees of injuries.

The injuries of more than ten people are not optimistic. Even if they can be successfully treated, most of them will have to retire due to injuries.

However, the field hospital in Jinzhou has the strongest medical force in the northern region. When Dr. Morgan was stationed here, he specially trained a group of surgeons for the field hospital. Most of the medical staff who were transferred to North Korea last year also

We have returned here before the end of the year, so there is no doubt about the level of treatment the wounded can receive locally.

When Liu Shang went to arrange logistics affairs for the Marine Corps, Wei Lin followed Sun Bing to the field hospital. Those prisoners had been taken back to the Military Intelligence Station for interrogation by his men, and he still had to learn more from Sun Bing.

Detailed situation.

"Fortunately, we have lived up to our fate. The Tatar musketeers have been wiped out by us." Sun Bing said calmly: "But there were a few survivors, including their commander."

Wei Lin immediately thought of why the Marines retreated to Jinzhou in such a mess: "So you defeated the Musketeers first, and then were chased all the way to the seaside by the enemy's large forces?"

Sun Bing nodded and said: "There is nothing we can do about it. The place where we start is about ten miles away from the Tatar camp in Jinshitan. To reach the retreat point, we have to climb over a large mountainous area, but the Tatars came to intercept us.

Get closer. I didn’t expect that they would mobilize thousands of people... If we can buy an extra hour or two, maybe we can get back unscathed."

Sun Bing spoke calmly at this time, but Wei Lin could not easily imagine the critical situation of the Marines being pursued by the Qing army on the front line. The Marines with only more than a hundred people could still escape pursuit under such a huge disparity in strength.

Withdrawing back to the sea is already considered a good performance. Just looking at the bandages on Sun Bing's hands and feet, you know that this battle will not be easy. After all, in the past battles with the Qing army, it was rare for the opponent to take advantage of him like this.

When it's time to get upwind.

However, being able to eliminate the musketry team of the Qing army was definitely a surprise. Originally, the purpose of sending the Marine Corps was just to find out the situation of the musketeer team, but Sun Bing simply did it in one step and seized the opportunity to eliminate it.

Target, this indeed saved the Haihan military a lot of trouble, and it also eliminated a hidden danger that made the Liaodong garrison anxious.

Wei Lin asked: "Brother Sun, can you find out how the opponent obtained this weapon and where the instructor came from?"

Sun Bing said: "The instructor looks like a Westerner, and he doesn't understand the Tatar language. He always needs a translator to communicate with others. He must have just arrived in Liaodong not long ago. As for how they obtained their weapons, that probably needs to be investigated by your Military Intelligence Bureau.

Understood. I have got all the witnesses and physical evidence for you. If you still can’t find out the details of the other party, then you can write a report to Sanya yourself!"

Wei Lin said with a smile: "I didn't think that if Brother Sun had detailed information, we would write a report together later and ask for credit for Brother Sun!"

Sun Bing sighed and said: "I don't care, but it's a pity that many brothers have lost their lives in this battle. If we had planned more carefully in advance, maybe so many people could have been avoided."

Wei Lin put away his smile and persuaded: "If the earthen jar is not broken outside the well, the general will inevitably die in battle. He will die for the country and be buried in horse leather. This is the fate of our generation. These brothers will be able to enter the Hall of Heroes in the future and be worshiped by the people of the country for a long time.

It’s not in vain for them to fight to the death in Liaodong! My condolences to Brother Sun, I will definitely need you to make overall arrangements for the aftermath.”

Sun Bing nodded and said: "This is Sun's responsibility, no need to say more. By the way, when can I see General Chen?"

Wei Lin said: "General Chen is going to inspect the isthmus defense line today. When you arrive at the port, I have sent people to the front line to inform the general. He should be back tonight. He may be on the way by this time."

As Wei Lin expected, Chen Yixin rushed back in a horse-drawn carriage after receiving the news. Chen Yixin naturally knew about the secret operations of the Marine Corps in the enemy-occupied area in the north, and had always maintained contact with Wang Tom via telegram.

Before this, Chen Yixin was not very optimistic about the prospects of the operation, because this kind of reconnaissance operation behind enemy lines was extremely risky. It would be good to be able to confirm the existence of the Musketeers. It would be too risky to force the operation under the eyes of the enemy.

, and the chances of success are also limited.

Therefore, Chen Yixin once suggested that Wang Tom should either directly send troops to fight a traditional amphibious battle after confirming the whereabouts of the Qing army's musketeers, using large troops to eat up the opponent, or else he should not expose his whereabouts at all and continue to lurk in the local area to observe and wait for the opponent

The next time they are dispatched to perform a combat mission, they will send back key information and let the Jinzhou garrison come forward to eliminate this musketry team.

But in the end, the actual situation did not seem to develop as Chen Yixin expected. The Marine Corps did use force, but it was a small group of people lurking in the local area who took the initiative. The news he received at the isthmus defense line did not provide details.

Regarding the battle situation, the messenger only said that the situation of the Marines who had withdrawn to Jinzhou did not seem to be very good. This made Chen Yixin quite worried, and he immediately changed his original itinerary and rushed back.
Chapter completed!