Chapter 2226

The seven surnames spent a lot of money to send these children to Zhoushan for military training. On the one hand, they wanted to let them master authentic Haihan military skills and strive to form a combat-effective armed force in Zhoushan, so that they could be deployed immediately after returning to Yangzhou;

On the other hand, they are also required to move the entire Haihan military training system back to Yangzhou after completing their studies, so that they can form and train their own private armed forces in the future.

Therefore, every training that the children of the salt merchants received here will be copied to the training process of their own militia in the future. In order to ensure that there will be no distortion during this transportation process, they must now complete all training items honestly

, personally experience all the details, so that when they train new people in the future, they can be as comfortable as the instructors in front of them.

But using the training standards of the Haihan Army to deal with these pampered salt merchants' children, most of them are still a little overwhelmed. However, this will also give people with better foundations like Dai Chengrong more opportunities to perform.

.When others were exhausted, Dai Chengrong was still able to complete various instructions given by the instructor well.

The children of salt merchants who came to Zhoushan for training all knew that the ultimate goal of this mission was to establish a musketry team, so when they started to use muskets in training, they would consider it a sign of entering the formal training stage. However, the initial excitement quickly faded.

After it faded, they discovered that the gun training only looked impressive, but the intensity was much higher than before.

After the day's training ended, most of the people didn't even have the energy to complain. When they heard Chen Xiaoyu's order to disperse, these people all staggered to sit on the ground. However, after being warned during the previous training, they remembered not to throw away their guns.

When he got to the ground, he still leaned the gun on his shoulder.

When Chen Xiaoyu saw this, he smiled and said, "I'm just asking you to walk around in formation with guns. Is this already unbearable? When we go into battle, we have to carry much more weight than this!"

Someone responded: "Instructor, do you think if someone like us joins the army, will they be kicked out after only a few days of training?"

Chen Xiaoyu didn't want to hit them blindly. He shook his head and said: "As long as there are no serious physical problems, generally speaking we will not kick people out during recruit training. If the performance is not good enough, then we can practice more

.What you learned today will be practiced every day for more than two months. When you practice for a long enough time, you won't be as weak as you are now."

Everyone looked bitter when they heard that this kind of training would last for the entire training period. Most of them had never been so tired since they were born. Thinking that such days would continue.

After more than two months, it is naturally difficult to be in a good mood.

Even Dai Chengrong, who was relatively adaptable to this, couldn't help but feel a little sad at the moment. He had only heard about the glorious achievements of the Haihan Army before, but he had never thought about the price it would take to build such a strong army. However,

As Chen Xiaoyu said, if you practice for another month or two and get used to the training intensity, you may not feel how hard it is.

Duan Tiancheng did not stay to encourage these exhausted trainees. He was notified that he had to go to the staff headquarters for a meeting immediately, and hurried over after the training.

As the chief instructor of this group of people, Duan Tiancheng does not need to do everything personally. He just formulates a training plan and then leaves it to his subordinates Chen Xiaoyu and others to implement it step by step. However, he still has to be there to watch during the training.

In order to make real-time adjustments to the training program according to the progress of the students.

Although Duan Tiancheng is a naval officer, the training programs for new recruits that include basic military skills are actually the same for both the army and the navy, so if he is in charge of the training content for the children of salt merchants, there will be no problem of professional incompatibility.

It is reported that today's meeting will be hosted by Shi Diwen himself, but there was no news beforehand. This means that there is relatively important news to be announced in Zhoushan. When Duan Tiancheng arrived, the participants had basically arrived.

We all sat down and waited for Shi Diwen to appear.

Next to Duan Tiancheng was Ji Yuanqing from the Military Intelligence Bureau. When he saw the other party's serious expression, he asked, "What happened when a meeting was suddenly called?"

Ji Yuanqing obviously knew some inside information, but he refused to reveal it to him at this time. He just said vaguely: "It's not Zhoushan's business. Let's wait for General Shi to talk about it later."

"It's not about Zhoushan?" Duan Tiancheng frowned slightly when he heard this. Generally speaking, only when an emergency military situation occurs, Shi Diwen will personally order such an emergency meeting. But this matter did not happen in Zhoushan, but it made Shi Diwen

If Wen attaches so much importance to it, what exactly is the situation?

After a while, a soldier shouted at the door: "General Shi is here!"

Upon hearing this, the officers in the conference room immediately stood up, raised their heads and chests, and greeted Shi Diwen's arrival with military salutes.

After entering the room, Shi Diwen also raised his hand to return the salute, and then asked everyone to take their seats.

"This impromptu meeting was held because we got some intelligence news today. I think everyone here needs to be informed." Shi Diwen said in a deep voice: "There are foreign merchant ships coming to Zhoushan from Japan bringing information about the Hirado Domain.

The latest news.”

Almost all of the officers present here participated in the previous expedition to Hirado, and their ears immediately pricked up when they heard Shi Diwen's words.

The one who brought the news to Zhoushan was a Portuguese merchant ship from Nagasaki Port. After setting off from Nagasaki Port, this ship made a special detour north to Hirado. However, its purpose was not to inquire about Hirado.

The domain's follow-up response was that the owner of this merchant ship still had some cargo stored in Hirado Port. Although he had learned that the entire Hirado Port and the city had been destroyed by the war, he still wanted to try his luck again.

After going to Hirado, the merchant ship crossed the sea to Zhoushan Port. When the port authority learned that the ship was coming from Japan, it immediately informed the military, and then the Military Intelligence Bureau visited the ship owner and learned from him

After getting first-hand information there, they quickly reported it to Shi Diwen. Shi Diwen believed that this matter must be paid enough attention, so he immediately notified relevant people to convene a meeting.

"According to the description of the ship owner, the Lord of Hirado Domain, Tagawasuke, has returned to the local area and organized manpower to clean up the ruins of the city. However, the project to rebuild Hirado is too large, and the local population loss is serious. It is estimated that they will not be able to start it in a while.

.”

After this news came out from Shi Diwen's mouth, there was a sigh in the conference room.

After the Allied Forces captured Hirado Island, the Fujian Navy fleet led by Xu Yuzhuo defeated the main force of the Hirado Navy at Qiya Bay east of Hirado Island. Although they failed to capture the key figure of the Hirado Domain, Tagawa, in that battle

Father and son, but due to supply problems, the coalition forces could no longer station themselves in Hirado for a long time, and they were worried that the Hizen Diet would gather strength to launch a counterattack, so they voluntarily evacuated the area.

As for the life and death of Tagawasuke, the leader of the Hirado Domain, because there was no way to verify whether he had died in the Battle of Kataya Bay, the coalition command only listed him as a missing target at that time. However, many people hoped that Tagawasuke would die quietly to eliminate hidden dangers.

This hidden danger in the direction of Japan.

But things went against expectations. Tagawasuke's life seemed to be quite strong. Two months after Haihan withdrew his troops and returned to the camp, he showed up again. This was indeed a pity for Haihan's officers.

Shi Diwen tapped the table lightly, signaling everyone to stop, and then continued: "This is indeed disappointing news. For us, the survival of Tagawa Suke, or the Tagawa family, means hidden dangers

They still exist, and even if they no longer threaten our security now, in the long run, these hidden dangers still have to be eliminated."

Shi Diwen paused after saying this, looked at everyone in the room and said: "Taking into account all factors, we probably won't launch another expedition of the same scale in the short term, so I hope to hear your opinions.

How to deal with this matter."

The last Eastern Expedition to Hirado plundered a large amount of local property and people after the war, and basically earned back all the military expenses consumed during the operation. The East China Sea Fleet even made a small profit in the accounts calculated afterwards. But if it were to be attacked again

In Hirado, the local bustling area is already in ruins, and there are no areas where a large number of people live on the island to plunder. The cross-sea expedition will definitely lose money. Unless ordered by the Executive Committee, Shi Diwen will definitely not take the initiative again.

The troops are raised.

However, among Haihan's ruling areas on the coastline of East Asia, the one closest to Hirado is Zhoushan Dinghai Port, and it is also the most likely target of retaliation from the other side in the future. Shi Diwen has to be on guard against this. So he

We also need to listen to the opinions of our subordinates to see if we should continue to use military measures against Hirado.

"General, I have a question. Since Hirado has been destroyed by us, and the main forces of the Hirado clan and armed fleet have also been annihilated, it can be said that the Tagawa family has completely lost power, and Tagawa Suke's methods for ascending to the throne are inherently tricky and unjust.

If your words don’t go your way, then why don’t other clans in Hizen Kingdom take this opportunity to take their place?”

Duan Tiancheng's mind turned quickly and he was the first to ask the question. Tagawasuke came to power because the original feudal lord, the Matsuura clan, inexplicably suffered a mass murder. In Haihan's opinion, it was most likely that Tagawasuke directed and acted on his own.

It's just a good show to seize power and position.

Although the Hizen Kingdom to which the Hirado Domain belongs did not raise any objections to this, there must be many people who are eyeing the fat piece of Hirado. However, it is just because Tagawasuke's domain army is equipped with a large number of muskets and artillery and Taira, who is known as the number one in Kyushu.

The Tomizu Army is not very good at seizing power openly. The coalition forces organized by Haihan almost wiped out all the armed forces under Tagawasuke. Under this situation, no one took action against him, which made Duan Tiancheng feel a little bit.

Surprised.

Shi Diwen responded: "As for the power structure within Hizen Country, we have too little information, and it is difficult to confirm whether other clans intend to replace Tagawasuke. But I think Tagawasuke can continue to maintain his position.

There is a reason that deserves our attention, and that is that his subordinates are likely to still have the production technology of muskets and artillery. If he is willing to exchange this, he is also likely to receive support from Hizen."

During the battle on Hirado Island, the coalition forces only destroyed an artillery casting workshop on Hirado Island, but did not find the Hirado Domain's musket production workshop. According to the information obtained from the subsequent interrogation of prisoners, the Hirado Domain's musket workshop

It was set up in its territory on Kyushu Island, somewhere secretly deep inland. In order not to trigger a counterattack from Hizen Country, the coalition forces almost never set foot on Kyushu Island during this combat operation, so naturally they could not destroy it.

The musket workshop of the Hirado clan.

It is currently unknown how much weapons inventory the Hirado Domain still has, but it is conceivable that they may still be able to organize new armed forces after the war. And other forces in the Hizen Kingdom want to replace the Tagawa clan to rule the Hirado Domain

, and probably will still be wary of the armed strength of his subordinates.

At that moment, someone asked: "Is it possible for Nada Chuansuke to achieve a quick turnaround with the help of this special resource?"

Shi Diwen responded: "The prosperity of the Hirado clan in the past was not due to their possession of muskets and artillery, but to their special trade status in Japan. They have now lost their main source of financial resources, whether it was manufacturing weapons or recruiting manpower to rebuild the army.

They all require a lot of money, and I think it is unlikely that they will be able to return to their pre-war level of armament in a short period of time."

Someone else asked: "What else can the Portuguese businessmen gain from Hirado? For example, whether the local area will restart foreign trade activities, so that we can arrange our own manpower to go and gather information."

Shi Diwen responded: "As I said before, the project to rebuild Hirado Port is huge, and the entire city was burned to rubble by us, so it will be very difficult for them to restart trade activities in the near future. But you

It makes sense, we can find a few merchant ships that have been visiting Hirado all year round and arrange for our people to go there to get more detailed information."

After occupying the area, the Haihan Army made a detailed registration of local Han merchants. Most of them chose to withdraw to the Ming Dynasty under the "escort" of the Haihan Army and followed the East China Sea Fleet to

There are also many people on Zhoushan Island. These businessmen have personally experienced the war and are well aware of the power of the Haihan Army. If the military came forward to ask these businessmen to cooperate in the field of intelligence, I believe no one would dare to refuse.

However, considering the distance between the two places, it is difficult to guarantee the timeliness of the information obtained. For example, the information brought to Zhoushan by Portuguese businessmen this time was already about ten days ago and can only be used as countermeasures.

A reference, if we use it as a basis to formulate combat operations, the reliability will be much worse.

Ji Yuanqing, as the head of the local military intelligence department, responded very knowingly: "I accept the order from my humble position. I will find someone to make arrangements later and send a ship to Hirado as soon as possible to find out what's going on."
Chapter completed!