Chapter 2335

In terms of the purpose of the operation, this mission is indeed relatively simple. It is simply called "rob". Send out troops to rob food, money, and people. As long as you take away everything that can be robbed from Hirado, it will be considered complete.

Task.

Of course, the significance of this kind of action is not just to act as a bandit and rob. On the one hand, it is to train the actual combat capabilities of the new Korean army. On the other hand, it is to continue to weaken the Hirado clan and the local Shiba Shiba remnants and continue to bleed them.

, making it impossible for the Hirado clan to quickly recover its strength.

Especially for the latter purpose, if the Haihan Army were to personally dispatch it, it would definitely be a loss-making deal. It would be better to leave such combat tasks that do not require high combat effectiveness to the CCP Army.

The Hirado navy had been wiped out before this, and the Korean army did not have to worry about a battle breaking out at sea. Even if they encountered strong resistance after landing locally, they could at least withdraw from the sea safely, and there would not be much security.

problem.

After Shin Hak-yi and An Do-seok took over the mission, they still felt as if they were in a dream. A year ago, North Korea was still in the predicament of invasion by foreign enemies and needed help from other countries to barely save the country. But a year later, North Korea unexpectedly wanted to

Sending troops alone to attack their old enemy Japan was something they had never dared to think about before.

However, there was one detail that made them slightly regretful, that is, the imperial court required that the North Korean troops participating in the war should not use flags to identify themselves, in order to prevent such looting operations in local areas from being regarded by the Japanese shogunate as a signal for war between the two countries. Although this

In their opinion, it actually smells a little bit of deception, but the Japanese did this in the past. After sending troops to plunder the southeastern coastal areas of North Korea, they just blamed it on the pirates. Even if North Korea was unhappy, it could not do this.

for going to war with Japan.

Of course, if the Japanese shogunate does not follow this trick and wants to seize this opportunity to settle accounts with North Korea, then the Haihan army will not stand idly by. Ando Shi, who has studied in Haihan for a year, even has a vague feeling that the Haihan people may

I wish the Japanese shogunate would cause trouble so that they would have sufficient reason to launch further military operations against Japan.

At present, there are only more than a thousand new troops available for deployment for this operation. It is not safe to rely on this manpower alone, so other troops must be mobilized to cooperate during the operation. Especially the navy that needs to be mobilized to cross the sea to Hirado, even more

It is necessary to make overall arrangements, otherwise this round trip of thousands of miles is likely to become the riskiest link in the entire operation.

As for how much supplies and people this operation needs to snatch back from Hirado in order to break even or even make a profit, Adoshi and Shin Hak-yi actually don't pay much attention to this issue. What they value more is the symbolic significance of taking action against Japan.

, and economic benefits are obviously not the primary consideration.

Haihan selected two officers from each of the navy and army who participated in this year's campaign against Hirado to participate in the formulation of the combat plan as military advisors. As for the combat troops, Wang Tom kept his word and did not plan to send out

Organized troops are involved in this mission.

It was not just the officers who received the mission who were enthusiastic about this plan. Soon Li Zhen could not hold back and personally participated in the formulation process of the combat plan. He also went to the Military Academy to observe for a period of time while studying abroad in Sanya.

He also took theoretical classes and went to the municipal library from time to time to read up on many previous battle reports of the Haihan Army. Although he was not as good as experienced military generals, Li Zhi was also good at such paper-talking activities as formulating battle plans.

Can you give me some pointers?

Of course, there is another reason why Li Zhi will not say it openly, that is, he is indeed a little worried. It has been less than a year since he established this new army. What is the level of combat effectiveness? It has not yet been tested in actual combat.

Li Zhi was also a little worried about whether this unit could carry out overseas combat missions, so he wanted to personally inquire about the matter.

After Wang Tom heard the news, he was not too surprised. Anyway, the combat plan formulated by the Joint Command will eventually be submitted to him for approval, so there is no need to worry about Li Zhen, an amateur leader and an expert, coming up with some incredible action plans. Since

Li Zhi is so concerned about this matter, it can also reduce some troubles for the military and get stronger support in the deployment of materials and personnel.

Compared with the task assigned to the North Korean Army, the next combat mission to be performed by the Haihan Army is the highlight of this winter.

As the situation in Seoul gradually calms down, the troops that went south from the Datong River base to quell the chaos this time are also preparing to withdraw. According to the habits gradually formed in the past few years, the Haihan Army will conduct another attack on the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula before winter.

Mopping up as a routine end-of-year military training.

The two elite units of the Special Operations Group and the Marine Corps will continue to act as the main force in this operation. Although most of the time the Manchus are unable to organize a decent defense line on the long coastline, they will also gather some troops and horses near the coast.

in the county town to resist the harassment of Haihan's small landing force.

When the Haihan Army landed in areas controlled by the Qing Dynasty, they usually moved in and out quickly, and did not spend time chewing some hard bones with relatively complete defense methods. Therefore, in this kind of mopping up operations, large-scale battles usually did not break out.

The local governments of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties all contracted their defenses in order to protect themselves, waiting for the Haihan army to plunder almost everything and withdrawing on their own, just like the attitude of the troops on the northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty towards the Qing army's southern invasion.

Of course, the initiative has always been in the hands of Haihan whether to attack large targets such as the county seat. If he was determined to capture a city near the coastline, it would be difficult for the local Qing army to withstand Haihan's thunderous offensive. It's just that

Such targets have limited value, and if they are defeated, they are not worth sending troops to garrison for a long time. The Haihan Army, which has limited troops, has always had little interest in this.

In the last winter operation, the Marine Corps entered enemy-occupied areas and successfully took out an established musketeer team of the Qing army. This was also the most intense confrontation with the Qing army in previous winter operations.

But what really worries Haihan is not how many musketeers like this there are in the Qing army, but whether the Hirado clan has taught the Manchus the latest technology in manufacturing flintlock muskets and artillery.

There were also some weapons craftsmen among the Ming army who defected to Liaodong during the Denglai Rebellion, but the ordnance technology they brought to Liaodong was still relatively primitive, and the weapons they produced had limited performance. Firearms troops could only be used as auxiliary arms on the battlefield.

, it is also difficult to pose a threat to the Haihan Army. Later, the Qing army's musketry team that attacked the Haihan patrol on the Jinzhou defense line was equipped with flintlock muskets from the Hirado Domain. If the relevant manufacturing technology flowed into the Manchu and Qing Dynasties,

, which means that the Manchu Qing Dynasty will begin to train a large number of musketeers, which will be a very dangerous situation for Haihan.

Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun believe that the possibility of this situation happening is not small. In the future, the Qing troops stationed in the Liaodong Peninsula will only become more and more difficult to deal with. Therefore, they must now intensify their efforts to attack the coastal areas of the Liaodong Peninsula and let the Qing troops stationed there

It was more difficult for the tens of thousands of Qing troops north of the state to obtain supplies and civilians nearby, which indirectly weakened their combat effectiveness.

So this winter, they are preparing to conduct a large-scale mopping up operation, allowing Chen Yixin to launch a feint attack on the Jinzhou Isthmus to contain the Qing troops stationed in the area. The Datong River garrison will clean up the Liaodong coast from east to west. .

This operation is codenamed "Treading Snow". Wang Tom expects that the navy and army will invest at least 6,000 troops in the operation, and the entire operation may last until the end of the year.

Although the Haihan Army has an absolute advantage in combat effectiveness, the size of the army stationed in the north is still far from enough to launch a war of annihilation against the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It is only a 700-mile journey from Jinzhou to Shenyang. Such strategic depth is enough to rely heavily on logistics. The supply-laden Haihan Army retreated. Therefore, raiding and harassing operations in coastal areas have become the main method used by the Haihan Army to attack the Manchu Qing Dynasty at this stage.

After reporting to Sanya, the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense expressed support for this action plan and required the participating troops to verify during the operation whether the Manchu Qing had obtained the military technology of the Hirado Domain.

"To determine whether they have obtained the technology of the Hirado clan, there is only one way to fight them with real swords and guns!" Wang Tom understood Sanya's requirements quite thoroughly.

The state spent a lot of money to deploy the most elite troops in the Liaodong region. Of course, it was not for the sake of decoration, but to allow them to effectively curb the expansion of the Qing Dynasty, so as to reduce the military pressure on the Ming Dynasty and in exchange for the Ming Dynasty's control over the Qing Dynasty. Haihan's tacit approval of various privileges in coastal areas. As for the most effective means of containment, of course it is military strikes.

After reading the telegram, Qian Tiandun also agreed with Wang Tom's understanding: "This year, the Qing army has been surprisingly quiet in the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula. They have hardly launched large-scale offensives against the isthmus defense line. I also feel that they seem to be quietly holding back It’s a big move. We can’t let them live too comfortably this winter.”

Developing a large-scale cross-regional combat plan is not an easy task, and it also requires coordinated actions with the Jinzhou garrison in time, which places extremely high demands on the naval fleet responsible for cross-sea projection missions. Fortunately, targeting Liaodong Strike operations along the coast of the peninsula have become an annual routine. The participating troops are already familiar with such combat methods. Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun have less worries when formulating combat plans.

In order to ensure the confidentiality of the Snow Stepping Operation, they even deliberately did not report it to North Korea to avoid leaks. Although Li Zhi was a little confused by Haihan's indifference to the harvest of Hirado, he never imagined that their attention was actually on the matter. On the Manchu and Qing side.

When Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun led their troops to evacuate Seoul, preparations for war in Jinzhou, Liaodong were already in full swing.

As the ice-free port with the best port conditions in the Liaodong Peninsula, Lushun Port carries supplies and personnel from the entire Jinzhou region in and out every winter. It is especially busy during wartime. Recently, three or four ships from Zhifu Port in Dengzhou, Shandong Province have been arriving every day or two recently. The cargo ship arrived at Port Arthur, where it unloaded a large amount of grain and other materials, and then transported some local specialties to the south for cash.

Rice from Jiangsu and Zhejiang and local flour from Shandong were unloaded on the dock together, and then transported by military convoys to the front line of the Jinzhou Isthmus a hundred miles away.

These high-quality grains are purchased by the government and are exclusively supplied to combat troops and will not be sold in the local market. However, for the merchants who handle this matter, this is a big difference. After all, the military’s purchase price

It is much higher than the private transaction price.

But unlike the fiercely competitive southern colonies, there is no suspense about the ownership of these local fertilizers. The organization of grain procurement and transportation in Shandong is all handled by the Ma family of Fushan County. Yes, that’s right, this Ma family is the right one.

It's Chen Yixin's father-in-law's family.

Since joining the tall branch of Chen Yixin, the Ma family has soared into the sky. In just two or three years, it has become the leading local tycoon in Fushan County. Even Majiazhuang has become a well-known material distribution center in Denglai area.

.

Chen Yixin planned to take his wife back to the south for development two years ago, but Victory Fort transferred him from Shandong to Liaodong with a transfer order, responsible for guarding the Jinzhou Isthmus defense line. Later, both Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun went to North Korea, so

The entire Jinzhou, together with the Zhifu Island area in the south, was also placed under his rule.

The mountains are high, the emperor is far away, and Chen Yixin has great power, so he naturally gives up the idea of ​​going south to develop, and simply settles down to run a good business in the north. He has no foundation in the north, so naturally he has to vigorously support his family, and the Ma family is taking advantage of it.

This shareholder style has led to many lucrative deals.

However, as long as it involves military procurement orders, Chen Yixin will keep an extremely close eye on them and will ask the Ma family to handle them in a watertight manner.

The person who came with the ship to escort the goods this time was Jiang Sheng, the brother-in-law of Chen Yixin’s father-in-law. After arriving at the port to complete the inspection and handover, Jiang Sheng rented a caravan from the carriage and horse shop and rushed to the Haihan Army Camp in the Jinzhou Isthmus.

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Jiang Sheng arrived at the camp, showed his identity in a familiar manner, and entered the camp to see Chen Yixin.

Chen Yixin was a little surprised to see Jiang Sheng appear, and immediately retreated his men and asked Jiang Sheng's purpose. He knew that with Jiang Sheng's identity, if he didn't have important matters, he would definitely not come so far to see him in person, he would just send someone

Just send a letter over here.

"It's about the Fushan Copper Mine." Jiang Sheng took a sip of tea and explained his purpose straight to the point. He knew that Chen Yixin was busy with official duties and had no time to listen to his long talk.

"The Dengzhou Prefecture sent someone over and said that it was the imperial court's decree that the Fushan Copper Mine should be returned to the Ming Dynasty. They asked us to stop work and evacuate as soon as possible. If we exceed the deadline, we will be punished as disobeying the decree. I discussed it with your father-in-law.

, I feel that if the other party wants to forcefully attack, Fushan County may fall into war again, so I made a special trip to Jinzhou to find you for a solution."

After hearing this, Chen Yixin sighed and said: "The imperial court's will? I think these people want to get rich and want to go crazy. They just make up any excuse and want to take away the mine... How can there be such a cheap good thing in the world!"
Chapter completed!