Chapter 2342

After capturing Zhuanghe County, the Haihan Army then launched a dragnet-like sweep of villages within a few miles of the county. Perhaps because of the existence of the county government office, the proportion of Manchus in this area was obviously higher than elsewhere.

There are more cases of armed resistance.

However, the strength gap between the two sides is too great. It is not difficult for the Haihan Army to defeat these rural armed forces. However, in order to ensure safety, after capturing these Manchus, they must be separated from the Han civilians, and more troops must be allocated to perform escort tasks.

, it can be considered a minor trouble.

But for the commander, this kind of trouble that can be solved by simply sending more manpower is not a problem at all. The real trouble that is difficult to deal with now is the increasingly cold weather conditions in Liaodong.

It would be fine if the weather was just cold. After all, elite units like the special operations group were given cold-weather clothing and sufficient food and supplies were prepared. However, the snowfall in the Liaodong region caused trouble to the infantry marching in the wild. It was not that troublesome.

Easy to solve.

After landing, the special operations group spent most of their time operating inland twenty or thirty miles away from the coastline, and in order to grab time, they had to march quickly between towns and villages, so mobility was particularly important. The Datong River Base

Almost all of the war horses raised were used in this operation, but even so, it was still far from being able to solve the mobility needs of the troops.

Even if the packhorses snatched from towns along the way are included during the operation, only about one-fifth of the troops are currently able to ride forward. When the weather is fine, the impact is not too great, but snowfall has begun to fall frequently in Liaodong recently, and it is necessary to accumulate snow before

Long-distance marching and camping in the snowy wilderness are extremely inconvenient. What's more, an army like the Haihan Army that relies heavily on the logistics system must keep supply channels open at all times, and it is also difficult to transport combat supplies from the sea to the inland after snowfall.

It has increased a lot, and the commander has to invest more manpower in the logistics support link.

"If it snows like this for two or three days in a row, we will probably have to withdraw our troops in advance." Qian Tiandun patted the snowflakes on his shoulders and said with concern: "The infantry's marching speed in the field has been reduced by half.

, but the situation is still very difficult, and it is difficult to push it through as smoothly as it was a few days ago."

Wang Tom said: "How about withdrawing the main force to the sea first, leaving only a small number of cavalry to operate on land, and then reorganizing the landing at the next location."

Qian Tiandun said: "Going back to the sea is certainly a solution, but if we do this, we may have to abandon those villages and towns located inland."

Withdrawing the main force of the troops to the sea for maneuvers will definitely be better than the current march situation, and it can also solve the problem of logistical supply. If it is only a one or two-day operation against near-shore targets, then a single-soldier operation

The supplies are basically enough. But if they want to go to targets dozens of miles away from the coastline, the landing troops will definitely have to carry more supplies, and even need to dispatch vehicles such as carriages. The snow in the wilderness will become a logistics

Supply obstacles.

According to the information obtained from the county government, many villages and towns under the county seat are located in the interior of the mountainous area to the north of the county seat. A round trip from the county seat is estimated to take a day. If a large number of people have to be escorted on the return trip, the traveling speed must be

It will be much slower. In order to avoid spending the night on the way, it is even possible to delay the return trip by an extra day so that you can start early and complete the return trip during the day.

Tom Wang was silent for a moment before responding: "With the population size of those villages and towns, it is not worth spending too much time and energy. This time we will focus on the villages and towns near the coastline first. As for the inland places that have slipped through the net... maybe we can

Wait until next spring to come again!”

Qian Tiandun nodded and agreed with his opinion: "It seems that this is the only way... I hope the weather will not continue to worsen and give us a few more days."

For most of the Han people who were forcibly relocated from here by the Haihan army, they actually did not know what kind of situation they were in. These Han people were kidnapped from the northern border areas of the Ming Dynasty by the Qing army and traveled thousands of miles before being resettled.

The place where I live now has restarted the farming life of opening up wasteland, but within a few days of peaceful life, it was once again plunged into war.

Haihan is still a strange existence to most of them. They don't know where Haihan is located and why the army of Haihan comes here to rescue them. But they can escape from the rule of the Manchus.

At least this is not a bad thing. Many people were very happy to see the Haihan soldiers executing the Manchu landlords who were usually very arrogant in public.

Obviously, this is a more powerful army than the Qing army, and its strength seems to far exceed that of the Ming Dynasty's border army. And this army does not seem to intend to send them back to the Ming Dynasty, but is preparing to send them to the Haihan Kingdom.

They were resettled in the place where they ruled. Although they were uneasy about such a prospect, the people could only obey the arrangements. After all, all the Manchus who tried to resist the Haihan army were killed. In order to survive, it was better to be obedient.

Perhaps thanks to God's blessing, the snowfall that lasted for several days suddenly stopped. Although the fields were still muddy due to snow, at least the situation did not get worse. After discussing with Qian Tiandun, Wang Tom decided to seize the opportunity to seize the weather.

When the weather clears up, recruit as many people as possible from nearby villages and towns.

At the same time, in Jinzhou hundreds of miles away, Liu Shang, who was in charge of civil affairs, was in the busiest period since he came to Liaodong.

In the past two years, Liu Shang was also responsible for accepting and resettling immigrants brought back from the Manchu-controlled areas by the Haihan Army. However, there had never been a large number of people arriving like this year, and at the same time, he had to take care of the logistical support of the Jinzhou front line.

, and handle local civil affairs.

Liu Shang's most real feeling at this time was that he was unable to do anything at all. He wanted to arrange a fleet to go to the Changshan Islands to pick up the people who had just been brought out. At the same time, he also had to do a good job in resettling and accepting the immigrants locally, and picked up the immigrants in one go.

Dismissing thousands of people is not an easy job for the civil affairs yamen of Jinzhou.

The confrontation and sporadic battles between the frontline and the Qing army are still continuing. Various combat materials must be continuously transported to the frontline positions. It is also necessary to ensure that the military, civilians and civilians on the defense line are well fed and clothed, and that injuries and illnesses can be treated in a timely manner.

Treatment, the complexity of these matters, can only be understood by him, the client.

Fortunately, Liu Shang has been training all the way from Shandong to Liaodong in the past few years, and has been dealing with civil affairs almost every day, so although there are many affairs at the moment, he can still be busy and not chaotic.

Chen Yixin has been guarding the isthmus defense line these days and has no time to carefully inquire about the civil affairs affairs in the rear. However, Liu Shangneng handled these matters in an orderly manner, and Chen Yixin also noticed it. With such a capable subordinate to take care of him, Chen Yixin was able to pay attention to

All efforts were concentrated on the confrontation with the Qing army.

After using concealed artillery positions to launch a surprise attack on the Qing army a few days ago, Chen Yixin took the initiative to take the defensive and did not rush to advance. As expected, the Qing army judged that Haihan might immediately launch an offensive against Daheishan because of this battle, so he

Thousands of soldiers and horses were invested in the front of the isthmus defense line to stop Haihan's actions.

However, the Qing army was also very careful. Although they dispatched large forces, they did not launch a counterattack on the isthmus defense line. They only ensured that the Haihan army could not easily advance northward.

Chen Yixin's purpose was to contain the main force of the Qing army with a feint attack, and the reaction of the Qing army was exactly what he expected. However, in order to ensure that the Qing army would not be suspicious, Chen Yixin still ordered the cavalry to go out every day and move in the direction of Dongshan.

He also continued to create noise and made preparations for a strong attack to confuse the Qing army.

However, after two consecutive heavy snowfalls in Jinzhou, the snow in the wilderness has reached a foot thick, making it difficult for even the cavalry to move in the wild. Faced with such harsh weather, Chen Yixin had to cease his activities and temporarily withdraw his troops. As for

The troops that were originally stationed in Dongshan had to withdraw from the sea first because of the heavy snow and the inconvenience of supplying the mountains.

These two heavy snowfalls also completely reassured the Qing troops stationed in the Daheishan area. Under the current environment, the Haihan Army could no longer launch a large-scale attack. Even if there were scattered small groups of troops crossing the snowfields and entering Daheishan.

, it was also difficult to form a climate. Azig directly ordered the troops to withdraw to the east and west camps, leaving only daily cavalry patrols.

Chen Yixin kept in touch with Tom Wang through the radio every day. He heard that not only did it not snow heavily where they were, but the weather turned sunny. At that moment, he couldn't help but sigh that it was God's blessing that allowed them more time to grab supplies from the local area.

Transport population.

It was not until the end of the month that the Qing army in Daheishan learned that the Haihan army was attacking coastal villages and towns from the sea to the mainland. More than ten towns and one county had been completely evacuated by the Haihan army like locusts passing through the border.

The population is at least four to five thousand.

When Azig received this news, combined with the recent performances of the Haihan troops in the Jinzhou Isthmus, he realized that Jinzhou should be using a feint attack to attract attention, but the real action was hundreds of miles away.

on the coastline.

But even if he knew the movements of the Haihan Army, it was difficult for Azig to respond effectively. The Haihan Army's attack was from sea to land, and the Qing Army had no warships available on the entire east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula.

It was impossible to completely drive away the Haihan army. What's more, the place where the incident happened was hundreds of miles away from the Daheishan camp. By the time Azige sent troops to rush over, the situation there would have been turned upside down.

But if we just sit back and ignore it and let the Haihan army continue to plunder Haihan in Liaodong, Azig can roughly predict what the consequences will be. For Azig, whether to save or not to save

, what kind of rescue method? This is really a headache for him.

Due to the military pressure exerted by Haihan on the Jinzhou and Yalu River borders, the Qing army's deployment in Liaodong was also concentrated in these two places. On the one hand, it was to deal with Haihan, and on the other hand, it was also to facilitate the acquisition of supplies. During the war,

Mobilize troops to defend key areas.

However, such a deployment will inevitably leave a large number of defensive blank areas on the Liaodong coast, allowing the Haihan Army to take advantage of it. Outside of winter, timely warnings can be provided by strengthening patrols and driving the people inland to avoid the Haihan Army.

However, once the east and west fronts entered a wartime state, the Qing army had to concentrate its forces on the border to deal with it, and it would be difficult to maintain the density of patrols near the coast. This time, the Haihan army caught the gap and once

They pushed away more than a dozen villages and towns, and the Qing army failed to respond in time.

Azige thought about it and thought that it was too late to send troops to rescue these places. Moreover, once a large-scale deployment of troops was carried out, the Haihan Army in Jinzhou would have the opportunity to take advantage, which would increase the risk.

In the end, Azig only sent a few teams of cavalry, and rushed as quickly as possible to notify the villages and towns near the coast, organizing the people to evacuate inland first, and then return to their original residences after the Haihan Army retreated.

But there is a big problem with Azig's move, that is, it has entered the middle of winter, and it is a big problem for people to escape in the cold wind and snow. It may be possible to make a fire to keep warm for a day or two. In the past, but for a few more days, it would be difficult for these hundreds of people to survive in the wild. If these people were forcibly driven into the wild, many of them would freeze to death even if they were not snatched away by the Haihan army.

The special operations group took advantage of the slow response of the Qing army and continued to search for people near Zhuanghe County. The troops sent by Qian Tiandun found that the snow thirty miles west of Zhuanghe was already as deep as a month. It was difficult for the infantry to march in the wild if it was more than 10 feet, so he decided to end the operation here in Zhuanghe County.

At this time, some nearby Han farmers heard that the county town had been conquered by foreign troops, all the people were killed, and the Han people could leave the place by boat, so they rushed to join them. These people did not necessarily admire the majesty of the Haihan army. But they knew that if they didn't leave at this time, they would probably be used as scapegoats when the Qing army came back to liquidate them.

Since staying here is likely to be a disaster, it is better to leave directly with the Haihan Army. Although these people do not know where the Haihan Kingdom is, at least these Haihan soldiers all look like Han people and speak Chinese. Haihan Kingdom should also be able to adapt to the local environment quickly.

Time came to early December, and the Haihan Army had taken away nearly 6,000 people from the Liaodong coast during the half-month snow-treading operation. The ratio of Hans to Manchus was about ten to one. These people came from the Ming Dynasty. The Han people who came back from plundering all now had an advantage over Hai Han. Once they settled down in Jinzhou, the number of naturalized citizens in the Liaodong colony would increase by several thousand.

As for the Manchus, what awaits them will be a long and endless career as miners. Regardless of whether they participated in the war to invade the Ming Dynasty, most of them can only dig dirt in the pits of the Fushan Copper Mine. Until death. This arrangement actually has nothing to do with hatred, but due to the current international environment, it is the safest way to deal with them in this way.
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