Chapter 2452

Only Tao Donglai and the three present knew clearly that at this stage Haihan simply did not have the ability to assemble 50,000 combat troops in Liaodong. In fact, the current total strength of the Haihan Army was far from 50,000. Even if all troops from across the country were assembled and transported to Liaodong

, and it is simply not up to the level that Wang Tom boasted about. What's more, to transport so many troops to the north to fight, the materials and transportation capacity required are also unbearable for Haihan.

But even though it was just a trick on paper, the actual effect was very good. Shang Kexi's attitude was obviously much softened than before. After all, he was also a general who led troops to fight, and he knew very well what the appearance of 50,000 Haihan troops in Liaodong would mean. Even if

The probability of this happening was low, and he did not dare to bet on the national security of the Qing Dynasty.

Haihan's biggest advantage in this negotiation is not military strength, but the control of intelligence information. The Manchu and Qing sea channels in the direction of Liaodong are basically completely blocked by Haihan, making it difficult to collect detailed military intelligence on the opponent.

, and there is no way to judge whether Haihan can complete the military deployment mentioned by Wang Tom. However, Haihan can roughly judge the military strength of the Manchu Qing at this stage based on historical data and various intelligence, and then outline a targeted plan.

combat plan to deter the Manchus.

Of course, this kind of deterrence is based on the performance of the Haihan Army against the Qing army over the years. Otherwise, let alone the 50,000 Haihan Army, even if the strength is doubled, it may not be able to scare the Manchus. If

If it were North Korea's Kim Sang-hyun who was bragging about this, Shang Kexi would probably just treat it as a joke, and might even deliberately provoke him a few more words as an excuse for the next military strike against North Korea.

Yang Sichang was also unsure whether Haihan was trying to scare the Qing Dynasty, or whether he really planned to take the opportunity to start a war. However, he knew that if the Ming Dynasty did not cooperate in sending troops, it would not be easy for Haihan to defeat the Qing Dynasty. From the standpoint of the Ming Dynasty, perhaps

The smartest way is to drive the tiger and devour the wolf and try to make the two countries fight to the death.

However, the most urgent thing for the Ming Dynasty at the moment was to gain a breathing space for itself. Yang Sichang could only try his best to cooperate with Haihan's strategy in order to force the Qing Dynasty to make concessions and reach a settlement. Therefore, he did not hesitate to lend a helping hand, saying that the Ming Dynasty was ready for war.

Be prepared, if the talks in Jinzhou cannot reach an agreement, then the Ming Dynasty will use all its national strength to fight a decisive battle with the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

"If 300,000 troops are not enough, then add more troops until the Qing army can be defeated! Our Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and has millions of soldiers. How can we not defeat you!" Although Yang Sichang is a peace advocate, he is also cruel in his words.

He has a good hand and a stern look, so that no one will have any doubts about his position.

In fact, we still know a lot about the military strength of the Ming Dynasty. In terms of military strength, it is indeed quite large, but in terms of combat effectiveness, it is so-so. The combat effectiveness of a considerable part of the guard army in the country is no different from that of the militia, and cannot be regarded as a regular army. But if the Ming Dynasty

If you really work hard and compete with the Manchu and Qing dynasties for their national power, the Manchu and Qing dynasties will really not get any advantage, not to mention that there are Haihan and Han troops watching closely and may take action at any time.

Shang Kexi's mission during this trip was to negotiate peace, but if the terms of the settlement exceeded the scope of the authorization he received, he would not be able to make a decision in Jinzhou. So when the talks ended at noon that day, he took the initiative to propose to Tao Donglai

, requesting a suspension of negotiations for a few days to allow him enough time to seek instructions from the rear before making a final reply to the other three countries.

If they don't agree to the conditions, they will start fighting immediately. Haihan's tough attitude has left no room for maneuver for the Manchus. Asking Shang Kexi to ask for instructions from the rear will not change the situation. However, Tao Donglai still generously agreed to Shang Kexi's request. He asked, saying that he could be given ten days to respond. Even though Shenyang is more than 700 miles away from Jinzhou, ten days is enough time for the messenger to make a round trip.

Of course, Tao Donglai was so generous not only because he expected that the Manchus had no other trump cards, but also to give the Haihan Army time to take advantage of the cessation of negotiations to further put pressure on the Manchus.

Yang Sichang breathed a sigh of relief. At least so far, Haihan had not shown any signs of betraying the Ming Dynasty, and there had not been any collusion between Haihan and the Manchu Qing Dynasty that he had worried about when he came. However, he still wrote the memorial all night , explained the current progress of the negotiations, and sent people to take a boat across the sea to return to the capital. He believed that such news would also put Emperor Chongzhen in a good mood who was waiting anxiously in the Forbidden City.

However, Yang Sichang did not expect that although Haihan agreed to suspend the negotiations, he did not stop related actions. The next day, Tao Donglai once again invited him to go on a sea patrol together. As for the objects of the patrol, Tao Donglai did not take the initiative to mention And, just let him not bring too many followers, and they need to be controlled within three people.

In fact, Yang Sichang could roughly guess it. He knew that this was probably because the Haihan people wanted to show off their military power. They said that the Haihan navy was invincible, so there was no harm in taking this opportunity to go and see.

From Nanguanling Daying, we took a special car to a dock located in Dalian Bay, and then accompanied by Tao Donglai, we boarded a large ship docked on the shore. Yang Sichang was not surprised to find that North Korean envoy Kim Sang-heon was also On the ship. But what made him a little disappointed was that the ship was not a battleship, but Tao Donglai's private ship.

"Because we have to go to sea for several days, the living conditions on the battleship are not very comfortable. I am worried that you will not be comfortable, so I have arranged for you to take this ship." Tao Donglai briefly explained the reason.

However, Yang Sichang did not believe this reason. He believed that such an arrangement should only be to prevent the leakage of various advanced technologies on the warship. Kim Sang-hyun had already boarded the Haihan warship, so he naturally had no complaints about such an arrangement. Instead, I would like to thank Tao Dong for his thoughtful consideration.

It was not until after unmooring and raising the sail that Yang Sichang noticed that the ship was sailing with more than 20 warships anchored on the nearby coast. This was not an ordinary scene.

As Minister of War, Yang Sichang naturally knew the situation of the Ming Dynasty Navy. Compared with huge warships like Haihan, the Ming Navy did seem a bit weak. The shipboard firepower deployed by large warships like the Majestic class , one ship is equivalent to the entire Ming Dynasty navy fleet. And the Manchu and Qing naval forces are almost all Ming troops who defected from Shandong and Pidao, so naturally they cannot defeat Haihan and others. With such large warships, it’s no wonder that in just a few years, the entire Liaodong coast was controlled by Haihan.

This fleet did not display firepower at sea as Yang Sichang thought. It quickly sailed out of Dalian Bay and then turned southwest. At this time, Tao Donglai informed them that they were now heading for Port Arthur.

Although he didn't know why Haihan had such an arrangement, Yang Sichang didn't panic. It was said that Lushun Port was built by the Haihan people into a heavily guarded military port. A visit might be able to collect some useful information.

The voyage from Dalian Bay to Lushun Port is about a hundred miles, and they won't be able to arrive in a while. Tao Donglai asked everyone to go back to the cabin to rest first, and then leave the cabin for activities when they arrived.

The Haihan fleet was sailing very fast, and it had already arrived near Port Arthur before lunch time. Yang Sichang and Jin Shangxian, who were guests, were also summoned to board the deck to watch the situation at sea with Tao Donglai and accompanying Wang Tom. However,

However, the fleet did not sail into the harbor. Instead, it met another fleet that had already left the harbor and was waiting, and then continued to sail southwest.

Yang Sichang noticed that there were more than forty warships in the fleet at this time, and if supply ships were included, the number would almost double. Such a large scale should be the true strength of the Haihan Northern Fleet.

Sure enough, Tao Donglai took the initiative to introduce: "What you are seeing now is the main force of our country's Northern Fleet. The blockade and attacks on the Liaodong coast in recent years are also due to this fleet."

Yang Sichang asked: "Then Master Tao must want us to watch the fleet drill here?"

Tao Donglai shook his head and said: "That's not the case. We will go to another place with the fleet next. But the place is a little further away, and we probably won't arrive until tomorrow."

Yang Sichang silently calculated the voyage in his mind and already made a preliminary judgment. However, he was not yet sure whether the destination was what he expected. He would have to look at the course for the next half day to know.

After the fleet passed Laotieshan at the southernmost tip of Jinzhou, it circled along the coastline and headed north. This allowed Yang Sichang to basically confirm his inference that the destination of the Haihan Fleet should be what they had previously claimed.

The landing site was located in Gaizhou on the west side of the Liaodong Peninsula. He was originally worried that Tao Donglai's destination was the Dagukou area on the west side of the Bohai Bay, but now he breathed a sigh of relief.

Gaizhou is not an administrative state in the traditional sense, but the abbreviation of Gaizhou Wei. According to the demarcation during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, it extends from Boluopu to the north, Bajiapu to the south, and Xiuyan to the east. They are all under the jurisdiction of Gaizhou Wei.

, there are nine castles in its territory, including Gaizhou City, Xiongzhou City, Yongning Prison City and Wuzhai Fort. However, these places and fortresses have been occupied by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Yang Sichang is not sure about the specific situation.

Seeing dozens of Haihan warships stretching for miles on the sea, Yang Sichang suddenly had an idea. Could it be that the 50,000 troops claimed by the Haihan people had arrived in the north, and they would immediately make a gesture of heavy troops to suppress the border. Once the Manchus refused to accept the terms of reconciliation,

, then the Haihan people will use force immediately.

However, he quickly overturned this idea. If the Haihan people really planned to raid the Gaizhou Guards, why would they admit the battle plan to Shang Kexi in yesterday's negotiation? At this time, the purpose of heading north to Gaizhou was to put pressure on the Manchus.

Rather than really planning to start a war.

But even if they knew that Haihan would not easily start a war, no one would think it was a friendly gesture when seeing an armed fleet of this size cruising on the sea. When the Manchu and Qing Dynasties discovered such a situation, they would inevitably have to mobilize troops in a hurry

Set up defenses in Gaizhou. Otherwise, if Haihan seizes Gaizhou, the main supply line between the Qing Dynasty and the Jinzhou front line will be cut off.

The fleet marched northward overnight, crossing Liaodong Bay from south to north that night, and arrived in the waters near Gaizhou the next morning. There had been no Manqing ships in this area for a long time. A fleet of this size

Appearing in the offshore, it is naturally very conspicuous. But Wang Tom was afraid that it would not attract the attention of the shore, so he specially ordered the fleet to approach the coastline and make a gesture of landing here. Sure enough, soon there were wolf smoke rising from the shore, and he used this primitive method to attack the enemy.

A warning signal was sent from a distant garrison.

"They have started to move, so let them work for a while." Tao Donglai was quite satisfied with the shore's ability to respond so quickly. He deliberately exposed his whereabouts to let the other side know that Haihan's fleet was already approaching the city. As long as If the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty reject the terms of peace talks, a full-scale war may break out at any time.

Yang Sichang could only envy such a scene. Although the Ming Dynasty also had a navy, it no longer had the ability to carry out large-scale cross-sea landing operations, and it was impossible for the Manchu defenders to send out a signal for help in such a panic.

Kim Sang-hyun had already begun to flatter and praise Haihan, but he did not encourage Haihan's army to launch a landing. If he really took action at this juncture, the peace talks in the previous half month would be in vain.

Since the Qing army did not have a naval fleet, the Haihan Navy basically did not have to worry about safety issues in its activities here. Wang Tom also mobilized several warships to guard near the mouth of the Liao River. On the one hand, he made a plan to go upstream. The posture, on the other hand, was to prevent the Qing army from sneaking out of the Liao River with civilian ships to attack.

Gaizhou is about three hundred miles away from Shenyang. The promising returns should not have reached Gaizhou at this time, so the news that the Haihan fleet is approaching Gaizhou should be sent back to Shenyang first, and the status of the negotiations in Jinzhou Otherwise, it would be more than half a day before it could be sent to Shenyang. In this way, the impression given to the Manchus was that Haihan was no longer willing to endure the long tug-of-war of negotiations and was ready for war.

But will the Manchu Qing choose to surrender because of this? In fact, Haihan does not have full confidence. Tao Donglai and others have not dealt with Huang Taiji directly, and their judgment of his acting style can only rely on some historical records. Of course, the main reason for this was because the peace talks were initiated by the Manchus. This showed that Huang Taiji did not want to go to war with Haihan, which should be one of the factors that scared him the most.

It has to be said that the response of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties was very fast. In less than an hour, a cavalry team of about a hundred people appeared on the coast. It can be seen through the telescope that these cavalrymen are equipped with swords and bows and are fully equipped and can fight on the coast. Being ready for battle in such a short period of time shows that the Qing troops stationed nearby are also well-trained.

These Qing cavalrymen were shocked when they saw so many warships suddenly coming to the sea. However, Haihan did not take the initiative to launch an offensive, and these cavalrymen lingered, and the two sides faced each other in the air.
Chapter completed!