Chapter 703 Senior’s Story

For the Executive Committee, driving the Shibazhi to abandon their home base in Penghu was originally one of the alternatives. However, when the military formulates the action plan, it must take the situation of the Shibazhi to defend Penghu as the main consideration. All

Troop mobilization and material preparation were all based on the attack on Penghu. In order to prevent Shibazhi from prematurely noticing the situation of the Haihan army approaching the border, they also specially used many concealment methods in the process of transporting personnel and supplies to Fujian.

means.

But if we want to change our thinking and create external pressure for Shibazhi to force it to voluntarily abandon Penghu, then we must give up the previous approach and make Shibazhi realize that the enemy they will face has irresistible strength.

Fortunately, Shibazhi has already begun to think about escaping. The coalition forces do not need to go to great lengths to promote force in the Taiwan Strait in advance. They only need to think about how to add fuel to the fire.

The two generals leading troops on the Fujian front both believed that under the current insufficient preparations for war, it was more feasible to drive the Shibazhi away from Penghu than to try to annihilate them. This opinion also directly affected the decision-making of the Executive Committee.

Of course, the more important reason is that if the coalition forces act according to the original plan, it is possible for Shibazhi to escape without any losses, and this is not the result that the leaders of both sides of the coalition forces want to see - even if they intend to

If you let Shibazhi leave, you have to peel off a layer of skin so that it will be difficult for them to recover in a short period of time.

On March 25, with the authorization of the Executive Committee, the Military Commission issued a new troop mobilization order. The First Fleet of the Navy stationed in Sanya will set off in the near future to the Pearl River Estuary to rendezvous with the Second Fleet stationed in Zhennan Port, and then together

Departing for Fujian to participate in a large-scale joint military exercise code-named "Strait Storm". The South China Sea Fleet stationed at Jinlan Port in Annan will return north to Sanya to carry out ship maintenance and upgrades. During this period, the fleet officers will also enter the Victory Port Military Academy for short-term training.

Of course, whether it is military exercises or ship maintenance and upgrades, it is just an excuse. People with a discerning eye certainly know that such large-scale military mobilization is not an action that should be taken in peacetime. Haihan currently has only four formed fleets.

After the mobilization is completed, three of them will be concentrated in the Fuguang Sea Area. This situation of deploying a large number of troops overseas only occurred when it was involved in the Annan Civil War. However, the strength of the Haihan Militia at that time was far less than it is now, and it was not the same as the base camp.

The distance is also much closer than it is now. Such a large-scale military mobilization will put considerable pressure on Haihan's transportation and supplies.

In addition to the navy, the army stationed on Hainan Island will also dispatch two battalions of troops to Fujian. After joining the troops stationed in Fujian and Guangdong, the size of the Haihan Militia Army troops participating in the operation will also reach nearly 4,000.

, will be temporarily organized into a reinforced regiment. It will include four infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, a logistics supply battalion and a communications company, reconnaissance company, medical company, special service guard company, etc. directly under the regiment headquarters. The top military leader Yan Chujie will

He personally served as the supreme commander and set out with the troops.

Taken together, the navy and army participating in the Fujian War have a total strength of nearly 7,000. It is also the largest military operation in the history of the Haihan Army. The military estimates that this operation will consume at least 500,000 yuan.

Fortunately, this money does not need to be paid out of pocket. Fujian has promised to bear this huge war expenditure. Of course, if the Eighteen Zhi choose to evacuate Penghu in the end, then the war may not last too long.

For a long time, the actual cost may be lower than the estimated amount.

At this time, a small episode occurred. The Portuguese envoy, who was inexplicably nervous, met with Tao Donglai and asked whether the mobilization of troops had anything to do with Portugal. The Portuguese’s nervousness was not without reason. Now Haihan

They are getting closer and closer to the Ming government in Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Last year, they sent out several troops to fight pirates for the Ming Dynasty. One of the battles even involved the Dutch. The Portuguese stronghold in Haojingao was also their only stronghold in the Ming Dynasty.

A port and trade portal. Although the Ming government has never stated that it wants to take back this land, the Haihan people may not want to take it back. After all, the actual control of the Pearl River Estuary is now in the hands of the Haihan militia.

If they really want to seize Hao Jing Ao, I am afraid it will be difficult for the Portuguese to resist.

Tao Donglai, who couldn't laugh or cry, had to comfort the Portuguese that nothing they were worried about would happen. This military deployment was not aimed at Portugal, and he would not launch any form of attack on Haojing'ao. In order to convince the Portuguese of this, Tao Donglai

Dong Lai had to say that if Haihan really planned to seize Haojing'ao, there was no need to use so many troops - probably half of it would be more than enough.

Tao Donglai's "reasonable and well-founded" statement finally appeased the anxious Portuguese envoy. Fortunately, there was no need to repeat this statement to the Guangdong officials because the matter had already been resolved by Malico and others from the Guangzhou office.

People are going to do it. Although Haihan's fleet heading north will stop briefly at Hong Kong Island for supplies, it will not sail into the Pearl River Estuary, so it will not cause too much tension to the Guangdong officials.

April 1st is the annual celebration day for Haihan’s landing in Victory Harbor. This year has reached its fifth year. It is a day of joy and congratulations for everyone who participated in the crossing operation. Five years have passed.

, they not only successfully established themselves in this time and space, but also successfully achieved continuous external expansion. So far, Haihan has achieved self-production of food, energy, metal and other necessities, established a primary industrial system, and through

Foreign trade enabled primitive wealth accumulation.

With Haihan's current strength, there is no longer any need to worry about establishing a country on Hainan Island. Even if the Ming Dynasty court would be furious about this, there would be no effective way to deal with the powerful Haihan and Qiongzhou Strait.

This natural chasm was enough to stop the Ming army on the other side. Of course, the Guangdong government had actually been well aware of the situation on Hainan Island for a long time, but as long as Haihan did not raise a flag to rebel for a day, everyone continued to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

It's okay if you don't know. After all, if you lead soldiers to fight against the Haihan people, how can you sit at home and collect money every year and feel comfortable.

And it is precisely because of the repeated tolerance of the Guangdong government that Haihan is not in a hurry to declare independence. Anyway, all parts of Hainan Island have begun to re-establish ruling institutions according to the model planned by the Executive Committee, slowly erasing the influence of the Ming Dynasty.

power, the longer it takes, the more obvious the effect will be. And without turning against the Ming Dynasty, the raw materials and population from the mainland will continue to be imported into Hainan Island, and then sold back in the form of industrial products to earn profits. The Executive Committee has matured for this kind of

The operating model is happy to see the results.

According to the practice of previous years, various forms of celebrations were held in various places under the jurisdiction of Haihan, and Victory Port also held a military parade ceremony as always. Both the army and navy units that were about to go on the expedition appeared at the military parade, and last year in Nanhai and Fujian

The officers who made meritorious service in the two places finally had the opportunity to be personally awarded by the chiefs at this highly anticipated event. For the officers of the Haihan Militia, the award ceremony on the anniversary brought a sense of honor.

, even more than the awards themselves, because only on this occasion can most of the winners have the opportunity to have face-to-face contact with the heads of the executive committee. Of course, the heads have not forgotten to use this opportunity to give gifts to those who are about to go on the expedition.

The officers gave a good shot of chicken blood, allowing them to embark on the journey with full fighting spirit.

On April 2, the navy, which had just received many military awards the day before, set off from Victory Port. In addition to more than ten combat ships, there were also fleets loading supplies and transporting army troops. The fleet was huge.

There are more than 40 ships in total. The fleet will first go to Zhennan Port, where it will meet up with local troops and then sail to Fujian together.

The "Blue Shark" frigate is an "exploration-class" warship that was just commissioned last year. Nearly half of the sailors on board were recruits who served last year and have relatively little combat experience. This expedition to Fujian is the first time they have participated in such a

Large-scale military operations are inevitably stressful and exciting.

Shortly after sailing out of the Port of Victory, the fleet turned east and sailed east. After the deck was idle, a group of new recruits surrounded the veteran and asked him to talk about the naval battles he had participated in before.

"It's all in the past, there's nothing to show off!" The surrounded veterans refused to cooperate and waved their hands to signal everyone to disperse.

It wasn't until a recruit wisely took out a cigarette and handed it to the veteran. When the veteran saw that it was the "Fort Victory" sold in the market for a triangular pack, not the free low-end product with a white shell that was supplied internally, he finally relaxed.

Mouth: "Since you all want to hear the story so much, I will just tell you a few paragraphs..."

"Light, light, light." The sensible sailor took out a match and lit the cigarette for the veteran.

The veteran took two puffs, puffed away the smoke, and said: "Speaking of it, I, Lao Cao, joined the army relatively early. In the first year of Chongzhen... Bah! It was the year of Haihan in 1628, so I came to Shengli Port to join the army.

At that time, you little monkeys probably didn’t even know where Victory Harbor was, right?”

Almost all of these recruits were immigrants who immigrated to Hainan Island after 1628, so no one questioned Lao Cao's statement of showing off his qualifications.

Someone next to me asked: "Captain Cao, what did you do before you joined the army?"

Lao Cao responded: "Before? I was eating military rations in Yacheng Water Village, so after I joined the militia, the leaders still assigned me to the ship as an errand."

Someone in the crowd murmured: "It turns out that there were navy masters in Yacheng before!"

"It existed a few years ago, but the imperial court and the Ministry of War couldn't allocate a few taels of silver a year. They didn't even have enough to eat, and they had already declined." Lao Cao sighed: "You probably don't know, but now in Tielugang

Several of the ships transporting salt were warships from the former Yacheng Shuizhai. If it were not for the kindness of the leaders, more than half of the people in the Shuizhai would have starved to death."

"I heard that Mr. Luo Shengdongluo, who often appears in Victory Port, was also from Yacheng Shuizhai in the past?" Someone who knew the inside story asked.

"Are you from Shuizhai? Hehe!" Lao Cao calmly took two puffs of his cigarette, whetting the appetite of the people around him, and then said: "Master Luo is the number one person in Shuizhai, Yacheng Shui

He is the village ginseng general!"

The people around him showed varying degrees of surprise, which satisfied Lao Cao's vanity, and he continued: "At the beginning, Mr. Luo was also very discerning, and he saw that the leaders of Haihan had extraordinary backgrounds and were doing...

He decided to cooperate with the chiefs and help them sell salt in various places in Qiongzhou. After a long time, Mr. Luo no longer wanted to eat military rations, so he simply turned Yacheng Water Village into Yacheng Commercial Store, and installed

I started my business with peace of mind. I have also made quite a bit of money in the past few years. The houses built in Sanya specifically for wealthy businessmen cost thousands per unit, but Mr. Luo bought several of them to live in."

"Boss Cao, why don't you follow Mr. Luo's example and go into business?" someone asked curiously.

"You think anyone can make a lot of money by doing business!" Lao Cao stretched out his hand and knocked the man on the head: "You still have to have a good head! What else can I do if I can't even calculate accounts?

Buy and sell? Besides, Mr. Luo is also a person with a background. His father-in-law is the governor of Yazhou! The Haihan leaders are willing to hand over the sea salt sale to Mr. Luo as their agent. That is why they have taken a fancy to this relationship.

Inside.”

Lao Cao flicked the remaining cigarette butt into the sea and continued: "Crabs have their own way, and shrimps have their own way. You don't have to envy others who have made a fortune in business. Work hard in the navy, and after a few years of military service, you should be rewarded.

Houses are divided into houses, and fields should be divided into fields. If you want to retire from the army and go home in the future, the executive committee will arrange things to do. Isn't that much safer than doing business? Maybe after this trip to Fujian, we will have more on this boat.

A few of them were promoted to lieutenants based on their military merit."

"Is this military merit so easy to win? Isn't it dangerous to fight at sea?" Someone asked again.

"Dangerous ass!" Lao Cao scolded: "It is much easier for the navy to get military merit than for the army. Even if the army has guns and cannons, in the end the battle will still have to be in close combat and risk your life. Nowadays, our navy fights with the enemy behind us.

Use artillery fire directly from afar until the opponent surrenders or sinks the ship. It has been several years since the navy was established, but no ship has ever been sunk by an opponent at sea."

Although what Lao Cao said is true, it is not that comprehensive. Of course, the navy still suffered casualties in several sea battles, but the casualty rate was indeed lower than that of the army. Moreover, the risks borne by the navy were not only

It’s just that during wartime, we had to face the challenges of nature almost every moment during sea voyages. Naval ships were damaged or even sunk due to bad weather, which have occurred several times in the past few years, but the military did not

I will just promote it more.
Chapter completed!