Chapter 801 In trouble

Haihan has always had a very clear purpose in launching wars abroad. Either for land, for population, for special strategic points, or for important resource production areas. After identifying the target, he takes action decisively and never loses money.

Buying and selling. In an area like Taipei that has gold deposits and is within reach of Haihan, it would naturally be justified if it was put under his own name. As for what the Spaniards who are currently occupying the local area would think,

Haihan did not need to consider this kind of issue, just like the Spaniards would never consider the feelings of the local indigenous people towards their foreign invaders.

Taking the situation in another time and space as a reference, the Jinguashi area, as an important gold-producing area in East Asia, has been mined for nearly a hundred years. It was not until the 1980s that the veins here were almost fully dug. It can be seen that its reserves are still

Quite considerable. If measured by the military expenditures of Haihan's past foreign wars, then the attack on Taipei will definitely be a profit-free operation. Since it can obtain large economic benefits, there are objections such as excessive military expenditure and too high military expenditures.

The reason is not so strong. As for questioning the combat effectiveness of the special operations battalion, no one will take it seriously. It is the most outstanding amphibious force among the Haihan militia, with the most elite personnel, and the Qian Tiandun established

With the military order for victory, there is really nothing to worry about.

Of course, since the horses are going to run, they must be fed first, and the materials needed for combat still need to be allocated as early as possible. In addition, although Qian Tiandun claimed in the report that the Penghu garrison is sufficient to complete the corresponding combat tasks, there is no need to add additional supplies.

Troops were dispatched to coordinate, but considering the possible defense void caused by the troops' departure, the Military Commission was still prepared to temporarily transfer half of the fleet from the military base on Hong Kong Island to assist in the defense.

When Haihan began to quietly prepare for the war in full swing, the Spaniards in Taipei did not realize that the danger was approaching. In the city of San Salvador in Jilong Port, Alcalazo, the top local official, was venting his anger on his subordinates with a livid face.

Dissatisfaction: "It's been six days! These lazy guys haven't repaired my armor yet. Do they really not want to eat this bowl of rice anymore?"

The subordinates responded tremblingly: "Sir, Jose from the blacksmith shop has been missing for eight days. His apprentices can only do odd jobs. They cannot do such delicate work as repairing armor."

"The castle is such a big place, why can't we find him in eight days?" Alcarazo scolded angrily: "They are all losers! It took me so long to find a drunkard!"

"Sir, we have searched everywhere inside and outside the city. We have also gone to the tavern to ask everyone who saw Jose that day. We are afraid... that we cannot find him." His subordinates reported carefully: "Someone saw Jose that day.

He left the pub drunk and headed towards the pier. There was no lighting on the pier at night, so maybe he fell into the sea."

Alcalazo was silent for a long time before saying: "It's only a small matter that this drunkard drowned. It's only troublesome if he delays the daily affairs of the local area. I also expected him to bring out a few apprentices and assign them to work in Santo Domingo City. As a result, he only took them for so long.

Taught them how to make a stove! We need to apply for a blacksmith from Manila, and it will take a month or two to complete... Send my order to confiscate the blacksmith shop of this bastard Jose!"

Just as the unlucky Jose expected, Mr. Alcarazo would not mobilize manpower to retrieve his body from the sea, but would immediately confiscate all his personal property - in fact, put it into Alcarazo's personal pocket.

What the upper-class people care about is not the life or death of this little blacksmith, but the inconvenience caused by the lack of a blacksmith in El Salvador. Of course, no one would have thought that this drunken blacksmith did not actually fall into the sea and feed the fish because he was drunk.

, but was quietly kidnapped. After all, he was just a blacksmith, not a big shot. He wanted money but no money, no status, and no status. His only property was the blacksmith shop in the castle, and he couldn't move it away or cash it out.

There is absolutely no point in attacking him.

After Alcarazo finished scolding, he still felt very uncomfortable. The conditions here in Taipei are not good, and people from Manila are not willing to settle here at all, especially those skilled craftsmen who are not willing to come so far to the wilderness.

Suffering. Therefore, after several years of establishment of the Jilong Port stronghold, there has always been only Jose, a professional blacksmith. He was assigned when he first came here. If not for this, he probably would not have taken the initiative to apply to settle here.

As soon as Jose disappeared, several of his apprentices were unable to cope, and the blacksmith shop immediately came to a standstill. This may not cause any trouble in a short period of time, but as time goes by, various people in the castle will

This kind of thing will definitely be affected. Even if we ask for help from Manila, we don't know how long it will take to wait for the next blacksmith.

It rained all night, and the ship encountered a storm. The more Alcarazó feared, the more things would come. As soon as the cause of Jose's disappearance was determined, his officers came to report that there were two cannons and

Seven rifles need to be repaired before they can be used, and there are more than ten pieces of armor that need maintenance. The young apprentice in the blacksmith shop obviously cannot take on this important task, so these damaged weapons and equipment can only be temporarily thrown into the warehouse.

When will the next blacksmith come and when will the repairs be carried out?

Due to the hot and humid environment in Taiwan, metal weapons corrode and wear out very quickly, and must be maintained regularly to maintain normal functionality. However, the soldiers' professional skills are limited, and at most they can only do the simplest external rust removal by themselves.

, more professional repairs and maintenance can only be left to blacksmiths. The only person in the entire Taipei area who has mastered the technology of repairing weapons and equipment is Jose. His disappearance will affect the garrison in the entire region.

Alcarazo also tried to hire blacksmiths from the Ming Dynasty from Fujian to work for him. However, because Shiba Zhi was so powerful in the Straits at the time, all the blacksmith shops along the coast of Fujian were closely monitored by the government, lest they be abducted by Shiba Zhi.

Or take the initiative to serve. Although the Spaniards have no evil intentions, they are also blocked, and no one dares to take the initiative to accept their employment. Having said that, even if Alcarazor can hire a blacksmith from the Ming Dynasty, it will not be able to play any role.

It will also be extremely limited, because the guns used by the Spanish army are basically produced in Europe, and not everyone can repair them. What's more, there are also objections within the Spanish, who believe that hiring Ming blacksmiths may cause damage to their country.

Advanced military technology leaked out from this link, benefiting this terrifyingly large Far Eastern Empire.

However, a very small number of people who are sensitive to changes in the outside world have noticed that another major arms dealer has recently emerged in the South China Sea. More than 70% of the arms purchased by the Fujian military in recent years have come from Haihan, and according to the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants

According to the description, the Haihan people can not only make weapons, but also use these weapons well. Their private armed forces have very strong combat effectiveness and have been providing military support to the Fujian military to resist the offensive of the Shibazhi pirate gang.

.

But this kind of attention did not attract Alcarazo's attention. Fujian was only a part of the Spaniards' trade network in Northeast Asia. More transactions came from Zhejiang, Ryukyu, North Korea, Japan and other places. Haihan

He has never taken the initiative to contact Spain, and Alcarazo does not think that he has the need to actively condescend to make friends with these arms dealers. In his mind, Haihan is very similar to the Portuguese. They do all kinds of business in the business world, as long as they can make money.

As for arms, didn’t the Portuguese do such a dirty thing as salvaging British shipwrecks and then selling the cannons on the ships to the Ming Dynasty? Alcarazo did not think that Haihan had the same weapons manufacturing technology as Europe

, most of the arms they sold to the Fujian military were resold from Portugal or other European countries. There are really not many business groups that make a fortune by being second-rate dealers in the Far East. Alcalazo thinks Haihan should

It's just one of them.

The backward intelligence system and arrogant mentality made the Spaniards very slow to understand the changes in the situation in the Far East. They did not realize what the series of movements of Haihan, the so-called arms dealer, in the strait meant.

While the Spaniards were still dawdling, their potential opponents had quietly entered the mouth of the Tamsui River, conducted close reconnaissance of their stronghold, and listed it as one of the next military strike targets. If

If this object were changed to Taiyuan Port, I am afraid that the local chief Hans would have been so frightened that he could not sleep.

In January 1633, the Penghu militia was stationed.

Although Sun Zhen is a rough-edged person, he can also feel some subtle changes in the atmosphere of the camp recently. The veterans have obviously been stimulated by something, and the daily training volume has increased a lot compared to when he was first assigned to it some time ago.

. Moreover, amphibious landing training that requires cooperation with the navy has become more frequent recently. Although the officers have not mentioned a word about it, Sun Zhen is no longer the ignorant commoner he was when he first arrived in Penghu. After several months of military training,

Later, he also gained some analytical skills. In his opinion, the special operations battalion was probably carrying out some kind of targeted preparations. In other words, it might not be long before he will receive his first combat mission after joining the army.

.

"Follow the team! Don't desert! You've already died once on the battlefield!" Sun Zhen suddenly got kicked in the butt. The person who kicked him was Platoon Leader Wang, who was supervising the training five years ago.

The veteran who joined the army followed Qian Tiandun all the way from Annan to Fujian. He was obviously from Annan but spoke with a northern accent. When Sun Zhen first came in, he felt very close to his accent and once thought that he also escaped from the north of the Ming Dynasty.

Like other veterans, Platoon Leader Wang treats recruits like Sun Zhen very harshly. He will only stop and rest when they feel their bodies are hollowed out. The soldiers privately call him the "mean king". However,

Sun Zhen admires the platoon leader very much. For example, in the field armed training that is currently going on, the platoon leader carries more than 20 kilograms of equipment like them. While marching, he has to go back and forth in the team to urge them, using

A simple and crude way to encourage the team to keep moving at a fast pace.

Of course, Sun Zhen also knew that one of the reasons why Platoon Leader Wang worked so hard was that he made a bet with the Steak Captain of the second platoon. If the team led by him lost in today's field training, the loser would give the other party the meat dishes for dinner.

Of course, missing a meal of meat is not a big deal, but the problem is that Platoon Commander Wang has lost three times in a row in similar bets before. As the saying goes, things can only come in threes. If he loses again, Platoon Commander Wang will not be able to live up to his reputation.

Therefore, he kept a very close eye on him today. Whenever someone fell behind or was distracted, he would use a light whip to remind him.

"There are still five miles to go, everyone, please work harder. I won Lao Niu today. I will pay for everyone's extra food from my own pocket!" Looking at the opponents chasing after his team, Platoon Leader Wang could only use

The trump card: "Add a chicken to each class!"

This chicken blood attack was still quite effective. The soldiers who had already reached the upper limit of their physical strength immediately gained motivation and gritted their teeth and rushed towards the distant finish line. In the end, Platoon Leader Wang's reward was not in vain, and his platoon took the lead.

The opponent completed the thirty-mile armed training in nearly half a mile, and also refreshed his own training record in this event.

Sun Zhen sat on the ground, unscrewed the stopper of the cowhide water bag, and after taking a big gulp of water, he panted and asked Platoon Commander Wang: "Platoon Commander, today's results should be considered in the special operations camp."

Not bad, right?"

"Not bad, but not even close!" Platoon Leader Wang was probably a little worried about his military pay afterwards, and his face was still as black as the bottom of a pot: "If you recruits hadn't held you back, my performance would have been improved by at least half a stick of incense.

.In the past, when General Qian personally led the troops to train, the marching speed was much faster than yours!"

"Platoon leader, are you bragging?" Sun Zhen didn't quite believe this. In his eyes, military leaders like Qian Tiandun relied on their status and were unlikely to lead the training in person.

"Bragging? General Qian leads the armed forces training once every six months. By then you will know how good you are, and you won't even be able to cry anymore!" Platoon Commander Wang looked ferocious, as if he had thought of some extremely bad memories.

Sun Zhen didn't dwell on this issue anymore. Someone had argued with the King of Meanness before and was punished by running twenty laps on the playground. He didn't want to be punished like this when he was exhausted. Sun Zhen wiped his forehead.

Sweating, he changed the subject and asked: "Platoon commander, the armed drills have been arranged so frequently recently, and amphibious landing exercises are also being carried out. Is there going to be a war?"

"It's up to the commanders to decide whether to fight or not. All we have to do is train well and be ready for battle!" Platoon Leader Wang responded with a straight face: "All actions follow the command, and don't ask questions that shouldn't be asked!"
Chapter completed!