Chapter 855 Prepare for war

Not surprisingly, Zhao Cheng found information about Haihan products here. Glassware, rum, soap and other products were all listed for sale, but the types of Haihan products seen here were significantly less than those in Fuguang.

, and the supply quantity is not large, and the price remains high.

For example, there are a wide variety of Haihan glass stationery on the market in Guangdong, but here there are only the most basic styles, and the price is more than twice as high as in Guangdong. The price of glass mirrors is even more outrageous. The price of a five-inch round mirror is more than

The FOB price in Victory Port was a full one hundred taels higher, and the huge profit was comparable to the situation when Haihan just started putting glass mirrors on the market. However, the quantity of this batch of goods was too small, and the total price was less than

Three thousand taels of silver.

But for the smugglers who come here to purchase goods, the price is not the primary factor they consider. Whether the goods sell well or not is the last word. The supply of goods here is not stable, and most of the Haihan goods are intermittent.

Therefore, as long as someone thinks that they can resell this batch of goods, they will eat it in this market without hesitation. The two of them observed it for a while, and sure enough, several people immediately copied the information on Haihan's goods after seeing it.

After copying, they went to go through the formalities. After a while, a man came out from the inner courtyard and took off the wooden signs one by one with the information about Haihan's goods. Xu Ke stepped forward and asked, saying that all these batches of goods had been

Sold.

"This money should all be pocketed by us Haihan!" Zhao Cheng clenched his fists and thought to himself: "Haihan has never entered Zhejiang, but he has enriched these smugglers. What a pity! If it can be done by business

If the Ministry operates it, the annual turnover will be more than one million, and the Navy will probably benefit from it by building a few more warships and launching them into the water."

Haihan's current trade strategy in Fuzhou and Guangzhou is to use a variety of commercial marketing methods and control the sea as a guarantee. On the one hand, it controls the market by controlling big agents like Li Jifeng and Xu Xinsu in the two provinces, and on the other hand, it uses powerful maritime forces.

To ensure Haihan’s voice and control in maritime trade. This operation method has been proven to be feasible and stable in Fuzhou and Guangdong provinces, and the annual trade benefits brought to Haihan are also considerable. In the future, Haihan will enter

After Zhejiang, it will probably continue to be promoted and used here.

The two of them stayed in the exchange for more than an hour and had a good look at the trading content and methods here. Then they came out and found another place to eat. In order to facilitate conversation, Xu Ke specially asked for a private room.

The waiter handed over the menu. Zhao Cheng flipped through it casually and found that the menu was similar to the one in Sanya. The dishes were drawn with colored ink and introduced in simple words. He even suspected that the person in charge of this place was following suit.

Follow Haihan’s approach.

The Ming Dynasty merchants who have visited Sanya in the past few years have numbered not less than 10,000 but also several thousand, many of whom came from other areas besides Fuguang. There are also many thoughtful people who have experienced various business techniques in the areas under Haihan's rule.

Some of the content that is easy to imitate is copied back. A little trick like this for drawing illustrations on the menu is not too difficult to implement. It just costs more to hire an artist.

The prices of the dishes in this restaurant are not cheaper than those in Haisha Bang, but the finished products delivered are slightly better. Although it is not yet "value for money", at least the price/performance ratio is better than the previous day.

After the two of them finished eating, they walked around the pier again, but they still didn't meet the leaders of the Sanlin Gang. There is neither a fortified city nor a coastal defense fort in this place. The only defense facility is the mountain col to the east.

There is a camp, but the stone wall that is only a little over ten feet does not have much defensive power in Zhao Cheng's opinion. The army's 12-pound cannon is enough to destroy it, which is just better than nothing. As for the individual pirates he observed

The equipment is still mainly cold weapons such as spears, spears, knives and bows, and it is also difficult to cause any trouble to the coalition forces.

What Zhao Cheng is really worried about is that the pirate lairs at the north and south ends of Liuheng Island have large areas of mountainous and hilly terrain. Although the altitude at the top is only one or two hundred meters, this complex situation will definitely give rise to the post-war situation.

The cleanup brought a lot of trouble. The coalition forces had limited forces and did not want to waste too much time on Liuheng Island. After all, this place was only the southern gateway to the entire Zhoushan Islands, and there were a lot of islands behind it waiting for the coalition forces to occupy. If on

Liuheng Island was delayed for too long. First, it affected the implementation of the original battle plan. Second, it gave local pirates more breathing time to organize resistance. Third, it may have left room for the Ningbo government to intervene in the matter.

and time.

Although the coalition forces had already considered the possibility of local government intervention here before setting off, in principle they would try their best to avoid conflicts with the officials. After all, Haihan still had to deal with the government if it wanted to expand its trade network in Zhejiang.

, showing off muscles to scare people can achieve the effect, so there is no need to push people to the ground and beat them up. Therefore, the coalition’s plan is to eliminate various civilian armed forces in the waters of Zhoushan Islands as quickly as possible, and use force to shock the Ningbo government and let them

Don't dare to intervene easily.

In the afternoon of the same day, Xu Ke and his party left the Shuangyu Waterway and continued to go north along the coastline of Liuheng Island. The sailboat circled the northernmost Donglangzui Cape and then turned southeast to scout the northeastern side of Liuheng Island that had not yet been visited.

The coastline. The coastal terrain here is relatively flat, mostly tidal flats, and does not have good port conditions. Only some fishing boats are active here.

However, when the boat walked into the waterway formed between the eastern end of Liuheng Island and the adjacent Yuanshan Island, they found that there were multiple piers built on the coasts on both sides. There are Liangtan Island, Yuanshan Island and other islands outside this sea area.

The reef shelters it, but it forms a rather large shelter. If you hadn't walked around Liuheng Island in such a circle, it would be easy to overlook this place.

Xu Ke sighed: "There are too many corner-to-corner places like this in the Zhoushan Islands. It is really difficult to check them all one by one."

Zhao Cheng also agreed with this: "The coalition fleet only has about a hundred combat ships. It is indeed not easy to clear such a large area of ​​​​sea. However, the leaders have great hands and eyes, and they will definitely find a way to solve it."

Xu Ke saw that his face was very determined and couldn't help but ask: "Why do you trust your boss Haihan so much? I always feel that the people of Haihan are like omnipotent gods and Buddhas in your minds."

Zhao Cheng said seriously: "Yes, in our hearts, the leaders are really like gods and Buddhas. Boss Xu, if you have a chance in the future, you can go to Qiongzhou Island to see the conditions there. Wait until you understand

After the leaders' actions on the ground, they will definitely hold the same view as us."

Of course, the Haihan group of time travelers are not gods and Buddhas with great supernatural powers. They just used knowledge and technology that are hundreds of years beyond this era to achieve achievements in a short period of time that may have taken dozens to hundreds of years in the course of history.

, and these incredible measures can easily be regarded as "miracles" in the eyes of ordinary people in this era. In addition, Shanghai has special brainwashing propaganda methods in this field, and over time, it has formed among the naturalized people.

Not only do they worship the leaders as saints, there are also many fanatical believers who are willing to sacrifice their lives for Haihan and the leaders.

Xu Ke has never been to the area controlled by Haihan, so it is naturally difficult for him to experience such an ideological atmosphere. However, in these days, he has seen that these former people of the Ming Dynasty and now naturalized residents of Haihan have such high regard for the Haihan people that even

Imperial military attaches like Xu Yuzhuo also followed the Haihan people's lead and completely obeyed the arrangements of the Haihan people in terms of combat plans. He really wanted to find an opportunity to go to Sanya, which was rumored to be the first port in the South China Sea, after the incident in Zhejiang was over.

, see if the Haihan people are really magical and omnipotent, and see if those legendary large iron ships and iron cars really exist.

After completing the island-circling reconnaissance mission of Liuheng Island, the boat Xu Ke and his party took went south overnight and returned to Shipu Port. That night, Xu Ke and Zhao Cheng, who were tired from the journey, reported the results of the trip to the headquarters.

The information they collected locally were all details that were difficult to reflect on the combat map. Even Ma Ling's previous confession had not mentioned much of it. Of course, Ma Ling did not necessarily conceal it intentionally. Many things would have been hidden if Xu Ke had not

and Zhao Cheng deliberately investigate, it is difficult for ordinary people to detect the various hidden secrets in the middle. For example, in the exchange institutions in the area controlled by the Sanlin Gang, if it were not for a knowledgeable person like Zhao Cheng, Xu Ke would go there alone, except for

Apart from being surprised, I probably don’t understand the real role this structure can play in bulk trade.

From a military perspective, the private armed forces on Liuheng Island do not pose much of a threat in terms of defense strength. Whether at sea or on land, the coalition forces can easily defeat them with well-trained professional soldiers and weapons and equipment with excellent performance.

Defeating the opponent, the only thing that worries the headquarters is that the battlefield area is too large, and it is difficult for the coalition forces to rely on raids to completely clear out the armed personnel on the island at once. And once time prolongs, the situation is likely to produce unexpected changes.

This will affect subsequent combat plans.

But no matter what difficulties there are, the attack on Liuheng Island is already on the line. Combat materials, personnel, and ships are all in place, and we are just waiting for the coalition command to come up with a specific action plan.

Ma Ling felt like he was sitting on the crater of a volcano these two days. Although he had temporarily obtained preferential treatment from the Haihan people by expressing his stance and was not imprisoned on an uninhabited island in the harbor like other people in Shipu Suo, he also knew that he was facing the sea.

The intelligence information revealed by the Han people was very influential, and it was very likely that he would be implicated later. And this day, the Han people in Tianhai made a new request to him. In the next operation to attack Liuheng Island, he must also go out with the army and serve as

Guide, and will assist the coalition forces in identifying the bandit leader on the island after the war. The only good thing is that Ma Ling does not have to appear in public, he only needs to point out the direction and target for the attackers in the fleet. Although Ma Ling is not willing to be a seafarer

The Han people urged me to do it, but at this time, I was living under someone else's roof and it was important to save my life, so I could only reluctantly agree.

After the coalition fleet was stationed in Shipu Port for a few days, the blockade measures gradually lost their effectiveness, and the news slowly spread in the surrounding areas. The sudden arrival of the Haihan people was indeed a big stimulus to the local people, and many people did not

It is unclear what kind of armed force Haihan is, so in the first few days after hearing the news, many people either left Shipu Port by boat or fled overland into the mountainous area in the north, leaving behind

Public sentiment is also extremely unstable.

Fortunately, the Haihan Militia had more experience in dealing with such scenes. They took several surrendered Ming army officers to various villages to appease the people, and used real money to hire people to work as civilian husbands in the dock area outside Shipu Guards Station——

This combined fleet has more than 100 ships and more than 3,000 people. It also requires a lot of logistics personnel, most of which must be recruited from the local area.

The people saw that Shipu Guardhouse still hung the banner of the Ming Dynasty, but only imprisoned some people who colluded with pirates, and now they had money to work for, so they gradually settled down. As for why the newly arrived Haihan Fleet was blocked

Regarding the port, people also gave a very clear answer - to prevent pirates from taking advantage of the situation and sneaking into Shipaso Castle.

But just as the Allied Forces Command suspected, there were also pirate spies in Shipu Port. A few days later, someone rowed out of Shipu Port at night and reported the news to the north.

The first to get the news was not the Haisha Gang who was closer to Shipu Port, but the Sanlin Gang who was a little further away. However, in addition to reporting the origin of this fleet, the spy who sent the letter also had detailed information on its organization, force size, and ships.

For this purpose, no clear information can be provided, so the actual reference value is very limited.

After the three Lin brothers learned of the news, they took it seriously and called the messenger to repeatedly interrogate the details. However, except for the certain information that "the Haihan fleet captured Shipu Suo City in half a day", the other links were quite vague.

The Lin brothers attached great importance to the messenger's statement that there were "thousand-material battleships" in the Haihan fleet, because the eldest of the three brothers, Lin Xing, had indeed been to Sanya two years ago and was in the Victory Port.

He had seen the huge Haihan iron ships as well as the rows of Haihan warships docked on the east coast of Victory Port. Lin Xing had a deeper understanding of the maritime armed strength of the Haihan people than others.

"The Haihan people have always used the occupation of offshore islands and reefs as a way to expand their territory, and they have done this along the coasts of Fuzhou and Guangdong. If the Haihan fleet really goes north to Zhejiang, it will definitely choose a suitable place to settle down." Lin Xing said to the two men.

The younger brother analyzed: "I just don't know if the place they chose is Shipu Port or if they have other plans."

"The place at Shipu Port is where the imperial guardhouse is located. Even if the Haihan people are bold enough to occupy it, they still won't be able to stay if the imperial court wants to liquidate it in the future, right?" Lin De, the second oldest, was skeptical about this.

"If the Haihan people want to do something with peace of mind, the imperial court may not be able to do anything." Lin Xing shook his head and sighed: "The Haihan people are not the same as you and me. The game they are playing is much bigger."
Chapter completed!