Chapter 1178
cover the lid
Chapter 1178 cover the lid
Although Gao Xuewu's suggestion is pertinent, in Liu Feng's view, it is somewhat unrealistic. It is not much easier to use military means to cut off the supply line of the Haihan Army than to defeat them on the frontal battlefield.If the Ming army was really capable of doing this, then the Haihan army probably wouldn't even be able to enter the Qiantang River, let alone land outside Hangzhou.However, Gao Xuewu's battle was considered heroic, and his performance on the battlefield did not embarrass the Ming army, and Liu Feng couldn't speak too seriously, so he was only asked to go back to the city to recuperate from his injuries.
Earlier, when Zhejiang organized elite troops to go north to the Central Plains to participate in the counter-insurgency, most of the capable generals had already been transferred away. Nowadays, there are not many generals who can lead the troops alone in Hangzhou City. Generals like Gao Xuewu are considered to be among the best. There is no need to let a half-assed commander like Qi Jie take command.No one under Liu Feng's command was available, so he bit the bullet and let Qi Jie go into battle. As a result, his army almost collapsed before the fight started. This kind of performance must not entrust him with important tasks.
Of course, Liu Feng could continue to send troops to launch an offensive. The troops in Hangzhou City are not enough, and they can also mobilize troops from the various prefectures in Zhejiang. After all, from the perspective of Zhejiang as a whole, if a full-scale war is really going to happen, tens of thousands of Ming troops can still be gathered.But the problem is that using pure military strength to deal with Haihan can't achieve good results, and if things get out of hand, the Zhejiang officialdom will not be able to explain to the court.You must know that some time ago, when the imperial court ordered Zhejiang to send troops, it specifically ordered that there should be no chaos in the area, so as not to destroy the overall situation of the imperial court to first settle down inside and then fight outside.It took less than a month for foreign troops to attack the city of Hangzhou. If the imperial court knew the cause and effect, the officials of Zhejiang Dusi would have to bear corresponding responsibilities.
Wang Ji, the chief envoy who had been quite critical of the main combat faction, saw today's battle situation, and his attitude could be seen without asking any more questions. Standing on the same front and facing the court's questioning, Liu Feng had to find a way to save himself.
So that night, a Ming army sneaked out of Hangzhou City and tried to launch a night attack on the Haihan camp by the Qiantang River.But it is said that it is a night attack, in fact, there is not much secrecy at all. After all, Haihan camp is too close to Hangzhou City, and Haihan can basically monitor in real time if there is any disturbance at the city gate.Although the Ming army boldly launched a charge after approaching the Haihan camp, the effect was not ideal, and the Haihan defenders in the camp responded with musket fire.
Although the sky provided excellent cover for the Ming army's offensive, the extremely poor visibility was actually a double-edged sword. In order not to become a living target, the Ming army gave up using lighting tools such as torches during the attack. While reducing the shooting hit rate of Haihan soldiers, it naturally caused great trouble for them to pass through the obstacle area outside the camp.If you want to quickly pass through the fortifications with a depth of more than 30 meters in the dark, which are composed of high and low barbed wire fences, large and small horse pits, and deer villages in disorder, it is not easy for even experienced veterans to complete. There are also constant whistles of bullets piercing the air, and the screams of my companions after being shot and injured. It is easy to lose your way in the dark.
In the end, a few lucky ones passed through the fortifications under the cover of night, but only then did they realize that a trench more than five feet wide had been dug out of Haihan’s wall, although no water had been poured into it. But jumping into this trench would not be able to reach the top of the wall, and when the Ming army went out of the city to attack at night, they did not carry tools such as ladders. At this time, there was no other way except to build a human ladder. thought about it.
However, it is easy for Haihan to deal with this primitive attack method. The condescending stabbing makes people at the top of the ladder almost impossible to avoid. in the trenches.The desperate Ming army found that it was impossible to enter the Haihan camp with only a few scattered troops arriving at the trench, and there was even little chance of causing chaos. They could only choose to abandon the unnecessary offensive and retreat from the battlefield.
After the Ming army dropped many corpses in the night attack, they still failed to make significant progress. Seeing that the hard work was fruitless, they had no choice but to retreat to the city in the end.The Haihan Army received the order to stick to the camp, and did not go out to pursue the camp when the opponent retreated actively, in case there was another ambush in the dark night.At dawn, the soldiers found more than 130 corpses on the defense line outside the camp. However, most of the various fortifications on the front of the camp were destroyed and needed to be rearranged.In addition, because the Ming army touched a relatively close place in the dark, the archers shot a lot, which also caused several casualties to the Haihan army in the camp.
Wang Tom inspected the battlefield in the early morning and saw the arrows sticking out of the wall outside the camp. He also lamented the persistence of the Ming army.During the day, the impact of the Ming army was stopped by Haihan's long-range weapons at a relatively safe distance, and it was difficult to cause direct damage to Haihan soldiers. Instead, it caused damage.Fortunately, the casualties were limited, and the Ming army could not confirm the results they had achieved.
Wang Tom ordered the dead soldiers to be buried in battle, and later arranged special ships to transport their bones back to Zhoushan, and after cremation, they were transported back to the cemetery in Sanya for burial.The biggest shortcoming of the Haihan Army at present is still the lack of troops. Even though the combat power can already beat the opponent, but due to too few troops, it is still unable to launch an offensive in a large area.Similar to the attack on Hangzhou this time, if there are enough troops, it is possible to send troops to nearby counties and counties to show force and further put pressure on the Zhejiang government.
According to the action plan formulated in advance, the battle under the city of Hangzhou should be resolved within ten days as much as possible, otherwise the delay will be too long, and the small-scale conflict will be dragged into a full-scale war, which is not in line with Haihan's purpose of deterrence up.Now the fight in the city of Hangzhou has caused the Ming army to lose hundreds of people. If the fight continues like this, the situation may really develop in an unmanageable direction. Wang Tom is also a little hesitant in his heart, whether it is necessary to increase the pressure on Hangzhou Attack power to exert pressure.
However, his worries were actually a little superfluous. The city of Hangzhou was already full of quarrels. Some well-to-do wealthy gentry managed to buy a way, and began to evacuate Hangzhou with their families.The Haihan army is dispatching troops and generals, and the rumor that the next step is to besiege Hangzhou City is also spreading in the city. The asymmetry of information has led many people to believe it. Stock up on living supplies and supplies.The price of grain in the city has increased by five times in just two days, but even so, the supply is still in short supply, so the government can only take over the control of grain sales.
Although the government claimed that the food reserves in the city were sufficient for at least two months of consumption, the sharp changes in food prices and the government's move to control the market still made the people feel very uneasy.Hangzhou City has been living a peaceful life for more than 200 years under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. It has never been attacked by enemy soldiers and unable to fight back. Both the government and the people have a poor ability to withstand this situation.Although the Haihan army has not officially launched an offensive on Hangzhou City, the social order in the city has been chaotic.
It stands to reason that if both sides are determined to fight, then it is normal for everyone to use their own resources to decide the outcome in Hangzhou City, but the subtle thing is that both sides have their own scruples, Consciousness is controlling the intensity of the conflict, and I don't want to raise the scale of the war to such an irreversible level as the national war.
The main combat faction, which once had the upper hand, suffered setbacks one after another when the Ming army went out to fight in the city, and its influence also dropped sharply.Both the government and the people expressed pessimism about the prospect of defeating Haihan and driving him out of Hangzhou.It has now entered the fourth day that the Qiantang River's access to the sea has been blocked by the Haihan Army, and it is not only the city of Hangzhou that is affected. Currently, ships that cannot go to sea due to blocked routes are docking at the riverbanks in the upper reaches of Fuyang.Regardless of whether it is investigating the case or compensating for losses, in the eyes of the businessmen, Haihan's offer of conditions means that there is at least room for negotiation. Blindly using force to resolve the current deadlock will only make the situation worse.The rich businessmen whose interests have been damaged are all lobbying the officials in Hangzhou through their own channels, hoping that the government can change their attitude and start peace talks with Haihan as soon as possible.
At this moment, a life-saving straw finally appeared in front of the officials who were about to drown.Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, sent people to Hangzhou by land via Shaoxing Mansion and crossed the upper reaches of the Qiantang River to Hangzhou.The capital of Qu Yutong's willingness to come forward is that he has dealt with the Haihan people many times in the past year-what was originally considered a flaw by senior officials in Zhejiang, but now it has become an opportunity to save the situation.
Although many people have criticized Qu Yutong's position before this, but when the two countries are at war, people can take the initiative to ask for envoys to negotiate in enemy-controlled areas, even if they don't like him. It is hard to speak out against such courage.At least among the group of people clamoring for fighting and killing in the city of Hangzhou, none of them dared to take the initiative to go out of the city as an envoy to visit the Haihan Army by the Qiantang River.
The Chief Minister Wang Ji was originally inclined to find an opportunity to replace Qu Yutong's current position, and asked the court to find a tougher official to take up the post in Ningbo Mansion, so as to change the situation where Haihan was doing whatever he wanted in the local area.But through these few days of armed conflict, he gradually realized how troublesome it is to deal with the Haihan people.Haihan has settled in the sea off Ningbo for more than a year, and there has been no trouble in Ningbo Mansion. Just being able to do this is not easy.After the Ming army suffered setbacks one after another, no one in Hangzhou dared to stand up and take responsibility. Qu Yutong was very considerate to be able to take the initiative to stand up and plead for orders at this critical moment.
Of course, considering the face of some people, Wang Ji politely held another meeting and informed the military of Qu Yutong's suggestion.Although Liu Feng and the others were unwilling, they also knew that the current situation could no longer allow any mistakes. Even if the Haihan people could not take Hangzhou, but if this confrontation lasted for a few more days, they would not be able to hide it from the court.The most urgent task at the moment is to get Haihan to retreat as soon as possible. At this time, we can no longer think too much about the contradictions of political differences.
At the meeting in the past few days, there were quite a few people shouting and beating and killing, but this time, no one insisted on resolving existing disputes by force.Although there are still some people who express doubts about Qu Yutong's purpose in choosing to come out at this time, and do not want to trust his ability to solve the crisis, but at this time no one can come up with a more practical and effective solution, to put it bluntly , Letting Qu Yutong come forward already has the taste of a dead horse acting like a living horse doctor.If Qu Yutong also failed, then Wang Ji had no choice but to tear up his face and ask the court for help, so that he could mobilize more troops from neighboring provinces to deal with the Haihan army.
So under the few voices of opposition, Wang Ji decided to immediately appoint Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, as the special envoy for the negotiation to contact Haihan on behalf of the Zhejiang government.Wang Ji drafted the relevant appointment documents in his own hand at the meeting place, and then immediately ordered the messengers who came to deliver the official documents to return to Ningbo by the same route, so that Qu Yutong could leave early.
While the officials in Hangzhou were worried, Qu Yutong was setting up a family banquet in his own courtyard to entertain the envoys from Haihan who visited secretly.In the big drama performed by the Haihan army, Ningbo Mansion was not disturbed too much. The Haihan army just stayed at the mouth of the Yongjiang River for a short time, then left Ningbo and entered Hangzhou Bay.Since then, the progress of Haihan's itinerary in various state capitals has been sent to Qufu by Haihan's special envoy every day, which also allows Qu Yutong to have a good grasp of the execution status of the entire operation.
As for the documents to be submitted to Hangzhou City, they were actually drafted long ago, and we just waited for Haihan to notify us of a suitable time to send them over.Qu Yutong has now completely boarded Haihan's ship, no matter what the direction of the ship is, he can only follow it all the way as a passenger.Fortunately, Haihan didn't break his promise, and set up camp in the city of Hangzhou, and didn't take any more offensive measures.
This also made Qu Yutong, who was once very worried that the Haihan people would actually attack Hangzhou in a fake show, finally feel relieved. He knew very well that if the bigwigs in Hangzhou found that they could not beat the Haihan army, they would try to evade responsibility and report to the court. Concealing the chaos here, just want to solve the war crisis, they still lack a reliable communication channel.At this time, Qu Yutong came forward to be the peacemaker to solve the crisis, and he could reap a lot of goodwill and credit.Hai Han's role is almost done, and it's time for him to make his debut.
(End of this chapter)
Although Gao Xuewu's suggestion is pertinent, in Liu Feng's view, it is somewhat unrealistic. It is not much easier to use military means to cut off the supply line of the Haihan Army than to defeat them on the frontal battlefield.If the Ming army was really capable of doing this, then the Haihan army probably wouldn't even be able to enter the Qiantang River, let alone land outside Hangzhou.However, Gao Xuewu's battle was considered heroic, and his performance on the battlefield did not embarrass the Ming army, and Liu Feng couldn't speak too seriously, so he was only asked to go back to the city to recuperate from his injuries.
Earlier, when Zhejiang organized elite troops to go north to the Central Plains to participate in the counter-insurgency, most of the capable generals had already been transferred away. Nowadays, there are not many generals who can lead the troops alone in Hangzhou City. Generals like Gao Xuewu are considered to be among the best. There is no need to let a half-assed commander like Qi Jie take command.No one under Liu Feng's command was available, so he bit the bullet and let Qi Jie go into battle. As a result, his army almost collapsed before the fight started. This kind of performance must not entrust him with important tasks.
Of course, Liu Feng could continue to send troops to launch an offensive. The troops in Hangzhou City are not enough, and they can also mobilize troops from the various prefectures in Zhejiang. After all, from the perspective of Zhejiang as a whole, if a full-scale war is really going to happen, tens of thousands of Ming troops can still be gathered.But the problem is that using pure military strength to deal with Haihan can't achieve good results, and if things get out of hand, the Zhejiang officialdom will not be able to explain to the court.You must know that some time ago, when the imperial court ordered Zhejiang to send troops, it specifically ordered that there should be no chaos in the area, so as not to destroy the overall situation of the imperial court to first settle down inside and then fight outside.It took less than a month for foreign troops to attack the city of Hangzhou. If the imperial court knew the cause and effect, the officials of Zhejiang Dusi would have to bear corresponding responsibilities.
Wang Ji, the chief envoy who had been quite critical of the main combat faction, saw today's battle situation, and his attitude could be seen without asking any more questions. Standing on the same front and facing the court's questioning, Liu Feng had to find a way to save himself.
So that night, a Ming army sneaked out of Hangzhou City and tried to launch a night attack on the Haihan camp by the Qiantang River.But it is said that it is a night attack, in fact, there is not much secrecy at all. After all, Haihan camp is too close to Hangzhou City, and Haihan can basically monitor in real time if there is any disturbance at the city gate.Although the Ming army boldly launched a charge after approaching the Haihan camp, the effect was not ideal, and the Haihan defenders in the camp responded with musket fire.
Although the sky provided excellent cover for the Ming army's offensive, the extremely poor visibility was actually a double-edged sword. In order not to become a living target, the Ming army gave up using lighting tools such as torches during the attack. While reducing the shooting hit rate of Haihan soldiers, it naturally caused great trouble for them to pass through the obstacle area outside the camp.If you want to quickly pass through the fortifications with a depth of more than 30 meters in the dark, which are composed of high and low barbed wire fences, large and small horse pits, and deer villages in disorder, it is not easy for even experienced veterans to complete. There are also constant whistles of bullets piercing the air, and the screams of my companions after being shot and injured. It is easy to lose your way in the dark.
In the end, a few lucky ones passed through the fortifications under the cover of night, but only then did they realize that a trench more than five feet wide had been dug out of Haihan’s wall, although no water had been poured into it. But jumping into this trench would not be able to reach the top of the wall, and when the Ming army went out of the city to attack at night, they did not carry tools such as ladders. At this time, there was no other way except to build a human ladder. thought about it.
However, it is easy for Haihan to deal with this primitive attack method. The condescending stabbing makes people at the top of the ladder almost impossible to avoid. in the trenches.The desperate Ming army found that it was impossible to enter the Haihan camp with only a few scattered troops arriving at the trench, and there was even little chance of causing chaos. They could only choose to abandon the unnecessary offensive and retreat from the battlefield.
After the Ming army dropped many corpses in the night attack, they still failed to make significant progress. Seeing that the hard work was fruitless, they had no choice but to retreat to the city in the end.The Haihan Army received the order to stick to the camp, and did not go out to pursue the camp when the opponent retreated actively, in case there was another ambush in the dark night.At dawn, the soldiers found more than 130 corpses on the defense line outside the camp. However, most of the various fortifications on the front of the camp were destroyed and needed to be rearranged.In addition, because the Ming army touched a relatively close place in the dark, the archers shot a lot, which also caused several casualties to the Haihan army in the camp.
Wang Tom inspected the battlefield in the early morning and saw the arrows sticking out of the wall outside the camp. He also lamented the persistence of the Ming army.During the day, the impact of the Ming army was stopped by Haihan's long-range weapons at a relatively safe distance, and it was difficult to cause direct damage to Haihan soldiers. Instead, it caused damage.Fortunately, the casualties were limited, and the Ming army could not confirm the results they had achieved.
Wang Tom ordered the dead soldiers to be buried in battle, and later arranged special ships to transport their bones back to Zhoushan, and after cremation, they were transported back to the cemetery in Sanya for burial.The biggest shortcoming of the Haihan Army at present is still the lack of troops. Even though the combat power can already beat the opponent, but due to too few troops, it is still unable to launch an offensive in a large area.Similar to the attack on Hangzhou this time, if there are enough troops, it is possible to send troops to nearby counties and counties to show force and further put pressure on the Zhejiang government.
According to the action plan formulated in advance, the battle under the city of Hangzhou should be resolved within ten days as much as possible, otherwise the delay will be too long, and the small-scale conflict will be dragged into a full-scale war, which is not in line with Haihan's purpose of deterrence up.Now the fight in the city of Hangzhou has caused the Ming army to lose hundreds of people. If the fight continues like this, the situation may really develop in an unmanageable direction. Wang Tom is also a little hesitant in his heart, whether it is necessary to increase the pressure on Hangzhou Attack power to exert pressure.
However, his worries were actually a little superfluous. The city of Hangzhou was already full of quarrels. Some well-to-do wealthy gentry managed to buy a way, and began to evacuate Hangzhou with their families.The Haihan army is dispatching troops and generals, and the rumor that the next step is to besiege Hangzhou City is also spreading in the city. The asymmetry of information has led many people to believe it. Stock up on living supplies and supplies.The price of grain in the city has increased by five times in just two days, but even so, the supply is still in short supply, so the government can only take over the control of grain sales.
Although the government claimed that the food reserves in the city were sufficient for at least two months of consumption, the sharp changes in food prices and the government's move to control the market still made the people feel very uneasy.Hangzhou City has been living a peaceful life for more than 200 years under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. It has never been attacked by enemy soldiers and unable to fight back. Both the government and the people have a poor ability to withstand this situation.Although the Haihan army has not officially launched an offensive on Hangzhou City, the social order in the city has been chaotic.
It stands to reason that if both sides are determined to fight, then it is normal for everyone to use their own resources to decide the outcome in Hangzhou City, but the subtle thing is that both sides have their own scruples, Consciousness is controlling the intensity of the conflict, and I don't want to raise the scale of the war to such an irreversible level as the national war.
The main combat faction, which once had the upper hand, suffered setbacks one after another when the Ming army went out to fight in the city, and its influence also dropped sharply.Both the government and the people expressed pessimism about the prospect of defeating Haihan and driving him out of Hangzhou.It has now entered the fourth day that the Qiantang River's access to the sea has been blocked by the Haihan Army, and it is not only the city of Hangzhou that is affected. Currently, ships that cannot go to sea due to blocked routes are docking at the riverbanks in the upper reaches of Fuyang.Regardless of whether it is investigating the case or compensating for losses, in the eyes of the businessmen, Haihan's offer of conditions means that there is at least room for negotiation. Blindly using force to resolve the current deadlock will only make the situation worse.The rich businessmen whose interests have been damaged are all lobbying the officials in Hangzhou through their own channels, hoping that the government can change their attitude and start peace talks with Haihan as soon as possible.
At this moment, a life-saving straw finally appeared in front of the officials who were about to drown.Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, sent people to Hangzhou by land via Shaoxing Mansion and crossed the upper reaches of the Qiantang River to Hangzhou.The capital of Qu Yutong's willingness to come forward is that he has dealt with the Haihan people many times in the past year-what was originally considered a flaw by senior officials in Zhejiang, but now it has become an opportunity to save the situation.
Although many people have criticized Qu Yutong's position before this, but when the two countries are at war, people can take the initiative to ask for envoys to negotiate in enemy-controlled areas, even if they don't like him. It is hard to speak out against such courage.At least among the group of people clamoring for fighting and killing in the city of Hangzhou, none of them dared to take the initiative to go out of the city as an envoy to visit the Haihan Army by the Qiantang River.
The Chief Minister Wang Ji was originally inclined to find an opportunity to replace Qu Yutong's current position, and asked the court to find a tougher official to take up the post in Ningbo Mansion, so as to change the situation where Haihan was doing whatever he wanted in the local area.But through these few days of armed conflict, he gradually realized how troublesome it is to deal with the Haihan people.Haihan has settled in the sea off Ningbo for more than a year, and there has been no trouble in Ningbo Mansion. Just being able to do this is not easy.After the Ming army suffered setbacks one after another, no one in Hangzhou dared to stand up and take responsibility. Qu Yutong was very considerate to be able to take the initiative to stand up and plead for orders at this critical moment.
Of course, considering the face of some people, Wang Ji politely held another meeting and informed the military of Qu Yutong's suggestion.Although Liu Feng and the others were unwilling, they also knew that the current situation could no longer allow any mistakes. Even if the Haihan people could not take Hangzhou, but if this confrontation lasted for a few more days, they would not be able to hide it from the court.The most urgent task at the moment is to get Haihan to retreat as soon as possible. At this time, we can no longer think too much about the contradictions of political differences.
At the meeting in the past few days, there were quite a few people shouting and beating and killing, but this time, no one insisted on resolving existing disputes by force.Although there are still some people who express doubts about Qu Yutong's purpose in choosing to come out at this time, and do not want to trust his ability to solve the crisis, but at this time no one can come up with a more practical and effective solution, to put it bluntly , Letting Qu Yutong come forward already has the taste of a dead horse acting like a living horse doctor.If Qu Yutong also failed, then Wang Ji had no choice but to tear up his face and ask the court for help, so that he could mobilize more troops from neighboring provinces to deal with the Haihan army.
So under the few voices of opposition, Wang Ji decided to immediately appoint Qu Yutong, the prefect of Ningbo, as the special envoy for the negotiation to contact Haihan on behalf of the Zhejiang government.Wang Ji drafted the relevant appointment documents in his own hand at the meeting place, and then immediately ordered the messengers who came to deliver the official documents to return to Ningbo by the same route, so that Qu Yutong could leave early.
While the officials in Hangzhou were worried, Qu Yutong was setting up a family banquet in his own courtyard to entertain the envoys from Haihan who visited secretly.In the big drama performed by the Haihan army, Ningbo Mansion was not disturbed too much. The Haihan army just stayed at the mouth of the Yongjiang River for a short time, then left Ningbo and entered Hangzhou Bay.Since then, the progress of Haihan's itinerary in various state capitals has been sent to Qufu by Haihan's special envoy every day, which also allows Qu Yutong to have a good grasp of the execution status of the entire operation.
As for the documents to be submitted to Hangzhou City, they were actually drafted long ago, and we just waited for Haihan to notify us of a suitable time to send them over.Qu Yutong has now completely boarded Haihan's ship, no matter what the direction of the ship is, he can only follow it all the way as a passenger.Fortunately, Haihan didn't break his promise, and set up camp in the city of Hangzhou, and didn't take any more offensive measures.
This also made Qu Yutong, who was once very worried that the Haihan people would actually attack Hangzhou in a fake show, finally feel relieved. He knew very well that if the bigwigs in Hangzhou found that they could not beat the Haihan army, they would try to evade responsibility and report to the court. Concealing the chaos here, just want to solve the war crisis, they still lack a reliable communication channel.At this time, Qu Yutong came forward to be the peacemaker to solve the crisis, and he could reap a lot of goodwill and credit.Hai Han's role is almost done, and it's time for him to make his debut.
(End of this chapter)