Chapter 1291
Military Exercise Day 2
Chapter 1291
In previous years' "leapfrogging" military exercises, it was customary for allied forces to be invited to send military personnel to participate in them. However, this year's exercise, in addition to a few allied forces, also saw the armed sailing ships of Portugal and the Netherlands for the first time. figure.In the past, although the two countries were also invited to the exercise ground for observation, but this year is the first time that they have actually sent people to directly participate in the operation.
In fact, the two countries also applied to participate in the exercise in previous years, but the Haihan military would use various inconveniences as an excuse to refuse each other.After all, these western colonialist countries are not completely tameable to Haihan like the small countries in the South China Sea. They bowed their heads and surrendered in the Far East just to keep trade opportunities, and they would not treat Haihan as a suzerain country.If there is an opportunity, these western armed sea merchants may turn into bandits at any time and make Haihan worse.
However, since the end of last year, Haihan's intelligence department has received some bad news one after another. Some countries covet Haihan's excellent situation in the South China Sea, and may try to take some actions to test Haihan's bottom line.The small actions of the British in the Strait of Malacca more than two months ago also partially confirmed the reliability of these news. Although the local garrison successfully repelled the opponent and held the bridgehead of Sing Tao, it does not mean that the British will give up.And according to the intelligence, this family may not be the only one that is ready to move in the dark.
After weighing the matter, the executive committee decided that it was necessary to better integrate the two countries, which are currently living in peace, into the military alliance established by Haihan in the South China Sea, so as to prevent the two countries from having other ideas after realizing the change in the situation.The simplest and most effective way is naturally to invite them to join the "Leap" military exercise held this summer and make their appearance in the form of "quasi-allies".This will not only further win over the two countries in terms of diplomatic relations, but also make the outside world aware of the political tendencies of the two countries in a timely manner, and try to prevent the possibility of other forces trying to win over the two countries.
Regardless of whether the two countries are aware of the undercurrent in the South China Sea, they are definitely willing to accept Haihan's olive branch.It is very important for Portugal and the Netherlands to understand the military level of Haihan, and the best channel and window is the annual National Day military parade and large and small military exercises.To have the opportunity to be invited to participate in the largest "leapfrog" military exercise of the year is also a good opportunity for them to get close to the Haihan Army and observe its combat methods.
Of course, the Haihan military still very cautiously restricted the participating lineups of Portugal and the Netherlands, only allowing the two countries to send one armed ship to join the exercise, and they must obey Haihan's command throughout the process.
The Haihan Fleet slowed down its speed just to wait for the joining of these joint participating troops.Of course, these countries do not have steam battleships like the Haihan Navy, and only after the Haihan battleship slows down can the two sides cooperate after rendezvous.The mixed deployment of multinational ships to perform various maritime missions has very high requirements for commanders. It is necessary to take into account the performance differences of ships from different countries to give corresponding action instructions, so that it is possible to maintain the consistency of action steps.
However, for a non-professional audience like Liu Shang, he really can only watch the excitement. Even if an officer is standing next to him to explain, he still doesn't quite understand that this mixed fleet is at sea. Urgent, sometimes there is a turning action, what exactly is the content being practiced, and how to judge the quality of the completion.
Liu Shang was really anxious and angry at this time. The anxious thing was that the warships like Haihan had been galloping at sea for a long time, but they were still unwilling to show their "real skills" to take a look. What made him angry was that his military knowledge was too At least, even if they had this rare opportunity to observe Haihan's actual combat drills up close, they still couldn't understand the rules and regulations of this strongest maritime armed force in the South China Sea.
If you come here just to watch the fun, it's a waste of such a great opportunity, and Liu Shang will definitely not be reconciled to it.But he knew that his status was low, and he couldn't speak at all in this team composed of current Haihan officials except him, and he didn't dare to force himself to inquire about the detailed arrangement of the military exercise.
But the formation exercises at sea continued until the sun was westward, but it is clear that all ships will not sail back to land today, and night training is also part of the exercise.Of course, for the spectators, the training of the fleet at night is even less interesting. At most, you can see some lanterns and ship shadows floating on the sea.
But for naval forces, night navigation training is an indispensable subject. After all, there is no way to stop sailing during the day and night during wartime. Day and night sailing is the norm during wartime. Shape is also a combat skill that fleets need to master.But now with the addition of more than a dozen foreign warships, plus several troop carriers carrying visitors, the night navigation command of the entire fleet is much more complicated.
As for where the fleet will be sailing at night, the officer on board who is in charge of explaining the exercise refuses to disclose any information, citing confidentiality regulations.Liu Shang was so aggrieved that he wanted to curse, this is already at sea, who else can fly away from this ship with wings?What kind of secrets are you keeping at this time? It's simply too much to eat.
But these grievances can only be thought about in his heart, and he dare not express it in the slightest. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, everyone returned to the cabin for a simple dinner, and there were no other program arrangements, and the cabin was blacked out, so they went I can only fall on the bed early and die.Although Liu Shang didn't want to rest so early, it would be a bit unconventional to go to the deck alone, so he had no choice but to hold back his curiosity for the time being.
In the early morning of the next day, there was no need for anyone to wake them up. The group of people who slept too early last night had already woken up by themselves. The first thing they did after getting dressed was to go to the deck to check the movements of the night.But to them, the surrounding environment seems to be the same as last night, the sea is still boundless, and the United Fleet is just a few miles ahead, which is about the same distance as yesterday before dark.
Liu Shang judged the current direction of travel according to the sun. It should be sailing towards the northwest, but because there is no land on the sea as far as he can see, he does not know where the fleet sailed overnight. place, so it is impossible to infer where the destination of the current journey will be.
But at this time, the officer on board finally appeared and explained today's arrangement to everyone: "Today's exercise is mainly about amphibious landing operations, and it is expected to start in an hour."
Liu Shang did know that Haihan's timekeeping unit is slightly different from that of Daming, two hours is one hour, it seems that it needs to wait for half an hour.But in this way, this place is not far from the land. Where did it go?Looking at the direction of travel, could it be that this training ground is in Lianzhou Prefecture?
Instead of him asking questions, Yu Xiaobao obviously thought of this question, and asked the officer: "Going forward, we will soon reach Lianzhou Mansion, right?"
Lianzhou Mansion is the location of Beihai in the later generations of Guangxi. The voyage from Danzhou Bay to this place is about [-] nautical miles. If the route last night has been heading in this direction, it will arrive at this area at about the same time.
But the officer shook his head and said, "We won't go that far. If the army lands in Daming, it may cause misunderstandings from the local government, so this military exercise will not set foot in the territory of Daming either."
Hearing this, Liu Shang felt a little more at ease. It seems that this Haihan is not unscrupulous towards Daming, at least he knows about military exercises to avoid suspicion.But if you don't go to Daming in this direction, why not go to Annan?It must be, the vicinity of Heitu Port, which is adjacent to Yong'an Mansion, has been taken over by Haihan, and it has been included in Haihan's territory for several years. Naturally, there will be no disputes about carrying out military exercises there.
Liu Shang was thinking about it when he heard someone shout: "Look, there is land ahead!"
Liu Shang quickly looked forward, and there was a small protrusion on the sea, but it seemed that it was not a mainland, but a small island hanging in the sea.
"That's Xieyang Island, our destination." The officer's voice sounded in a timely manner, allowing everyone to clarify the location ahead.
Although Liu Shang was familiar with the geography of Guangdong and Guangxi, he really couldn't remember where this Xieyang Island was located and where it was under the jurisdiction.At this time, an old man from the Ministry of Communications answered his question in time: "Xieyang Island? Is this place under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, Lianzhou Prefecture? I remember that I used to pass by this place when I went to Lianzhou, but I revisited the old place today." .”
Liu Shang couldn't help answering: "Since it is under the jurisdiction of Daming, will there be any trouble for military exercises here?"
The officer glanced at Liu Shang, and explained unhurriedly: "This place was under the jurisdiction of Daming in the past, but now it is our territory in Haihan. There is no need to inform the Ming government about the military exercises here."
Liu Shangzuo suddenly realized and responded: "So that's the case, I have been taught!"
Liu Shang didn't know when this island was taken by the Haihan people. He remembered that there was a relatively large Weizhou Island under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, which seemed to be not far from Xieyang Island. They were taken by Haihan together.But when you think about it, this is actually not surprising. Haihan has already taken absolute control of the Beibu Gulf waters. With his usual means, he only occupied a few islands. It is very restrained.However, upon hearing the officer's answer, Liu Shang was naturally still upset, and secretly clenched his fists hidden in his sleeves.
Just as Liu Shang thought, Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island, which are only 20 nautical miles away from the coastline of Guangxi, have already been occupied by Haihan, and they have been clearly drawn into their own territory.Among the two islands, Weizhou Island has an area of more than [-] square kilometers, while Xieyang Island located in the southeast of it is much smaller, with a land area of less than two square kilometers.However, there are no special products on these two islands, and the development at this stage can only focus on agriculture and fishery.
Later, the military simply moved all the residents of Xieyang Island out, and used this island as one of their training grounds in the Beibu Gulf area. They built a land-sea shooting range on the island, and tested various new weapons here. arms.This place is surrounded by the sea, and only the south of the island has conditions for ships to berth, and only military ships are allowed to berth here. The secrecy is naturally much better than the few places the military built on Hainan Island in the past. range.
As for the shortcomings, it is also obvious, that is, it is a little far away from Hainan Island, and the traffic conditions are not so convenient. Even if the journey from Danzhou Bay to here is smooth, the voyage will take about ten hours.
When the Ministry of National Defense formulated the exercise plan, it listed Xieyang Island as the place to implement the amphibious landing subjects, and the voyage from Danzhou to here was just used to practice subjects such as fleet coordination at sea, supply, search, rescue, and tracking.
Liu Shang couldn't figure out how the Ministry of National Defense arranged it, but he heard the "amphibious landing operation" that the Haihan officer said earlier. After going around a few times, maybe we can get a glimpse of the Haihan Army's combat methods and see if there are any loopholes to follow.
When Liu Shang was pondering, the officer had already ordered someone to unfold a map on the side of the ship, which was an enlarged topographic map of Xieyang Island.The officer stood by and introduced the terrain of Xieyang Island to everyone in detail.The island is longer from east to west, and narrower from north to south. The coast of the island is mostly steep cliffs, and only the south side has a pier that can be docked.If the army wants to attack this place, it can only target the relatively gentle coast in the south of the island.In other words, as long as the defenders can hold the extremely narrow port area in the south of the island, they can keep the island from being captured.
While looking at the map, Liu Shang was also thinking about how to retreat the enemy if he commanded the defenders himself.However, he himself is not good at military affairs, so naturally he can't think of any decent means. After thinking about it, he can only build more fortifications in the south of the island and deploy heavy troops. It is best to set up a few forts to resist the enemy at sea.He also knew that if the Haihan soldiers were allowed to land on the island and use them to fight against the invincible Musketeers in the South China Sea, no matter how many defenders there were, it would not be of much use. Get off the island.
And the people on the same boat also expressed their opinions and talked a lot, but they were basically the same as what Liu Shang thought.Yu Xiaobao didn't speak all the time, looking confident.Liu Shang couldn't help asking him: "The villain asked Director Yu for advice, is there any way to keep the enemy's army at sea?"
Yu Xiaobao said: "There is a way, but it only exists in theory and cannot be realized."
Liu Shang asked: "The villain would like to hear the details?"
Seeing his insistence, Yu Xiaobao said, "To defend this island, it's simple and simple, just send the Haihan Army to defend the island."
Liu Shang was stunned. He never expected that the other party would give such an answer that sounded absurd, but seemed reasonable after careful consideration.
(End of this chapter)
In previous years' "leapfrogging" military exercises, it was customary for allied forces to be invited to send military personnel to participate in them. However, this year's exercise, in addition to a few allied forces, also saw the armed sailing ships of Portugal and the Netherlands for the first time. figure.In the past, although the two countries were also invited to the exercise ground for observation, but this year is the first time that they have actually sent people to directly participate in the operation.
In fact, the two countries also applied to participate in the exercise in previous years, but the Haihan military would use various inconveniences as an excuse to refuse each other.After all, these western colonialist countries are not completely tameable to Haihan like the small countries in the South China Sea. They bowed their heads and surrendered in the Far East just to keep trade opportunities, and they would not treat Haihan as a suzerain country.If there is an opportunity, these western armed sea merchants may turn into bandits at any time and make Haihan worse.
However, since the end of last year, Haihan's intelligence department has received some bad news one after another. Some countries covet Haihan's excellent situation in the South China Sea, and may try to take some actions to test Haihan's bottom line.The small actions of the British in the Strait of Malacca more than two months ago also partially confirmed the reliability of these news. Although the local garrison successfully repelled the opponent and held the bridgehead of Sing Tao, it does not mean that the British will give up.And according to the intelligence, this family may not be the only one that is ready to move in the dark.
After weighing the matter, the executive committee decided that it was necessary to better integrate the two countries, which are currently living in peace, into the military alliance established by Haihan in the South China Sea, so as to prevent the two countries from having other ideas after realizing the change in the situation.The simplest and most effective way is naturally to invite them to join the "Leap" military exercise held this summer and make their appearance in the form of "quasi-allies".This will not only further win over the two countries in terms of diplomatic relations, but also make the outside world aware of the political tendencies of the two countries in a timely manner, and try to prevent the possibility of other forces trying to win over the two countries.
Regardless of whether the two countries are aware of the undercurrent in the South China Sea, they are definitely willing to accept Haihan's olive branch.It is very important for Portugal and the Netherlands to understand the military level of Haihan, and the best channel and window is the annual National Day military parade and large and small military exercises.To have the opportunity to be invited to participate in the largest "leapfrog" military exercise of the year is also a good opportunity for them to get close to the Haihan Army and observe its combat methods.
Of course, the Haihan military still very cautiously restricted the participating lineups of Portugal and the Netherlands, only allowing the two countries to send one armed ship to join the exercise, and they must obey Haihan's command throughout the process.
The Haihan Fleet slowed down its speed just to wait for the joining of these joint participating troops.Of course, these countries do not have steam battleships like the Haihan Navy, and only after the Haihan battleship slows down can the two sides cooperate after rendezvous.The mixed deployment of multinational ships to perform various maritime missions has very high requirements for commanders. It is necessary to take into account the performance differences of ships from different countries to give corresponding action instructions, so that it is possible to maintain the consistency of action steps.
However, for a non-professional audience like Liu Shang, he really can only watch the excitement. Even if an officer is standing next to him to explain, he still doesn't quite understand that this mixed fleet is at sea. Urgent, sometimes there is a turning action, what exactly is the content being practiced, and how to judge the quality of the completion.
Liu Shang was really anxious and angry at this time. The anxious thing was that the warships like Haihan had been galloping at sea for a long time, but they were still unwilling to show their "real skills" to take a look. What made him angry was that his military knowledge was too At least, even if they had this rare opportunity to observe Haihan's actual combat drills up close, they still couldn't understand the rules and regulations of this strongest maritime armed force in the South China Sea.
If you come here just to watch the fun, it's a waste of such a great opportunity, and Liu Shang will definitely not be reconciled to it.But he knew that his status was low, and he couldn't speak at all in this team composed of current Haihan officials except him, and he didn't dare to force himself to inquire about the detailed arrangement of the military exercise.
But the formation exercises at sea continued until the sun was westward, but it is clear that all ships will not sail back to land today, and night training is also part of the exercise.Of course, for the spectators, the training of the fleet at night is even less interesting. At most, you can see some lanterns and ship shadows floating on the sea.
But for naval forces, night navigation training is an indispensable subject. After all, there is no way to stop sailing during the day and night during wartime. Day and night sailing is the norm during wartime. Shape is also a combat skill that fleets need to master.But now with the addition of more than a dozen foreign warships, plus several troop carriers carrying visitors, the night navigation command of the entire fleet is much more complicated.
As for where the fleet will be sailing at night, the officer on board who is in charge of explaining the exercise refuses to disclose any information, citing confidentiality regulations.Liu Shang was so aggrieved that he wanted to curse, this is already at sea, who else can fly away from this ship with wings?What kind of secrets are you keeping at this time? It's simply too much to eat.
But these grievances can only be thought about in his heart, and he dare not express it in the slightest. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, everyone returned to the cabin for a simple dinner, and there were no other program arrangements, and the cabin was blacked out, so they went I can only fall on the bed early and die.Although Liu Shang didn't want to rest so early, it would be a bit unconventional to go to the deck alone, so he had no choice but to hold back his curiosity for the time being.
In the early morning of the next day, there was no need for anyone to wake them up. The group of people who slept too early last night had already woken up by themselves. The first thing they did after getting dressed was to go to the deck to check the movements of the night.But to them, the surrounding environment seems to be the same as last night, the sea is still boundless, and the United Fleet is just a few miles ahead, which is about the same distance as yesterday before dark.
Liu Shang judged the current direction of travel according to the sun. It should be sailing towards the northwest, but because there is no land on the sea as far as he can see, he does not know where the fleet sailed overnight. place, so it is impossible to infer where the destination of the current journey will be.
But at this time, the officer on board finally appeared and explained today's arrangement to everyone: "Today's exercise is mainly about amphibious landing operations, and it is expected to start in an hour."
Liu Shang did know that Haihan's timekeeping unit is slightly different from that of Daming, two hours is one hour, it seems that it needs to wait for half an hour.But in this way, this place is not far from the land. Where did it go?Looking at the direction of travel, could it be that this training ground is in Lianzhou Prefecture?
Instead of him asking questions, Yu Xiaobao obviously thought of this question, and asked the officer: "Going forward, we will soon reach Lianzhou Mansion, right?"
Lianzhou Mansion is the location of Beihai in the later generations of Guangxi. The voyage from Danzhou Bay to this place is about [-] nautical miles. If the route last night has been heading in this direction, it will arrive at this area at about the same time.
But the officer shook his head and said, "We won't go that far. If the army lands in Daming, it may cause misunderstandings from the local government, so this military exercise will not set foot in the territory of Daming either."
Hearing this, Liu Shang felt a little more at ease. It seems that this Haihan is not unscrupulous towards Daming, at least he knows about military exercises to avoid suspicion.But if you don't go to Daming in this direction, why not go to Annan?It must be, the vicinity of Heitu Port, which is adjacent to Yong'an Mansion, has been taken over by Haihan, and it has been included in Haihan's territory for several years. Naturally, there will be no disputes about carrying out military exercises there.
Liu Shang was thinking about it when he heard someone shout: "Look, there is land ahead!"
Liu Shang quickly looked forward, and there was a small protrusion on the sea, but it seemed that it was not a mainland, but a small island hanging in the sea.
"That's Xieyang Island, our destination." The officer's voice sounded in a timely manner, allowing everyone to clarify the location ahead.
Although Liu Shang was familiar with the geography of Guangdong and Guangxi, he really couldn't remember where this Xieyang Island was located and where it was under the jurisdiction.At this time, an old man from the Ministry of Communications answered his question in time: "Xieyang Island? Is this place under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, Lianzhou Prefecture? I remember that I used to pass by this place when I went to Lianzhou, but I revisited the old place today." .”
Liu Shang couldn't help answering: "Since it is under the jurisdiction of Daming, will there be any trouble for military exercises here?"
The officer glanced at Liu Shang, and explained unhurriedly: "This place was under the jurisdiction of Daming in the past, but now it is our territory in Haihan. There is no need to inform the Ming government about the military exercises here."
Liu Shangzuo suddenly realized and responded: "So that's the case, I have been taught!"
Liu Shang didn't know when this island was taken by the Haihan people. He remembered that there was a relatively large Weizhou Island under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, which seemed to be not far from Xieyang Island. They were taken by Haihan together.But when you think about it, this is actually not surprising. Haihan has already taken absolute control of the Beibu Gulf waters. With his usual means, he only occupied a few islands. It is very restrained.However, upon hearing the officer's answer, Liu Shang was naturally still upset, and secretly clenched his fists hidden in his sleeves.
Just as Liu Shang thought, Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island, which are only 20 nautical miles away from the coastline of Guangxi, have already been occupied by Haihan, and they have been clearly drawn into their own territory.Among the two islands, Weizhou Island has an area of more than [-] square kilometers, while Xieyang Island located in the southeast of it is much smaller, with a land area of less than two square kilometers.However, there are no special products on these two islands, and the development at this stage can only focus on agriculture and fishery.
Later, the military simply moved all the residents of Xieyang Island out, and used this island as one of their training grounds in the Beibu Gulf area. They built a land-sea shooting range on the island, and tested various new weapons here. arms.This place is surrounded by the sea, and only the south of the island has conditions for ships to berth, and only military ships are allowed to berth here. The secrecy is naturally much better than the few places the military built on Hainan Island in the past. range.
As for the shortcomings, it is also obvious, that is, it is a little far away from Hainan Island, and the traffic conditions are not so convenient. Even if the journey from Danzhou Bay to here is smooth, the voyage will take about ten hours.
When the Ministry of National Defense formulated the exercise plan, it listed Xieyang Island as the place to implement the amphibious landing subjects, and the voyage from Danzhou to here was just used to practice subjects such as fleet coordination at sea, supply, search, rescue, and tracking.
Liu Shang couldn't figure out how the Ministry of National Defense arranged it, but he heard the "amphibious landing operation" that the Haihan officer said earlier. After going around a few times, maybe we can get a glimpse of the Haihan Army's combat methods and see if there are any loopholes to follow.
When Liu Shang was pondering, the officer had already ordered someone to unfold a map on the side of the ship, which was an enlarged topographic map of Xieyang Island.The officer stood by and introduced the terrain of Xieyang Island to everyone in detail.The island is longer from east to west, and narrower from north to south. The coast of the island is mostly steep cliffs, and only the south side has a pier that can be docked.If the army wants to attack this place, it can only target the relatively gentle coast in the south of the island.In other words, as long as the defenders can hold the extremely narrow port area in the south of the island, they can keep the island from being captured.
While looking at the map, Liu Shang was also thinking about how to retreat the enemy if he commanded the defenders himself.However, he himself is not good at military affairs, so naturally he can't think of any decent means. After thinking about it, he can only build more fortifications in the south of the island and deploy heavy troops. It is best to set up a few forts to resist the enemy at sea.He also knew that if the Haihan soldiers were allowed to land on the island and use them to fight against the invincible Musketeers in the South China Sea, no matter how many defenders there were, it would not be of much use. Get off the island.
And the people on the same boat also expressed their opinions and talked a lot, but they were basically the same as what Liu Shang thought.Yu Xiaobao didn't speak all the time, looking confident.Liu Shang couldn't help asking him: "The villain asked Director Yu for advice, is there any way to keep the enemy's army at sea?"
Yu Xiaobao said: "There is a way, but it only exists in theory and cannot be realized."
Liu Shang asked: "The villain would like to hear the details?"
Seeing his insistence, Yu Xiaobao said, "To defend this island, it's simple and simple, just send the Haihan Army to defend the island."
Liu Shang was stunned. He never expected that the other party would give such an answer that sounded absurd, but seemed reasonable after careful consideration.
(End of this chapter)