Chapter 1332
Desperate
Chapter 1332 Desperate
Judging from the social atmosphere of Haihan's battle against the Spanish fleet at home this time, Liu Shang believed that the people of Haihan did not feel much panic about the outbreak of the war, but regarded it as an opportunity to demonstrate their national strength. Many people actively participated in the preparation and watching activities of this battle.The Haihan Navy and the coastal defense fort worked together to defeat the invading enemy fleet openly under the watchful eyes of the public. This performance has greatly encouraged the hearts of the people. Liu Shang has even seen young students organizing petitions. The official expedition to the old nest of the Spanish fleet was required to retaliate against it by military means.
If Liu Shang still had the mentality of a melon-eating crowd when he first heard that the enemy army was coming, by the way, let's see if there are any loopholes in Haihan's defense line, and it will also provide some help for the Ming army to regain this place in the future.But after witnessing the battle process with his own eyes, Liu Shang already understood why Hai Han had no fear.A fleet as powerful as Spain was defeated and fled without even touching the soil of Victory Port. If the navy of the Ming army fought against the Haihan navy in its position, the main force would probably flee the battlefield The chances are slim, right?
Liu Shang suddenly felt that the Guangdong and Guangxi government had let Haihan's various behaviors go unchecked for so many years, perhaps not just because of the shortage of manpower, but because he knew that military means were not only useless to Haihan, but also very easy to provoke its backlash.Sanya can defend itself against the invasion of foreign enemies, but many cities in Guangdong and Guangxi may not.
Before Liu Shang came to Hainan Island, he also went to the vicinity of Guangzhou City to see Haihan’s local business conditions. In addition to the land on the edge of the Pearl River to the east of Guangzhou City, Haihan is still starting a new business on the sandbar facing Guangzhou City on the south bank of the Pearl River. A port town called Haizhu Town was built.The Haihan people built a two-mile-long wharf on the river bank, as well as supporting facilities such as commercial warehouses and warehouses, and these wharves have undoubtedly become the designated docking points for various commercial firms, ship companies, and other institutions under the name of Haihan.Although it is separated by a river from Guangzhou City, it did not affect the rapid prosperity of Haizhu Town in just one or two years.
Of course, Haihan transported here by air not only all kinds of goods, but also all kinds of people with different functions. Among these people are not only merchants, but also many intelligence personnel with similar identities to Liu Shang, and a considerable number of people. paramilitary personnel.
The bodyguard company "Golden Shield Escort" jointly opened by Haihan and Guangdong wealthy businessman Li Jifeng has been in operation for several years. The geographical scope of the business has already stepped out of Guangdong and Guangxi, and it has also been established in Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places. Business routes and freight channels have been established, and a large number of branches have been established in various places.The Golden Shield Escort employs a large number of armed personnel in the name of law, and a considerable proportion of "bodyguards" are equipped with the standard firearms provided by Haihan.
As far as Liu Shang knows, the Guangdong and Guangxi government are not unaware of these situations, but are deliberately pretending to be deaf and dumb, turning a blind eye, which can be said to let Haihan do whatever he wants.According to the statistics of the intelligence department, the number of armed personnel deployed by the Golden Shield Escort along the Pearl River is about [-]. If these people are organized, they will look like two reinforced infantry battalions.If necessary, Liu Shang believes that they only need half a day to prepare before launching an attack on Guangzhou City.
At that time, Liu Shang didn't think that Haihan's small actions could really threaten the security of Guangzhou's city defense. He just felt that the inaction of the local government was a serious dereliction of duty. .If these armed personnel have the combat effectiveness of the Haihan army, or if these so-called bodyguards are simply another identity of the Haihan army, then even if the two thousand Haihan army cannot attack Guangzhou City for a while, it will be enough to block the inside The defenders could not get out of the city.
In such an environment where Haihan was being monitored face to face, any action by the Guangdong and Guangxi authorities near Guangzhou would leak out, and it was perfectly normal not to dare to use force to expel Haihan.
Doubts like this about Daming's military strength became more and more frequent, and Liu Shang felt less and less confident about his mission to come to Haihan to lurk.The longer he stays, the more he understands that what he is doing now is mostly useless. Personal strength cannot narrow the gap in strength between the two countries, and the information collected through intelligence means will not help Da Ming use political, economic or It is military means to deal with Hai Han, a difficult opponent.
The strength comparison between the two countries, apart from the land area and population, Liu Shang can't see any other advantages of Ming Dynasty. Although Ming Dynasty claims to have a standing army of 200 million, it is really divided into Guangdong and Guangxi, and those who can fight The army doesn't even have [-] troops, and it may be worrying to have [-] troops that can be drawn out to conduct mobile operations between various coastal areas.Based on the comparison of the strengths of the two armies, if Haihan were to launch an offensive against the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, the [-] Ming army would definitely be unable to withstand it.As for the recovery of Hainan Island, I am afraid that all the troops capable of fighting in Guangdong and Guangxi will not be enough to fill the holes-not to mention that even if we get an army of [-], we will never find so many ships that can transport the army to Hainan in a short time. to the island.
Liu Shang sighed, and continued to read the special issue that he hadn't finished reading. Haihan officials defined this battle as a battle against foreign invasion, rather than the "fight against piracy" that was declared before the war.The article defined Spain, which launched an attack on Sanya, as an "evil country" and listed it as an unwelcome trade target, and called on its citizens and allies to stop all trade with the Spaniards, especially the Manila authorities.Of course, this kind of trade blockade is not a mandatory means, but with the appeal of Haihan officials in the region, Liu Shang has no doubt that this statement will be interpreted as an official decree by people from all walks of life.
In the coming period, it is estimated that there will not be too many people who dare to go against the official will of Haihan and continue to trade with the Spaniards in Manila secretly.It is not difficult for anyone with a little brain to imagine that since Haihan was able to get an early warning and prepare for the battle a few days before the arrival of the Spanish fleet this time, it must be someone from Manila who sent a warning message in advance. If you go to do business in Manila, you are afraid that you will be blacklisted by the Haihan Ministry of Commerce.
This kind of informal trade ban will definitely have a certain negative impact on Haihan's foreign trade income, but Liu Shang also knows that Haihan people are very shrewd in business, and they will definitely not trade at a loss. The gains and losses were calculated in advance.Even if they suffer, it must be that the Spaniards in Manila will suffer even more.
But in Liu Shang's view, perhaps this is just the beginning of Haihan's revenge. If only a trade blockade is imposed, it may not relieve Haihan, and there will inevitably be other means to force the other party to bow down.Liu Shang really hoped that Haihan would fight hard and fight the Spaniards to the death in Manila, but at present, there seems to be no sign of continuing the war.The two fleets of the Haihan Navy have returned to the base in Victory Port. It is said that several ships have been sent to the dock for repairs, and the soldiers have begun to release their combat readiness in batches. It seems that there will be no more wars in the near future.
Moreover, the newspaper quoted senior military officials as saying that Haihan's operation was a "self-defense counterattack" with the purpose of repelling the enemy's attack.As for the attack on Manila and even the elimination of the Spanish presence in the area, there was not a word in the newspaper.Based on the official propaganda methods of Haihan that Liu Shang knows, if there is going to be a war next, it will probably be the same as before. Before the war starts, the public will be released, and the direction of public opinion will be actively guided, so as to avoid suspicion among the people due to opaque information. It can also prevent people from using this to incite public sentiment and create chaos to the greatest extent.
Liu Shang simply skipped the pages that were used to praise the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army. This is not because he still has serious resistance to the Haihan Army, but because he witnessed the whole process of the Haihan Army defeating the Spanish fleet. The process, simply using words to describe the battle during this period is too pale, and he is not interested in spending time to relive this fierce naval battle through words.What Liu Shang is really interested in is content such as official statements. These few words and descriptions are easily overlooked, but Liu Shang has spent more time working in the propaganda department recently, and gradually understands Haihan's propaganda methods, which are often These seemingly inconspicuous information will herald the next development trend of the situation.
However, before Liu Shang finished reading all of this special issue, he received a new mission to go to the immigration camp on the Luhuitou Peninsula to explain the battle process to the new immigrants.This job can be regarded as tailor-made for him, and Liu Shang naturally couldn't refuse, even if he rushed to the immigration camp with several other propagandists who were notified.
When Liu Shangchu arrived in Sanya, he actually stayed here for a few days. Now that he revisits his old place, he already feels like returning home.He is now an official who came out to carry out tasks on behalf of the Youth League. The immigration officer who used to shout at him at the beginning now put on a humble face and followed behind him step by step, introducing various facilities in the immigration camp. , it seemed that the other party probably couldn't recognize that the official in front of him was an ordinary immigrant who walked out of here a few months ago.Of course, even if he recognized it, he would probably pretend not to know it.
Liu Shang also had no intention of laughing at the snobbishness of these lower-level officials. No matter in Haihan or Daming, such a situation is not uncommon in officialdom, but it is just a normal reaction of the lower-level officials.
After a brief visit to the immigrant camp, the management staff gathered more than 400 immigrants who will be resettled in various parts of Hainan Island in the near future, and the staff of the publicity department gave lectures on them.Of course, the content is not only the battle of the day before yesterday, but also many rules about the work and life of the new immigrants, which should be explained and emphasized to them again.
Liu Shang was the last to take the stage, so he took a seat at the side and drank tea while waiting for other colleagues to finish their speeches.His position was at a 45-degree angle to the hundreds of immigrants sitting on the ground, and it happened to be possible to observe the changes in the expressions of these people while listening to the preaching.Liu Shang has performed similar tasks several times during his round-the-island trip, and he has accumulated a certain amount of experience. In addition, he also had the experience of storytelling in teahouses, so he can easily tell from the changes in the audience's expressions whether they are right or not. Interested in what you hear so far.
After Liu Shang glanced over the faces of the few rows of people in front, he suddenly felt that someone was watching him somewhere, and this person seemed to be among the immigrants.After cruising through the crowd with his eyes several times, he finally found the root cause - a middle-aged man in gray clothes supported his head with one hand, seemingly absent-minded, but his eyes were always locked on himself.
Although this person looked ordinary, Liu Shang couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster when he saw this person, because he knew this person before coming to Hainan Island. To be precise, they were colleagues who worked together.
When Liu Shang took over this mission, he was not the only candidate. As far as he knew, at least five to six people were included in the dispatch plan. However, he was on the road alone and did not know the other candidates. Whether they were also sent to lurk in the Haihan controlled area.However, Liao Yuan and others who had entered Sanya before were not the same batch of infiltrators as him.
The face in front of him was seen by Liu Shang once when he was interviewing for this mission. He didn't know the name of this person, but he should be an expert transferred from a branch in a certain place.This person appeared here and now, at least one batch later than Liu Shang.And this person obviously recognized Liu Shang's identity from the moment they met, that's why he kept staring at him.
According to the plan, Liu Shang's only contact during his lurking in Haihan was Liao Yuan. If other intelligence personnel wanted to establish contact with Liu Shang, it should be done through Liao Yuan.But now Liao Yuan is not in Sanya, but Liu Shang has met a new colleague who recognizes him, which is a bit subtle.
It stands to reason that Liu Shang can't take the initiative to find other lurkers in the local area, but this special situation of encountering and knowing each other by chance is out of the plan.Of course Liu Shang could pretend that he didn't recognize the other party, but he had an inexplicable worry in his heart - apart from Liao Yuan, this was another risk of exposing his identity.
When Liu Shang came to the stage to give a speech, according to the rules, he had to explain his identity and position first, and this undoubtedly put the handle in the hands of that person. If he turned around and asked him to provide some help, would it be a favor or not?Liu Shang didn't know anything about his identity, but his own identity couldn't be kept secret. This passive feeling was really hard for him to accept.
(End of this chapter)
Judging from the social atmosphere of Haihan's battle against the Spanish fleet at home this time, Liu Shang believed that the people of Haihan did not feel much panic about the outbreak of the war, but regarded it as an opportunity to demonstrate their national strength. Many people actively participated in the preparation and watching activities of this battle.The Haihan Navy and the coastal defense fort worked together to defeat the invading enemy fleet openly under the watchful eyes of the public. This performance has greatly encouraged the hearts of the people. Liu Shang has even seen young students organizing petitions. The official expedition to the old nest of the Spanish fleet was required to retaliate against it by military means.
If Liu Shang still had the mentality of a melon-eating crowd when he first heard that the enemy army was coming, by the way, let's see if there are any loopholes in Haihan's defense line, and it will also provide some help for the Ming army to regain this place in the future.But after witnessing the battle process with his own eyes, Liu Shang already understood why Hai Han had no fear.A fleet as powerful as Spain was defeated and fled without even touching the soil of Victory Port. If the navy of the Ming army fought against the Haihan navy in its position, the main force would probably flee the battlefield The chances are slim, right?
Liu Shang suddenly felt that the Guangdong and Guangxi government had let Haihan's various behaviors go unchecked for so many years, perhaps not just because of the shortage of manpower, but because he knew that military means were not only useless to Haihan, but also very easy to provoke its backlash.Sanya can defend itself against the invasion of foreign enemies, but many cities in Guangdong and Guangxi may not.
Before Liu Shang came to Hainan Island, he also went to the vicinity of Guangzhou City to see Haihan’s local business conditions. In addition to the land on the edge of the Pearl River to the east of Guangzhou City, Haihan is still starting a new business on the sandbar facing Guangzhou City on the south bank of the Pearl River. A port town called Haizhu Town was built.The Haihan people built a two-mile-long wharf on the river bank, as well as supporting facilities such as commercial warehouses and warehouses, and these wharves have undoubtedly become the designated docking points for various commercial firms, ship companies, and other institutions under the name of Haihan.Although it is separated by a river from Guangzhou City, it did not affect the rapid prosperity of Haizhu Town in just one or two years.
Of course, Haihan transported here by air not only all kinds of goods, but also all kinds of people with different functions. Among these people are not only merchants, but also many intelligence personnel with similar identities to Liu Shang, and a considerable number of people. paramilitary personnel.
The bodyguard company "Golden Shield Escort" jointly opened by Haihan and Guangdong wealthy businessman Li Jifeng has been in operation for several years. The geographical scope of the business has already stepped out of Guangdong and Guangxi, and it has also been established in Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places. Business routes and freight channels have been established, and a large number of branches have been established in various places.The Golden Shield Escort employs a large number of armed personnel in the name of law, and a considerable proportion of "bodyguards" are equipped with the standard firearms provided by Haihan.
As far as Liu Shang knows, the Guangdong and Guangxi government are not unaware of these situations, but are deliberately pretending to be deaf and dumb, turning a blind eye, which can be said to let Haihan do whatever he wants.According to the statistics of the intelligence department, the number of armed personnel deployed by the Golden Shield Escort along the Pearl River is about [-]. If these people are organized, they will look like two reinforced infantry battalions.If necessary, Liu Shang believes that they only need half a day to prepare before launching an attack on Guangzhou City.
At that time, Liu Shang didn't think that Haihan's small actions could really threaten the security of Guangzhou's city defense. He just felt that the inaction of the local government was a serious dereliction of duty. .If these armed personnel have the combat effectiveness of the Haihan army, or if these so-called bodyguards are simply another identity of the Haihan army, then even if the two thousand Haihan army cannot attack Guangzhou City for a while, it will be enough to block the inside The defenders could not get out of the city.
In such an environment where Haihan was being monitored face to face, any action by the Guangdong and Guangxi authorities near Guangzhou would leak out, and it was perfectly normal not to dare to use force to expel Haihan.
Doubts like this about Daming's military strength became more and more frequent, and Liu Shang felt less and less confident about his mission to come to Haihan to lurk.The longer he stays, the more he understands that what he is doing now is mostly useless. Personal strength cannot narrow the gap in strength between the two countries, and the information collected through intelligence means will not help Da Ming use political, economic or It is military means to deal with Hai Han, a difficult opponent.
The strength comparison between the two countries, apart from the land area and population, Liu Shang can't see any other advantages of Ming Dynasty. Although Ming Dynasty claims to have a standing army of 200 million, it is really divided into Guangdong and Guangxi, and those who can fight The army doesn't even have [-] troops, and it may be worrying to have [-] troops that can be drawn out to conduct mobile operations between various coastal areas.Based on the comparison of the strengths of the two armies, if Haihan were to launch an offensive against the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, the [-] Ming army would definitely be unable to withstand it.As for the recovery of Hainan Island, I am afraid that all the troops capable of fighting in Guangdong and Guangxi will not be enough to fill the holes-not to mention that even if we get an army of [-], we will never find so many ships that can transport the army to Hainan in a short time. to the island.
Liu Shang sighed, and continued to read the special issue that he hadn't finished reading. Haihan officials defined this battle as a battle against foreign invasion, rather than the "fight against piracy" that was declared before the war.The article defined Spain, which launched an attack on Sanya, as an "evil country" and listed it as an unwelcome trade target, and called on its citizens and allies to stop all trade with the Spaniards, especially the Manila authorities.Of course, this kind of trade blockade is not a mandatory means, but with the appeal of Haihan officials in the region, Liu Shang has no doubt that this statement will be interpreted as an official decree by people from all walks of life.
In the coming period, it is estimated that there will not be too many people who dare to go against the official will of Haihan and continue to trade with the Spaniards in Manila secretly.It is not difficult for anyone with a little brain to imagine that since Haihan was able to get an early warning and prepare for the battle a few days before the arrival of the Spanish fleet this time, it must be someone from Manila who sent a warning message in advance. If you go to do business in Manila, you are afraid that you will be blacklisted by the Haihan Ministry of Commerce.
This kind of informal trade ban will definitely have a certain negative impact on Haihan's foreign trade income, but Liu Shang also knows that Haihan people are very shrewd in business, and they will definitely not trade at a loss. The gains and losses were calculated in advance.Even if they suffer, it must be that the Spaniards in Manila will suffer even more.
But in Liu Shang's view, perhaps this is just the beginning of Haihan's revenge. If only a trade blockade is imposed, it may not relieve Haihan, and there will inevitably be other means to force the other party to bow down.Liu Shang really hoped that Haihan would fight hard and fight the Spaniards to the death in Manila, but at present, there seems to be no sign of continuing the war.The two fleets of the Haihan Navy have returned to the base in Victory Port. It is said that several ships have been sent to the dock for repairs, and the soldiers have begun to release their combat readiness in batches. It seems that there will be no more wars in the near future.
Moreover, the newspaper quoted senior military officials as saying that Haihan's operation was a "self-defense counterattack" with the purpose of repelling the enemy's attack.As for the attack on Manila and even the elimination of the Spanish presence in the area, there was not a word in the newspaper.Based on the official propaganda methods of Haihan that Liu Shang knows, if there is going to be a war next, it will probably be the same as before. Before the war starts, the public will be released, and the direction of public opinion will be actively guided, so as to avoid suspicion among the people due to opaque information. It can also prevent people from using this to incite public sentiment and create chaos to the greatest extent.
Liu Shang simply skipped the pages that were used to praise the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army. This is not because he still has serious resistance to the Haihan Army, but because he witnessed the whole process of the Haihan Army defeating the Spanish fleet. The process, simply using words to describe the battle during this period is too pale, and he is not interested in spending time to relive this fierce naval battle through words.What Liu Shang is really interested in is content such as official statements. These few words and descriptions are easily overlooked, but Liu Shang has spent more time working in the propaganda department recently, and gradually understands Haihan's propaganda methods, which are often These seemingly inconspicuous information will herald the next development trend of the situation.
However, before Liu Shang finished reading all of this special issue, he received a new mission to go to the immigration camp on the Luhuitou Peninsula to explain the battle process to the new immigrants.This job can be regarded as tailor-made for him, and Liu Shang naturally couldn't refuse, even if he rushed to the immigration camp with several other propagandists who were notified.
When Liu Shangchu arrived in Sanya, he actually stayed here for a few days. Now that he revisits his old place, he already feels like returning home.He is now an official who came out to carry out tasks on behalf of the Youth League. The immigration officer who used to shout at him at the beginning now put on a humble face and followed behind him step by step, introducing various facilities in the immigration camp. , it seemed that the other party probably couldn't recognize that the official in front of him was an ordinary immigrant who walked out of here a few months ago.Of course, even if he recognized it, he would probably pretend not to know it.
Liu Shang also had no intention of laughing at the snobbishness of these lower-level officials. No matter in Haihan or Daming, such a situation is not uncommon in officialdom, but it is just a normal reaction of the lower-level officials.
After a brief visit to the immigrant camp, the management staff gathered more than 400 immigrants who will be resettled in various parts of Hainan Island in the near future, and the staff of the publicity department gave lectures on them.Of course, the content is not only the battle of the day before yesterday, but also many rules about the work and life of the new immigrants, which should be explained and emphasized to them again.
Liu Shang was the last to take the stage, so he took a seat at the side and drank tea while waiting for other colleagues to finish their speeches.His position was at a 45-degree angle to the hundreds of immigrants sitting on the ground, and it happened to be possible to observe the changes in the expressions of these people while listening to the preaching.Liu Shang has performed similar tasks several times during his round-the-island trip, and he has accumulated a certain amount of experience. In addition, he also had the experience of storytelling in teahouses, so he can easily tell from the changes in the audience's expressions whether they are right or not. Interested in what you hear so far.
After Liu Shang glanced over the faces of the few rows of people in front, he suddenly felt that someone was watching him somewhere, and this person seemed to be among the immigrants.After cruising through the crowd with his eyes several times, he finally found the root cause - a middle-aged man in gray clothes supported his head with one hand, seemingly absent-minded, but his eyes were always locked on himself.
Although this person looked ordinary, Liu Shang couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster when he saw this person, because he knew this person before coming to Hainan Island. To be precise, they were colleagues who worked together.
When Liu Shang took over this mission, he was not the only candidate. As far as he knew, at least five to six people were included in the dispatch plan. However, he was on the road alone and did not know the other candidates. Whether they were also sent to lurk in the Haihan controlled area.However, Liao Yuan and others who had entered Sanya before were not the same batch of infiltrators as him.
The face in front of him was seen by Liu Shang once when he was interviewing for this mission. He didn't know the name of this person, but he should be an expert transferred from a branch in a certain place.This person appeared here and now, at least one batch later than Liu Shang.And this person obviously recognized Liu Shang's identity from the moment they met, that's why he kept staring at him.
According to the plan, Liu Shang's only contact during his lurking in Haihan was Liao Yuan. If other intelligence personnel wanted to establish contact with Liu Shang, it should be done through Liao Yuan.But now Liao Yuan is not in Sanya, but Liu Shang has met a new colleague who recognizes him, which is a bit subtle.
It stands to reason that Liu Shang can't take the initiative to find other lurkers in the local area, but this special situation of encountering and knowing each other by chance is out of the plan.Of course Liu Shang could pretend that he didn't recognize the other party, but he had an inexplicable worry in his heart - apart from Liao Yuan, this was another risk of exposing his identity.
When Liu Shang came to the stage to give a speech, according to the rules, he had to explain his identity and position first, and this undoubtedly put the handle in the hands of that person. If he turned around and asked him to provide some help, would it be a favor or not?Liu Shang didn't know anything about his identity, but his own identity couldn't be kept secret. This passive feeling was really hard for him to accept.
(End of this chapter)