Chapter 2094

Chapter 2094

Chapter 2094
Based on the past experience of the Haihan Navy and the armed sailing ships under Shibazhi's command, it is not difficult to judge that a warship of this tonnage will carry about a hundred people. There are already more than ten ships, and there are several warships under construction in at least three shipyards. From this, Yuan Zhi deduces that the armed fleet secretly formed by the opponent has at least a thousand people. above.

It's hard to say what level an armed fleet of this size is in Japan, but if it can be fully equipped, its combat effectiveness must have surpassed most of the naval forces stationed in most of the coastal state capitals of the Ming Dynasty, and its combat effectiveness must not be underestimated.Fortunately, this armed fleet has not yet fully formed. If the Haihan Army takes action as soon as possible, it should be able to block it in the Japanese waters.

As for whether there are any secret bases similar to those discovered by Yuan Zhi in the Goto Islands, Hirado Island and Kitakyushu area, there is no definite answer for the time being.But there is no doubt that the Hirado clan's preparations for this are far beyond Haihan's imagination. If it is not for field inspections, it may be difficult to predict that this small Hirado clan in a remote area of ​​Japan will have such a big plan.

Because the reconnaissance operation in this bay was delayed, Yuan Zhi and Amakusa Shiro's rendezvous was also delayed by more than half a day than originally planned.Amakusa Shiro's reconnaissance of Zhongtong Island had no similar gains. After the two combined, they decided to return to Seogwipo Port on Jeju Island first, and wait for new orders from their superiors while supplying supplies.

Haihan's war preparations are not only carried out on the North Korean side. In the Ministry of National Defense's troop dispatch plan, the Zhejiang Zhoushan Garrison will also participate in this operation.

In terms of distance, the voyage between Zhoushan, Zhejiang and Hirado is about a quarter of that from the Datongjiang base to the area.The reason why the Datongjiang base, which is farther geographically located, sent troops during reconnaissance operations is mainly because the current elite naval forces are in the north, and Wang Tom is also stationed at the Datongjiang base. Such large-scale military operations are naturally carried out by Wang Tom Direct command actions are safer.

However, as one of the earliest fleets stationed overseas, the Haihan Donghai Fleet stationed in Dinghai Port, Zhoushan is also strong.Although the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have been relatively peaceful in the past few years, there are not many situations that require the Zhoushan garrison to take action, and there are few opportunities to make meritorious deeds.However, thanks to the huge benefits brought by the prosperous maritime trade in this area, the East China Sea Fleet has quietly grown in strength in recent years. There are already four Majestic-class warships alone. A fleet with the most class warships.

The reason for owning so many top-level warships without fighting is of course not because the Ministry of National Defense has any preference for Shi Diwen, but because Haihan's business conditions in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are quite good, and a considerable part of it belongs to the military industry—— For example, the entire Dinghai Port area.Of course, the Ministry of National Defense will not allow the profits brought by these military industries to be used for other purposes, and a considerable part of them has been used as military expenses for the Zhoushan garrison.

And Shi Diwen's use of these military expenses is also quite bold, only a small part of it is used for infrastructure and personnel expenses, and most of it is used to expand the scale of the East China Sea Fleet, including the purchase of warships .In the past two years alone, the East China Sea Fleet has added more than a dozen large and small warships, and the number of troops has also increased by more than [-] people.In fact, even part of the garrison at the Datongjiang base was transferred from the East China Sea Fleet.

The Ministry of National Defense gave Shi Diwen such great authority mainly because of the unique strategic location of Zhoushan Island.This is the only military port between the Shandong Peninsula and the Fujian Strait under the control of Haihan. Next to it is the most affluent Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in Ming Dynasty. The entire Hangzhou Bay and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are under the supervision of the East China Sea Fleet. Naturally, a strong force is needed. Only the naval fleet can hold the scene. For example, the several large-scale military exercises held near Hangzhou Bay in recent years have achieved excellent results. At least the official circles in Zhejiang have no voices against Haihan.

In addition, there are North Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and other countries in the East China Sea. Although these countries have no conflict of interest with Haihan for the time being, and North Korea has even formed an alliance with Haihan, maintaining the necessary military presence is still of great significance to Haihan.Whether it is aiding North Korea or attacking Japan, the East China Sea Fleet is undoubtedly the first choice for carrying out such military missions.

After receiving the order from Sanya, Shi Diwen immediately ordered the cancellation of all vacation arrangements for the Zhoushan garrison, and all the officers returned to Dinghai Port to stand by.For the East China Sea Fleet, there are not many opportunities to get such combat missions. It must seize the opportunity to perform well in order to be worthy of the huge investment in recent years.

"Currently, the Executive Committee has only given the target, and the specific action plan will be formulated jointly by the East Sea Fleet and the garrison at the Taedong River Base of North Korea. In terms of the navy, our East Sea Fleet will serve as the main force of this operation. In principle, I will give priority to deployment." Troops that were not dispatched last year will participate in this combat operation."

Shi Diwen's intelligence briefing made the senior officers present very excited. For them, the annual routine exercise in Hangzhou is far from reducing their desire for war. Usually, they can only use the Daming Navy as an imaginary enemy for training.Last year, some of the East China Sea Fleet was transferred to participate in the battles in Manila and North Korea, but most of them still had no chance to fight.But this time Shi Diwen said that he would give priority to the troops that did not fight last year, which is tantamount to giving military merit to these officers.

Regarding the secret operation of the Shibazhi Yu Party in the coast of Daming, the Zhoushan garrison also participated in the investigation before the end of last year, and dispatched elites to work together with the Ministry of Security to destroy the fledgling salt merchant musketeers in Yangzhou.Although the fighting process at that time was fierce, it was actually just a child's play for the military. If it weren't for the scruples that sending troops into Daming would cause diplomatic incidents, Shi Diwen would have sent troops to Yangzhou to completely wipe out the salt merchant groups from Shanshan and Shanxi. cleaned up.

So when the follow-up investigation found Japan and confirmed that this series of incidents had a major connection with the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party, Shi Diwen was not particularly surprised. For the sale of arms, it is obvious that there are Han people in the middle of the matchmaking.And Shibazhi is very familiar with the southeast coastal area of ​​Ming Dynasty, so it is no problem to complete such an errand.

In Shi Diwen's view, it was a normal decision for the Executive Committee to name and eliminate the Eighteen Zhiyu Party hiding in the Hirado Domain in Japan.In fact, he didn't quite know that there had been some disputes in Sanya over whether to directly use military means to eliminate hidden dangers, but as a senior general guarding overseas, he certainly looked at the problem from the military's standpoint. Since the actions have already posed a threat to Haihan, and may cause unpredictable losses to Haihan, of course they must be attacked mercilessly.

Relevant combat plans need to be formulated in consultation with the Datongjiang base, but since the troops are going to Japan in two routes, the local preparations for the war in Zhoushan can be done first.The number of personnel and supplies required for such a large-scale operation is not small. After the meeting, the heads of the combat troops and the logistics department began to organize and prepare for the war separately.

In addition to the East China Sea Fleet's own preparations, Shi Diwen has another task to complete, which is to prepare a temporary port for the Allied troops participating in this operation, so that they can set off together after the rendezvous Go to destination.

However, this task is familiar to the Zhoushan garrison. When the coalition forces went to the Korean battlefield last year, several coalition troops from the south had a short rest in Zhoushan.But this time the allied troops are actually only the Fujian navy. Without foreign troops such as Annan and Portugal, it can save a lot of trouble in terms of communication and coordination.

Due to the large number of ships coming and going in Dinghai Port, considering the need for confidentiality, this temporary port for receiving the Allied fleet was not located on Zhoushan Island, but in a bay on the east coast of Zhujiajian Island next to Zhoushan Island.If it hadn't been for a special detour from the sea to this place, it would be difficult for ships passing by Zhoushan to find that there is a natural harbor in this place.And this place is only about half a day's flight away from Dinghai Port, so it is easy to contact in time if there is anything to do.

Considering that Xu Xinsu offered to dispatch [-] warships and [-] sailors this time, Shi Diwen specially asked people to stockpile a batch of food and grass on Zhujiajian Island in advance to prepare for the needs of the Fujian Navy.Although he also expects that the Fujian Navy will definitely prepare the materials needed for the battle, but whether to do this kind of thing means two different attitudes to the Fujian side, and the other side will definitely be more happy to see the behavior of the Zhoushan authorities. Be positive and friendly.

Zhoushan Island originally stockpiled military rations for a long time, but whenever a big operation came, the military would still try to purchase food on the market as a supplement, and this time was no exception.Zhoushan Island issued an order of [-] catties of grain to Ningbo grain merchants, which also made the well-informed people smell different from usual.

Most of the orders were taken by He Li's rice line. The quartermaster who handled the matter was also an old acquaintance with He Li. It was because he was talking about him and avoided talking about it, so He Li guessed that there should be some reasons for not making it public.

So he quickly told his elder brother He Xiao the news, and He Xiao also tasted a little taste, and quickly told the news to his boss Qu Yutong.

Qu Yutong has been dealing with Haihan for several years, and when he heard that the Zhoushan authorities were purchasing a large amount of grain again, he had already guessed the truth about [-]% or [-]% of the truth, but he was not sure who Haihan was planning to deal with this time, and he was a little worried This is a follow-up to the Yangzhou incident last year.

At the end of last year, Haihan made a big fuss in Yangzhou, causing hundreds of casualties. When Qu Yutong heard about the situation in Yangzhou, he was very worried that Shi Diwen would use this as an excuse to fight.Later, Daming and Haihan both tacitly stopped pursuing what happened in Yangzhou. Qu Yutong met with Shi Diwen, but the other party didn't mention it again, which made him think that the matter should be considered over.However, the Zhoushan authorities suddenly purchased grain. Judging from past experience, this was clearly a signal to mobilize troops. After thinking about it, Qu Yutong couldn't think of anyone in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who offended Haihan recently, so he couldn't help but compare this with The Yangzhou incident was linked together.

"Go to Zhoushan Island as soon as possible, meet General Shi, and find out what's going on." Qu Yutong knows that this kind of thing can be big or small, but he must seize the opportunity first, otherwise Haihan's side will stay silent Just do it, and you will inevitably fall into a passive position.

However, Shi Diwen was also very considerate in his work. Before He Xiao left Ningbo, Shi Diwen had already sent a personal letter to Qu Yutong's home, telling him not to misunderstand the recent purchase of military supplies by the Zhoushan authorities. .Shi Diwen did not explain the real reason for the purchase in the letter, but he reassured Qu Yutong that Haihan would not launch large-scale military operations in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the near future.

This official explanation reassured Qu Yutong a little. After all, with the relationship between him and Shi Diwen, there was no need for the other party to write a special book to deceive him.It's just that he thought about the tone of Shi Diwen's letter, and he didn't seem to deny that the Zhoushan garrison would take action, but the destination probably wasn't in the local area.

"Could it be that the situation in the north has become tense again?" Qu Yutong couldn't figure out the intention of the Haihan people, so he could only speculate according to his own understanding.

Qu Yutong also knew that the Haihan army had been confronting the Qing army in Liaodong for several years. Last year, the two armies fought in North Korea for several months. Although the final result was that the Haihan army won, the Qing army was only forced to fight. Withdrawing from North Korea to Liaodong seems to have not hurt its vitality.If a large-scale war broke out between the two countries in the north again, the Zhoushan garrison would have to go north for reinforcements.

Qu Yutong's speculation is well-founded, but he never expected that the Zhoushan authorities' actions were really a follow-up to the Yangzhou incident last year, and their target was not in the far north, but Japan in the east of the East China Sea.

Qu Yutong and his staff were far from the only ones who noticed the abnormal movements of the Zhoushan authorities. In Ningbo Prefecture, a place full of fish and dragons, there are still many thoughtful people who have noticed some purchase orders issued by the Zhoushan authorities in the past two days.

"The Haihan people not only bought grain, but according to our investigation, they also ordered a batch of canvas, more than 200 pieces of gauze, and a considerable amount of medicinal materials. Usually, such purchases occur in a concentrated manner, before the Haihan people prepare to send troops abroad."

In a certain courtyard in Ningbo City, a man in black was reporting the situation to another old man who looked like a businessman sitting on a grand master's chair.

The old man asked: "Have there been any changes in Haihan's various institutions in Ningbo City? For example, personnel have left the city in batches, or a large number of unidentified people have entered it."

The man in black bowed and replied: "I haven't found the situation that the shopkeeper said. It seems that I don't intend to do anything to the local."

(End of this chapter)