Chapter 1291 The second day of the military exercise

In the "Leap Over" military exercises in previous years, it was common practice for allied armies to be invited to send military personnel to participate. However, in addition to several allied forces, this year's exercise also saw armed sailing ships from Portugal and the Netherlands for the first time.

Figure. Although the two countries have been invited to the exercise ground for observation in the past, this is the first time this year that they have actually sent people to directly participate in the operation.

In fact, these two countries have applied to participate in exercises in previous years, but the Haihan military would refuse each other with various inconveniences. After all, these Western colonialist countries are not as completely tame to Haihan as the small countries in the South China Sea.

The Far East region's surrender is just to preserve trade opportunities, and it will not treat Haihan as a suzerain country. If there is an opportunity, these Western armed merchants may transform into bandits at any time and add insult to injury to Haihan.

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However, since the end of last year, Haihan’s intelligence department has received some bad news one after another. Some countries are coveting Haihan’s good situation in the South China Sea, and may try to make some moves to test Haihan’s bottom line. Two countries are coveting Haihan’s good situation in the South China Sea.

The small actions of the British in the Strait of Malacca more than a month ago also partially confirmed the reliability of these reports. Although the local garrison successfully repelled the opponent and defended the bridgehead of Sing Tao, it did not mean that the British would give up. And according to intelligence,

, this family may not be the only one who is making moves in the dark.

After weighing the matter, the Executive Committee believed that it was necessary for Portugal and the Netherlands, which currently maintain peaceful coexistence, to better integrate into the military alliance established by Haihan in the South China Sea, so as to prevent the two countries from having other ideas after noticing the changes in the situation.

The simplest and most effective way is to invite them to join the "Leap Over" military exercise held this summer and make their appearance as a "quasi-ally". This will not only further draw the two countries closer in diplomatic relations, but also

It can make the outside world aware of the political tendencies of the two countries in a timely manner, and try to eliminate the possibility of other forces trying to win over the two countries.

Regardless of whether these two countries are aware of the undercurrent in the South China Sea, they are definitely willing to accept the olive branch offered by Haihan. Understanding and mastering Haihan's military level is a very important task for both Portugal and the Netherlands, and

The best channel and window is the annual National Day military parade and large and small military exercises. Having the opportunity to be invited to participate in the largest "Leap Over" military exercise of the year is also a close contact for them.

It’s a good opportunity to see the army and observe its fighting methods.

Of course, the Haihan military still carefully restricted the participation of Portugal and the Netherlands, allowing only one armed ship from each country to participate in the exercise, and they had to obey Haihan's command throughout the process.

The Haihan Fleet slowed down its speed in order to wait for these joint participating forces to join. Of course, these countries do not have steam warships like the Haihan Navy, and only after the Haihan Battleship slows down can the two sides coordinate their actions after rendezvous.

When multinational ships are mixed to perform various maritime missions, the requirements for commanders are very high. The performance differences of ships from different countries must be taken into consideration to give corresponding action instructions, so that it is possible to maintain a consistent pace of action.

However, for a non-professional audience like Liu Shang, they can only watch the fun. Even if there is an officer standing next to him to explain, he still doesn't quite understand how this mixed fleet is moving at sea, sometimes coming together, sometimes slowing down.

Urgently, and occasionally making a turning movement, what exactly is being practiced, and how should the degree of completion be judged?

Liu Shang was really anxious and angry at this time. What was anxious was that the battleships Haihan and others had been galloping on the sea for most of the day, but they still refused to show their "real skills". What was angry was that his military knowledge was too much.

Even though he had this rare opportunity to observe Haihan's actual combat drills at close range, he still couldn't understand the rules and regulations of this strongest maritime armed force in the South China Sea.

If you can only come here to watch the fun, it will be such a waste of such a great opportunity. Liu Shang will definitely not be willing to do so. But he knows that he has a low status. Except for him, all the officials in this team are current Haihan officials.

The team was completely speechless and did not dare to come forward to inquire about the detailed arrangements of this military exercise.

But the formation drill at sea continued until the sun turned west, but it was obvious that all ships would not sail back to land today, and night training was also part of this drill. Of course, for the spectators

, the fleet's training at night is even less interesting. At most, you can see some lanterns and ship shadows floating on the sea.

But for the naval force, night navigation training is an indispensable subject. After all, in wartime, there is no practice of operating during the day and suspending sailing at night. Day and night sailing is the norm in wartime, and it is necessary to grasp the course at night and maintain the fleet formation.

Form is also a combat skill that the fleet needs to master. However, now that more than a dozen foreign warships have been added, plus several troop carriers carrying visitors, the night navigation command of the entire fleet has become much more complicated.

As for where the fleet was going to sail at night, the officer on board who was in charge of explaining the exercise refused to reveal any information due to confidentiality regulations. Liu Shang felt so aggrieved that he wanted to curse. This was already at sea. Who else could intervene?

Can you put on your wings and fly away from this ship? What kind of secrets are you keeping at this time? It's just that you've eaten too much.

But these grievances could only be thought in his mind, and he did not dare to express them at all. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, everyone returned to the cabin to have a simple dinner. There were no other program arrangements, and the cabin was under light control, so they

He could only lie down on the bed early and stretch himself out. Although Liu Shang didn't want to rest so early, running to the deck alone would be a bit unconventional, so he had to suppress his curiosity for the time being.

Early the next morning, there was no need for anyone to wake up. The group of people who slept too early last night had already woken up by themselves. After getting dressed, the first thing they did was to go to the deck to check what happened that night. But for them, the surroundings

The environment seems to be no different from last night. There is still boundless water as far as the eye can see. The combined fleet is several miles ahead, about the same distance as yesterday before dark.

Liu Shang judged the current direction based on the sun. It should be sailing towards the northwest. However, because there was no land on the sea as a reference, he did not know where the fleet sailed overnight.

place, so it is impossible to infer where the current destination will be.

But at this time, the officer on the ship finally appeared and explained today's arrangements to everyone: "Today's exercise is mainly about amphibious landing operations, which is expected to start in an hour."

Liu Shang knew that Haihan's time unit was slightly different from that of the Ming Dynasty. Two hours was one hour. It seemed that he still had to wait half an hour. But in this way, this place was not far from the land. What exactly was it?

Where have we arrived? Looking at the heading, could it be that this training ground is within Lianzhou Prefecture?

Instead of him asking the question, Yu Xiaobao obviously thought of this question and asked the officer: "If we go further from here, we will soon reach Lianzhou Mansion, right?"

Lianzhou Prefecture was the location of the Beihai Sea in Guangxi in later generations. The voyage from Danzhou Bay to this place was about a hundred nautical miles. If the route last night had been heading in this direction, it would be almost exactly time to reach this area.

The officer shook his head and said: "We will not go that far. If the army lands in Daming, it may cause misunderstandings by the local officials, so this military exercise will not set foot in Daming territory."

Liu Shang felt a little relieved when he heard this. It seemed that this Haihan was not unscrupulous towards the Ming Dynasty. At least he knew how to conduct military exercises to avoid suspicion. But if he didn't go to the Ming Dynasty in this direction, couldn't he go to Annan? It must be so.

The Heitu Port adjacent to Yong'an Prefecture has been taken over by Haihan as its own, and it has been included in Haihan territory for several years. There will naturally be no disputes about conducting military exercises there.

Liu Shang was just thinking about it when he heard someone shouting: "Look, there is land ahead!"

Liu Shang quickly looked forward, and there was indeed a small protrusion on the sea, but it seemed that it was not a continent, but a small island hanging alone in the sea.

"That's Xieyang Island, our destination." The officer's voice sounded at the right time, letting everyone know the location ahead.

Although Liu Shang was well versed in the geography of Guangdong and Guangxi, he couldn't remember where exactly Xieyang Island was located and what jurisdiction it was under. At this time, a man from the Ministry of Transportation next to him answered his question in time: "Xieyang Island

?This place is under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, Lianzhou Prefecture, right? I remember that I used to pass through this area when I went to Lianzhou, but today I revisited the old place."

Liu Shang couldn't help but answered: "Since it is under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, will there be any trouble in conducting military exercises here?"

The officer glanced at Liu Shang and explained in a leisurely manner: "This place used to be under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, but now it is our Haihan territory. There is no need to inform the Ming Dynasty officials about conducting military exercises here."

Liu Shangzuo suddenly understood and responded: "I see, I have learned from you!"

Liu Shang didn't know when this island was occupied by the Haihan people. He remembered that there was a larger Weizhou Island under the jurisdiction of Hepu County, which seemed to be not far from Xieyang Island. He didn't know if it was also

It was also occupied by Haihan. But when you think about it deeper, this is actually not surprising. Haihan has already occupied absolute control in the waters of the Beibu Gulf. He only occupied a few islands with his usual methods.

He did not land in Guangxi to attack the city, which was considered very restrained. However, after hearing the officer's answer, Liu Shang naturally felt unhappy, and the fists hidden in his sleeves secretly clenched.

Just as Liu Shang thought, Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island, which are only 20 nautical miles away from the Guangxi coastline, have been occupied by Haihan and have been clearly drawn into their own territory. Among the two islands, Weizhou Island has an area of ​​​​two

It covers an area of ​​more than ten square kilometers, while Xieyang Island located in the southeast 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 current development can only be based on

Mainly agriculture and fishery.

Later, the military simply moved all the residents of Xieyang Island out and used the island as one of its training grounds in the Beibu Gulf. It built a shooting range for both land and sea purposes on the island, where it tested various new technologies.

Weapons. This place is surrounded by the sea. Only the southern part of the island has conditions for ships to dock, and only military ships are allowed to dock here. The confidentiality is naturally much better than what the military built on Hainan Island in the past.

Several shooting ranges.

The disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is far away from Hainan Island, and the transportation conditions are not that 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 implementation location for the amphibious landing subjects, and the voyage from Danzhou to here was used to practice the fleet's coordinated movement at sea, replenishment, search, rescue, tracking and other subjects.

Liu Shang couldn't understand how the Ministry of National Defense arranged it, but he heard clearly what Officer Haihan said before about "amphibious landing operations."

After a few rounds, we may be able to get a glimpse of the Haihan Army's combat methods and see if there are any loopholes to follow.

While Liu Shang was thinking about it, 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 beside and introduced the topography of Xieyang Island in detail. The island is longer from east to west and longer from north to south.

It is narrow, and the island coast is mostly steep cliffs. Only the south side has a pier that can dock. If the army wants to attack this place, it can only use the relatively gentle coast in the south of the island as its landing target. In other words, as long as the defenders can hold the south pole of the island

As a narrow port area, the island can be defended from being captured.

While Liu Shang was looking at the map, he was also thinking about how to retreat the enemy if he were to command the defenders. However, he was not good at military affairs, so naturally he couldn't think of any decent method. After much deliberation, he could only retreat in the south of the island.

Set up more fortifications and deploy heavy troops. It would be better to set up several 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 defeat the invincible musketeers in the South China Sea, they would be afraid of the defenders.

No amount of force will have much effect. Only by cutting off the opportunity for them to land on the island can it be possible to defend the island.

Everyone on the same boat also expressed their opinions and talked about it, but they were all very similar to what Liu Shang thought. Yu Xiaobao remained silent, looking confident. Liu Shang couldn't help but ask him: "I want to ask Director Yu for advice.

, but is there any way to keep the enemy at sea?"

Yu Xiaobao said: "There are ways, but they only exist in theory and cannot be realized."

Liu Shang asked: "Would you like to hear the details?"

Seeing his insistence, Yu Xiaobao said: "To defend this island, it's easy to say, 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 to make sense after careful consideration.
Chapter completed!