Chapter 1516 Changes in the Battle Situation

The day after North Korean envoy Kim Sang-hyun arrived in Lushun, he once again offered to go to the front line of the Jinzhou Isthmus to inspect the battle situation between Haihan and the Hou Jin Army. Most of the reason why Kim Sang-hyun was so proactive was because he saw what he saw here.

The Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty. Although the Haihan people claimed that Lord Mei came to Liaodong specially to sign the alliance agreement between the Ming Dynasty and Haihan, Kim Sangxian always felt that something was wrong. Even if North Korea eventually formed an alliance with Haihan, Kim Sangxian would have to

He must fulfill his responsibilities and make sure that this alliance is beneficial and harmless to North Korea before he can accept it. But before that, he must personally confirm the war status between Haihan and Houjin, as Wang Tom and others declared when they were in Seoul.

The battle situation has been completely controlled.

At present, the restoration project of the official road from Lushun to the Jinzhou Isthmus has not been completed. There are still more than ten miles of road in the middle due to the recent rains that have made it muddy and difficult for carriages to pass. Considering that the envoys of the Ming Dynasty and North Korea still have their own teams and entourages,

Haihan arranged for them to take a boat from the sea to the port of Dalian Bay in the north.

Although there will be no security problems on this route, the Haihan military escorted their fleet in a more grand manner, and half of the Northern Fleet set out north with them. Kim Sang-hyun was okay, after all, he was coming

On the way to Liaodong, he had already seen the majesty of the Northern Fleet at close range, and this was the first time Mei Shengchuan saw the lineup of the Haihan Fleet. Only then did he realize that in addition to the warships he saw at Port Arthur when he came,

In addition, the Haihan Fleet actually has larger warships with larger warships and more guns. No wonder it claims to have wiped out all the enemy warships in the Liaodong area.

Many things are worth a thousand words but a glance. When Mei Shengchuan saw the appearance of this fleet, he naturally understood better why Dongjiang Town chose to embrace Haihan. With such a powerful maritime force, Haihan was in the Liaodong Peninsula.

They can advance and retreat freely at any time, which is indeed much stronger than the Ming Navy. Dongjiang Town is isolated overseas. Without the protection of a powerful fleet, they will sooner or later fall under Hou Jin's conquest. Haihan

If you are willing to reach out and give them a hand, how could Dongjiang Town let go of such an opportunity to survive?

But to be fair, in the end, the Ming Dynasty's own military strength is not enough to support the Dongjiang Town stationed overseas to continue fighting. Otherwise, how could the Shen family's uncle and nephew secretly switch sides and side with the Haihan people. Even if Mei Shengchuan

Even if they are dissatisfied, it is difficult to blame Dongjiang Town for what they did. After all, they made such a choice in order to survive. Besides, Dongjiang Town did not completely betray the Ming Dynasty. At least it provided considerable military intelligence to the court for reference.

Before Mei Shengchuan came, he thought that there would be a lot of false touts in the intelligence about Haihan's military strength. However, after coming to Liaodong and seeing it on the spot, he realized that the opposite was true. The intelligence from Dongjiang Town was actually discounted and not

It fully demonstrated the strength of the Haihan Army.

"Haihan has strong military strength and is good at business strategies. We can't stop them even if we want to. We can only see how to use them to benefit the Ming Dynasty." Mei Shengchuan slowly turned around with his hands behind his back and said to Shen Zhixiang: "

What does General Shen think?"

Shen Zhixiang quickly bowed and responded: "The general will naturally follow Master Mei's instructions."

Mei Shengchuan shook his head and said: "This is not what I want to hear, but what you think."

Shen Zhixiang straightened up slightly and said: "Sir, the shrewdness of the Haihan people does not need to be explained by their humble position. I must have experienced it these days. If you want to use them to benefit the Ming Dynasty, then I am afraid that they must first let them leave the Ming Dynasty. Just get more benefits.”

Mei Shengchuan said: "Benefits? Then let's open the skylight and speak frankly. Your Dongjiang Town has gained a lot of benefits from Haihan, and I have also benefited from Haihan to some extent through your way, but now they want to let Daming in If you give up power in Liaodong affairs, wouldn't this mean that I am committing treason? General Shen, you people in Dongjiang Town can continue to stay in Liaodong in the name of resisting the Jin Dynasty, but I will return to Beijing to resume my life. What do you mean by the Han people, what will I report to my superiors after I return to Beijing?"

Hearing Mei Shengchuan's tone, Shen Zhixiang had obviously seen through his identity as a lobbyist, and immediately stopped responding in a condescending manner: "My lord, the court should know more clearly about what is joy and what is sorrow than in humble positions. Reporting good news rather than reporting bad news , Your Excellency must understand this truth.”

Mei Shengchuan said: "Just like how you in Dongjiang Town only reported military achievements and did not report the role of the Han people in it? This can be hidden for a while, but not for a lifetime! It is not that the imperial court has no knowledge of the situation in Liaodong, otherwise how could it be done? I will send my officer here to hold talks with the Haihan people."

"Sir, what is the news that the court wants to hear? Ming and Haihan turn against each other and go to war, adding another powerful enemy, or Ming and Haihan form an alliance to jointly deal with the Jin people?" Shen Zhixiang followed the explanation given by Sha Xi before setting off. , continued to persuade Mei Shengchuan bit by bit. Some words that Sha Xi was not comfortable saying were left to Shen Zhixiang to express.

Mei Shengchuan did not respond immediately to Shen Zhixiang, but fell into deep thought. There is no doubt that what Shen Zhixiang said is a key issue. When Ming Dynasty has no hope of regaining Liaodong, what kind of situation is most beneficial to Ming Dynasty? This is As an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, he should work hard to achieve the results. If he refuses to cooperate just because Haihan occupied some areas in Liaodong, then it will not be Haihan who suffers in the end, but the Ming Dynasty who took the initiative to give up this strong support. .

Umeikawa could understand this, but he was a little worried that the adults in the court had not seen Haihan's military strength. Only oral or written descriptions could make them realize the necessity of compromise with Haihan's choice. Haihan was very strong, but he was indeed not strong enough to make Ming bow his head, at least in Mei Shengchuan's view.

Almost the same conversation was taking place on another boat aboard the North Korean envoy Kim Sang-hyun. The person responsible for persuading Kim Sang-hyun was the eldest son of Dongjiang Town Deputy Commander-in-Chief Kim Il-gwan, who is currently the civil affairs officer of Dongjiang Immigration District in Liaodong Province, Jin Ping. Because of his work Because of the relationship, Kim Sang-hyun had known the Jin family and his son for a long time, and they could be regarded as old friends. After Sha Xi learned about this relationship, he temporarily transferred Jin Ping from the immigration area to participate in the reception specially arranged for Kim Sang-heon. At work.

Jin Ping's current official position is 100% Haihan establishment. He has completely given up his idle post in Dongjiang Town. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is now an official of Haihan. Although the name still belongs to his father Jin Ri Although he works in the Ming Dynasty camp, he actually works for Haihan more often than Dongjiang Town, which only has one name left.

Under such circumstances, Jin Ping's attitude towards the Three Kingdoms Alliance is basically the same as that of Shen Zhixiang. Having him do Kim Sang-heon's work can also effectively reduce the other party's defensive mood. Kim Sang-heon does not have as many scruples as Mei Shengchuan.

Because the Korean King Li Zhu had witnessed the terrifying strength of Haihan's naval fleet, he came to Liaodong to confirm the extent of Haihan's control over the Liaodong war situation, and whether Ming Dynasty had any other opinions on this alliance. To put it bluntly, as long as Ming Dynasty did not object.

North Korea has formed an alliance with Haihan, so North Korea does not mind having such a friend who can help itself.

In this way, Jin Ping's persuasion work was much easier than that of Shen Zhixiang, and he could calmly communicate with Kim Sang-heon about the current resettlement and farming progress of Dongjiang Town immigrants in Liaodong. In the future, Dongjiang Town will no longer have to live for free in North Korea.

Take it, Kim Sang-hyun, as the North Korean minister, is naturally happy to see this happen.

The voyage from Lushun Port to Dalian Bay is very short. It started in the morning and only took most of the day to arrive. When the fleet docked in Dalian Bay, the sky began to slowly darken, and this time the Ming and North Korean missions

Chen finally met Bai Kesi, the person in charge of Haihan stationed in Liaodong region, as soon as he landed.

Both Mei Shengchuan and Kim Sang-hyun had been informed of Bai Kesi's status before, so they followed the diplomatic etiquette and paid an audience to Bai Kesi. The North Koreans even prepared a gift list specifically for this, which can be regarded as a gift.

Enough work has been done.

Bai Kesi's attitude was very clear. Since the envoys of the two countries came to see the fighting situation, he immediately arranged for the visitors to go to the war zone. So the envoys of the two countries boarded the carriage as soon as they got off the ship, and then escorted by the Haihan cavalry

Next, head to the Jinzhou Isthmus Defense Line.

When the convoy drove into Jijiabao at the eastern end of the isthmus defense line, lanterns and torches were already lit outside the fortress gatehouse. After they got off the bus, Bai Kesi took the initiative to introduce: "This Jijiabao is completely different from the original one. We started from Jinjiabao."

After the Japanese took over this place, they demolished the entire fortress and rebuilt it. What you see now is Jijia Fort, which has just completed the main project. It will take a while for dinner to be served, so I will start with it.

Let me show you around this place."

The envoys from both countries noticed that the castle did not look like a regular square city, but had a strange radial structure. The city wall had several protrusions, and when seen from the city wall, there was something outside the city wall.

There are also two shorter fortifications distributed in steps outside. These three fortifications are equipped with artillery turrets. It is not difficult to imagine the terrifying lethality of the upper, middle and lower turrets firing together during a battle. Umeikawa even thought of

This tactic of using three-dimensional artillery fire must have a certain relationship with the strange appearance of the castle.

Of course, even the Ming Dynasty could not imitate such a luxurious weapon deployment method. There were at least a dozen of these cannons as far as they could see. North Korea did not have such cannon-casting technology, and although the Ming Dynasty

You can forge your own cannons, but a castle can only deploy two large-caliber artillery pieces at most, and the rest are short-range anti-personnel weapons such as Folan cannons. Naturally, their power cannot be compared with Haihan's all-standard artillery.

Compare.

Kim Sang-hyun couldn't help but remember that when Wang Tom visited Seoul earlier, he had mentioned in his meeting with King Li Zhu that weapons could be sold to North Korea. But now it seems that even if he spends money to buy them back, he still has to learn to use these weapons.

We still need the help of the Haihan people. But if all the pass cities in North Korea can be equipped with artillery, then why should we be afraid of the threat of force from the Jin people? The Haihan people have said that they can exchange them for barter or even labor.

It seems that the price of the weapons is worth it, so we can discuss with the Haihan people how to proceed with this deal.

Although Mei Shengchuan had long known from the intelligence provided by Dongjiang Town that Haihan had an almost invincible advantage in heavy weapons and equipment, he was still greatly shocked when he saw such densely packed forts with his own eyes. This place is only a short distance from Haihan's mainland.

It was just an armed fortress thousands of miles away, and the weapons it was equipped with were of such scale. It was really hard for him to imagine what it was like on Qiongzhou Island in the south, which was run like an iron barrel by the Haihan people.

Although the conditions in Jijiabao are relatively simple compared to the rear, Bai Kesi, as the landowner, still arranged a relatively simple barbecue banquet to entertain their arrival. Just because this place is already a war zone, the supply of alcohol is extremely restricted, even if Bai Kesi is present

They did not deliberately break such rules. However, the envoys of the two countries had no intention of drinking and having fun in this environment. Instead, they took this opportunity to ask Bai Kesi about issues of interest to them.

Mei Shengchuan is more concerned about the current war situation in Jinzhou. Although good news is sent to the capital in Dongjiang Town almost every month, Mei Shengchuan now believes more in the words of the Haihan people. After all, those battle results reported to the court in Dongjiang Town should be

It was arranged for them by the Haihan people.

Bai Kesi did not answer the question himself, but handed it to Qian Tiandun, the commander-in-chief of the Jinzhou Defense Line. The envoys of the two countries originally thought that General Qian would be as proud as the Haihan military attachés they had seen before.

They showed off Haihan's glorious achievements in Liaodong, but the reality was not what they expected.

Qian Tiandun told them seriously that as the war continued, the opponents were no longer as unable to adapt as they were when the war first started. Recently, the Jin people have also come up with many ways to weaken the Haihan Army's huge advantage in weapons and equipment.

For example, they would use wet cotton quilts mixed with soil as a bunker and put them on the front of the cart to cover the infantry to launch an offensive against Haihan's musket array. Although this kind of movable bunker is primitive, its protective power is better than that currently equipped by the Jin Army.

Wooden shields, rattan shields and animal skin shields are much better. The rifles installed by the Haihan Army can hardly penetrate such bunkers even at a distance of 100 meters.

For this reason, the Haihan Army had to take the initiative to reduce the frequency and scope of infantry troops' activities in the area north of the defense line. Even if they were to be dispatched, they had to coordinate with the cavalry and artillery to avoid being surrounded by the enemy after penetrating deep into the enemy's activity area.

In addition, Hou Jin also began to frequently use Han civilians as human shields to launch attacks on the Hai-Han defense line. Qian Tiandun believed that the person who came up with this unscrupulous tactic was Geng Zhongming, who was currently confronting the Hai-Han army in the north, because every time

When the Jin Army launched this tactic later, many Han spies disguised themselves and lurked among the civilians, approaching the Haihan position and waiting for opportunities to launch attacks.
Chapter completed!