Chapter 2112

When the main force of the coalition forces has arrived at Hirado Island, the battle on Fukue Island, more than a hundred miles away, is still continuing. As the largest and most livable island among the Goto Islands, the population of Fukue Island is probably larger than that of the coalition forces.

It is expected that there will be more, and the armed personnel deployed by the Hirado clan on the island are far more than the group of people the Ming army encountered when they first landed on the island.

Although the Ming army was far more powerful than its opponents, fighting in an unfamiliar area still greatly limited their performance. The several coastal plains where people live on the island are far apart, and the Ming army can only reach them by boat.

The follow-up operation location made their combat efficiency seriously lower than the action plan. The area cleared in this day was less than half of the expected.

The armed resisters on the island did not leave the Ming army a chance for a head-on confrontation. They often retreated quickly after engaging in probing battles and evacuated to the inland areas. The Ming army did not dare to advance rashly in this environment.

It may be that the villages and towns on the island were cleared one by one, but the effect was not ideal. The militants would not stay in the villages and towns to fight with the Ming army, and capturing a group of old, weak, women and children would not be of much concern to the Ming army.

value.

They interrogated some people, and some of the insiders said that the armed personnel currently operating on the island were recently transferred from Hirado, while most of the young men who were born on Fukue Island had been transferred a few days ago.

local.

It seems that the Hirado clan also knew that it could not provide reliable shelter to the people on the island during war, so it simply transferred the young people away from here to avoid being easily wiped out when an attack from outside. And the armed personnel transferred to Fukue Island from outside,

There is no need to worry about the life, death and property losses of the people on the island during wartime. You can use all means to delay the actions of foreign enemies on Fujiang Island. If you can't defeat them, they will run into the mountains and forests. There is no need to worry about the life and death of the people on the island after they are captured by the enemy.

.

This made the Ming army's idea of ​​using the people on the island as hostages to coerce the resisters to surrender come to nothing. Even if they were ruthless enough to kill all the islanders, those hiding in the mountains and forests would still not come out to surrender.

Of course, fortifying walls and clearing fields is also an option, but this measure may not have a significant effect in the short term. According to people's accounts, these armed men began to carry various survival materials, including food, into the mountains a few days ago. Even if the Ming army

If the island's populated areas could be sealed off immediately, it would be unlikely that the armed men would starve to death in the mountains within ten days and a half.

Because they have been unable to engage in a head-on fight with the armed personnel on the island, the Ming army that landed on the island killed less than fifty enemies that day. The commander conducted a surprise interrogation of several armed personnel captured during the battle and found out

There are at least three to four hundred armed men lurking on Zhi Island.

If it were on a frontal battlefield, a stick of incense would be enough to deal with this enemy. But the problem is that the Ming army cannot catch the opponent who is hiding in Tibet, and there is no good means to force the opponent to show up. If they enter

If you are tracking in the mountains, you run the risk of being ambushed.

The opponents are not indigenous islanders with no fighting ability, but armed personnel who have received formal military training and are equipped with a certain number of muskets. These people have clear combat objectives and targeted strategies, and are not easy enemies to deal with.

Before the war, the Ming army wanted to quickly deal with the enemies on Fukue Island, but now it seems that the battle on the island will not end in a short time, and it is not even clear whether they can rush to Hirado Island to participate in subsequent combat operations.

That’s easy to say.

The coalition forces believed in advance that there would be no problem if the Ming army was responsible for clearing Fujiang Island. Therefore, the Haihan Army did not deploy a limited radio station on Fujiang Island, and it was difficult to convey the battle situation on the island to the coalition command headquarters in the first time.

The Ming army commander could only inform the Haihan reconnaissance ship accompanying them of the current progress before dark, and the ship would send the news to Hirado Island tomorrow morning.

Of course, the news sent to Hirado Island was not a request for help from the headquarters, but a normal battle situation report. But it is not difficult to imagine how Xu Yuzhuo felt after receiving the news. He originally wanted to get a good start in order to express his gratitude to the headquarters.

The allies can prove their strength, but the current progress on Fukue Island is obviously not enough to play such a role.

The only good news is probably that the main ports on Fukue Island are currently controlled by coalition warships. For the time being, no ships can go out to sea from these small ports. This is equivalent to cutting off the two battlefields of Fukue Island and Hirado Island. The enemy

It is difficult for the military to continue to exchange information in a convenient way, and then they can only fight on their own.

At this time, in the bay called Shiki Bay at the southern end of Hirado Island, the coalition fleet had set up a large military tent on the coast as a temporary headquarters. Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen were hosting a war preparation meeting to discuss the details of tomorrow's operation.

Although the attack on Hirado Port had to be postponed for one night due to objective reasons, the command headquarters believed that there was no need to make major changes to the original action plan and would still act according to the original plan tomorrow.

"The East Route Army is commanded by me and is responsible for attacking Hirado Port and blocking the Hirado Strait. The West Route Army is jointly commanded by General Qian and General Xu, and the Fujian Navy covers General Qian's troops landing at Boxiang Bay on the west side.

In all the bays along the coast, ships must be sent to check to ensure that nothing is missed. If the main force of the opponent's fleet is found, then the opponent must be eliminated at sea first."

Shi Diwen compared the map of Hirado Island and briefly explained tomorrow's combat arrangements to the generals and officers present. Then he began to explain the details of the operation and answer questions from commanders at all levels.

The missions of the east and west routes have different priorities. The east route army is responsible for attacking Hirado Port to attract the enemy's attention, but the actual landing troops are placed on the west coast. After landing, the special forces will cut off the Hirado Port area to the south.

route, and then combine with the fleet at sea to clear the key areas at the northern end of the island.

What currently worries the generals a little is the extent of the opponent's shore defense firepower, because the existing intelligence clearly indicates that the opponent already has a certain number of artillery. Especially the Western Front troops that need to carry out amphibious landing operations.

Some officers believe that a troop carrier full of soldiers from a special operations regiment would be really dangerous if it is hit by enemy shore defense artillery.

As for how to achieve landing in the face of fierce enemy resistance, Minami Takahashi stood up and explained his thoughts: "Shore defense firepower is dead, the key is to deal with the opponent's armed ships. Since the plan is to let the eastern front attract firepower,

Then the eastern front will take action first, put pressure on Hirado Port, and the western front will wait and see. If the opponent deploys warships in Boxiang Bay, the eastern front may not be able to stay after the emergency. As long as he dares to show up, General Xu's

The naval fleet is engaged. After the surface armament is resolved, even if shore defense firepower is deployed locally, it will not be of much use. At most, we can slightly adjust the landing location to avoid the shore firepower range."

Gao Qiaonan's opinion was also supported by Qian Tiandun: "Landing warfare and anti-landing warfare are the strengths of the special operations group. I believe that as long as General Xu's fleet can provide cover, we can proceed with the battle in Boxiang Bay as originally planned.

There will be no big problem if you log in."

Xu Yuzhuo immediately responded: "Don't worry, General Qian. I will risk my life to protect the friendly troops and get them ashore. This will never affect the battle plan!"

After the big plan is finalized, the next step is for the commanders of each department to return to the camp to deploy the details of the operation to their officers. None of the people involved in this operation are novices, and they do not need the generals to guide them on how to do it. They each take orders and prepare.

The battle will be tomorrow.

The only thing that worries the coalition command is that the search of the Goto Islands and the southern area of ​​Hirado Island did not find any trace of the enemy's armed fleet. The two warships sunk on the Goto Islands were obviously not the main force, but passed by

After this night, the possibility that the enemy fleet will continue to stay in the port is actually very small, and tomorrow's search of ports on the coast of Hirado Island may not be able to find the target.

An armed fleet operating at sea with unknown whereabouts is actually a far greater threat to the coalition forces than the so-called shore defense firepower. Because behind the warships, there are dozens of troop transports and supply ships, and these ships are at sea.

The self-defense capability is limited. Before the opponent's armed fleet can be destroyed, the coalition must detach a part of its warships to protect them.

In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, all coalition forces had already begun to raise sails and anchors. The Eastern Route Army set off first, and the warships left Shiki Bay one after another, heading north along the east coast of Hirado Island from the southern end of the island.

Of course, Shi Diwen also knew the importance of finding the enemy fleet, so he also observed the coast near the coast very carefully during the journey north. Although the fleet had already sent a group of reconnaissance ships to conduct a survey of the coastline after arriving at Hirado Island yesterday.

Search, but the East China Sea Fleet still conducted a second inspection very cautiously to prevent the enemy from deploying the fleet nearby during the night.

But his opponent seemed to be more cautious than he expected. He walked twenty or thirty miles north, and not even a fishing boat appeared along the way, let alone a warship.

The East China Sea Fleet advanced smoothly to the narrowest point of the Hirado Strait. There is only one mile wide between here and Kyushu to the east. After passing this narrowest point, the Hirado Port can be seen.

"General, a signal has been sent from the front, but no trace of the enemy fleet has been found."

After hearing the report, Shi Diwen nodded and said: "Since the other party has not shown its head, we will still act according to the original plan! The fleet will block Hirado Port first. If there is resistance, open fire directly without asking for instructions and resolutely attack!"

Given the size of Hirado Port, the East China Sea Fleet only needed two or three warships to block the entry and exit channels, and Shi Diwen did not want to waste any more time playing the trick of paying homage first and then attacking with the opponent, and directly used strong ships and cannons as a signal to declare war.

At this time, Qian Tiandun also received news from the reconnaissance ship from Fujiang Island. He was actually not too surprised by the progress of the Ming army's operations on the island. After all, considering the local environment, as long as the opponent was at ease, he would be able to attack the island.

To engage in guerrilla warfare, it is understandable that the Ming army’s island landing troops would have difficulty completing the clearing operation in a short period of time.

What really attracted Qian Tiandun's attention was another news. According to the confessions of the prisoners captured on the island, the Hirado Domain had undergone a major change a few days ago. The feudal lord, the Matsuura clan, was attacked by foreign assassins.

All were buried in the flames. After the Matsuura clan was killed, the Tagawa clan, the most powerful retainer in the domain, immediately took over the power and reorganized and expanded the domain army.

Qian Tiandun didn't quite believe in the idea of ​​being attacked by an assassin. He intuitively believed that the Tagawa family was behind this abnormal power transition. He even sensed that Haihan was coming, so he rushed to seize power and used various means to seize power.

Conspired to murder the Matsuura clan.

The change of power in the Hirado clan did not originally have much direct relationship with Haihan, but according to the information previously obtained, it was the Tagawa clan who provided direct shelter for the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party, and the descendants of Zheng Zhilong were adopted by the Tagawa clan.

, was designated as the next head of the family. Now that the Tagawa family has successfully seized power, the next head of the family will be promoted to the next lord of the domain. When the Eighteen Shiba Yu Party uses some tricks to change the surname of Odagawa back to Zheng, the Hirado domain will not

It became the Zheng family's world.

Qian Tiandun quickly figured out the cause and effect. Although he came to the conclusion half-guessed, it was not far from the truth.

As for whether such a change of power can block the military attack launched by the coalition forces, Qian Tiandun believes that the answer is no. Although the Tagawa clan succeeded in seizing power, the time they took control of the Hirado clan was still too short, and they did not have time to integrate various resources and retain

The time given to them to prepare for the war is even more limited. Even if they will make some targeted arrangements in response to Haihan's arrival, Qian Tiandun believes that the strength difference between the two sides is too great. No matter how hard the Hirado clan struggles, it will be difficult to change the final outcome of the war.

Two hours after the East Route Army set out first, the West Route Fleet with the Fujian Navy as the main force also left Shiki Bay one after another. This delay was the West Route Army's buffer time, waiting for the East Route Army to arrive at Hirado Port

The attack was launched, leaving enough time for the Hirado clan to respond, and the Western Route Army then struck back and chose the opportunity to land from the west coast.

What surprised Shi Diwen a little was that when two warships of the East China Sea Fleet tentatively docked at Toto Port, it was the defenders who fired first. However, the shelling from the shore was more like a warning.

The first two shells landed on the sea about a hundred feet away from the Haihan warship.

In the small and narrow Hirado Port, all the ships can be seen at a glance. There is no enemy fleet here that the East China Sea Fleet is looking forward to. The few sparse sailing ships can be seen at a glance to be ordinary merchant ships without heavy weapons.

Since Shi Diwen had previously issued an order to engage in battle freely, even though the shelling from the shore did not pose a real threat, the two warships that arrived at Hirado Port immediately opened fire in response.

The response from Haihan was not so subtle. Several shells flew in the direction of the previous firing, and hit the port pier without any mercy. After the captain took a telescope to observe on the deck, he had already

Several artillery pieces were found lined up on the pier. Judging from the emplacements of these artillery pieces, the defenders should have made a lot of preparations for this exchange of fire.
Chapter completed!