Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 249 Pre-war deployment
As the night grew deeper, the candle on the candlestick burned shorter and shorter, and the flames illuminated the shadows moving back and forth.

After a long while, Huang Mingzuo called over a confidant and instructed, "Go to Jiahe Island tomorrow and tell Li Kuiqi that I want to meet him as soon as possible. The specific time and place will be arranged by him."

Three days later, on the Jiulong River, a Haicang ship was anchored on the shore, and Huang Mingzuo and Li Kuiqi met in the cabin.

This was the first time the two met. Huang Mingzuo had previously sent someone to contact Li Kuiqi, offering a whopping 100,000 taels of silver, hoping that the latter could find a way to save his only son. To show his sincerity, Huang Mingzuo even gave him an advance payment of 10,000 taels of silver.

Li Kuiqi verbally agreed and accepted the 10,000 taels of silver, but he did not take any action afterwards. Huang Mingzuo sent people to urge him several times, but the other party just played Tai Chi with him, so he gradually lost hope for this line.

Li Kuiqi didn't want to meet Huang Mingzuo this time. But he started to get involved in maritime trade at the beginning of this year, and his main source of goods, in addition to the stolen goods from robbery, came from Huang Hexing. After thinking it over, he decided to meet him.

"Old sir, why are you so anxious to see Li? What instructions do you have?" Li Kuiqi pretended to be ignorant and deliberately did not mention the young master of the Huang family.

"I have received a piece of military intelligence from the Governor's Office, and I am here to report it to Master Li..."

To Li Kuiqi's surprise, Huang Mingzuo did not even mention that. The old man paused for a moment, stared at him and continued: "Futai Zhu has decided to recruit Lin Hai..."

~~~
At this time, Lin Hai had just returned to Tamsui. County Magistrate Cao and General Chen had already communicated well and could act according to the established strategy. Based on this, the Huiyou Company could begin pre-war deployment.

Lin Hai called together all the board members, including Feng Yidao, the head of the Vanguard Bureau, and eight people from Huiyou Company. In addition, Li Guozhu and Xu Yilong were also invited to sit in.

Xu Letian returned to Tongan. At present, the defeated troops of Yang Lu and Yang Ce have been settled in Tongan County to assist County Magistrate Cao in defending the city. He Ying is also still there with Xu Ying.

There was a large map hanging in the conference room, which showed the mountains and waters of Jiahe Island and its surroundings. Lin Hai looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, the general strategy for the march is known to everyone, and Governor Zhu of Fujian also agreed to act accordingly. This time we will mainly discuss the specific action plan. First, please ask the Vanguard Bureau and the Navy and Army to talk about their respective preparations."

"General, the 400 members of the Vanguard Bureau are now ready to go into battle. Twenty-six of them are urgently recruited from the recruit training camp."

Feng Yidao spoke first. Due to the attrition caused by continuous fighting and the permission for free withdrawal, the personnel turnover in the Vanguard Bureau is relatively large, and the work of recruiting new soldiers is also ongoing.

"The three combat bureaus of the Army Department have also filled the vacancies from the auxiliary troops, and are now fully staffed. In addition, the ten mortars of the artillery post have been installed..."

Wu Guoyi also talked about the current situation of the Army Department. To put it simply, it is in a full-blooded state. He went on to say: "Since the reorganization was completed, the Army Department has never experienced a war, and the whole army is full of fighting spirit."

"It's the same with the Navy. We haven't fought a war for almost a year since the Battle of Dongshan last year. All the officers and soldiers hope to make new contributions..." Since Shibi was dismissed, the daily work of the Navy Department has been presided over by Miguel. He speaks Chinese more fluently than before. He continued, "The newest frigate has also completed its sea trials. With the return of the Bowang, the Navy Department currently has 2 cruisers, 3 frigates, 12 reporting ships, 14 old lock ships and 12 Calais ships available for combat."

"It seems that we haven't fought a war for too long, and everyone is a little impatient." Lin Hai smiled after hearing the statements of the chief officers of various troops. For a confident army, war means rewards and promotion opportunities. This is what they mean by "joy at the news of war."

"Is there any problem with money and grain?" Lin Hai then asked Zhu Niang.

"No problem. Fourth Brother Zheng just came back from Japan. Our own grain production has also increased this year. Currently, the treasury is very full..."

"Very good. We have been accumulating strength for this battle for a year. We must win the battle this time." Lin Hai said, "Now I will tell you the specific battle plan. If you have different opinions, you can raise them at any time..."

"First of all, there is the issue of coordination between the Vanguard Bureau and the main force. If the main force fails to follow up in time after the Vanguard Bureau lands, our army will be in danger on Jiahe Island. But there is a problem here, which is the weather. Now is the north wind season. The main force must march from the sea and must choose a suitable weather. This makes it impossible for us to agree on the marching time in advance..."

"In view of this, we can only use the imperial court's beacon system along the coast to transmit information. In other words, the specific date of the march will be temporarily determined by the main force. When setting off, a fast ship will be sent to Haitan. The Dun Army under General Chen will light the beacon fire and transmit the military information all the way to Tongan. After receiving the information, the Vanguard Bureau will immediately launch a landing operation..."

"The next step is the action of the main force. The navy must blockade Jiahe Island as quickly as possible. The fastest frigates and notification ships can form an advance team and go ahead at full speed. The officers and soldiers of the Army Department will be transported by 14 old lock ships, and two cruisers will be responsible for escort. I think the Calais ship does not need to be deployed this time."

"Boss." At this time, Shi Bi began to make suggestions, "If the Calais ship does not move out, if Zheng the thief hides in hiding like last time, we will be helpless against him again."

"No, this time we can trap him to death." Lin Hai pointed to the Yundang Port on the map and said, "Our frigates and communication ships are enough to trap the Zheng bandits in Yundang Port, but last time we could only trap them in Dongshan Bay. This is the difference."

The area of ​​Yuandang Port is only 10 square kilometers, but Dongshan Bay is more than 130 square kilometers. If Lin Hai had these frigates and communication ships during the Battle of Dongshan, he would not have blocked Dongshan Bay but Ximenao Port. The offshore combat capability of Huiyou Company's navy has made great progress.

But even for a naval vessel with a draft of only two meters, it was still inconvenient to fight in Yuandang Harbor. This was a very narrow and long harbor, opening to the southwest, and now the wind was blowing from the northeast, so it was difficult for a sailboat to enter the harbor.

"Even if the 12 Calais ships came, it would be difficult for us to rush into Yuandang Harbor to fight the Zheng bandits, unless we bring along the fishing soldiers from Tongan County. Now is the north wind season, and the Calais ships have a draft of more than one meter. I think there is no need to take the risk and just stay at home to look after the house..."

Shibi and Miguel were both disappointed after hearing this. It seemed that the navy would once again play a supporting role this time, unless Zheng Zhilong had taken the wrong medicine and sent the fleet out to die.

Lin Hai continued, "But don't be discouraged, everyone in the Navy. The Zheng thieves might try to defend the city again this time. We won't be able to rely on the ten mortars from the Army. We'll also have to use the heavy artillery on the cruiser to attack the city!"

(End of this chapter)