The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 244 Cleanup
"Ambassador Pan has given a reply and instructions." Anzhou Governor Yin Yugui handed a document to the Army Garrison Commander in Anzhou, General Mingwei (Brigadier General) Shi Hanrong, "We must resolutely fight back against the Austrian provocation. You can Fight a moderate border war to completely stabilize the situation in Anju."

"A moderate border war?" Shi Hanrong opened the order sent by Pan Guangfeng, the plenipotentiary representative to the European Union, and frowned. "This war cannot be easily controlled by any party. What is moderation?" Is it to completely wipe out the rebels? Or to drive all the Austrian forces out of Anzhou? Or to push the battle line into the Holy Roman Empire and let them feel the harshness of the war? "

"Uh..." Yin Yugui's expression was stagnant, a little dissatisfied with Shi Hanrong's aggressive attitude.

Isn't it because these Qiu Ba want to make great achievements and make things bigger?

"Ambassador Pan's instructions are to avoid triggering a war between the two countries and to control the situation as a regional conflict as much as possible." Yin Yugui said in a deep voice: "Therefore, the next war should be focused on quelling the Anzhou rebellion. Pushing the front into the depths of the Holy Roman Empire, it should be noted that Anzhou is the first European territory that our Qi Kingdom has acquired, and it is already feared by France, the Holy Roman Empire, and several Italian states. If the war expands, it will definitely be invaded by outsiders. They took advantage of it and attracted interference from other countries, leaving Qi in a passive position in European affairs. "

"Previous situation deductions have shown that in the process of quelling the Anzhou rebellion, the Austrians will inevitably be behind the scenes, whether it is to support supplies and ordnance, or to send corresponding military personnel, it is possible." Shi Hanrong will hold the hand. Ambassador Pan gently placed the order on the desk and looked up at Yin Yugui, "Under this situation, it is difficult for us to avoid direct military conflict with the Austrians. If Ambassador Pan and the Governor insist on giving our military wages, If you set a red line, you may be handicapped and your chances of war will be wasted!”

"..." Yin Yugui narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, "General Shi, how many troops have we gathered in Anzhou now?"

"So far, Zhongyang Island (today's Malta Island) has sent three companies, Egypt has mobilized four squadrons of armed escorts, Tunisia and Tripoli have each supported more than 200 Berber mercenaries, plus we have The total strength of the Anzhou garrison and the recruited immigrant soldiers is more than 2,800."

"So, how many Shinra troops are there in Croatia near Anju?"

"About seven to eight thousand people, maybe ten thousand people."

In fact, when Qi occupied the Istria Peninsula, it seemed that it had no intention of opening up the trade channels between Central and Southern Europe.

If Qi's goods can be continuously imported into the Holy Roman Empire through the trade window of the Istria Peninsula, it will drive extremely huge local production demand and thus obtain huge trade profits.

"As far as I know, the Ottomans don't want to fight at the moment." Yin Yugui said: "Although the attempted military coup launched by the Ottoman Empire's Guards two months ago was quelled, Sultan Ahmed III's prestige has been greatly damaged and he can no longer Control the situation in the empire. Grand Vizidaud Ibrahim Pasha is negotiating with the top officials of the empire to establish a new sultan in order to achieve a peaceful transition of the empire's political situation. Under this situation, the Ottomans will try their best to maintain domestic political stability. And we will be more cautious in avoiding any foreign wars, especially military conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, if we fight with the Holy Roman Empire, we may not get effective support from the Ottomans."

After all, no one can have trouble with money, right?

"The Austrians certainly don't dare to have a large-scale military conflict with Qi." Yin Yugui said confidently: "They cannot afford the consequences of an expanded war. You know, the naval strength of the Holy Roman Empire is not as good as that of the Venetians. We only need to mobilize a dozen warships to blockade the ports of Antwerp and Trieste, and we can cut off their Eastern trade at any time and put their prosperous Ostend company into bankruptcy immediately. "

With the rapid development of Qi's overseas trade and maritime transportation industry, more and more Qi companies and merchants are no longer satisfied with indirectly importing goods to emerging markets such as Italy and Central and Southern Europe through the hands of the Dutch, English or French. market.

In 1715, the company obtained trading rights to the ports of Mocha in Yemen, Surat in India, and Temasek in the East Indies (today's Singapore). Between 1716 and 1720, this company transported a total of 600 million pounds of tea, 15 pieces of porcelain, nearly tons of coffee and cocoa, and a large number of domestic industrial products from the East. It made huge profits and the company's stock price also increased. It is so popular that the return rate is as high as %.

However, Qi State did not discriminate or treat this overseas trading company affiliated with Shinra differently. Instead of making the business prosperous, the two sides were quite cold in politics and hot in economy.

As more and more Qi reinforcements arrived in Luoning City, the Qi people, who had been squeezed into a corner of the seaside by the local rioting militants, finally began to prepare to launch a counterattack.

"The difference in strength is three to four times!" Yin Yugui smiled and asked softly: "So, is General Shi sure that after quelling the rebels in Anzhou, he can defeat the neighboring Holy Roman Empire army?"

"Governor Yin, these troops deployed by the Holy Roman Empire may not all be used to defend our Qi State." Shi Hanrong said calmly: "Their main goal should be to deal with the Ottomans in Bosnia. Oh, by the way, there are also those in Croatia. Those feudal lords who were rebellious and sought autonomy."

After receiving the "limited" military authorization from the governor, Shi Hanrong, the commander of the Army Garrison in Anzhou, immediately ordered the troops to set off and sweep toward the north.

You said that although the Holy Roman Empire is neither Roman nor holy, and is also broken into pieces, consisting of more than 300 states, large and small, and more than 1,400 knightly estates, the name of the empire is also somewhat untrue. , but after all, it has a population of almost 20 million, which is considered a very huge market.

"If the Austrians do not hesitate to send out troops to intervene when we put down the rebellion in Anzhou, will we still choose to avoid the war?"

In the eyes of the people of Qi, if I support the Ottomans to attack you Austrians, that is a geostrategic issue, but if you take the initiative to trade with us and purchase our goods, that is "free trade."

Therefore, whether it is for geostrategic reasons or to open up trade channels in the heart of Europe, the Istria Peninsula will be a key strategic location for Qi, and it cannot be disrupted by the Austrians.

Yes, although the Holy Roman Empire deeply disliked the Qi people, it did not delay them at all in forming an Ostend company to engage in Eastern trade, and went to Arabia, India, and even the East Indies to engage in lucrative Eastern trade.

The people of Qi are very annoying, but the goods in their hands are indeed "fragrant". Seeing the Dutch, English, and French constantly buying all kinds of high value-added goods from the East, if you don't feel jealous, you must be jealous. I couldn't help my conscience, so I ignored the cold relationship with Qi State, licked my face, and went to operate Eastern trade within the sphere of influence controlled by Qi State.

This money allows people to pass a lot of money and pluck a layer of wool, but in the end I don't feel so happy.

In the east coast of the Adriatic, including the Istria Peninsula, various local forces were intricately organized. Under the rule of Venice, they were basically in a state of autonomy. Speaking of which, the Venetians living here also had no roots. Being so disturbed by the Austrians encouraged local residents to launch riots to resist the rule of the Qi people. This caused many Venetians to suffer greatly and had to defect to the Qi people. , seeking to obtain personal and property protection.

On December 12, more than 8 officers and soldiers of the Qi Army, under the cover of more than ten artillery pieces, successfully "recaptured" the small town of Wardian, six kilometers away from Luoning, killing and wounding more than rebels and capturing more than rebels. "Liberation" "There are more than local people.

On December 12, another group of more than 10 officers and soldiers of the Qi army recaptured four villages in succession, killing and wounding more than rebels.

On December 12, the various units of the Qi army converged and approached the town of Pazin, which was ambushed last time, and launched an armed confrontation with the main force of the rebels. "Sir, in fact, we don't need to advance so slowly to remove the rebel strongholds one by one." Yu Yuanbin, commander of the 14st Battalion of the Anzhou Garrison and Colonel Xuanjie (Major), stood in front of the former enemy commander, Zhao Xin Behind him, Colonel Peng Xiaoliang carefully suggested: "I still insist that our army can get behind the rebels through ship transportation and cut off the connection between them and the Austrians in one fell swoop. , and then push forward all the way, we will be able to annihilate them all, thus eliminating the rebels once and for all.”

"What Captain Yu means is that the commander-in-chief, General Shi, and I, a former enemy commander, do not understand military strategy?" Peng Xiaoliang put down the telescope, twisted his neck, and then looked at this capable subordinate with a half-smile.

"I don't dare to be in a humble position." Yu Yuanbin said, but he was quite unconvinced in his heart.

Obviously this battle can be fought more "artistically", using one's own naval superiority to outflank the rebels from behind, destroy their foundations, cut off their retreat, and then annihilate them all at once, but they have to assemble the army and slowly advance all the way, capturing the rebels one by one. In the villages, towns and farms they occupy, there is really no point in fighting like this. Instead, it will give the rebels plenty of time to calmly arrange and deal with it safely.

Of course, our army can rely on its strong firepower advantage to defeat the rebels' blockade all the way and slowly regain the "lost ground". However, such an attack is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also ultimately unable to capture and eliminate the main force of the rebels.

Even if they were to severely damage the opponent again in the small town of Pazin, due to the limitations of their own forces, they would not be able to surround and annihilate them, and they would most likely be allowed to flee to the rear, or even end up within the territory of the Shinra.

If you fight like this, you can't get enough commendable military exploits.

Without great military exploits, how can one accumulate merit and gain promotion?

I heard that in just eight years, my former subordinate Li Yanliang had been promoted from a junior lieutenant (second lieutenant) to the rank of xuanjie captain (major), which was on the same level as him, and He was also transferred to Xuanzhou to take charge of local security and military affairs, becoming a sole military officer.

His grandma, if he keeps around for a few more years, his former subordinates will surpass him.

When we meet him, we should salute him and say "Hello, sir".

I'll kill you, it makes me so embarrassed just thinking about it!
Therefore, when he was transferred to Anzhou to take up a post, he was really excited to see local residents being bewitched by the Austrians and rioting.

If we put down the rebellion, and then take advantage of the situation to attack the territory of the HRE, and teach the Austrians a lesson, wouldn't we be able to gain enough merit by doing so?

"Who do you think these so-called rebels are who are causing trouble?" Peng Xiaoliang pointed at the rebel figures that flashed from time to time in the distant villages and towns, with a hint of disdain in the corner of his mouth.

"Although those people are called rebels and claim to expel our Qi officials and garrison and liberate the local people, they are actually just some swaying in the wind and speculators who want to take advantage of the chaos to gain property or fame," Yu Yuanbin said. He curled his lips and said: "We pushed along all the way, and the villages, towns and farms we passed were completely ruined by them. They extorted and robbed the place without any scruples. ... They are just a group of mobs without any organization and discipline."

"Then if we fight all the way here, can we be considered the saviors of those local residents?"

"Sir, our combat goal is to destroy the rebels..."

Do we need to play the role of a savior? Those people are not our citizens of Qi at all. They were harmed by the rebels. It is their misfortune!

"Huh... you are just a single-minded person. Don't you think about it, if we send troops to quell the rebellion this time, besides restoring the order of Anzhou's rule and eliminating the influence of the Austrians, don't we have any other purpose? "

"What purpose?"

"Don't you think these rebels are indirectly helping us clear the place?"

"..." Yu Yuanbin looked at the officer blankly.

"In the past few months, the rebels have cleaned up the place, almost destroyed the original order of production and life, and killed many small nobles, manor owners and farmers. Now, we are sending troops to quell the situation. If we rebel and clean up behind them, we can almost completely overthrow the existing social organizational structure and economic structure. This will definitely be more effective for us to restore our rule in the future and implant our Qi State's governance model. "

"Kill someone with a borrowed knife?"

"Absolutely." Peng Xiaoliang smiled, "In addition, we can push these rebels all the way and drive them into the territory of the Shinra. In addition to providing us with an excuse to conduct border clearance, we can also harm them by the way. It's disrespectful to come and go, these rebels have had enough fun in Anzhou, and they won't let it go easily if they are driven into the territory of Shenluo!"

"Sir, then...should we fight the Austrians?"

"The commander said that as a last resort, it is best to avoid a large-scale armed conflict with the Austrians."

"To avoid large-scale armed conflicts, then small fights are allowed."

"What are you guessing!" Peng Xiaoliang glared at him, "Hurry up and prepare your troops. After the artillery bombardment, let me drive the rebels out of the town in one go!"

"Yes, sir!"

(End of this chapter)