Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 333 The Great Voyage ([-])

At noon on May 1642, 5, two ships of the China East Coast Republic Expedition Fleet led by Captain Li Yi slowly approached the outer ocean of Jeju Port on the north side of Jeju Island.Unfortunately, the North Koreans on the shore seemed to have discovered them immediately. Li Yi stood on the boat and looked through the binoculars, and saw many North Korean soldiers who seemed to be wearing livery in a mess on the shore.Some people rode horses to the city to report the news, and some people carried spears, bows and arrows and other cold weapons and walked up to the pier to peep at the sea.

"These sticks seem to be very hostile to us." Li Yi put down the binoculars and muttered to himself: "Maybe they regard us as Japanese pirates?"

"Sir, what are Japanese pirates?" Sergeant Johnson was a little puzzled.

"Well, that's Japanese pirates. You know pirates, they are very cruel, so these North Koreans are very scared." Li Yi said relaxedly, "The combat effectiveness of these North Koreans is not worth mentioning. Don't look at what they look like now There are some decent ones, as long as I order Mo Dayong to bring people ashore for an assault, these people will collapse."

Staff Sergeant Johnson couldn't believe it.There are also a very small number of North Koreans serving in the army on the east bank, and as far as he knows, the performance of these people is actually not too obviously different from that of most people on the east coast.They trained in the same way, marched in the same way, and fought in the same way. They seemed to be a very common group among the many ethnic groups on the east coast.But there must be a reason for the officer to speak so badly of these North Koreans.Well, yes, it must be that their culture and system are really bad!The system on the east bank is the most advanced system in the world, and the culture on the east bank is also the best culture. The soldiers on the east bank are professional soldiers with a sense of honor. We are different from those ignorant serf soldiers!

"We need some supplies, especially fresh vegetables and meat. Johnson, you immediately pick 50 sailors and go ashore with rifles. At the same time, Mo Dayong will also lead [-] Eight Banners warriors under his command to go ashore and accept your command together. .I order you to go ashore to plunder the villages scattered by the North Koreans outside the city, and collect some food and livestock. Now go and execute the order!"

Sergeant Johnson saluted, and then went down to prepare.Soon, the two ships put down a large number of small boats one by one, and the small boats were full of Eight Banners warriors and sailors, and rowed towards the shore.

After the first batch of more than 20 Eight Banners warriors landed, they immediately formed an arc-shaped defensive circle near the landing point, pointing obliquely with their step bows, staring hard at the North Koreans who were about to move in the distance.But those North Koreans just watched from a distance, they didn't have enough courage to rush forward to fight, maybe they were afraid of the fighting power of these "sea pirates" who looked dark but wore excellent armor, but there were more reasons It may be that the two huge warships moored on the sea gave them a strong sense of oppression, making them dare not act rashly.

As more and more soldiers landed, these North Koreans dared not make any moves.They are generally equipped with cold weapons, but most of them are spears, and the most basic leather armor and bows and arrows are rarely seen.From this point of view, perhaps they are right not to take the initiative to attack.So naturally, when the [-] Eight Banners warriors and [-] musketeers all went ashore and finished their formation, the North Koreans remained motionless.They neither ran away nor attacked, and just looked at the pier that had fallen into the hands of the "sea pirates" so stupidly.

Sergeant Johnson swung his commanding saber, and Mo Dayong immediately led nearly [-] Eight Banners warriors lined up in three rows towards the direction of North Korean soldiers ahead.They trotted fast, but still maintained a general formation. It could be seen that after years of careful training and war baptism by the people on the east coast, the combat effectiveness of these Eight Banners warriors had completely changed.

The lackluster fight was quickly over.Most of the more than 200 North Korean soldiers standing in front of them broke up, and a small number were killed or captured in the battle with the Eight Banners warriors.The entire battle went on extremely easily, and it took less than half an hour.The 200 Eight Banners warriors only started a few rounds of archery shooting, and the Koreans began to flee, and after the more than [-] spearmen of the Eight Banners warriors began to trot and charge, the North Koreans completely collapsed.They only caused two deaths and six injuries to the Eight Banners warriors, and the East Coast musketeers didn't even have time to enter the battlefield before the whole battle was over.

"Sir, we routed more than 72 North Korean soldiers, killed and wounded 49 of them, and captured [-] of them. According to Sergeant Kim Tae-kyung's interrogation report, there was not even a single officer among the dead, wounded and captured. I believe they all escaped successfully." Sergeant Johnson stood in front of Captain Li Yi who had already landed and made a combat report, and beside them was a large group of dejected North Korean prisoners tied up with ropes.

"I'll allocate another fifty sailors to you, and go immediately to collect food, livestock and fresh water for me." Li Yi raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said, "It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone must return before seven o'clock. Remember, the food collection team is under your command. During the collection process, do not divide the troops. If you encounter a North Korean brigade, the whole army will immediately return to the dock and rely on our naval guns for defense."

"Of order, sir." Sergeant Johnson, who was neatly dressed, immediately went down to command the troops.

"Three hundred people, no matter what, it's not enough to occupy this island, right?" Lieutenant An Chu soon came to Li Yi's side and said, "How many sticks are there in total on this island? How many troops are there?"

"I don't know, but it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of North Koreans. Is there an army? I feel that there are still 2000 people. Of course, these are my guesses, and there is no information about this in the reference room." Li Yi was very straightforward. He said, "We certainly can't occupy the whole island with such a small number of people. Even if we occupy a stronghold by the sea, it is very difficult to do. After all, Mo Dayong's men are less than 300 people. What can we do? And we don't have strong fortifications yet. Don't forget North Korea currently has a population of several million, and there is a unified centralized government. No matter how poor their mobilization and combat capabilities are, they can easily defeat the small troops we stay here. In fact, if we want to occupy this place for a long time, we have to To have a strong city, there must be at least a thousand well-trained soldiers and numerous cannons, and we cannot solve these in a short time."

"Then what should we do?" An Chu was a little worried, "The mainland is an island that can be used as a base for future immigration. I think Jeju Island is pretty good, and it is the most suitable island for bases off the coast of northern China." Yes. If it weren’t for our small strength, we would definitely be able to occupy it, and there are also Korean horse farms on the island, with a lot of livestock. If it doesn’t work here, where should we go? The southern waters must not work, which is the territory of the Zheng family , our capital is small, and we don’t want to get involved with them for the time being, so why not go to Bohai Bay?”

"Even less in the Bohai Bay." Li Yi shook his head directly, "It's close to the core ruling area of ​​the Qing Dynasty. Don't forget that thanks to Kong Youde and others, they already have some naval forces and ships. If we choose the base in Liaodong On a certain island near the peninsula, after our two ships leave, if the Manchu Qing goes crazy and mobilizes ships to attack that island one day, the 300 people of Mo Dayong can withstand it for a few days? So we are now Weak power, let’s find a way elsewhere. Any island within the radiating range of Ming, Manchu, North Korea and Japan’s sea power will not work.”

"These places are really not good." An Chu also shook his head at this time, and said: "Don't forget that this base should have enough ship materials, because our ships need to be repaired; it is best to produce coal, which can give Fuel will be provided for the steamboat on the return journey. Well, there should be enough food and drinking water. Let me rub it, where can I find this place?"

"I can only look north." Li Yi unfolded the roll of map under his armpit, and then used his fingers to draw a large arc along the direction of Jeju Island and Tsushima Island, extending to the vicinity of Hokkaido, and then his fingers again He poked at the top of Hokkaido and said, "That's it! This place is sparsely populated. Although some forces have declared sovereignty over this place, they have never paid much attention to it, and have not directly assigned personnel to manage it. It is the rare power vacuum here. What’s even more wonderful is that this place is not only extremely rich in various timber resources, but also rich in coal, and the fishery resources are also very good, which is suitable as our transitional base in the early stage.”

"What?! Sakhalin Island?" Second Lieutenant An Chu came over and glanced at it, and immediately shouted: "Why did you choose such a ghostly place? Brother, the climate here is too cold, and the port is frozen in winter. ! How do our ships get in and out of port?"

"There is a warm current passing there, and the port is not frozen for a long time, about three months. Only the near-shore area will be frozen, and the ice layer is very thin." Li Yi said while looking for something on the map.

"This is the Little Ice Age, and the average temperature is relatively low." An Chu continued weakly.

"At most, the freezing period will be longer, and the ice layer will be thicker." Li Yi looked up at him and said, "Then tell me, at this stage, a country with wood, coal, and a lot of animal protein The source, and there are no islands with strong sea power around them. Where is it? Taiwan Island? Sorry, it is surrounded by the Zheng family's world, and it is an undeveloped tropics. The death rate is terrible, not to mention that there are Dutch people around. .”

An Chu was speechless.

"I have already found a good place." Li Yi rolled up the map and said: "Alexandrovsk is located on the west side of Sakhalin Island, within the Strait of Tatar. There is a river mouth, and the river is tortuous. There is also a natural windbreak near Haikou, which is very suitable for sheltering from wind and waves. Moreover, the tributary of the Japanese Warm Current passes nearby, making the freezing period on the west side of the south-central half of Sakhalin Island less terrifying than that in the north. I estimate that the freezing period in the place I chose will not exceed four months, roughly from December to March-April of the following year."

(End of this chapter)