Dragon Sea Empire

The emptiness of the Ming Dynasty's troops in Liaodong has undoubtedly been exposed. Nurhachi did not miss this opportunity and sent troops wantonly to attack the Ming army while looting the population and supplies. The Wanli Emperor's passive sabotage again made it impossible for the central organization of the Ming Dynasty to increase troops to the northeast in time. , under the circumstances that there is no way to do things without the imperial power, it is difficult to decide on policies with complicated operating procedures, but taxation is a more convenient way to deal with crises. Fang Congzhe has no choice. Liao pay" to solve the problems of salary, food and grass needed for the decisive battle with Houjin in the coming year.

As a result, after the memorial was submitted, Emperor Wanli also felt that this policy did not need to bother, and Zhubi immediately approved it.

The historical battle of Saerhu has been prepared for almost a year, but now, there is no shadow of Jin's army after the Ming Dynasty's conquest.

...As the soldiers of the Eight Banners of the Later Golden Banners swept across the land of Liaodong like a storm, the hidden stakes and eyeliners arranged by the Zhonghua Company in the Northeast suffered heavy losses. Some could not gain a foothold and fled south with the refugees.

In fact, the Chinese company and Jianzhou Jurchen have always maintained a trade relationship. Many of the winter equipment for the troops on the northern front were supplied by the Jurchen tribe. The Chinese company provided them with some food. When Nurhachi just rebelled, he gave preferential treatment to the Han businessmen. General inland businessmen will be released. However, these personnel are spies and cannot disclose their identities until they are ordered. Therefore, many spies of Chinese companies that have been captured can only be captured silently, waiting for the opportunity to escape.

However, in this way, the intelligence network of the Chinese Army in the Northeast is in disarray.

Among Yin Feng's two major intelligence systems, the company's Business Intelligence Department is generally in charge of political, economic and other strategic intelligence, while the Chinese Army's Military Intelligence Department is mainly in charge of military intelligence, with division of labor and cooperation. Liaodong is remote and the situation is complicated. Only the Business Intelligence Department has been in charge of commercial trade routes. Before starting the work, Yin Feng issued a strict order to send Zeng Rui to Jinzhou and Lushun to organize intelligence collection work. Before launching the Nanyang operation, he must make sure that the situation in the Northeast will not change dramatically. The third regiment of the first division of the Chinese Army , and the troops of the Ryukyu Battalion are still stationed in Jinzhou and Lushun; the battleship Feibao of the Northern Fleet led the [-] gunboats of the Second Squadron to station at Miao Island and Lushunkou. For this reason, Xu Guangqi kept arguing with Zeng Shan, the negotiator of the Chinese Army, at the negotiating table in Zhenjiang.

What Yin Feng is worried about is that the situation in Liaodong will suddenly deteriorate. The Battle of Sarhu may not happen. The Houjin soldiers will soon sweep Liaodong. If they hit the Jinzhou Isthmus, the Chinese army will have to fight the Houjin army. However, the Chinese army needs time to reorganize, and the results of the anti-maritime ban war need to be digested, which will take time.

……

On the Liaodong Peninsula, 80 miles north of Jinzhouwei in southern Liaoning, Pulandian near the Bohai Sea is now the southernmost control area of ​​the government and army in southern Liaoning. A garrison of Gaizhouwei is stationed here with thousands of soldiers and horses , to prevent the Chinese army from going northward. In fact, since the beginning of the year, after the official army failed to counterattack Jinzhouwei, there has been no fighting here for half a year. At that time, many caravans will come and go between the areas controlled by the two armies. The officers and soldiers patrolling outside the Pulandian stockade were stuffed with red envelopes, and they turned a blind eye to the caravan.

After Nurhachi publicly rebelled, the Gaizhou Guard dispatched troops to the north to rescue Shenyang. Part of the troops in Pulandian was transferred away. Now there are only more than 1000 people hiding in the fort with nothing to do. , there is no need to guard against the pirates in the south anymore, he even reduced the number of patrols to once every ten days, basically giving up the surveillance and defense against the pirates of Jinzhouwei. Of course, in this time of war, The traffic of caravans from all over the country has basically stopped, and there is nothing to fish for when they go out to patrol.

Zeng Rui and the Northern Intelligence Chief Zeng Qing, under the escort of thirty cavalry scouts from the third regiment of the first division, approached Nantianmen Ridge in Xiaoheishan, only a few miles away from Pulandian.

Both Zeng Rui and Zeng Qing disguised themselves as businessmen, and dozens of cavalrymen drove the carts stacked with goods to the outpost of the Pulandian army.

Zeng Qing is a side branch of the Zeng family, and Zeng Rui is a rising star in the Zeng Ke branch of the Zeng family. Although the two are uncles and nephews, the age difference is actually only a few years, but Zeng Qing does not consider himself an uncle. Everyone knows that Zeng Rui is actually a son of the Zeng family who grew up with Yin Feng. He was one of the first to study in the military academy, and was the first to take charge of intelligence in Yin Feng's old camp. I know him, but within the Chinese Army and Zhonghua Company, he is one of Yin Feng's most trusted people, and everyone knows that.

Zeng Rui immediately turned his head and asked, "Uncle Jiu, has there been no news from the north these days?"

Zeng Qing, who was the ninth eldest in the entire Zeng family, shook his head: "There have been no caravans for two months. There is no news from the Northland. We can only inquire about some news through those patrolling officers and soldiers."

"Patrol officers and soldiers,"

"Yes, there has been no fighting here since the third regiment took over the defense in January. The area from Beishilidian to Pulandian is the default border area between the two sides. Here our patrolling cavalry and officers and soldiers patrolling outposts All is well, some of the cavalry attached to the third regiment are originally from Liaodong, and they often chat with fellow countrymen over there to inquire about the situation. In short, since the fall of Fushun, we have cut off contact with the hidden posts and inside lines deployed before. Well, the person who was in charge of dealing with the Jurchen tribe was Luo Yi, the nephew of Luo Xuri's big boss. He was in Liaoyang when the imperial court banned the Huaxing Lianhao. Contact, now there is no news about Shopkeeper Jin after the fall of Shenyang, we go to Liaoyang, just go directly to Luo Yi to inquire about the situation."

Zeng Rui sighed: "Brother Feng was very annoyed by the lack of information here, and ordered me to find out the situation in Liaodong before the north wind blows. Uncle Nine, I am not here to compete with you. It is really the captain, Brother Feng, who is in a hurry." up,"

Zeng Qing said solemnly: "What's your nephew talking about? You are the head of the Military Intelligence Department, so it's right to cooperate with you. It's just that I think it's a bit risky for you to go to Liaoyang in person."

Zeng Rui smiled: "Don't worry, the edict allowing my Chinese company to reopen in various places will be issued soon. Now that there is a truce between us and the government and the army, it will not be a big problem even if they find out our identity. In the battle of South Beijing, those officials wanted to embarrass us, so they had to weigh their own capabilities."

A cavalry dressed as a clerk galloped over, reined in the horse in front of the two of them, and said softly, "The Pulan store is just ahead..."

As soon as Zeng Rui looked up, he saw that in a plain, beside the avenue and the shore of the Bohai Sea, a fort with civil structure suddenly appeared. On the gate tower directly south of the fort, a garrison flag was hanging weakly. Spears are stuck on the gate tower, lazily basking in the sun. There are some villages around the fortress, with few people, no sound of chickens and dogs, and lifeless.

"Let's go to Liaoyang..."

……

In June, various units of the Chinese Army entered the stage of reorganization one after another, and the work of reorganization, training and troop expansion was going on at the same time.

The mainland of the Ming Dynasty was really too big. Through this war, the Chinese company felt that to control such a large country, the strength of the Chinese army was far from enough. Therefore, the board of directors quickly passed the temporary military expenditure budget. Even Han Ping, his son, and Luo Xuri took the initiative to give up part of this year's dividends as military expenses for the next year. This is the first budget plan for military expenditures not initiated by Yin Feng in the board of directors of Zhonghua Corporation. Yin Feng contributed money to the Chinese Army from his own dividends, and now the Chinese Army does not have to worry about money.

The recruits were mainly recruited from land-lost peasants, and some Shandong bandits and Liaodong horse bandits joined the cavalry. Xu Hongji once proposed to let those fleeing White Lotus believers join the army, but Yin Feng sternly refused. In Yin Feng's view, this kind of cult influence Although the believers in the church hate the imperial court deeply, they are dangerous elements themselves and cannot become a hidden danger for the Chinese company. Historically, the White Lotus Sect has worked tirelessly and perseveringly in opposing the government for hundreds of years from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the end of the Qing Dynasty. No matter which emperor came to power, they would all rebel. Yin Feng believed that such a religion that used rebellion as a profession was of no use at all. Therefore, he issued an order to ban the White Lotus Sect, and scattered and resettled the White Lotus Sect refugees rescued from Shandong. In Ryukyu, Taiwan, Hainan Island, Luzon, West Borneo and other companies directly under the Tuntian Farm.

The recruitment and training of recruits and the reorganization of troops have become the main content of Yin Feng's life throughout July and August. He seems to have returned to the days when the company and the guard team were first established, eating, living and training with the guards. The troops go out together, train together, and eat together.

After the First Division recruited some new recruits, the third batch of graduates from the Military Academy's Command Section and the Military Academy's Horse and Infantry Section completed their internships and were gradually assigned to the grassroots units.

Now, the first division includes the third regiment in Jinzhou and Lushun in southern Liaoning. There are four infantry regiments in total, one artillery regiment directly under the division, and two cavalry reconnaissance teams. The division commander is directly under the standard battalion and intelligence, staff and logistics , Medical and other units, the brigade-level organization was cancelled, which reduced the command level and made the mobilization of troops more flexible. The total strength of the entire division is more than 10000. After the Fifth Brigade accepted the new [-]th Regiment of the original Northern Front Army, some new recruits were added, and the Fifth Division was formally established.

Brigade-level troops still exist: Nanyang Brigade, Hainan Brigade, and Ryukyu Brigade. These troops will be converted into garrison troops. The garrison took over, and the Zhuang Ding team became a half-full-time local militia and reserve force.

The reorganization of the navy is mainly aimed at combat training. The situation that the navy and marines use sentries as units cannot be changed under the existing technical conditions. However, Yin Feng, Mai Dahai, and the old mercenary Kurt Lei studied for a long time, and felt that the melee combat power of the Navy and Marine Corps should not be wasted, and it would still be useful in future land battles. Therefore, in addition to training various naval warfare tactics, the Navy and Marine Corps also began to carry out some training by the Navy and Marine Corps alone. At the same time, the three major fleets established the Marine Corps Combat Department to coordinate and command the marines scattered on each warship, and began to concentrate the marines to carry out multi-army coordination at the regiment and brigade levels. Combat training.

In October, after four months of devil training, the recruits began to integrate into the Chinese army. Yin Feng successfully maintained the morale brought by the soldiers through the training.

In October, the infantry of the Chinese Army already had five divisions of infantry field troops, one brigade of artillery, one brigade of cavalry, three brigades of garrison troops and several independent battalions and sentries, excluding the Zhuang Ding brigade which was being converted into a garrison. It already has a force of 8000, and the three major fleets of the navy, more than 5000 main battleships, more than [-] second-class gunboats, and a total of [-] sailors and sailors.

The excellent treatment, noble status, and generous guarantees after retiring from the Chinese Army make soldiers the most attractive occupation within the scope of the Chinese company's rule. Moreover, those refugees and refugees on the mainland have received cultural education for the first time. It is in the evening school of the army. Graduates of the military school can immediately enter the army and become grass-roots officers, and receive a generous salary of 30 taels of silver per month. For those heads of villages in the villages and village chiefs of immigrant villages, Yin Feng clearly ordered that they must be in the Chinese Army Only veterans who have served for more than five years can serve. Those villages formed spontaneously by immigrants have no Chinese army soldiers, so the village head will be appointed by a retired soldier from the town guard. This has caused immigrant villages all over the country to send their children to join the Chinese army.

Yin Feng is finally a half-hearted fan of military history. He knows very well that in the history of Chinese society after the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the martial spirit has disappeared, and the first way for the army to encourage the martial spirit is to make the army universally respected and cared for. One method is to ensure that those who have served the country have the priority to wait for the vacancies of government officials, and even stipulate that certain positions must be filled by those who have served for many years. This is the practice of modern European powers. Method, Yin Feng did not hesitate to use it. Scholars who came from the imperial examination can also be officials here, but soldiers can also be officials. This is one of the most different places between the Chinese company and the current imperial court. Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties The military system in the past often turned ordinary soldiers into farmers and beggars, and officers into literati. In the historical period of the age of great exploration and the prevailing law of the jungle, this is a self-abolishing practice of martial arts.

Yin Feng publicly preached in the first lesson of the new batch of students in the military academy: no matter what system the country implements, as a wise government, its consistent purpose should be: to improve the status of the military, so as to cultivate the sense of honor and heroism of the residents Otherwise, this government may be reprimanded by future generations, and the country may suffer the fate of the Song Dynasty. It is not enough to promote the martial spirit among the residents, but it must also be encouraged in the army. If the army itself does not Such heroic spirit, then, even if the citizens respect the soldiers, even if the status of military service as a civic duty is raised, how much good will it actually bring? The national army may thus become a large but worthless police force.

During the vigorous army reorganization and training period, Yin Feng often returned home every ten days, and the women and children at home were full of resentment, especially his behavior of keeping Mei Xinlan in the house annoyed Li Lihua and made Zeng Qi very angry.