In the new Jincheng Auditorium, the conference room that was originally used for negotiations with the representatives of Houjin was temporarily renovated. The bright red velvet curtain with bright yellow tassels hangs high on the wall, the Holy Enlightenment Star Flag, which symbolizes the Republic of Australia and the Song Dynasty, and the Five-Star Enlightenment Banner of the Viceroyalty of China. The portraits of the elder Wen Desi and Chairman Ma Qianzhi hang directly behind us, and their profound eyes guide the great Australian and Song armed forces to win victory after victory, from victory to victory.

Opposite the seats of our civil and military officials who participated in the unconditional surrender ceremony of the Jianzhou clique sat a group of reactionaries headed by the Jianzhou chieftain Aixin Jueluo Huang Taiji.

On that day, the sky in southern Liaoning was clear, and the grass grew and the warbler flew. Under the military salute of hundreds of guards, the heavy gate was slowly opened.

"Your Excellency the Governor has arrived!"

As the voice of the guards sounded, the reporters in the conference room and the Huang Taiji cadres stood up at the same time. On the neat red carpet, Governor Qin Xiangping took the lead in striding in and waved to the reporters and friends who were covering the ceremony. Behind him were Major General Qi Wu, commander of the Liaonan Group Army, Colonel Mu Huai'an, Major Shen Shikui, representative of Honorary General Mao Wenlong, commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army, Lieutenant Colonel Huang Stone of Changsheng Island, and I, Lieutenant Colonel Li Ruchu. After that, there was a cadre of civil and military officials in the Governor's District.

After we were seated, a staff officer stood at the top of the venue and said in a loud voice: "The surrender ceremony of the Jianzhou Group has officially begun!" ”

The sound of photography sounded, and the white magnesium lights kept flickering. More than two dozen reporters pressed the camera switch against the clock, and the film was converted into photos to be developed as if they didn't need money. Under the gaze of the camera, Huang Taiji himself quietly stood up from his seat and handed over a document to the staff officer with both hands.

The staff officer took the paperwork and handed it to Governor Qin. We have already seen this text in previous negotiations, and this time we will go through it again at the meeting, and it is just a formality.

A few minutes later, the Governor spread out the paperwork on the table and nodded slightly to the staff officer.

The staff officer then exclaimed: "Our country agrees with the instrument of surrender. ”

"Now, on behalf of the Governor-General, I would like to ask your Excellency to sign and seal the instrument of surrender on behalf of the Governor-General of China."

The Governor did not sign immediately. Leaning back in his chair, he pulled a pipe out of his pocket, slowly and methodically took out the tobacco leaves, and took out a box of matches. "Boom", the Governor struck a match, slowly lit the tobacco leaf, took a deep breath, and then took the pen I handed over.

Write his name on the instrument of surrender and affix it with the seal of the Chinese Governor-General, who spat out a smoke ring and gestured to the staff officer.

The staff officer nodded to the Governor and was about to step forward to get the surrender document, but was stopped by the Governor waving his hand.

"It is recommended that the Kim delegation come to the table and sign the unconditional surrender." The Governor said firmly, in Chinese with an Eastern Provincial accent. Before the staff officer could finish translating this sentence, Huang Taiji seemed to have understood. One of his hands moved a few times on the table, as if to demand that the instrument of surrender be delivered to him. However, the governor continued to sit there, gesturing unceremoniously for the emperor to come over.

"Let him come here and sign it!" He snapped.

Finally, Huang Taiji stood up from the table, walked in silence to the governor, bent down, and wrote his name on the surrender with a brush, in Han and Jurchen characters.

It was only when Huang Taiji was stamped with the Great Seal that he was allowed to stand up straight. He stepped back and bowed deeply to the Governor before stepping back to his seat facing us.

The Governor picked up the instrument of surrender, glanced at it lightly, and waved his hand. "At the end of the meeting, the Jianzhou Group officially surrendered to our country!"

Loud applause rang out in the conference room. I leaned back in my seat and let out a soft sigh. This war, which has lasted for more than two months, is finally coming to an end. After this large-scale war, the Houjin side should lose the courage to be the enemy of our army; In addition to the Fuzhou region, which will be ceded to our army, and the area south of Gaizhou, which is classified as a demilitarized zone, Houjin has changed hands on our strategic initiative. If we deem it necessary, after breaking through Gaizhou, which has no city walls, the advance of the army will directly set foot on the land of the Liaozhong Plain.

But that's just on paper. I glanced at Huang Taiji, who was smiling and sitting in his chair, watching us cheer.

This person is the key to the realization of the plan.

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At noon, in Pulandian Bay, more than 1,000 Jiannu knights who came with Huang Taiji had all boarded the ship. Their mounts stayed in the same cabin as them, hoping that these delicate horses would not have diarrhea on the sea.

Two people and two horses were housed in each cabin. The door to the cabin was locked from the outside, and the walkway was guarded by heavily armed Japanese vassal soldiers, who were authorized to shoot targets they deemed a threat at any time.

A destroyer will escort the fleet. With the captain's order, the transport fleet consisting of 3 transport ships and 1 destroyer set sail. They will leave Pulandian Bay along the coastline and go clockwise around Xizhong Island and Changsheng Island all the way to Gaizhou. According to Huang Taiji's own intelligence, the two yellow banners deployed more than 20 Niu Lu's troops in Gaizhou, accounting for the majority of the total forces there, and he was completely sure to control Gaizhou in one fell swoop, and then led the army to Liaoyang at night.

Yes, Liaoyang. Between Huang Taiji and Dai Shan, whoever returns to Liaoyang first will have a greater chance of controlling the empty Houjin Center. The latest news from the Dongjiang Army, Dai Shan is likely to be in the Shenyang area. If Huang Taiji hurried up, he might still be able to get ahead of his brother.

The turquoise waters were split by the bow, and snow-white waves rolled around the hull. Huang Taiji stood on the deck of the destroyer, gazing deeply at the mountains that receded from both sides.

More than 10,000 approached Houjin troops were abandoned by him in the encirclement of southern Liaoning, and a total of more than 30,000 troops followed him south, but now there were only more than 1,000 horsemen around him, and he even had to rush to his own capital on the enemy's warship. Even the most ambitious king could not help but be distracted by such a fantastical experience.

From Gaizhou to Xinjin, the land distance is more than 150 kilometers. When Huang Taiji led his army south, the Houjin army walked for about a week. Now, with the help of the southeast monsoon's transport fleet, it only takes less than two days to reach the coast of Gaizhou.

On the evening of July 17, Huang Taiji had already seen the city walls of Gaizhou.

The fleet slowly crossed the southern tip of Lianyun Island. Lianyun Island had a company of Marines stationed before the war. This small island is very close to Gaizhou, and you can spend it on a raft, and in winter it is as if you were walking on the ground after the ice freezes. As early as when our army landed in southern Liaoning, it sent ships to attack Lianyun Island and wiped out a small number of Houjin troops on the island. In the years before the war, the marines who landed on Lianyun Island attacked Houjin Baoyi cultivated near Gaizhou countless times, and the entire coast of Gaizhou in Houjin was full of soldiers.

A few months after the company withdrew, the Ao-Song warship, full of Jiannu cavalry, came here again.

Lianyun Island is twenty miles northwest of Gaizhou, at the mouth of the Qingsha River. Twenty miles into the Qinghe River through the mouth of the West River, it will arrive outside the city of Gaizhou, the Qinghe River is about one mile away from the city of Gaizhou, which greatly saves manpower. Before the Lao Nu Incident, ships departing from Shandong made the area prosperous, and large sea ships could unload their cargo on Lianyun Island or Xihekou and transfer it to flat-bottomed boats, and pull fiber up to Gaizhou. Like the cattle village of Sanchahe, Gaizhou once had its glory days as a major port city.

After Jiannu occupied Liaodong, the people of Nansiwei were slaughtered by Nurhachi. Thousands of miles of people are uninhabited, and the prosperous Gaizhou has been barren since then. It was not until Huang Taiji came to power that the constraints on the banners were greatly reduced, and Gaizhou gradually became a port for the smuggling of maritime merchants of the Later Jin and Ming Kingdoms, and gradually regained its vitality.

The captain of the destroyer Suifenhe stood next to Huang Taiji, smiling and observing the coast from the binoculars. There, the coaters who were boiling salt spotted the Ao-Song warship coming from across the sea, and fled the seashore in panic under Zhenyi's scolding.

"I'm afraid this is the only place you'll get sea salt in the future." The captain said casually. According to the terms of the surrender, Houjin lost all the coastal areas east of Lushun, and the vast area south of Gaizhou was also inaccessible. If Gaizhou is lost, Houjin will even have to find Mingguo to smuggle salt or import it from China. Leaving Gaizhou in the Houjin control area is the lifeline that our country left to Houjin - this lifeline happens to be in our hands.

The captain had also been here before the war, and it was when he came here as a staff officer of the fleet with the smuggling ships of the Ming Northeast Commercial Group. The merchants sold the goods produced by the factories in Jiangnan to the Houjin nobles, and he led the cadets of the naval academy to study hydrology.

"Chief Huang, say hello to your subordinates." The captain put down the binoculars in his hand and said to Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji sighed lightly, and then smiled: "Naturally." ”