Chapter 127: Huang Wu's Gamble

The Korean war situation has always been like a blunt knife cutting meat, although there is no big war that opens and closes, and there are dense battles between each other, and there are no fewer small battles one after another.

The Xia army also did not think of fighting to the death with the Qing army and turning the situation around at once, especially when Wu Sangui was about to move, and the south's support for the Korean battlefield became less and less. The only way to do this is to rely on North Korea's own strength.

But what power does North Korea have in itself?

If the eight provinces of Korea are all there, they can reach the power of Daxia Province, and there is no need to say that there is still a little strength to support it.

But now there are only two roads left in North Korea.

It's probably the power of the Great Xia Mansion.

It is already commendable to survive for a long time, and the Xia army has done a lot of things in it to barely maintain such a situation, such as as being the main force, sticking to important places, such as the most supportive, and with the infestation of the Korean coastline, the Qing army did not dare to go south, driving the Koreans into the sea in one fell swoop.

The strength of the Qing army gradually strengthened a lot, and under the orders of Dolgon, Qing reinforcements came to Korea from all over the country.

Although the strength of the Qing army has increased greatly, there is still nothing to be done in the face of the main force of the Xia army, which is simply elusive with the help of shipping.

In Azig's eyes, the key to solving the Korean problem has never been the North Korean army, but the Xia army, if there is no way to annihilate the Xia army in one fell swoop, or cripple it, and force the Xia army to withdraw from North Korea, even if it occupies all of Korea, it will not be a game.

As long as the Xia army was on the sea for a day, the Qing army would not be able to contain Korea.

There were even large armies guarding North Korea. Not to mention how much output North Korea still has in addition to the war, even if there is some output, whether it can be supplied to the Qing army in Korea is also a question. Speaking of which, the Korean War was simply more than worth the loss for the Qing army, but it had to be defeated.

Therefore, what Azig is thinking about now is not that if he takes North Korea as his own, but that if the situation is settled now, whether he can get grain and grass from North Korea, not to mention for the time being, as long as North Korea is not allowed to continue to be in such chaos, it is enough.

But if you want to solve North Korea, you must first solve the Xia army, and if you want to solve the Xia army, you must solve the Xia army's naval division.

The Xia army's sailors were not eliminated for a day, unless the Xia army generals were extremely stupid, and they were besieged by the Qing army on land.

Azig only remembered Huang Wu coming over at this time.

It is no wonder that Azig, Huang Wu's defeat on the Yangtze River has become the best excuse for the Qing army to shirk the defeat of Anqing, and it is even unanimously believed that Huang Wu should be responsible for the defeat of Anqing.

Because of this, Huang Wu had a bad time in the Qing court.

was not treated by the nobles of the Eight Banners, if it weren't for Dolgon's emphasis on the construction of the sailor and his efforts to protect Huang Wu, Huang Wu would have been used as a scapegoat a long time ago, and he would have been cut off from the noon gate.

It's just that although Dolgon's power is strong, he can protect Huang Wu and reuse Huang Wu. But among the nobles of the Eight Banners, there was no way to criticize Huang Wu's atmosphere, so he had no choice but to let it go. And Azig was not fooled by this ethos.

In the battle of Anqing, he was the party involved, so naturally it was impossible to blame Huang Wu for all the mistakes, and he didn't care about it.

It's just that Huang Wu is the general of the defeated army, but it is also a fact.

Azig's temperament is like this, simple and rude, since you can't win the battle, why should he look up to it.

"Huang Wu, you also know the current situation." Azig said: "The regent is very fond of you, the big ships and cannons have been allocated to you, the sailors of the southerners, do you have any way to deal with it?" ”

"Lord Bing." Huang Wu said: "If it is the Zheng Clan's water master, the minister has no way to deal with it, but now it is Ruan Jin? Ruan Jin is just a fisherman, but the old department of the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, so he is reused, but he has a bit of courage, but today's naval battle can no longer be decided with bravery. ”

"Since the lower official was transferred to Liaodong, he has been thinking day and night about how to deal with the Xia Army's sailors, and now he has some eyebrows. It just needs the cooperation of the prince. ”

Waking up late at night, Huang Wu sometimes thought carefully about whether it was right for him to defect to the Qing army, as a Fujianese, far away from his hometown, he was hostile to countless people. Only by trying his best to be loyal to Dolgon, under Dolgon's protection, can he have the slightest qualification to live.

Under such pressure, he didn't dare to slack off.

He led his old naval division and recruited some fishermen with good water properties from the coast, laid the foundation for the Qing army's naval division, introduced many Westerners' tactics, and used Westerners to build ship cannons. He himself estimated that among this naval division, the Qing army invested at least 500,000 taels of silver.

With a slight understanding of the Qing army's current finances, he knows that if such a large investment does not bear fruit, even if Dolgon values him again, he will only have a dead end.

It can be said that he has no other path to choose from, but to win a battle and prove his strength.

If he had a choice, he wanted to delay the time of this battle a little later. But these things are not up to him to choose. You can only gamble.

"Okay." Azig said: "As long as you can inflict heavy damage on the Southern Dynasty Water Master, I will agree to you whatever you ask." ”

Huang Wu said: "The best way to inflict heavy damage on the Southern Dynasty Sailor is to ambush it. There are many islands and ambushes along the coast of Korea, but it is not easy to attract the naval division of the South Korea. Therefore, the last general asked the prince's army to go south and attack the dynasty in one fell swoop

Xian Nandao two, no matter whether it can be saved or not, the Southern Dynasty Navy Division has to be saved, and the last general will naturally ambush the Southern Dynasty Navy Division at sea. ”

"Okay." Azig was very happy and said: "It's all up to you, if you do well, in the future, you will be the commander of the Great Qingshui Division, and you will be the position of Zhou Fuchen of the Southern Dynasty." If it doesn't work out. ”

Huang Wu said: "If it doesn't work, the last general will not need the prince to speak, just raise his head to see him." ”

Huang Wu knew that he had no second chance to fail, if it weren't for the Qing army, there would be too little water division generals. After his first big defeat, the fate was terrible. The military law of the Qing army can be very harsh.

"Okay." Azig said, "Go get to work. ”

"Wow." Huang Wu agreed, slowly retreated, and then left Seoul and returned to Liaodong.

Huang Wu knew that even though the Qing court had invested a lot of money, when it came to the strength of the sailors, the strength of the Qing army's sailors could not be compared with the Xia army at all, and even if it was compared with Ruan Jin, it was much worse.

Therefore, his fleet did not enter Korea at all, and stayed in Liaodong, and he himself took it to North Korea, drove a small boat, disguised himself as a Korean fisherman, observed the Xia army's sailors up close, and even ventured to approach Ganghwa Island to see how the camp of the Xia army's sailors was.

Because of this kind of almost lifeless reconnaissance, he found one of the biggest flaws in the Xia Junshui Division, that is, he was too proud. Guards are lax.

Speaking of which, it is no wonder that the Xia Army's sailors are lax, and the Qing Army does not have many sailors at all, and even if there are, they are only temporarily formed. When I first came to North Korea, I was unfamiliar with the place, and I was quite cautious about setting up a sailor camp on Ganghwa Island.

However, in the past six months, the strength of the sailors has also relaxed, and they have undertaken more transportation tasks, and there are no combat missions at all, and the artillery on many ships has been unloaded and equipped on Ganghwa Island, just to resist the possible attack of the Qing army, after all, in winter, the outside of Ganghwa Island will freeze, and it will be connected with the Korean Peninsula.

It is likely that the Qing army will take advantage of the winter to attack.

So prepare in advance.

The efficiency of the artillery transferred from the south is not high, although it has been reported, but it will still take some time for this batch of artillery to come. Zhou Fuchen simply appropriated some of the ship's artillery first, and when the new artillery came, he directly loaded it on the ship, which was also a bit eccentric.

After all, the artillery on Ganghwa Island will probably be North Korean in the future. Wouldn't it be just right to use the money of the North Koreans to change the clothes for the sailors under his command, after all, with the increasing number of cast artillery guns in the Guangzhou Manufacturing Bureau, the level has gradually increased.

The new cannon is always a little better than the old one.

It's just that Zhou Fuchen didn't know that it was his little bit of caution that made the Great Xia Sailor suffer a big defeat for the first time since the founding of the army.