At noon on May 27, 1642, two ships of the expedition fleet of the Republic of China on the east coast of China, led by Captain Li Yi, slowly approached the sea outside the port of Jeju on the north side of Jeju Island. Unfortunately, the North Koreans on the shore seemed to spot them as soon as possible, and Li Yi stood on the boat and looked through binoculars, only to see many North Korean soldiers who seemed to be wearing uniforms on the shore in a mess. Some rode to the city on horseback to report the news, while others walked up to the dock with spears, bows and arrows and other cold weapons to peep out into the sea.

"These sticks seem to be very hostile to us." Li Yi put down the binoculars and muttered to himself, "Maybe they treat us as widows?" ”

"Sir, what is a wolf?" Sergeant Johnson was puzzled.

"Well, that's the Japanese pirates. Pirates, you know, they're all ferocious, so these North Koreans are scared. Li Yi said lightly, "The combat effectiveness of these North Koreans is not worth mentioning. Don't look at how they look now, as long as I order Mo Dayong to take people ashore for a surprise attack, these people will collapse. ”

Sergeant Johnson was incredulous. There are also a very small number of North Koreans serving in the East Coast Army, and as far as he knows, the performance of these people is not too different from that of most East Coasters. They trained, marched, and fought, and seemed to be just a very ordinary group among the many peoples on the East Coast. But there must be a reason why the chief said these North Koreans so badly. Well, yes, it must be that their culture and system are so bad! The system of the East Coast is the most advanced system in the world, and the culture of the East Coast is also the best culture, and the soldiers of the East Coast are professional soldiers with a sense of honor. We are not like those ignorant serf soldiers!

"We need some supplies. Especially fresh vegetables and meat. Johnson. You pick 50 sailors at once, take your rifles ashore, and go ashore. At the same time, Mo Dayong will also lead 300 Eight Banners warriors under his command ashore to accept your command together. I order you to go ashore and plunder the villages scattered by the Koreans outside the city, and to collect some grain and livestock. Now go and carry out the order! ”

Sergeant Johnson saluted, and then went down to prepare. Soon, a large number of dinghys were lowered from the two boats in turn, and the dinghys were loaded with the samurai of the Eight Banners and sailors, rowing towards the shore.

After the first batch of more than twenty Eight Banner warriors came ashore. They immediately formed an arc of defense near the landing site, pointed diagonally outside with their bows, and stared fiercely at the North Koreans who were about to move in the distance. But those North Koreans just watched from afar, they didn't have enough courage to rush forward to fight, maybe they were afraid of the combat effectiveness of these black but well-armored "pirates", but more often because the two huge warships anchored on the sea brought them a strong sense of oppression, so that they did not dare to act rashly.

As more and more soldiers landed on the shore, these North Koreans did not dare to make some moves. They were generally armed with cold weapons, but most of them were spears, and the most basic leather armor and bows and arrows were rarely visible. From this point of view. Maybe they were right not to take the initiative to attack. So naturally, when all three hundred Eight Banner warriors and fifty musketeers came ashore and formed their formation. The North Koreans remained motionless. They neither fled nor attacked, just stupidly looked at the docks that had fallen into the hands of the "pirates".

Sergeant Johnson raised his command sword, and Mo Dayong immediately led nearly 300 Eight Banner warriors lined up in three rows in the direction of the North Korean soldiers in front. They trotted briskly, but they still maintained a general formation, and it could be seen that after years of careful training and war baptism by the people of the East Coast, the combat effectiveness of these Eight Banner warriors had been reborn.

The lackluster battle was soon over. Most of the more than 200 Korean soldiers in front of them were scattered, and a few were killed or captured in the battle with the Eight Banners warriors. The whole battle went on with great ease, and it took less than half an hour. The three hundred Eight Banner warriors began to flee after only a few rounds of rifle shooting, and after the two hundred or so spearmen of the Eight Banners began to trot the charge, the Koreans completely collapsed. They only inflicted minor casualties on the Eight Banners Samurai with two deaths and six wounds, and the East Coast Musketeers ended the battle before they even had time to enter the battlefield.

"Report to the sir, we routed more than 200 North Korean soldiers, killed and wounded 72 of them, and captured 49 of them. After their interrogation, Sergeant Kim Tae-keung reported that none of the dead and wounded and the prisoners did not even have a single officer, and they are believed to have managed to escape. "Sergeant Johnson stood in front of Captain Li Yi, who had already landed, to report on the battle, while next to them was a large group of dejected Korean prisoners bound by ropes.

"I will give you another fifty sailors, and at once go and gather for me food, livestock, and fresh water." 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, you are in command of the food collection team, and if you encounter a North Korean brigade, you will immediately return to the dock and rely on our naval guns for defense. ”

"Yes, sir." Sergeant Johnson, who was neatly clothed, immediately went down to command the troops.

"Three hundred people, how can it not be enough to occupy this island?" The second lieutenant of the security department soon came to Li Yi's side and said, "How many sticks are there on this island?" And how many troops are there? ”

"I don't know what to say, but it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of North Koreans, and the army, I feel that there are still one or two thousand. Of course, these are all my guesses, and there is no information about this in the library. Li Yi said very simply, "We definitely can't occupy the whole island with such a small number of people, and it is difficult to occupy a stronghold by the sea." After all, Mo Dayong's subordinates are less than 300 people, what is enough? And we don't have strong fortifications yet, and don't forget that North Korea has a population of several million and a unified centralized government, and no matter how poor their mobilization and combat capabilities are, they can easily crush the small forces we have left here. In fact, to occupy this place for a long time, we need to have a strong city, at least a thousand well-trained warriors, and numerous cannons, which we cannot solve in a short time. ”

"What then?" An was a little worried, "The mainland is here for us to occupy an island that can be used as a base for future immigrants." I look at Jeju Island quite well, it is the most suitable island to be used as a base in the northern waters of China. If it weren't for the fact that our strength was too small, we would definitely be able to occupy it, and there were also horse farms for the Koreans on the island, and there were many livestock. If it doesn't work here, then where do we go? The southern sea area is definitely not good, it is the territory of the Zheng family, we have a small capital, and we don't want to have anything to do with them for the time being, so why don't we go to Bohai Bay? ”

"Not even in Bohai Bay." Li Yi shook his head directly, "It's close to the core ruling area of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, don't forget that now thanks to Kong Youde and others, they already have some sailors and ships." If we choose a base on an island near the Liaodong Peninsula, after our two ships leave, if the Manchu Qing Dynasty goes crazy and mobilizes ships to attack that island one day, how many days can Mo Dayong's 300 men withstand it? Therefore, with our current weak strength, we should find a way somewhere else. Any island within the radius of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Dynasty, Korea, and the Japanese Sea will not work. ”

"These places really don't work." An also shook his head at this time, and said, "Don't forget that this base should also have enough ship materials, because our ships need to be repaired; It is also desirable to produce coal, which can fuel the returning steamboats. Well, food and water should also be plentiful. I'm rubbing, where can I find this place? ”

"I have to go north to find it." Li Yi unfolded a roll of maps under his armpit, and then drew a large arc with his fingers in the direction of Jeju Island and Tsushima Island, extending to the vicinity of Hokkaido, and then poked his finger above Hokkaido and said, "This is it!" This place is sparsely populated, although there are such and such forces that have declared sovereignty over this place, but they have not paid much attention to it, and they have not directly sent personnel to manage it, which is a rare vacuum of power here. What's even more wonderful is that this place is not only extremely rich in all kinds of timber resources, but also rich in coal and fishery resources, which is suitable for our early transition base. ”

"What?! Sakhalin? As soon as the second lieutenant leaned over and glanced at it, he immediately lost his voice and shouted, "Why did you choose such a ghost place?" Big brother, the climate here is too cold, and the port is going to freeze in winter! How do our ships get in and out of port? ”

"There is a warm current passing through there, and the port freeze period is not long, about three months. Only nearshore areas are frozen, and the ice is thin. Li Yi said while looking for something on the map.

"It's the Xiaoice River period now, and the average temperature is relatively low." Ansu continued to speak weakly.

"At most, the freezing period is longer, and the ice is thicker." Li Yi raised his head and looked at him, and said, "Then tell me, where is an island with timber, coal, and a large number of animal protein sources at this stage, and there is no strong sea power around it?" Taiwan Island? I'm sorry, but it's the Zheng family's world, and it's an unexplored tropics, and the mortality rate is terrifying, not to mention that there are Dutch people around. ”

Ansu was speechless.

"I've got a good place." Li Yi rolled up the map and said: "Aleksandrovsk, located on the west side of Sakhalin Island, in the Tatar Strait. It is an estuary with a winding river and a natural breakwater near the estuary, perfect for sheltering from the wind and waves. In addition, the close proximity of the tributaries of the Japanese warm stream makes the freeze period on the west side of the central and southern half of Sakhalin less terrifying than in the north, and I guess that the freeze period in this place I chose will not exceed four months, probably from December to March and April of the following year. (To be continued......)