The peasant army dug the ancestral grave of the Zhu family in Henan, which was a great thing for the entire Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Chongzhen was furious and asked all parts of the country to send elite soldiers to the Central Plains to participate in the encirclement and suppression war. The land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been rich, and there has been no war in recent years, so after the imperial court ordered, the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division immediately mobilized elite troops from the state capitals, and the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division commanded Tongzhi Huo Binsheng led to Henan. Now the strength of the garrisons remaining in the state capitals has been greatly reduced, not to mention organizing to resist the invasion of the Haihan, it may be difficult to even guarantee the preservation of their own strength.

Although Haihan's combat operations after entering Zhejiang were not frequent, the strength he showed was enough to attract the attention of the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division. Coupled with the reputation of the Haihan Army in the southern Fuguang coast, Zhejiang Dusi also knew very well that this opponent was not easy to provoke. Otherwise, Yu Pingfeng and others would not have been playing tricks last year, but directly mobilized the army to Zhoushan to start a war with Haihan. I heard that the main force of Haihan left Zhoushan, which originally made the officials of the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division secretly relieved, but they didn't expect that because of such a nameless fire, the Haihan people would tear their faces and go to war.

Judging from the battle reports sent back from Ningbo and Jiaxing Mansions, the local garrisons had almost no resistance to the incoming Haihan army, although the battle report claimed that "the three armies took their lives and killed a number of enemy soldiers", but while showing merit, they asked Hangzhou to send reinforcements to retreat from the enemy as soon as possible, and almost all their own warships were destroyed, so the doorway in the middle was naturally very obvious.

The Haihan army is proficient in naval warfare, which is a well-known thing, and the naval divisions of Fuguang and Guangzhou even rely on it very much, and in the past few years, they have successively purchased a lot of warships and weapons from the Haihan people, and even the officers of the naval division will receive training in the Haihan army. In the face of such a strong opponent, Zhejiang Dusi is not sure enough to defeat the opponent at sea, even if it wants to send troops to reinforce the place, it can only help defend on land, and the role it can play is actually relatively limited.

In fact, this is secondary, and the most critical point is that no one can determine the specific goals and scope of activities of the Haihan army in this armed invasion, they may just show off their force near Hangzhou Bay, but maybe after discovering that the Ming army is unable to resist, they will follow the Qiantang River into Hangzhou to cause trouble. If the army defending Hangzhou City is now sent to Jiaxing and other places for reinforcements, how should Haihan deal with it if he comes to Hangzhou by water?

In addition, the Ming army in Zhejiang did not have the mobilization efficiency of Haihan, even if it was only a small-scale local war, it was not in a hurry to immediately pull out troops to start a war. When the army on the Hangzhou side is ready to go to battle, it is difficult to say whether the Haihan people are still active in Jiaxing.

In view of this situation, the officials in Hangzhou could not help but have serious differences, some of them believed that they should immediately send troops to show the Haihan people a little color, and at least they had to repel their offensive as soon as possible to save the face of the Ming Dynasty; while others believed that the actions of the Haihan in Jiaxing and other places were only of a harassing nature, and perhaps the purpose was to use this to divert the tiger from the mountain and attract the main force of the Ming army to leave Hangzhou and then launch an offensive by water. Moreover, in the current situation, it is also difficult to immediately send troops to help Jiaxing and other places.

In the end, it was the opposition that prevailed, after all, Hangzhou is the economic and cultural center of Zhejiang, and almost all the important yamen are in Hangzhou, and the security environment here is more important than that of other coastal prefectures, and it is more secure to have a limited elite force in Hangzhou. As for the areas that have been harassed by the Haihan, they can only reply to the local "strict defense and wait for rescue", after all, the Haihan army is limited, even if they can lay down some places along the coast, it is impossible to occupy them for a long time, and they will eventually retreat.

As long as the city is not lost, these situations are still under control, and there is no need to report the invasion to the imperial court and there is no need to bear the corresponding responsibility. Now that the civil strife in the Ming Dynasty has not been settled, if a large-scale war breaks out in Zhejiang, then the officials below the political envoy will be responsible, and no one wants to make some situation at this juncture that will make the current saint feel unhappy.

While the officials in Hangzhou were still arguing over whether to send troops, the Haihan army landed in Wuyuan Town, Haiyan County, Jiaxing Prefecture. The landing operation basically did not encounter any resistance, because the Haihan Navy had already sunk all the combat ships under the Qianhu Sho in the two places of Rongpu and Zhapu on the wharf, and although it did not break through the two Qianhusuo Castles near the sea, it had already played a sufficient deterrent effect. Haihan boldly chose to land in Haiyan County, between these two thousand households, and the Ming army did not send men to stop it at all.

The landing of the Haihan army in Wuyuan Town was not to attack the county seat of Haiyan, but purely to show force in this specific area. The reason why this place was chosen is also very simple, there is no Ming army stationed here, so there is no need to worry about a frontal armed conflict.

Compared with the Ming army, which retreated in the city of Qianhusuo without fighting, the local people were not so nervous about the appearance of the Haihan army. Since last year, after Hai Ningwei commanded Ma Yue to die at sea for no reason, Jiaxing Prefecture's ban on Haihan has been relaxed a lot, and Haihan goods have also been able to enter the market of Jiaxing Mansion for sale. Wuyuan Town itself is a seaside town, and there is no Ming army stationed, so it is no surprise that it has become a window for merchants from Jiaxing Province to smuggle Haihan goods into the country, and many local people have given up their way of life of farming and fishing to devote themselves to this emerging profiteering industry.

The smuggling trade is obviously much more profitable than in the past, and although most of the locals can only rely on real smugglers to do some errands and do the clumsy work, the income level of these ordinary people is still much higher than before. This also makes the local people's view of Haihan more positive, and they are not disgusted by this group of "armed merchants" entrenched in the Zhoushan Islands.

Although Haihan used force this time, a few days before the start of the war, the arson case in Hangzhou had spread under Haihan's deliberate operation, and the people of Jiaxing Mansion also knew that the Ming army in Hangzhou Prefecture had used a trick against Haihan, killing people, burning boats, and robbing property, which offended Haihan severely. Now Haihan's retaliatory action is objectively reasonable, and Haihan's action is only aimed at the Ming army and does not hurt civilians, so there is nothing to worry about.

After the Haihan army landed, most of the people just hid in their homes and did not come out, but few people chose to flee to the county seat with their families in tow. The soldiers posted a number of notices in the town, explaining that their intention was only to retaliate for the "unkind" actions of the Ming army, but they would not inflict revenge on the people. The landing did not last long, and was withdrawn to the ship after about two hours, but because it was getting late, the fleet did not immediately move on to the next station.

The huge fleet was docked on the shore of Wuyuan Town, and the local people who came out of their homes one after another could clearly see this fleet. The real visual impact is more effective than 10,000 sentences of propaganda, and the existence of this fleet is enough to make the people understand who is the master of Hangzhou Bay now.

The next day, the Haihan fleet moved south into the Qiantang River, where it made a short stay in the towns of Xie Tang and Lihai in Shaoxing Prefecture on the south bank. Since Wei Shan, the commander of Linshanwei, secretly established a relationship of interest with Haihan last year, Haihan's actions in Shaoxing Mansion did not encounter any resistance, and in the end only symbolically blocked the mouth of the Cao'e River for half a day, so that Linshanwei also had sufficient reasons to report to Hangzhou.

Objectively speaking, Haihan's actions in Hangzhou were not radical, and the fleet cruised to Ningbo, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing, but the real use of force was only to bombard a bunch of unguarded wooden boats in Jiaxing Mansion, and there was no "fierce battle" claimed by local governments in their documents to Hangzhou. However, this did not prevent these local governments from continuing to ask for reinforcements from Hangzhou City, whether they were beaten or fake, they seemed to be helping Haihan to set up a situation intentionally or unintentionally.

If the situation is analyzed only from these urgent documents, then Haihan has almost occupied more than half of the area of these state capitals along the coast of Hangzhou Bay, and it will soon be the turn of Hangzhou City to become precarious. The panicked Zhejiang Metropolitan Division could only order the transfer of troops from the three inland prefectures of neighboring Huzhou, Yanzhou, and Jinhua, but this transfer was not to organize troops to rush to the place where the accident occurred, but to concentrate all of them on the city of Hangzhou, so as not to have at least enough troops to build a defense line in case the bold Haihan people wanted to attack Hangzhou.

Four days after the start of the battle, the Haihan fleet finally approached the city of Hangzhou by water. Although the Zhejiang Metropolitan Division had already gathered all the sailors in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River in a temporary way, this kind of measure could hardly play much role in the face of the powerful warships of the Haihan.

"Zhejiang Dusi is so capable?" Wang Tom looked at the dozens of Ming warships on the Qiantang River with disdain, and turned back to Pan Yan and said, "What do you think we should do now?"

Pan Yan was one of the captives captured during the first visit to the Liaodong Peninsula by the Haihan fleet, and it was only because Shen Zhixiang, the general of Phi Dao, was able to get out of his old business and serve in the Ming army's naval division again. However, because of his experience of defecting to Liaodong, it was impossible for him to return to the Dengzhou army, so he could only go to Phidao to work for Dongjiang Town. The military cooperation between Haihan and Dongjiang Town included the training of naval officers for him, and Pan Yan was also selected for his outstanding performance, and went south with the fleet to Zhejiang.

Although Pan Yan served in the Ming army in the past and now, Wang Tom knew very well that he could no longer have the same heart with the imperial court, and he didn't have to worry about him betraying the secret of Haihan to the Ming Dynasty, so this sortie also brought him with him, which was counted as part of the actual combat training.

Pan Yan had seen the ability of the Haihan Navy twice during his time in Liaodong, and he had long admired it so much, at this time, listening to Wang Tom's initiative to ask questions, he didn't think much about it, and responded honestly: "These small boats alone are not enough to threaten our fleet." In his humble opinion, since the purpose of this trip was not to destroy the Ming army's naval division, he should be able to open the way with artillery fire to deter the other party. If anyone does not know how to advance or retreat, sink it again. ”

Wang Tom said tentatively: "When you see us fighting with the Ming army, don't you have a little fluctuation in your heart?"

Pan Yanzheng said: "If you are not in your position, you will not seek politics, and now you are a cadet of the Haihan Navy, so you should naturally stand on the side of the Haihan Fleet." ”

Wang Tom nodded slightly and said, "It's good that you can have such an awareness." ”

King Tom soon gave the order to go to war, and the number of ships on this occasion was not much different, but the displacement was more than an order of magnitude worse. As for the ship-based firepower, not to mention, even if all the ships of the Ming army are combined, the firepower intensity is still too far from the flagship purchased by Haihan. The Zhejiang naval division, which had been put together temporarily, was apparently just a rabble with little combat experience, and after Haihan's shipborne artillery began to rumble, several Ming warships soon turned around and tried to get out of the battlefield.

Obviously, Haihan's armed ships have long been famous, but these temporarily assembled Zhejiang sailors did not have a strong will to fight, and fled one after another as soon as the other side began to use artillery attacks. In just half an hour, with the exception of a few damaged ships that could not move, almost all the other ships escaped. And Haihan did not pursue this kind of active escape, but only adjusted the formation and began to block the river.

In the retaliatory plan formulated by the Haihan, an armed blockade of the Qiantang River channel was one of the most important means. After severing this extremely important communication line for Hangzhou, the operation of the entire city will be affected to a certain extent, and the resentment of the people will also increase dramatically. If the officials in the city could not guarantee the normal navigation of the Qiantang River, then the only people in the world who could do this were probably the Haihan people.

The Qiantang River here is about five miles wide, and even if it is as strong as Haihan, it took nearly two hours to deploy a water blockade and start intercepting passing ships. If it is a civilian ship, in principle, it will be persuaded to return the same way, and if you really want to try to break in, you can only detain the ship first.

Before dark, Haihan seized a total of seven boats, but the number of ships that successfully drove away was more than ten times that number, which also shows the prosperity of this waterway. The news of the arrival of the Haihan soldiers in the city had spread in Hangzhou, and some of the gentry began to worry about whether the government would be able to deal with the offensive of the Haihan, because until now, the government has neither closed the arson case nor accepted the Haihan's complaint, and it is obvious that the other party is holding its breath.

For the sharp turn of the situation, it is not only the ordinary people inside and outside the city who are confused, but even the people in the government can't help but be surprised, no one expected that Haihan really killed the city of Hangzhou along the waterway so straight, and even the shipping of the Qiantang River was blocked.

(End of chapter)