c_t; Taking the opportunity to purchase large quantities of materials, the purchase of weapons and equipment in the territory of the Ming Dynasty was a little unexpected by the coalition forces. ($>>> cotton, flowers, sugar, and small "say") these standard equipment from the Ming army are undoubtedly contraband, and in the current situation of civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, it is effortless to charge a person who possesses weapons for rebellion. However, Eighteen Zhi probably didn't care about a few more crimes on their heads, after all, they had been fighting with the Fujian government for several years, and the content related to rebellion in "Da Ming Law" had already been committed.

Just by virtue of the crime of secretly possessing a large number of weapons, the entire fleet of people can wait to be punished by the government, and at the least it will be exiled, as for the shipowner and cargo owner, it will basically be the end of the autumn queen. As soon as Xu Yuzhuo announced the charge, these Jiangsu and Zhejiang maritime businessmen immediately chose to confess honestly, and revealed all the transactions in the original place. So on the way back to the station, the coalition forces already had first-hand intelligence information.

Eighteen Zhi still has a lot of contacts and trade channels in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and several merchants who organized a fleet to transport materials to Penghu this time have business dealings with Eighteen Zhi for several years, and some are even trading partners of Zheng Zhilong's former master Li Dan. After the Fujian government began to control the scarce materials last year, Shibazhi had to use all the relations between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and in addition to purchasing materials, he also purchased some old equipment that the Ming army was idle in the warehouse at a high price.

Although these things are not a big killer in the eyes of the coalition forces, they are very urgently needed war preparation materials for the current Eighteen Zhi. The batch of weapons and equipment intercepted this time alone made Eighteen Zhi pay nearly 100,000 taels of silver.

As for which army on the Jiangsu and Zhejiang sides made this arms deal with Shibazhi, it is not convenient for the Fujian government to intervene directly. Even if Xu Xinsu is the overlord of Fujian, he can't dictate the garrisons of other provinces.

This trip to the goods was intercepted, the most bitter is the eighteen Zhi, because the Fujian government's control measures have also been transmitted to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the eighteen zhi in the purchase of these materials has already paid a high price, and must be paid seventy percent first, the remaining three percent after the goods arrive in Penghu before paying. However, the loss of both goods and goods intercepted by the coalition forces is not a small amount.

"After these maritime merchants are escorted back, what does General Xu plan to do?" After interrogating the criminals, Xie Li finally had time to sit down and discuss with Xu Yuzhuo about the follow-up treatment.

Xu Yuchu smiled and said: "I don't plan to punish them, I'll let them go when I go back, but these goods on the ship are all thieves, and they must be kept." ”

"Just let them go?" Xie Li asked with some puzzlement, "Even let the people and the boat go?"

"If you don't let them go, do you still have to raise them?" Xu Yuzhuo put down the teacup, looked at Xie Li and said, "Is General Xie dissatisfied with the way he handled it?"

"I don't dare, I just don't understand the purpose of doing this. Xie Li responded.

Xu Yuzhuo nodded and said: "Actually, the truth is not complicated, two reasons. One is that these maritime merchants each have some background relationships, and dealing with them is a matter of one sentence, but if you want to sort out the entanglements of interests behind it, it will not be so easy reads;. [There are almost all the books I want to read.,It's faster than the general station.,There's no ads in the whole text.] We're just in charge of intercepting the supplies delivered to Eighteen Zhi, and we don't intend to offend the figures in the officialdom of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, right?"

Xie Li replied thoughtfully: "I see...... So what's the second reason?"

"The second reason is that after putting these people back, let them tell the people in the business district of Jiangsu and Zhejiang not to try to do business with Shibazhi again, so as to serve as a warning. Xu Yuzhuo explained: "After this kind of news spreads, it will further increase the difficulty of eighteen Zhi's acquisition of materials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You should have heard the price quoted by those merchants just now, which is two or three times more expensive than the market in Fujian, and this price will continue to rise when these people go back. If Eighteen Zhi wants to buy supplies, he will have to hemorrhage. ”

"General Xu is smart!" Xie Li suddenly realized.

Although Xie Li was a high-ranking officer in the navy and was good at commanding fleets on combat missions, he came from a civilian background and knew little about the rules governing the officialdom of the mall. And Xu Yuzhuo was born in a maritime merchant family, and when he was exposed to this kind of affairs since he was a child, his mind is indeed much more active. And these two people are fortunate enough to act together, which can be regarded as being able to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses and communicate with each other.

Considering the need for secrecy, the Combined Fleet escorted the captured fleet directly to the Central Left Post, instead of docking at Kinmen Island, which was closer to the open sea. As Xu Yuzhuo said, after confiscating all the goods on board, he released the ordinary merchant ships and personnel in the fleet. For these maritime merchants, in addition to being a little frightened, they did not have any actual losses, after all, they had already received seventy percent of the payment before departure, even if all the goods on the ship had been confiscated by the Fujian government, but in fact, they still made a profit.

Qian Tiandun did not interfere with Xu Yuchou's handling of it, and he was busy formulating an operational plan for attacking Penghu based on the satellite map provided by the base camp during this time.

Just before the return of the Combined Fleet, the commander of the Haihan Navy, Tom Wang, had secretly arrived at the base on Kinmen Island. His arrival also symbolizes that Haihan's operational command center has been transferred from the Sanya base camp to the Kinmen Island base, and the operational plan for Penghu has begun to enter the second stage.

Tom arrived with an entire naval fleet, including a Majestic-class capital gunboat, four Expedition-class ships, four Exploration-class ships, and six ships for logistical supplies. Together with the naval forces that have been stationed in the local area, the total number of ships has exceeded 20, and this is also the largest period when the Haihan Navy has been stationed along the coast of Fujian so far.

Of course, this is not all the naval forces that will be used in the Haihan battle plan. Before the war begins, at least one more fleet will arrive in Fujian to participate in the war. If the shape of the South China Sea slows down, then the Central Military Commission is likely to concentrate three of the four existing fleets in Fujian to carry out combat missions, leaving only one fleet to watch over the home base camp. This was also done in order to maximize the superiority of the coalition forces at sea so that it could clear the way for a landing battle in Penghu.

March 17, Kinmen Island base.

Xu Jiaqi trotted all the way to the headquarters of the coalition army, and after entering the house, he hurriedly reported to Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom, who were studying the map: "General Qian, General Wang, there is an urgent military situation sent from the center and left!"

At present, Xu Xinsu set up the command center of the Ming army in the Zhongzuo Institute adjacent to Kinmen Island, so almost all the orders of the Ming army were sent from the Zhongzuo Station.

Qian Tiandun took the secret letter from Xu Jiaqi's hand, and there was a wax seal with Xu Xinsu's private seal on the seal, which showed that this secret letter was drafted by Xu Xinsu himself, and its important process was self-evident.

Qian Tiandun opened it and took a cursory look at it, frowned and handed it to Tom Wang next to him. After reading it quickly, Tom Wang's face changed, and he asked Xu Jiaqi, "Do you know the content of this letter?"

"This letter was named and asked by the two generals to open it, and the last general did not know about it. Xu Jiaqi replied honestly.

"Now sue sù you too

It doesn't matter. Wang Tom handed the secret letter to Xu Jiaqi and motioned for him to take a look at it.

Xu Jiaqi glanced at it twice, and said in amazement: "Eighteen Zhi is going to run?"

The content of Xu Xinsu's secret letter was sent by Nei Ying, who was lurking on Penghu Island, and the content was that Shibazhi had recently been reorganizing various materials in stock, but instead of further strengthening the various fortresses on Penghu Island, he had spent a lot of manpower and material resources to repair and maintain the ships, and even the dilapidated ships that had been shelving on the coast for a year or two were also repaired.

Although the spy did not explain the purpose of Eighteen Zhi in the secret report, after the information was sent back, the Ming army leaders quickly thought of the possible reason - either Eighteen Zhi planned to rely on the advantage in the number of sea ships to fight to the death with the coalition forces in the naval battle, or they planned to empty Penghu and move to another place to settle.

If Zheng Zhilong was really stupid enough to rely on more ships to suppress the current Haihan Combined Fleet, then Xu Xinsu would probably really wake up from his sleep with a smile. Now the difference in strength between the two sides at sea is difficult to make up for with the number of ships participating in the battle. Even if Zheng Zhilong can send thousands of sea ships in one go, most of them can only become cannon fodder in naval battles, at most they can delay the time for the coalition fleet to attack Penghu, and it is unlikely to change the trend of the war.

Compared with the desperate fight to break the net, Xu Xinsu and his staff believe that Shibazhi's recent movements are more likely to be planning to flee. For a group of pirates, survival is obviously the most important thing, as long as they can leave the sphere of influence of the Fujian Navy Division, with the strength of Eighteen Zhi, it is indeed difficult for anyone to suppress them at sea.

However, the level of the spies planted by Xu Xinsu in Penghu is not high enough, and there is no way to get access to the high-level insiders of Eighteen Zhi, and it is impossible to guess when Eighteen Zhi plans to flee and where he plans to settle down based on these circumstances. And if these conditions are not implemented, no matter how strong the combined fleet is, it will not be able to block both ends of the Taiwan Strait to block the shipping lanes for the 18 Chi to escape.

"Eighteen Zhi doesn't want to fight, it's embarrassing. Wang Tom couldn't help but complain: "The ship is also here, the soldiers are also here, and the battle plan has been formulated, you actually told me not to accept the recruitment?"

Qian Tiandun was more calm, and asked Xu Jiaqi, "When Lord Xu sent this secret letter, did he have any other instructions?"

Xu Jiaqi shook his head and said, "There is no special order, just say that one qiē is subject to the decision of your army;." ”

"Lord Xu is putting the responsibility on us!" Wang Tom responded: "We are a guest army, I think it is better for Lord Xu to make the decision." ”

What kind of decision to make, Wang Tom did not say clearly, but Xu Jiaqi understood what he meant. Now that Eighteen Zhi has expressed their willingness to move away from Penghu, indicating that they do not want to engage in a head-on battle with the coalition forces, the next step is to advance the plan to attack Penghu, so as not to let Eighteen Zhi go too late, or should they sit back and wait for the situation to change and give Eighteen Zhi a chance to escape?

If Eighteen Zhi really plans to move out of Penghu, then the result of waiting for it is indeed possible that Eighteen Zhi will successfully evacuate before the coalition army moves, and this consequence is not too bad for the coalition army, at least it can save a lot of combat military expenses, and the coalition army can also avoid casualties and battle losses. But the problem is that for both Xu Xinsu and Haihan, the existence of Eighteen Zhi has always been a hidden danger, and no one can guarantee that this pirate will completely give up against his own family after leaving Penghu. If this trouble is not resolved, I am afraid that it will be difficult for both coalition forces to feel completely at ease.

However, it is not possible to determine when Shibazhi intends to evacuate, if he simply relies on the spies in Penghu, then if the intelligence is not sent back in time, the coalition forces are likely to miss the fighter plane and let Shibazhi withdraw from Penghu intact. However, if the battle plan is forcibly advanced, and the two armies are unable to complete the scheduled troop mobilization and deployment at present, rash action will certainly affect the results of the operation, and the commanders of the two armies participating in the war will have to bear even greater pressure as a result.

Wang Tom did not want to attack Penghu in advance, because with the naval ships currently in place, even the blockade of Penghu Magong Port was enough, and it simply did not reach the scale of the navy's scheduled participation in the war. Although self-protection is safe, the effectiveness of combat will also be extremely limited. Therefore, even if he knew that he could only ensure that he could keep Eighteen Zhi in advance, he still would not take the initiative to propose this proposal.

Another reason is that before the war, the Fujian government had already taken the initiative to bear the cost of attacking Penghu. Of course, the owner of this money is not only the Fujian government, but also the maritime group headed by Xu Xinsu. If Xu Xinsu planned to recover Penghu logically after the withdrawal of Eighteen Zhi, then there was no doubt that he could save a lot of money, then Haihan asked to start in advance, and Xu Xinsu might not be willing to cooperate.

Xu Jiaqi naturally thought of the reason why Wang Tom said this, but his authority was not enough to bargain with the Haihan people on the decision of this strategic direction, so he could only say that he would go back to the Zhongzuo Institute to ask Xu Xinsu first.

After Xu Jiaqi left, Qian Tiandun spoke: "Do you think it is good or not?"

Wang Tom said with a smile: "It depends on whether you stand on the side of the military or the position of the executive committee." ”

"How do you say that?" asked Qian Tiandun puzzled.

Wang Tom responded: "From the standpoint of the military, if you fight a war, you will have a military merit." Our strength is obviously superior, even if we start in advance, we will not suffer any losses, it is nothing more than the difference in the size of the credit, of course, it is better to fight. ”

"What about the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee?"

"Let them go, no matter where they go, we will have the opportunity to chase them all the way in the future, and where they flee, our army can chase them wherever reads;. Tom Wang explained with a smile.