With the current strength of the Haihan Army, not to mention these pirates in the East China Sea who are very lacking in primitive equipment, strength and combat ability, even the Netherlands and Spain, which are Western powerhouses that carry out global colonization in this era, have all bowed their heads in front of the Haihan militia. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The fact that the Portuguese had done it, the Dutch, and the Spaniards had recently surrendered twice in a row was really not an unusual thing for the Haihan.

According to the description of Xu Ke and another infiltrator in the secret letter, the pirates around the Zhoushan Islands may be a little weaker than the Haihan side had previously predicted. Although these pirates were able to survive by virtue of their various secret interests with the local government and the wealthy and powerful, they were different from the eighteen zhi that were rampant in Fujian in the early years, and most of the time they were just tools for some powerful people to achieve their personal goals, rather than an armed force like the eighteen zhi that was powerful enough to affect the situation on one side. In order to prevent these "tools" from becoming too big to be controlled, the armed level of the pirate gangs in the Zhoushan Islands has always been consciously manipulated and controlled.

Although Qian Tiandun's tone was loud, Xu Xinsu, who knew the situation, would not think that there was anything wrong with his statement, as long as Haihan could pull out one or two powerful pirate dens with the momentum of thunder at the beginning, other pirate gangs might really fall by the wind.

If such a situation arises, of course, it is the most ideal, because the Haihan military has always followed the line of being able to accomplish all kinds of combat tasks with limited troops, and if it can invest less troops, the saved military expenditure can be used in other aspects -- such as equipping the army with the latest field artillery, or adding the construction cost of one or two warships to the navy.

Xu Xinsu also knew that Qian Tiandun's statement was not a big name, but that the Haihan Army had always controlled the troops dispatched more accurately, so he asked tentatively: "Then the official will prepare the food and grass materials needed for a month's battle based on the 3,000 people dispatched by your army, what does General Qian think?"

The amount of grain and grass required for 3,000 people to fight for a month is not a small amount, not to mention that these materials have to be transported from Fujian to Zhejiang, which will invisibly increase the cost. And Xu Xinsu's statement is undoubtedly on behalf of the Fujian government, or the Xu family, to take this matter down, and the sincerity is quite sufficient. Qian Tiandun understood what Xu Xinsu meant, and immediately responded: "Lord Xu is really polite! I don't think it's as good as this, for the establishment of 3,000 people, we will send 2,000 people, and Lord Xu will send another 1,000 people to join, how about it?"

Qian Tiandun knew that Xu Xinsu was willing to pay money to prepare food and grass supplies for the Haihan Army and be responsible for logistics supply, which was not without purpose, so he simply took the initiative to help him say it.

Xu Xinsu pretended to excuse himself and said, "If it affects your army's battle plan, wouldn't it be a sin!"

Qian Tiandun said with a smile: "Lord Xu, don't be polite, your army has also cooperated with our army many times before, and it has always been very tacit, and I am very relieved about the strength of your army." ”

Although the Haihan military attached great importance to the problem of piracy in the Zhoushan Islands, considering the limited strength of the other side, it did not plan to send a large number of troops to carry out the task of clearing and eradicating them, and the 2,000 men were the conclusion reached by Qian Tiandun after discussing with Shi Diwen, Chen Yixin, Gao Qiaonan and others. Now that Xu Xinsu has taken the initiative to sell well, Qian Tiandun will also be a favor, so that Xu Xinsu's people can participate in the next military operations in Zhejiang.

Shi Diwen didn't forget to remind: "It's definitely no problem for Lord Xu's subordinates to participate in the operation, but this identity probably needs to be disguised, so as not to cause extraneous branches and bring inconvenience to Lord Xu." ”

Although Xu Xinsu was the commander-in-chief of Fujian's army, it was obviously irregularities to dispatch troops to Zhejiang's waters to carry out military operations without informing the Zhejiang government and obtaining the consent of the Ministry of War. When the time comes, Zhejiang will join the imperial court, regardless of whether you Xu Xinsu is going to fight pirates or not, the reason is not on Xu Xinsu's side, although the imperial court and the military department may not be able to take Xu Xinsu, the overlord, if you want to reprimand Xu Xinsu in the next article, it will also be a very face-losing thing for him. What's more, Xu Xinsu didn't want to offend Zhejiang officialdom in Mingli, after all, he still wanted to do business in this area in the future, and it would be too difficult to see the back.

Xu Xinsu thanked and said: "General Shi's words are reasonable, how about the old man's men and horses temporarily pretend to be your army first? As for the battlefield command, there will naturally be generals who will be tired!"

As long as he seized the opportunity to fight with the Haihan militia, Xu Xinsu would always find ways to send his most elite troops to participate in the operation. However, not every time they can seize the opportunity to fight on the front line, most of the time they can only be assigned to assist in defense and even cover the heavy tasks of logistics, and in addition, the combat speed of the Haihan militia is very fast, and the battle will often be resolved within two or three days, and the participating troops sent by Xu Xinsu sometimes do not wait for the opportunity to play, and the war is over, and the training role they can play is not very great.

This time, the Haihan people decided to start in Zhoushan, and Xu Xinsu thought that this was a good opportunity to train the troops. Xu Xinsu also has a number of the approximate size of the Haihan garrison, and estimates the number of combat troops it can send, so it is only proposed to subsidize the grain and grass materials needed for the 3,000 people to fight, and the calculation is that the Haihan will not be able to send so many troops to fight in Zhejiang, and the vacant troops can be filled by the Fujian Ming Army in a logical way.

Even if Shi Diwen didn't remind him, Xu Xinsu would not actually make the low-level mistake he mentioned. After all, he has been mixed in officialdom for six or seven years, what can and cannot be done, and what is a taboo in the bureaucratic system, Xu Xinsu's heart is very bright. Xu Xinsu knew that Shi Diwen had handed him a ladder, so he immediately got off the donkey, and immediately expressed his willingness to hand over the command of the participating troops to the Haihan military.

The elite troops under Xu Xinsu's command were basically organized and trained in accordance with the methods formulated by the Haihan military, and the establishment, combat system, and tactics were all in the same vein as the Haihan, and the Haihan militia took over the command, but there was no need to worry about problems such as poor military orders or the inability of the command system to dock. Commanding the battlefield directly by senior Haihan officers will certainly be able to learn much more combat skills than theoretical training or military exercises in peacetime. As long as he can learn the real skills, Xu Xinsu thinks that it is worth spending more money, because he believes that the successful model of Haihan has fully demonstrated the importance of the armed forces, and the Xu clan wants to firmly establish a foundation in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty in the future, and even develop into a local separatist force like Haihan, then a powerful armed force is absolutely indispensable.

However, since the southeast side drove out the Eighteen Zhi and the red-haired people, there is no war at present, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to train troops in actual combat. Xu Xinsu wants to temper the troops under his command, but he can only look outside the province, even if he needs to pay more expenses and take greater risks, Xu Xinsu believes that these costs are worth it - of course, the premise is to have the escort of the Haihan militia.

Xu Xinsu's proposal was also expected by the Haihan military, so after humbly conceding a few sentences, he agreed to Xu Xinsu's request. In the end, Xu Xinsu called his guard officer in: "Go and bring in the gifts prepared by this official for the leaders of Haihan!"

After the guard officer went out, Xu Xinsu took the initiative to explain: "On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of Haihan's arrival in Daming, this official has nothing to express, so he can only prepare a thin gift to talk about his heart!

Qian Tiandun didn't even dare to say it, but he thought in his heart that Xu Xinsu would also give gifts at this juncture in previous years, but it had nothing to do with shabby. One year, on the occasion of the anniversary, he sent an envoy to Sanya to observe the ceremony, bringing three boatloads of 200 ploughing oxen.

After a while, Xu Xinsu's subordinates came in with a plaque, Xu Xinsu got up and removed the cloth on the plaque, and introduced to Qian Tiandun and others: "The words 'grand plan' on this plaque are made of pure gold, and I hope that everyone in Haihan can achieve their goals in this year." ”

The plaque is more than five feet wide and about two feet high, and the four large gold characters on it are inlaid on the black back panel, which is particularly eye-catching. This gold letter is not pasted with gold leaf, but a real gold letter. Judging from the size of its strokes and words, I am afraid that each word weighs one or two pounds. If this gift is shabby, then probably many people will not be able to take out the gifts they have prepared.

After Qian Tiandun was polite, he still accepted it on behalf of the Executive Committee. He knew that if he didn't accept this gift, Xu Xinsu probably wouldn't be at ease.

After the military's plan of action was submitted in writing to the Executive Committee, it was approved not to be started until after the anniversary. Obviously, it was impossible for the personnel stationed in Penghu to rush back to Sanya to participate in the military parade at this juncture, so a simple celebration ceremony was only held in the base. Of course, it is also an essential activity to feed the soldiers who are about to go to the battlefield again.

On 3 April, the Haihan troops, including the 500 redressed Ming troops who had arrived from Zhangzhou, began to assemble at Magong Port in Penghu. There were about 2,800 armed men involved in this mission, but with the addition of the civilians in charge of logistics and baggage, the total number had already exceeded 3,000.

In addition to combat ships, troop transports and supply ships, there is also a merchant fleet that will set off with the armed fleet this time, the purpose of which is to provide a reason for the armed fleet to follow.

On 5 April, the merchant fleet, which had been used as bait, left the port and headed north. Of course, although this fleet was only a decoy, for the sake of safety, at least a dozen militia soldiers were arranged on each ship and equipped with corresponding weapons.

The regular army set off at least three hours after the decoy had left, and all the ships in this fleet were produced by the Haihan, and the speed was definitely faster than before. About five hours after the fleet left Magong Port, it had already caught up with the fleet that had set off first.

The fleet's first stop was Nanri Island, which had previously been included in the forbidden zone by Eighteen Zhi, but with the help of Haihan, he not only snatched this place from Zheng Zhilong, but also built a lot of fortifications on the island. In addition to replenishing water and food, the reason for stopping here is that about 500 Ming soldiers who have changed their clothes will join the ranks from here.

Xu Xinsu also followed the Haihan fleet here, but he would not follow all the way to Zhoushan, and after handing over his private army to the Haihan here, Xu Xinsu took the initiative to say goodbye to Haihan: "The sons and daughters of my old Xu family, it is up to the leaders to take care of one or two." ”

The voyage from Nanri Island to the Zhoushan Islands off the coast of Ningbo is more than 300 nautical miles, and if the Haihan warships alone will not be delayed for too long on the way, they will arrive in about two days and two nights. In order not to startle the snake too early, the route of the Haihan fleet would be kept at a distance from the coast, so as not to be detected by fishermen, merchant ships, or anyone else near the shore. The merchant fleet, on the other hand, stretched the formation very wide, trying to focus the attention of others on its side, so as to better cover the movements of the Haihan fleet.

On 7 April, the merchant fleet ran into the first unlucky ghost in the operation in Wenzhou, two pirate ships spotted a lone Haihan merchant ship and immediately swarmed it. Unfortunately, they underestimated their opponents and overestimated themselves, and the merchant ship made a circle on the surface of the sea and fled towards the sea to the east. The two pirate ships followed behind without hurry, keeping a reasonable distance.

However, after more than an hour of following them out of the open sea, the situation finally changed. There is a huge cyclone at sea level in the distance, causing the sea conditions to fluctuate greatly, making it difficult to choose a reasonable direction to go.

While they were hesitating, two "Expedition-class" warships of the Haihan fleet had already appeared in their rear.

"Order, show the flag, and prepare for battle!" Shi Diwen didn't dare to be careless, and immediately ordered to start preparing for war.

The whole battle was lackluster, and it took only thirty seconds to eliminate one of the pirate ships, and a cannonball was extremely lucky enough to hit the mast, breaking it into two parts. The other pirate ship planned to run away when it saw that the situation was not good, but when the Haihan warship was pasted, the other party had no chance to escape.

Through interrogation, it was determined that the two ships of pirates were just a small gang in the vicinity. Even if they were unlucky, the first time they came out of the nest after the beginning of spring, they encountered this fleet disguised as bait. The pirates had become prisoners before they even understood what had happened, and they couldn't guess what the force that had captured them was coming from.