Before witnessing the actual situation in Shengli Harbor, Li Qingyang was also puzzled as to why the Haihan people were able to replace the rule of the government in this area, and in his opinion, even if the Haihan people were rich and could buy local officials to provide them with shelter, after all, the people were still the people, and how could they let the government obey their orders from outsiders. However, after seeing the fleet and artillery batteries of the Haihan people with his own eyes, Li Qingyang had a clearer understanding of this group of armed maritime merchants -- the power in their hands had long exceeded that of the local government, and the local government had already applauded if they did not choose to divide the territory and establish their own power here. These warships, forts, and the Haihan militia army that has not yet been seen are all the basis for the executive committee to rule here, and the traces that still exist here in the Ming Dynasty are probably the inspection department and the sailor yamen that have become virtually useless.

The people obviously don't care so much about whether this place is subordinate to the Daming or Haihan Executive Committee, who can give them a better life, who can protect their personal and property safety, and who can get the recognition and followers of the vast majority of people here. And the current actions of the Ming court in this regard have obviously not been able to win enough popular support.

Even if Li Qingyang still didn't want to admit defeat in his heart, he had to admit that following a boss like Haihan would indeed be very confident. Rich and powerful, and good at governing the localities, this executive committee is much more powerful than the royal vassal kings who were divided into local areas that Li Qingyang knew. The most important thing is that these people are not businessmen who only care about accumulating money, they invest a lot of money in strengthening their own strength and consolidating their dominance, this kind of development idea is not something that ordinary businessmen should have.

What Li Qingyang can confirm now is that with only the combat fleet of the Haihan people and the coastal defense batteries in the port, they can firmly hold the area of Shengli Port, and even if the Ming Dynasty sends troops to conquer it, it will be difficult to win favor in this place that is run by the Haihan people like an iron bucket.

This is the view of even an expert like him, let alone ordinary people. Li Qingyang can now fully understand why the local people have an unusual trust and admiration for the Executive Committee, and this reason is indeed due to the psychological protection provided by Haihan's strong military strength to the people and the outside world.

Li Qingyang replied thoughtfully: "Presumably, the Haihan People's League under the Executive Committee has always been invincible?"

"That's right!" Lin Nan nodded in response: "Since the formation of our Haihan People's League, it has never been defeated. In March this year, he crossed the sea to participate in the battle to quell the chaos in Annam, and captured Hue, the first fortified city in Annam, in only one month, and destroyed the small court of Hue, and more than 300,000 rebels in Annam were dispersed, and the situation of the division of the north and the south for decades came to an end!"

"The rumors of your participation in the civil war in Annam turned out to be true!" Li Qingyang was taken aback, he also heard some rumors about this matter when he was in Guangzhou, but because the situation of the cross-sea battle of the Haihan militia was not known to too many outsiders, almost all the information about this matter came from folk rumors, and the credible Cheng dù was not high. At that time, Li Qingyang thought that this kind of thing was mostly just some kind of propaganda strategy of the Haihan people, and he did not take it completely seriously -- the Ming official army had lost tens of thousands of elites in Annan at the beginning, but they had not been able to defeat this seemingly primitive but actually tough small southeastern country, how could the Haihan people dare to claim that they had conquered Annan?

At first, Li Qingyang only regarded this as a joke, but the situation he was exposed to after his release made him more and more aware of the terrifying strength of the Haihan people in the military field. Just based on the level of Haihan armed forces that he has seen with his own eyes, it is not impossible to achieve cross-sea operations. However, the cross-sea operation also broke through the capital of the southern regime in a short period of time, this record is very scary, although Jinyiwei is a secret agency, it also belongs to the army, Li Qingyang also understands how difficult this kind of away battle is, Lin Nan actually said this matter so easily, Li Qingyang really couldn't suppress his surprise.

Lin Nan said with a smile: "Brother Li probably only thought of the difficulties of the Executive Committee sending troops to fight in Annan, but he couldn't think of how big a difference in strength there was between those peasant soldiers in Annan and our militia army. ”

Li Qingyang was silent for a long time before shaking his head and said, "In the lower stupidity, it is indeed difficult to imagine how the Hai Han militia defeated an opponent with a huge gap in strength. But when it came to the cross-sea battle of Haihan, the northern court of Annam actually acquiesced?"

"It's not tacit, it's that they paid us to do it. Lin Nan unabashedly explained: "For this, the Annam court paid us a large amount of wealth, land, and population as a reward for our help. ”

Li Qingyang frowned slightly, there is no doubt that this practice of the Haihan militia has far exceeded the normal behavior of a civilian private armed force, but thinking about Haihan's consistent behavior, it seems that it should not be simply fighting for money, so Li Qingyang raised his own questions to Lin Nan.

Lin Nan explained: "We have many interests in Annam, and maintaining stability in Annam is also protecting our own interests. In addition, Annan is willing to provide us with several natural harbor areas along the coastline for this purpose, which is exactly what we want, and everyone takes what they need. ”

"Military alliance?" Li Qingyang asked.

"It's not just a military alliance. Lin Nan continued: "We also have comprehensive cooperation in terms of economy, culture and immigration. Nearly 30 percent of the people in Sanya are now immigrants from Annam, up from more than 40 percent last year. For example, on our current ship, there are crew members from Annan. ”

"Uh, can you introduce me to the next acquaintance?" Li Qingyang became interested when he heard this. Lin Nan bragged so mysteriously just now, in fact, as long as he can ask an Annan person, he can know if he is bragging.

"First mate Wu, please come over for a moment. Lin Nan got up and said hello, and soon a stocky man with a dark complexion came to Li Qingyang. Li Qingyang just looked at his appearance, and he already believed that this kind of face with a wide nose and thick lips was indeed a typical Annan face.

"This Wu Senwu first mate was previously a staff general in the Annan Army, if Brother Li has any questions, you can ask him. Lin Nan concisely introduced him.

This Annam who served as the first mate on the "Lightning" was naturally the South Vietnamese naval general Vu Sen who was captured by the militia in the Battle of Hue. Since Wu Sen was persuaded to surrender by Nguyen Jinggui, he was quickly assigned to the Ministry of Shipping. Because his identity is still relatively sensitive, he can't enter the navy for the time being, but the military doesn't want to waste his skills, so he is temporarily placed on the "Lightning" as a trainee crew member.

Of course, Wu Sen did not disappoint his superiors, and with his many years of sailing skills, he quickly mastered the basic skills of piloting this new sailing ship, and was promoted to first mate by the order of King Tom himself. As for his mentality at this time, it has already changed dramatically from when he was just brought to Sanya. Lin Nan asked him to accept Li Qingyang's question, and also deliberately mentioned his previous identity, but Wu Sen didn't show that he cared very much.

Li Qingyang clenched his fists and said, "Brother Wu is an officer in Annan, why did he come to Sanya to be a crew member?"

Wu Sen laughed self-deprecatingly: "It's true that it's Officer Annan, but it's the losing side below." Coming here was not initially voluntary, and the POWs did not have the right to pick and choose. ”

"It's a gaffe!" Li Qingyang hurriedly apologized. He only thought in his heart that there was an agreement on cooperation between Haihan and the Annan court, and it seemed that the other party sent officers over to be stationed in the cleanup, but he forgot that Haihan and the small southern court of Annan also had a fight. As for what it would be like to be captured here as a prisoner of war, he didn't need to ask Wu Sen this question at all, and he knew the answer very clearly.

"It doesn't matter. Wu Sen waved his hand and said: "When I was first arrested, I also felt all kinds of dissatisfaction, but after staying here for a while, I learned a lot from the chief, and I realized that I was really a frog at the bottom of the well in the past." Thanks to the leaders who did not dislike me for being stupid and gave me the opportunity to be a new person, I can only be grateful to the Executive Committee now. ”

Li Qingyang listened to his tone, which was exactly the same as Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping who had met before, and immediately changed the topic and asked: "Brother Lin said that Haihan and Annan had a war this year, but I don't know if Brother Wu is a witness?"

Wu Sen nodded and said, "I did personally experience the battle of Hue and witnessed the crushing attack that the chiefs said. However, this battle of Hue was not the only battle in which Haihan participated, and he had already participated in several battles before that. If it weren't for the intervention of the Haihan militia, the northern court would have been wiped out long ago. It's a pity that the southern court has an army of 300,000, but it is completely unable to prevent the Haihan militia, which is no more than a few thousand, and has failed on the battlefield again and again, and finally even lost the capital. ”

The 300,000 troops claimed by Lin Nan and Wu Sen, Li Qingyang did not believe it very much, with the size and population of Annan, the southern imperial court could raise more than 100,000 troops is probably the limit. If there are really 300,000 troops, let alone fighting, logistics alone will be enough to overwhelm their treasury. However, even if the number of 300,000 is strict, it must be much larger than the scale of the Haihan militia. And Wu Sen's personal admission of defeat basically confirmed Lin Nan's previous statement.

Wu Sen continued: "The generals of the defeated army will only face the post-war reckoning. Even if you don't die, you will be imprisoned for the rest of your life. Now I have the opportunity to continue to earn a living at sea, and I am already thankful. ”

Li Qingyang couldn't help but ask, "Haihan Mintuan, is it really so terrifying?"

Wu Sen smiled bitterly: "It's not terrible, it's despairing." You can see your opponent on the battlefield, but you never have a chance to hurt the opponent, and Haihan's artillery and guns begin to harvest the lives of soldiers from hundreds of feet away, and there is no time to engage them face to face. We thought we could fill the gap with the superiority of our troops, but 1,000, 2,000, 3,000...... After endlessly filling in thousands of lives like this, Haihan's shells and shells are still being fired endlessly, what kind of mentality do you think?"

Li Qingyang asked: "I heard that Hue is the first fortified city in the south of Annam, and the frontal battlefield is defeated by the Haihan militia, so you can always defend the city, right?"

"It's not a bird's use. Wu Sen shook his head and said: "The so-called fortified city is only useful for the past combat methods, but as soon as the militia army came, it directly collapsed the city wall. No matter how many people can't stop the shells of Haihan, and if they defend it, they will die in vain, so after the city was broken, many of the troops defending the city surrendered directly. It's not that they weren't loyal enough to the court, but that they didn't see the slightest hope of victory. ”

"Excuse!" Li Qingyang was not convinced by Wu Sen's statement, since ancient times, there have been many soldiers who have died on the battlefield, so if they can't see the hope of victory, they won't fight? If that happens, who will kill the enemy desperately on the battlefield. In Li Qingyang's view, this approach of the Annan army is actually more greedy for life and fear of death, of course, the overwhelming superiority shown by the Haihan militia in the course of the battle must also be one of the reasons. It is indeed terrible to think about, the gap between the two sides in terms of force cannot even be filled with human lives, and this one-sided massacre will undoubtedly be quite a blow to morale.

Wu Sen smiled bitterly: "I know what you think now, in fact, I, Wu Sen, am not greedy for life and afraid of death, when I drove a boat outside Hue City to launch a decisive charge against the Haihan militia, hundreds of people under my command were determined to die." However, the disparity in strength was so great that we didn't even have a chance to get close to the Haihan militia, so we were all bombarded into the river by artillery. It's easy to die, but it's hard to live, and I chose to live not because I'm afraid of death, but because I don't want my comrades who lost their lives on the battlefield to die in vain! Their families, their children, must always have someone to take care of them!"

Li Qingyang said solemnly: "It's a mistake in the next thought, martial brother is not strange!"

Wu Sen's words made Li Qingyang also think of his current situation, it is true that if he must choose to be loyal to the monarch and serve the country, no one will stop him from ending it on his own, but Li Qingyang also has things that he can't give up, and these things are not directly related to whether he is afraid of death.

Wu Sen shook his head and said, "There's nothing strange about it, since Captain Lin brought you to chat with me, there must be similarities in our situation." I don't think I'll be the first person to talk to you, and probably won't be the last, whether you believe it or not, I still have to say to you, Haihan is really the master!"

Whether it is the master of the Ming Dynasty or not, Li Qingyang does not have a definite decision now, but judging from the outsiders who have taken refuge in Haihan before and after, at least he has a very good life after taking refuge in Haihan.