During the period when Ning Qi led the main personnel of the mission to Zhangzhou, Shi Diwen was not idle in the Zhongzuo Institute, and these days he asked Xu Yuzhuo to take himself to almost all the islands in the coastal area of Zhangzhou, and he already had a general understanding of the deployment of the Ming army in Zhangzhou.

As one of the most important ports of entry into Fujian, Zhangzhou has always been a key area of Shibazhi, and in recent years, it has been attacked by Shibazhi from the sea almost every year, so the defensive pressure here is also quite large. The main force of the garrison is deployed inside and outside the city of Zhangzhou, with about 3,400 people in the city defense army, more than 2,200 garrisons in the defense system of the island outlet with the city of Zhongzuo as the core, and more than 800 sailors stationed here, with a total strength of more than 6,000 people.

Of course, according to the consistent style of the Ming army, this troop count is only a paper number. Although a considerable part of the Ming army deployed in Zhangzhou was actually a private army with Xu Xin's quality, and the vacancy situation in the army was much better than that of the ordinary guards, it was still impossible to completely ban the phenomenon of empty salaries in the army. According to Xu Yuzhuo's statement, it is already quite good to be able to make the vacancy ratio of the garrison army less than 20%.

Therefore, although the number of troops in Zhangzhou on paper is 6,000, the actual number of troops is only about 5,000, and excluding the logistics and command departments, the real combat force is less than 4,000. If it weren't for the fact that Xu Xinsu had been following the route of building elite troops in accordance with Haihan's construction, and had purchased a large number of artillery to strengthen various strongholds and establish a strategic depth of multi-level defense, then this pattern of scattered deployment of troops would have been easily broken by opponents from the sea.

Although the Fujian Ming army has been imitating the military system of the Haihan and has purchased a large number of standard weapons produced by the Haihan to arm the soldiers, there is still a big gap between the actual combat effectiveness and the Haihan militia. This is because the weapons exported by Haihan to Fujian were originally export versions with reduced performance, or old weapons that had been eliminated and replaced, and there was a certain gap in performance between them and the weapons listed by the Haihan militia group. The second is that Haihan has a high-efficiency command system that the Ming army cannot emulate, and the wireless communication system based on black technology cannot be copied at all, and this difference in the command system will also significantly affect the tactical arrangement and combat effectiveness, and the effect reflected on the battlefield will be magnified geometrically, and some of the tactics that the Haihan militia can complete are like a fantasy for the Ming army.

There is another factor that cannot be seen or touched, and that is the morale of the troops. Since its establishment, the Haihan People's League has not tasted defeat in any war, no matter how big or small, and this image of a victorious army has a very great effect on the morale of the members of the army in wartime. Therefore, although most of the battles experienced by the Haihan militia were fought with less, there were never accidents such as the rout of the troops. And the members of such an army will invisibly increase their loyalty to Haihan. However, the Fujian Ming army had the title of official army, but it was passive in the confrontation with pirates for a long time, and over time, the self-confidence of these troops would also be negatively affected, which in turn directly affected their performance on the battlefield.

Although the Fujian Ming Army's performance has improved after Xu Xinsu came to power, the overall situation is still in a passive state, and it is difficult to compare the morale with the self-confident feeling of the Haihan militia. Shi Diwen concluded that although the fighting will of the Ming army in Fujian was stronger than that of the Ming army on Hainan Island, this so-called strength was also relatively speaking, and it was difficult to predict whether if they suffered several defeats in a row, they would become a group of sheep soldiers who had no resistance in the face of pirates like the local defenders in the original history.

However, this is not bad news for Haihan, Shi Diwen believes that this shows from the side that Haihan's policy of restricting arms exports has played an obvious role, the combat effectiveness of the Fujian Ming army is not high, which is directly linked to the frequency of its training and operations, and one of the fundamental reasons is that Haihan has restricted the export of original ammunition to it, making it difficult for the Fujian Ming army to ensure daily live-fire training and large-scale protracted operations, often after ten and a half days of fighting, even if the situation is superior, they have to stop, because they must wait for the next batch of arms to arrive before resuming the war。

Of course, this embarrassing situation has become a thing of the past, and in the coming period, the Haihan, who had lost patience with Shibazhi, will gradually loosen some restrictions on arms sales, so as to support the Fujian Ming army to launch a large-scale offensive against Shibazhi. Once the problem of arms supply is resolved, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in Fujian will immediately rise to a higher level, and Qian Tiandun, who will be sent to Fujian to guide the war situation, will also be able to make full use of these "co-subordinate troops" to gradually eliminate the forces of the 18 Zhi in Fujian and Taiwan at the smallest possible cost.

After Ning Qi and Xu Xinsu returned to Zhongzuo Suocheng, Shi Diwen first introduced to them the general plan of the joint military exercise: "...... The Combined Fleet will depart from the Central Left Station, bypass Kinmen to the east, and then turn northward to conduct a one-day naval combat exercise off the coast of Quanzhou. Then continue north, targeting Nanri Island, for an amphibious landing exercise. The whole exercise will take about three days, and we plan to arrange live-fire drills in all the firing sessions of this exercise, so as to get as close as possible to the actual combat situation. The specific preparations will be told by General Xu. ”

Xu Yuzhuo continued: "In this joint military exercise, the two sides invested a total of 1,500 troops and 30 ships, and the relevant personnel and materials have been deployed in place. ”

Xu Xinsu frowned and said, "This Nanri Island...... Do you need to think about it again?"

Ning Qi was puzzled: "What's wrong with Nanri Island?"

Xu Xinsu explained: "Mr. Ning doesn't know, this Nanri Island is a waterway, and Eighteen Zhi has always regarded it as his life, and there is a rock camp on the island, and thousands of soldiers and dozens of warships are stationed in peacetime, which is very difficult. Although our army launched several offensives, they failed to capture this island, which can be regarded as a thorn in the sea between Zhangquan and Fuzhou. ”

Shi Diwen said: "I also seriously discussed the situation mentioned by Lord Xu with General Xu a few days ago, and General Xu also showed me a general map of the island's defense. With all due respect, I don't think this island is as difficult to conquer as your army thinks, and we can take it in a day or two, and then achieve safe navigation of several major trading ports along the coast of Fujian. ”

"In a day or two?" Xu Xinsu repeated Shi Diwen's words in disbelief. Thinking that he led his troops to attack the pirate camp on Nanri Island, he fought for seven or eight days, suffering nearly 1,000 casualties, and finally ran out of ammunition and morale, and had to choose to evacuate. The location of Nanri Island is just stuck between the two states of Zhangquan and Fuzhou, which causes trouble for the route between the two states of Zhangquan to the north day after day, and the eighteen zhi use it as a foothold, and can launch a sneak attack from Nanri Island to the port cities on the north and south at any time. If it weren't for the inability to take Nanri Island, the defense of Fujian's coastal areas would not have been as passive as it is now.

"I know that Lord Xu may have some doubts about our arrangement, but it doesn't matter, Lord Xu can board our flagship 'Wei Signal' and witness this little battle with us. Shi Diwen was very confident in this, and immediately invited Xu Xinsu to come and observe in person.

Of course, when talking about this joint military exercise, Haihan had already made it clear that it wanted to invite Xu Xinsu to participate. However, according to Shi Diwen's arrangement, this joint military exercise is not just an exercise, but really intends to show off its force.

Xu Xinsu hesitated a little and said: "If you really want to attack Nanri Island, is the number of more than 1,000 people a little less? It is better to give the old man a few more days to gather elite troops from the counties of Zhangquan and Zhangquan Prefectures, and then try to attack the island." ”

"There's no need. Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "Lord Xu, we don't plan to use your troops as cannon fodder to consume the pirates' combat power. ”

Shi Diwen said this, Xu Xinsu is not good to object, people sent people out of the boat to help the Ming army grab the territory, and repeatedly shirked, but it may make the Haihan people suspicious - you are not with Eighteen Zhi, why do you want to stop and not let you fight?

"The rest is to pick a good day and set off. But I personally recommend that the sooner the better, because the longer we delay, the more likely it is that the leak will be leaked. Shi Diwen said very politely: "If we want to do it before this news reaches Nanri Island, then we had better set off within two days." ”

Xu Yuhun saw his father's eyes looking at his side, and hurriedly bowed down and responded: "I also think that the plan formulated by Haihan can be boldly tried!

Xu Xinsu was silent for a while before he spoke: "The old man doesn't believe it when he says that it is a good day and an auspicious day, since Mr. Shi said that he will leave in two days, then the morning after tomorrow, the army will be sent to Nanri Island!"

Shi Diwen nodded and said, "Very good, then General Xu understands what measures should be done now, right?"

"Immediately block the entire island in and out, and all personnel will return to the team and be on standby, and from now on they will be put into a state of combat readiness. Xu Yuzhuo replied in accordance with the Haihan military theory he had learned.

"One more point, inform the quartermaster that the food and wine will be prepared and that our combined fleet will return in triumph, to celebrate in this central city. Shi Diwen added very confidently.

Xu Xinsu was probably also infected by this kind of feeling, and then became excited: "If this battle can really take Nanri Island, then the old man will reward the three armies after the war...... Well, the people of the Haihan militia are also counted in it!"

However, after the excitement passed, Xu Xinsu soon became a little scared, and took advantage of the banquet to ask Ning Qi, who was sitting next to him, "Is Mr. Ning sure of this battle?"

Ning Qi said in his heart, you are really sick and rushed to the doctor, I am a teacher and not a general, ask me if I am sure, you might as well go to the temple and ask for a sign. Of course, after the slander was over, the scene that should be said still had to be beautiful, and said: "Lord Xu doesn't need to be nervous, since our Haihan People's League was established in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, we have fought twenty or thirty battles big and small, no matter who the opponent is, there has never been a situation where we have been defeated or unable to complete the battle goal." I think that when we sent troops to Annan, the opponent's strength was dozens of times that of ours, and in the end, we were not beaten to the point where we had no power to fight back. Then the city of Annam Hue is known as the first fortified city in China, and it may be a few points stronger than the city of Zhangzhou, but it has also been conquered by our militia army?"

Ning Qi actually did not personally participate in the civil war in Annam, so most of his remarks were nonsense. At the beginning, the Haihan militia sent troops to Annam, although it played an important role in the key positions of some key battles, but in fact, the main force attacking South Vietnam was still the North Vietnamese army, otherwise with the few men and horses of the militia army at that time, it would be a bit insufficient to defend the city just to defend it.

However, these rhetoric is very effective in fooling Xu Xinsu, after all, the achievements of the Haihan militia have long been famous, and in the mouths of those Annan merchants who came to Fujian to do business, they are as majestic as heavenly soldiers and generals. After hearing this, Xu Xinsu also felt a great increase in confidence, and said with a smile on his face: "If this move can pacify Nanri Island, there will be one less nail on the route from Fujian to the north, and then the goods transported to the north will no longer need to be transported by land like now." ”

Ning Qi replied with a smile: "What Lord Xu said is that we are looking forward to buying a large number of goods in Hangzhou Mansion, Songjiang Mansion, Nanjing Mansion and other rich places as soon as possible!"

Shi Diwen listened to it clearly beside him, and expressed a murderous attitude with the strength of the wine: "Our two families have joined forces to exterminate Eighteen Zhi, and we will start from this Nanri Island!"

On June 4, 1631, the fifth day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, it happened to be the Dragon Boat Festival. However, there was no festive atmosphere in the center and left on this day, because the island's external contacts had been completely closed a few days earlier, and everyone knew that there would be a major military operation in the next few days, but the target had not been announced, and only a few high-ranking officers knew about it.

Out of prudence, Shi Diwen did not let Ning Qi also participate in this military operation, but let him stay on the island as a response to the rear. Xu Xinsu, accompanied by Shi Diwen, boarded the deck of the "Wei Signal" warship early in the morning and took advantage of the short time before departure to visit this unforgettable giant warship.