Chapter 186: Singing ahead
"We can make another furnace of good steel." Chen Haiyang said jokingly, looking at Dai Xie from the Planning Institute Action Team who was greedily registering numbers in the record book.
"It's not one furnace, but several furnaces. Just melting these cannons and iron will produce as much pig iron as possible." Dai Xie, as the director of the Investigation and Statistics Division of the Planning Academy, rarely visits the front line in person. This time he personally led The "house raiding team" - the special search operation team - came to the Pearl River Delta, which shows that Wu De had high hopes for seizing a large amount of supplies from the Pearl River Delta region. Of course, the Planning Institute has indeed gained a lot. Especially the cannons captured after capturing several forts - even the Folangji can produce two to three hundred kilograms of molten iron, not to mention the Hongyi cannons that weigh several thousand kilograms.
The cannons dismantled by the sailors piled up in small mountains on the beach, among which a 12-meter copper cannon was a precious trophy. But there are no ships to transport them yet, so we have to wait for the subsequent supply fleet to arrive.
The big whale was puffing out black smoke and working intensively. The steam winch pulled out the wooden piles driven from the bottom of the water one by one. The wooden piles used for blocking were simply hammered down by civilians with sledgehammers, not the results of mechanized pile drivers, and the depth of driving was just enough to make them stand firmly in the river. They were pulled out one after another with a gentle pull from the steam winch. Even the crane and specially prepared wire ropes were not used.
There were hundreds of wooden piles blocking the river, and the Planning Institute, which was known for its diligence and thrift, did not let go. Several sailors who had worked as rowers arranged the wooden piles into rows, preparing to be towed back to Humen by ship.
After clearing the obstacles in the water, the scouts found a group of boats moored horizontally on the river a few kilometers away from Wuyong, filled with sand and gravel. This is obviously another water obstacle. Chen Haiyang thought it was a good thing that the Ming army did not sink the ship. Otherwise, it would certainly not have any hindrance to the current wooden ships, but the channel of the future 10,000-ton giant ship would be greatly affected.
However, according to the measurements of the survey ship, officers and soldiers have indeed sunk a number of ships in the channel. Although the obstruction lines are intermittent and cannot be connected as a whole due to problems with tides, currents and shipwreck operations, it still makes some waters The water depth has become only about 1 to 2 meters. The survey ship placed buoys in all areas where there was a risk of grounding.
The Great Whale began to dismantle certain blocked areas that might affect normal navigation. Several steamboats towed the ship filled with sand and gravel to the shore. The prisoners captured in Wu Chung were used as laborers. Chen Haiyang ordered a short rest, cleaned up the artillery, and prepared to continue the ascent. At the same time, he sent sailors to nearby villages to post notices and collect "reasonable burdens."
Now there is no longer any village that has the determination to resist them. Even before the sailors arrived, the elders and wealthy households in nearby villages sent people over to give gifts and "rewards", expressing their willingness to accept all the conditions of the Australians. The nearby villagers also rowed small boats to sell vegetables, fruits, meat, food and alcohol. There was a conflict with the civilian ships following the fleet preparing to do business.
Many small boats gathered around Wuyong, forming a temporary but lively floating market. Finally, even Jinv's ship came. Of course, it was possible for them to do the task force business, but the jinv still made a lot of money from the sailors and traders on other civilian ships.
Seeing that more and more civilian boats were gathering, in order to prevent Shui Yonghun from launching a sneak attack among them. Chen Haiyang ordered that all civilian ships must berth in the Wuyong River mouth area and are not allowed to enter the waters where the fleet is berthed. There must be a distance of 100 meters between the two to prevent the enemy from using arson boats to carry out sneak attacks.
So many small ships selling goods came that Chen Haiyang found that as long as his fleet still had money to pay for it, there was no need for a specialized supply fleet to transport food-rice, poultry, and eggs for him. Vegetables, fruits, even oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and wine can be purchased from small boats, and the price is not expensive.
Chen Haiyang ordered a large number of fruits such as citrus to be purchased for the soldiers to supplement their vitamins. At the same time, he ordered that if the food does not involve hygiene issues and the price is suitable, he can buy it directly from the vendors on the small ship.
He was surprised that the common people were doing business with the "thieves" who had beaten the "government and the army" without any care. Although this phenomenon was beneficial to the Fubo army, he felt very uncomfortable with the common people voluntarily acting as "jingjiang".
Just when I was feeling uncomfortable, another "delegation" came. This time it was ship owners and merchants anchored in Huangpu Port. Because of the war, their ships and cargo were stranded in the harbor and they dared not set sail. Now I heard that the Kun thief has captured Wuyong, and the entire Huangpu Port is naked and still tied up. The Kun thief can come whenever he wants, and as many times as he wants. The owners and cargo owners of more than 2,000 large and small ships in the port were scared to death. The sailors and helmsmen had already escaped, and even the officials at the Huangpu River Station had also escaped.
The cargo owners and shipowners had no choice but to nominate a delegation of ten people to go to Wuyong to ask the Australians to "show mercy". The shipowners and cargo owners were willing to pay a "ransom" of fifty thousand taels of silver in exchange for the thieves' promise not to confiscate the goods or burn the ship.
"I hope you will give me your permission." The leading businessman kowtowed heavily on the ground. The people behind him also kowtowed together. There was a loud bang on the cabin floor.
Wen Desi gathered his hands in a very stylish manner - it felt good to be the master: "Get up. No need to kowtow."
"Thank you, sir." The leading businessman cupped his hands again, then stood up carefully and listened to the instructions.
"Your name is...um..."
"My dear Qin Haicheng." The leading businessman said cautiously.
"Is he a foreign businessman?"
Qin Haicheng was nervous for a moment and then said after a moment of hesitation: "Yes, the small one is a foreign businessman."
"Where to trade?"
"Reporting to your lord, the Luzon Islands..."
"Must have made a lot of money."
Qin Haicheng trembled and did not dare to answer. I was afraid that if I said something wrong, I would be blackmailed a lot.
Wen Desi probably also realized that such words were inappropriate. He quickly changed his tone:
"We don't need the money," Wen Desi said grandly, "but I have other requirements."
"Yes, please show me." Qin Haicheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that no silver was required, but he thought that the price of this "request" would not be cheap, and it might be much more expensive than fifty thousand taels of silver.
The first requirement is "and buy". Roughly speaking, they will send personnel to each merchant ship to inspect the goods, and all goods that are in high demand will be "purchased with peace of mind." The purchase price is the wholesale price of this kind of goods in Guangzhou plus 10% of freight and margin.
Any ship with goods to be "bought" must sail to Hong Kong, and then be escorted by a special agent boat to Lingao after the local formation to unload the goods. Due to the cutoff of foreign trade, Lingao now has a huge demand for many goods. There are more than 2,000 ships backlogged in Huangpu Port, many of which are merchant ships, with a dazzling array of goods. Of course, a large amount of materials can be obtained by "buying together" at one time. Hemai has a certain predatory nature - it is much cheaper than the normal foreign trade purchase price between Lingao and Guangzhou in the past. However, a certain amount of profit is still left to ship owners and cargo owners to prevent them from losing money.
Although this condition is harsh, it is still bearable. Qin Haicheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief - he was not worried about the Australians not giving him money - the reputation of Australians as businessmen was still very good in Guangdong.
The second request sounded less like a request and more like a suggestion. He just talked about the superior geographical location of Hong Kong Island, which is currently under the control of Australia and Song Dynasty, and how complete the port services are. I hope that everyone will often go to Hong Kong Island to dock ships for loading and selling goods - as for the goods that need to be transshipped, they can be transported by inland river vessels.
These words were said in a polite manner, but in fact they contained an element of coercion. According to the plans of the Central Government Administration Council, the Planning Institute and the General Staff, although the main force of the task force will return to Lingao after the war against Guangzhou, control of the Pearl River waterway will not be given up. In the future, the light patrol fleet based in Hong Kong will continue to patrol the Pearl River Estuary and Pearl River waterways, forcing merchant ships entering and leaving the Pearl River Estuary to trade in Hong Kong. Eventually, Hong Kong became the main outer port of Guangzhou and the gateway port for foreign trade and coastal trade in South China.
"Yes, yes, I understand." Qin Haicheng was a little surprised why they valued Hong Kong Island so much. He knew Hong Kong Island. It was a very desolate island. Although it had a considerable area and a good anchorage, ordinary merchant ships could not Dare to go there - that area is the main activity place for pirates. Are the Australians preparing to turn Hong Kong into another Australian nation if they occupy it?
"As long as you understand." Wen Desi smiled, "Just be consistent with what you say, and don't go against the rules."
"I dare not," Qin Haicheng was so frightened that he almost knelt down. "I must let the ship dock in Hong Kong for trade." Others also firmly stated that they would dock in Hong Kong for trade.
"Okay, let's go. Now everything is safe on the river and on the sea. You can trade wherever you want. As long as you don't commit hostile acts, our navy will never stop attacking civilian ships."
"Thank you, sir." Qin Haicheng was very surprised that the thief let him go without even paying a penny. But when I think about what kind of "butcher's knife" is waiting for everyone in Hong Kong, I feel a little confused. But now the Pearl River is owned by the Australians. If they don't obey, both the ship and the cargo will be lost immediately, and maybe even their lives will be lost. It seems that either I don't want to engage in sea trade, or if I want to do it, I still have to go to Hong Kong to pay tribute. I estimate that the Australians’ asking price is at most similar to Liu Xiang’s.
Wen Desi smiled and said, "But in the future, it would be better for your merchant ships to come to Huangpu Port less often. Otherwise, we will not burden you all when we set off fire and artillery fire."
"I don't dare, I don't dare. I won't dare to come to Huangpu Port anymore. I will definitely go to Hong Kong Island to trade."
Chen Haiyang then ordered the navy to dispatch a company, and at the same time dispatched two squadrons of spy boats to go to Huangpu with the representatives. Dai Xie led the indigenous clerks of the Planning Institute to conduct a "harmonious purchase" - every ship owner and cargo owner must submit a manifest for review. If one refuses to provide it or the manifest is tampered with, the cargo will be confiscated.
Qin Haicheng led the representatives to announce the policy to the ship owners and cargo owners gathered on the shore. Everyone was relieved to hear that they didn’t have to pay. Although Hemai made less money, after all, the overall loss was limited. As for going to Hong Kong Island to trade, everyone thought it was just imitating Zheng Zhilong's old trick. Before Zheng Zhilong came to Fu, he repeatedly attacked Yuegang, burned the ships and razed the streets to the ground. The purpose was to force all trading ships along the Fujian coast to go to the Zhongzuo Station under his control. Australians also want to use this hand to make money by sitting on the ground.
Of course, the businessmen had no choice but to accept all the conditions - you know that the Australians were already merciful, they could accept the 50,000 taels, or simply extort 100,000 taels and make these two demands, and they would still have to accept them.
The sailors boarded the pier, destroyed the wharf facilities and river moorings in Huangpu, and set fire to the river moorings.
The task force continued to move up the next day and effortlessly defeated the defenses of the Pazhou and Qinzhou forts. The defenders on the two forts fled after hastily firing their cannons. The spy boat didn't even have time to fire back.
The ensuing battle can no longer be regarded as a battle. The morale of the Ming army was extremely low. Neither Shui Yong nor the navy had the intention to attack. Even when guarding the fort, he is unwilling to contribute - since the enemy can only hit him, but he cannot hit the enemy, what is the point of defending such a fort?
Only in Liede and Ershawei, the task force encountered some trouble - not caused by the forts, but because the rivers had been tightly blocked. Big Whale had to carry out demolition and obstacle clearance work for two to three hours in each section. During this period, both Liede and Ershawei's forts only fired a few shots in response to the accident, and did not take any measures to organize the ambush troops to remove the river obstacles. As soon as the spy boat opened fire, the battle was over.
Now, the task force has entered less than three or four kilometers away from Baietan. Except for a few hastily repaired sandbag forts, there was nothing that could stop the Australians from entering Baietan. This terrifying prospect caused chaos in the city of Guangzhou. The boats on the White Goose Lake scattered overnight and fled to the upper reaches of the Xijiang River. The wealthy gentry fled the city with their families in large numbers, and the shops were closed. The common people had no choice but to close their doors and hide. Many lawless gangsters in the suburbs of the city have raised Australian flags, such as: "Pioneer of the Great Song Dynasty to conquer the Ming Dynasty", "Australian Dingyuan Marquis", "Da'ao Guerrilla General of Guangdong", "Recruitment of the former enemy superintendent of the Great Kun Kingdom", "Australian Left Pioneer", "Australian Song Dynasty Guangdong Zhengyin Pioneer"... and other titles were spread everywhere. Some people know that the Australians fly red flags and blue and white flags, so various red or blue and white flags are flying in the four towns of Guangzhou. These gangsters were either robbing homes or extorting money, which suddenly made people panic.
The task force moved forward slowly, mopping up bandits and broken troops along the road - villages and towns no longer dared to fight against them, but the bandits and broken troops everywhere under the banner of "Australia" seriously affected the ambush army's reputation. To this end, the task force carried out large-scale search and seizure activities along the way. After successively annihilating more than a dozen groups of bandits who claimed to be Australian troops and executing several bandits with numerous crimes, the trend in the Henan Island area was basically over.
Under Li Fengjie's urging, Xu Ting had to launch the last major counterattack against the Kun thieves on the Pearl River. Everyone from Li Fengjie to Shui Yong, who was eating and drinking, knew that this was the last chance for the officers and soldiers to repel the Kun thieves. . Xu Ting used the last weapon of the Ming Navy - the arson boat.
Since the Portuguese first came to the border, the most effective tactical method used by the Ming Navy to deal with European maritime forces that had certain technical advantages in ships and guns was to use arson ships. A large number of arson ships, under the cover of naval warships and driven by sailors selected with heavy rewards, rammed enemy ships. In narrow seaports, the small number of tall and clumsy European-style ships often suffer heavy damage due to the lack of cover from light ships. This has been a tried and tested method for dealing with European ships since the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Ting and others thought of this tactic again when they were desperate. Compared with the open area above the Pearl River Estuary, fire attack tactics seem to be more effective in Guangzhou's inland rivers. The inland rivers are narrow and the warships are densely packed, making it difficult to maneuver and avoid them; the inland rivers have many harbors and the fire attack ships can disperse and hide while seeking maneuvers.
Xu Ting discussed with the generals and believed that this method was feasible. It's just that the fire attack ship consumes a lot of ships, and the navy itself lacks ships. So as usual, we have to ask the governor to resolve this matter.
At this time, Li Fengjie could say anything as long as the Kun thieves didn't break into the White Goose Pond. At that time, an order was issued, ordering the prefect of Guangzhou and the magistrates of Nanhai and Panyu counties to seal ships in Xijiang, Beijiang and other places. Regardless of whether they are big or small, they will all be sent to Baietan for listening. For a time, fishing boats, cargo ships and boats that had just escaped from Baietan were hit one after another on the river, and a large number of people were imprisoned in Baietan without explanation. The officials and navy generals who were in charge during this period could not help but cheat, and sealed everything in the name of fighting. If the ship owner is rich and well-connected, he will naturally ask someone to clear the way and redeem his ship. The people who have no money can only watch their food money being piled up with firewood and poured with clear oil, ready to be burned to the ground. There is no way to shout.
In two days, the navy assembled more than 50 fire attack ships of various types on Baietan and Xijiang River, and also rushed to build more than 100 fire platoons to float along the current. These ships and fire rows were all loaded with fuel, and large iron nails were fixed on the bows. Xu Ting recruited people with good water character who dared to die among Shui Yong, fishermen, and navy officers and soldiers, promising that each person would be given ten taels of silver for housing expenses, and those who came back alive would be given another twenty taels, and those who died would also be given ten taels of compensation. With favorable conditions, more than 300 people were recruited immediately. Prepare to sail the ship to ram the Kun thief's ship.
