On the bridge of the Zhenyang, the Second Fleet Admiral Li Haiping supported his back with one hand and held a telescope in the other. He looked at the rising sun on the sea in the distance. He couldn't help but feel proud and wanted to say something to "leave it in history." Suffering from not having much ink in my stomach, I had to put down the idea of reciting a poem. I was holding back my words like "I will come and I will win." In the end, I just said: "Jeju Island has been an indivisible part of our country since ancient times." territory."
After he finished speaking, he ordered without replying: "Write it down!"
The female orderly standing behind him quickly wrote down his words in her notebook.
After saying this sentence, I felt that it was not interesting enough. Just as I was thinking of another original sentence, the lookout post reported: "10 nautical miles directly ahead of Jeju Island." Quickly pick up the telescope and observe the sea.
The sea is calm, the surrounding sea is vast expanse of blue waves, a large green island lies on the sea, and Halla Mountain is vaguely visible.
In the sea area as far as the eye can see, there is almost no ship, only a few fishing boats. When they see such a huge fleet approaching, they all try to avoid it.
Li Haiping took a deep breath of the fresh sea breeze in the morning and looked at the huge fleet following behind him, feeling a sense of intoxication. Now he is also a dignified fleet admiral. It is unbearable to think back to the time when he and dozens of naturalized civilians and sailors stared at each other in Changhua Fort, counting stars and looking at the moon at night, and fishing and hunting during the day.
Although this period of time was difficult, it also gave him enough political capital. Moreover, the extremely boring life made him regain his original enthusiasm for taking the military academy entrance examination and study naval tactics textbooks. Led by Wen Desi, a group of former naval officers and naval enthusiasts in the Senate considered that the weapons and tactics of the new navy were different from those of the old time and space, and compiled a book based on the British and German naval materials of the late 19th century. The "Naval Drill Code" and "Naval Basic Tactics Reader" are used as textbooks for training officers in the new navy.
In the plan, Li Haiping is just a corporal in the navigation department. He is completely different from authentic naval officers like Chen Haiyang and Ming Qiu. In a sense, he will not get seasick except when he gets on the ship. Apart from being relatively familiar with naval terminology and shipboard situations, he was actually no different from a veteran naval officer like Li Di who was a naval enthusiast. In terms of depth of understanding of naval tactics and strategies, it may not be as good as those naval enthusiasts who talk about it on paper. Not to mention, just the naval tactics and equipment characteristics of the sail and iron armor era. All the former plan naval officers combined are not as good as Wen Desi-Mr. Wen's title of Navy General Counsel is not just "leadership vanity".
After gaining enough qualifications in Changhua Fort, the "speech" at the second plenary meeting was gradually forgotten by the "democratic" faction. Li Haiping returned to Lingao safely - just as he met the navy's shipbuilding In the preparation plan, at Mingqiu's suggestion, the Navy began to train senior naval officers from veterans to prepare commanders for the newly acquired Type 845 and Type 901. As a "former naval professional soldier", Li Haiping became a "fleet commander" with priority training.
Now he stood on the bridge, wearing the rank of lieutenant colonel. His acting flag was flying on the mast of the Zhenyang. Every time he looked up and saw this flag, Li Haiping couldn't help but feel excited - there were only four people in the Australian and Song Dynasty navy who had the right to fly the flag, and he was one of them.
Fortunately, he didn't listen to Lao Di's temptation and transferred to the navy. He really wanted to join the Marine Corps, and now under Shi Zhiqi's light, he could at most be a shameless Marine Company Commander - just like Lao Di.
He coughed pretending to be majestic and gave the order: "Order all ships. Prepare for battle. Strengthen observation!"
After giving the order, he turned the telescope to Jeju Island, which was getting closer.
The appearance of Jeju Island is very regular, almost an oval. Except for a few places, there is no broken and rugged coastline, and terrain such as bays, capes, and headlands is very rare. There are flat beaches everywhere. The center of the island is Mount Halla, which is 1,190 meters above sea level. The entire Jeju Island is a typical volcanic island.
To put it figuratively, Jeju Island looks like it was formed by lava extruded from Halla Mountain spread out on the sea.
Although Jeju Island has the same dimensions as the Shandong Peninsula, it has a subtropical climate due to the passage of warm currents. Although it can snow in winter and the temperature can drop to 0 degrees. Overall it's still moist and warm.
Although the winter here is much colder than Kaohsiung, it is at least warmer than Shandong, and it is much closer to Longkou. An area of more than 500 square kilometers is enough to accommodate a large number of large mouths. Fresh water resources are also quite abundant. In the 1930s, under extremely underdeveloped conditions, the island maintained a population of almost 200,000. The permanent population of Jeju Island in the 21st century is 550,000. Not counting the large migrant population that travels to the island every year, the island's carrying capacity has great potential.
Jeju Island’s subtropical climate with four distinct seasons is much healthier for immigrants than the hot and humid southern Taiwan. With the refugees being accommodated concentrated on Jeju Island, the chance of an infectious disease outbreak will be much smaller.
Although the agricultural conditions on the island are not very good, it is not a problem for a population of tens of thousands to be self-sufficient.
The decision to capture Jeju Island was made in the first place. It was considered as a transit point for immigrants. Now the progress has been delayed for a month. Although there is no excessive power generation to urge him, Li Haiping still feels that he has a heavy responsibility and must complete the task of landing in Jeju and building a refugee camp as quickly as possible.
The fleet sailed towards Seongsan in the northeast of Jeju Island. Because Jeju Island is a volcanic island, it does not have a natural port with good conditions, especially the wind shelter conditions are poor. The best port is Jeju Port, which is also where the governing body of the Lee Dynasty of North Korea is located. The population is relatively dense, so it is not suitable as a starting base. The final landing location was decided on Chengshan.
Although the port conditions of Seongsan are relatively average, the outer sea has the Niudao barrier in the northeast and Seongsan in the southeast surrounding the port. It can not only shield the wind and waves, but also can control the entire port by placing forts on it. The General Staff believes that it is appropriate to locate the main military base here.
As the fleet sailed toward the east of Jeju Island, the lookout post shouted: "There is a beacon!"
Even without the lookout post reporting, Li Haiping saw black smoke rising from the island. Black smoke rose from the small islands around Jeju Island. Then, black smoke also rose from the east of Jeju Island in the direction of Seongsan, straight into the sky.
Although the Grand Library did not find the specific fortification measures of the Lee Dynasty on Jeju Island from the data, the Haitian Ship already knew that the Lee Dynasty had beacons on the main island of Jeju Island and the surrounding islands during its reconnaissance voyage to Jeju Island a few months ago. There are also naval ships stationed on Taiwan: this place is only more than 300 nautical miles away from Japan and has been attacked by Japanese pirates throughout history. Moreover, it was less than thirty years after the Japanese Rebellion of Imchen and Dingyou, and the Li Dynasty still maintained a strong wariness against Japan. As the front line against Japan, this place is heavily guarded.
During the reconnaissance voyage to Jeju Island, the Haitian ship found that the beacon fires were lit successively on each island, but it did not see the North Korean navy intercepting it. Therefore, it was judged that the North Korean navy near Jeju Island was very weak and could not take the initiative to go to sea to intercept. , mainly relying on the method of resisting defense by dividing the defense troops on each island, which will not cause much hindrance to the landing operation.
So Li Haiping's order was simple: "Sail directly to Chengshan."
Because of the modern charts and the reconnaissance results of the Haitian, the fleet safely passed through the islands and reefs around Jeju Island and headed straight for Seongsan.
Soon, Chengshan appeared in Li Haiping's sight.
"It's like a fort!"
Although Li Haiping had seen the appearance of Chengshan in countless photos and videos, he was still amazed when it actually appeared in front of the bow.
The entire Chengshan is a huge rock protruding from the sea - just like its name, it is like a "city". But it is much more magnificent than the real city.
The main elevation of Chengshan is 182 meters. At the top is a huge crater. The crater is 600 meters in diameter and 90 meters deep. Like a huge saucer with a flat bottom. The southeast and north sides of Seongsan are cliffs, and only the northwest side is a lawn ridge that winds up and connects to Jeju Island.
In the 21st century, this place is a United Nations World Natural Heritage and a famous tourist destination. Many of the elders have been there - Li Haiping has never set foot in it because he has always scorned the Universe Empire.
Now he looked at the surrounding environment of Chengshan with the eyes of a naval officer.
Opposite Seongsan is Udo. A natural anchorage is formed in the middle. Setting up a fort in each of these two places can effectively protect the harbor. The disadvantage is that the parking area is limited and the wind shelter is not large. Only a small number of boats can be berthed. Overall mooring and shelter conditions were not good.
Li Haiping shook his head: "It's a pity that the fleet cannot be docked here."
In terms of Jeju Island's geographical location, this shortcoming seriously affects its strategic value.
Jeju Island is within the scope of the impact of typhoons and has always been known for its "strong winds". The island lacks a good natural haven, making it difficult for large fleets to safely anchor. Therefore, the Navy chose to launch its Jeju landing in late autumn and early winter.
Since conditions are limited, excessive military construction here becomes unnecessary. It seems that the General Staff's cancellation of the plan to build forts in Chengshan and Niudao still makes sense.
In the original plan, the Navy planned to build a coastal fort on the top of Chengshan and install heavy fortress artillery. However, after assessing the terrain and the military potential of the Li Dynasty, the General Staff believed that this was not necessary for the time being - and it was doubtful whether it would be necessary in the future. The conclusion was Set up a fortified camp on the top of Chengshan and set up observation posts to conduct comprehensive surveillance of the nearby sea areas and the eastern part of the island. Then build a lighthouse as a navigation mark. (To be continued)
