The Hedong captives worked tirelessly throughout the winter, trying their best to maintain the defense line in the Western Liaoning Corridor and the Liaodong Peninsula defense line in case the Seventh Army of the Dachu Empire Army went directly north.
The Seventh Army on the opposite side seemed very leisurely.
Because the Seventh Army has no intention of continuing to move north on a large scale, let alone attacking Shenyang, even the Seventh Army of Gaizhou has no intention of going.
Bai Yangrong always kept his strategic mission in mind: to contain enough Dongfeng troops to reduce the pressure on the Western Liaoning Corridor Campaign after next spring.
Now, his mission has been accomplished. On the front line of Fuzhou, there are more than 40,000 Dongji troops, tens of thousands of which are huge cavalry.
On the other side of Jinzhou's defense line, there were also twenty to thirty thousand Japanese soldiers, as well as several thousand cavalry.
Adding the two together, the Seventh Army contained at least 70,000 captive troops, of which 20,000 were crucial cavalry.
This means that after the Battle of Western Liaoning begins, when the Chu army from the Shanhaiguan direction attacks the Western Liaoning Corridor, they will face tens of thousands fewer enemy troops, and the opponent will also lack sufficient strategic reserves, which is very important to Chu. It is vital to the military.
In this case, Bai Yangrong would naturally not launch any large-scale offensive in the winter. It would be nice to just stay behind the defense line and warm up, instead of braving the cold wind and going to the university to fight.
Of course, in order to further contain the enemy's troop mobilization, Bai Yangrong did nothing. He coordinated with the Navy and dispatched about two thousand troops. Together with the Navy's Second Marine Regiment, they formed two separate groups. There are about 3,000 landing fleets, one operating in the northern coastal area of the Liaodong Peninsula and the other operating in the southern coastal area of the Liaodong Peninsula.
In November, the Chu army's land and sea landing fleet also went to Phi Island near North Korea to conduct landing operations, and then went ashore to attack many towns, causing great panic in the Li Dynasty, and also ordered the local garrison to Thousands of captive troops were panicked.
This kind of landing attack forced the local area to further increase the defense of coastal cities, which naturally reduced its military strength and material resources on the front line of the Liaoxi Corridor.
After all, today's North Korea is also a vassal state under the control of the Dongji people. It can obtain a large amount of grain, grass and other materials from the local area, and even recruit troops.
Therefore, they must be contained so that the Dongji people cannot get much support from here.
In addition to mobilizing enemy forces and consuming a large amount of manpower and materials, these landing raids also have some benefits, that is, they can obtain a lot of combat supplies.
Because the two landing attack forces today are mainly based on the navy, most of the war supplies were taken away by the navy.
Then the navy discovered that after several such attacks, although the war trophies obtained still could not cover the military expenditures for fighting on the northern coast, it could be regarded as a partial recovery of the cost.
For the Navy, this is a rare good thing.
Ever since, some people in the navy thought, if the army can make money fighting wars, why can't the navy make money fighting wars?
With a few big votes, wouldn't it be possible to bring back a fleet?
Therefore, many naval generals are wondering whether to normalize this kind of landing attacks, not only in Liaodong and the coast of North Korea, but also in Fuso and even the Nanyang region.
However, it is not easy to achieve. After all, the Chu Empire's navy cannot attack randomly, especially the current Fuso and Nanyang areas, which are important areas for the Chu Empire's foreign trade.
What if your navy messes up and destroys trade?
You must know that compared with what is obtained from landing attacks, maritime trade is the bulk of the empire.
To put it bluntly, how much money can you steal...
In maritime trade, the goods of any merchant ship are worth hundreds of thousands. Several large maritime trading companies in the empire organize a large fleet to go to Fuso or Nanyang for trade, and the trade volume is in the millions.
These maritime trades may only be some profits for maritime trading companies, but for the entire empire, they are not only pure trade interests, but also represent the market for industrial products and the sources of various raw materials.
Behind this, it affects the livelihood of millions of families.
Take the export of machine-made cloth as an example. Maritime trade is just the terminal, but behind it are textile factories and farmers who grow cotton.
There are workers in textile factories, and there are also factories that supply various raw materials and equipment to textile factories.
If this continues step by step, it will become almost an entire industrial system!
Why is the textile industry a core industry for countries that started to industrialize in modern times? It is because this thing is the engine of industrial development, and it can almost drive the development of the entire industrial system and even the entire society.
The textile industry is not just as simple as cloth. It is a high value-added bulk industrial product. In any era, this high value-added bulk industrial product is the core industry.
For example, cars of later generations, such as chips!
Therefore, the high-level officials of the empire do not allow the navy to destroy the maritime trade market in the entire East Asian waters for some so-called plundering benefits. Not to mention not allowing themselves to destroy it, the empire also does not allow others to destroy the maritime trade security in the East Asian waters.
Emperor Luo Zhixue has always insisted that the navy attack all types of pirates. Not only pirates that threaten the security of his own coast, but also pirates in Fuso and even Nanyang waters are within the scope of the imperial navy.
Compared with the huge benefits of the entire maritime trade, the proceeds from a little robbery are nothing!
Not only can we not plunder, but we must continue to fight against pirates and ensure the safety of sea routes.
Speaking of which, pirates these days also make the empire's top officials a little helpless...
Because there are not many pure pirates at all... Most of the so-called pirates are actually part-time maritime merchants... Many of them are maritime merchants of the Dachu Empire...
There are many maritime trading companies in the Da Chu Empire, and many of them have armed merchant ships. When these armed merchant ships are on the coast controlled by the empire, they are naturally the empire's legal merchants!
But once they leave the coastal areas of the empire and escape the routes patrolled and protected by the imperial navy, it is difficult to tell whether they are merchants or pirates...
When they see merchant ships from other countries and feel they have a chance to capture them, they will remove the black dragon flag of the Chu Empire and replace it with a skull and crossbones flag... and directly turn into pirates!
This is part of maritime trade these days, pirates and maritime merchants are inseparable!
Even the officials of the Da Chu Empire would find it difficult to change the objective laws of this environment.
Therefore, when the Da Chu Empire went to sea for trade, they also drove armed merchant ships there... When they sailed unarmed merchant ships to trade, they basically came to die.
Since we can't restrain them, we can only restrain them and control them.
To this end, the empire even issued a special "Self-Defense Law on Maritime Trade", which directly authorized armed merchant ships going to sea trade to equip and use weapons, including naval guns, for self-defense in the open sea.
However, these armed merchant ships need to be registered. At the same time, these armed merchant ships must obey unconditionally when called for combat by the navy.
In addition, there is a more interesting detail in the terms of recruiting armed merchant ships, which is to encourage the combat morale of the sailors who were recruited to the merchant ships and compensate them for their losses.
During the war, the loot captured by an armed merchant ship that was recruited during the war belongs to the company, captain and sailors of the armed merchant ship according to a certain proportion. It does not need to be turned over like the navy.
Then...for this recruitment, in addition to direct recruitment by the military, armed merchant ships can also apply for recruitment on their own.
The difference between the two is that if the military recruits directly, the actions of armed merchant ships must be carried out under the orders of the navy, while if you apply for recruitment on your own initiative, you can move freely and choose the opportunity to attack the enemy!
In addition to being directly recruited by the Navy, those who voluntarily apply will be directly upgraded to temporary direct recruitment. They need to unconditionally obey the Navy's combat orders. After the temporary recruitment is over, they can move freely!
This is very interesting!
It is precisely because of this that every armed merchant ship in the Chu Empire has applied for active recruitment...
Currently, all armed merchant ships in the empire are free to attack pirate merchant ships and even coastal ports. All seizures are theirs to distribute among themselves and do not need to be turned over!
There were many such conscripted armed merchant ships in the huge landing fleet of the Da Chu Empire. During the landing attack, the navy ate meat in the front, and they followed behind and drank soup. How much they earned depends on luck and courage. .
However, these active recruitment applications are only limited to armed merchant ships, and ordinary merchant ships are not eligible.
The approval of armed merchant ships is also relatively strict, and the approval of weapons and equipment is even stricter.
Only those who have passed strict review can own armed merchant ships.
Currently, in addition to the three large maritime trading companies in the empire that are fully owned by official capital, there are only more than a dozen trading companies that have obtained equipment licenses for their armed merchant ships.
And these more than ten trading companies actually all have official shares.
As for the merchant ships of ordinary private maritime trading companies, although they can also be equipped with weapons, they are basically limited to light weapons and small and medium-caliber artillery. They are still a little behind the level of armed merchant ships...
After all, armed merchant ships are a kind of armed force, and the Chu Empire does not allow any armed force to be outside the official control. If there is one, it will either be incorporated or eliminated!
Therefore, even in the Da Chu Empire, which promoted maritime trade, not everyone could drive armed merchant ships equipped with large naval guns to go to sea for trade. Only maritime trading companies with official background could do so.
Of course, the empire does not restrict the trading activities of ordinary merchant ships, and safety can be guaranteed to a certain extent. As long as you honestly do business in the empire's home sea routes, then safety is no problem.
If you want to go to the distant sea, you can also go to several fixed escort routes of the Imperial Navy, such as to several ports in Fuso or to several ports in Nanyang. The Imperial Navy will regularly patrol and escort in these fixed routes. You can directly follow the Navy's It's very safe to go to sea with the patrol fleet and let the navy act as your bodyguard.
As for you insisting on carrying muskets and light artillery to waters outside the control of the Imperial Navy...then that's up to you.
In fact, many private merchant ships that cannot be equipped with large-caliber naval guns are operating honestly in the imperial waters, but as soon as they go to sea, their true nature is immediately exposed.
Many will install large-caliber artillery on a remote island or a port controlled by other forces, and then continue to do business in unfamiliar waters or simply become pirates...
Before returning home, go to Manila or a remote island to unload and store the artillery, or if the situation is urgent, just throw it on a desert beach or even the sea. Who knows that they went out to be pirates for a while before, and the goods on the ship were not purchased. Yes, it was stolen!
Pirates are a normal thing for the sea in this era, and they were even an important part of the age of navigation.
Even the Great Chu Empire cannot avoid it.
But in Luo Zhixue's view, these are all temporary!
Pirates exist because the combat effectiveness of the navy is still too low, the combat effectiveness of the warships is not that good, and the ability to control large-scale sea areas is too poor.
As the combat effectiveness of warships becomes higher and higher, and the technical threshold becomes higher and higher, then pirates will naturally slowly disappear. Even if they still exist, it is only harmless.
Now, Luo Zhixue cannot control the maritime security of other places. He can only manage the maritime security of the empire's offshore waters and the security of several maritime trade routes that are very important to the empire.
We’ll talk about other places later.
When that time comes, it may be time for the Imperial Navy and even the Empire to go out and participate in carving up colonies around the world.
It's still too early. For the empire, the sea is not a threat, but the Eastern captors on the northern land are a threat.
So this winter, when the Eastern capturers were struggling, the Chu Empire took advantage of the autumn and winter to transport a large amount of new equipment, various types of ammunition and even food to the Shanhaiguan line in the north.
Even in the cold winter, after the northern section of the Youhang Grand Canal froze, the Chu army still transported a large amount of supplies to the north through sea transportation.
New howitzers of various calibers and a large number of grenades!
The packaging is extremely tight, with boxes after boxes of artillery propellants of various specifications, as well as fixed-ration paper-packed ammunition directly produced by the arsenal, which has better moisture-proof performance and is more convenient for shooting the 2-year-old flintlock gun.
The reason why it is said to be quantitative paper-packed ammunition, rather than fixed-loaded bullets, is because fixed-loaded bullets are often directly loaded and fired, and are themselves a whole.
Paper-packed ammunition is not. It is only for moisture-proof and mass production and transportation. It is also to facilitate loading, improve the performance of the rifle, and avoid situations such as over-fire and incorrect gunpowder content when soldiers are panicking, causing the chamber to explode.
This kind of quantitative paper-packed ammunition has mass production, uniform specifications, and relatively low-cost lead bullets, a uniform quantitative propellant, and is wrapped in moisture-proof oil paper.
When firing, the soldier needs to tear open one end of the quantitative paper package of ammunition with his teeth, then pour a small amount of propellant into the propellant pool in the rifle bolt, cover the gunpowder cap, and then pour the rifle muzzle upward. Put it upright, pour most of the remaining propellant from the muzzle into the barrel, and then stuff the projectiles and paper packets into the barrel.
Finally, use a purge bar to compact it, and take out the purge bar and stuff it back into the fixed sleeve under the barrel.
Then you can raise your gun and shoot anytime!
The entire launch process is very simple and smooth, which greatly reduces the error rate of soldiers and avoids various accidents.
In addition to this quantitative paper package ammunition, the munitions department also supplied a batch of molds for melting and casting lead bullets directly to the front line.
When necessary, soldiers can also use gunpowder and lead bullets or lead blocks captured from the enemy directly on the front line to directly rub bullets for combat by hand...
The military even brought a batch of gunpowder-making craftsmen and small emergency equipment, thinking that if a large amount of saltpeter and other raw materials were seized, gunpowder could be made directly on the front line.
The military of the Dachu Empire has made considerable preparations in order to successfully launch the Liaoxi Campaign next year.
In the month of December alone, the Chu army transported more than thirty howitzers to the front line of Shanhaiguan, many of which were large-caliber howitzers weighing 48 pounds.
Forty-eight-pound howitzer, the caliber of this artillery reaches 200 millimeters, and the shells are extremely powerful.
Even in the mortar era, the 48-pound mortar was the Chu army's siege weapon. In the howitzer era, the 48-pound howitzer became the force used to siege the city.
This kind of big guy, which weighs several tons, is not used in daily field battles and cannot be used. They can only be seen in siege operations or fortress defense operations.
Well, the Navy is dragging the ship-based version of this forty-eight-pound howitzer around. The Navy has recently equipped a batch of forty-eight-pound howitzers for land support operations. As for sea operations, wait until the shells of this thing hit. When an enemy ship is in motion, a large number of direct-aimed artillery pieces may have already smashed the opponent's warship to pieces.
As for the advantages of explosive shells, it is not only used by howitzers. With wooden ammunition holders, long-barreled artillery can also use grenades. It is necessary to reduce the charge and increase the elevation angle, otherwise the chamber pressure is too high and the grenade will be used. The bullet casing is easily broken, and the angle is too low and the range is too close.
Nowadays, the naval guns of the Chu Navy are basically equipped with grenades to increase the elevation angle, and use reduced-load propellant to launch grenades with relatively fragile shells to burn the enemy's sails or kill the active forces on the deck.
In sea operations, there is actually no need for such direct-fire artillery. The 48-pound howitzer is mainly used for land support operations.
Unlike the Navy, which can carry big guns everywhere, not to mention the 48-pound howitzer, even heavier naval guns such as the 24-pound cannon can still be carried everywhere.
But the Army couldn't. Limited by the power of mules and horses and the condition of the roads, the Army was destined to be unable to use overly heavy artillery in field battles.
The same is true for this Liaoxi campaign. Although a large number of 24-pound and 48-pound howitzers have arrived at Shanhaiguan, the artillery actually used on the battlefield must be field guns of two calibers, five-pound and nine-pound, and nine-pound howitzers. , 18-pound light howitzer, these two types of howitzers.
These four kinds of artillery will be the main artillery of the Chu army in the Western Liaoning Campaign.
In addition, the cavalry is also equipped with a batch of the latest five-pound cavalry cannons, eighteen-pound cavalry howitzers, and combined with the previous two-and-a-half-pound cavalry cannons, the cavalry's artillery firepower has also been greatly enhanced.
The artillery and ammunition hoarded by the Chu army in Shanhaiguan are increasing at an alarming rate.
This is also a reflection of the overall strategic thinking of the Chu army's high-level strategy in the Northeast!
Since the cavalry can't do it, causing the Chu army to have a certain disadvantage in the field, then use the absolute firepower advantage to offset this disadvantage.
The Chu army did not intend to play all kinds of messy tactics with Dongduo. They just pushed all the way along the Liaoxi Corridor, fought steadily, and relied on the artillery advantage to gradually advance!
Under such circumstances, Dongdu could either retreat step by step and retreat into the barren mountains and forests, or he could hold on to the city and even run out to have a head-on confrontation with the Chu army.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
No matter which one, the military leaders represented by Xu Zhixian in the empire have absolute confidence.
Either kill Dongjie and recapture Liaodong.
Either flee eastward and recapture Liaodong.
Liaodong will surely return to the embrace of the Chinese people!
As for the loss of Liaodong, whether it was lost in defeat or lost by running away, once this basic base is lost, it means that the empire of the Dongji people will fall into total collapse.
The empire will definitely win this war!
