Chapter 1357 A feint shot

Liao Jie originally thought that Haihan sent a group of cavalry into the Ming-controlled area just for symbolic harassment and would not actually take military measures to retaliate. However, the performance of Haihan's army in Guxian Town and Jijia Town was...

It seems that this inference has been proven correct. After all, they did not cause any destruction or looting in Guxian Town. They only raided Zheng Ai's shop. When they were in Jijia Town, they did not even openly enter the town.

He only walked around for a while and then left, seemingly without any intention of causing trouble.

Liao Jie believed that as long as a certain density of reconnaissance cavalry was deployed in the coastal area to monitor their actions, it would be enough to control the situation. Anyway, the Haihan people would not be able to play any tricks if they remained unchanged in response to changes. But he never expected that the Haihan cavalry would leave.

After Jijia Town, they suddenly changed their direction and went all the way inland to Xindian Town, and then with lightning speed, they took over the new racecourse that had just been established less than a year ago.

How many sergeants died at the racecourse and how many troops and horses were lost are actually not what Liao Jie is currently focusing on. What he is more worried about is the tough attitude shown by the Haihan people during this operation. Liao Jie knows that the Haihan people are very practical in dealing with things.

Therefore, he was originally not too worried that Zheng Ai's failure would lead to massive revenge from Haihan, because that would not bring much practical benefit to Haihan. However, judging from the raid on the racecourse, it seems that the Haihan people did not

I don't intend to make things right.

The news just returned from Fushan County is that the Haihan Army and the Navy are consolidating one after another. Even the Fushan Copper Mine has temporarily suspended some mines because all the mules and horses have been temporarily requisitioned by the military to transport military supplies. Liao

Jie was not so arrogant as to think that Haihan's high-profile actions were just for show. Since he had already made a vigorous gesture, he would definitely take action next.

It’s just that it’s not yet certain where the Haihan people’s target is. In addition to Dengzhou City, Muping, Wendeng, Rongcheng to the west of Fushan County, Rushan, Haiyang and other counties to the south may also be targets of the Haihan people’s armed attack.

Target. And to be honest, the defenses in these places are definitely not as strong as those in Dengzhou City. If the Haihan people consider it from a practical perspective, of course they will choose targets that are less difficult to attack. And Dengzhou City is two to three hundred miles away.

In these counties and towns, all the garrison posts are beyond the reach of the police, and it is difficult to dispatch troops to be stationed in these places to assist in defense. In other words, except for Dengzhou City, the safety of these other towns and counties can only be determined by their own destiny.

The mood of the Haihan people has changed.

Liao Jie didn't think that Haihan had enough troops to occupy so many places now, but just in case, he still gathered the cavalry with relatively strong mobility in case of emergency. Guo Xingning was recalled urgently because

A considerable part of the troops he brought out were cavalry. Liao Jie needed to have this cavalry return to Dengzhou City to await deployment to deal with emergencies that may arise at any time. As for the racecourse, since the losses are already irreversible

It would be useless to continue to struggle with the situation, so Liao Jie simply put it aside for the time being.

After spending another day in the anxiety of the Ming army in Dengzhou, the news came back with good and bad news. The good news was that the Haihan people still had not sent troops from Fushan County, and the bad news was that the army that attacked the racecourse

The Haihan cavalry has returned to Fushan County with a large number of livestock, which must have been looted from the Ming Army's horse farm.

From this point of view, the Haihan people's attack on the racecourse seemed to be a premeditated military operation. After successfully plundering property and quickly returning to the occupied area, this did not look like a coincidence. Although Liao Xun was furious, he still

Fortunately, he did not let Guo Xingning's troops continue to pursue them, because since the Haihan people had formulated a battle plan, they must have been able to mobilize to deal with the Ming army's pursuit. If they caught up, they would probably fall into the opponent's trap.

But he really didn't expect that Haihan's move was purely a mistake. It was entirely a temporary decision made by Harugong alone. It was not a plan in advance. It was just a step-by-step decision. There was no overall plan at all. At that time, Guo Xingning

If he led his troops to continue the pursuit, although it might not cause much damage to the Haihan Cavalry Battalion, it could at least cause some trouble. It would be impossible for Harugong to bring back all the livestock gained from the horse farm safely.

After two or three consecutive days of martial law inside and outside Dengzhou City, the prefect's Yamen finally got a whiff of it. After Chen Zhongsheng took the initiative to ask, he learned that the Haihan people had taken retaliatory measures against the military's assassination. They not only looted a Ming Army horse farm

, and the Haihan Army stationed locally in Fushan County is also ready to move, and it seems that they will take action soon.

"Master Liao, what did you tell me that day?" Chen Zhongsheng said in a stern voice: "You said that the Haihan people had limited local forces and would not come out to attack cities and plunder territory. How do you explain this situation now?"

The current situation was passive, and being questioned by Chen Zhongsheng in such a face-to-face manner, Liao Jie's face naturally did not look good, and he responded coldly: "The Haihan people are doing things in secret, but they haven't made any big moves. It shows that they don't dare to

If you make a mistake easily, Dengzhou City should be safe."

"Don't dare to make mistakes easily, your precious racecourse has been taken over by the Haihan people!" Chen Zhongsheng was even more furious when he heard this. If Liao Jie hadn't insisted on carrying out any assassination operation, the peaceful situation in Dengzhou would not have been

It would be suddenly broken. And for the horse farm planned by the Dengzhou military, more than half of the money was allocated from the treasury. After it was looted by the Haihan people, most of the losses naturally fell on the Dengzhou government.

There is no reason why Chen Zhongsheng is not anxious.

"Sneak attack on the racecourse shows the guilty conscience of Haihan!" Liao Jie grasped a very strange angle to explain: "Their strength is not enough to attack Dengzhou City, so they can only find some remote and...

They attacked targets without much defensive power. They needed livestock, so they attacked the racecourse. Although there were some losses at the racecourse, the Haihan people immediately withdrew their troops after they succeeded, indicating that they did not formulate a battle plan against Dengzhou City."

Liao Jie spoke plausibly. If Chen Zhongsheng hadn't known about the current situation, he would have really thought that the Ming army was taking the initiative now. But after hearing Liao Jie's explanation, he didn't feel relieved. Instead, he became even more angry.

Big: "If Mr. Liao continues to act recklessly like this, it will only be a matter of time before the Haihan people come to Dengzhou City!"

Liao Jie didn't like Chen Zhongsheng's tactics. Although according to the rules, local military attachés of the same level had to take orders from civilian officials, but he relied on his background in Shandong Capital. Even if Chen Zhongsheng complained to the superiors, as long as he didn't make any big mistakes.

, the official position below the buttocks will not be affected. Although the racecourse is empty, the money he pocketed through the racecourse is not less. Besides, only a small part of this loss fell on the military. For

There is nothing for him to be particularly concerned about.

"Mr. Chen, I make my own decisions regarding defense matters. If there is any need for Mr. Chen's assistance, I will raise it as soon as possible, so I won't bother Mr. Chen to worry about it." Liao Jie did not want to continue the verbal dispute with Chen Zhongsheng.

, he simply said the words directly.

"Okay, you can make your own decision!" Chen Zhongsheng did not want to continue arguing with this warrior. He stood up angrily and said: "I will write to the court and the Ministry of War to explain the affairs in Dengzhou. Lord Liao, you can take care of yourself!

"

Liao Jie watched Chen Zhongsheng leave with a very cold expression on his face. He and Chen Zhongsheng had differences in many concepts. To be honest, it was not comfortable to work together reluctantly. However, Chen Zhongsheng did not make any big mistakes when he was in power in Dengzhou. Liao Jie

It is not easy to squeeze him out of the position of prefect. Although they have been facing the invasion of Haihan for more than a year, fortunately, no war broke out between the two countries, and they managed to coexist in a relatively abnormal way.

But if this situation is not handled properly and the Haihan people really break out and start a war, then his situation as a military attaché may be even more difficult than that of Chen Zhongsheng. Even if the Haihan people cannot capture Dengzhou City and attack other parts of Dengzhou

, was enough to cause chaos in the local area. Although he was stubborn and refused to give in, he also knew that if Chen Zhongsheng really found out about him and complained to the court, then the responsibility for Dengzhou's falling into war would indeed be attributed to himself.

Thinking of this, Liao Jie also secretly regretted why he had so obsessively listened to Zheng Ai's persuasion and allowed him to carry out assassination operations. Now Zheng Ai's life and death are unknown, and he doesn't know whether he fell into the hands of the Haihan people, and the Haihan people

How many of these recent actions are the consequences of Zheng Ai's actions have made Liao Jie feel upset. He is not worried about the Haihan people attacking Dengzhou City, but if the opponent continues to attack the racecourse by surprise,

In this way, he attacked everywhere in Dengzhou, but it was difficult for him to organize effective defense and countermeasures. He could only huddle in Dengzhou City and wait for the opponent to retreat on his own.

This situation is obviously not what Liao Jie wants to see, but apart from sending more reconnaissance cavalry to monitor the movements of the Haihan Army, he seems to be unable to find a better way to deal with the current situation.

While Liao Jie was worrying about the strategy in Dengzhou City, the Haihan Army was already making final preparations before the expedition. Of course, their destination was not Dengzhou City, but across the sea from the Shandong Peninsula.

Liaodong Peninsula. As for the issues that Liao Jie and Chen Zhongsheng were worried about, Haihan's military actually had no plans to cause trouble in the local area. Because of the chaos in Dengzhou, all Haihan's local business, immigration, and mining affairs had to be suspended.

Although plundering wealth and population by force is also a method, Haihan does not intend to adopt such a simple and crude method in Shandong. It is easy to start a war, but it is more difficult to end the war and eliminate the negative effects. As long as

If the Ming army in Dengzhou can be frightened and dare not move rashly in recent times, then this deterrent can be considered to have the desired effect. As for unexpected gains like the Ming army horse farm that Harugong packed back, they are rare after all.

However, it seems that there is no second such almost undefended racecourse in Dengzhou.

The navy was still the main force in the expedition to Liaodong this time, but the number of army troops participating in the operation was probably the largest among the previous strike missions to the Liaodong Peninsula this year. Almost all the special operations battalions under Qian Tiandun's command came out, and he

I will also go out personally as the commander. This is also the first time that the special operations battalion has been dispatched to perform combat missions after moving north from Zhejiang. During the period of being stationed on Zhifu Island, most of the tasks they performed were only surveillance and reconnaissance of the surrounding areas.

It was not an actual confrontation with real soldiers. Although they also participated in several military missions on the Liaodong Peninsula during the period, they only mobilized part of the team to participate, and did not dispatch the entire battalion like this time.

The Navy has also mobilized a group of troop carriers early for this purpose, and even specially mobilized several troop carriers from the south this month to meet combat needs. However, the reason why so many troop carriers are mobilized is not only

It is just to carry the soldiers of the special operations battalion, as well as the cavalry and artillery troops, and the equipment must also be sent out together. However, the cavalry battalion will not go out with all the troops like the special operations battalion. Harugong must leave some cavalry behind to fight locally.

Continue to assume the security role on the periphery of the occupied area.

As for the artillery, it is mainly composed of light field artillery, and the number is not large. There is only one artillery battery and more than ten guns. Haihan's expedition to the Liaodong Peninsula does not intend to engage in a protracted or difficult battle, so there are not many

Equipped with heavy firepower weapons, the artillery units will only land operations when attacking a few stronghold targets that are close to the coastline and have suitable terrain. Generally speaking, they may not have too many opportunities to perform.

The main force of the Northern Fleet is responsible for the transportation and cover tasks for these army units, including twelve combat ships including a "Dignity-class" flagship, and more than ten comprehensive supply ships. The navy that remains in the local area

Mainly composed of "exploration-class" warships with smaller tonnage. Although the number is not large, it is enough to deal with the nominal Ming Navy in Dengzhou. In addition, there is also a battalion of the army left in Fushan County to

Make sure that during the main expedition, the occupied area will not be invaded by the Ming army.

The senior generals leading this Northern Expedition were Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun and Harugong, while Morgan and Chen Yixin stayed in Shandong and were responsible for the security of the rear. After the fleet sailed out of the harbor southeast of Zhifu Island, it specially surrounded Zhifu.

They circled the island and sailed west along the coastline for a while, so that the secretly observing spies on land could confirm that the fleet was heading in the direction of Dengzhou City. This was also the action strategy formulated by Wang Tom.

Taking advantage of the momentum of the fleet's trip, we once again put some pressure on Dengzhou City and dissuaded the local Ming army from taking rash actions.

This fleet totaled more than forty ships, and its scale was quite astonishing. After the spies lurking in Fushan County discovered it, they quickly spread the news to Dengzhou.
Chapter completed!