Chapter 1821: Strengthen your troops

When the Qing army crossed the Yalu River and invaded North Korea, the coalition fleet hardly got much rest time. They continued to sweep the area near the Liaodong coast every day. Such high-frequency operations naturally yielded quite rich rewards.

During this period alone, more than 5,000 Han refugees were kidnapped from this area. Many villages and towns were packed away by the coalition forces. It is not an exaggeration to describe the current situation of the population centers in this area as ten rooms and nine empty spaces.

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Although the more than 3,000 Qing troops deployed to garrison in this area some time ago also tried to resist, they were no match for the coalition forces due to their scattered strength. Instead, nearly half of them were lost in previous small-scale battles.

Manpower, the remaining defeated troops could only retreat to the inland mountainous areas to avoid the coalition forces. During this process, the coalition forces had clear combat objectives, proper tactical deployment, and their strength greatly exceeded their opponents, so the number of casualties was relatively low.

Much smaller, the actual battle loss ratio between the two sides was more than twenty to one, which was completely acceptable to the coalition forces.

Annan and Portugal did not express any objection to the Fujian navy being separately transferred to fight in Korea. Among the coalition fleets heading north this time, the number of troops and ships dispatched by Fujian was second only to Haihan. Before the coalition forces were over,

Before the operation in Liaodong, it was a reasonable arrangement for him to go to North Korea to be responsible for carrying out combat missions against the Qing army.

During this operation, the refugee camp on Guanglu Island continued to be full, so Wang Tom simply assigned more refugees to the Datong River base in North Korea. In order to get the local refugee management on track as soon as possible, Wang Tom

He also sent a special telegram to Jinzhou, requesting that Liu Shang be temporarily transferred to North Korea to train a group of local personnel responsible for civil affairs and propaganda work.

The Jinzhou authorities have no objections to this transfer order. After all, the situation in Jinzhou is currently calm, and the Qing army has no plans to take the initiative to open a second battlefield in the Liaodong Peninsula, so the social order is relatively calm, and Liu Shang also has a group of subordinates

can temporarily take over his job. So after receiving the transfer order, Liu Shang arranged the transfer plan for the refugees on the island, then took a navy transport ship to meet with the coalition fleet near Shicheng Island, and then went south with the fleet transporting refugees.

Travel to North Korea.

Liu Shang had never visited North Korea before, so he was still a little bit new about this errand. He generally knew that Haihan was currently building a military base on a piece of land on the coast of North Korea, but as for the war pressure faced by the local area,

It was only along the way that I gradually learned the details of the situation.

A military base that has only been under construction for less than two months must serve as a bridgehead to block the southward offensive of tens of thousands of Qing troops. A large number of defenses must be built, and the labor force Haihan can use now is the labor force recently captured from Liaodong.

It is not easy to effectively manage the Han refugees and the thousands of civilians provided by North Korea. The Qing army has already invaded North Korea, and the construction period left for Haihan is counting down. It is not difficult for Liu Shang to think of the local

In such an urgent situation, one could understand why Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom had to temporarily transfer themselves there.

Liu Shang didn't have much psychological pressure on such a task. When he went from Shandong to Liaodong, the local area was also facing the threat of war at any time. After two years, he had already become accustomed to this environment, and he was not aware of the presence of the Qing army.

They will not be as nervous as the Han people in Liaodong. However, it is a rare experience for a civil servant to be able to witness the Haihan attack on the Qing army on another battlefield.

A day and a half after setting off from Shicheng Island, the fleet carrying 1,500 refugees arrived at the mouth of the Datong River. Although the main force of the coalition fleet was fighting on the Liaodong coast and the Qingchuan River Basin in the north, this place still

The most basic water security system was retained, and there were two armed warships patrolling near the estuary at any time. When he saw the familiar two-color flag flying on the mast in the distance, Liu Shang knew that he had arrived on his own territory.

The mouth of the Datong River is ten miles wide and is visually very open. However, perhaps because it has entered the war period, North Korea has also strictly controlled the navigation of the Datong River basin and centralized all civilian ships for unified management. Naturally,

There are no fishing boats or merchant ships going out to sea here.

However, when the fleet approached Haihan Base, the river became obviously more lively, and many ships could be seen entering and exiting the port. These ships are owned by North Korea and are continuously transporting personnel and materials to this base.

In less than two months, this originally deserted river bank has become one of the busiest construction sites in northern North Korea. Beside several docks that have been put into use, thousands of migrant workers are working around the clock.

Clean up the river bank and build new berths. Although the current berths can accommodate more than a dozen ships at the same time, there is still a clear gap with the standards of Haihan Military Port. The military still hopes to be able to berth as much as possible before the coalition fleet returns to the Datong River.

Build some berths in many places to facilitate the rapid replenishment of large numbers of warships.

After Liu Shang got off the ship, he met Gao Qiaonan, who came to the dock to pick him up. Originally, a high-ranking military attache like Gao Qiaonan should not be responsible for such an errand, but now he temporarily holds the position of local security officer and human resources manager, and many

The specific work had to be handed over to Liu Shang as soon as possible, so when I heard that the fleet from Liaodong had arrived, I took the initiative to go to the dock to pick them up.

"Captain Gao Qiao, my feet have just touched the ground, how can you be so confident and leave everything to me?" Liu Shang was slightly surprised after hearing Gao Qiao Nan's intention. He originally thought he would get at least one tael.

He had three days to complete the handover, but Takahashi Minami wanted him to take over immediately and start work immediately, with no intention of leaving any buffer time.

"I may not be able to trust others, but I know you can." Gao Qiaonan reached out and patted Liu Shang on the shoulder and said: "You are a person that the chiefs are very optimistic about. I will hand over the management of things here to you.

Very reassuring.”

Although Liu Shang was quite proud of such praise, he was still a little flattered. He quickly expressed his attitude to Gao Qiaonan that he would do his best.

Although Liu Shang now has some power in his hands, he is not arrogant enough to think that he can be on an equal footing with senior military attachés like Gao Qiaonan. He has always kept these four words in mind and never forgotten them.

Gao Qiaonan was indeed so busy that he didn't even have time to catch up with Liu Shang. After briefly explaining the local situation, he asked his officers to hand over the work to Liu Shang, and hurried to the northern construction site to supervise the progress of the trench construction.

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After sending Gao Qiaonan away, Liu Shang realized how big the stall he was about to take over was. There were nearly 10,000 Korean civilians and Han refugees combined, and they were assigned to two large construction sites, one in the south and one in the north, working day and night.

His task is to be responsible for the food, accommodation and logistics of these workers, as well as to take every opportunity to do propaganda work.

According to past experience, to cope with such a large stall, at least dozens of people must be responsible for various affairs to ensure a certain work efficiency. However, Liu Shang brought less than ten people from Guanglu Island.

It was obviously difficult for people to complete such a large workload, so a group of local personnel had to be selected. Before his arrival, these tasks were handled by independent regiments, and the specific persons in charge were all grassroots officers.

Gao Qiaonan gave Liu Shang three days to set up his own team to take over these tasks from the military. This task was not easy for him.

Fortunately, the Datong River base also carried out preliminary identity registration for the Han refugees transported, and selected some people with management experience to act as foremen and organizers, so Liu Shang had to select some suitable people from them.

It is much simpler. In addition, North Korea has also sent many grassroots officials here to take charge of the management of civilians. Regarding the command and logistics issues of Korean civilians, they only need to communicate with them.

After obtaining a relatively sufficient labor force, new adjustments have been made to the defense line projects in the northern part of the base. Some defense fortifications that were originally considered to be handled in a simplified manner can now use more complete construction methods to improve defense capabilities.

Originally, the infantry's combat position was to use wooden parapets as bunkers. Such a project would be relatively small and the construction period could be controlled within a shorter time. However, after sufficient labor was available, the military chose

Infantry trenches and earthen fortifications are more concealed, have better protection, and are easier to mobilize personnel and change defenses during wartime.

If you are using traditional flintlock troops, you need to use a horizontal rotational formation to ensure the frequency of shooting and intensive firepower. It is not very suitable to use trenches as infantry combat positions. However, the independent regiments who went to North Korea this time and

The two infantry units of the Marine Corps are equipped with the most advanced seven-shot rifles in the Haihan Army. The intensity and accuracy of individual firepower output are far superior to ordinary musketeers, so trenches can be used as infantry fighting on the front line.

Bit.

In order to provide the best protection for the infantry on the firing line, the engineering department specially mobilized hundreds of laborers to build wooden roofs for the front-line combat positions to withstand arrows thrown from the air during battles.

Of course, considering that the Qing army had a large number of cavalry troops, the thin defense line of infantry alone might not be able to prevent a large-scale charge. Therefore, outside this line of fire, there was an iron net tens of meters deep to trap the horses and prevent them from attacking.

The obstacle area constructed by fortifications such as horses and Haogou is enough to stop any form of charge here.

Takahashi Minami personally supervised the work on the front line. These projects were related to the subsequent fighting situation. Water in the construction may cause unnecessary battle damage. Therefore, Takahashi Minami was also particularly attentive. After the completion of each project, he

I personally took a tape measure and went to the site for actual measurement to confirm that the North Koreans did not make any deviations or discounts in the project.

At this time, Qian Tiandun was leading a group of staff around the sand table and began to draw up tactical arrangements for the next battle. This sand table was not just the area near the Datong River base, but included the area beyond the Daning River.

It covers an area of ​​7,000 square kilometers, including the upper reaches of the Datong River in the south and east.

According to the plan of Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom, the coalition forces rely on the Datong River for defense. The fleet is responsible for blocking the Datong River basin, and the length of the river that needs to be monitored may be close to two hundred miles. The Qing army will definitely encounter resistance when they hit this place.

Repeating the same trick, they went to the upper reaches of the Datong River to find a crossing point that the coalition forces could not defend. However, at this time, the terrain advantage of the Datong River for the defending side was revealed.

The section of the Datong River from its mouth to Pyongyang is basically a coastal plain. The east-west flow terrain is also conducive to the defenders blocking the Qing army on the north bank and preventing them from going south. However, the upstream section east of Pyongyang flows in a north-south direction, and all of them are in the

The mountainous area winds back and forth, presenting a very complex terrain. The main force of the Qing army wants to complete the crossing of the river in the upper reaches and then go around to the south bank. The difficulty of the operation is far greater than that of breaking through the Daning River defense line earlier. The defenders only need to control the east-west direction.

The downstream section of the river was enough to make the Qing army sigh when looking at the river.

After all the coalition fleets return to the front line of the Datong River, the surface armed forces will be unprecedentedly powerful, and it will be extremely difficult to complete the crossing of the river under their control. The choice before the Qing army at that time is probably to try to destroy it.

The supply port of the Allied fleet forced it to leave the Datong River. Haihan specially placed this supply port on the north bank of the Datong River to attract the firepower of the Qing army.

If the Qing army does not come to attack the Datong River base, they will have no choice but to face the tightly blocked river. If they send troops to attack, it will suit Haihan's wishes. Now they have sharpened their swords and are waiting.

The Qing army put its head on the chopping block.

The strategic intention of Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom was to turn the Datong River base into a flesh-and-blood millstone, allowing the Qing army to consume as much of its effective forces as possible until the enemy could no longer hold on and retreated north, and then retreated from

Launched a counterattack at sea, using several coastal river estuaries to block its retreat route, making it impossible for it to come and go.

To achieve such an effect, active weakness in the early stage is an indispensable link. Since withdrawing from the Yalu River, the main force of the Haihan Army has never had a direct confrontation with the Qing Army. It even blocked the Daning River to delay the Qing Army's attack.

Anzhou also sent the Fujian Navy to perform the mission. Naturally, the Korean army could not stop the Qing army's offensive by fighting alone, but it would not let the Qing army realize that this was actually some kind of alternative tactic of luring the enemy deep into the enemy's territory. etc.

When the Qing army reached the front line of the Datong River, it would definitely be unable to advance further and would be unwilling to retreat. The coalition forces could give full play to their strengths in positional warfare and cause large-scale damage to them.

This combat plan is far different from the action plan they formulated before setting off from Sanya. They are even two completely different response plans. But if the expected combat results can be achieved, then the benefits Haihan will gain from it will be huge.

It’s just military subsidies and a military base paid out of North Korea’s pockets.
Chapter completed!