Chapter 2132

After three consecutive days of bombardment of Hirado Port, the Kaihan East Sea Fleet finally stopped its offensive. This was not because their ammunition had run out, but because the conspicuous red and blue flags were finally raised on the coast.

, this means that the Army troops have invaded Hirado Port and basically controlled the local coastal defenses built in the port area. And the people who have been prohibited from going to the port area to watch the battle in the past few days have finally begun to understand why they have been placed in the harbor.

The highly anticipated port defenses failed to stop the enemy invasion.

The battleship VIA that Shi Diwen was aboard slowly sailed into Hirado Port at dusk. For the Japanese of this era, this large warship with a displacement of nearly two thousand tons was considered one of the largest sailing ships they had ever seen in their lives.

It is the largest ship, and its visual impact is enough to make many local people who witnessed this scene remember it for a lifetime.

But it is precisely because of the large hull of the Haihan battleship that in order to make room for it to move, many warships of the East China Sea Fleet cannot even enter the narrow Hirado Port to berth. Therefore, another Majestic-class battleship in the fleet is so powerful.

The Bang had to leave here with some warships and go to Tasuke, which has a slightly larger harbor in the north. There are no shore defenses like the Hirado Port area. Three expedition-class warships sent by the East China Sea Fleet this afternoon

The area has been successfully occupied. Although the port conditions are not as good as Hirado Port, it can be used as a temporary anchorage.

"Is this the most important foreign trade port in Japan? That's it?" Shi Diwen looked at the port facilities here after getting off the ship, shook his head disapprovingly and said: "This place reminds me of Dawanshan Island ten years ago. Look,

It seems that the Hirado Domain's business capabilities are really not that good. They probably spent too much money on the military field, but coastal defenses cannot make this place more prosperous!"

Simon, the Portuguese officer who landed with him, had also been to Dawanshan Island. He agreed with Shi Diwen's view: "The size of Hirado Port is really similar to that of Dawanshan Island, but look

It seems that the cargo throughput here is not as good as Dawanshan Island."

Dawanshan Island, located at the mouth of the Pearl River, was a very important maritime transfer station in the Sanya-Guangzhou trade route established by Haihan. Although the port was not large, it was once responsible for the transshipment of two to three thousand tons of materials per month.

As a result, a large number of goods produced in the Ming Dynasty were transported to Sanya through here. The operating conditions of Dawanshan Island made the nearby Portuguese Council of Macau very envious, and it was at that time that Simang paid attention to this island.

After many years, Haihan's regional trade center at the Pearl River Estuary has long since been changed from Dawanshan Island to Hong Kong, but Xi Mang still remembers that place. Moreover, Dawanshan Island back then also had the same coastal defenses such as forts.

The coastal army also defeated the attacking Shibazhi armed fleet there.

However, the Manzan Port at that time was not destroyed by the war, and it was gradually replaced by Hong Kong purely due to Haihan's own development needs. However, the current Hirado Port was first dug into tatters due to the temporary construction of fortifications.

Then after three days of artillery battles, this port has long ceased to look like the peacetime period, and has completely lost the charm of Japan's number one trading port. It's no wonder that Shi Diwen looks down on it.

In Shi Diwen's eyes, the situation of Hirado Port is only comparable to that of a small place like Dawanshan Island, while large ports like Zhoushan Dinghai Port under his rule are far from what Hirado Port is.

It can be compared. Whether it is construction scale or management level, it far exceeds Hirado. Even if the Japanese are given another ten or eight years of development time, they will definitely not be able to catch up.

Of course, Shi Diwen also knew that the purpose of this war was not to occupy Hirado Port, so even if the war destroyed Hirado Port and the city, Shi Diwen would not feel anything wrong.

Proper. In his personal opinion, perhaps destroying this place is the safest way to deal with it, which can greatly reduce the possibility of his opponent making a comeback.

Since the decision to send troops to Hirado was hasty and there were too many uncertain factors, the Executive Committee has not actually made a final decision on how to deal with Hirado after the war is over.

With the military strength dispatched by Haihan and the assistance of the Fujian Xu family army, there will not be much problem in defeating the Hirado Domain. However, Haihan is not interested in occupying this place. So after the war, should he withdraw his troops directly or make further attacks on Hirado?

Regarding reform control, the executive committee has not yet reached a unanimous opinion.

The ideal approach is to immediately support a puppet figure to take over Hirado after defeating the Tagawa clan that currently rules Hirado, in order to eliminate the influence left by Shiba Shiba and avoid the withdrawal of troops in the first leg, and the remaining Shiba Shiba party in the back.

A resurgence occurs.

But the problem is that Haihan has no arrangements in Hirado before. Even if he wants to support him, there is still no candidate who is familiar with the local conditions who is qualified for this position. If we want to forcibly select an honest and obedient person from the locals as a support target, then for the sake of

To stabilize the local social order, a certain size of armed forces must be left to ensure the bottom line, which is extremely uneconomical for Haihan, and even if he spends money, he may not be able to get a more ideal result.

Before the Executive Committee makes a final decision, the military generals participating in this operation can only temporarily implement military control over the occupied areas to further reduce the activity space of sporadic enemy forces in the city.

Shi Diwen met at the dock with Sun Zhen, commander of the first battalion of the special operations group who led his troops to occupy the port, and listened to a briefing on the army's attack on the port. Because Qian Tiandun is still at the rear headquarters in Daye Village coordinating various branches.

Troop mobilization, logistical support, etc., so Shi Diwen, as the only senior general entering the city, automatically took over the field command.

"You mean, the high ground in the south hasn't been captured yet?" Shi Diwen noticed a detail in the battle report.

Sun Zhen responded: "We encountered relatively fierce resistance when we tried to enter this highland. I thought it was possible that the main force of the enemy army was huddled in this area. If we wanted to attack the highland first, we would not have time to capture it before dark.

The port area. After weighing my humble position, I decided to bypass the high ground and attack the port area first. If there is anything inappropriate, please ask the general for instructions!"

The seaside highland where the ruins of Hirado Castle are located had actually been cut off by the Haihan Army before the special forces attacked the port area. Therefore, Sun Zhen judged that there was no need to rush to attack the highland and instead bypass this area.

For the more troublesome areas, first take control of the port area so that the navy can enter the port. The army troops that invade the city can also change their supply point from the southern defense line to the port, which greatly reduces the time required to obtain supplies.

Shi Diwen expressed his approval of the countermeasures taken by Sun Zhen. In fact, if he were to command the army's battle, he would probably make the same choice. If the port area cannot be occupied before dark today, then the defenders will

It is very likely that the buffer time of this night will be used to transfer the coastal defense artillery of the port area defenses and deploy it to the urban area not yet controlled by the army, causing trouble for itself in the next day's battle. The flexible handling of the first battalion

Such hidden dangers have been eliminated, and as agreed before the war, the biggest obstacle to the East China Sea Fleet's entry into the port has been solved.

Sun Zhen's battle report attracted Shi Diwen's attention to this highland. He immediately ordered the fleet to keep no less than two warships near the coastline on the east side of the highland tonight, and to closely monitor this coast.

To ensure that no one escapes from the highlands through the sea tonight.

Taking into account the complexity of the urban environment, the Haihan Army did not intend to continue clearing uncontrolled urban areas at night, and planned to wait until dawn before continuing the attack. Although the possibility of the enemy's counterattack at night is extremely small, Haihan's

It is better to make full preparations and gather the troops who invaded the city in company units to establish temporary strongholds. The distance between each stronghold is controlled to about a hundred feet and deployed in a triangle. This way, nearby friendly forces can be supported in time when necessary.

It can also form effective cutting and control of urban areas.

This special tactical deployment is based on the rich combat experience of the special operations group and is specially used in urban street fighting environments. If the enemy tries to challenge this defense system, it will suffer.

That night, there were indeed sporadic armed personnel trying to break out from the highlands to areas not yet controlled by Haihan, but this attempt failed without exception. Between the various small strongholds of the Haihan Army, every street intersection was blocked.

A bunch of bonfires were burning, making it difficult for anyone who wanted to pass through these open areas to hide their tracks. Once discovered by the Haihan Army, they would be greeted by a barrage of fire.

Of course, there are some innocent people who want to flee among these unlucky ghosts, but no one will identify their identities during the war. Anyone who appears on the streets after dark will be treated as resisters.

Gao Qiaonan set out from the city's southern defense line after dark and walked through the city to the naval headquarters at the port. Before Qian Tiandun entered the city, Gao Qiaonan and his special operations group would temporarily accept Shi Diwen

of command.

However, Shi Diwen has no special interest in commanding this ace unit. On the one hand, this is out of respect for Qian Tiandun. On the other hand, his expertise is mainly at sea. Commanding the army to fight street battles is not his specialty.

If any wrong instructions are given and affect the direction of the battle, it will be counterproductive.

Therefore, after Gao Qiaonan arrived at the port, Shi Diwen quickly handed the command back to him, allowing him to continue to direct the combat operations of the special operations group.

In the early morning of the next day, the Haihan Army continued to launch a clearing operation in the city, and the first to bear the brunt was the highland of the Hirado Castle ruins, which was already under siege. In order to ensure the smooth operation, Takahashi Minami, except Sun Zhen,

In addition to the troops, an additional battalion of troops was also deployed to launch a pincer attack from the south.

The dual advantages of military strength and weapons and equipment meant that the Haihan Army did not encounter much trouble during the attack on the highlands. After knocking down more than a hundred enemy troops, the opponent's defense collapsed.

The most conspicuous building on this highland is the ruins of the old Hirado Castle, but recently there is another ruin that was also caused by a fire, which is the former feudal lord's mansion. The two ruins are adjacent to each other, one high and one low.

, spans nearly forty years, and from here we can also witness the history of the rise and fall of Hirado.

In addition to these two ruins, there are also many residences belonging to the feudal lords, which naturally includes the residence of the new feudal lord Tagawasuke. Yesterday, Sun Zhenzhen took this into consideration and thought that the Hirado feudal army might attack

He retreated to the high ground and fought stubbornly, so he didn't rush to launch an offensive. But judging from the intensity of resistance he encountered today, he felt that his judgment seemed to be a bit wrong.

After spending more than an hour searching the high ground, Sun Zhen had to admit that he had been fooled. The opponent did not deploy heavy troops here for a last-ditch effort, but instead released three to four hundred men to lure the enemy. It was obvious that he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

This delays time and covers the main force's evacuation.

However, after inspecting these houses, some gains were made. The owners here obviously did not have time to transfer all the valuable belongings in their homes, and there were quite a lot of gold and silver items.

In Tagawasuke's mansion, the soldiers found a secret vault, where they found more than 30 boxes of silver coins that had not yet been re-melted, as well as dozens of palm-sized gold bricks. Just this unexpected amount of money

The wealth was probably enough to cover the military expenditures for this cross-sea battle. This was also a great achievement, and it cheered up Sun Zhen a little bit, who was frustrated by the defeat.

In fact, this secret vault is the current treasury of the Hirado clan, and the money in it is not entirely Tagawasuke's private property. He evacuated here too hastily, and he did not expect that he would not be able to come back once he left.

He only took away a small part of the property in the vassal treasury, which gave the Haihan Army an advantage.

Because of the huge amount of wealth, Sun Zhen had to appoint a platoon of people to personally escort the money boxes to the port area and hand them over to Shi Diwen.

Shi Diwen was not too surprised by this harvest. It would really surprise him if nothing was found in the homes of the upper-class figures of the Hirado clan. Although he had thought that when he landed at Hirado Port yesterday,

The leader of the Hirado clan spent all his wealth in the military field, but as the manager of a large trading port, he certainly understood that Hirado's income should be far more than the expenses of shipbuilding and cannon casting, and there must still be some property in it.

It was put into the private pockets of those in power, and the gold and silver seized also confirmed this.

According to Haihan's current system, the Ministry of National Defense has the right to retain half of the wealth gained by the military during overseas combat operations as military expenditures. Therefore, this is for the military, which is facing great financial pressure for this operation.

It was a timely rain.

However, Shi Diwen also understood that this was not the goal of this operation. If Tagawa and his son were not caught, this laborious combat operation would not be considered a success in any case.
Chapter completed!