Chapter 477 Similar situation

Before Li Qingyang witnessed the actual situation in Victory Port with his own eyes, he was puzzled as to why the Haihan people were able to replace the government in this area. In his opinion, no matter how rich the Haihan people were, they could bribe local officials to provide them with

However, after seeing the Haihan fleet and forts with his own eyes, Li Qingyang had a clearer understanding of this group of armed merchants - in their hands

The power under its control has long surpassed that of the local government. If they did not choose to divide the territory and establish their own political power here, the local government would have to clap their hands and rejoice. These warships, forts, and the Haihan militia army that they have not yet seen, are all

The Executive Committee implemented the basis of its rule here, and the traces of the Ming Dynasty that still exist here are probably the Inspection Department and the Naval Yamen that have become ineffective.

The people obviously don't care that much whether this place belongs to the Ming Dynasty or the Haihan Executive Committee. Who can give them a better life, who can protect their personal and property safety, and whoever can get the majority of people here.

Recognition and following. However, the Ming Dynasty’s current actions in this regard have obviously not won enough public support.

Even if Li Qingyang is still unwilling to admit defeat, he has to admit that working with a boss like Haihan will indeed give him a lot of confidence. Rich and powerful, and good at managing the local area, this executive committee is better than those that Li Qingyang knows.

The royal vassals who have gone to the local areas are much more powerful. The most important thing is that these people are not just businessmen who only care about making money. They invest a lot of money into strengthening their own strength and consolidating their dominance. This kind of development idea

This is not something that ordinary businessmen should possess.

What Li Qingyang can confirm now is that with the Haihan people's combat fleet and the coastal defense batteries at the port, they can firmly defend the Victory Port area. Even if the Ming Dynasty sends troops to conquer, it will be difficult for the Haihan people to conquer this area.

A place that is run like a metal bucket gets a good deal.

Even he, an expert, has such a view, let alone ordinary people. Li Qingyang can now fully understand why the local people have an unusual trust and admiration for the Executive Committee. The reason indeed comes from Haihan's strong

Military strength provides psychological protection to the people and the outside world.

Li Qingyang responded thoughtfully: "Presumably the Haihan Militia under the Executive Committee has always been invincible?"

"That's right!" Lin Nan nodded and replied: "Since the establishment of our Haihan militia, we have been invincible and have never been defeated. Let's talk about a relatively recent one. In March this year, we crossed the sea to participate in the battle to quell the rebellion in Annan.

It only took one month to capture Hue, Annan's strongest city, and destroy the Hue court. Annan's more than 300,000 rebels were dispersed, and the decades-long division of the north and the south ended!

"

"The rumors about your participation in the Annan Civil War are actually true!" Li Qingyang was surprised. He also heard some rumors about this matter when he was in Guangzhou, but because of the Haihan Militia's cross-sea battle, not many outsiders knew about it.

, so the information about this matter almost all comes from folk rumors, and the degree of credibility is not high. At that time, Li Qingyang thought that this kind of thing was probably some kind of propaganda strategy of the Haihan people, and did not take it completely seriously - Ming Dynasty Officials

They lost tens of thousands of elites in Annan, but they still failed to conquer this small southeastern country that seemed primitive but was actually tough. How could the Haihan people dare to claim that they conquered Annan?

Li Qingyang only regarded this matter as a joke at first, but the situation he came into contact with after his release made him more and more aware of the terrifying strength of the Haihan people in the military field. Just based on the level of Haihan armed forces he saw with his own eyes

, it is not impossible to achieve cross-sea operations. However, the cross-sea operations also broke through the capital of the southern regime in a short period of time. This record is very scary. Although the Jinyiwei is a secret service agency, it is still part of the military establishment. Li Qingyang also understands it very well.

How difficult is this kind of away game? Lin Nan actually made it so easy. Li Qingyang really couldn't suppress his surprise.

Lin Nan smiled and said: "Brother Li probably only thought about the difficulties of the Executive Committee sending troops to fight in Annan, but he couldn't imagine how big a strength gap there is between those peasant soldiers in Annan and our militia army."

Li Qingyang was silent for a while, then shook his head and said: "I am stupid, it is really difficult to imagine how the Haihan militia defeated an opponent with a huge gap in military strength. But the northern court in Annan actually acquiesced in Haihan's cross-sea battle?"

"It's not acquiescence, they paid us to help." Lin Nan explained unabashedly: "For this reason, the Annan court paid us a large amount of wealth, land and population as a reward for our help."

Li Qingyang frowned slightly. The behavior of the Haihan Militia was undoubtedly far beyond the normal behavior of a private armed force. However, considering Haihan's usual behavior, it seemed that it should not be purely for the sake of peace.

Money is the only way to fight, so Li Qingyang raised his questions to Lin Nan.

Lin Nan explained: "We have many interests in Annan. Maintaining stability in Annan is also protecting our own interests. Besides, Annan is willing to provide us with several natural harbor areas on the coastline for this purpose. This is what we

Everyone just takes what they want."

"Military alliance?" Li Qingyang asked.

"It's not just a military alliance." Lin Nan continued: "We also have comprehensive cooperation in terms of economy, culture and immigration. Among the people in Sanya, nearly 30% are immigrants from Annan. This proportion was last year

It once exceeded 40%. For example, on our current ship, there are crew members from Annan."

"Huh? Can you introduce me to me?" Li Qingyang became interested as soon as he heard it. Lin Nan just boasted so wildly. In fact, as long as he can find an Annan person to ask, he can know whether he is bragging or not.

"Mr. Wu, please come here." Lin Nan stood up and greeted, and soon a stocky man with dark skin came to Li Qingyang. Li Qingyang was convinced just by looking at his appearance. This kind of generosity

The face shape with thick nose and lips is indeed a typical Annan face.

"This Deputy Wu Senwu previously served as a staff general in the Annan Army. If Brother Li has any questions, you can ask him." Lin Nanyan introduced him briefly and comprehensively.

The Annan man who served as the first mate on the "Lightning" was naturally the South Vietnamese naval general Wu Sen who was captured by the militia in the Battle of Hue. Wu Sen was quickly assigned to the Shipping Department after being persuaded by Nguyen Thanh Kui to surrender.

Because his identity was relatively sensitive, he was temporarily unable to enter the Navy, but the military did not want to waste his abilities, so they temporarily placed him on the "Lightning" as a trainee crew member.

Of course, Wu Sen did not disappoint his superiors. With his many years of sailing experience, he quickly mastered the basic skills of controlling this new type of sailing ship, and was promoted to first mate by Wang Tom's personal order. As for his mentality at this time,

There had been a huge change from when he was brought to Sanya. Lin Nan asked him to accept Li Qingyang's questions, and also deliberately mentioned his previous identity, but Wu Sen did not show much concern.

Li Qingyang clasped his fists and said: "Brother Wu is an officer of Annan, why did he come to Sanya to become a crew member?"

Wu Sen laughed self-deprecatingly: "It's true that he is Officer Annan, but I am the one who loses. Coming here was not voluntary at first. Prisoners of war have no right to be picky."

"I made a mistake!" Li Qingyang quickly apologized. He only thought about the cooperation agreement between Haihan and the Annan court. It seemed that the other party's sending officers to stay here was also a matter of cleaning up. He forgot about the relationship between Haihan and Annan.

The small southern court also fought a war. As for what it would be like to be captured here as a prisoner of war, he didn't even need to ask Wu Sen about this question, he already knew the answer.

"It's okay." Wu Sen waved his hand and said: "I felt a little bit dissatisfied when I was first arrested, but after staying here for a while and learning a lot from the chief, I realized that I was really a frog in the well in the past. Thanks to the chief.

They didn’t dislike me for being clumsy and gave me a chance to start a new life. Now I have nothing but gratitude to the executive committee.”

Li Qingyang heard his tone, which was exactly the same as Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping who had met before. He immediately changed the subject and asked: "Brother Lin said before that there was a war between Haihan and Annan this year. I wonder if Brother Wu was the one who witnessed it?"

Wu Sen nodded and said: "I have indeed experienced the Battle of Hue and witnessed the crushing attack mentioned by the leaders. However, the Battle of Hue is not the only battle that Haihan participated in. Before that,

He has participated in several wars. If it were not for the intervention of the Haihan militia, the northern court would have been wiped out long ago. It is a pity that the southern court had an army of 300,000, but it was completely unable to defend against the few thousand Haihan militia.

The regiment failed again and again on the battlefield, and eventually even the capital was lost."

Li Qingyang didn't quite believe the 300,000 troops claimed by Lin Nan and Wu Sen. With the size and population of Annan, it was probably the limit for the southern court to support an army of more than 100,000 people. If there really were 300,000 troops, what else?

Speaking of fighting, the logistics alone are enough to deplete their treasury. However, even if the number of 300,000 is serious, it is definitely larger than the scale of the Haihan Militia. The fact that Wu Sen personally admitted the defeat has basically confirmed it.

Lin Nan’s previous remarks.

Wu Sen continued: "A defeated general will only face liquidation after the war. People like me will be imprisoned for life even if they don't die. Now that I have the opportunity to continue to make a living at sea, I am already thankful to God."

Li Qingyang couldn't help but ask: "Haihan Militia, are they really so terrible?"

Wu Sen smiled bitterly and said: "It's not scary, it's disappointing. You can see your opponent on the battlefield, but you never have the chance to hurt the opponent. Haihan's artillery and firecrackers start harvesting from a hundred feet away.

The lives of the soldiers were never faced when fighting them face to face. We originally thought that we could fill this gap with our strength, but one thousand people, two thousand people, three thousand people...we filled it in endlessly.

After thousands of lives were lost, Haihan’s artillery shells and bullets are still being fired endlessly. What kind of mentality do you think it will be?”

Li Qingyang asked further: "I heard that Hue is the most fortified city in the Annan Kingdom. It cannot be defeated by the Haihan militia in the frontal battlefield. So you can always defend it by staying in the city, right?"

"It's of no use." Wu Sen shook his head and said: "The so-called strong city was only useful for the past fighting methods, but as soon as the militia army came, they directly destroyed the city wall. The city walls collapsed, and this city

How to defend? No matter how many people there are, they can't stop Haihan's artillery shells. If you continue to defend, you will die in vain. So after the city was broken, many of the troops defending the city surrendered directly. It was not because they were not loyal enough to the court, but because they were not loyal enough to the court.

There is absolutely no hope of winning."

"Excuse!" Li Qingyang was not convinced by Wu Sen's argument. Since ancient times, many soldiers had died on the battlefield. Wouldn't they stop fighting if they couldn't see the hope of victory? In that case, who would fight desperately to kill the enemy on the battlefield?

In Li Qingyang's view, the Annan Army's approach was more about greed for life and fear of death. Of course, the overwhelming advantage shown by the Haihan Militia during the battle must also be one of the reasons. It is indeed scary to think about it.

The gap in military force between the two sides cannot be filled even with human lives, and this kind of unilateral massacre will undoubtedly have a huge impact on morale.

Wu Sen smiled bitterly and said: "I know what you will think now. In fact, I, Wu Sen, am not a person who is greedy for life and fear of death. When I sailed a boat to launch a desperate charge against the Hai Han militia outside Hue City, hundreds of people under my command were

We were determined to die. But the disparity in strength was huge. We didn’t even have a chance to approach the Haihan militia, so we were all bombarded into the river by artillery. It’s easy to die, but it’s hard to live. I chose to live not because of myself.

I am afraid of death, but I don’t want those comrades who lost their lives on the battlefield to die in vain! Their families, their children, must have someone to take care of them!"

Li Qingyang said solemnly: "I just thought something wrong, Brother Wu, don't blame me!"

Wu Sen's words made Li Qingyang think of his current situation. It is true that if he must choose to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, no one will stop him from ending his own life, but Li Qingyang also has things that he cannot let go of, and these things are not related to whether he is afraid of death.

There is no direct relationship.

Wu Sen shook his head and said: "There's nothing strange. Since Captain Lin brought you to chat with me, we must be in similar situations. I guess I'm not the first person to chat with you, and I probably won't be the last one.

One, whether you believe it now or not, I still have to say to you, Haihan is indeed a wise master!"

Li Qingyang has not yet made a definite decision as to whether he is the Ming Lord or not, but judging from the outsiders he has come into contact with who have taken refuge in Haihan, at least he has lived a pretty good life after taking refuge in Haihan.
Chapter completed!