Li Cunwen and Niu Jie were considered the vanguard. Their goal was to capture the provincial capital Hangzhou by surprise and paralyze the Qing army's command in Zhejiang.
The regiment Dong Shuheng dropped from Zhenhai was a surprise force. This regiment was intended to quickly occupy Ningbo Prefecture.
Ningbo is an open port with foreign influence, so it must be occupied quickly to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Although they were still in the honeymoon period with Britain and France, Dong Shuheng could not guarantee that they would change their minds now and suddenly turn against the Huai Navy to unify the country.
After all, a powerful China is not what the great powers want. If the Huaihai Navy was still a local force, Britain and France would not mind interacting with it.
But if the Huaihai Navy wants to replace the Manchu Qing, then the great powers will have to re-evaluate it.
In fact, Britain and France also felt the strong side of the Huai Navy in their interactions with the Huai Navy.
Emotionally and logically speaking, neither Britain nor France would accept the Huai Navy replacing the Qing court.
It is also for this reason that Dong Shuheng started to attack the Qing court from now on.
He must completely destroy the Manchu Qing Dynasty and even eliminate the remaining local forces before Britain and France can intervene.
…
Peng Yulin led the remaining main force, which was both the main offensive force and the reserve force. He had to determine the specific combat direction based on the fighting conditions of the first two partial divisions.
If the first two go smoothly, Peng Yulin will directly send his troops south from Huzhou, pass through Hangzhou, attack Yanzhou, Jinhua, Quzhou, Chuzhou, and Wenzhou, and occupy the entire territory of Zhejiang.
There is also a partial division heading south from the canal to Jiaxing. Jiaxing Prefecture borders Songjiang Prefecture and is the gateway to the north of Zhejiang.
The Huaihai Navy has already infiltrated Jiaxing Prefecture. Therefore, taking Jiaxing is the easiest stop.
The partial division heading south along the canal was led by Ma Liankui, commander of Taihu Navy.
Ma Liankui was a general in the Qing Navy and joined the Huai Navy very early.
It is a coincidence that Ma Liankui joined the Huai Navy.
The fledgling Dong Shuheng led the navy to rob the Taiping Army's property in Guazhou.
As a result, we happened to meet Ma Liankui and his gang on the road.
Ma Liankui loved ships so much that he joined Dong Shuheng just to have his own steam gunboat and became a peripheral force of the Huai Navy.
When the Huai Navy occupied the area south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, Ma Liankui was officially incorporated into the Huai Navy sequence.
At that time, Ma Liankui finally got two of his coveted steam-powered gunboats, which were arranged by Dong Shuheng to be stationed in Taihu Lake and called Taihu Navy.
Ma Liankui's presence in the Huai Navy has never been strong. The area around Taihu Lake where he is stationed is basically in a stable state.
Moreover, Suzhou, Huzhou, and Changzhou around Taihu Lake are all prosperous places under the Huaihai Navy.
Therefore, Dong Shuheng did not mobilize this navy even when he attacked the Taiping Army.
Ma Liankui was able to keep his composure and stayed in Taihu Lake to guard Huai Haijun's important wealth areas around Taihu Lake.
Ma Liankui really loved his boat as much as he said. After taking up the post of commander of the Taihu Navy, he basically lived on the boat.
There are water bandits in Taihu Lake, and they often rob the surrounding area. In fact, these water bandits are also likely to be guests of boat operators.
They usually help merchants transport goods, and when money is low, they will act as water bandits.
Because Taihu Lake is surrounded by prosperous places, there has been a saying since ancient times that "Suhu Lake is known all over the world". With so much wealth, it is inevitable that some people will covet it.
In fact, these boat shops can basically provide enough food, but people are greedy, so the water bandits in Taihu Lake have always been banned.
In the past, when Ma Huzi was a naval officer of the Qing Army, he was ordered to suppress the bandits in Taihu Lake, but those people had been running boats for many years and were very familiar with the terrain of the lake.
Moreover, Ma Huzi's boat was no better than other people's boats at that time, so he didn't get any benefit every time.
He even fell into an ambush by water bandits once and was almost killed by them.
But this time when we entered Taihu Lake again, Ma Huzi was in high spirits.
He wanted to declare loudly to the water bandits in Taihu Lake: "My horse beard is back again."
This time he switched from shotgun to cannon. Standing in the cab, Ma Beard looked at the vast lake and imagined himself sailing on the sea.
Ma Xiu knew the whereabouts of those water bandits very well. Now that the entire Taihu Lake area had become the power of the Huai Navy, these water bandits could no longer be allowed to run wild.
So Ma Huzi began his days of happily chasing water bandits.
This time, no matter how hard the water bandits rowed, they could not escape the pursuit of the gunboats.
Ma Huzi just used these water bandits to practice target shooting.
Although the gunboats are equipped with small-caliber artillery, they are more than enough to deal with the small boats of water bandits.
As long as it hits the target, one shot can often take away a water bandit's boat.
Ma Huzi felt extremely happy, this is what the fuck is called a warship.
So what’s the name of the thing you’re driving?
The horsebeards on the warship laughed wildly, a bit like the whine of a steam engine in operation.
His old subordinates disagreed with this.
Huai Haijun's new recruits all looked sideways.
This naval commander is too unreliable.
Ma Beard's happy life of bullying the water bandits ended not long after.
Because he had wiped out all the water bandits in Taihu Lake, in just over a month, Ma Huzi transported thousands of people to Huai Haijun's labor camp.
The remaining ships are all regular fleets that claim to be good citizens. They all completed the registration of the fleet with the government in accordance with the requirements of the Huaihai Navy, paid the deposit, and obtained the water transportation license.
From now on, these ships can do serious business. Their ships are all marked with ship numbers, so don't think about changing them at every turn.
Ma Beard began his boring daily cruising life.
But as long as he can stay on the boat, he is happy.
He could only go home every six months during his vacation to pay the public food.
Ma Huzi used to be in the navy of the Qing army. Although his salary was not much, he usually had extra money.
So the family has four or five aunts and wives. With how often he comes home, he has raised more than a dozen children, which can be said to be a prosperous family.
I just don’t know if the person next door to Lao Ma’s house is named Wang.
Ma Xiu had no time to worry about matters at home. He preferred to stay with his boat.
Although he was a naval commander, he knew more about the gunboats under his command than most people.
He is well-qualified for all positions on the boat. Ma Huzi only looks rough and arrogant, but he is actually very considerate.
Now he can no longer be called Ma Beard. In order to study the steam engine on the boat, he not only cut off his braids, but also cut off his beard.
His braids were cut off before Huai Haijun launched the New Life Movement.
The transmission of steam engines mostly relies on gears. If these hairs fall on your body, they can easily get caught in the gears and cause danger.
The sailors in the engine room are basically all bare-headed, and no one is watching them on the ship anyway.
When you get off the boat to rest, just grow your hair out a month in advance.
When Dong Shuheng got married, Ma Liankui also attended the banquet.
Dong Shuheng was very fond of this naval general who came over from the Qing army in a daze.
Although Ma Liankui had some minor ailments, they were all caused by his long-term service in the Qing army.
But when it comes to business matters, he is not vague at all.
Although the Taihu Navy is the smallest among the several inland river divisions of the Huai Navy, their role is not small at all.
Ma Liankui and his navy often went deep into the waterways around Taihu Lake. Not only did they detect the waterways, they also deterred the forces around Taihu Lake and maintained the stability of a large area.
It is precisely because of the existence of this navy that the Huai Navy saved at least three regiments of road defense forces around Taihu Lake.
Able to lead a marine regiment to capture Jiaxing.
Ma Liankui was very excited.
Finally we can fight, and if we fight, we will achieve success.
Ma Liankui knew very well about his old employer, the Manchu Qing court.
There is also a chain of contempt in the Qing army. The Eight Banners soldiers despise the Green Camp soldiers, the Green Camp soldiers in the north despise the Green Camp soldiers in the South, and the Green Camp soldiers in the South despise the Green Camp soldiers in the southeast.
In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Qing army had no green soldiers that could fight.
This time Ma Liankui led troops to Jiaxing purely to gain credit.
The naval fleet went down the canal. When the merchant ships on the canal saw the Huai Navy's gunboats dragging a plume of smoke rushing from a distance, they all hid on the shore in advance.
On the water, it is an unwritten rule for merchant ships to take the initiative to avoid warships.
"Commander, let's go and capture Jiaxing. Do you have any plans here?" The adjutant and the leader of the Marine Corps found Maliankui together. They were about to arrive in Jiaxing, but Commander Ma's order had not yet been issued.
"What, a plan? We are not attacking Jiaxing by surprise. We are naturally adapting to circumstances. What plan do you want?" Ma Huzi looked at the two young disciples as if they were two idiots.
"But, Commander, brothers, you don't know what to do?" said Lin Bin, the leader of the Marine Corps. He is a serious officer trained by the military academy.
Ma Huzi thought that he was also a serious officer, except that he sometimes treated his shipmate as his wife.
This time when he went to make a surprise attack on Jiaxing, Ma Huzi actually had a plan, but he didn't know how to express it to his men.
"Commander Lin, let's do this. You pick 100 of the most elite soldiers in the army and go into the city with me. I'll go have a drink with the prefect of Jiaxing and discuss with him whether he can join me, Huai Haijun."
When Lin Bin heard this, he was a little confused. What kind of surprise attack was this? Are you kidding me?
Looking at Lin Bin's expression of "you are unreliable", Ma Huzi could only continue to explain: "If I tell you that I know the prefect of Jiaxing, would you believe it?"
"Hey, I know you don't believe it!" Ma Huzi was a little disappointed. He has become a commander, so why is he so unconvincing?
"I have been wandering around in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River for more than a day or two. I think back when I was a general, the prefect of Jiaxing was still the magistrate of Wujiang County. At that time, we worked together to defeat a group of water bandits.
, solved a major case.”
"If half of the credit for this case hadn't been given to him, this old boy would probably still be working for the county government!" In fact, Ma Liankui sold half of the credit to others.
…
Ma Liankui said eloquently that he was not good at telling stories, so the two of them just listened.
Anyway, the idea is clear, Lao Ma has a way to sneak into the city.
The Taihu Navy's fleet came up the canal in a mighty manner, and it was impossible for Jiaxing Prefecture, which was right next to the canal, not to know the news.
Everyone is well aware of the relationship between Huai Haijun and the imperial court.
The film between the two parties just hasn't been broken...oh, it's window paper...
The prefect of Jiaxing did not receive an order from his superiors. He did not know what the Huaihai Navy was going to do when they suddenly went south.
So he could only order the soldiers guarding the city to close the city gates and guard the city walls.