Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 412 The show begins

The "Tun Ding" were essentially a reserve force that used farming as a form of training. They addressed the food shortage while simultaneously providing the immigrants with rigorous drills of equal intensity, enabling them to adapt more quickly to military life in the Qiongzhou Camp after the land reclamation was completed. Even if Lan Lin and Zhu Jinhu didn't apply, they would eventually be formally incorporated into the Qiongzhou Camp.

However, the two were unaware of this. After making the bet, hoping to change their fate by joining the army, they pestered the guards to formally join the Qiongzhou Battalion. The soldiers repeatedly explained that joining the army was only a matter of time, but the two did not believe them. The matter eventually reached Shi Ying, the person in charge of training.

Shi Ying looked at the two men with amusement. One was strong and robust, the other had a stubborn look in his eyes; both seemed to be soldier material. With proper training, they might very well become capable. He reassured them, "I welcome you two to join the Qiongzhou Camp. However, there's a plan for when the garrison soldiers are incorporated into the organization. We can't just put you two into the veterans' unit separately. First, you won't be able to keep up with the veterans' training, and second, it will disrupt the balance of the veterans' company. It's better if you wait patiently for the reclamation to be completed, and then form a new recruit company with the other garrison soldiers, starting from scratch and taking it one step at a time. As long as you work hard, gold will always shine one day."

Since the officials had said so, the two had no choice but to give up and return dejectedly to continue their land reclamation. However, Zhu Jinhu was observant. He noticed that the officers of the Qiongzhou Camp were unlike the officers and soldiers in Shandong or the rebels; they were approachable and easy to talk to as long as you didn't cause trouble. This kind of army was very different from other soldiers who frequently beat and punished their troops, not to mention they wouldn't embezzle rations. Joining the Qiongzhou Camp and striving to become one of them might truly be a worthwhile goal to strive for.

More than half a month later, the samurai of the Satsuma Domain and the fleet of Batavia arrived at Lingao as agreed.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa brought two thousand samurai, half of whom were ronin he recruited from Kyushu. These ronin, mostly impoverished due to the shogunate's various repressive measures, had lost their lords and their domains destroyed. Unwilling to switch allegiance and serve other daimyo as samurai, they lived in dire poverty. Now, the Satsuma Domain, responding to Liu Ye's call for "cross-border labor export"—essentially robbing abroad without needing to swear allegiance to any daimyo—provided these men with an opportunity to improve their lives. After the news spread, ronin from all over Kyushu flocked to Kagoshima. Shimazu Mitsuhisa carefully selected the best from among them, ultimately choosing just over a thousand. Adding Satsuma Domain's own trusted samurai, this brought the total to approximately two thousand.

The Dutch India Company's fleet was no longer what it once was, consisting of only six armed merchant ships, led by the old acquaintance Putmans, a far cry from its strength during the initial declaration of war. After the defeat at Liaoluo Bay, the Dayuan trading post was expelled and closed, further shrinking its trading posts in the Far East. The company's council and shareholders were unwilling to allocate funds to strengthen the Far East fleet, resulting in only six outdated armed merchant ships being able to participate in the war. However, Xia Tiannan didn't care about these things; he only needed the Dutch name. Besides, even with Zheng Zhilong's death, the firepower of these six old armed merchant ships was still beyond the Ming Dynasty's naval capabilities. As long as they didn't launch a landing operation, this fleet could still rampage along the Fujian coast.

Mitsuhisa Shimazu and Putmans were invited to a temporary staff meeting in the council chamber and witnessed a pre-war deployment model they had never seen before.

A partial map of the southeastern coast was hung on the wall. Yan Guang, as the head of the temporary staff office, stood on the map and pointed to the area around Kinmen, Fujian. "Red Hair... Mr. Pu's fleet is responsible for attacking Kinmen and Penghu. First, clear out all the nearby naval warships, then blockade Zuosuo Port to ensure that Pianban cannot go to sea!"

Putmans took a moment to realize that the so-called "Mr. Putmans" was referring to him. After listening to Yan Guang's deployment, he couldn't help but ask, "After Zheng Yiguan's death, although there are no decent naval forces near Fujian, long-distance raids and resupply are very inconvenient, and blockading the ports might be difficult! Why not change the attack location to Guangzhou? Since it's all just a show, why not change to a more convenient stage?"

Yan Guang retorted, "Mr. Pu, things are different now. This time, with our backing, supplies won't be a problem. If you find it difficult to resupply in Kinmen and Penghu, you can rest and resupply directly on Nan'ao Island. We can transport fresh water and food here to serve as a sea supply depot. As for why we didn't choose Guangzhou, well, the imperial court will surely order the Qiongzhou naval force to fight, making us fight you. At that point, we'll be caught between winning and losing. What do you suggest we do then?"

Putmans was taken aback. It seemed to make sense. Choosing to put on a show right on the doorstep of Qiongzhou Camp might backfire.

He abandoned the idea, carefully examined the distance between Nan'ao Island and Kinmen on the map, nodded in agreement: "This distance can establish a safe supply line. Of course, it would be even better if your ships could transport supplies to us, allowing us to implement an uninterrupted port blockade for about a month."

Yan Guang glanced at Liu Ye, and seeing the affirmation in his eyes, replied, "That's not impossible. As long as the blockade creates enough panic, the Qiongzhou camp can be responsible for transporting fresh water and food."

The Dutch have been arranged, now it's time to arrange the Japanese.

Yan Guang's finger moved to the Zhejiang coast: "As for Shimazu Mitsuhisa's samurai, they can choose to land in Taizhou, Ningbo, or Shaoxing. Jiangnan is the granary of the capital, and these places are all fertile lands in Jiangnan. If trouble breaks out in these places and affects the grain supply to the capital, the emperor will definitely be thrown into chaos."

Mitsuhisa Shimazu said, "May I ask, are we going to stick to one place and not let it go, or are we going to seize one place and then move on to another..."

Yan Guang replied, "Staying in one place all the time will easily attract the siege of government troops. Let's rotate between several places. Only in this way can we create a tense atmosphere of war in Jiangnan and make Chongzhen nervous."

He pointed to the map and said, “You can go to Taizhou first, and then go to Ningbo, Shaoxing and other places. These two places are two or three hundred miles away from Taizhou by land. It will take three days to travel by land. Even if the government troops are assembled, they can't keep up with our speed by water. They can only run around frantically.”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa nodded to indicate that he understood: "Understood. However, our ships are slow. Could you provide a vessel to help us transport troops?"

“That’s not a problem,” Yan Guang said. “We can provide troop transport ships.”