Dinghai Navy Battalion. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the past few days, one warship after another has rushed to Dinghai Harbor to assemble, and all the officers and men who have arrived in a hurry are brigade and regimental officers of the navy and the Marine Corps stationed near Xiamen, Ningbo, and other places, and the gathering of high-ranking officers naturally has triggered all kinds of speculations, but most of the officers and men have speculated that war with England may break out again.

As the newspapers of all over Yuanqi were overwhelmingly denouncing Spain and the Netherlands and gradually escalating, everyone realized that this time the spearhead might be directed at Spain and the Netherlands, which were entrenched in Luzon and Java, and the news that the navy was going to conquer the South Seas also spread in the camp.

Xiying, brigade headquarters, Su Shun paced back and forth in the wide room uneasy, he was very annoyed, because he knew very well that in the current situation of the imperial court, the navy would never be allowed to provoke external provocations, Daoguang Spring and Autumn was already high, and the dragon body had been unsafe, in this case, the navy would never be allowed to conquer the South Seas.

But the problem is that Yi Zhi, the minister of Nanyang and the governor of Nanyang, has always done his own thing, and he has done a lot of things to recruit troops without authorization, and now the newspapers have repeatedly denounced Spain and the Netherlands, and there are many high-ranking officials in the camp, and it is clear that he is in a posture of being ready to fly, and he is sure that this time it is definitely an unauthorized expedition! It's a real dilemma for them!

"Brother Yuting—." With the words, Yi Zeng and Chang Bao walked in slowly.

"It's just in time, and I'm getting ready to invite the two of you." Su Shun said and stretched out his hand to give in, then took a box of cigarettes from the table and handed one by one, since he was transferred to Tianjin, the Dinghai camp had the highest prestige among the three of them, and he really planned to call the two of them to discuss.

He also lit a cigarette, and then he said: "If the military gate wants to send troops to conquer Nanyang without authorization, should we support or oppose it?" ”

Yi Zeng and the others came, but they were also aware of this, but they didn't expect Su Shun to be so direct, and after smoking a cigarette, Yi Zeng said in a sullen voice: "This expedition to the South Seas, look at the meaning of the military gate, is to encroach on Luzon and Java in one fell swoop, this is a serious eight hundred to expand the territory, why do we come to the navy?" Isn't it just military merit, the officers and soldiers below are all looking forward to making great contributions and being promoted to the rank of knight, and now the opportunity is ..... in front of them. ”

Chang Bao is not a disciple of the clan Jueluo, but after the Eight Banners Honor, but he has a good command, brave and righteous, and has a flexible brain, and has a high prestige among the children of the Eight Banners, from the heart, he is also extremely reluctant to miss this opportunity, the imperial court attaches great importance to military merits, and the navy has always spoken with military merits, and missing this opportunity means missing the opportunity to be promoted.

But he also knew that the emperor spared no effort to encourage the children of the Eight Banners to join the navy, military merit is important, the emperor's trust and appreciation are more important, and Su Shun, who saw it, looked at him and said: "If the military gate does not follow the order, it is not appropriate for us to blindly follow, otherwise the court will inevitably blame afterwards." ”

"On the one hand, there are military merits, and on the other hand, there are saints, which is really difficult to choose." Su Shun said slowly: "However, have you considered it, if you don't obey the order, what will be the result?" After a pause, he continued: "You should all know how much silver the Nanyang Navy costs in a year? How much silver does the imperial court allocate to the navy in a year? Let's not talk about military law, as long as the military is treated differently in the future, we won't be able to live our lives. ”

Yizeng hesitated for a moment before saying, "What does Brother Yuting mean, let's obey the order?" ”

"Obey the order, we can't explain it to the emperor." Su Shun said: "The military gate is good at provoking the border, and there are so many children of the Eight Banners in the navy, and they all obey it, how will the emperor think of us?" ”

Chang Bao said tentatively: "What does Brother Yuting mean, is it half and half?" ”

"Yes, half and half, although it is not pleasing to both ends, it can also take care of both sides." Su Shun was the first to say, but he was a little disdainful in his heart, he took care of both sides or something, he was purely nonsense, he was really worried that if all the officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners refused to obey the order, it would lead to a break between Yuan Qi and the imperial court, which was the most fatal.

Two days later, Yi Zhifu arrived in Dinghai, did not go to the big camp, but directly entered the Dinghai General Town Mansion, and immediately ordered to summon a group of brigade and regiment-level officers to the General Town Mansion meeting.

In less than half an hour, a group of regiment-level officers of the navy gathered in the lobby of the main town government, and Yi Zhicontent, who saw it, walked into the lobby, everyone got up and saluted, and returned the salute, Yi Zhizu went straight to the wall and opened the curtain to reveal a large sea chart, and then pointed to the Nanyang sea area and said loudly: "Nanyang and the Nanyang Islands are the maritime barrier of our Qing Dynasty, and they are also the most important trade channel for our Qing Dynasty maritime trade!" ”

Speaking of this, I turned around and glanced at everyone and said, "Let's talk about it, what is the purpose of preparing for the construction of the navy?" ”

"The military gate, the preparation for the construction of the navy is to consolidate the coastal defense and protect the sea frontier!"

"The military gate is for external expansion!"

"You're right!" Yi Zhizu said loudly: "Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, we have adhered to a defensive posture in the maritime frontier, from Guangdong to Liaodong, how many troops have we deployed on the coastline?" How many acropolis were built? How many chimney forts? How many forts, walls, piers, and beacons? The result? We have neither the Oriental robbers nor the Western robbers!

The purpose of building a new navy is to defend the sea, but we can no longer blindly adopt a defensive posture, and it is better to defend and attack! We must expand the circle of defense to the Nanyang Islands and the Japanese Kingdom, and we must connect the Japanese Kingdom, the Ryukyus, Taiwan, Luzon, and the Java Islands into an island chain, so that we can attack, retreat, and defend, and this is the best defense! ”

Speaking of this, he turned around and pointed to Malacca, and said: "This Malacca waterway is the busiest, richest and most important maritime trade route in the whole world, and it is also a sea passage that our Qing Dynasty's foreign expansion cannot bypass, and we must control it in our hands!" ”

Hearing this, all the officers couldn't help but gasp, as a senior officer in the navy, being familiar with geography is the basic lesson, maybe they are not familiar with Europe and America and other distant places, the division of power in the South Seas, but one by one is clear, the Strait of Malacca is now in the hands of the British, and the military gate is planning to start a war against Spain, the Netherlands, and England at the same time?

"As the saying goes, raising troops for a thousand days is a while, and since the establishment of the Nanyang Navy, it has been five years, and the consumption of silver is as high as 30 million taels, whether it is a mule or a horse, it is time for us to pull it out and slip away." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Nanyang, let's take three steps, the first step is to fight Luzon first, annihilate all the Spaniards and armed natives entrenched in Luzon, and avenge the hundreds of thousands of compatriots who died unjustly in Luzon, do you have confidence?" ”

"Yes!" A group of officers in the lobby responded with a bang.

"Okay, let's go back and get ready, and leave early the next morning." Yi Zhishu said by name: "Feng Renxuan, Chang Kunning, Su Shun, Yizeng, Chang Bao, and Wu Yundong stay and dismiss!" ”

Feng Renxuan, Su Shun and other six people were named and left, and they all had a bad feeling in their hearts, and sure enough, when everyone left, Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette and sat down on the head, and said slowly: "The Western countries are divided and combined, it is difficult to reason, England, Spain, and the Netherlands all belong to ......the Western camp. ”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Yi Zeng stood up and said: "Junmen, such a rare opportunity, you can't leave us behind, the officers and soldiers below train hard every day, aren't they looking forward to one day being able to go to the battlefield to make meritorious contributions, which will seriously hit their enthusiasm." ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said, "I have asked the emperor for an edict, but the emperor will probably not allow it, but it is imperative to conquer Nanyang." To put it bluntly, the conquest of Nanyang is an unauthorized dispatch of troops, they, I can carry it, you, I just want to carry it and can't carry it, they are all my subordinates, I have to put myself in your shoes. ”

"Military gate, I don't understand the mark." Su Shun said in a deep voice: "Why did the military gate choose this time to conquer the South Seas, and it is imperative. ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said: "Spain and the Netherlands dispatched warships to blockade Wusongkou at the invitation of England, which is a rare pretext for declaring war, which can not only take the opportunity to occupy the Nanyang Islands, but also deal a blow to the arrogance of England, which is conducive to the Qing Dynasty to carry out diplomacy with other countries in the future."

In addition, the European countries are currently in the stage of peace, and there is no war alliance between the countries, which is our best opportunity to seize the Nanyang Islands, and will not be suppressed by the joint efforts of Western countries. If a large-scale war breaks out in Europe and countries form an alliance, we will not have a chance. ”

Su Shun hesitated and said: "Blockade Wusongkou, Spain and the Netherlands are here at the invitation of England to send troops to Luzon, and England will stand by and watch?" ”

"We used the excuse of several large-scale massacres of Chinese in Spain." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Besides, fighting Luzon is a quick battle, without waiting for the British to react, we can take Luzon, and it is difficult for England to have a chance to intervene!" ”

Groaning slightly, he said in a firm tone: "Even if the military gate sends troops to conquer the South Seas without authorization, we will resolutely implore to participate in the war!" ”

Yi Zhicontent's eyes slowly swept over the faces of the three of them, and then he said: "Okay, give you a brigade quota, you can discuss it yourself, and report it before tomorrow morning." ”

"Xie Junmen!" The three of them hurriedly saluted.

Wu Yundong said aggrievedly: "The military gate has not been on the battlefield ..... under the standard. ”

"Who said you won't be allowed to go to war?" Yi Zhicontent smiled: "Your battlefield is not in Nanyang. ”

Hearing this, how many people here are all in the same place, and they want to open up a battlefield? Yi Zhixiang commanded loudly: "Carry it in." ”

With the words, several guards came in with wooden frames and splints and quickly placed them, and then retreated, Feng Renxuan looked at the map on the plywood, and said with a suspicious face: "Northwest? ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu got up and pointed to the map and said: "Tsarist Russia has been expanding in Central Asia in recent years, encroaching on the Kazakh Khanate, controlling the Kazakh steppe, and gradually encroaching on the Kokand Khanate of the Bukhara Khanate. I have made it clear to the imperial court that I will actively support the consolidation of Xinjiang's border defense with money and troops. ”

Is this to let them go to Xinjiang? Several people present couldn't help but look at each other, muttering slightly, Feng Renxuan said very abruptly: "The military gate just said that once a large-scale war breaks out in Europe, it is not conducive to the seizure of the South Seas, does the military gate predict that a large-scale war will break out in Europe in recent years?" ”

Su Shun and Chang Kunning glanced at him a little strangely, not knowing how he asked this topic for no reason, but Yi Zhizhi smiled, pointed to the location of Crimea, and said, "I said that the best defense is to attack. Three or five years at the earliest, six or seven years at the latest, a large-scale war will inevitably break out in this place, and that is our chance. ”

As he spoke, he paddled all the way from Xinjiang to the Persian Gulf, and then nodded in the Persian Gulf, and said in a deep voice: "This is a cornucopia, I hope that the territory of the Qing Dynasty can extend all the way here!" Yuanqi will spare no effort to support the expansion of the northwest! ”

A few people here even breathed a little short, such a large territory, if it can really be defeated, the marquis is the least, and even the duke is possible, and how many soldiers and horses do you need? Without waiting for Feng Renxuan to speak, Su Shun preemptively said: "Military Gate, the northwest is the strength of our Eight Banners, and the northwest is vast and sparsely populated, so it must be cavalry." ”

Feng Renxuan was willing to give up this opportunity, and hurriedly said: "There are three or five years, why worry that they can't be converted into cavalry? Today's cavalry does not need to shoot arrows. ”

"Don't fight, they all have a share." Yi Zhizu waved his hand and said: "Northwest expansion, we can't learn from Yuan and Mongolia, we must consolidate a place when we lay down a place, lightly dispense with a small endowment, implement education, and win the hearts of the people, what we ultimately want is the cornucopia of the Persian Gulf." ”

Feng Renxuan hesitated and said, "Where is there abundant gold? ”

"It's black gold."

What is Black Gold? Several people stared at him in unison, but Yi Zhizhi did not explain, and the words changed, and said: "When the will is settled, I plan to send a brigade to Ili first, and then ask Yuan Qi to recruit troops in Xinjiang, and Yuan Qi will be responsible for the salaries, silver, equipment and other expenses of the Xinjiang New Army." ”

The northwest has always been the most headache for the imperial court, and the military expenditure in the northwest in a year is not known, and now that Yuan Qi has taken the initiative to take over, Daoguang will wake up laughing even if he is dreaming, how can he not allow it? Moreover, the emperor of the northwest sky is far away, and he is alone and unrestrained.

Su Shun's eyes were hot, and he strived: "Military Gate, the northwest is bitterly cold, and the soldiers and horses in the south are not easy to adapt to ......." ”

Feng Renxuan said with a smile: "The military gate said very clearly, the main thing is to recruit troops in Xinjiang to form a new army. ”

Yi Zhizu shook his head slightly, and said: "In order to prevent secession, we can't recruit too many new troops in Xinjiang, in order to consolidate Xinjiang, I suggest that immigrants should be on the real side, and the new army should be mainly Manchu and Han." As he spoke, he waved his hand and said, "Su Shun stays, you disperse." ”