Zhao Ming got the news that the Manchus, as he expected, launched an attack on Lushun.Xie Qian and Dai Zhijun sent news that the Qing army was outnumbered, and Lushun was under great pressure.In this way, the situation that Zhao Ming was most unwilling to see appeared in front of Donghai Town.This made Zhao Ming fall into a two-front combat dilemma, going north to return reinforcements, the southward strategy would be abandoned halfway, and the Dutch would launch a counterattack to destroy the sea trade routes.If we continue to advance southward, we will not be able to conquer Fort Resharan for a while, and the battle will certainly not be resolved in a short time, which may lead to the danger of the northern front being crushed by the Qing army.In response to this situation, there were many voices of retreat in Donghai Town, wanting to end the southern expedition and ensure the interests of the northern front.After all, if Lushun falls, North Korea will inevitably not be protected, and Donghaezhen's existing interests will be damaged.Although the country of Korea is small and poor, after all, it is a large market with a population of millions, and it can provide population resources and a large number of minerals for Donghae Town every year.However, although Nanyang is vast and rich, after all, it is still under the control of Xiyi, one has been obtained, and the other has not been obtained, and many people tend to protect the interests that have been obtained.However, Zhao Ming firmly supported the southward strategy, and fought continuously, the biggest taboo was a hammer in the east and a mallet in the west, and in the end, the two fronts could not bargain.At this time, everyone heard that Yue Le had dispatched an army of 70,000 or 80,000 to attack Lushun, and they all changed color.In the past, after the defeat of Hong Chengchou, it would have been impossible for the Manchus to dispatch so many soldiers and horses to fight outside the Guan.Now, the Ming and Qing dynasties had a truce, there was no war on the southern front, and there was no military pressure, so the Manchu Qing were able to draw resources from the Guannei to support Yue Le outside the Guan, and launch a major war."
It is precisely because of Yue Le's troops that this town cannot end the southern expedition hastily!"
Zhao Ming said in a deep voice.Xu Fuyuan was a little puzzled: "Prime Minister, why is this?"
”Zhao Ming said: "At this time, the truce between the north and the south, the intention of the imperial court to cut the feudal domain is well known, and it will not reinforce the town, nor will it reinforce the Huai River Xiangyang line to put pressure on the Qing army."
The Qing army did not have the imperial court to contain it, and now it only sent 80,000 people, if the town comes back to help, they can send another 80,000, how will the town deal with it then?
Right now, with the power of my East China Sea Domain, how can I fight against the entire north?
Therefore, only a small number of roads could be sent to Lushun, and the town and the naval army must continue to adhere to the strategy of southward expansion. ”Now Liaodong is just a local war between the Qing army and Donghai Town, the Manchu Qing did not do their best, thinking that the existing forces can solve the Liaodong problem, if Zhao Ming returns to the division, the Qing army will inevitably increase the number of troops, the scale of the war on the northern front will definitely expand, both sides will inevitably increase the number of troops, and the strength of Donghai Town, obviously not as good as the Manchu Qing, continue to invest will definitely lose the war.Seeing that everyone was groaning, Zhao Ming continued: "Moreover, as soon as the town retreats, Hongmaoyi can use the Dayuan as a base to send ships to constantly attack merchant ships at sea, cutting off Jiangdong from Taiwan and other places, Jiangdong cannot get overseas resources, sulfur and saltpeter cannot be transported to Jiangdong, how can this town fight against the Manchus?"
”Xu Fuyuan said: "How to solve the current situation?"
”Zhao Ming's expression was resolute, "The feudal mansion needs to be prepared for a long-term war.Now that overseas trade is blocked, the backlog of goods in Jiangdong can be sold to Huguang, Zhejiang, and Liangguang at a low price, or they can be smuggled and sold to the Manchu Qing Dynasty to make less money, so as to avoid the collapse of the backlog of goods in the workshops and the unemployment of employees.In addition, Taiwan's various guards should resume production as soon as possible, and the feudal government should dispatch officials to take over Tainan as soon as possible.There are nearly a million Han Chinese here, and the place has been developed for decades, and the integration of the feudal government can strengthen the feudal government.Finally, while continuing to besiege Reshalan, warships were sent south to attack the merchant ships of Hongmaoyi, and to salvage the shipwrecked ships in Dayuan Bay, repair the warships, and prepare to continue the southward war. ”Xu Fu saw that Zhao Ming was resolute, and after pondering for a moment, he nodded and agreed: "The prime minister's decision is reasonable.The feudal government marched south, and if we went south, we would increase our strength by one point, and when we defeated Hongmaoyi and controlled Nanyang, we would have the strength to confront the Manchus alone. ”Zhao Ming bowed slightly, the Ming Dynasty wanted to cut the domain, the Manchu Qing Dynasty wanted to seize Liaodong, and Donghai Town was worried about internal and external troubles, and was blocked by multiple blockades.Now if you want to break the situation, you can only continue to go south and colonize the South Seas, so even if you lose Liaodong and Korea again, you will not hesitate.At present, the Qing army's attack on Lushun brought a certain amount of pressure to Donghai Town, but Donghai Town defeated the Taiwanese Dutch, forced the landing of Chikan Fort, seized a large number of assets of the East India Company, and also achieved great results.In the Tainan area, Zheng Zhilong first immigrated 500,000 people for development, and now decades have passed, at least 780,000 Han people have gathered in the Tainan area.Zhao Ming looked around at everyone, saw that everyone had no objections, and temporarily unified his thoughts, so he said in a deep voice: "Okay, then everyone will act according to the order for the time being!"
”The Dutch fleet in Dayuan Bay was completely wiped out, and although the Dutch at Fort Resharan put up a stubborn resistance, they had no ships, so they could only sit on the island and could not pose a threat to the town of Donghai.Therefore, there was no need to stay in Dayuan Bay, so many warships to deal with the Dutch.After the discussion, nine gunboats, including the Zhenhai, and a number of No. 1 Fuku, left Dayuan Bay and sailed south to attack the Dutch merchant ships at sea.The Dutch intended to use Taiwan, drag the army of Donghai Town, and then send a fleet, interspersed with the East China Sea, attack the merchant ships of Donghai Town, block Jiangdong's connection with overseas, and engage in forcing Zhao Ming to end the war and sign a treaty.While Zhao Ming sent a fleet to clear out the Dutch warships, he relied on the superiority of his strength to send a fleet south to attack the Dutch merchant ships.The Dutch had few people in Nanyang, the East India Company focused on commercial interests, and the East China Sea Fleet was backed by Taiwan and Jiangdong, with a steady supply of troops and warships, Zhao Ming was confident that even if he fell into a long-term battle, victory would inevitably belong to Donghai Town.After the fleet went to sea, in Dayuan Bay, the remaining officers and soldiers of Donghai Town stopped the attack on Reshalan, and the land division trained the cantonment troops on the island, and practiced the attack on the fortress with Chikan Fort as the goal, and the naval division began to salvage the Dutch shipwreck in the port while blockading the Fort Reshalan to prevent Dutch ships from bringing in resources and supplies.At that time, the Hongyi cannon of the Ming Dynasty was salvaged from the British shipwreck, and the inner harbor was not deep, and the Donghai Town Naval Division first determined the location of the shipwreck, and then sent sailors into the water, and salvaged more than ten Dutch naval guns every few days.Firth, the Taiwanese governor of Fort Reshalan, saw that Donghai Town salvaged the sunken ship, repaired the warship, and had craftsmen and Dutch prisoners take over the Dutch shipyard in Taiwan, began to lay keels, and prepared to build ships, and his heart became gloomy.If this continues, the strength of Donghai Town will only get stronger and stronger, and the war will not be a good thing for the company if it drags on.On this day, Zhao Ming was watching, and the soldiers were conducting siege drills, Gu Yanwu suddenly came to Zhao Ming's side and said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, according to your orders, I contacted a British merchant ship that came to Fujian to trade!"
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