Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 755: Naval Battle Candidates

"What Lord Zheng just demonstrated was only a sea battle. What if it was a landing battle using warships?" Zhou Anmin asked.

"Landing operation?" Zheng Hongkui didn't quite understand why the other party asked this question.

Zhou Anmin smiled and said, "During the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates harassed local areas and caused trouble in the south of the Yangtze River. How did these Japanese pirates get ashore? In other words, if you were asked to lead a navy to fight against Japan, what would you do?"

Zheng Hongkui was shocked when he heard this. What! We are going to fight Japan? This can't be true?

Although Japan is a small country, its strength is not weak! In the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japan attacked Korea with the intention of annexing Korea and then using Korea as a springboard to attack Ming Dynasty. Although this war has passed for decades, it is not far away.

In order to rescue Korea, the Wanli Emperor sent a large number of troops to rescue it. A fierce battle was fought between Korea and Japan. This war lasted for seven years. There were not only land battles but also naval battles. Although the Ming Dynasty won in the end and the Japanese army was defeated and withdrew, the Korean War was won, but in fact the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses in this battle.
This war lasted for seven years. The Ming Dynasty dispatched a total of 150,000 troops and spent countless amounts of money. Japan dispatched 300,000 troops. The two sides fought back and forth in Korea. In the end, due to the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the failure of several battles by the Japanese army, the Japanese side was unable to continue the war. Finally, the two sides ceased fire and the Japanese army withdrew to their homeland, ending the war.

The History of Ming Dynasty: Japan says about this war: "After Hideyoshi's death, all the Japanese returned home, and the threat to Korea was resolved. However, since the Kanpaku invaded the East, it took seven years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were lost, millions of military expenses were wasted, and China and Korea had no chance of winning. After the Kanpaku's death, the war finally ended, and all the Japanese retreated to their islands, and the southeast was able to rest a little."

The Ming History is actually unreliable. There are too many things in the Ming History that throw mud at the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention other things, it also describes the Emperor Tianqi as an illiterate who could not read a single word. And it is nonsense to say that the Ming Dynasty lost hundreds of thousands of troops. During the Seven Years' War, the total number of troops sent to Korea by the Ming Dynasty was only 150,000. How could there be hundreds of thousands of deaths?
But no matter what, it is a fact that the Ming Dynasty was seriously injured in the war to aid Korea, otherwise Nurhaci would not have started his rebellion a few years later. If there had not been this war, no matter how brave Nurhaci was, he would not have dared to act rashly. This shows the far-reaching impact of this war on the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Excellency's intention is...?" Zheng Hongkui was more and more frightened the more he thought about it. Could it be that the court's opening of maritime trade with Japan was fake? Was it really about wanting to launch a war against Japan? But the problem was that the Ming Dynasty today was no longer the Ming Dynasty during the period of aiding Korea. Not only did the Ming Dynasty have a great enemy, the Jiannu in Liaodong, but there were also bandits inside the Ming Dynasty that had not been eliminated. Under such circumstances, how could the Ming Dynasty have the ability to launch a foreign war?
"Hahaha, Lord Zheng misunderstood." Zhou Anmin waved his hand and said, "I just mentioned it casually. Besides, although Japan is a small country, its national strength is not weak. It has not provoked our Ming Dynasty in recent years, so how can it attack Japan? Since Lord Zheng has such concerns, I will not ask..."

"It's okay, it's my fault that I misunderstood you. Since you asked, how can I not answer?" Zheng Hongkui replied quickly. Are you kidding? The person who asked the question just now was Zhou Anmin. Who is Zhou Anmin? Now he is the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, the head of the Jinyiwei.

What kind of organization is Jinyiwei? Zheng Hongkui knew it even if he was ignorant. Besides, everyone in the government and the public knew that Zhou Anmin was Zhu Shenzhui's brother-in-law. He was definitely a relative by marriage!

How could Zheng Hongkui offend such a person? And Zhou Anmin asked in front of Zhu Shenzhui, doesn't this mean that this question is Zhu Shenzhui's intention? Thinking of this, Zheng Hongkui hurriedly explained.

Seeing Zheng Hongkui eager to clarify, Xu Xiancheng on the side laughed.

"Lord Zheng, there is no need to explain. If you want to blame someone, blame Lord Zhou for saying the wrong thing. Brother Zhou, why don't you give an example of something else? Why do you have to give Japan? Now that sea trade is just around the corner, Japan is the top priority of sea trade. If you use Japan as an example now, it's fine to say it privately, but if it gets out and people misunderstand it, wouldn't it affect the big things?"

"Yes, yes, yes, blame me, blame me!" Zhou Anmin slapped his forehead and apologized quickly. He also told Zhu Shenzhui that he was negligent and mentioned Japan casually, which almost caused misunderstanding. He asked to take the blame himself.

Zhu Shenzhui laughed and scolded him lightly, then let the matter go. However, just when Zheng Hongkui thought that the matter was over, Xu Xiancheng on the side said that it was indeed inappropriate to use Japan as an example just now, but Zhou Anmin was right to ask about the landing operation. He also wanted to know about this situation. Why not find a new target and let Zheng Hongkui explain it in detail?
Seeing Xu Xiancheng say this, Zhou Anmin clapped his hands in agreement. After thinking about it, he directly asked Zhu Shenzhui for instructions, and then went to the side to get a map.

When the map was unfolded, Zheng Hongkui took a closer look and immediately recognized where the map was. Isn't this the Bohai Bay and the Liaodong Peninsula?

Zheng Hongkui's pupils suddenly shrank, and he subconsciously looked towards Zhu Shenzui, but he didn't dare to look closely, just a slight glance. When he saw Zhu Shenzui staring at the map intently, he instantly understood something.

"Come on, Lord Zheng, how about taking this place as an example? If our Ming Dynasty wants to attack this place and then attack Shenyang in the north, how should we use our troops?" Zhou Anmin asked Zheng Hongkui with a smile.

As he spoke, Zhou Anmin pointed at the direction of the saddle bag, and then pointed to Shenyang in the north. At this moment, both Xu Xiancheng and Zhu Shencui were concentrating and waiting for Zheng Hongkui's answer.

Looking at the map, Zheng Hongkui's heart was pounding. He was not stupid. Moreover, as the core figure of the Zheng Group and one of the Zheng brothers, how could Zheng Hongkui be an ordinary person?

Although he was born as a pirate and had little experience, he was somewhat restrained after entering the palace, because he had not experienced these things. But it does not mean that Zheng Hongkui's vision in military affairs is poor. On the contrary, how could it be easy for the Zheng brothers to travel all over the world and create such a foundation? In addition, Zheng Hongkui is a rare educated person among the brothers, and he is not a simple-minded person. At the beginning of today, he thought that he was summoned to the palace just for the maritime trade, but as the conversation deepened, he felt something was wrong. You know, no matter how important the maritime trade is, it is not important to this extent. He can be summoned to the palace for questioning tomorrow, but he was brought to the palace in the middle of the night.

Zhu Shenzhu was busy as the regent, and Xu Xiancheng and Zhou Anmin were both important officials in the court. How could they have so much free time to summon him to the palace in the middle of the night just to listen to his views on maritime trade? This was simply impossible.

As time went by, especially when Zhou Anmin suddenly mentioned the landing operation and used Japan as an example, Zheng Hongkui was shocked and felt that there was a problem. When Xu Xiancheng tried to smooth things over, Zhou Anmin admitted that he had spoken out of turn and took out such a map. If Zheng Hongkui still didn't understand what was going on, he would have eaten rice for so many years in vain.

Combined with the news a few days ago that Huang Taiji had sent troops to Liaodong, Jinzhou was besieged, and the situation in Liaodong was dangerous, Zheng Hongkui was already certain that the real reason for summoning him to the palace today was not maritime trade at all, but Liaodong.

With the addition of this map and the landing matters mentioned above, Zheng Hongkui has already understood that the imperial court intends to rescue Liaodong, and to attack the coastal areas of Liaodong by crossing the sea, then land north and take Shenyang directly, thus forcing Huang Taiji to withdraw his troops from Jinzhou.

I have to admit that this method seems to be good. Zheng Hongkui has fought in many battles and crawled out of a pile of corpses. He has also read books and understands the story of Wei Wei to save Zhao. Isn't this the same as Wei Wei to save Zhao?
If the rescue troops go north from Shanhaiguan and head straight for Jinzhou, it will be extremely difficult. You must know that Huang Taiji has surrounded Jinzhou now, and the periphery of Jinzhou is all Huang Taiji's troops. The Ming army's field combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the Eight Banners. If you want to ensure that the reinforcements are foolproof, the scale must be considerable, and they must proceed steadily and step by step to prevent being defeated by the enemy's siege and reinforcements.

But if reinforcements came from the sea, the situation would be different. The Ming army could bypass Huang Taiji's main force and attack the rear of the Jiannu directly, land in the Dalan area, and then take advantage of the empty gap in the enemy's rear to march quickly and take Shenyang directly.

Once successful, even if Shenyang cannot be captured, Huang Taiji will be terrified. If Huang Taiji does not want to lose Shenyang, he will have no choice but to return to rescue. When Huang Taiji's army withdraws to Shenyang, the siege of Jinzhou will be lifted. From this point of view, this method looks really good.

Zheng Hongkui was stunned for a moment, he looked up at the other party, and then knelt down directly in front of Zhu Shenzhui.

"Zheng Aiqing, what are you doing...?"

"I have the audacity to ask the Regent, does the Regent intend to reinforce Liaodong from the sea, launch a surprise attack on the rear of the Jiannu, and rescue Zhao from Wei in order to lift the siege of Jinzhou?" Zheng Hongkui asked while knelt down.

Zhu Shenzhui was stunned, Zhou Anmin and Xu Xiancheng looked at each other, they didn't expect Zheng Hongkui to react so quickly.

"That's right!" Since Zheng Hongkui had already guessed the truth, there was no need to hide it any longer, so Zhu Shenzhu nodded immediately.

"Does the Regent want me to lead the navy to war?" Zheng Hongkui asked again.

"Haha, Lord Zheng's guess is correct, but this is just a preliminary idea. I asked Lord Zheng to come to the palace today to consult. Lord Zheng, please stand up and speak."

"Thank you, Regent..." Zheng Hongkui bowed his head and stood up. When he stood up, he no longer had the humility and caution he had before, and his expression was solemn.

Now that the words have been spoken, there is nothing to hide. Zhu Shenzhui asked Xu Xiancheng to explain the current situation in Liaodong and the idea of ​​crossing the sea. When Xu Xiancheng started to talk, Zheng Hongkui listened attentively, but his eyes never left the map on the table, carefully examining the terrain on the map.

After Xu Xiancheng finished his story, Zhou Anmin added some information, including the military deployment of both sides in Liaodong, the local terrain and the situation of the Jiannu in Dadan, as well as some other information. As long as he knew it, he did not hide anything and told it in detail.

After listening to everything, Zheng Hongkui nodded. He did not speak immediately, but stared at the map carefully for a while, and finally looked up and said: "If you use me to command the navy, crossing the sea will be no problem, and landing will also be no problem, but attacking Shenyang in the north is absolutely impossible!"

(End of this chapter)