"The name Ao Song should not be used on a large scale for the time being. [Read the full text]" Yu Eshui said, "The Red Scarf Army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty wanted to 'reopen the Song Dynasty with the sun and the moon'. Zhu Yuanzhang can also be regarded as one of the Red Scarf Army However, in the end, the Xiao Ming King was killed and the "Da Ming" was created. The Ming court may have a certain taboo against "descendants of the Song Dynasty". At this stage, we can use an example similar to the Red Scarf Army to the outside world, and use the military name to temporarily represent the country. No. I propose that we call Fubo Army - very relevant."
"Actually, we can call it gla," Wen Desi said, "Global People's Liberation Army. This is not bad, Secretary Ma."
"It will be used in the future. People who are called gla now have no idea at all." Ma Qianxu said, "I think from today on, our official documents and announcements can use the name Fubo Army."
Jiang Shan returned to the Intelligence Bureau's office. As soon as he arrived at the office, he received a call from He Ming, asking him to "find out the situation of the Ming army in Guangdong."
"A few days after the establishment of the Intelligence Bureau, the specific tasks came." Jiang Shan said at the evening meeting. "This is the first key project of our Foreign Intelligence Bureau. It must be completed, otherwise it will be troublesome to obtain budgets in the future."
Wang Ding coughed and said first: "Most of this information can be obtained from the archives of the General Information Library. There is a lot of historical information compiled by the Great Library and materials collected by the Guangzhou Station over the years that can be used. I I plan to conduct a search for this part of the information and then compile it.”
"Such information is too old." Jiang Shan expressed doubts.
"It is said to be old, but it is only two or three years old. The situation of the Ming army will not change much."
"This matter mainly depends on the intelligence from the Guangzhou Station." Xu Xu, a so-called "naval military intelligence officer" said, "If the Ming army wants to attack Lingao, it must cross the sea. The Guangzhou Station has spies at the traffic chokepoints in Guangdong. Arrangement, as long as there are concentration of warships and troop mobilization, news will inevitably come. It is useless for us to speculate here. "
Therefore, the informants are the counters of each branch of the Qiwei Escort Agency. They use carrier pigeons to report local news to the main office in Guangzhou every five days. Although this kind of information is not very timely, considering that the marching speed of the ancient army was very slow, this speed is acceptable.
"If we have completed our mission just by waiting for the intelligence from Guangzhou Station and the collection of point files, our Foreign Intelligence Bureau will no longer have to mess around." Jiang Shan said, "We have to send people to Guangdong to collect some military intelligence."
"Now that we have trained expatriate intelligence personnel, this transfer to collect information from the Guangdong Ming Army is a good internship opportunity. They should be allowed to go out and give it a try. Qiongzhou is actually nothing, and it is the real fish in Guangdong. Enter the sea. The effectiveness of the training depends on this time." Xuancheng was also interested in this proposal, "If you want to send someone there, I am willing to go."
"Isn't it a bit too risky..."
"Since we are engaged in intelligence work, we should still have this risk. Of course, we cannot ask intelligence personnel to do such dangerous things as going into the camp to take pictures, but we should still have the ability to stand and watch."
"Since we are just standing and watching, why send more people there? The Guangzhou Station has spies in many places. It would be unnecessary for us to send more people." Wang Ding objected, "The intelligence work in Guangdong should be done by the Guangzhou Station. If Station Manager Guo said that if there is insufficient manpower or other difficulties, we can send people to Guangzhou Station to assist, but we must not send additional people there. This not only wastes human resources but also violates work procedures."
Wang Ding continued: "The key to intelligence work is analysis. Instead of just providing a bunch of fragmentary details, we should focus on analyzing the existing data and submitting a detailed and reliable report."
Jiang Shan thought that since Wang Ding became the director of the Analysis Department, he sang "Analysis is omnipotent" all day long, obviously with the intention of exaggerating his own status.
But his words were not easy to argue with, and now Li Yan came to echo his point of view.
"That's right, I also suggest focusing on sorting, judging and analyzing the existing information. As for what information is missing, just call the Guangzhou Station directly and let them collect it - this is their job."
"It depends on how long Guangzhou Station can survive. Guo Yi and the others did not go out well." Jiang Shan thought of several telegrams coming from Guangzhou Station recently, including all parties extending their greedy hands to Guangzhou Station. Although the current situation is unclear, it is still uncertain whether various industries in Guangzhou Station will survive the war.
"The situation at the Guangzhou-Leizhou Station is already being discussed by Skade," Li Yan said. "Although strictly speaking this is a matter for the Department of Colonial Trade, our Intelligence Bureau is also obliged to protect foreign stations."
"My opinion is very simple, protect people but not property." Jiang Shan said, "As long as you get the person out safely. Money is something external to the body. If it is gone, it is gone. Anyway, you can get it back a hundred times in the future."
Li Yan said: "If possible, we should try to preserve property. I think it is not impossible to consider appropriate expedient measures to 'save the country through curves', such as giving it to the local gentry. This will at least enable the industry to operate sustainably." , it will be easy to take it back in the future anyway.”
"As for the scope of personnel safety, it should be wider." Jiang Shan believes that the Guangzhou Station has just completed a large-scale replacement and review work. Many personnel were sent from Lingao, and it is a pity to lose them. As for the locally employed craftsmen, servants and managers, they should also be protected as much as possible - even if they cannot be withdrawn from Lingao together, means should be used to ensure their personal and property safety.
"This will greatly increase the trust of the indigenous personnel in us. We know that we will not just leave when there is a crisis."
"There is also Leizhou Station. The area in Leizhou is remote, and the evil wind from Guangzhou will not be able to blow there for a while, but we must be on guard."
"If you ask me, Guangzhou can be withdrawn, but Leizhou must not be withdrawn." Wang Ding knocked on the table firmly, "As soon as Leizhou withdraws, the sugar company will be finished."
Guangzhou is a pure circulation and commercial field. Except for the distillation factory with some modern technology - the use of twentieth-century distillation coolers, there is basically no modern industry. The little manufacturing industry in Zizhenzhai is purely manual. . After the destruction, as long as the Cross-Travel Group can continue to supply "Australian goods", it will be easy to rebuild. Not to mention there are many ways to avoid damage. Leizhou Station is different. It is a dual manufacturing and distribution facility. If a modern sugar factory falls into the hands of inexperienced natives, it will be completely destroyed within a short time of operation. Moreover, Leizhou Station has invested a lot of capital in local sugarcane farmers. Once it is abandoned halfway, not only The losses to itself are huge, and the damage to the confidence of sugarcane farmers is even more devastating.
"Guangzhou is the provincial capital and the focus of official attention. Therefore, it is difficult for Guo Yi to survive, so my opinion is to withdraw Lei Bao from Guangzhou." Wang Ding suggested, "Leizhou is not in the Ming Dynasty, even in the old time and space. A place where the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Most people will not focus their eyes there. There is a possibility of security."
Moreover, Leizhou Peninsula is opposite Lingao, and you can cross the sea to Xuwen in half a day. Whether it is to secretly send a special reconnaissance team to do wet work, or to send a naval expedition team to attack, it is very convenient to intervene compared to the days of sailing to Guangzhou.
"If someone in Leizhou attempts to harm the industry at Leizhou Station, we can ask the executive committee to deploy a special investigation team to carry out the operation. After a few rounds of 'wet work', no one will dare to touch Leizhou's brains. We can even use more extreme methods. , completely controlling the news of one prefecture and two counties in Leizhou and the exchange of information between Guangzhou."
"Let's draft a memorandum to the Executive Committee and send a copy to Si Kaide." Li Yan said, "As for military intelligence, it is still based on the local area - use the existing information first."
Wang Ding also said: "This is our first project. Not only must we make achievements, but we must also stand firm."
Nodding along with everyone in the congregation.
"Okay, I understand. I'll do it according to your idea." Jiang Shan gave in, and he somewhat understood the meaning behind Wang Ding's words.
The Foreign Intelligence Bureau then issued intelligence collection instructions to the Guangzhou Station, requiring the Guangzhou Station to focus on collecting the Guangdong Ming Army's mobilization, troop status, and general personnel information. Especially the mobilization of the army. Whether the Minister of War is preparing to go abroad to defend the enemy or to defend and counterattack, it is always most important to understand the movements of the Ming army.
In terms of military intelligence, the Foreign Intelligence Service spent several days collecting and reviewing various information, and finally came up with an intelligence piece.
Most of the content of this information was copied from historical records, and then analyzed and compiled based on the scattered information collected by Guangzhou and Leizhou stations over the years.
"Although we lack sufficient information on the mobilization capabilities of the Ming army in Guangdong, we can roughly infer how much force the Ming army could mobilize to attack Lingao through the force Yu Zigao sent to Penghu to expel the Dutch in 1624."
When Yu Zigao sent troops to Penghu in August 1624, he dispatched more than 10,000 people and more than 300 ships. The Dutch he faced were only fourteen large and small ships, and the East India Company's army stationed at the fortress in Penghu only had 800 troops.
From the strength comparison between the two sides, it can be seen that the Ming army was fully aware of the military gap between itself and the Europeans, so it adopted the method of using quantity to offset quality, and relied on the method of overwhelming the city with ten to one black clouds to force the Netherlands back. people.
"We believe that this time the Guangdong Ming Army is likely to repeat its old tactics and still adopt the mode of heavy troops to suppress the situation in order to achieve our goal of demolishing the castle and retreating on our own." Wang Ding presented the analysis of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau at a military meeting of the General Staff Headquarters. Explain it to everyone present.
It is impossible for the Ming army commander not to know about the crossing group building a castle in Lingao and training the regiment. The reputation of the Australians for their strong ships and powerful guns has already spread.
Of course, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army could conclude that the enemy he faced was only stronger than the Dutch back then. Therefore, if he wanted to attack Lingao, he would definitely not mobilize less troops than Yu Zigao's forces back then.
"This time the Ming army will mobilize more troops, not less. Otherwise, their military operations will not be successful. This is one." Wang Ding said, "Second, Yu Zigao went to Penghu that year It is a long-distance sea projection, and limited to the number of ships and sailors, he cannot project more troops."
Moreover, the Penghu area is basically a desert island. In addition to water, all food, grass and firewood are supplied by the mainland. Yu Zigao is under great logistical pressure, so he has probably reached the limit of troop projection by bringing more than 10,000 people to the mainland. .
But Lingao is different. There are many prefectures and counties on Hainan Island, so part of the food can be obtained on the spot, and men, livestock and vehicles can also be collected along the way. The logistics are much less stressful.
"...To sum up, we believe that the final mobilization force of the Ming army is between 20,000 and 30,000 people. The main force should be the Zhenbiao Zhongying and Jiading of Guangdong Commander-in-Chief He Rubin. This part has about 20,000 troops. Thousands of people. There may also be some dispatched from the Fubiao and Biaozhong camps."
"How did you get the data that there are 2,000 people in this town?" Dongmen Chuiyu asked.
"It's not a secret how many people there are in Guangzhou," Wang Ding said. "Everyone knows."
"You didn't falsely report the number of heads, and took the empty quota?"
"I'm afraid that false reports of heads will only occur in ordinary troops, but not in troops that are the core of tactics."
"Are there any cavalry?"
"There are not many horses in the Ming army in Guangdong. There are only a small number of horses for the generals to ride, carry, scout and deliver orders. The cavalry as an assault force can be said to be non-existent. So we don't have to worry about dealing with the cavalry."
This is not only because horses in Guangdong are expensive or difficult to source, but also because the climate in Guangdong is also not suitable for horse life. In the huge city of Guangzhou, it is rare to see large livestock such as horses, donkeys, and mules. Rarely raised in the military.
"What about the firearms situation?"
"There are a lot of firearms." Wang Ding said that the proportion of firearms and equipment in the Ming army in Guangdong originally exceeded 60%. And there have been great improvements in the quality of firearms recently. Wang Zunde's large-scale cannon-casting production campaign led to an increase in the number of imitation Hongyi cannons.
"So they will definitely bring many cloned versions of the Hongyi cannon."
"The Hongyi artillery imitated by Wang Zunde, according to the report from Guangzhou Station and the information we collected from Foshan channels, is mainly 9-pound and 12-pound artillery. The 12-pound artillery is too heavy, and the Ming army lacks livestock for traction, so it is unlikely that For field battles, the 9-pounder should be brought. There are also some old artillery such as Fran machines."
"He Rubin, the commander-in-chief of Guangdong, is famous for being good at firearms. He also has a firearms book, "Theory of Western Fire Attack Artifacts". He should be a person who has a certain understanding of the power and use of artillery. We must pay attention to it." Zhang Bolin left the artillery because route, with a strong focus on old firearms technology. He must read every issue of the reference materials on military history compiled by the Great Library.
"He Rubin is an anti-Catholic person. He was involved in the Nanjing Mission Project in the 44th year of Wanli Dynasty. The knowledge of Western firearms at that time was completely controlled by Catholics and missionaries. It is unlikely that this anti-Catholic person has any contact with Western priests. - The origin of the work itself is also very suspicious - he claimed that the book was written in the thirty-fourth year of Wanli, but in the end the volume mentioned Ningyuan - besides, the imperial court had never purchased the Hongyi cannon before the thirty-fourth year of Wanli." Yu E Shui smiled and said, "So I said that if he comes to command the expeditionary army, he will not be any different from other general soldiers in this time and space in commanding operations and using firearms."
"The firearms of the Ming army are not worth mentioning," Ying Yu said. "Even if we used 12-pound cannons to bombard them, they would still be completely defeated. I'm afraid the enemy will retreat before the infantry can fire."
"Let's not underestimate the enemy too much." He Ming said, "Let's continue talking. According to your estimates, when will the Ming army start military operations?"
"Yes," Wang Ding nodded, "Our calculation is that the Ming army should arrive in the second half of this year at the earliest. About October."
"Is the extrapolation too broad?"
"The Dutch landed on Penghu for the second time in July 1622. The Ming government's determination to force its retreat by force was made roughly after October 1623. Yu Zigao's troops would not arrive until August 1624. It took almost a year for the Ming army to mobilize more than 10,000 people."
It is impossible for tens of thousands of troops to gather together on weekdays, and they must be stationed in a dispersed state. Wang Zunde wants to gather the troops, which will not happen overnight. According to the information from the Guangzhou Station, the Guangdong government has not even raised the military expenses for the army's departure.
"In fact, strictly speaking, the military operations in Guangdong have not officially started yet. All operations will have to wait until military expenditures are implemented before they can be officially launched."
However, the Ming army did not have much time to use in the first half of the year - summer was about to begin in Lingao, and summer was the beginning of the rainy season. The Ming army was not a modern army that could brave adverse weather conditions to carry out military operations. If the offensive could not begin before June, the offensive would have to be delayed until late autumn.
"...After autumn, there is another threat of typhoon in Lingao. If the Ming army wants to attack from two directions, Shui and Liu, they will not start the attack until at least October."
"Is there any possibility that Zheng Zhilong will intervene?" Chen Haiyang asked.
Wang Ding nodded: "Zheng Zhilong's troops are completely in a battle-ready state and can be dispatched at any time. They are our biggest threat. However, Xiong Wencan will not use Zheng Zhilong to curry favor with Wang Zunde. Moreover, his own ability to restrain Zheng Zhilong is also very limited. Unless Zheng Zhilong He thinks it’s profitable, otherwise he wouldn’t be willing to pour muddy water.”
"Is it not profitable to fight us? I think it is very profitable."
"He still has many opponents to deal with, and it is impossible for him to fight with us. Li Kuiqi hasn't eaten them yet."
"According to our latest intelligence," Wang Ding took out a document, "Li Kuiqi's headquarters was destroyed not long ago by the joint attack of Zheng Zhilong and Zhong Bin."
Li Kuiqi's demise suddenly made everyone feel nervous. Every time Zheng Zhilong eliminates a major enemy, it means that his military strength has expanded a lot, and there is one less force to contain him. Zheng Zhilong's footsteps are getting closer and closer to Lingao.
The following is more than 5,000 words
Note:
Li Kuiqi should have been eliminated in the second year of Chongzhen. I mistakenly remembered that he was Zhong Bin. In fact, Zhong Bin was about to be destroyed at this time.
Correction here. v! ~!
