Chapter 65: Strategy for Suppression
"The Fubo Army is not inherited from a mature military system. [No pop-up novel website]" He Ming seemed a little unsure of how to express it, "This is an army without tradition and history. It lacks... "He pondered for a moment, "Soul."
"I think Xiao Wei's political education is pretty good..."
"This has nothing to do with political education, that's not what I'm talking about." He Ming shook his head, "You have also been a soldier. You should understand what I mean. Fubo Army's organizational model and tactics - including Wei Aiwen's political education - We all copied it. No matter how well-trained it is, it is just an 'armed force'. Only an army that has fought with blood and real swords and guns on the battlefield will have its own soul."
"You're overly worried."
"Haha, all the capital that everyone has accumulated bit by bit over the past three years has been handed over to me at once. How can I not be afraid?" He Ming said.
Winning this battle is a matter of course - the technological advantage and the advantage of the times are so great. If there is a slight setback, public opinion in the Senate will be very unfavorable to him. Wu De understood his thinking.
"The question is, will the road be renovated by the time we really have to go to war?"
"Of course it can't be completed. The road can be built as long as it can be built. Even if it is extended one meter further to Qiongshan County, it will reduce the logistical pressure for us. The ultimate purpose of building roads is to rule," He Ming said.
"If the enemy is as true as some have speculated: the Ming army will not launch an offensive until October, this road may be able to be built to Qiongshan County."
"The Ming army may not arrive so late. We still have to overestimate the enemy as much as possible." He Ming said.
The Planning Institute evaluated plans to build roads across the border. According to the estimates of the General Staff and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, Chengmai itself does not have the strength to resist cross-border road construction. It is only renovating post roads, and there is no harassment or conflict of interest for the local people. Or even conversely, road construction teams can expand their influence by hiring local laborers to purchase supplies.
The officials in Chengmai County would not welcome such a thing, but they would not organize their own troops to attack - everyone knew that leading hundreds of soldiers from the township to attack the Australians would be self-destruction. The local officials in Chengmai will only ignore the road construction project except to ask for help - it is not true.
If some local tyrant and evil gentry comes to the door without opening their eyes, they can also directly destroy Liwei.
The problem is the materials and manpower to build the road. Wu De thought to himself after thinking about it for a long time in the office. It is about one hundred kilometers from Lingao to Qiongshan. Even if the road is built according to the standards of building a simple highway, it will take at least two years to build it without using machinery and using only manpower. If mechanical equipment is used, it will take more than six months. I'm afraid the war can't wait.
Of course, building roads was not just for fighting. Since we want to actually control the entire island, this road must always be built. It is better to build it early than to build it late. Only when roads are built can we talk about local control. The effect of road construction is particularly obvious in Lingao. Wherever the roads that pass through the political power go, the issuance of government orders is particularly smooth.
Today is the Dragon Boat Festival in May, the day for dragon boat racing on the Pearl River. Inside and outside the city, there was a lot of excitement. In Guangzhou during the Little Ice Age, you could still wear jackets during the Dragon Boat Festival.
The governor's office in the city is heavily guarded. Governor Li Fengjie's sedan chair first entered the Governor's Yamen through the side door, followed by many civil and military officials, including General He Rubin, Inspector Gao Shunqin, Chief Envoy of Guangdong, Haibei Fenshou Dao, Hainan Fenshou Dao, Guangzhou Prefect and others. Continue to come.
Behind the lobby of the Governor's Yamen and past the courtyard is the second hall. In addition to the middle hall, the second hall also has warm pavilions on both sides, which are places where meetings are held.
Wang Zunde held secret military discussions with the main civil and military officials in Guangdong in the Xinuang Pavilion of the Second Hall. It is everyone's consensus that it requires the efforts of the whole province to suppress the gangsters in Bopu.
After the main officials have arrived. Wang Zunde chaired the meeting. After he made up his mind to use force, he had many private meetings with officials in the provincial capital and generally reached a consensus.
The chief envoy of Guangdong has promised to allocate 200,000 taels of silver in advance for the army to renovate weapons and ships and set off. Other funds will be found later.
"Today we are discussing the matter of suppressing the bandits. It is very urgent. The bandits have occupied the shops, privately opened commercial ports, built cities and forts, and recruited local traitorous people as soldiers. Their power has become huge. I heard that the bandits have iron ships, fast cannons, and firearms. And sharp. If things go on like this, it will definitely become a big problem for our province in Guangdong. Please share your opinions on how to drive the Kun thieves out of Qiongzhou?"
Everyone looked at each other. They already knew more or less that the Kun thieves or the Australians were in Lingao. As for the reputation of Australian firearms and iron ships, everyone has heard of it. Generally speaking, except for Inspector Gao and General He, no one was enthusiastic about meeting the Australians with swords.
The Australians have never done anything that gives anyone a headache on the coast of Guangdong. They do not kill, rob, or set fire, and do business in a disciplined manner. Several shops in Guangzhou also know the rules, and there is never a shortage of money according to the three festivals and two respects. , from time to time, they also offer some new Australian gadgets. As for Ziming Tower, it is a good place where many people have gone to enjoy the "Australian secret show".
Now that they have to be expelled and exterminated, some people still feel a little reluctant to leave. And some people think that Governor Wang is arbitrarily provoking a side issue - the officers and soldiers may not be the opponents of the Australians. If they fail to win the battle, they will anger the Australians and cause trouble along the coast.
But since Governor Wang has made up his mind, it is natural that no one can refute it. Some people are already thinking about other calculations - once the Australians are expelled, how to divide the profits from the industries they left behind.
You must know that Australians not only have three industries in Guangzhou, but also heard that many Australian goods are manufactured in Lingao, and they have also opened a private commercial port in Bopu. In this way, there is no telling how much Australian goods there are in Lingao.
After a battle is won, when the Australians escape, they cannot take away every family. Everyone benefits.
Gao Shunqin was the most in favor of the governor's decision. He originally hated these overseas visitors very much. They originally wanted to expel the Portuguese, let alone this group of Australians of unknown origin.
I heard him cough and say: "The so-called Australians have not paid tribute in the past, nor are they Western or Eastern barbarians. Even the red-haired and franchising machines do not know their origins. What they sell are all strange and ingenious things. Corrupting the hearts of scholars and common people. Such ugliness is obviously a disease of the heart of Guangdong."
Everyone echoed. But everyone has no idea how to expel Australians.
As for the specific situation of the Australians in Lingao, in addition to sorting out a few Tang Yunwen letters sent by Qiongya Ginseng, everyone knows some scattered rumors: For example, they claim to be descendants of the Song people in Yashan; Australian artificial intelligence Good skills and so on. Even General Tang Shen's newspaper only said: The Australians built forts and huge cannons in Bopu; they also had iron clippers that could fly without sails or oars. In addition, many "Fujian and Guangdong traitors" pretended to be "fake Kun" as their precursors.
In addition, no one knows how many people the Kun bandits have in Lingao, how many cannons they have, how the big iron ship moves, etc. We don't even know how many people there are in False Kun.
However, Wang Zunde had reports coming from the coast of Guangdong, Fujian. He knew that after Zhu Cailao's defeat, a group of people and ships surrendered to Lingao, and then a group of broken ships and ships of pirates from all walks of life surrendered to Lingao. There should be tens of thousands of people in front and behind.
"The total number of real and fake Kuns in Lingao is tens of thousands." He Rubin said, "There are also artillery and iron ships, so it is not easy to suppress them."
He Rubin is a military commander who only has suggestions but no decision-making power on the battle strategy. But after all, he is the one who implements the actual combat operations, and his ideas are also important.
Lu Yizhong hurriedly said: "The fake Kun is just trying to make a small profit for the thief. Master Futai only needs to issue an edict to inform him of the benefits of using his body to serve as a thief. If the imperial soldiers move again, the fake Kun will naturally disperse. There is no need to cause trouble."
"Hmph, this may not be easy to say." He Rubin said, "The fake Kuns are mostly the remnants of the pirates such as Zhu Yang. They were originally people who fled the sea, and now they have joined forces with the Kuns, who can drive iron ships. Breaking through the thousands of miles of waves, they must be the generation of Chang and Zhouji. The two are working together, if they cannot be wiped out in one blow and dispersed, our Guangdong ocean will never have peace from now on."
"The bandits are no different from ordinary pirates, who only seek money. The Australians claimed to be descendants of Chinese Miao people, and when they came to the Ming Dynasty, they neither sent envoys to the dynasty nor submitted a letter to the emperor. Instead, they built a city privately in a corner of Lingao and recruited people. To go into exile is to show disloyalty." He said in a stern voice, and immediately put a big hat on the Australians.
"General Yin."
He Rubin quickly stood up, crossed his hands and said, "I don't dare, sir."
"You are not only the official commander of the imperial court, but also a high-ranking official in Taiwan. The governor has always relied on you to act as the Great Wall of Guangdong to suppress bandits. What are your best strategies?"
He Rubin bowed respectfully and replied: "In my humble opinion, there are... difficulties in suppressing Kun.
"where…?"
"There is no difference between fake and real Japanese. During the Japanese pirate rebellion during the Jiajing period, there were also real and fake Japanese. The real Japanese were only one-tenth of two percent, but they still roamed the seas for decades and were a serious problem for the court. This is one of them."
Zunde nodded.
"Secondly, in the Guangdong area, the bandits are recruiting exiles, buying and selling on equal terms, and do not plunder merchants or ships. This is quite a way to win over people's hearts. As soon as our troops move, the common people will tell the traitors. It is difficult for military aircraft to keep secrets. .”
"rational."
"Thirdly, the Kun pirate ship has strong cannons and sharp firearms, which are difficult for our army to match. In my humble opinion, I may still be superior to the red-haired, blue, and francji people."
Wang Zunde twitched his beard and smiled, and asked: "General, what are your plans?"
"I don't dare, sir." He said more respectfully, "Your Majesty is clever and clever, so he naturally has a plan to level up Kun. Please explain the strategy clearly."
"In today's meeting, I will tell you everything I know."
"yes."
He Rubin's strategy was no different from what Lu Yizhong had imagined. The Australians have the advantage of ships and cannons. Just sending thousands of people or hundreds of ships to demonstrate is not enough to force the other side to withdraw. Heavy troops must be used for this.
The Shuilu army dispatched 20,000 people, including at least 6,000 combat soldiers. Bring more firearms, especially Hongyi cannons.
"The enemy is always on the boat, and he has collected the remnants of the pirates from all walks of life. Our soldiers must not engage in sea battles with them." He Rubin was not a naval officer, but he was very clear about the province's naval capabilities, let alone the big ones. Iron ships and iron clippers are no match against the big red-haired plywood ships and speedboats. If we don't use arson ships, we can't fight against the enemy at all.
In his strategy, the Guangdong Navy was only responsible for transportation tasks, transporting the participating troops to Qianhu Station in Haikou in batches, and the entire army was assembled in Qiongshan County.
"Although the Australians are powerful, they have not been able to capture a single county so far. This shows that they are not good at six battles. I will attack them with heavy troops from the Sixth Division, which will have twice the effect."
According to He Rubin's estimation: the fake Kuns were mostly the remnants of sea pirates such as Zhu Cai Lao. The imperial army may not be their opponents at sea, but they fought on land and set up a majestic formation. The other party didn't dare to fight head-on. It must be to retreat and defend Bopu. He personally led the army to Bopu from Route 6. The common people in Lingao no longer dared to feed the thieves from Ji Bo Pu with vegetables and meat. The army only needed to surround them for a few months to half a year to force them to demolish their forts and leave.
Wang Zunde was quite satisfied with his plan. But according to the traditional rules, the formulation of strategies is not the responsibility of the military commander. He can't say whether it is good or bad, he just twirls his beard and smiles.
"Zhijun" Li Fengjie said, "Only 6 divisions were sent to suppress the attack. The thieves still came and went as they pleased at sea. Although the local traitors in Lingao could not provide vegetables and meat, there were many traitors in Fujian and Guangdong who were greedy for huge profits. I'm afraid. It may not be possible to achieve what you want.”
"Brother, do you have any good ideas?"
"Liu Laoxiang is a problem for me in Guangdong. If he can follow Cao Lutai's strategy, he can recruit people and use thieves to attack thieves. Wouldn't it be a great thing?"
The words are good, but who is going to contact this "giant bandit"? Liu Laoxiang has been harassing the Pearl River Estuary. The official army and local Xiangyong have engaged in many battles with his small grain harvesting team on the 6th, but they still don't know where his main force is. The Portuguese tried to eliminate Liu Xiang many times but failed - they also wanted to join forces with the Ming Dynasty to suppress him.
It would be impossible to appease such a giant sea pirate without a year or two of back-and-forth contact. The so-called "fighting a thief with a thief" is nothing more than empty words.
Although Wang Zunde was smiling broadly, he actually didn't take it seriously.
"This matter needs to be considered in the long term. If we can recruit him, it will be a great good thing." He said, "I wonder who is Cao Lutai from Guangdong Province?"
Cao Lutai, the coastal defense magistrate of Yuegang, was the main person in charge of Xiong Wencan's recruitment of Zheng Zhilong. He also handled all the affairs after Zheng Zhilong's death. The strategy of using thieves to attack thieves was first proposed by Cao Lutai. Wang Zunde felt that there was no such bold and capable official in the province who understood the "bandit sentiment" very well.
Li Fengjie had already made plans. Someone behind the scenes had contacted Liu Laoxiang and was trying to persuade him to give up. He learned from his aides that although Liu Xiang's power was expanding rapidly, he was extremely worried about Zheng Zhilong's expansion - once Zheng Zhilong eliminated Zhong Bin, he would definitely go east to Guangdong to eliminate him.
Li Fengjie believes that since Liu Xiang has such thoughts, there is a high possibility of recruiting him, so he is stepping up efforts to deal with this matter recently. In order to avoid Wang Zunde's intervention, he kept this secret.
At this time, he brought it up, not because he really wanted to send Liu Xiang, but because he wanted Wang Zunde to express his stance on recruiting Liu Xiang first. Now that his goal was achieved, he stopped talking and simply said: "I will try my best to fulfill my humble position."
The campaign strategy formulated by Wang Zunde is as follows:
He Rubin led the entire army and went to sea from Guangzhou to sacrifice the flag. Crossed the sea in batches to Qiongzhou Prefecture. Gathered at Qianhu Station in Haikou. The navy dispatched 300 ships - the navy did not have such a large number of large ships, and it was too late to build them immediately. Therefore, all the shortcomings were made up by sealing ships along the coast.
A total of 15,000 troops were mobilized. With He Rubin's Zhenbiao Zhongying and his servants as the main force, supplemented by one each from Fu Biao and Du Biao - a total of 6,000 soldiers. Qiongya Shenjiang Tang Yunwen's troops were also controlled by him. In this way, the Ming army that entered the army was 620,000 strong. Wang Zunde also prepared to order a separate patrol in Hainan: He was asked to mobilize the local warriors from Qiongshan, Chengmai and Lingao to coordinate with the local guardsmen who could be used. The food and salary of this part of the troops will be taken care of by Qiongzhou Prefecture.
After the concentration of troops was completed, the 6th Division was sent to Lingao along the post road. When the 6th Division surrounded Bopu, the Navy took action according to the situation. Wang Zunde had no hope in the combat effectiveness of the province's navy, so he did not clarify their mission.
Gao Shunqin strongly opposed the use of French warships and cannons to assist in the suppression. He was originally going to submit a memorial to cut off trade with the Portuguese, but now if he succeeds in expelling Kun with his help, the court will regard the Francois as useful allies. How can they approve his memorial?
Therefore, he knew clearly that the Franco's large ships and heavy artillery were helpful in suppressing the bandits, but he still firmly opposed it. Wang Zunde did not want to argue with him and did not mention the matter again.
Since the army and navy cannot compete with them. Wang Zunde offered the magic weapon of Forbidden Sea. He immediately ordered Qiongya Counselor Tang Yunwen to lead the navy to cruise near Haikou and prohibit all civilian ships from entering the Qiongzhou Strait.
"Sir, why don't you mobilize troops from Guangxi?" After the meeting, Lu Yizhong was surprised that his boss did not summon officials from Guangxi to come to the meeting. There are quite a few chieftain soldiers in Guangxi who are brave and good at fighting. In the past several Li rebellions in Hainan, the imperial court mobilized Miao, Yao, Dong and other native soldiers from Guangxi to cross the sea to fight.
"This is a Guangdong matter, and Guangdong's army should be put to good use." Wang Zunde said nonchalantly, "Guangxi's land is barren and the people are poor, so it is better to recruit less troops."
After a moment's thought, Lu Yizhong understood what he meant - "Guangdong matters to Guangdong."
"Best regards, my lord."
"Where." Wang Zunde nodded gracefully. Then he asked Lu Yizhong about the details of the Kun thief in Lingao. Lu Yizhong is equivalent to the "auxiliary" in the governor's office. All kinds of news, newspapers, and documents will be summarized in his hands first.
However, the Hainan Tang newspaper received by Guangzhou only contained a few vague statements - very little was known about the situation of the Kun thieves in Lingao. Wang Zunde immediately ordered people to go to Qiongzhou Prefecture to recruit talents, recruiting people who knew the Lingao banditry and were familiar with the local hydrology and geography. He also ordered He Rubin to send a spy to Lingao to investigate.
"There is a person who, humble enough, thought I could ask."
"Oh? Who is it?"
"The main hall of Lingao County - Wu Mingjin."
Lu Yizhong reminded him that Lingao County had not yet fallen. All the officials in the county are living well. The county magistrate should know the situation of Kun thief best. It is better to send someone to summon him to Guangzhou in the name of reporting on his duties. The local situation can be known by asking Kun thief's inside story. x! ~!
