readx; While he was immersed in joy at Zhang's walnut cake shop, Director Hong had almost forgotten about this matter - he had many things to do. [Full text reading] The confidential briefcase that the confidential correspondent delivers to the elders every day is a "suitcase" for others and a "packing box" for him.
The work of the entire joint logistics headquarters is very heavy right now. At night, Hong Huangnan's desk was still piled with various documents and albums. After signing a dozen documents, he yawned and asked the orderly to light the wick under the chicken. Inside was the supper he had carefully prepared: he would never pretend to eat this kind of thing. Not to mention the maids trained by the general office who look like donkeys but not donkeys.
"Guangzhou is worthy of being the capital of my gourmet province. The ingredients are abundant." Hong Huangnan once again looked at the faint flames under the chicken at night, stood up and stretched, "How is the map drawing going?"
"Chief, we have completed the map of Guangzhou and the maps of most counties under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture." reported the secretary busy beside him.
"Go and have a look." Hong Huangnan said. He was very anxious about this.
He left the office with the guard and walked down the corridor to a room. This room has no partitions and is a large, open room with a full height.
There are shelves one after another along the walls of the house, filled with slender cowhide buckets and thick loose-leaf albums. In the middle are seven or eight large tables.
On the table are maps pressed with glass plates. These maps include maps of the entire province of Guangdong and maps of various counties in Guangdong - without exception, they are all large-scale maps. Many naturalized people were busy around the table. Dozens of kerosene lamps illuminated the room.
What is going on here is the "correction" of the map. The naturalized people working here can be called "elites". They are all specially trained "specialists" in surveying and mapping. For more than three years, I studied while working, basically practicing surveying and mapping.
Because large-scale maps involve confidentiality, the Executive Committee failed to obtain military-grade large-scale maps before D-Day despite all efforts, and could only resort to collecting inferior maps. Fortunately, through the North American Branch, we were able to obtain some large-scale county maps of China's coastal and major areas used by the U.S. military for surveying and mapping in the 1940s.
These large-scale maps collected through various channels can be called the most valuable property of the Senate, and they are also an important guarantee for the combat effectiveness of the Fubo Army. Whether in the suppression of bandits at Lingao or the security war in Qiongzhou after the Spring Awakening Campaign, it can be said that they relied on these maps to ensure that the Fubo Army, who were completely outsiders, would not get confused in the wild and could act according to the battle plan.
Of course, there are still differences between the maps of the 20th century and the real geographical environment of the 17th century. On Hainan Island, such errors are still within the tolerable range: it is just that the residential areas and roads do not match, and the errors in topography are not large.
But in the Pearl River Delta, this is not the case. The Pearl River Delta was originally a shallow bay with many islands, a delta formed by the erosion and siltation of the Xijiang, Beijiang, and Dongjiang rivers from different directions. After the three river systems of the west, north and east enter this area. Different radiations form a river as dense as a spider web. Low-lying areas are dotted with lakes and swamps. In an area of less than 10,000 square kilometers, there are 10,000 river branches crisscrossing the area. Some of these river branches are naturally formed and some are artificially excavated. The extensive rice cultivation and pond farming in the delta have made this plain, which was originally crisscrossed by rivers, even more fragmented. For travelers. Villages are more like islands. Many places are inaccessible by land.
Hundreds of years of river erosion, soil loss and siltation, and field transformation...these natural and artificial factors have combined to make the gap between the two ridiculously large.
This situation was actually reflected in the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary. After the troops dispersed, they began to find that the map became unreliable. The main method adopted at that time was to use the leading party among the naturalized people. At that time, because the army's combat area was not large, and the main purpose of the operation was looting, the use of guides could get by. But it was not enough for total conquest.
After the Battle of Pearl River Estuary, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, under the command of Lin Baiguang, officially took over the intelligence work of the Guangzhou Station. The main job is to collect information on Guangdong’s geography, products, resources and people’s conditions. From this activity, a large amount of geographical intelligence was accumulated. The current map correction work is also based on this information.
"Chief..." A naturalized civilian officer from the General Staff in civilian clothes saw him coming in. Come and salute.
"How's the progress?" Hong Huangnan asked with concern.
"Correction work has been completed in forty-five prefectures and counties." Junjunhui reported, "The amount of correction work in mountainous and inland counties is not large, mainly in the counties in the delta zone, which requires a lot of correction. Rivers, canals and roads are almost Neither is allowed."
Speaking of this, the officer's face showed a look of confusion, because it was the first time he saw such a big error in the senator's map. In the atmosphere of "the Senate knows everything and is always right", there is something with such a big error. No wonder he is confused.
"These are maps from hundreds of years ago. Of course they are inaccurate." Hong Huangnan told lies without changing his face. "The map of the Pearl River Delta region must be finished as soon as possible. This is a top priority. There must be no delay!"
"Yes, chief, we will go all out!" The officer quickly stood at attention, nodding with his heels in the German style.
"It must be completed with quality and quantity." Hong Huangnan urged again. "In particular, the hydrological conditions and navigation capabilities of various rivers in the Pearl River Delta must be clearly marked. If anything is unclear, it must be reported immediately to the intelligence team for communication."
The reason why Hong Huangnan paid so much attention to this correction work was for logistical supply considerations. His proposed supply plan relied heavily on water transportation.
The logistics supply characteristics of the Guangdong Campaign were that the front was long and the troops were dispersed. The broken and watery landscape of the Pearl River Delta makes it difficult for the combat model they used in the past to build roads while advancing to be effective in the short term, except along the main post roads. Most towns in the Pearl River Delta are not connected by formal land roads, and most people use field ridges and river ponds to trek. The circulation of general personnel and materials mainly relies on ships.
The reason why Staff Officer Hong quietly gave up his Dongfeng Carriage Company's plan to set up locations in Guangdong was largely because he saw this miserable road condition report.
Even if food and firewood mainly rely on on-site transportation, the supply of bedding and ammunition is not small. In particular, the Fubo Army also had to carry heavy support weapons such as artillery and typewriters, further exacerbating the difficulty of marching and supplying. The lack of good roads is a real problem.
Although the Foreign Intelligence Bureau estimates that most areas of Guangdong should be able to spread the message, the Ming army still maintains thousands of soldiers available in Guangdong: the deputy commander of the Nan'ao Army and the anti-Yao military officer did not participate in the Chengmai Battle, and their combat strength remained basically intact. . If the rulers are determined to resist, it is possible to mobilize ethnic minority soldiers and local military personnel to fight. The intensity of the battle cannot be underestimated. This is not what the General Staff is most worried about. The warning of the greatest military threat to the Guangdong strategy came not only from the Great Library - more than one veteran from Guangdong reminded the General Staff: The conflict between natives and guests in Guangdong is acute. Once the conflict between natives and guests is involved in the battle, it is likely to fall into large-scale riots. In history, these clans had very strong mobilization power and could easily mobilize tens of thousands of people to participate in armed fighting. They were far more difficult opponents to deal with than the Ming army.
Once such a large-scale armed riot is encountered, on-site dispatch cannot be carried out. Supplies must be moved from the security area. In the social and geographical environment of this time and space, the only thing that can transport large quantities of materials quickly and cheaply is waterway.
From this point of view, Guangdong is uniquely endowed. Guangzhou, the provincial capital, is located at the intersection of the Beijiang, Dongjiang and Xijiang rivers in Guangdong Province. The water transportation conditions are very advantageous. The Fubo Army can easily deliver supplies to key nodes by taking advantage of the shipping capabilities of these three rivers: along the Xijiang River to Wuzhou, which can block the eastward advance of the Ming Army from Guangxi; along the Beijiang River to Nanxiong Prefecture, you can control the southbound route of Dayuling Road; along the Dongjiang River and deep into the Chaoshan area, reaching Languan, you can control the Yueqiling Road leading to Fujian.
By transporting troops and cadres to various places along the river by water transportation, the control area can be expanded linearly and area-wide. Even if it cannot cover the entire province, it can quickly control the areas along the Sanjiang River. Through the tributaries of Sanjiang, detachments using shallow-draft boats can further penetrate into more remote areas and control more areas.
When Staff Officer Hong consulted the hydrological data on Guangdong inland waterway shipping compiled by the Grand Library, he was very pleased to find that there are many navigable rivers in the Sanjiang River System. If the size of the ship is not too important, a small ship with a shallow draft of more than ten tons can even be used. Navigable to quite remote places in the province.
"This is simply a ready-made railway network." Hong Huangnan sighed, "No wonder the General Staff wants to be the first to attack Guangdong. It seems that it is not only the closest relationship to Hainan."
He leaned over a map of Guangdong Province in his office and studied it carefully. He used colored pencils to scribble on the glass plate to draw various diagrams such as military depots and supply lines, thinking about how to set up this supply system.
"Report!" Following the report, the secretary brought in the latest documents, "These are the drawings of several of the latest river vessels from the Hong Kong Shipyard sent by Director Shi. Please review them."
"Put it on the table." Hong Huangnan was drawing and painting with red and blue pencils in Foshan Town. This place is really unique. Not only is it the only place for ships from Xijiang and Beijiang to Guangzhou, but there are also ten The two rivers are connected to various parts of the Pearl River Delta. It can be called the commodity distribution center of the Pearl River Delta. No wonder it has developed into one of the four largest towns in the world. (To be continued.)
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