Zhou Zhi held a pre-war mobilization meeting on March 9th, with all military battalion commanders and above officers and instructors participating.
At the meeting, Zhou Zhi explained the currently ascertained military arrangements of the Southern Song Dynasty, giving the officers and instructors a general understanding of the battle situation.
After understanding, Zhou Zhi announced specific tactics, assigned tasks, what the first division would do, what the second division would do, what the third division would do, what the cavalry would do, and so on.
Zhou Zhi was good at field battles and sieges, but on the crucial issue of water warfare, Zhou Zhi was not good at it and didn't know much about it, so he kept his promise and fully respected Zhou Mancheng's opinions.
Zhou Mancheng believed that the Song Navy's navy in the Huaihe River area was just a patrol fleet, and the Ming Navy's small fleet could handle them, so there was no need to worry about other problems.
In contrast, the current situation of the Song Army is obviously that it does not intend to compete with the Ming Army in the Huaihe River area, and has actively placed the battlefield on the edge of the Yangtze River.
"This move by the Song Army can firstly lengthen our army's supply line and increase the difficulty of our army's transportation of grain from Shandong to Huainan. Secondly, it can also buy them time to set up defenses. They do not intend to confront me head-on. They only intend to Defending without determination in a field battle is cowardice before fighting."
Zhou Mancheng pointed to the Song Army logo on the military map, expressed his disdain for the Song Army, and then said: "The Song people are timid and dare not confront me head-on, but our army does not have to worry about the Song people. Since the Song people have If the main force of the division is placed in Zhenjiang Prefecture and Jiankang Prefecture for defense, then the main force of our navy can take the initiative to attack and destroy the Song Army's navy!"
Zhou Mancheng boldly proposed the idea of the navy taking the initiative to take the lead in wiping out the main naval forces of Jiankang Prefecture and Zhenjiang Prefecture of the Song Army.
In this regard, the naval officers under Zhou Mancheng naturally strongly supported this. They had long been eager to compete with the Song Army Navy, which had always been known as an elite navy, and show off the style of the Ming Dynasty Navy.
Zhou Zhi had doubts about this.
"Although we have guides who are familiar with the hydrology of the Yangtze River, our army has never experienced fighting in the river. Is it dangerous to take the initiative?"
"Having a guide who is familiar with the hydrology of the Yangtze River is a great help to our army. There are famous mountains and rivers all over China. Who dares to say that he has walked through them all? It is a common thing for military strategists to fight against an unfamiliar enemy. Didn't the general also do it at that time? Fighting in Guanzhong?"
That's true.
The Second Operation Group of the Skynet Army not only provided the army with information about the Song Army, but also specially provided the army with guides who were familiar with the hydrological conditions of the Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Hangzhou Bay.
They were all born in the Song Dynasty, either fishermen or sailors on ships. They lost their livelihoods due to various reasons. When they were desperate, they were rescued and absorbed by the Second Action Team of the Skynet Army led by Su Changsheng. From then on, they served the Ming Empire with all their heart.
Their joining provided great help to the Ming Navy. Some experienced fishermen and sailors could even explain clearly some of the undercurrents in certain sections of the voyage, laying a foundation for the Ming Navy to reduce non-combat attrition. Big credit.
Of course, these contributions should also be attributed to the Second Operation Team of the Skynet Army led by Su Changsheng.
From generals such as Zhou Zhi and Zhou Mancheng to ordinary soldiers, they all feel how meaningful the rich intelligence support is to their operations.
Obviously, the Southern Song Dynasty's sieve-like intelligence defense network had no defense against the actions of the second action group.
Su Changsheng also felt very happy about this.
He gained a foothold in Jiaxing Mansion through Yao Hongfang's relationship, and became Yao Hongfang's de facto superior, and he also recruited Yao Hongfang into the second action team.
By controlling his own industry and Yao Hongfang's industry, he gave full play to his social arrogance.
He got to know a lot of people in the upper class, controlled the government and business connections in Jiaxing Mansion, and built a huge intelligence network.
Today I had a drink with the nephew of the magistrate of Jiaxing County, tomorrow I had a chat with the son of the magistrate of Jiaxing County, and the day after tomorrow I exchanged heart-to-hearts with my cousin who is the magistrate of Jiaxing Prefecture.
What special interests and preferences each person has, what special things each person wants to obtain or what goals they want to achieve, he knows through various means.
His intelligence instinct makes him extremely concerned about the collection of intelligence. Whether it is national intelligence or personal intelligence, he will collect it, and he will also pay special attention to hidden corners that normal people cannot pay attention to.
He would write down all the useful information he got in a small notebook. When he needed to use a certain person's relationship, he could supply it as needed and prescribe the right medicine. Therefore, every time he made a move, he was very successful.
For example, the nephew of the magistrate of Jiaxing County was very coveted by the courtesan who was the head of a brothel in the county, but the head courtean's schedule was very full. He tried to inquire over and over again, but could not get an appointment, which made him anxious and anxious.
After Su Changsheng learned about it, he paid for the old madam, learned about the courtesan's "schedule", and learned that the nearest day was booked by one of his fair-weather friends in the shopping mall, so he paid for the treat and met him. He drank and chatted happily, got the "schedule" in a few words, and also negotiated a business deal, and everyone was happy.
The nephew of the county magistrate was very happy. After a moment of ecstasy, he recognized Su Changsheng as his brother in the world and reciprocated his kindness. From then on, he was willing to talk to Su Changsheng about everything and said that he would help him succeed in the business.
Su Changsheng quickly learned a lot of official political information in Jiaxing Prefecture and Jiaxing County from him.
By taking the upper-level route, the further he went, the more open the road became. Su Changsheng became a "generalist", "well-informed person" and "a person with great supernatural powers" in the eyes of some local big shots. They were all willing to interact with him, and what did they think of him? It can all be done.
This made Su Changsheng's news channels smoother.
While taking the upper-level route, he also continued to attract ordinary people at the bottom who were full of hatred for the Southern Song Dynasty officialdom, and absorbed them into the second action group to provide political, ideological and professional education, training them into excellent spies, and then extensively Scattered into the Southern Song Dynasty.
Or arrange for them to work in certain stores, or send them to the mansions of certain big shots to work as servants, allowing these little people who would have died to play an extremely huge role and collect a lot of useful little information.
The most useful one is of course Yao Hongfang.
With the help of his identity as a private salt dealer and his contacts with officials of the Southern Song Dynasty, Su Changsheng could even get access to some information about higher-ranking officials and the military that he had no access to yet.
This time, we learned about the movements and specific situation of the Mingzhou Navy in the Southern Song Dynasty, mainly due to Yao Hongfang.
Yao Hongfang and an officer who was transferred to the Mingzhou Navy not long ago are "old acquaintances."
This officer was once the leader of the Southern Song Dynasty's official maritime fleet that seized smuggled salt, and he and Yao Hongfang could be regarded as "no acquaintances without fighting."
Mainly because this guy likes money more than responsibilities, and he likes easy money more than thrilling sea operations, so the two of them often communicated with each other after that, and Yao Hongfang also gave him money.
Over time, this officer became Yao Hongfang's friend. He often provided Yao Hongfang with information about navy patrols and helped Yao Hongfang avoid several sudden raids.
This time Xin Qiji passed the mission to Su Changsheng. When Su Changsheng told him about the incident, he thought of this officer, so he found a reason to call him out, gave him gold, and then told him his needs.
When the officer saw Jin Jin, he felt bad. When he heard that what Yao Hongfang wanted to know was about the Mingzhou Navy, he hesitated and told Yao Hongfang everything he knew.
Then asked Yao Hongfang a question.
"Will the Northern Navy come to attack the Song Navy?"
"This is not something I can decide. I can only say that you should be careful in the recent period. It is best to find a way to avoid it early, or to recover from illness or injury. As long as you stay away from Lin'an, you will definitely be safe."
The officer obviously had no loyalty to the Southern Song Dynasty, so he nodded slowly, took the gold bars brought by Yao Hongfang into his arms, and left in a hurry.
In this way, Yao Hongfang informed Su Changsheng of the actual situation of the Mingzhou Navy, and then transferred it to Zhongdu, which helped the Ming Navy understand the actual situation of the main force of the Southern Song Dynasty Navy.
In terms of intelligence, Su Changsheng had infiltrated the Southern Song Dynasty into a sieve. A lot of military intelligence was discovered by Su Changsheng. Even the debate on war and peace within the Southern Song Dynasty court was learned by Su Changsheng through Yao Hongfang's channels, and then handed over to the Central Government. All.
When war was imminent, everyone from the Ming Empire to the emperor down to an ordinary citizen began to prepare for the war, while the Southern Song Dynasty court continued to perform traditional arts.
Quarrel.
