In the second half of the meeting, the Secretariat secretaries and the captain of the left-wing Hussars Luo Yuan also joined in. Gao Pingshi discovered an interesting phenomenon: apart from Gao Mo, the only other oldest participant in the meeting was Gao Guoyan, who was three years old. In their teens, the rest were all under thirty years old, and his younger brothers Gao Wuzheng and Gao Wuruo were only nineteen and eighteen years old respectively.
After the meeting began, Luo Yuan first reported in public the situation of the Luzon Islands Campaign. After Luo Yuan paid tribute to Gao Pangshi and others, he reported in the unscripted report: "After several months of fighting, as of the day when I left Luzon and returned to Beijing, this combat operation has basically come to an end.
On October 17 last year, our expeditionary force, both navy and land forces, completely defeated and wiped out the remaining Spanish enemies and armed Spanish subordinate tribes in Luzon Island, and then marched south. Then our army was divided into four groups, attacking Mindoro Island all the way, and Pandan all the way. Naidao, attacked Masba Island all the way, and attacked Samar Island all the way. On November 9, our army completed the clearing of the four islands.
On November 12, our army set out again after a short rest. The troops were divided into three groups, one group attacked Negros Island, one group attacked Leyte Island, and the other group was the main force to attack Mindanao, the southernmost island of the archipelago. On November 29, the main force of our army defeated about 800 Spanish troops in Mindanao. The main force of the Spanish army had lost most of it. Our army regained Mindanao for the Kingdom of Luzon.
At this point, our army has completed the siege of Cebu Island, the last stronghold of the Spanish colonial army, which was the foothold of its invasion of Luzon. The enemy forces on the island are waiting for reinforcements in Cebu City.
Before returning from his humble post to the north, Commander Gao Zhenxin of the Expeditionary Force Fleet and Commander Gao Yimin of the temporary first town of the Expeditionary Force conducted detailed investigations and found that Cebu City, as the last Spanish stronghold, was very easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Commander Gao Zhenxin said that the fleet was unable to launch an effective attack on the city's defense system due to the range of its artillery. He believed that the fleet could not provide effective assistance unless the naval guns were disassembled and transported to the city. However, because we received news that the Portuguese traveled frequently on the Malacca-East Timor route, our fleet was unable to determine whether the other party was hostile, so it was inconvenient to dismantle the ship-borne artillery and was unable to help with the siege.
Commander Gao Yimin believes that because Cebu City is a standard fortress with a large scale and complete facilities, a forceful attack may cause our army to suffer unnecessary heavy casualties. Therefore, he believed that unless the temporary No. 1 town received at least twenty No. 1 guns and sufficient gunpowder and projectile support, it would not be suitable to launch a strong attack.
Commander Gao Yimin suggested that although Cebu City is a militarized fortress, most of the defenders in the city fled back from north to south, and they were also quite hasty in the process of escaping back. Therefore, the food and other daily necessities in Cebu City Perhaps it is not very sufficient, and our army can consider adopting a long-term siege method to make it self-defeating without attacking.
In addition, Commander Gao Yimin handed over two maps, one is the overall situation map of Cebu Island, and the other is the situation of the Cebu City bastion and the general defense map of the Spanish garrison. Please take a look at it, sir, madam, and everyone. "
Gao pragmatic looked at the two maps and saw that the pages were quite large, so he simply asked Luo Yuan to hang them up for everyone to look at together.
In fact, he himself has never been good at specific tactical command. In field battles, he can rely on his psychological judgment of the enemy general to show his strength. But for siege warfare, he really doesn't have any good ideas. According to his usual The idea is that siege is to use artillery bombardment, the specific tactics and so on... it is really relatively unprofessional.
After everyone watched for a while, Gao Pragmatic asked: "What do you think? Is it possible to capture this city as soon as possible and end the Luzon Campaign with the current strength of the temporary first town?"
He originally thought that based on the experience of Huang Zhiting and Liu Xin, they would probably put forward their opinions first, but who knew that the first one to speak was Erdemutu.
There are three military secretaries in the Beijing Secretariat, one of whom is Liu Xin concurrently, and the other two are Erdemutu and Ruan Fuyuan. However, Ruan Fuyuan is mainly responsible for the navy. Since Gao Zhenxin has said that the fleet cannot help unless it dismantles the cannons and assists, Ruan Fuyuan will naturally not say much.
But Erdemutu felt that he could not remain silent - this was his first time attending such a meeting, and he considered it a test for him. How could he remain silent?
So he was the first to speak and said: "Teacher, as shown in the picture, the city is located on the coastal plain in the south of Cebu Island. Its west and north are mountains, the south is the sea, and the east is also a plain. Our army is currently occupying Cebu. The plain east of the city was built, and a temporary port was built here.
This means that as long as our land division continues to occupy this place and the fleet blocks the southern coast, the Spanish defenders will be unable to fly... Under such circumstances, since Commander Gao Yimin judges that the supplies in the city are not sufficient, it should be said that the siege is indeed It is the best deployment to reduce the losses of our army while achieving combat objectives.
However, the teacher asked whether the city could be captured as soon as possible, so the students suggested that they might as well build a plank road to cross Chencang secretly. While establishing a long-term siege posture, they also built a towering fort on the mountain to increase the artillery while avoiding cross fire from the bastion. range.
However, these two are clear lines. The students also suggested finding ways to dig tunnels, use the corner detonation method, collapse a corner of the city wall, and then forcibly breach the city. "
Gao pragmatic nodded, turned to look at Liu Xin, and asked, "Does the secretary-general have anything to add?"
Liu Xin thought for a while, then pointed to a river near Cebu City on the map and asked Luo Yuandao: "What is the hydrology of this river? Is it possible to dam the river like in the Battle of Manila, and then divert the water to flood the city?"
Luo Yuan clasped his fists and said: "Return to the Secretary-General, I'm afraid this will be difficult. The river is not wide and the flow is relatively slow...The key is that there is no terrain suitable for water storage nearby. If we rely entirely on manpower to build a water storage dam, I’m afraid it will be time-consuming and labor-intensive.”
Liu Xin frowned and said: "Erdemutu's idea itself is good, but if you dig a tunnel in the coastal plain terrain, it is very likely that groundwater will be dug out within a foot. In this case, it will be difficult to achieve under-wall blasting."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone realized that they had ignored the terrain conditions and couldn't help but fall into thinking. Huang Zhiting thought for a while and said: "Since it is inconvenient to attack the city, is it possible to consider attacking the heart?"
She glanced at Gao Pragmatic and said: "My master had previously predicted that the Spanish expedition against England in Europe would most likely fail and suffer heavy losses. Under such a situation, it is impossible for the Spaniards in Cebu to wait for local reinforcements. . In other words, they are now simply an abandoned and lonely army, and because their maritime power in Luzon has been almost completely lost, they cannot even get supplies.
Under such a situation, I think we can tentatively contact them and ask them to surrender honorably - or use a more honorable method: they hand over Cebu City to us in exchange for our leniency to them. "
In essence, Erdemutu was not willing to end the battle in this way. Although he was a highly pragmatic disciple, he was a Mongolian after all and the eldest son of Tumed Chechen Khan. Subconsciously, he preferred The Battle of Luzon ended with a comprehensive victory.
However, the conditions are now stuck. Gao Pragmatic obviously does not want to continue to increase troops for Luzon or allocate another batch of heavy artillery, and he hopes to end the battle quickly. So since it is difficult to get it quickly, the best way is to let the Spaniards do it themselves surrender.
The morale of the Spanish is definitely low now. Once they find that reinforcements are unlikely to appear, there is a high probability that this low will turn into collapse.
Gao Pragmatic finally issued an order, requiring that the first goal is to attack the heart, on the condition that Spanish military personnel are allowed to leave the entire Luzon Islands, and their other unarmed personnel can be allowed to stay in Manila, Cebu and other places for trade. As for Catholic missionaries, he also allowed them to preach freely, but made a requirement that they should not accept any land donations without authorization.
At the same time, Gao Pragmatic also ordered that if the Spaniards were stubborn, the first town would be allowed to temporarily implement the battle plan. The combat plan was based on Erdemutu's proposal, allowing Gao Yimin to make adjustments based on actual conditions.
After discussing this matter, Gao Pragmatic introduced the situation in Japan to everyone present, and then said: "In Luzon, there is no need for the main force of our Beiyang Fleet to be stationed for a long time. From now on, maritime defense will be handed over to Nanyang." The fleet takes over, so that part of the force can be transferred to Japan.
It just so happens that in order to prevent Toyotomi Hideyoshi from regarding our Beiyang Fleet as the biggest threat, I do not plan to send out the main force of the fleet, so I plan to form a squadron. This squadron cannot even be called a Japanese squadron... I plan to form a squadron. The stated goal of the Beiyang Fleet's Kanto Squadron is to protect the Misaki Castle that must be obtained - especially the Castle Island. "
Luo Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Before he could think about it carefully, he heard Gao Pragmatic say: "Luo Yuan."
Luo Yuan quickly stood up: "Here we come!"
"You are appointed commander of the Kwantung Squadron, but your flagship is still the 'Left Cavalry', and you have thirty armed transport ships under your command."
"Yes, I accept the order from my humble position!" Luo Yuan replied loudly.
Gao pragmatically nodded and said: "I want to remind you that Japan not only has many so-called 'naval forces', but Toyotomi Hideyoshi purchased thirty armed transport ships from Jinghua. Although they are gunless transport ships, their hulls are No different in strength than these ships at your command.
As for those naval forces, although they are just small ships of no importance, their numbers are huge. According to insider reports, the Kumano navy alone has three to four hundred warships..."
Luo Yuan proudly raised his chin and said: "Don't worry, sir. Beizhi has fought with these naval forces. With their strength, unless Beizhi is stupid enough to be attacked by them with fire ships, nothing will happen. As for the port, I don't know if I have any Arrange for Master Lu to cooperate with Beiji?"
"Yes, but we are not cooperating." Gao pragmatically said: "I will give you a Marine Corps, about 1,800 people (actually 1,756 people). The commander is named Gao Yunping, and the Marine Corps will directly accept your command."
Luo Yuan was startled when he heard this and said hesitantly: "Gao Yunping...is he Gao Biaotong on Taiwan Island?"
"Yes, it's him." Gao Pingshi smiled slightly: "Why, have you heard of his name too?"
Luo Yuan scratched his head and said: "I heard something about him. I heard that he is the favorite general of the Fourth Master (Gao Wujian), and he is... famous in Taiwan."
Gao Pingshi smiled and scolded: "What's so great about being famous is that it's almost like being famous for being vicious. But you don't have to worry too much. Although he has a murderous intention, the fourth child said that he is still very determined to execute orders and never bargains. In this way. A subordinate who should be very helpful in your mission.”
Gao Yingshi said that there was a reason why Gao Yunping had such a fierce reputation. He was the leader of the first batch of Marine Corps servants. He used tough methods in the process of opening up the "base area" in Taiwan. Many local tribes were killed by him because of their unruly nature. Kill them all directly.
Especially when Gao Wujian arrived in Taiwan and took over the "civilization" task, because he was young and his local advancement methods were very bloody, Gao Yunping relied on him even more.
With the support of Gao Wujian, this person once set a shocking record of "annihilating seven tribes in six days". He killed Liwu, Chailidou (roughly south of Taichung in later generations) and other places with bloodshed, and wiped out the local people. The big river Zhuoshui Creek turned into a bloody creek. For a time, the local natives became pale after hearing its name, almost equating it with the god of death.
However, the reason why Gao Pragmatic chose him to go to Japan was not because of his murderous intentions, but because his record showed that he was very good at leading small-scale elite operations, and because the nature of the Taiwan strategy was to expand based on strongholds, he was very important to the key points. The ground's defense experience is also very rich, and it is very suitable for guarding important places like Misaki Castle.
Huang Zhiting originally thought that it would be better to have eight thousand to ten thousand troops to guard Misaki City, but Gao Pragmatic felt that transferring so many troops might overly stimulate Toyotomi Hideyoshi, so he meant to first send out nearly two thousand land soldiers who were good at guarding, and use them to guard the city. To secure Misaki Castle Castle Island.
If Toyotomi Hideyoshi acquiesced to the Hojo family's move to "lease" Misaki Castle to Kyoka, then Misaki Castle itself would not need too many troops to ensure its stability; conversely, if Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not approve of the Hojo family's approach and forcibly attacked As for Misaki Castle, Luo Yuan and Gao Yunping can also rely on their own strength to ensure that the city island is not lost, and then wait for Gao Pragmatic's follow-up reinforcements or the implementation of other plans.
We must know that long-distance garrisoning across the ocean is very expensive after all without controlling the local political power. Gao pragmatically feels that it is better to save as much as possible and not as much as possible.
However, this matter is not only a matter of war, but more importantly, negotiation. An important reason why Gao Jingshi likes Luo Yuan is that he fought very smartly in the previous battle. After coming to Beijing twice to report on the battle, Gao Jingshi discovered that he is indeed a smart man and his eloquence is not bad, so he is very suitable for fighting with Luo Yuan. Hojo and Toyotomi negotiated.
Therefore, after the appointment, Gao Pragmatic began to point out some key points in his negotiations with the two families. Fortunately, Luo Yuan was from the Beiyang Fleet and had been to Japan many times before. He had a relatively good understanding of the situation in Japan, so Gao Yuan The pragmatic guidance saves a lot of words.
At the end of the meeting, Gao Jingshi arranged for Ruan Fuyuan to be responsible for allocating ships to the squadron for Luo Yuan. Everyone discovered that the people who had never interrupted were all members of the Gao family: Gao Wuzhong, Gao Qi, Gao Wuzheng, and Gao Wuruo. However, everyone knew in their hearts that Gao Jingshi asked them to attend the meeting. I'm afraid it just allowed them to study more and improve their qualifications. As for participating in serious discussions, I'm afraid Gao Jingshi didn't have such plans yet.
Just after the meeting, news came from the Qianqing Palace, saying that the emperor had received five ministers and had withdrawn his orders to appease the cabinet. However, the specific situation was not very clear because the emperor had driven away all the other irrelevant people during the interview. out.
The news that came out also included the previous conversation between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor in Cining Palace. After hearing the conversations between the Queen Mother and the Emperor, Gao Pragmatic fell into thinking for a moment.
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi", "Yue Xiaoyao", and "Altay's Laoxi" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
