In the conference room, Xu Zhixian looked at the large map hanging on the wall, pointed at the map with his baton and said: "Based on the intelligence we have collected and compiled so far, we have preliminary information that there are about 20,000 Ming troops in the Jinzhou area of Guanzhong Prefecture in the west. The rest."
"There are about 10,000 Ming troops in the Shanyang and Shangzhou areas of Xi'an Prefecture."
"There are about 25,000 soldiers in Luyang County and Ye County in the direction of Ruzhou. The Ming army in this department is commanded by Zuo Liangyu."
"Over there in Kuizhou Prefecture in Sichuan, there are about 10,000 Ming troops or chieftain soldiers in Wushan City."
"In the Chunan area, there are about 20,000 troops in Wuchang, about 10,000 troops in Yuezhou, and there are estimated to be 4,000 to 5,000 troops in Yidu."
"On the Huangmei front line in the east, there should be more than 20,000 people in Susong and Taihu areas."
"The Runing Mansion on the other side of the Dabie Mountains has about seven or eight thousand soldiers, mainly in the Xinyang area."
"The above are all forces on the surface that can be directly detected. It is not yet known whether there are more forces behind these places, but we have also collected information. It is said that the Ming court is already making arrangements. Troops from Jiangxi, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou and other places went northward."
"At the same time, there is also news that the Ming court is preparing to dispatch troops from Xuanda, Jiliao and other places to go south to the Central Plains."
"There is no doubt that their main target for mobilizing these forces is us."
"Because according to the news from Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou of the Ming Dynasty has assembled heavy troops in the Guanzhong area to encircle and suppress Gao Yingxiang and other bandits. The bandits are currently retreating steadily. I am afraid they cannot support it for much longer. Many bandits have been defeated before. The Ming army, which finally fled the Yunyang area controlled by our army, was defeated and reorganized by our Second Garrison Division and other troops."
"It's impossible for the Ming Dynasty to mobilize border troops for these thieves, so their target can only be us!"
"In addition, we must also consider that after Hong Chengchou defeated the main force of bandits in the Guanzhong area, it is very likely that he will lead a heavy army to invade Chubei."
After Xu Zhixian briefly introduced the general situation of the Ming army, he took his seat. At this time, Luo Zhixue said: "The situation between the enemy and ourselves has been clear. The puppet Ming army seems to have a large number of troops, but they are scattered in various places. There are only more than 20,000 troops."
"Although our army also fights on multiple fronts, other fronts are on the defensive. We can mobilize more mobile troops to launch a cross-river offensive!"
"This time when we cross the river to attack the city, I have the advantage!"
No matter what the actual situation is, let’s boost morale for ourselves and a group of generals first!
After speaking, Luo Zhixue turned his attention to Li Chengtong, commander of the First Division: "For the next cross-river attack on the city, your First Division will still have to attack Wuchang. We will go back and transfer the Second Brigade and other units back from Huangzhou Prefecture."
Li Chengtong immediately said: "I obey the order, and the soldiers of our first division to attack Wuchang have the unshirkable responsibility. I will never let your Majesty down!"
With that said, he said to Dong Mingjie, the new commander of the Fourth Division: "The Seventh Brigade of your Fourth Division is fully staffed. Let's go to Huangzhou Mansion to take over the defense first."
"The Eighth Brigade must also speed up its reorganization. Whether it can withstand it will be discussed later. Now we must put up the frame and gather the people together. Even if it doesn't work, we can gather a few to guard the rear!"
Dong Mingjie also said: "I obey the order. When I turn around, I will personally lead the troops to Huangmei and train while stationed."
Dong Mingjie spoke with excitement, not only because he received the title of earl at the founding of the People's Republic of China, but also because before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Luo Zhixue transferred him to Hanyang and made him the first commander of the Fourth Division.
This also made Dong Mingjie feel that all his efforts in leading the garrison to fight in the past few months and taking Jingzhou Prefecture were rewarded.
Although he was also a division commander before, he was only the division commander of the Third Garrison Division, and his military rank was only brigadier general.
As for the Fourth Division, when he first took office, it seemed to be just an empty frame. Most of the soldiers he added later were also new recruits. However, this Fourth Division is a serious main division. All soldiers and weapons and equipment are in accordance with the regulations of the Fourth Division. It's the standard of a division.
Being the commander of the Fourth Division has a much better future than being the commander of the Third Garrison Division.
No, after being transferred, the military rank was promoted one level, from brigadier general to major general, and he also participated in such an important strategic meeting today.
Luo Zhixue continued: "This time we cross the river to attack Chunan, we plan to mobilize the 1st Division, 1st Brigade of the Guards Division, 6th Guards Division, 1st Cavalry Brigade, 1st, 2nd and 5th Mortar Artillery Battalions, eh , organize these three mortar battalions into a mortar regiment, and a batch of five-pound field cannons will also arrive soon. By then, this batch of five-pound field cannons will also be organized into the First Artillery Regiment for combat."
"For the remaining units on the southern front, the 4th Division was transferred to Huangzhou Prefecture to garrison, and the 3rd Garrison Division was deployed to Jingzhou Prefecture."
"The first brigade of the Third Division is stationed in De'an Prefecture, and the rest is stationed in Xiangyang Prefecture as strategic reserves for all parties."
"The Second Brigade of the Guards Division is stationed in Hanyang."
Luo Zhixue looked at the map as he spoke, and then looked at Lu Xingye, the Minister of the Navy who had said little.
"This time of crossing the river, the difficulty in the early stage is to cross the river, and the army also needs the assistance of the navy to cross the river. What does the navy think about this?"
When Lu Xingye heard Luo Zhixue's words, he was still a little stunned. After all, he was a real junior among everyone, the only brigadier general...
For a meeting of this level today, Lu Xingye originally believed that he would only come with ears and listen but not speak. He would do whatever his superiors told him to do.
But he didn't expect Luo Zhi to learn to speak directly to him.
Of course, a person who can become the Minister of the Navy, even if he continues the favorable wind of the Baoxiang Army's previous expansion, Lu Xingye is also outstanding.
After being stunned for just a second, he saw that he had regained his composure and said immediately: "Your Majesty, the navy will fully cooperate with the army to cross the river."
After hearing this, Luo Zhixue was dissatisfied: "How to cooperate?"
When Lu Xingye heard this, he immediately regretted that what he just said was too false and empty. He immediately said: "Our navy currently has a total of thirty-six warships equipped with artillery, ranging from one hundred to four hundred. Once Initiating the crossing of the river, our naval warships will take the initiative to leave the port, and the main force will block the port of Wuchang on the opposite side to prevent the puppet navy from entering the war."
"Although most of the artillery on the warships of our navy are captured artillery, they are all selected general guns and Franco machine guns. In addition, there are also three-hundred-jin short robes produced by our Xiangyang Arsenal, which have strong firepower. The number is large enough to intercept the Puppet Ming Navy and go into battle."
"In addition, more than a hundred transport ships of various types have been raised for the army to use in the early stage of crossing the river!"
After hearing this, Luo Zhixue nodded: "The navy should not relax. There is still some time before the cross-river battle. Try to arm some more warships."
The warships of the Da Chu Empire Navy are actually very simple. Most of them are ordinary river ships, with only temporary artillery installed.
Moreover, due to the small tonnage and insufficient strength of the ship itself, not many artillery can be deployed.
However, even this is much stronger than the Ming Army's Inland River Navy in Wuchang.
The navy of the Ming army has long since declined. Now it is actually the Zheng fleet that was a pirate who defended the coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty. The official navy directly under the Ming court is no longer able to bear the heavy responsibility.
This is the case for the coastal navy, and it can be imagined for the inland navy.
After all, the Ming Dynasty has unified China for more than two hundred years, and the hinterland of the Yangtze River will not encounter any large-scale enemy navy. Therefore, from very early on, the Ming Dynasty's river navy basically only focused on suppressing bandits, maintaining public security, and investigating smuggling. Security and other tasks.
Many Ming Dynasty river naval vessels did not even have basic old-style traditional artillery.
Otherwise, the Baoxiang Army would not have had to add artillery to them after capturing a batch of Ming Navy warships.
After adding artillery, the firepower of the Dachu Navy must be stronger than that of the Minneihe Navy.
In addition to firepower, the most important hand-to-hand combat for the river fleet, the Da Chu Navy is not weak either.
In addition to some directly recruited sailors and surrendered sailors from the Mingshui Division, the officers and soldiers of the Dachu Navy also have a considerable number of troops. In particular, the marines attached to each ship are basically the main infantry directly drawn from the army.
When Luo Zhixue first established the navy, he took into account the surface warfare of these days. In addition to long-range attacks such as artillery, close-range hand-to-hand combat also occupied a considerable proportion, because soldiers and officers who were proficient in water-based warfare were drawn from the army from the beginning. They transferred to the Navy, and most of them were incorporated into the Marine Corps.
These Marines have muskets and armor, and their overall strength is not bad.
In the subsequent cross-river battle, even if the navy equipped with these marines could not achieve any great victory, it could still contain the Ming navy in Wuchang City.
As long as the navy can contain them, the army can handle other matters on its own.
In a military meeting, it was basically decided that a cross-river offensive would be launched in the near future, but the specific time would depend on the preparations of the subsequent units.
Before launching the crossing of the river, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division had to be transferred back first, and then the Guards Division also needed to be further armed and replenished with various types of ammunition.
At the same time, a large number of boats, rafts and other tools for crossing the river need to be built.
Each unit also needs to carry out targeted adaptive training. At least let the soldiers learn to swim first, otherwise they will drown if they are attacked by the enemy or fall accidentally when crossing the river.
At the same time, it is also necessary to establish an engineering unit specifically for building pontoon bridges. Boats and rafts can be used to cross the river in the early stage, but subsequent transportation of large amounts of artillery and baggage will require pontoon bridges.
After all, the short-barreled artillery in the Baoxiang Army weighs two to three hundred kilograms, while field guns and mortars are basically several hundred kilograms heavier. And the five-kilogram field cannon and the forty-eight-kilogram mortar that are about to arrive in Hanyang will be heavy. They are all big guys weighing more than 1,000 kilograms.
In addition, the new four-wheeled carriages that transport baggage can also carry a thousand to several kilograms, and these carriages are not just a few or dozens, but hundreds or thousands. In addition, there are even more two-wheeled carriages.
It is unrealistic to transport so much baggage by ship, so pontoons are necessary.
And when the troops were making preparations before crossing the river, Luo Zhixue finally waited for the five-pound field cannon he had been thinking about.
