Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 80: 43 System and New Artillery
Lin Fei thought for a while and said, "Let me think about the spending. You go back first. You don't have to worry about this matter. Just manage your subordinates. If you really can't be the president, I will find someone else to replace you."
Chiyomika raised her head and said, "No! I must be the president! Ling Xue, that little girl, always brags to me about how important what she does is. I don't want to lose to her!"
Chiyomika said goodbye and left. Lin Fei thought helplessly that the two girls were still fighting, and he didn't know what would happen in the future. At this moment, he suddenly realized that their fight was actually a fight for him...
Lin Fei withdrew his thoughts from the two girls and began to think about ways to make people consume. There are only two kinds of things that people consume, one is material and the other is spiritual. There is no , because material things are nothing more than "food, clothing, housing, transportation". The food, clothing and other commodities on the island are not actually abundant. The conditions for large-scale foreign trade are not yet mature, and it is impossible to purchase commodities.
If material consumption cannot be relied upon, then one can only rely on spiritual consumption. Books, dramas, music and other things are all spiritual consumption. At this time, Lin Fei thought of the printing workshop full of low-level books and periodicals.
Lin Fei asked someone to find the owner of the printing workshop. The owner's surname was Zheng Shuncai. He usually wrote low-level novels and then printed them in the bookshop to sell.
Ever since Lin Fei established the Huaxia Empire, Zheng Shuncai was no longer allowed to sell low-quality books and periodicals. This scared Zheng Shuncai. This kind of novel was repeatedly banned in the Qing court, and those who sold the books had been punished. Zheng Shuncai knew this, and he was worried that Lin Fei would punish him too, so he was worried all day long.
Lin Fei asked him to come today, and he thought Lin Fei was going to punish him. When he arrived at Lin Fei's palace, he knelt on the ground, trembling all over. Lin Fei asked him to stand up, but he didn't dare. Lin Fei said it several times but it didn't work, so he didn't insist and let him kneel on the ground.
Lin Fei asked: "Besides that kind of writing, can you write anything else?"
Lin Fei was just asking a normal question, but Zheng Shuncai took it as sarcasm and said in a sad voice: "I have no choice but to write those things! They just sell fast!"
Lin Fei coughed lightly and said, "Answer my question."
Zheng Shuncai finally understood and nodded repeatedly. Lin Fei asked, "Can you write historical stories?"
Zheng Shuncai agreed immediately, and Lin Fei said, "Go back and write some historical stories, and publicize these ideas in the stories."
Lin Fei took out a list from the cabinet, handed it to Zheng Shuncai, and said, "The ideas to be reflected are all here, see if you understand." Lin Fei's list listed more than a dozen excellent qualities of the Chinese nation, including patriotism, unity, diligence and bravery. Lin Fei also wanted to use spiritual consumption to reshape Chinese culture.
Zheng Shuncai smiled and said, "I understand, of course I understand. I can tell you a story about any of these."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "That's good. Go back and write. Sell it once you're done. Whether it can be sold is another matter." Zheng Shun said goodbye and left. Lin Fei asked someone to call a few Cantonese opera artists. Cantonese opera is a local opera in Guangdong. Many Chinese who went to Southeast Asia were from Guangdong, so there were Cantonese opera artists too. Lin Fei asked them to rehearse a new play. The theme was still to promote the fine qualities of the Chinese nation.
Lin Fei had almost arranged the political, economic and cultural affairs, and then began to make military preparations. He gathered together Niu Dalong, Niu Dahu, Zhang Chuang and other army generals and said, "Everyone knows that we are going to attack Mindanao. Now I will tell you about the offensive strategy."
Lin Fei took out a map of Mindanao and pointed to the northeast corner. He said, "This is where we are now, the Surigao region. Our attack will be based here. Our main enemies this time are the Spaniards and the disobedient Filipinos. To deal with the enemy, there are no extra words, only one word - fight! Whoever disobeys will be beaten into submission!"
Lin Fei pointed on the map and said, "The Spaniards on Mindanao are mainly deployed in points. There are three main strongholds: Butuan City in the east, Cotabato in the middle, and Zamboanga in the west. Butuan City is closest to the Surigao region, so it is the place we will attack first. After we take Butuan City, we will gradually advance to Cotabato and Zamboanga."
"I have asked businessmen who have been there to learn about the situation in Butuan City. The population is about 300,000, of which more than 50,000 are Chinese, more than 50,000 are Spanish, and the rest are Filipinos. The Spanish are dominant. The army, police, and government are all Spanish. The army has about 2,000 soldiers, equipped with Mauser M1893 rifles, and their combat effectiveness is not weak; the police have about 500 people, and they have no guns, only batons. The army is our main target of combat."
Lin Fei said to Chen Jingui: "Chen Jingui!"
Chen Jingui stood up quickly and answered loudly: "Here!"
Lin Fei said, "We will use the Bazahai City in Surigao as our logistics supply base for this attack. Now I order you to immediately organize people and ships to transport logistics supplies to Bazahai City, transport 500 rounds of bullets for each rifle, transport 20 grenades for each soldier, and purchase 10,000 kilograms of food in Bazahai City. Do you understand?"
Chen Jingui answered loudly: "I understand!"
Lin Fei said: "Don't just say it clearly, tell me whether the General Logistics Department has the ability to do what I ask."
Chen Jingui said: "We definitely have the strength. After we occupied Bazahai City, we requisitioned all of the Sultan's flying arrow warships to use as transport ships. We also got all of Bazahai's shipbuilding craftsmen here to build transport ships for us using the wood on the island, so our transportation capacity is definitely sufficient."
Lin Fei said, "War is all about logistics, so your General Logistics Department has a very heavy responsibility. Another point is that we have more than a thousand people in total, and each person needs two kilograms of food a day. Ten thousand kilograms of food is only enough to support five days. If you add the food consumed by the people transporting the food, ten thousand kilograms of food is only enough to support three to four days. Therefore, the purchase of food must be carried out frequently. Do you understand?"
Chen Jingui replied: "Please rest assured, City Lord, I will never make a mistake."
Lin Fei said: "Today is December 28, 1894. Twelve days later, on January 9, we will set off by ship to Bazahai City and then march to Butuan City."
Everyone shouted in unison: "Understood!"
Lin Fei said, "Okay, everyone else go back first. Niu Dalong and Niu Dahu stay. How are you doing with the 'four-three system' tactics I taught you?"
Niu Dalong replied: "Please rest assured, we have followed your instructions and divided each class into three groups, each with four people, led by the class monitor and two deputy class monitors. Various offensive tactics have also been practiced almost completely."
The "Four-Three System" tactics that Lin Fei mentioned were extremely famous tactics in his time. The subtlety of this tactic was that it dispersed the troops into small groups, which brought great flexibility to the combat. The army that Lin Fei belonged to used this tactic to defeat countless powerful enemies, while the armies of various countries in the world at the same time did not adopt such advanced tactics.
Lin Fei then asked, " How is the matter of me asking you to find musicians and train buglers going?"
Niu Dalong said: "It's ready. The soldiers have memorized the trumpet sounds representing tactical commands such as charge, cover, and disperse."
Lin Fei nodded and said, "That's good. The battlefield is extremely noisy and people's voices can't be heard very far. Commanding the battle depends on the sound of the trumpet. If you have nothing else to do, you can go back."
The two men said goodbye and went back. At this time, Lin Fei suddenly found that an officer was standing in the room stupidly, ignoring his orders.
Lin Fei recognized the officer as the commander of the artillery company - Zhao Menggang. Although his name sounded fierce and he looked big and strong, he was an educated guy who understood mathematics. That was why Lin Fei promoted him to the commander of the artillery company, responsible for using the wine barrel cannon.
Lin Fei asked suspiciously: "Xiao Zhao, why don't you leave?"
Zhao Menggang said aggrievedly: "Captain, our artillery company's weapons are too poor and can't go to the battlefield at all!"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "We used wine barrel cannons to deal with the Spaniards and the Filipinos in the past. How can we say that it is too bad?"
Zhao Menggang said helplessly: "Captain, our barrel cannons have a short range of less than 100 meters, while the Spanish rifles can reach 200 meters. The Spanish will kill us before we can fire."
Lin Fei smiled and said, " So that's what you're worried about. Don't worry. I've already designed and manufactured a new type of artillery before I went on the expedition. The sample should be ready today. I'll take you to see it."
Zhao Menggang agreed and followed Lin Fei to the arsenal, which was the former location of Lingji Construction Bureau. Lin Fei placed the purchased equipment here.
Seeing Lin Fei coming, Ling Xue ran up to him in a hurry and said in a tender voice, "City Lord..." She was about to say the word "brother" when she caught a glimpse of Zhao Menggang behind Lin Fei and swallowed the word "brother" in her stomach.
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Xue'er, is the HP-1 cannon I asked you to make ready?"
Ling Xue said, "It's done. I'll have someone bring it to you right away."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "No need to bring it over. I'll go and see it myself."
Ling Xue turned around and pointed outside, saying, "It's over there. I'll take you to see it."
Lin Fei took Zhao Menggang and followed Ling Xue to the back of the factory. They soon arrived at a brand new factory. There was a tarpaulin on the floor of the factory. Ling Xue pointed at the tarpaulin and said, "The new artillery is there."
Lin Fei walked to the front of the tarpaulin, gently lifted it up, and then said to Zhao Menggang: "Look, this is the new type of artillery."
As soon as Zhao Meng saw the cannon, his brows furrowed, and he curled his lips and said in dissatisfaction: "What the hell is this? Can it be considered a cannon?"
