Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 342: Scenario of a Decisive Battle at Sea (Part 2)
"After the intelligence summary and opinions from all parties just now, we can now confirm that all the ministers attending the meeting unanimously agree that our Ming fleet should go out to sea to find the enemy for a decisive battle. Now let's move on to the next topic, the possible location of the decisive battle."
After the meeting host Bi Maokang finished speaking and sat down, Li Guozhu and Yan Siqi showed some humility and pushed Yu Zigao up.
"Your Highness, everyone. After repeated discussions among the three of us, we have preliminarily determined that the location of the decisive battle should be in this sea area."
Yu Zigao stood up and after getting Zhu Youdong's consent, he stood in front of the giant map on the wall behind Zhu Youdong, then wielded his baton and drew a circle around Taiwan and Ryukyu.
"The reason why we say this sea area is mainly because it is the main channel and node for maritime exchanges between Siam, Japan and Spain. From Luzon to Taiwan, then to Ryukyu, and finally to Korea or Japan, there are supply points along the way. Moreover, according to the monsoon theory proposed by the Imperial Observatory and Fangshan Laboratory, as well as the years of experience of coastal fishermen, there are very few typhoons passing through Ryukyu and its surrounding waters."
As a medical time traveler, Zhu Youdong did not understand the direction of the storm at sea. However, since he sensed the second maritime alliance between the Japanese and Thai time travelers, he consciously began to let the relevant personnel of the Ming Dynasty collect the sea conditions of the coastal waters of the Ming Dynasty.
After checking a lot of information, it is now clear that after the typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean are formed, they generally move westward in three forms. The first is a straight line, and its specific route is: Luzon- Hainan Island -Guangdong Province or northern Vietnam. The second is a diagonal line: Luzon-southeast Taiwan Island-Guangdong or Fujian, Zhejiang or even South Zhili. The third is a parabola: the typhoon first moves from Luzon to the southeast coast of Daming. When it approaches the mainland, it does not land, but turns a big bend and moves towards Japan, thereby affecting North Korea, Japan, etc.
These three types of typhoons basically do not pass through the Ryukyu Islands and rarely pass through the northern part of Taiwan Island.
Therefore, except for the possibility of encountering a typhoon when passing through the Luzon Sea, the fleet departing from the Gulf of Siam is relatively safe along this route all the way to Japan.
"In summary, combined with the fact that our navy has been sending small fleets to track and search for the two thieves' fleets in the past six months. In addition, it is winter recently, and there are relatively few typhoons in the ocean, and the transfer of materials between the two countries is more frequent at this time... Therefore, we can be sure that as long as we can occupy the northern part of Taiwan Island or Ryukyu, there is a great possibility that we will encounter the enemy's main fleet."
"Moreover." Li Guozhu also stood up: "According to the news from my father's friends in Japan, Japan and Siam also want to fight a decisive battle with us. Because the other side is the coordination of the fleets of two or even three countries, there are too many things that need to be coordinated between each other. Therefore, they also want to start a decisive battle as soon as possible to defeat our fleet. In this way, the transportation of materials between the three countries will not need to frequently use the main fleet for escort."
"Hmm..." After tapping the table with his fingers for a while, Zhu Youdong said, "So, where do you want to hit?"
"Ryukyu! Your Highness." Li Guozhu turned around and said, "After all, this place has been a loyal vassal state of our Ming Dynasty for many years. Although it has been occupied by Japanese pirates recently, I have already found out that the Japanese pirates only have six or seven hundred soldiers stationed there on weekdays. After we go there, we can decide the outcome with one battle. Then, if we stay there, we can completely cut off the two pirates' shipping routes and force them to gather their main forces to fight us. Moreover, there is another advantage of fighting a decisive battle in the waters near Ryukyu. During the war, our injured warships and sailors can retreat to Ryukyu. With Ryukyu's loyalty to our Ming Dynasty, they will definitely receive timely treatment."
"Well, gentlemen, what do you think?"
"Your Highness, Commander Li's words make sense. I second the motion."
"I second this motion."
"Okay, that's it. We'll try to have the decisive battle in the waters near Ryukyu. Now, let's move on to the third step, which is to make preliminary plans before the war."
After Zhu Youdong finished speaking, Ma Gui stood up and said, "Your Highness, everyone, I am not good at naval warfare, but after receiving your mission, I convened many professors from the Royal Military Academy of the Ming Dynasty and many professors from the Naval Academy headed by Professor Li Dan to discuss repeatedly, and now we have come up with a preliminary plan."
After saying this, Ma Gui also walked behind Zhu Youdong and tore off the original map that covered the entire eastern Ming Dynasty, Korea, and western Japan. He then tore off the map below that centered on Taiwan Island, revealing a map of the surrounding seas centered on the Ryukyu Islands.
"Your Highness, in the past six months, the two major military academies have formulated four combat plans with Taiwan, Ryukyu, the waters near Japan's Kyushu Island, and the waters near Hainan Island as battlefields. Now, according to the decision of the meeting, I will explain to you the assumptions for the operation in the Ryukyu Sea."
After getting Zhu Youdong's nod, Ma Gui cleared his throat and said, "First of all, we must make one thing clear. After our fleet goes out to sea, we need to try to avoid the situation where our fleet arrives at Ryukyu and the enemy's main force happens to be in Ryukyu. Once this happens, our army will be exhausted from the expedition, while the enemy will be waiting for us to tire out. This is extremely disadvantageous in terms of military science."
"Please rest assured, Marshal Ma, we will definitely send out a small number of speedboats in advance to investigate the situation in the Ryukyu Sea."
"Well, let me talk about the second point. If the two bandits knew that our main battleships have increased to 75, they would most likely avoid fighting. And a large number of our battleships, as His Highness the Second Grandson just said, can't hold out for long. So, if the two bandits endure a three-month supply cut-off, our battleships will have to disintegrate first. So, in order to make the other side dare to fight, when we attack Ryukyu, we can only send out about 40 first-class battleships. The remaining 35 ships must be hidden first. However, this brings up another problem. Where to hide? How to keep in touch? Once the decisive battle breaks out, how to rush to the battlefield in time."
After everyone thought for a while, Ma Gui said, "Later we came up with a plan. The first step is for General Yu to lead 40 first-class warships and 80 second-class warships to Ryukyu. Here, General Yu, please be careful not to wipe out all the Japanese pirates stationed there. We must skillfully let one or two small boats go, to make them believe that they fought bravely to carve out a bloody path, and we did not let them go on purpose..."
"Hahaha, this is easy, please rest assured, Marshal Ma."
"Well, with Commander Yu's ability, this is not difficult to do." After nodding, Ma Gui continued: "Then Commander Yu will send some warships to search for the enemy's transport fleet, and then Commander Li and Commander Yan will lead the remaining warships to approach the Ryukyu Islands at night. After that, do not enter Naha Port, but anchor near the Sakishima Islands... We have already made it clear that there are nearly 500 islands of various types in the Ryukyu Islands, and more than 400 of them are uninhabited. In the past six months, fishermen from Fujian and Zhejiang have risked their lives to get close to investigate, and we have circled three islands suitable for hiding...
After doing the above two things, the next step is to wait for the fleets of the two or even three countries to come for the decisive battle. The most difficult part of this battle is the early stage, when General Yu has to lead half of the main force to deal with the entire main force of the other side. When the two sides are fighting fiercely, General Yan and General Li suddenly appear on the sea with fresh forces. In this way, the decisive battle should be decided. "
"Your Highness, I am willing to take on this responsibility!"
There is no doubt that the quality of the 40 new ships is worrying, and the sailors on them are still not well trained. Therefore, this fleet cannot be used together with the two fleets of Li Guozhu and Yan Siqi. Their mission is more of a bait and cannon fodder, and their commander can only be Yu Zigao.
Yu Zigao also clearly realized this and took the initiative to accept the task.
"Okay." After all the ministers attending the meeting expressed their agreement with this plan, Zhu Youdong stood up and said, "Then it is settled. The three of you, the soldiers and civilians of this country have been patient for so long. Whether we can hold our heads high next time depends on you."
"We will definitely fulfill our mission and return victorious!"
