Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 606: Feibai Sword Points to the Ganges
"Your Majesty, this is the third resignation letter submitted by Minister Wen."
"Hey... approve it."
"Uh, as you command."
It has been thirty-two years since I traveled to this dimension, and twenty-eight years since I knew Lao Wen. Is it finally time for us to part ways?
I remember reading two books written by a failed author named Hunching Waiting to Die on Qidian before I traveled through time. The protagonists were both time travelers, and they both exposed themselves in the end. I found it hard to understand at that time, but now... Zhu Youdong really experienced the loneliness of a time traveler.
Well, on this lonely road of mine, there are always people coming and going. For those who can't keep up with my pace, and those whose ideas conflict with mine, such a peaceful breakup is, relatively speaking, a good ending.
"Hey, Fang Zhenghua, tell me, in order to conquer India, I forced the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister to resign. Am I really so ruthless? When there are still many internal problems in the country, is it really wrong to use the whole country's strength to conquer India?"
"Your Majesty, as a eunuch, I cannot say much about the affairs of the court. But I have been serving Your Majesty for nearly twenty years. In the past twenty years, Your Majesty has pulled this country back from the brink of collapse. Therefore, even if I cannot understand Your Majesty's decision for the time being, I firmly believe that it is ultimately beneficial to the country."
"You sly fellow!" He stretched out his finger and pointed at Fang Zhenghua: "Now that the cabinet and the Privy Council have been reorganized, has the formulation of the India strategy been accelerated?"
"Your Majesty, I heard that Prime Minister Yuan has agreed to meet with Prime Minister at the Privy Council today."
…
In the northwest corner of Beijing, the newly built 15-story Ming Privy Council stands out. On the top floor of this building, there are seven or eight simulation rooms of various sizes. On the day when Yuan Keli visited Xiong Tingbi, Xiong Tingbi invited him to the largest simulation room. In the middle of this simulation room is a huge map of the Indian Peninsula.
"Meet the Prime Minister."
"It's meaningless for Lord Jie Huan to say this. If you address me like this, do I have to call you Prime Minister Yuan?"
"Hahaha~" After laughing awkwardly for a while, Yuan Keli relaxed instead: Everyone said that this bear barbarian had a bad temper and was difficult to get along with, but now it seems that is not the case.
"Lord Jie Huan, please take a seat. To be honest, the emperor should have had ideas about India many years ago. Look, this map of the Indian peninsula was made by Xu Xianchun, the Jinyiwei Tongzhi in Yangon, and his subordinates. It took nearly ten years to make it. It is very detailed. Haha, ten years of hard work. If you say that the emperor didn't have any ideas in the early years, I don't believe it at all."
"Hmm..." After carefully observing this three-dimensional map of the Indian Peninsula, Yuan Keli asked, "What is Lord Zhigang's strategy?"
"Lord Jie Huan, please take a look. Our Ming Dynasty and the Mughal Empire have a direct border. Although this place is located on a plateau and is cut off by the Himalayas, in my opinion, it is no problem to send out a surprise force from this place."
"Are you planning to let Man Gui lead a detachment of troops to attack from the snowy region?"
"That's right."
"But, Lord Zhigang, looking at the height of the Himalayas on the map, Mangui can only take one division south, and he cannot bring heavy weapons such as cannons, and he cannot even bring much food. If he cannot get out in the short term, I'm afraid it will be quite dangerous."
"Haha, Lord Jie Huan, you are too polite. This is Deng Ai's escape to Yinping. If it succeeds, it will be a great achievement. If it fails, the whole army will be annihilated. But in war, there are not many chances of success. This risk is worth taking. I think Man Gui himself is willing to do so!"
"Okay, that's one route. What about the main force?"
"Mr. Jie Huan, please take a look. The terrain of the entire Indian peninsula, except for the Himalayas in the north that borders the Ming Dynasty, is basically high in the west and low in the east, and high in the south and low in the north. Therefore, the main force of the Ming Dynasty will choose to land here!"
With a "snap", Xiong Tingbi pointed his baton hard at the mouth of the Ganges. "Land here and go west along the Ganges. Besides the Ganges, which is a big river that helps transport, there are also large flat plains on both sides of the river. We can go directly to Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire, and the enemy has almost no defenses. Moreover, according to Xu Xianchun's report, even if we don't count the capital, all the places along the way are the essence of the Mughal Empire. It will be easy for our army to get supplies from these places. Once we take over the Ganges Plain, we can probably conquer the Deccan Plateau and the Ghats."
"Yes." After looking at the map carefully for a while, Yuan Keli nodded heavily: "This route of advance is of course the most time-saving and labor-saving. However, if we want it, the enemy will also want it."
"That's true. So Mangui's detachment is needed. My idea is that Mangui's army should attack from the southwest of the snowy area, the Kalwan Valley, Pangong Lake and other places. As long as we get out of this mountainous area, we can quickly move south and directly attack Delhi."
"Haha..." After twirling his beard and smiling for a while, Yuan Keli said, "I understand the strategy of the march. Next, it's the cabinet's business. May I ask Lord Zhigang, what kind of cooperation do you need from ?"
"Gas station, civilians, transportation, and military equipment." After slowly spitting out eight words, Xiong Tingbi continued: "The navy has been doing very well in Ceylon in recent years, but since we have chosen the Ganges Delta as the landing site, Ceylon is not suitable as a distribution center for supplies. Therefore, the Privy Council means that all supplies, troops, civilians, etc., should be concentrated in Yangon first."
"I understand. When I return, I will immediately order the Governor-General of Central and Southern China to clear the port of Yangon and mobilize civilians to build barracks. Well, there is no need to conceal the intelligence, right?"
"No need." Xiong Tingbi smiled confidently and said, "Such a large-scale military mobilization cannot be concealed after the entire army arrives in Yangon. Besides, there is no need to conceal it."
"Okay. Let's talk about Tengdi'er first. Next, let's talk about the second point, civilians. This time, nearly 400,000 troops are dispatched. What is the plan of the Privy Council?"
"Yes. It's May now. The Privy Council's plan is that the 14 divisions of the 15 divisions in the mainland, except for Man Gui's division, should gather at various ports before July 1 and board ships to head to Yangon as soon as possible. As for the 10 divisions in the vassal states, the Privy Council requires them to arrive at Yangon Port before September 1. They don't need to bring equipment, but the full staffing rate of the army must reach more than 95% after landing."
"Okay." Although he was nearly seventy years old, Yuan Keli's mind was quite quick: "Then I suggest that the fourteen divisions of the Ming Dynasty be concentrated in Tianjin, Songjiang and Guangzhou. The cabinet will instruct the officials to make corresponding preparations. Well, for the fourteen divisions of the mainland, the cabinet will assign you 70,000 civilians in three ports to accompany the soldiers on board. Then, in Beijing, Songjiang, Guangzhou, Saigon, Bangkok and Singapore, each of them will be assigned 10,000 civilians to build supply points. Transport the munitions, clothing, medicines and food from these places in an endless stream."
"Thank you, Lord Jie Huan. Now let's talk about the third item, transportation."
"The Cabinet's General Administration of Industry and Commerce has already notified major domestic transport companies and has requisitioned 3,000 transport ships with a total cargo capacity of 1.5 million tons. This volume, combined with the transport capacity controlled by the Ministry of National Defense, should be enough."
"Thank you. Our military is not going too far. Lord Jie Huan, I promise here that after the army lands, we will obtain food from India as soon as possible. In this way, the requisitioned merchant ships can be released, and the impact on the people's livelihood will be reduced to a minimum."
"Hahaha, thank you very much, Lord Zhigang."
"As a fellow minister of state, this is the way it should be. Then, the last item is military preparation."
"Well." Yuan Keli pondered for a moment. "Mr. Zhigang used to work in the Ministry of Justice and the courts, so he may not know much about it. The country has not had any major wars in the past ten years, so the three major arsenals in Zunhua, Nanjing, and Zhaoqing are all one-shift systems, and their production is very limited. Although the Ministry of National Defense has recently restored the three major arsenals to three-shift systems, it will still take some time to increase production capacity."
"Hmm." Xiong Tingbi was silent for a while and then said, "Lord Jie Huan, there is no problem with the armament of the fifteen divisions in my Ming Dynasty. We just need to continue to provide ammunition. But the divisions of the ten vassal states? Haha, I heard that the armed forces of some vassal states are still using flintlock rifles."
"That can't be helped. There wasn't a major war in the past few days. Why should they use the best weapons? How about this? I will send the Grand Marshal to take charge of Yangon. When the ten vassal kings arrive, the Grand Marshal will first take a look at their strength. Those who can and dare to fight will be equipped first. Those who can't fight will not be equipped, and we will also send them all back and ask the local vassal kings to send new people!"
"Hahaha, I have already foreseen that some vassal kings will be made to suffer a fate worse than death by Lord Jie Huan. So, is this the end of the rough military and political communication?"
"Okay, let's discuss the preliminary work today. Once the actual work starts, there will definitely be many problems. The two governments will negotiate again at that time."
"Okay, I respectfully send you off, Lord Jie Huan. I will continue to trouble you in the future."
"It's not a bother, it's all for the Emperor."
After seeing Yuan Keli off, Xiong Tingbi turned and entered another room.
General Cao Wenzhao, General Liu Zhaosun, Lieutenant General Huang Degong, Lieutenant General Ma Shilong, Lieutenant General Mao Wenlong, Major General Luo Xiong of the Army... General Li Guozhu, Lieutenant General Yan Siqi, Major General Du Youning, Major General Zheng Zhilong of the Navy... and Major General Zhang Hong of the Marine Corps all gathered together, it was truly a star-studded event.
"Greetings to the Prime Minister!"
"Generals, please don't hesitate to take a seat."
With a "whoosh", many generals sat down in unison.
Nodding with satisfaction, Xiong Tingbi said: "I just had a preliminary communication with the Prime Minister, and I am generally satisfied. The Civil Affairs Department has spared no effort in supporting our military. The Prime Minister has given very strong responses to the several issues we were concerned about before. This is a good thing, but it is also a pressure, because the cabinet is so supportive. If we still can't win the battle, haha, everyone from this official down will have a hard time!"
"Please rest assured, Prime Minister, we will surely be able to enhance our national prestige in India!"
"Okay, next we will issue the first Privy Council Order for the war against India."
"Wow!" All the generals stood up again and stood straight.
"The first batch of troops for this expedition to India are the Second Division, the Third Division, the Marine Division, and the Ironclad Ship Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet. The above troops total 63,000 people. According to the Emperor's order, General Liu Zhaosun will serve as the commander of the First Army of the Expedition to India."
"I will obey your order!"
"General Liu, according to the Privy Council's plan, your troops must arrive in Yangon before July 20 of this year. After a short rest, you must launch a landing operation in the Ganges Delta no later than mid-August of this year!"
"I obey your orders!"
After announcing this order, Xiong Tingbi's expression eased: "Everyone, please take a seat."
After the generals were seated, Xiong Tingbi said, "Three years ago, when the Ming Dynasty established its constitution, we announced to the people of the country to collect national flags, national anthems, and national emblems. Now, these three things have been decided. During this expedition to India, the generals and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will hold high the national flag and sing the national anthem!"
