Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 675: Adjustments of Generals
"Young Master? Why are you here? What happened at home?"
"Father, the European devils used the navy to get behind us and landed on the east side of the peninsula. Wow, there are not many strong men at home. Those elderly warriors died in the battle to cover my retreat."
"Nani!"
In the 20th century, Japan already had the world's third largest navy, but it had not yet figured out what true sea power meant, and it fantasized about fleet showdowns all day long. Therefore, old men like Yukimura Sanada certainly did not understand how the navy should be used except for a decisive battle with the enemy's navy.
Not to mention that he didn't know, even among the older soldiers in the Ming Dynasty who had not received systematic training at the Royal Military Academy, only people like Li Guozhu and Yan Siqi who were born as pirates had a more comprehensive awareness of sea power .
Therefore, both Mao Wenlong and Sanada Yukimura only saw the enemy coming from the west and the need to strengthen the defense of the west side of the peninsula. They never thought that the enemy could attack their rear after having a navy.
However, he was a famous general after all, so after a brief surprise, Sanada Yukimura quickly reacted: "Well, young master, not many people know that you are here, right?"
"Don't worry, father. Although I am young, I still know the story in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which Lü Meng sneakily attacked Jingzhou and deliberately sent merchants to Guan Yu's camp with letters from the families of Jingzhou soldiers, thus completely destroying the morale of Guan Yu's army. This time, I left the elite soldiers who escorted me outside, and I entered the camp disguised as messengers with two attendants. I wore a mask all the way, and I didn't even dare to wear clothes with family crests, so no one should know."
"Yoshi! Young Master is really smart. There is still hope."
When an army goes out to fight, what ? The loss of morale. If the soldiers who are already fighting hard in the face of the fierce attack of more than 100,000 European coalition forces knew that their homes had been robbed, it is hard to say that the army would completely collapse.
And the fact that the young master named Toyotomi Don was able to remain so calm in the face of such a sudden change made Sanada Yukimura feel very relieved.
Soon, Yukimura Sanada issued an order to the entire army: According to reliable intelligence, the European devils are plotting to bypass Ceylon to attack our rear. Therefore, on the one hand, our army has sent messengers to ask people at home to abandon the plains and quickly retreat to the mountains. On the other hand, we also need to send a certain number of troops back home.
After this order came down, the Japanese soldiers were somewhat nervous, but there was very little panic. The entire army remained basically stable.
Of course, at this time, in addition to the three Japanese divisions, there were also two Fukuoka divisions that resisted the European coalition forces on the Goa front. Although Fukuoka's troops have fought well in the past period of time, and Fukuoka's land on the Indian peninsula is still behind the Japanese territory, at least when Toyotomi Dongen withdrew, Fukuoka's territory had not been attacked. But this call must be made first, otherwise if the second prince Zhu Youhua, who is in charge of Fukuoka's territory, comes running in a few days and yells in front of the whole army that his house has been stolen or something, then it will be the end.
The Korean general who commanded the two Fuguo Divisions to fight alongside the Japanese army at this time was named Lim Gyeong-yeop - the most capable general of Korea after Yi Sun-sin.
In terms of history, when this person emerged, the Qing Dynasty had already risen. The precarious Ming Dynasty could not stop the Qing Dynasty from entering the country many times, and was also unable to rescue Korea, which was repeatedly invaded by the Qing Dynasty. Although Lin Qingye successfully resisted the attack on his garrison during the Qing Dynasty's invasion and killed many Qing Dynasty nobles. However, personal efforts could not stop the general trend. After Korea surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he could only execute the orders of the King of Korea many times and lead the army to assist the Qing Dynasty in fighting the Ming Dynasty. However, every time this person so-called assisted in the war, he was a spy for the Ming Dynasty and revealed the Qing Dynasty's battle plan to the Ming Dynasty. But the Ming Dynasty was already rotten at that time. Even with such help, it was still impossible to reverse the situation...
In short, under the leadership of such a famous general, the two Fukuoka divisions fought very well this time. After receiving the report from Sanada Yukimura, the calm Lin Qingye also stabilized the morale of the two Fukuoka divisions.
Finally, after consultation, the Japanese and Fukushima generals decided to leave one division each, led by Sanada Yukimura's eldest son, Sanada Yukimasa, to resist based on the geographical advantages. Sanada Yukimura and Hayashi Keiyō led three divisions to come back to support. At the same time, they sent an urgent letter to Mao Wenlong in the north for help.
As outstanding tactical commanders, the deployment of the Japanese and Fujian armies on the battlefield was quickly sensed by Gustav and Wallenstein on the opposite side.
"Your Majesty, in today's battle, after our army temporarily retreated, the enemy no longer made any moves to cross the defense line to pursue us. In addition, the number of enemy artillery pieces has obviously decreased... It seems that Raimondo and Durreni have succeeded."
"Well, let me calculate. We set out on May 27th, and today is June 8th. After the Japanese were attacked by our army in the rear, no matter how fast they ran, it would take several days to get here. So, it is estimated that they landed on the 3rd or 4th."
"I think so."
"Damn it, the Indian peninsula is too big, even though its southern end is narrower than the north. But our engineers can only lay telegraph poles to the other side after the war is over. This means that we can only calculate time and progress by guesswork."
"Your Majesty, I heard that the Academy of Sciences of Asturias is developing a radio device. With that, we will be able to effectively command troops thousands of miles away."
"Ah, the emergence of this technology is both good and bad. While it makes command more convenient, it also takes away a lot of fun, leaving the commander with less room to play."
"Haha, maybe. But your majesty, since Raimondo and his team have a high probability of success, what should we do next?"
"Hmm..." The two-meter-tall Gustav stood up and looked at the large map of India in the command room for a long time. "My Chief of Staff, how is the rest period after our second batch of troops landed?"
"It's not bad. After all, they have been on land for two days. They have almost recovered from the shock they suffered at sea."
"Your Excellency, I was wondering if we should play a big one?"
"Hmm?" After hearing what Gustav said, Wallenstein also stood beside the map and looked at it for a long time. Then he said, "Your Majesty, do you want to divide the troops and then go straight behind the Chinese?"
"Haha, yes. Come and see."
Turning around, picking up a pen, Gustav first pointed to Goa: "We are here now. Thanks to the success of Raimondo and Durenyi, the Japanese and Koreans on the opposite side were forced to retreat. Their rear guard troops, faced with the huge gap in troop strength, were either annihilated by us or resisted step by step and retreated. No matter what the result is, at least we can now go deep into the central part of the Indian Peninsula from Goa."
"Then you want to send troops directly north from the central Deccan Plateau, across the Godava River, and go around behind the Chinese army group in Mumbai?"
"Hahaha, that's it."
"Hmm..." After thinking for a while, Wallenstein looked up and said, "Your Majesty, I must remind you that according to the intelligence we have learned from the local Indian princes and nobles recently, the road conditions on the Deccan Plateau of the Indian Peninsula are very poor. If you want to take this road, in order to ensure speed, many of our heavy equipment will not be able to keep up."
"It's okay, it's okay." Gustav waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Although I'm over 40 years old, I still like long-distance raids. Your Excellency, although our navy has the upper hand at this time, I think no matter how arrogant the naval commander is, he would not dare to completely block the Chinese reinforcements coming from Myanmar, right?"
"That's for sure. I think the Chinese reinforcements from their homeland should be very close, even if they haven't arrived yet."
"So, we don't have enough time. Although according to the plan, there will be a final batch of 200,000 land forces landing in a month. But who knows how many reinforcements the Chinese will be able to transport from their homeland in a month? Therefore, appropriate risks are necessary."
"...I agree with your idea, then, let me..."
"No , no, no, my Excellency Chief of Staff, we have gone from being rivals to colleagues. Over the years, we have come to know each other very well. I am not as good as you in commanding a large army in a frontal battle. You are not as good as me in leading a small army to attack from the flank. Therefore, I must lead the team in this long-distance raid."
"Well, Your Majesty, how many men are you planning to bring?"
"I heard that the Chinese have assembled eight divisions in Bombay, which means 120,000 men. I don't underestimate them, so I will take 100,000 men north."
"Understood. I will immediately instruct the General Staff to formulate a plan and select troops. Your Majesty, rest assured that I will have the troops launch a large-scale and sustained offensive starting tonight. I believe that in two days at most, we will be able to force back the Japanese and Koreans who are blocking our way. Then you can set off."
"Thank you so much."
Just as Gustav keenly sensed the changes in the deployment of the Japanese army on the opposite side and was preparing for a military adventure, on June 11, Mao Wenlong in Mumbai once again received an urgent letter from Yukimura Sanada.
"The Western bandits are so cunning that they used the navy to get behind the Japanese?"
"Zhennan, this is really bad. We must go south. Otherwise, if the five divisions of Japan and Fuzhou are eaten up, the enemy can move all its divisions north without any worries."
"Oh, it's all my fault. I hesitated at the beginning."
"It's not all your fault. Didn't the reinforcements from the mainland arrive at that time? If we had gone south at that time, the Delhi and Agra lines would have been completely empty." After taking a long puff of his cigarette, Li Yongfang said, "Now it's good. Huang Degong's five divisions have landed in Kolkata and are coming here via the Ganges. It is said that the next batch of fifteen divisions will soon arrive in Burma. In this way, we don't have to worry about the defense of northern India. At this time, we should go south as soon as possible. Even if we can't save Andhra, we should try our best to bring back the five divisions from Japan and Fuzhou."
"Okay, Lao Li, write a letter to Huang Degong first, and tell him not to leave after he arrives in Delhi. First, prepare the defense of the Ganges River area in northern India. Then, we will prepare for a day tomorrow, and the whole division will march south the day after tomorrow!"
