Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 761 Ming Battle Plan
Seeing Zhu Youjian getting more and more excited and completely off topic, Zhu Youdong, who was sitting at the top, couldn't help but wipe his face.
Hey, when he came to me two years ago and asked me to add more people and funds to the Censorate, I was very pleased to say that this guy had come to his senses. Who knew that he was still so hateful and hot-tempered.
"By the inspector."
"Royal brother?"
"Today is a war preparation meeting, not a clean government meeting of the Censorate, so let's talk about something relevant."
"Oh, sorry, my Lord, I have strayed from the topic. Anyway, the Censorate has conducted a thorough inspection of all preparations for war, and as the war begins, this inspection will become even stricter. If an official commits a crime, I will not show any leniency!"
After seeing Zhu Youjian finally take his seat, Yan Siqi breathed a sigh of relief: "Next, the Minister of Propaganda, Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, will report to everyone on the propaganda work and the public response."
"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, everyone." Zhang Shize, who was also 48 years old this year and officially inherited the title of Duke of Ying, stood up and said, "In terms of publicity, in addition to the six major newspapers that continued to preach the significance of the expedition to India every day, the Propaganda Department worked closely with the Jinyiwei and the East Factory to reorganize at least 90% of the opera troupes and storytellers in the country, as well as at least 60% of the peddlers who specialized in doing business in the countryside. Through newspapers, dramas, storytelling, government notices at all levels, word of mouth and other forms, we carried out publicity to the people across the country for two years.
After the above work, at least 99% of the people across the country knew that the Ming Dynasty would launch an unprecedented expedition to India, and they also understood the significance of the expedition to India. They also knew that this expedition would cause great sacrifices to the Ming Dynasty, and that the domestic economy might be affected, and their lives might be more difficult than in previous years.
In general, the people understand and support our Ming expedition. The officials of the military service bureau should have the deepest understanding of this. Except for a few shameless scums, such as His Royal Highness Prince Xin said, who tried every means to evade military service for their children and relatives. In most places, the military service bureaus are full of young men who volunteered to enlist. The economic reflection of this sentiment is the current stability of domestic prices.
Needless to say, after the court issued a report on the preparations for the expedition to India, prices in various places, especially rice prices, did rise for a while. However, after two years propaganda, the governors should have the most say - the grain price in most places has returned to the ideal price of one yuan and two shi.
In short, please rest assured, Your Majesty, the people are on my side in this battle. I have completed my report."
After Zhang Shize sat down, Yan Siqi stood up again and saluted Zhu Youdong and his son. He turned around and said, "Next, I will inform you of the preliminary battle plan and troop allocation."
Following Yan Siqi's words, the officers in charge of the meeting room in the Privy Council quickly pulled open the thick curtains on one wall of the conference room, and a world map appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Everyone, in this battle, our Ming Dynasty will dispatch 2.42 million ground forces and about 300,000 naval forces. With such a scale, of course we won't just go one route. The specific distribution of forces is as follows.
The first route, the Northwest Front Army, was equipped with 20 divisions and 300,000 troops, organized into three army groups. Among them, there were 25 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions. The commander-in-chief was General Sun Chuanting, and the chief commissioner was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The three army group commanders were Lieutenant General Li Zicheng, Lieutenant General Zhang Xianzhong, and Lieutenant General Ma Shilong.
The logistics base of the front was located in Shache. Its combat mission was to go west, cross the Pamir Mountains, penetrate Central Asia, and then contact the Pashtuns and Sikhs, and even the Persians. After that, depending on the situation of the Southwest Front, it would either return eastward to India and join forces with the Southwest Front to fight a decisive battle with the Western bandits in India, or continue westward to Persia, unite with the Persians, and annihilate the Ottoman army there.
The second route is the Far East Front. The troops are 15 army divisions and a naval squadron. Among them, the Ming Dynasty has four infantry divisions and one special forces division, and the Inca Kingdom has ten infantry divisions. The naval force is the American Squadron with two battleships and five heavy cruisers. The commander-in-chief of this front is Lieutenant General Lu Xiangsheng, and the chief commissioner is His Royal Highness Prince Song.
The logistics bases of this front are located in Lima and Bogota. Its combat mission is to first defend South America and ensure that all resources in South America can support the Ming mainland. When the war in India becomes tense and the Western bandits are forced to withdraw North American troops, they will break through Panama and occupy Mexico in one go. Special reminder to Commander Lu, His Royal Highness King Song, and Her Royal Highness the Inca Queen, your primary responsibility is defense. It is strictly forbidden to take risks and attack before the Western bandits' North American forces are weakened. Are you clear?"
After Yan Siqi finished speaking with a serious expression, Lu Xiangsheng, Zhu Ciyan, and Diya, who had come from America to attend the meeting, all stood up and said, "Please rest assured, Prime Minister, we will never be greedy for merit or advance rashly."
"Okay, next is the third route, which is also the main force of this expedition to India, the Southwestern Front. The front has 136 infantry divisions and one special forces division, with a total of 2.06 million troops. In terms of the navy, in addition to the main fleet led by seven battleships, there are also five marine divisions participating in the war, with a total of 296,000 people.
It is extremely difficult to dispatch an army of this size. Therefore, after repeated discussions in the Privy Council, it was initially decided to divide the army into three parts.
The first part is the Snow Region Army, which consists of four Great Ming Divisions and one Gurkha Division. The commander is General Man Gui. Its combat mission is to cross the Himalayas, go through Kashmir, and occupy strategic high ground. However, due to the terrain, it is extremely difficult to supply this route, so although the mission is heavy, the five divisions are already the limit of logistics.
The second part is the Arakan Group. It has 30 divisions and 450,000 troops. The commander is General Cao Wenzhao. It has three army groups, with the commanders being Lieutenant General Huang Degong, Lieutenant General Sanada Yukimasa of Japan, and Lieutenant General Lin Qingye of Fukukoku. The combat mission of this group is to go by land instead of by sea, cross the Arakan Mountains, and launch an attack on the Western bandits in Bangladesh in advance, in order to attract the main force of the Western bandits. If the Western bandits respond with their main force, we will rely on the Arakan Mountains for defense. If the Western bandits come here in a small force, we will try to repel them and enter the Ganges Delta.
Ladies and gentlemen, although the transportation capacity of the Central-South Railway has been greatly improved, the equipment, food, etc. for these 450,000 people is also the limit of the Central-South Railway.
The third group is the Kaiyang Group. Uh, the name of this group was given by the emperor. This group has a total of 101 army divisions and a total force of 1.52 million. At the same time, the main fleet of the navy and all the marines are in this group. The commander-in-chief and general commissioner of this group is the emperor himself. "
"ah?"
As soon as Yan Siqi said this, all the people at the meeting who were unaware of the inside story exclaimed in surprise.
However, it was just a surprise: this emperor had personally participated in many battles since the time of the crown prince. At this time, it seemed . Besides, with such a large number of troops away from the country for such a long time, which general would dare to take on this task if it was not led by the emperor himself?
Only Zhu Youxiao stood up with a wry smile and saluted: "Brother, you and the crown prince are both going to the battlefield, which means..."
"That's right. During the war, we have no choice but to bring you back to serve as regent. Hey, don't frown. I am most relieved to have you as regent. Well, you have to work harder. You have to do a good job as regent, and the design of new battleships cannot stop."
"…Alas, when my brother the Emperor appointed the Crown Prince, he also said that I would not have to serve as regent in the future. Well, I will obey your order."
After this little episode, Yan Siqi saw that everyone's emotions had stabilized, so he continued: "The chief of staff of the group is Admiral Liu Zhaosun. It has ten army groups, and the commanders are the Japanese Toyotomi Dongxiu, the king of Annan, Li Weixin, the king of Gui, Zhu Youlang, the prince of Fu, Zhu Yousong, the king of Tang, Zhu Youjian, the prince of Zhou, Zhu Shaoyong... etc. The combat mission of the group is, first of all, the navy must gain control of the sea in the Bay of Bengal and ensure the safety of the transport fleet. Then, according to the war situation at the time, concentrate all transportation capacity and try to land more than 500,000 troops at one time. If, uh, I mean if the navy fails to compete with the Western pirate navy for control of the sea, or even if the control of the sea is completely controlled by the enemy, then not only will the Kaiyang group be unable to land, but the already deployed Arakan group and the Snow District group army will all be withdrawn.
The above is the preliminary battle plan and troop deployment for the expedition to India next year. Generally speaking, because India is a relatively closed peninsula. Whether it is the snowy area in the north or the Shu Kingdom in the east, although our Ming Dynasty has a long border with it, these places are too high in altitude and the mountain roads are rugged and difficult to travel, and cannot support the logistics of a large army. Therefore, the main army can only attack from the sea. Therefore, the key to the success or failure of this expedition to India lies in the navy! If the navy cannot gain control of the sea in the Bay of Bengal, it will be extremely difficult for us to win a great victory in this expedition. "
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, and everyone." Under the gaze of everyone, the Japanese general, the commander of the Ming domestic fleet, Inukai Toji, stood up and said, "In order to avenge the humiliation of the defeat that year, the navy has been training hard every day in recent years. Your Majesty, on the battlefield, the number of victory and defeat is difficult to determine. I can't make too many guarantees here. The only thing I dare to guarantee is that this time, every navy officer will offer all his loyalty and bravery to the Ming Dynasty."
"Okay, the above is the preliminary plan for this expedition. Do you all understand? Okay, now please give us your instructions, Your Majesty."
"Okay." Zhu Youdong took the microphone from Fang Zhenghua and cleared his throat. "My Lords, the preparations for war that began in the 26th year of Tianqi have been going on for almost 28 months now. Overall, I am very satisfied with the current progress. Of course, as Prince Xin just said, during the more than two years of preparations, there were some bad, even extremely bad behaviors. Regarding these, I agree with Prince Xin's point of view and will not tolerate them.
What I cannot tolerate most is the behavior of local officials trying to find ways to help their children, relatives and friends evade military service. This is a national war, and it is time for everyone to fight bravely. In addition to leading the army in person, I also sent my two sons to the battlefield. King Lai, King Jian, King Xin, and even King Fu, King Gui, King Zhou, King Tang and various vassal states, all had their kings or princes personally go to the battlefield. With the royal family taking the lead, if anyone dares to evade military service, haha, as King Xin said, before I send out the troops, I will personally behead him as a sacrifice!
Princes of all regions, governors-general and provincial governors, when you go back, you must keep the secrets strictly. In your hands, you must work hard according to the arrangements made at today's meeting. When the war breaks out, what I am most worried about is people's livelihood. Princes of all regions and local officials, your primary task in the local area is to do everything you can to maintain stable prices in various places, especially the prices of grain, salt, cloth, and cotton, which are related to the prices of people's survival items, which must be maintained within a controllable range. I have already greeted the four major chambers of commerce, and they have also promised to launch a call in the business community. If necessary, they will ensure price stability even at a loss. However, there will definitely be some profit-seeking people who will take this opportunity to drive up prices and hoard goods. Don't be soft on these people, arrest those who should be arrested, and kill those who should be killed!
In addition to maintaining stable prices, all the elite troops on active duty were dispatched for this expedition. The entire Ming mainland was maintained by only 400,000 armed police. Therefore, local officials must carefully handle local public opinion and must not provoke civil unrest. For a religion like the White Lotus Sect that always thinks about rebellion, even if there is no sign of rebellion, we must take precautions and lock up all the leaders first!
My Lords, the significance of the expedition to India and the decisive battle with the Western bandits has been preached many times by the six major newspapers, so I will not say more here. I firmly believe that this expedition will definitely win, and thus establish the absolute advantage of our Ming Dynasty in the world. In the end, we will dismember the European Union, eliminate Spain, and return peace to the world. Our Ming Dynasty will win! "
"Your Majesty, I respectfully accept your order. In this battle, the Ming Dynasty will surely win!"
