Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 783: Achieve Success in One Go
Since the Ming Dynasty did not yet have a mature and reliable radio that could transmit signals over long distances, the Ming Dynasty engineers usually set up telegraph poles wherever the troops marched. However, in many rugged areas, the speed of the Ming Dynasty engineers could not keep up with the advance of the Ming army. At least in Central Asia, Sun had already joined forces with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in Samarkand before the Ming army engineers laid the telegraph poles in Andijan.
Relying on manpower, they ran from Samarkand to Andijan, then sent a message from Andijan to Shache, then to Beijing, and then from Beijing to Yangon. After repeated reception, decoding, resending, and receiving decoding again... it was already November 2 when Zhu Youdong received the news that Central Asia had been completely settled.
"Very good, very good. I really didn't expect that Sun Chuanting, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others performed so well. They eliminated the Ottoman Central Asian cluster so quickly."
"Your Majesty, Sun Boya and his men fought beautifully in this battle. They fought on the outside and were able to fully mobilize the enemy. Moreover, in terms of geographical utilization, as a guest army, they were more familiar with it than the Wutu and Tu armies fighting at home. I really admire them."
"Hahaha, these people have been training in America for so many years. Although their performance is amazing, it is not surprising. And didn't you see that after this battle, the supplies he had stockpiled after crossing the Tianshan Mountains in the summer have been almost consumed. If the Ottomans' weapons were not the same as ours, it is possible that he would have run out of ammunition. In fact, it was still a narrow victory."
"Speaking of this, this is what we admire most about the emperor. More than 20 years ago, during the European-Austrian War, the emperor insisted on aiding the Ottomans. As a result, the Ottomans unified the specifications and parameters of their weapons with us in order to use our aid weapons. Now it seems that the emperor's charity back then is destined for the Ottomans to return it to us here."
Sun Chuanting's telegram was very long. In addition to reporting in detail the progress of the war in Central Asia, it also reported the movements of the Mangui Army Group: After more than a month of arduous climbing, two groups of Tibetan soldiers sent by Mangui successfully found Sun Chuanting's main force.
Then Sun Chuanting reported to Zhu Youdong that, at present, the logistics supply of this group has been temporarily interrupted due to the heavy snow on the Tianshan Mountain. Although they have obtained a large number of Ottoman weapons, they don't have to worry about ammunition. However, food is really difficult: after all, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have caused great harm to this land some time ago, and a large number of local residents have a very bad impression of the Ming army and have hidden their limited food.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty captured so many prisoners this time, and in order to facilitate the conquest of the Ottoman Empire in the future, they could not kill them all. Therefore, the biggest headache for the Central Asian cluster of the Ming Dynasty was the food problem.
Finally, Sun Chuanting said that since Mangui was trapped in Khyber and they were short of food, the next step for this group was to go south through Afghanistan, get some supplies from the Pashtuns along the way, and then rescue Mangui. After meeting up with Mangui, they would determine the next move.
Zhu Youdong was relieved about the Central Asian cluster: Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were the kind of cockroaches that were hard to be killed in any adversity. With Sun Chuanting in charge, he just needed to make sure that these two guys didn't mess around. But this cluster was too far away from him after all. Once he left Samarkand and headed south, who knew when the engineering corps would be able to erect telegraph poles in Afghanistan and Khyber: the terrain in this area was not good for construction.
"Chang Geng (Song Yingxing), how is the progress of the radio at Fu Shan?"
"Your Majesty, the objects provided by the military this time are almost complete, and Qingzhu has found the key. I think it won't take long to successfully copy them. In addition, didn't Sun Boya and his men seize a large number of enemy radio stations in Central Asia? Fangshan has already sent other personnel from the radio research lab to Central Asia. It's just that the roads are not easy to travel in this season. It will probably take some time before they can be used."
"It's okay. I have called Sun Chuanting back and asked him to use the Ottoman army's telegraph team to try to establish direct contact as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty, this is a very good arrangement. Our scientific researchers will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort when they go there with the help of Osman's professionals."
"Well, now that we've talked about the radio, what about the torpedo? What does Zhu Kuiyou say?"
"Your Majesty." At this point, Song Yingxing gave a bitter smile. "How can something that is meticulously crafted by the top craftsmen in the palace be of poor quality? The torpedo that has already been fired cannot be found, so let's not talk about it. The remaining 22 torpedoes are still in a stable state at this time. It's just that the mass production that Your Majesty is thinking about is temporarily impossible."
"Where's the airship?"
"Your Majesty, I have seen many wreckages of enemy airships during my visit this time, and I have a rough idea in my mind. However, the equipment for extracting helium from natural gas is only available in our country. So... But don't worry, your Majesty, our academician from Fangshan has made a slight adjustment to the 75mm cannon currently in the army. With the help of shotgun shells, it can be used as an anti-aircraft gun."
"Okay? What about our big internal combustion engines?"
"Before I came here from China, Fangshan had already made the fifth real internal combustion engine, with a thermal efficiency ratio of 12%, which has surpassed the best 193-type steam engine in our dynasty. And its volume is only one-third of the smallest steam engine, the 195-type. However, after calculation, this latest 205-type internal combustion engine, even if the number of cylinders is increased to twelve, has only more than 40 horsepower. To increase the power, the volume must be increased. But if the volume is large, the practicality is... In short, it is still a long way from what the emperor said, to use it as a power source to develop a car that pulls artillery, or a tank."
"Well, I'm not in a hurry. Well, I'm actually very anxious. But I also know that there's no point in being anxious about scientific matters. Anyway, Fangshan now has two main tasks: radio and internal combustion engines. The former requires us to quickly master the Spanish technology so that the various Ming troops can quickly communicate with each other and ensure coordination. The latter, of course, needs to be continuously improved, with smaller and smaller size and more powerful power. Chang Geng, just work hard."
"Yes, I understand. In that case, I will take my leave."
After Song Yingxing retreated, Zhu Youdong turned to Liu Zhaosun and said, "Now the war on the northern front has come to an end. As for Sun Chuanting, I mean that after relieving Man Gui, we will stay in Kashmir for a while."
"Your Majesty, this is a good arrangement. The so-called unsheathed sword has the greatest deterrent power. Boya has nearly 500,000 heavy troops hanging high in Kashmir. Whether it is the Ottoman Empire or the European Union, when they see the situation here and deploy their troops, they will be seriously restrained."
"That's the arrangement for the northern front for now. Next, how is the situation on the southern front?"
"It wasn't going very well. The Japanese took the first two lines of defense set up by Louis, but they ran out of steam before the third line. For twenty days, they made no progress."
"Cao Wenzhao has been stuck at Dongge Pass for three months. Twenty days is not too long. What about the central line?"
"Your Majesty, that Durrenni is quite formidable. His troops appeared on the two main roads from Orissa to Bengal and Jharkhand a month ago. At that time, our troops had just landed, and we had not figured out everything yet. When our forward troops reached the mountain pass, there were already complete fortifications there. Therefore, if we were to attack these two defense nodes with heavy troops at this time, on the one hand, our casualties would be great. On the other hand, the road traffic in Orissa is really inconvenient, so even if a fight breaks out, if the battle cannot be ended in a short time, it will be difficult for us to continue to supply ammunition.
However, the rainy season in the Indian peninsula has basically ended. Although the mountain roads in Orissa are rugged, the middle and lower reaches of the Moharadi River that runs through the state are now navigable. However, there are several places in the upper reaches of the river where the drop is large, and ships cannot move forward. Therefore, our engineering team is currently building a road in the upper reaches of the river. Our plan is that as long as the road in the upper reaches of the river is built, we will go west and deep into the central part of the Indian peninsula. "
"..." Standing up, Zhu Youdong pondered for a long time while looking at the map of the peninsula, then shook his head: "No. In this way, the logistics line will be too long. What if Durrenni leads his army into Orissa and cuts off this long supply line?"
"Your Majesty, what you said is what we have been worried about. So our arrangement is that there are 81 divisions, 1.22 million people, entering Orissa. We have sufficient manpower. Therefore, we can completely guard against the Durrenni attack while entering the center of the peninsula."
"No, no, no." Zhu Youdong shook his head quickly several times: "Zhao Sun, we are now facing the vast land of India, not the Japan and Siam we fought before. India is really too big. If you continue like this, the more than one million troops that seem to be abundant now will be diluted sooner or later. Let me ask you, what are you going to do after entering Madhya Pradesh, India? Go north to the Ganges Plain? Then the logistics line will be stretched again. You have to separate troops to guard the logistics line, and form a heavy army group to fight against the opponent's main army? By then, these more than one million people will not be enough."
"Uh...what does the Emperor mean?"
"Since I established the Henghai Guard, I have said that I love my soldiers like my own sons. Is that not an exaggeration?"
"Your Majesty loves his soldiers like his own sons. It is because of your efforts that we warriors have changed our humble status in the Ming Dynasty and can hold our heads high again."
"But, Zhao Sun, there is a saying that goes, 'A merciful army cannot be commanded.'"
"…Your Majesty, do you mean that we should still storm the defense line set up by Durrenni in northern Orissa, even if it means heavy casualties?"
"A strong attack is necessary. Even if it means heavy casualties and failure, we still have to attack."
"Is the Emperor planning to fight a decisive battle in the lower reaches of the Ganges?"
"Yes." Nodding, Zhu Youdong's finger circled the huge Indian peninsula: "In the past, when the Ming Dynasty fought against small countries like Japan and Siam, as long as we won the naval battle and ensured the smooth logistics. On land, generally, we only needed to win one or two battles to destroy the country. On a sparsely populated island like Luzon, taking a city is equivalent to taking an island. But India is different. It has a vast territory and a large population. Occupying a city or a state actually has little impact on the overall situation of the war.
When our dynasty conquered the Mughals more than ten years ago, we pushed forward along the Ganges. On the one hand, the Ganges assisted us in transportation, so our logistical pressure was very small. On the other hand, the control and mobilization of the people of the Mughal country, the armament of the army, and the fighting will of the Indian soldiers were not enough to pose a threat to our long logistical support line. But now we are facing the European coalition forces whose equipment, combat quality, fighting will and even commander level are not inferior to ours. Moreover, the Europeans are much stronger in mobilizing the people here than the Mughals... Therefore, the previous methods of fighting the Mughals cannot be used.
Therefore, we must change the way we fight now. If we want to win this war, we cannot rely on the victory of many small-scale battles to win the entire war. We must not stretch the logistics supply line too long. I have thought about it for a long time and think that we should fight a large-scale decisive battle in the lower reaches of the Ganges to annihilate the enemy's heavy troops and thus completely establish our victory in India. "
"Your Majesty, are you planning to launch a decisive battle in this area of western Bengal?"
"Yes." Zhu Youdong pointed his finger heavily at the western part of Bengal with Kolkata as the core. "Now, according to the information sent by Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, there are heavy enemy forces in Dhaka, Kolkata and the exit of Orissa. I roughly estimated that the EU has gathered 700,000 to 800,000 troops . If we add the Boris Group not far to the northeast, it will exceed one million. And we also have more than one million. If this decisive battle can be fought and the enemy's heavy forces are finally annihilated, then our battle in India will be basically over."
