By the time the time it came to the last night of April, the situation on the middle line was already very clear.

After dinner, I held a pre-war staff meeting in the office building of the East Pole camp and finally reviewed the deployment. In order to defeat the Karatsu Army in one fell swoop in the decisive battle that broke out the day after tomorrow at the latest, middle-level officers from the eastern and western fronts also came to the conference room to participate in the discussion.

"Chief of Staff, tell me about the deployment of our army."

After hearing my order, Chen Jisheng, who was standing in front of the map, immediately opened the folder in his hand, looked up at the crowded officers in the conference room, picked up the command pole with his left hand and pointed at the map and said, "Yes, Comrade Commander." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, according to the latest news from this afternoon, the 1st Battalion of the Dongjiang Army and the 1st Regiment of the Hirado Domain's vassal army on the Eastern Front have recaptured Imari, and the enemy Matsushita River is resisting in Xiazhai 20 miles to the north. A Marine Company of the National Defense Forces and the 2nd Regiment of the Hirado Domain (missing two battalions) have landed on Fukushima and are clearing the island of a small number of remnants of the enemy. In addition, the 1st Battalion of the National Defense Army, the 3rd Battalion of the Dongjiang Army, and two companies of the 2nd Regiment of the Hirado Domain have been assembled at Hirado Port and can board ships at any time. ”

"On the central front, the 2nd Battalion of the Wehrmacht Army has moved into the hard earth fortress, which has been expanded with an additional artillery battery, equipped with a total of 4 75mm guns and 8 50mm guns. In addition, a cavalry battalion of the Donggang Army transferred from Jeju has regained its combat effectiveness (mainly because the horses' unsuitability has disappeared), and it will be able to enter Hard Earth Fortress by the early hours of tomorrow morning at the latest. By that time, the city would have no less than one defense battalion, one cavalry battalion, and two Saga clan battalions. As for the Void Fortress, a battalion of the Saga Domain has replaced the original Wehrmacht part. ”

Since the Trojan Horse Project had not been made public at that time, Chen Jisheng was vague in his introduction to the middle line, which was also to protect the safety of the officers.

"There were no major changes on the western front, and the 3rd Regiment of the Saga Domain replaced the 1st Regiment and remained stationed at Tsukuba Castle. The first regiment will be sent to Nagasaki by boat and combined with the expanded city defense force to form a reserve brigade, and the specific number cannot be issued at this time. ”

"How's the Christian ones preparing?" I asked.

The Portuguese have introduced Christianity to Japan since the last century, and Kyushu was the first area where Christianity entered – although the Japanese called Christianity "Chejitan". During the reign of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese government began to expel and hostile Christianity, and now Tokugawa Hidetadashi has completely raised the sword to solve the religious problem.

However, after defeating the Portuguese and Spanish colonists, and subduing the Eighteen Chi pirate gangs, and entering Japan in a big way, in the spirit of "the enemy of the enemy is the friend", the Christians in the Kyushu region were united and converted to the name of the "Patriotic Catholic Church" to receive the guidance of Father Duncan, a branch of Catholicism invented by a general of the Dongjiang Army, which seems to exude heresy from the inside out (Note 1).

"The Christians in Nagasaki have formed a crusade with four battalions, but they are poorly armed." Chen Jisheng said with a slight frown. He was very interested in this army, which was made up entirely of Christian civilians... Or rather, the rabble doesn't feel it, and every time he sees these little dwarfs who don't have any military skills, but their minds are full of what kind of "loyalty to God", he will inexplicably feel a sense of disgust.

"It doesn't matter if the weapons are bad." I waved my hand and said, "Just have someone, it's a bunch of cannon fodder anyway." ”

"By the way, you arrange for some officers from the vassal army to be inserted, don't the entire crusader army be illiterate who don't know how to fight. Also, send a letter to Mr. Duncan of Lushun, asking him to be sure to send some clergy to Nagasaki. ”

"Yes." Chen Jisheng nodded and continued to brief the officers on the situation and arrange the deployment.

After listening to the meeting for a while, I left the conference room and headed downstairs to another room, where the non-combat staff officers worked.

The commissar was waiting for me in the corridor, he had only arrived yesterday from Luzon, his name was Wang Shunjie, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

When he saw me come out, he smiled and said, "How is the discussion inside, can you directly defeat the Japanese people on the other side?" ”

As a rule, political commissars are not directly involved in military matters. So I'm going to tell you as simple as I can, focusing on the upcoming Trojan project.

Wang Shunjie nodded, did not express his opinion, but said another thing: "I heard the news from the Luzon side, and Chang'an is going to send a commander over." ”

I raised an eyebrow.

It's normal to send someone to be a commander, I'm just a young man with the rank of major, even if I have a high rank when I join the army, I shouldn't be in charge so quickly, and my qualifications can't keep up at all...... On the other hand, I really lack experience in managing an army, and this month has made me a little dizzy, and it would be a lot easier if I had an old army leader on my head.

"Do you know which of your Excellency is coming?" I asked.

It's just a casual question, and I don't need money to ask anyway.

To my surprise, Wang Shunjie really knew a little news: "The specific candidate is not clear, but it is likely to be transferred from Europe." ”

He leaned in to me and whispered, "An elder." ”

"When will it arrive?"

"I really don't know about this, I don't know if it's to the Straits Settlements... It's probably at least the middle of next month. ”

My face remained unchanged, and I still smiled and walked down the stairs with him, but my mind was already beginning to think quickly.

Although Wang Shunjie did not name the exact person, it was just a cowardice to try to share the secret but was a little afraid that he would be held accountable if it was exposed. Coming from Europe and being a veteran, he should also have good military qualities...... For those of us who have a bit of a relationship at the top, or who have a little bit of knowledge of the world situation, the answer is already on the horizon.

At this time, he personally came to Japan to command, what did he mean? Is Chang'an preparing to increase its involvement in East Asia, or... Exert further influence on the Ming Kingdom? If the latter is the case, the situation in China as a whole will change.

I pressed these thoughts for the time being, and pushed open the door of the conference room downstairs with Wang Shunjie.

The room was much more lively than the upstairs, and groups of staff officers or guards went in and out with folders or bags, conveying the orders of the war from the headquarters to every camp.

In the center of the conference room was a large table, around which several staff officers were used, using a somewhat strange-looking mechanical calculator. There are also stacks of manuscript paper full of numbers on the table, and the various handwriting and colored pen and ink make them look... Well, it's brutal.

Oh, a few years after graduating from college, my knowledge of advanced math was completely returned to the teacher, and I was a little panicked when I saw these data.

However, Wang Shunjie seemed to have a lot of mathematical skills, and when he passed by, he took a cursory look and told me that these staff officers were using the matrix to calculate the materials needed by the army.

I squeezed out a gentle smile and said that the comrades were doing a good job and that they should continue to work hard.