"The name Aosong should not be used on a large scale for the time being." Yu Eshui said, "The Red Turban Army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty wanted to 'reopen the Great Song Dynasty with the sun and the moon'." Zhu Yuanzhang can also be regarded as a member of the Red Turban Army, but Zuihou got rid of King Xiao Ming and came up with 'Da Ming'. The Ming court may have certain taboos against the 'descendants of the Great Song Dynasty'. At this stage, we can use an example similar to the Red Turban Army to temporarily replace the country name with the name of the army. I propose that we call it the Fubo Army - very pertinent. ”

"Actually, we can call it GLA," Mr. Wen said, "the Global People's Liberation Army." That's good, Secretary Ma. ”

"I'll use it well in the future. Now the people who call GLA Daming don't feel it at all. Ma Qianzhuo said, "I think that from today onwards, our official documents and proclamations can be used to use the name of the Fubo Army. ”

Jiang Shan returned to the office of the Intelligence Bureau. As soon as he arrived at the office, he received a call from He Ming, asking him to "quickly find out the situation of the Ming army in Guangdong."

"A few days after the establishment of the Intelligence Bureau, the specific mission came." Jiang Shan said at the evening meeting, "This is the first key project of our Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and we must get it done, otherwise it will be troublesome to fight for a budget in the future." ”

Wang Ding coughed and spoke first: "Most of this information can be queried from the archives of the General Intelligence Database. There are many of the historical information compiled by the large library and the materials collected by the Guangzhou station over the years. I intend to conduct a search of this information and compile it. ”

"This kind of information is too old." Jiang Shan expressed doubts.

"It's old, it's only two or three years, and the situation of the Ming army won't change much."

"This matter mainly depends on the intelligence of the Guangzhou station." As a so-called "naval military intelligence officer", he said, "If the Ming army wants to attack Lingao, it must cross the sea." Guangzhou Station has an eyeliner arrangement at the key traffic passes in Guangdong, and as long as there is a concentration of warships and a movement of troops, news will inevitably come. It's useless for us to guess here. ”

Therefore, eyeliner is the outer cabinet of each branch of the Weiwei Dart Bureau, and they use carrier pigeons to report to the general number in Guangzhou every five days. This kind of information is not very timely, but considering the very slow march speed of the ancient army, such a speed is acceptable.

"If we wait for the intelligence and collection point files of the Guangzhou station in this way, we will complete the task, and our foreign intelligence bureau will not have to be mixed." Jiang Shan said, "We have to send people to Guangdong to collect some military intelligence." ”

"Now that we have trained expatriate intelligence officers, this transfer of the Ming Army in Guangdong is a very good internship opportunity. They should be allowed to go out and give it a try. Qiongzhou is actually nothing, and it is the real fish into the sea when it reaches the boundary of Guangdong. The effectiveness of the training depends on this time. Xu Xu was also interested in the proposal, "If you want to send someone, I'm willing to go." ”

"Isn't it a little too risky......

"Since I did intelligence work, there should still be this risk. Of course, we can't ask the intelligence officers to do such a dangerous thing as drilling into the camp to take pictures, but we should still have the ability to stand and watch. ”

"If you are just standing and watching, why do you need to send any more people? Guangzhou Station has eyeliner in many places. We're going to send people again. Wang Ding objected, "Guangdong's intelligence work should be done by the Guangzhou Station." If Mr. Guo says that there are not enough manpower or other difficulties, we can send someone to Guangzhou Station to assist, but we must not send another person, which not only wastes human resources but also violates work procedures. ”

Wang Ding continued: "The key to intelligence work is still analysis. Rather than just providing a bunch of bits and pieces of detailed information, we should focus on analyzing and collating the existing information. Submit a detailed and reliable report. ”

Jiang Shan thinks that since Wang Ding became the director of the analysis department, he has been singing "analysis is omnipotent" all day long, which obviously has the meaning of raising his own value.

But his words were not easy to refute, and at this time Li Yan also came to echo his opinion.

"That's right, I also recommend that Liliang be put on the collation, judgment and analysis of the existing data. As for what information is missing, they can directly telegraph to the Guangzhou station and ask them to collect it -- this is their own job. ”

"It depends on how long the Guangzhou station can survive. Guo Yi: Their exit is not good. Jiang Shan remembered the several telegrams sent by the Guangzhou Station recently, including all sides extending their greedy hands to the Guangzhou Station. Although the current situation is unclear, there is a great deal of uncertainty about whether the various industries in Guangzhou Station can survive the war.

"Skade is already discussing the situation of the Guangzhou-Leizhou station," Li Yan said, "Although this is strictly a matter for the Colonial Trade Department, our intelligence bureau also has an obligation to protect the station." ”

"My opinion is very simple, protect people but not money." Jiang Shan said, "As long as you take people out safely, you can do it." Money is something outside the body, and if it's gone, it's gone. Anyway, I can claim it back a hundred times in the future. ”

Li Yan said: "If possible, we should try to preserve our property. I think that it is not impossible to consider the expedient practice of 'saving the country by curve', such as dedicating to the local gentry. This can at least enable the industry to operate sustainably, and it will be easy to recover it in the future. ”

"As for the scope of personnel safety, it should be broader." Jiang Shan believed that the Guangzhou station had just completed a large-scale blood exchange and review work, and many personnel were sent from Lingao to get staff, and it was a pity to lose them. As for the craftsmen and servants employed in the area, even if they are managers, they should also be protected as much as possible - even if they cannot be withdrawn to Lingao together, they should be kept safe by means of their persons and property.

"This will greatly increase the trust of indigenous people in us. We don't walk away knowing that when times of crisis. ”

"There is also Leizhou Station. The area of Leizhou is remote, and the evil wind in Guangzhou will not blow them for a while and a half, but it must not be guarded against. ”

"If you want me to say, Guangzhou can be withdrawn, but Leizhou must not be withdrawn." Wang Ding knocked on the table very resolutely, "As soon as Leizhou withdraws, the sugar company's stall will be finished." ”

Guangzhou is a purely commercial area of circulation, except for the distillation of liquor, which is a bit modern jishu, which uses a 20th-century level distillation cooler, there is basically no modern industry, and a little manufacturing in Zizhenzhai is also purely manual. After the destruction, as long as the Crossing Group can continue to supply "Australian goods", it will be easy to rebuild. Not to mention that there are many ways to circumvent the damage. Leizhou Station is different. It is a dual facility of manufacturing and distribution, the modern sugar factory falls into the hands of inexperienced natives, and it will not be long before it will be completely destroyed, and Leizhou has invested a lot of capital in the local sugar cane farmers, once it is abandoned halfway, not only its own losses are huge, but the confidence of the sugar cane farmers is even more devastating.

"Guangzhou is the provincial capital and the focus of officialdom. Therefore, it is difficult for Guo Yi's side to survive, so my opinion is to withdraw Lei Bao widely. Wang Dingti suggested, "Don't say that in the era of the Ming Dynasty, even the old time and space were a place where the emperor was far away. The average person doesn't keep their eyes fixed on that. The possibility of insured. ”

Moreover, the Leizhou Peninsula is opposite Lingao, and you can cross the sea to Xuwen in half a day. Whether it is secretly sending a special reconnaissance team out to do wet work, or Mingde sending a naval expeditionary team to crusade, it is very convenient to interfere than to sail for several days to Guangzhou.

"If someone in Leizhou tries to be detrimental to the industry of Leizhou Station, we can ask the Executive Committee to invest in a special investigation team to carry out operations, and no one will dare to touch Leizhou's brains after a few rounds of 'wet work'. Even more extreme methods can be adopted to completely control the exchange of information between Leizhou's one prefecture and two counties and Guangzhou. ”

"Let's draft a memorandum to the Executive Committee, and send a copy to Skelde." Li Yan said: "As for military intelligence, it is still based on the local area -- and the existing information should be used first. ”

Wang Ding also said: "This is our first project, not only to make contributions, but also to stand firm. ”

The congregation nodded in unison.

"Okay, I see. Just do it your way. Jiang Shan gave in, and he kind of heard the meaning of Wang Ding's words.

Subsequently, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau issued instructions to the Guangzhou Station on intelligence gathering, asking the Guangzhou Station to focus on collecting information on the movements of the Ming troops in Guangdong, the situation of troops, and the personnel of the generals. Especially the movement of troops. Whether the Minister of War is preparing to leave the country to defend against the enemy or to defend and counterattack, it is always important to grasp the movements of the Ming army.

In terms of military intelligence, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau spent several days collecting and consulting all kinds of information, and finally came up with an intelligence.

Most of the content of this information was copied from historical books, and then analyzed and summarized according to the sporadic data collected by the two stations of Guangzhou and Leizhou in recent years.

"Although we lack sufficient information on the mobilization capacity of the Ming army in Guangdong, we can roughly infer how much force the Ming army was able to mobilize to attack Lingao from the strength of Yu Shigao's expulsion of the Dutch in Penghu in 1624."

When Yu Zhigao sent troops to Penghu in August 1624, he dispatched more than 10,000 people and more than 300 ships. He faced only fourteen large and small Dutch ships, and the East India Company's army strength stationed at the fortress in Penghu was only 800 men.

From the strength of the two sides, it can be seen that the Ming army was fully aware of the military gap between itself and the Europeans, so it adopted the method of offsetting quality with quantity, and relied on the method of pressing the city with a black cloud of ten to force the Dutch back.

"We believe that this time the Ming army in Guangdong is likely to repeat its old tricks, and still adopt the mode of heavy troops to press the territory, in order to achieve the goal of demolishing the castle and retreating by ourselves." At the military meeting of the General Staff, Wang Ding expounded the analysis of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau to the people present.

It is impossible for the commander of the Ming army not to know about the construction of a castle in Lingao and the formation of the regiment by crossing the group. And the reputation of the Australians for their strong ships has long been spread.

Of course, the commander of the Ming army can come to the conclusion that the enemy he faces is only stronger than the Dutch back then, so if he wants to attack Lingao, the mobilized men and horses will definitely not be less than Yu Zhigao's troops back then.

"This time, the Ming army will only bring in more people, not less. Otherwise, their military operations would not have been successful. This is one of them. Wang Ding said, "Second, Yu Zhigao went to Penghu to deliver at sea over long distances, and limited by the number of ships and sailors, it was impossible for him to send more troops." ”

Moreover, the area around Penghu is basically a desert island, in addition to water, grain, grass and firewood all have to be supplied by the mainland, and Yu Zhigao's logistics pressure is very great, so he has probably reached the limit of troop projection with more than 10,000 people to land.

However, Lingao is different, there are many prefectures and counties on Hainan Island, and some grain can be solved on the spot, and Dingfu, livestock and vehicles can be requisitioned along the way. There is much less logistical pressure.

“…… To sum up, we believe that the final mobilized strength of the Ming army was between 20,000 and 30,000 people on land and water, and the main force should be the Zhenbiao Zhong Battalion and Jiading of He Rubin, the general army of Guangdong. There are about two thousand people in this part. There are also some battalions in the Fubiao and Standard-making Battalions. ”

"How did the data of 2,000 people in this town come about?" East Gate Blowing Rain asked.

"It's no secret how many people are in the city of Guangzhou." Wang Ding said, "Everyone knows it. ”

"Didn't falsely report the head, eat empty amounts?"

"I'm afraid that false reports of heads will only be in ordinary troops, so that the troops that are the core of tactics will not."

"Are there cavalry?"

"There were not many horses in the Ming army in Guangdong. Only a small number of horses were available for the generals to ride, carry, probe and give orders. The cavalry as a assault liliang can be said to be non-existent. So we don't have to worry about dealing with cavalry. ”

This is not only because horses in Guangdong are expensive or difficult to source, but also because the climate in Guangdong is also not suitable for horse life. In the huge city of Guangzhou, it is rare to see large livestock such as horses, donkeys, and mules. It is also rarely kept in the army.

"What about firearms?"

"There are a lot of firearms." Wang Ding said that the Ming army in Guangdong had already exceeded 60 percent in terms of the proportion of firearms and equipment. And recently there has also been a significant improvement in the quality of firearms. Wang Zunde's large-scale cannon production campaign led to a surge in the number of imitation Hongyi cannons equipped.

"So, they're sure they're bringing a lot of clones of the Red Yi Cannon."

"Wang Zunde's imitation of the Hongyi artillery, according to the report of the Guangzhou station and the intelligence we have collected from the Foshan channel, is mainly 9-pounder and 12-pounder guns. The 12-pounder gun was too heavy, and the Ming army lacked livestock for traction, so it was unlikely to be used in field battles, so it should have brought 9-pounder guns. There are also a number of old guns such as the Franc machine. ”

"He Rubin, the general soldier of Guangdong, is known for being good at firearms, and this person also has a firearms book "Western Fire Attack Artifact Theory", and he should be a person who has a certain understanding of the power and use of artillery. Attention must be paid to it. "Because Zhang Bolin took the artillery route, he was very concerned about the old firearms jishu. He is a must-see in every issue of the reference materials on military history compiled by the Great Library.

"He Rubin is an anti-Catholic. He was implicated in the Nanjing lesson plan in the 44th year of Wanli. At that time, the knowledge of Western firearms was completely in the hands of Catholics and missionaries. It is unlikely that this apostate had any connection with the Western clergy - the origin of the work itself is also dubious - he claimed that the book was written in the 34th year of Wanli, but the frontispiece mentions Ning Yuan - and besides, the imperial court did not buy Hongyi cannons at all before the 34th year of Wanli. Yu Eshui said with a smile, "That's why I said that if he came to command the crusading army, he would not be any different from other general soldiers in this time and space in commanding operations and using firearms." ”

"The firearms of the Ming army are not worth mentioning," Ying Yue said, "even if we bombard them with 12-pounder cannons, they will be completely defeated." I'm afraid that before the infantry can fire, the enemy will retreat. ”

"Let's not take the enemy too lightly." He Ming said, "Let's keep talking." According to your estimates, when will the Ming army start military operations? ”

"Yes," Wang Ding nodded, "Our calculation is that the Ming army should be in the second half of this year at the earliest." It was around October. ”

"Isn't it too wide?"

The second landing of the Dutch in Penghu was in July 1622. The Ming government's decision to retreat by force was probably not made until after October 1623. Yu's troops were not dispatched until August 1624, almost a full year apart. This is about the time it takes for the Ming army to mobilize more than 10,000 people. ”

It is impossible for tens of thousands of troops to be concentrated in one place on weekdays, and they must be stationed in a scattered state. Wang Zunde wants to concentrate his troops, and this is not an overnight thing. According to the intelligence of the Guangzhou station, the military expenses of the Guangdong government have not yet been raised.

"In fact, strictly speaking, the military operation on the Guangdong side has not officially started at all. All operations will not be officially operational until military spending is implemented. ”

However, in the first half of the year, the Ming army had not much time to use -- Lingao was about to enter summer, and summer was the beginning of the rainy season. The Ming army was not a modern army that could brave adverse weather conditions to carry out military operations, and if the offensive could not be started before June, the offensive would have to be delayed until after autumn.

“…… After autumn, there is a threat of typhoon in Lingao. If the Ming army were to attack by land and water, it would not begin to attack until at least October. ”

"Is it possible for Zheng Zhilong to intervene?" Chen Haiyang asked.

Wang Ding nodded: "Zheng Zhilong's men and horses are completely in a state of imminent battle, and they can be dispatched at any time, which is our biggest threat." However, Xiong Wencan will not use Zheng Zhilong to tie up Wang Zunde. And his own ability to restrain Zheng Zhilong is also very limited. Unless Zheng Zhilong thinks it is profitable, he will not come to muddy the waters at will. ”

"Is it unprofitable to hit us? I think it's very profitable. ”

"He still has a lot of opponents to finish cooking, and it is impossible for him to meet our sword soldiers. Li Kuiqi hasn't gnawed it down yet. ”

"According to our latest information," Wang Ding pulled out a document, "Li Kuiqi's unit has been destroyed by the joint attack of Zheng Zhilong and Zhong Bin not long ago. ”

The fall of Li Kuiqi made everyone feel a sense of tightness in their hearts. Every time Zheng Zhilong destroys a great enemy, it means that his strength shili has expanded a lot, and there is one less shili to contain him. Zheng Zhilong's footsteps are getting closer and closer to Lingao.

The following is more than 5,000 words

Concentrate:

Li Kuiqi should have been eliminated in the second year of Chongzhen, I mistakenly remembered it as Zhong Bin, in fact, Zhong Bin was about to fall.

Correct it here.