In the temporary combat meeting at the head of Xuzhou City, in addition to the commanders of the revolutionary army's brigades and above, more than 100 members and backbones of the Datong Society in the volunteer division also gathered together, a total of about 1,200 people. However, unlike in the past, there are no more lowly status among these people. This also allows the military council to discuss some confidential matters, and the risk of leaking secrets is much smaller than before.

Compared with the building of combat effectiveness, Xiao Xuan also hoped that the backbone members of the Datong Society and the officers of the various brigades of the Revolutionary Army would have a better ability to think about problems, and only in this way could they avoid making too many mistakes and mistakes when facing the task of purging local operations alone in the future.

"Now there is news that the main force of Jianzhou is destroying the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and it is close to winter this year at the latest, and there is a danger of returning to the east at the end of summer this year as early as the end of this year. Where should the main offensive direction of the main forces of our army be placed in this situation? Is it to attack Jiangnan in advance, or to sweep the entire north first? Or, come and attack Liaodong ahead of schedule? Of course, Xiao Xuan had already made up his mind in his heart, and he didn't shy away from anything, and said directly to everyone in a tone of inquiry rather than inquiry.

After a moment of silence, a relatively straightforward member of the Datong Society finally broke the silence: "I think we should do superficial efforts and preparations for the southern expedition, and the elite raid with the volunteer division as the core will attack the remaining forces in Jianzhou, Liaodong." Compared with the Jianzhou people, other opponents have no quantity but no quality, and it is not easy to form a more effective core. I am afraid that the pressure of the various armies to jointly attack us is probably less than the integration of the forces of the entire north after the return of the main force of Jianzhou. At present, the army building in our ranks is not yet consolidated, and the crisis has not really been resolved. In such a situation, the forces that pose the greatest threat to our army should be eliminated and contained in the first place... ”

It is nothing for a knowledgeable military advisor and literati to see this at this time, but for the members of the Datong Society in the volunteer camp with courage and consciousness as the core of selection, it is not easy for someone to have such an understanding.

"That's true, in the whole of the sea. The Ying Tian Imperial Court seems to be powerful, but in fact it has a chaotic and divided brain. If our army is overwhelmed, these people may be temporarily united by fear of the revolutionary policies of our army. However, when our army is on the defensive in the south, the pressure on our army from the south and other forces will be much less because of their inferior coordination and command, and even their determination to fight. In addition, the southeast does not produce strong troops, and the southwest is barely decent, but it is difficult to feel it in the short term. The most likely situation for our army this summer is that the main forces of Jianzhou after returning to the division will unite with the enemy forces in Shaanxi and Sichuan to attack us, or integrate the Ming army in the south. Therefore, our army's operational strategy should be: First, from the spring to the summer of this year, we should strive to solve or inflict heavy losses on the remaining forces in Liaodong in a relatively short period of time. Second, we should advance westward into the Hexi Corridor at the fastest speed, and wage a decisive battle against the main forces of Jianzhou, which may return to the division, in the direction of Ganzhou and Shaanxi, and strive to weaken the enemy forces in the north first through two rounds of operations to the point where they cannot pose an important strategic threat to our army. If... I mean, if the forces of the southern adversary exceed our expectations, then if necessary, the center of gravity of our army can be re-retreated from Xuzhou to the Gyeonggi area. We should be bold enough to ignore the gains and losses of one city and one place under the condition of ensuring basic provisions, so as to eliminate the opponent's most threatening mobile forces, which is the core of our combat strategy this year... At this time, after two or three years of adaptation and training, Xiao Xuan was no longer as indecisive as before. Through many previous battles, Xiao Xuan felt that the biggest danger in the founding of the state at its peak was to integrate the "reactionary forces from all walks of life" in the country. The first thing to consider is the question of the success or failure of the "revolutionary" war. As for the length of effort, it is clearly not a top priority.

In this way, when spring had not really arrived, and the northern sea area was not calm, the volunteer division, who had made some preparations for water training, began to secretly approach the coastal area along the Huai River by boat, and started sailing along the coastline to face the north wind. Because the ships were not suitable for the open sea, and they lacked experience in the open sea, most of the time the ships moved forward no more than forty or fifty miles from the coast, but not close to ten miles or so, and in most cases they overcame difficulties and tried to sail at night.

Paddle wheel oars are theoretically less efficient than propellers, but they undoubtedly seem to be much more efficient than paddles. In the case of sailing against the north, it seems to ride the wind and waves like a sailboat with a tailwind, and of course, the most important thing is to greatly reduce the test of boat operation.

In this way, the elite troops of about 10,000 people in the two brigades of the original teaching brigade and the volunteer division quietly crossed the Jiaodong Peninsula through more than 200 paddle steamer boats, approached in the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula, and looked for the estuary where the enemy's henchman was located.

The northern sea area in early spring is not too peaceful, and the ship is not very large, so even if some people with serious seasickness reactions are eliminated and water training has been done before, when the fleet landed in the area of Niangnianggong at the mouth of the Sancha River in the hinterland of Liaodong, many officers and soldiers still had some seasickness reactions, plus the seasickness after landing, when Xiao Xuan led this team of only about 10,000 people just completed the land assembly, it seemed to be the most vulnerable time.

What is a little strange is that the area around the strategically important Niangniang Palace does not seem to be heavily defended, and the outpost of the Jianzhou Army of several hundred people was quickly dispersed under the fierce and accurate fire of the large army's firearms.

Xiao Xuan also felt a little strange: "This is not Jinzhou, nor Gaizhou, it is the core of the banners and fields. Could it be that the main force of Jianzhou judged the strength of our army so accurately, and did not intend to gather and annihilate our army when its foothold was not stable? ”

"I think that the enemy here should not be able to figure out the scale of our army's dispatch this time for the time being, so he does not dare to fight a decisive battle rashly in the hinterland. If our army sends troops to plunder and scatter the troops, maybe the mobile main force of the remaining forces in Jianzhou that has already gathered will appear, but if that is the case, it will be too unfavorable for our army... ”

Xiao Xuan really wants to create a few legends like many protagonists in the air. However, considering that the armor left behind in Jianzhou is likely to be about 10,000 people, and it is not impossible to mobilize 30,000 Ding Zhuang at the peak, it was decided to build a camp in the area of Niangniang Palace first, and there was no rush to attack for the time being, and the attack would be launched after the troops dedicated to clearing and sweeping were gathered.

And Xiao Xuan had a hunch: in this case, the remaining Jianzhou army may not be able to fight passively, and there will always be temptations.

(End of chapter)