The weather is clear, and several flying seabirds spread their wings and soar, showing off their graceful flight posture.

Outside Keelung Port, the sails on the sea are dotted, and the white clouds in the sky reflect each other, and the northbound fleet all set sail.

At a time when the frontal battlefield strength in Guangdong was insufficient, Shou Order's efforts to assemble this vanguard force were to a certain extent an adventure.

Unlike in the south, the sea surface of the North Ocean has no problem in the southerly season, but in winter it is often stormy and strong waves and thousands of miles of ice.

The Tatars were weak at sea in the north, but strong on land.

Unlike the old Dongjiang Town, which was able to receive the support of Denglai, the new Dongjiang Town has a foothold in the sheltered bay of Haiyang Island.

If there is no ice-free port in winter, the new Dongjiang town will have to occupy a land-free ice-free port, stop ships in winter, or simply withdraw to the south.

The construction of a land military base in Lushun, Weihai or Yantai on land will require a huge amount of money to be invested, and it will be too far from the rear to obtain timely reinforcements. The main forces of the Tatar ground forces have definite goals, and the battle will go into siege and defense, and it will lose its meaning to go north.

The base was set up at sea, and the Ming army launched a large-scale sabotage war on the coastline of several thousand miles. The town of New Dongjiang has the strength to annihilate the Green Battalion troops in a small field battle, which will force the enemy to divide the troops with difficulty, and with a force of more than a thousand men, the Tatars' defensive coverage will certainly be insufficient. The town of Dongjiang has the advantage of maritime mobility, and the Tatars will be in a state of exhaustion along the coast.

If the Tatars built fortress groups along the coastline of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and really sent tens of thousands of troops to defend them, then half of the goal of maintaining order would have been achieved. At that time, Shandong will not only not be able to become an important supply center for the Tatars, but will become a battlefield that needs the cooperation of other provinces.

Orderly watched the sail mast of the northbound fleet disappear on the sea antenna.

Chen Shangchuan reminded softly, "Your Excellency, the members of the Council have all arrived. ”

"Got it, I'll go over now."

There are 5 members of the Taipei Council, Governor Maiden, Navy Commander Allemman, Army Commander Filhoff, Commercial Representative Boggs, and Keelung Garrison Commander Gu Shan.

Shou Xian hadn't been to Taipei for several years, and after shaking hands with five people, he walked to Filhoff's side.

"Ludwig, in recognition of your outstanding contribution to military work in Taipei, the Ministry of Defense awarded you the rank of Major General."

"It is my pleasure, Your Excellency."

Order personally added a star to Filhoff's epaulettes.

Filhoff was promoted from brigadier general to major general. His qualifications have already arrived, but because the Taipei Administrative Region is alone on the northern front, his promotion is slower than that of the mainland.

Gushan was promoted to colonel with the rank of colonel.

The commissioners applauded and waved their hands in order, "Sit down, gentlemen." ”

"Ludwig, how many people are there in the Taipei Army now?"

"We have a field regiment, 4 garrison battalions in Suao, Keelung, Tamsui, and Taichung, and several companies of marines."

"Can Taipei's financial resources be expanded to a brigade now?"

Maiden: "This year we have a faster increase in income, and there are no problems with the brigade of the 2 regimental system. ”

The Army had been researching the formation suitable for the Asian theater of operations, and was currently implementing the 1652 program.

The 1st Brigade has 2 regiments, and the 1st Regiment has 3 battalions, including 2 combat battalions and 1 reserve battalion.

Each battalion has 6 companies, 1 chasseur company, 1 grenadier company, 1 spear company, and 3 arquebus companies.

The regiment has no artillery units, and the brigade has 2 field artillery companies, each with 4 cannons and 2 howitzers.

In addition, there are cavalry, engineering, baggage, medical and other service detachments, with a full strength of more than 4,500 people, and the annual military expenditure on military salaries, training, and equipment in peacetime is 250,000 taels of silver, which is close to the construction of two new first-class battleships.

If it is wartime, it is difficult to estimate the military expenditure, and it is easy for a brigade to lose 1 million taels of silver a year. The army is really a gold-swallowing beast to use, and it is much more expensive than the navy.

That is, the output of gold mines in the southern territory has risen rapidly, otherwise Taipei will definitely not be able to support a full brigade.

"Gushan is in charge of the formation of the new troops, Ludwig, you have to go back to China."

Filhoff was stunned, "Why?" There is still a lot of important work to be done in Taipei. ”

Smile at the order, Taipei's development is mature, and these people in the Council hold great power in Taipei, and they live a comfortable life.

"Flintlock pistols, bronze field guns and new gun mounts are being mass-produced in the country, and in addition, we have developed a new type of weapon. The test unit conducted several tests with this equipment. Ludwig, the effect is extremely amazing, and this could cause a tactical revolution. ”

"Revolution?"

"I can't say how far the Army will ultimately go, but at the moment it is no less than Prince Morris or Gustav. Adolf's innovation. ”

Philhoff was horrified.

"The Army has decided to set up another general school class on the basis of the non-commissioned officer school to study the new tactics after the technological revolution.

Technology determines tactics, and only technological breakthroughs can lead to tactical breakthroughs. Since the degree of revolution is discussed, it means that at this time, including Europe, there was no tactical discipline to adapt to this technological breakthrough.

The Federation needs to study new tactics on its own, and the commander of the Taipei Army, who has been on the front line for a long time and has rich combat experience, must not miss this big seminar.

Filhoff came to his senses that it was not appropriate to ask too many questions in the council.

"Understood, when the north wind blows, I will immediately leave for my country."

Open the briefing in an orderly manner and skip the economic development of the district at the top.

"The economy will look at it later, let's talk about the mainland war situation and our allies first."

"Yes."

Filhoff got up, picked up his baton, and pulled back the curtain on the wall, revealing a large map behind it.

The map stretches from Nan'ao Island in Chaozhou in the south to the Yangtze River in the north, covering the whole of Fujian, Zhejiang and part of the coastline south of the Yangtze River.

Filhoff: "In 1652 and 1653, the southern state made peace with the Tatars, and he built a strong fortress in Haicheng County, and hoarded a large amount of supplies and munitions. The Tatar Jin capital failed to attack Haicheng, and the national surname recovered a little of the loss of the defeat in the Battle of Zhangzhou. After the Battle of Haicheng, the Guojia and the Tatars maintained a state of confrontation, and the two sides officially opened peace talks, during which the Guojia army landed in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong without resistance. ”

Shou Xuan smiled, "The Tatars have never known what credit is, this kind of peace talk is simply nonsense. The Tatars wanted to hold Zheng Chenggong back and try to concentrate resources on Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo. Zheng Chenggong used the peace talks to collect money and grain from the four prefectures of Zhang, Quan, Chao, and Hui to strengthen his strength. To each his own, to each his own. There's no need to look closely, jump over. ”

"Yes. Next is northern Fujian, Zheng Cai occupied Shacheng and attacked the coastal states and counties of northern Fujian and southern Zhejiang. Zhou Rui occupied the Dongtou fort of Liupan Island in Zhejiang, allied with Zheng Cai, and the two armies shared the rear base of Lugang, and the main combat areas were in Wenzhou and Funing Prefecture. ”

Zhou Rui and Zhou Hezhi once belonged to Zheng Cai's subordinates, but later the relationship became stiff, and the two led the army to leave. Zhou Rui and Zhou Hezhi originally occupied three plates, but later the two disagreed and divided their troops again, and Zhou Hezhi went to Zhoushan and was under the command of King Lu.

Zheng Caichu occupied Shacheng and entered Zhou Rui's sphere of influence, and the two sides also fought. Zheng Cai offered to share the Lukang base in the rear, and the two armies re-aligned.

Shacheng is located in Fuding County, Funing Prefecture, which is an important coastal town in northern Fujian and a key node on the north-south route. Outside the port, there is Nanguan Mountain Hengzhi, the lotus island in the harbor is lonely floating on the sea surface like a lotus out of the water, the water is deep and the waves are flat, and the peace is like a hall. Jinyu Gate stands in the middle stream, and the two mountains are sandwiched by the river like a gate, which is very easy to control. The coastal Ming army went north and south, and Shacheng was almost a must-stop seaport.

The peaks and mountains on both sides of the bay stretch out, and the situation is dangerous. Because of the mountain barrier, although Shacheng is on the mainland, it is difficult for the army to approach from the land, Zheng Cai stationed 2,000 soldiers in Shacheng to build a strong fortress. The strength of the Fujian Tatar army is limited, and most of the army still has to press on Zheng Chenggong's head, and he is temporarily unable to deal with Zheng Caijun.

"What's going on around Lukang now?"

"The Zheng and Zhou families, with nearly 30,000 people, occupy about 300 square kilometers of coastal plains south of Wuxi and north of the old Turbidity River.

We expanded to the Nantou Plateau to the east of Zhengcai. Between the Turbidity River and the old Turbidity Creek, there is the Fanshe Alliance headed by the Big Belly Kingdom, with an area of about 300 square kilometers. South of Muddy Water Creek was ruled by the Dutch. Both we and Geranza want to keep the alliance as a buffer zone. ”

Maiden added: "Geranza suggested to us that we should both of us guarantee the independence of the Potbelly Alliance. ”

"What is the opinion of the Taipei Council?"

"Agree with the Dutchman's suggestion."

Shou Xuan nodded, "You are right, it is good for us to keep the Fan Society." Zheng Cai is developing so fast, what is the reason? ”

Although Zheng Cai was defeated by the national surname, he has many remnants of his connections in the mainland. In addition, we judge that it is not only Zheng Cai and Zhou Rui who are involved in the development of Lukang, but Zheng Hongkui should also have shares. ”

Shou Order: "Zheng Fan's people are leaving a way out. ”

"The surname of the country is a very tough person, and we guess that many forces along the coast miss Zheng Cai very much, so they help him openly and secretly."

"It's conceivable."

Maiden: "We brought Zheng Cai back from the line of death, he encircled a piece of land in Borneo, and his power should not be underestimated. ”

Order: "Zheng Cai must not take revenge on Zheng Chenggong, we have endorsed this promise." If necessary, you should remind Zheng Cai that no matter how powerful he is, we will always oppose any revenge on Damu. ”

"We'll keep a close eye on it."

"Okay, let's take a look at Zhoushan for the last time."

Because of the order, the tragedy on the original plane did not happen, and the Ming army and the Tatars were still facing each other in Zhoushan.

"Your Excellency, you know that the Ming army in Zhoushan is roughly divided into two factions," Filhoff continued.

"Zhang Mingzhen occupies the main island of Zhoushan, Zhou Hezhi occupies Taohua Island and Dengbu Island, Wang Yi occupies Liuheng Island, and there are some small forces scattered around the island, and these armies have Zhang Mingzhen as the leader of the alliance.

The other faction, led by our ally Shen Tingyang, occupies the Daishan Islands east of Zhoushan.

Although the Jintang and Daxie islands between the island and the mainland are sufficient, they are in an uninhabited state because they are located on the front line. Both the Tatars and the Ming army abandoned the middle island, and there were only a few lookout posts set up by the Ming army on the island. ”

Orderly: "How many soldiers did the Tatars have?" ”

Filhoff: "Tatar Liu Dutong and the servant army Dinghai general Zhang Jie, tens of thousands of troops concentrated in front of Dingguan at the mouth of the Yongjiang River, there are 265 warships, including many large junk ships.

Wang Liao, the commander-in-chief of Suzhou, led more than 6,300 Jiangnan naval divisions and 145 warships to assemble at Wusongkou.

Taizhou General Soldier Ma Jinbao led more than 6,000 sailors and 120 warships to assemble in Taizhou Haimen. ”

"How many ships does the Ming army have?"

"It is said that there are nearly 1,000 warships, but according to our observations, up to 500 are combat-ready. The local Ming army is very chaotic and the strength of the army is unknown, and we estimate that it will not be more than the Tatars. ”