Chapter 529: There are also a lot of warships in the Holy Country

The Northern Expedition strategy was originally considered, but Feng Yunshan had concerns. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info was afraid that there would not be enough troops to break through the heavy resistance of the Manchus and occupy the city of Beijing, but he was also afraid that there would be too many troops and his rear would be unstable.

Thinking about it this way, Feng Yunshan was a little apprehensive, in the Eryu War in history, in order to defeat the Qing army, the British and French coalition forces dispatched more than 17,000 people and more than 100 warships, of course, including auxiliary troops and transport and supply ships.

However, the British and French invaders at that time were already after the victory in the Crimean War, when their weapons and tactics had been significantly improved. Therefore, Feng Yunshan took this aspect as a reference, and in the case that the combat ability and weapons of the existing captives were inferior to those of the foreigners, he felt that the number of troops to land and fight from the Dagu Pass of Tianjin Prefecture would be at least nearly 40,000 people, and the number of troops should be used to make up for the lack of combat strength and weapons.

Moreover, the situation is not the same.

Feng Yunshan knew the mentality of the Manqi nobles, thinking that the foreigners were invincible, so he simply fled to the side, anyway, after a while, the foreigners would naturally leave, at most they would compensate for some silver or something, anyway, there was compensation from the imperial court, and it would be enough to loot more from those Han minions.

But these old soldiers with full flags, when they encounter anti-thieves like the prisoners, it is different, this is really to rob the country. If other places still escape, when they reach Beijing, there is no way to retreat, and they must resist desperately.

Therefore, Feng Yunshan thought about it again and again, or concentrated the most superior forces, concentrated on attacking from Dagukou, quickly advanced to Beijing, and replenished the time for the Manchu Qing to transfer troops to rescue and prepare for defense.

In this way, the original battle plan had to be adjusted.

Even if you lose more troops, even if you have a lot of trouble, you can't do anything. After all, since that day he remembered the catastrophe of the diversion of the Yellow River that would occur next year, Feng Yunshan knew that he had to pacify the Huanghuai area in the north as soon as possible. There is not much time left for him, and he can only hit with one blow, and he can't take care of other hidden dangers.

At noon that day, Luo Xuan had already returned from Shaozhou Mansion and came to the palace to pay a visit. Feng Yunshan saw that his face was a little bad, and he didn't know how to comfort him, and just wanted to speak, Luo Xuan said: "Holy King, it's all over." Luo is destined to have no son, but Luo still has several nephews, and he is not afraid that the Luo family's incense will be broken. Now, everything is put aside, and it is still the most important thing to destroy the Manchus. ”

Feng Yunshan was overjoyed: "It's best to put it down!" Outline brother, as an old brother, Yunshan has something to say. Now that you are in the prime of life, it is better to marry another house, and in a few years, you will have another descendant, maybe there will be more than one. ”

"Oh, Holy King, no, no, Luo is so old, how can he still do such thoughts?" A fierce man like Luo Xuan actually twisted a little, "Besides, no girl would take a fancy to a big old man like Luo." ”

The last sentence made Feng Yunshan laugh, and he suddenly understood: "Haha, I see!" Brother Outline don't worry, this matter will be wrapped up in the eldest sister, and this king will talk to her later! ”

After speaking, Feng Yunshan looked at Luo Xuan with a smile, making the latter very embarrassed.

Feng Yunshan was also secretly amused. Unexpectedly, Luo Xuan, who has always been bold, would play some careful thinking, obviously wanting to marry again, and said that he would not consider marrying again. This man.

"By the way, Brother Outline, just when you come back, this king will talk to you. This king is determined to destroy the Qing demon as soon as possible and go north as soon as possible. At that time, the main forces will attack by sea and water. Feng Yunshan's face turned straight and said seriously.

"Great! Holy King, on behalf of the Fifth Division, my subordinates ask for battle, please order my Fifth Division to be the vanguard! As soon as he heard Feng Yunshan say that he was going to attack the Manchus from the sea route in the Northern Expedition, Luo Xuan was overjoyed, and even changed his title at the moment, claiming to be a subordinate, and hurriedly stood up and saluted and asked to go to war.

"Don't worry, now I will count the elite of the Fifth Division for me to capture the elite of the military and naval divisions, and this vanguard unit must definitely belong to you." Feng Yunshan agreed with a smile, and continued: "However, for specific matters, this king will summon the General Staff Headquarters to come and ask them to come up with the charter." ”

In the afternoon, Wang Minyun brought all the cadres of the General Staff into the palace of the Holy King.

Deputy Chief of General Staff Zuo Zongtang led the way, followed by Deputy Chief of the Operations Division, Carragher? Charles, Cui Datong, Director of the Training Division, Buchanan, Deputy Director, and Zhou Shengfu, Director of the Logistics Division. Zuo Zongtang served as the intelligence department, and Xu Shou, deputy director of the Military Science Department, did not come because he had been busy refining oil recently.

After everyone saw Feng Yunshan, Feng Yunshan said loudly: "You already know that this king has decided to set out the whole army in a few days and wave the Northern Expedition. This expedition is the most huge and critical one since the establishment of the Holy Kingdom, and it can be described as a life-and-death decisive battle with the Qing Demon, and it can't help but be lost. ”

Feng Yunshan paused and waved his hand: "Therefore, this king requires that your general staff must collect the most accurate information and come up with the most thorough plan. ”

"Holy King, are you too eager? Although the soldiers of the captive army are stronger than the Qing Demon, they have not yet been fully trained. If another year passes, the subordinates are confident that they will train the officers and men of each unit in rotation to improve their military strength. Cui Datong suggested.

"Needless to say! Now we must assemble our forces within a month, prepare for the battle, and be ready to go out at any time! You will find out why. Feng Yunshan was also difficult to explain, and directly arbitrarily ordered it to be arranged.

"Raise 50,000 troops, including 40,000 for the land division and 10,000 for the water division, attack by sea and arrive at Tianjin. The General Staff prepared and formulated a strategy in accordance with this. As for the previously discussed decision to send the main force forward to take Shandong first, and send partial divisions to attack Henan and Shanxi, it will be implemented in the same way, but it must be early, before the sea army sets off, it must be launched and hurt the demons. In addition, the troops of this road marched along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal by land and water, and the main division and the partial division were divided in the Huai'an Mansion of Qisu, and a path went straight to the north, all the way to the west to attack the area of Shanxi and Henan, attracting the forces of the Qing demon. Feng Yunshan put his finger on the map hanging in front of the hall, and while gesturing, he said the overall combat strategy.

As soon as Feng Yunshan's words fell, Zuo Zongtang high-fived and praised: "The Holy King's move is wonderful!" Subordinates admire! ”

Deputy Chief of the Operations Division, Carragher? Charles also spoke some stiff Chinese and sighed: "The Holy King is a good plan!" ”

Feng Yunshan was not modest, waved his hand, and said, "Don't be busy patting this king's horse first." How many warships and warships are suitable for sea navigation today? Can you load 50,000 troops at once? ”

Zhou Shengfu, director of the logistics department, replied: "Holy King, there are nearly 400 large and medium-sized ships under the jurisdiction of the Liangguang Ocean Shipping Company that can be used for open sea navigation. ”

Zuo Zongtang took over and said, "In terms of warships, it is still quite impressive. The two new frigates, two fast sailing ships, and a cruiser built by the Cheung Chau Shipyard have all completed sea trials, and these five newly built warships are on standby next to Cheung Chau Island. ”

"What are the names of the three newly captured American warships that Division Commander Luo recently captured? Oh, by the way, it's the three warships 'Extermination', 'Keyang', and 'Capture Yang', which are also on standby on the Pearl River. ”

"There are also the original five Western warships of the Fifth Division, which sank the 'Chen Kai' in the last naval battle, and now there are still four left, plus more than 50 ordinary warships, docked in Xiamen Port." Zuo Zongtang was like a machine, telling the situation of the warships in his mind one by one: "The 5th Division now has a total of 150 ordinary medium-sized warships, a total of 50 of which are docked at Changdao Island and Changshan Island in Liaodong outside Dengju Prefecture in Shandong, and the other 100 are stationed in Jeju Island, Ryukyu, and Mowan Provinces. The 10th Division has the largest number of warships, but they are all scattered in all directions, from the Yangtze River, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Taihu Lake, and the waters around Ningbo Prefecture. The 10th Division originally had five warships purchased from the United States, plus dozens of ordinary warships, and later, after firing with the Qing Demon and the foreigners, it captured 1 American warship, 2 French warships, and 3 British warships, of which there were three fourth-class warships, and their displacement and artillery firepower were second to none. There are also the original ordinary warships and the captured demons, a total of more than 60 ordinary warships. ”

"In this way, in addition to the Tenth Division, which is an inland water division, there is also a water division composed of tenants from Ningbo Mansion who is newly prepared to be established. On the open sea, our naval division already has 23 large and small Western warships and 230 ordinary warships? Feng Yunshan said with some surprise, he really didn't expect that after more than two years of accumulation, the sea sailors of the Holy Kingdom had grown to such a point, and it had to be said that it was a rapid development.

Of course, there was a lot of luck and opportunity in this, and a large number of foreigners' warships were captured.