When Li Yongji informed his staff office of the information, he quietly waited for the results of the discussion at the staff office, not because Li Yongji himself had no choice, but because he wanted to train these people in the staff office as much as possible.

Don't look at the difference between the staff office and the general staff, but in fact the meaning is completely different.

The general staff is a strategic department that has an overall view of the overall situation, and the general staff department is responsible for the handling of intelligence, logistical support, and specific operational arrangements in a unit. At this stage, the General Staff is more like a coordinating and supervisory body, responsible for the specific operation of the entire force, and the commander is only the highest decision-maker.

The General Staff Office, on the other hand, is actually a subordinate tactical department of the General Staff, which does not need to be considered so much, and is only responsible for studying and formulating operational plans based on the existing intelligence, and does not care about other matters.

Every unit at and above the regimental level has a general staff, but not necessarily every staff department has a staff office that is specifically responsible for drawing up operational plans.

Up to now, only the General Staff Headquarters of the Elite Army, which is directly responsible to Li Yongji, has a special department called a staff office, but the staff departments at all levels below do not have a staff office, and the specific operational plan has to be decided by the top commander of the unit himself.

The reason for this is that the elite army is different from the ordinary ancient troops, the organization is more complicated, the requirements for logistics are relatively high, and there are many things to consider; if there is no efficient operational staff office, the commander must consider and be responsible for everything, and there will inevitably be omissions, and the staff office is a department where professionals pool their wisdom, and it is better to be more secure than a person patting his head to make a decision, so the modern staff system is bound to be implemented.

However, after all, the foundation of the elite army is too thin, especially the staff officers. Commanders at all levels also do not have much awareness of obeying the staff officers, so how to fight a war is still for commanders at all levels to follow the instructions of their superiors, or simply have the final say.

Therefore, today's staff departments at all levels of the Jingwu Army are more like a supervising army and logistics administrators, and the chiefs of staff at all levels and those staff officers are more concerned with supervising the implementation of the orders of their superiors, ensuring the smooth operation of the troops, and at most having the right to make decisions on the battle plan, but they cannot interfere with the decision-making of the supreme commander. Nor can it be directly commanded troops.

Therefore, at present, the staff system of the elite armed forces is still relatively immature, and there is an incomparably shortage of both mature staff officers and qualified staff officers, so Li Yongji had no choice but to train them from scratch, first setting up a staff office in the General Staff Headquarters, and then slowly training qualified staff officers, and waiting for these personnel with operational planning to grow up. Then slowly give them real power, and slowly promote the sense of staff.

Because of this, every time Li Yongji made a decision, he would first give the information he had obtained to the group of young people in the staff office. And they don't do anything else every day, that is, they are responsible for receiving intelligence, and then formulating a battle plan based on the intelligence, and finally everyone discusses the plan in a centralized manner. The best one was selected and handed over to the rotating staff officer, and the rotating staff officer handed over the plan to Li Yongji for review.

Rotating staff officers are usually rotated every three months, and the rotating staff officers during this period. It is Zhou Shengjun, who has been prominent recently.

Sure enough, two hours after the information was handed over, these operational staff officers gave a preliminary plan.

"Report to the chief." As usual, Zhou Shengjun, the rotating staff officer, was responsible for making the report, "According to the preliminary discussion of our staff office, although the current situation seems to be very unfavorable to us, it is still our strength that prevails, after all, we have stronger firepower, stronger communication capabilities and stronger mobility.

Therefore, we should not be in a hurry to meet all changes, and all departments should not be in a hurry, nor should they be in a hurry to formulate a plan for counterattacking Zhenjiang, but first each of them will hold on to its own defense area and wait for the enemy's further movements.

From the current point of view, the Taiping Army's move this time is definitely not small, and the attack on Zhenjiang is probably only the first step, and the next step is very likely to attack our deep rear, or continue to attack our army junction, and directly cut off our upper and lower contacts. ”

"Well, that's a good analysis." Li Yongji nodded, "Then what do you think the Taiping Army is most likely to do?" ”

"According to our analysis, if the Taiping army wants to win, it must take the quick attack method, and there are about five options for the next step."

"Five options? So much? ”

"Yes." Zhou Shengjun nodded, "At least five." ”

"Then tell me which five there are."

"Yes, Your Excellency. The first plan is the simplest, after defeating Zhenjiang, directly attack Danyang and Changzhou, and then sweep in order like the last time when the Qing army broke the Jiangnan camp.

The second plan is to divide the troops into two routes, one of which directly leads the troops to the east, defeats Danyang, and relies on Danyang City to deploy defenses to attract us to attack; The other way down the Yangtze River, landed near Shanghai, and went straight to our rear, coming east and west.

The third plan is to divide the troops into two routes, the first way to defend Zhenjiang to attract us to attack, the second way to cross the Yangtze River at the mouth of Zhenjiang, and then capture Yangzhou as a springboard, and then make a situation of going straight to Huai'an and threatening the rear of our Northern Expeditionary troops.

In this way, we will give up the decisive battle with the Qing army and turn back to the rescue, which will also solve the crisis of the Qing army, and may even give the Qing army an opportunity to form a situation in which one south and one north will flank our northern expeditionary army.

If we ignore it and do not return to the army to rescue, then the troops in Yangzhou may really attack Huai'an, which will really threaten our rear road, and of course, they may also find an opportunity to cross the river and penetrate directly into Changshu and Shanghai, and continue to disturb our rear.

The fourth option, they can also ......"

"Stop!" Li Yongji suddenly waved his hand, "No need to continue, anyway, listening to what you said, it seems that the initiative of the battle is in their hands, and they can fight wherever they want?" ”

"In the initial stages of the campaign, so to speak." Zhou Shengjun nodded, "After all, they are the attackers, we are the defenders, and we are indeed more passive before we thoroughly understand their combat intentions and make targeted counterattacks." ”

"So, your opinion is that it doesn't change? Wait for them to fully show their combat intentions and show their flaws before they start to fight back? ”

"That's right." Zhou Shengjun said, "Although we are on the defensive, we are relatively passive, but we have cities to rely on, and there are enough garrisons in various places, every big city and strategic location. It is also basically equipped with radio communication equipment.

Therefore, each of our cities can withstand their attack for at least five days, and with this time, we can mobilize nearby reinforcements to carry out rescue, and unite our defenders to join forces inside and outside.

Therefore, since we have the superiority in intelligence and mobility, we should give full play to our superiority and not act rashly until we understand their intentions. Then there is a targeted army to gather and exterminate it. ”

"It's too passive, I don't like it." Li Yongji shook his head, "Don't you have a more active way?" For example, you hit yours, I hit mine? ”

"This ......" Zhou Shengjun was stunned, "What do you mean to beat yours and me to beat mine?" ”

"Why are you so stupid?" Li Yongji said, then walked to the map in a few steps, picked up the teaching rod and pointed to the location of Nanjing on the map, "Look here." Did you think of anything when you saw this? ”

"Heavenly ...... No, Nanjing? Zhou Shengjun thought for a while, "Chief, do you want people to attack Nanjing?" Attract the other party to the rescue? ”

"That's right." Li Yongji said. "Although we seem to be able to attack everywhere because we have occupied enough places, they are not without weakness, that is, they have a place to save. And here, it is Nanjing, that is, their Tianjing City. ”

"This. We've thought about it, too. Zhou Shengjun shook his head, "But Nanjing is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are many defenders, and we don't have many troops near Nanjing, if we directly organize troops to attack Nanjing, I'm afraid that the other party will take advantage of it." ”

"It doesn't take much, as long as there is a regiment of the first species, it can threaten Nanjing." Li Yongji said, "Look, we have a first-class regiment in Tu County, which is led by Zhang Wei's younger brother Zhang Feng, and we can let Zhang Feng's regiment directly attack Nanjing!" ”

"However, a regiment can't defeat Nanjing at all." Zhou Shengjun shook his head, "It's impossible, even if it's a threat, it may not be of much use." ”

"Yes, a regiment may not be able to defeat Nanjing, and it may not pose much of a threat." Li Yongji smiled, "Since one regiment can't do it, then one division, we can let Zhang Wei's second division concentrate, and then use the strength of the entire Second Division of the First Division to take the initiative to attack Nanjing." Hmph, I'm going to attack Nanjing with a first-class reorganization, they should be a little scared now, right?

In fact, this second division does not need to really attack when it arrives in Nanjing, as long as the posture is sufficient, and a few shots are fired at the city of Nanjing, the other side has to summon troops back to rescue, at least to reduce the pressure on the front. ”

"What about Dangtu? The Wuhu generation still has troops of the Taiping Army. Zhou Shengjun said, "What if the front foot of the Tu regiment leaves, and they come to attack on the back foot?" The garrison alone may not be able to hold it. ”

"How can you not hold it." Li Yongji said, "We also have a field artillery regiment in Yanlaizhou, and with these artillery pieces to watch, they are all in vain. Moreover, in Guangde County, I still have an independent garrison regiment from the First Division stationed there, and this garrison regiment is a large regiment with 5,000 people. ”

"That's right." Zhou Shengjun frowned, "It's feasible, but it's still a bit risky to concentrate a division to attack Nanjing." ”

"It's better than letting them toss around and being led by their noses." Li Yongji waved his hand, "Okay, just issue an order, let Zhang Wei concentrate the strength of a reorganized division to attack Nanjing, send reinforcements under the city of Nanjing, and annihilate the enemy's living forces. That's enough! ”

"Understood!" Zhou Shengjun saluted, "The order will be executed immediately, but can we still fight Tianjin?" ”

"Of course we have to fight, we are not in a wave with them." Li Yongji smiled, "Inform the troops, have a good rest today, and we will set off for Tianjin early tomorrow morning." Hmph, I originally wanted to give the Tianjin defenders a little more time to consider the issue of surrender, but now time waits for no one, so it seems that we can only start fighting directly! ”

Li Yongji's order was quickly transmitted to all the troops of the Jingwu Army through guò radio waves, and the troops everywhere immediately began to act in accordance with Li Yongji's order.

Changzhou, Suzhou, Changshu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other large cities under the control of the elite military began to implement the first-class red alert order, and all the militia stopped training, were quickly mobilized, and took the weapons they were distributed, together with the B garrison troops, as the main force on the front line to defend the city.

At the same time, all the construction operations in various places, except for some extremely important. Except for those construction operations that could not be stopped immediately, all other construction work was temporarily stopped, and then all the migrant workers were distributed with cold weapons such as machetes and spears to assist the police force in suppressing the local area, checking for suspicious persons, etc., and also acting as a substitute for the garrison.

As for the main forces of the Jingwu Army that were still in the Jiangnan area, that is, the main force of the Second Division of the First Division directly under Zhang Wei, they began to concentrate on Suzhou City, and after the whole division was gathered, it would go straight to Nanjing. Attack the enemy and save it!

It can be said that this sneak attack by the Taiping Army was tantamount to a test, a test of the entire Jingwu Army and the Jiangnan Military Government, and the test was nothing else, but the organizational ability and adaptability of the new regime.

Not to mention, the bureaucratic system in the Jiangnan region is still somewhat loose, but the organization of the army is stronger and more efficient.

And after such a long time in business. The middle and lower classes in the Jiangnan area are all interested in the elite army, and the propaganda agencies also spare no effort to carry out propaganda, so they are full of confidence in victory and are not afraid of the Taiping army attacking at all. Many people even expect to make meritorious contributions, and then turn into regular ones through merit and become a type A or B unit of the official elite army.

Just when the entire Jiangnan region began to take action, three more news came one after another:

First message. It was Chen Yucheng who led the army to raid Yangzhou, because the defenders were caught off guard, and there were spies who opened the city gate. The outer city has been breached, but the inner city of Yangzhou is stubbornly defended under the command of the defender Lu Tianming, and it is still in a tug of war with Chen Yucheng's army.

The second news is that Hong Renda of Zhenjiang personally led 50,000 pro-troops, plus Huang Wenjin and other 30,000 miscellaneous troops, and directly besieged Danyang City, in order to encircle the point and send reinforcements.

The third news is that Chen Yucheng's fierce general Cheng Xueqi led 30,000 troops, plus Yang Fuqing's 10,000 troops, set off from Wuhu and went straight to Ningguofu, and now he has exchanged fire with the defenders of Ningguofu.

The fourth news is that Li Shixian set out from Ningbo, led 20,000 troops, went straight to Shaoxing, camped outside Shaoxing to confront, and made a gesture of threatening Hangzhou.

At this point, the Taiping Army's Eastern Expedition Offensive has been fully launched, although it is not known whether there are any other follow-up moves, but just this offensive, the other party has been planning for a long time, and it is menacing, and it is definitely not so easy to deal with.

In the face of such a scenario, all units of the Jiangnan Military Government acted in strict accordance with Li Yongji's orders, continued to rely on the city to strictly defend the city, and never acted rashly.

On the sixth day after the Taiping army attacked Zhenjiang, the second division of the Jingwu army had all gathered in the city of Suzhou, and then, after a day's rest, Zhang Wei couldn't wait to lead his troops out of the city and attack directly to Nanjing.

Because of the importance of the matter, when Zhang Wei went out of the city, Li Yongchang, who was Li Yongji's elder brother and also the president of the Executive Yuan of the Jiangnan government, personally saw him off.

"General Zhang!" On the occasion of parting, Li Yongchang said with emotion, "This is going to Nanjing, the responsibility is heavy, the general must be more careful, and he must not live up to the trust of my family." ”

"Dean, please rest assured." Zhang Wei lightly clenched his fists, his face was full of determination, "The humble position must be safe, and it will definitely not delay the big handsome." ”

"Good." Li Yongchang raised a bowl of wine, "Come, please drink this cup!" ”

"I'm sorry." Zhang Wei took Li Yongchang's wine bowl, drank it all as soon as he raised his neck, and then smashed it with a snap.

"Good!" Li Yongchang took advantage of the situation to clench his fists and shouted loudly, "I wish you a victory!" ”

After Li Yongchang finished speaking, officials at all levels behind him also clasped their fists and shouted: "I wish you a victory!" ”

Zhang Wei also quickly clasped his fists and saluted the adults, and then nodded to Li Yongchang: "My lord, please go back, Zhenting is gone!" ”

After speaking, Zhang Wei turned around in a chic manner, then rode directly on the horse, and left quickly with a slight clamp.

After Zhang Wei returned to the troops, there was a sudden sound of rapid drumming, which was the warning sound of the troops preparing to move.

Immediately afterwards, the troops of the Second Division, which had been standing quietly on the side, began to move and began to stand still without saying a word.

Then, the sound of the "Hunting March" flowed out, and the troops who were standing still suddenly moved, and began to march forward with rifles to the accompaniment of the march.

During the whole march, all the soldiers remained silent, their movements were standard, their steps were neat and consistent, and they walked as if they were honor guards, highlighting the strict discipline of the officers and men of the Second Division.

Not to mention anything else, just seeing the solemn appearance of this marching force, all the officials from Li Yongchang and below were amazed and full of confidence in victory.

"How's it going, Lord Wen." At this moment, Li Yongchang suddenly looked at the young man beside him who was wearing a short haircut and a cyan horse coat, looking very heroic, "Do you think they can take Nanjing?" ”

This young man called Wenjue by Li Yongchang, his real name is Wu Tingfang, Wenjue is his character, he is only eighteen years old this year, he is an overseas Chinese in Singapore, and he later returned to Guangzhou with his father.

However, when he was thirteen years old, he was kidnapped, and although he eventually escaped, the family was frightened and simply went to Hong Kong, where they received a Western-style education.

Just a few months ago, Wu Tingfang graduated with honors, and then he was recruited by Huang Kuan's younger brother, Huang Sheng, to join the Jiangnan government in order to work for the thriving Jiangnan government.

It just so happened that Li Yongchang was planning to negotiate with foreigners during this time, and lacked a personal secretary who knew foreign languages, so he asked Huang Sheng to introduce him, and Huang Sheng introduced Wu Tingfang to Li Yongchang.

Wu Tingfang is handsome, has a sweet mouth, and is very good at doing things, and soon won the trust of Xu Yongchang, who is also not very old, so he regarded Wu Tingfang as his personal secretary and cultivated him as his own cronies.

Of course, Wu Tingfang doesn't look at people very much, but his mind is very sharp, and he also knows that this is an opportunity, so for Li Yongchang, he also does his best to show his loyalty to his talent, and looks forward to gaining further trust from the other party.

"Back to my lord, I can't say anything about this." Wu Tingfang shook his head, "Lord Zhang's army is majestic and majestic, in my opinion, it is not worse than the army of foreigners, and it is even slightly stronger. However, the city of Nanjing is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is not so easy to fight, so in my opinion, they should mainly use the idea of encircling Wei to save Zhao, attack Nanjing through guò to ease the offensive of the Taiping army, and then find an opportunity to see the first. ”

"Very well, it's not easy for you to think of this." Li Yongchang nodded at him, his expression was unmoved on the surface, but in his heart he was even more satisfied with this young man who was regarded as his own.

Just when Li Yongchang was complacent about his discerning eyes, Wu Tingfang also continued to carefully observe this army, and the more he looked at it, the more surprised he became.

You must know that this is the first time that Wu Tingfang has observed the A troops of the Jingwu Army at close range, although he has heard all kinds of legends before, but after all, he has not seen it in person, and this time, under the leadership of Li Yongchang, he finally saw the whole picture of this army with his own eyes.

Although I didn't go up to them to take a closer look, just looking at their attire and spirit, as well as their weapons, I knew that this army was not ordinary, although I didn't dare to say that it was stronger than the regular armies of the great powers, but it was not much worse than that.

"This is the Elite Army!" Looking at the terrifyingly silent army in the process of this army, Wu Tingfang suddenly took a deep breath and thought to himself, "What a mighty army, with such military strength, in this world, it seems that sooner or later it will be the one, I really didn't vote in the wrong place!" (To be continued......)