On the train, Fan Tao's words hit the nail on the head, and Liu Ming preached: "Commander Fan, I stayed in Taiwan for several years before the dynasty and know the situation in Taiwan very well. Taiwan's western and northwest coastlines are almost in a straight line, and if Taipei's enemy ships directly rush to the Penghu Islands along the coastline, it is impossible to intercept them, and the key is that they will be hit by the artillery of coastal fortresses if they get close to the coastline. I have been learning about the island of Taiwan for several years, and the coalition forces have built a large number of fortified batteries along the coast on the opposite side of the mainland. ”

Liu Buzhan said: "Deputy Commander Liu is right, we must fight quickly against the enemy ships in Tainan, and then quickly turn around and meet the enemy ships in Taipei." Now we are faced with the problem of a quick solution, if the enemy fleet in Tainan discovers our intentions, Jihua who controls the Taiwan Strait will be aborted, which means that the Taiwan campaign cannot be carried out. Fan Tao said: "I have a plan, the fleet is divided into two, and you can sit until a quick battle, you see!" ”

Fan Tao unfolded the map and continued: "We launched an offensive against the Penghu Islands from the front, attracting the enemy fleet in Tainan to rush to help, and then our latent fleet outflanked from behind, intercepting the enemy fleet from behind and making it impossible for the enemy fleet to escape, the most important thing in this plan is to let the enemy fleet take the bait." "Good! Commander Fan, I agree with your plan, take it by surprise and attack it unprepared. Nie Fengwu, who hadn't spoken for a long time, praised loudly. Nie Fengwu continued: "Commander Fan, I still have a bold idea, a unified action of naval warfare and sea-crossing and landing operations? Nie Fengwu, who hadn't spoken for a long time, shocked everyone.

Fan Tao was taken aback and said: "Before you completely control the sea control in the Taiwan Strait, the headquarters will not agree to you launching a sea-crossing campaign, if you are a little careless." All hands are lost. "My idea is this, my secondary attack force sent a small number of troops, responsible for feints on the Penghu Islands. Once you have the results, it becomes a strong attack. Our attack corps also dispatched a small number of troops to follow the action of the latent fleet. If you surround the Tainan Fleet, I will take the opportunity to seize the port of Kaohsiung. ”

Liu Buzhan shook his head and said: "There is a fortress battery in Kaohsiung Port, and it is impossible to carry out landing operations at all. Nie Fengwu said confidently: "What is the purpose of our special forces, when the special forces will secretly land and cooperate with me to seize the fortress fort in Kaohsiung Port." Assist the landing force in seizing the port of Kaohsiung. Liu Ming was overjoyed when he heard this: "Commander Nie, I agree." The Kaohsiung Port garrison had only one brigade, and it was a British unit. The combat effectiveness of the British was far worse than that of the Japanese. As long as we take the port of Kaohsiung, it is only a matter of time before we capture Taiwan. ”

Nie Fengwu added: "Commander Fan, even if the battle is lost, the loss will not be very large. I am prepared to commit one brigade each in Penghu and Kaohsiung Harbor. You can rest assured. As for the headquarters, I will make a report. Fan Tao said: "Okay! I agree! We planned in detail to draw up a complete operational jihua, and the four of us signed our names and submitted a report to the headquarters. A few days later, the four arrived in Fuzhou, and a complete battle plan was released. After being supplemented by the General Staff, a telegram flew to the capital.

In the presidential office in Beijing, Chen Jintang hurriedly entered and said, "President." The command of the South-Western Front sent an urgent telegram, they demanded unified action with the fleet. Launch a sea-crossing operation. Deng Zixuan took the message and checked, the message was very long, after Deng Zixuan read it, he stood up and walked a few steps and said: "Their plan is very bold and very thoughtful, I think the risk is very high, but once it succeeds, the results will be greater." We are considering the fact that the coalition 1st Fleet is coming from the Philippines and the 3rd Fleet from Tokyo, which is the biggest disadvantage we are worried about, and perhaps our strategy is too sound. ”

"As the saying goes: soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, and soldiers are also treacherous, which is also suitable for naval warfare. The front-line commander has such courage, and his ideas are bold and thoughtful, and we Weishenme do not support that? If we can take Taiwan before the typhoon season arrives, the coalition's huge fleet will only be able to stare dryly. In the next step, we will use Taiwan, an unsinkable aircraft carrier, to launch a sabotage war at sea, which can play a role in strengthening our Liliang and weakening the enemy's Liliang. ”

Chen Jintang asked in confusion: "President, what is an aircraft carrier, could it be that a warship can fly into the sky?" Deng Zixuan said with a smile: "Aircraft carriers are the sea giants of the next century, this topic is not clear in one or two sentences, I will talk to you in detail when I have time." Immediately telegraphed in the name of the headquarters, the South-Eastern Front and the Naval Command, agreeing to their operations. Combat jihua named Operation Hurricane! "Yes!" Chen Jintang turned and left. Deng Zixuan was very happy in his heart, and he was deeply pleased that these military generals who had been baptized by fire could think independently and command operations without blindly obeying.

In order to further confuse the coalition forces and at the same time take into account the huge pressure of logistical supplies, four armies were stationed on the Baikal front line and made a large-scale offensive to the west. The central cluster and its main corps withdrew to the front line of Zhangjiakou for rest. The Kulen and Uriya Sutai lines were handed over to the Mongolian cavalry army for defense, the purpose of which was to cover the smooth implementation of the Taiwan campaign. At present, the coalition forces have a relatively good understanding of the situation of the Shanghai and Fujian of the Chinese Navy, but they do not know about the battleships Zhonghua and Shenzhou, which have just been put into service, and this has undoubtedly created excellent conditions for striking at the coalition forces' second fleet in the Pacific.

After receiving the approval from the headquarters, the preparatory work began to be in full swing. The two armies of the main attack corps to the south, named the 1st Army and the 2nd Army, were transferred to Xiamen. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th Armies of Yixin, composed of border guard troops, gathered in Fuzhou and Quanzhou respectively, and the special forces were also ordered to continue southward to assemble in Xiamen. In late March, the headquarters of the Southwestern Front held a military meeting to plan a sea-crossing operation.

In the military conference hall, officers at and above the brigade level gathered. Commander Nie Fengwu said majestically: "According to the approval of the headquarters, it is agreed that we will launch a sea-crossing operation at the same time as the naval unit. The first step is to coordinate with the feint fleet and launch a feint attack on the Penghu Islands. If the naval fleet eats the enemy fleet in Tainan, the feint attack on Penghu will immediately turn into the main attack, and the attack on the Penghu archipelago will be personally commanded by Deputy Commander Liu! "Obey the order!" Liu Mingchuan replied loudly.

Nie Fengwu continued: "I led the New 1st Army and the New 2nd Army to stand by in Xiamen. Huang Fei! "Here!" Huang Fei stood up and answered. "Your unit will send a brigade to follow the action of the latent fleet, and as soon as the enemy fleet in Tainan is dispatched, it can launch an attack on Kaohsiung Harbor. Special Forces Captain Ma Kai! "Here!" Ma Kai stood up and answered. "Your unit also followed the action of the latent fleet, and after the naval battle broke out, your unit secretly landed by Ziguan in the north of Kaohsiung Port. Your mission is to clear the way for the landing force, capture the enemy's fortified batteries, and ensure that the landing force launches a smooth attack! "Yes! Obey the order! Ma Kai replied loudly.

At the same time, a naval combat conference was also held in Fuzhou. In the conference hall, there were Dai Hui, the captain of the Shanghai, and Zheng Haitao, the captain of the Fuzhou. The captured battleship USS Lincoln was extensively refitted and restored and named the USS Awakening and entered service with the East China Sea Fleet. Wen Biao was transferred from the Northern Expedition to the Awakening as the captain, and the original captain of the Northern Expedition was Deng Shichang. Speaking of Deng Shichang, it is a few words. After the fall of the Manchu Dynasty, Deng Zixuan was in a certain situation and asked Li Hongzhang about Deng Shichang's situation.

Nacheng thought that Li Hongzhang was overjoyed when he heard it, and said that he had long wanted to recommend Deng Shichang. He also said that Deng Shichang is a rare admiral and is currently working as a pipe band on the Yang Wei. Due to the changes of history, Deng Shichang did not have the opportunity to go to Britain for further study, let alone go to Germany to receive the Zhiyuan battleship. Deng Zixuan immediately made a decision, and Deng Shichang went to Fuzhou Naval Academy for a year of study. After Deng Shichang completed a year of advanced training, he succeeded Wen Biao as the captain of the Northern Expedition.

The admirals present whispered, and everyone had an excited expression on their faces. Soon, commanders Fan Tao and Liu Buzhan rushed in, and all the generals stood up and saluted. Fan Tao motioned for everyone to sit down and said, "Presumably everyone has already guessed that our young navy is going to go on an expedition." This time, we fought in conjunction with the Army, and the operation was codenamed Operation Hurricane. Whether the young navy of the empire can defeat the foreign fleet this time will determine the course of our galloping across the ocean. Our young navy must go through brutal naval battles to grow up, do you have confidence! "Have faith!" All the generals replied loudly.

Fan Tao continued: "To make a long story short, our central task in this hurricane operation is to control the Taiwan Strait and ensure the absolute safety of the troops crossing the sea. In order to ensure victory in the battle, we must completely annihilate the enemy fleet in Tainan. Dai Hui, Zheng Haitao, Deng Shichang! "Here!" The three of them stood up in unison. "Dai Hui was appointed as the commander, responsible for commanding the feint attack fleet, and took the lead in launching a feint attack on the Penghu Islands, with the aim of attracting the fleet of Kaohsiung Port to dispatch. There were only 45 ships participating in the battle, of which the Shanghai, Fuzhou, and Northern Expedition were the capital ships, including 10 sail warships, 15 gunboats, 12 torpedo boats, and 5 supply ships. ”

Fan Tao continued: "Deputy Commander Liu and I led 75 warships such as the Zhonghua, Shenzhou, and Awakening Hao to serve as the latent fleet. Once the enemy fleet in Kaohsiung is dispatched, we must not only quickly outflank it, but also quickly launch a landing operation at the port of Kaohsiung. Therefore, the Awakening will lead 30 warships to cooperate with the landing force to attack Kaohsiung Port. The army units sent two brigades to follow us, is it clear to everyone? "Clear!"

After the military meeting, Fan Tao, Liu Buzhan, Wen Biao, and others boarded their respective warships and marched south to Xiamen. After Dai Hui, Zheng Haitao, and Deng Shichang saw off Fan Tao, they began to prepare for the expedition. The two met Deng Shichang for the first time, Deng Shichang is in his 40s, naturally he is the big brother, and the old navy, Dai Hui out of respect, naturally want to treat Deng Shichang to the friendship of the landlord.

At the wine table, Dai Hui said sincerely: "Brother, you are an old navy, your ancestor, if I have anything wrong, please point it out politely!" Deng Shichang shook his head and said: "Two brothers, don't hide it, I have been adrift at sea for more than 20 years, and I haven't fought a decent naval battle, I'm ashamed to say it, I followed the Manchu Qing in a daze, and did nothing!" Zheng Haitao said: "Brother, you can't say that!" (To be continued......)

PS: The tension and preparation before the war cannot be neglected at all, and the premise is that there must be a thorough jihua!