"The main task of the South China Sea Fleet is to coordinate and support the Army's Southern Front to complete the South China Sea offensive operations as soon as possible, that is, the pacification of the Philippines, French Indochina, Malaya, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies. At present, the first phase of the South China Sea Offensive is nearing completion, and the time is ripe for the second phase of the operation. ”

"On the Vietnamese side, due to the rapid capture of the port of Haiphong, the naval covering forces at the Halong Bay landing ground were relieved, and with the great strides of the Sixth Army, the pacification of North Vietnam with Hanoi as the center is just around the corner, and the focus of our army's strategy against French Indochina will shift to Chung Ki with Hue as the center and Nam Ki with Saigon as the center."

Yan Fu paused at this point, and glanced at the short, dark but quite strong "Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnamese Restoration Army" General Nguyen Van Thieu at the conference table.

In 1858, France invaded Vietnam under the pretext of protecting missionaries. In 1884, the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam signed the Treaty of Hue with France, recognizing France's right to protect Vietnam, and in 1885, the Qing imperial government signed the Treaty of Tientsin with France, recognizing Vietnam as a French protectorate, ending the "vassal" relationship with Vietnam. After the French occupied Vietnam, they fully implemented the colonial policy of "divide and rule", and divided Vietnam into three parts: Nam Chi (Cochinchina), Chung Ki (Annam), and North Ki (Tokyo). Together with Cambodia and Laos, which France seized from Siam, these three regions were cobbled together to form the "Federation of French Indochina", which consolidated power under the French governor and laid the colonial framework of the French Empire in the Far East.

The complete victory of the East Asian Alliance in the Asian-Russian War gave a powerful impetus to the Asian national liberation movement, and for a time, slogans such as "drive the Europeans back to their homeland," "Asia belongs to the Asians," and "liberate our nation" were popular in different languages throughout Asia.

The so-called Fengjun volunteers are Vietnamese officers and soldiers in the French colonial army who pretended to pass on the edict of the Thai Emperor Nguyen Phuc Chao, who was under house arrest in Hue, to launch a nationwide uprising for the purpose of national independence. The rebel army is known as the "Jing Nan Salvation Army", and the "commander-in-chief" elected is none other than Nguyen Van Thieu, who was born in this soldier.

Although the uprising failed and Emperor Chengtai was deposed due to the fragmentation and brutal suppression of the French colonial authorities, the seeds of freedom were able to be sown and wait for the right time to take root and bear fruit.

With the assistance of Chinese intelligence officers, the leader of the rebel army, Nguyen Van Thieu, and several other leaders of the uprising were able to evade the arrest of the colonial authorities, secretly transferred to China, and established the "Vietnamese Restoration Army and Military Government" in Nanning, with Nguyen Van Thieu as the commander-in-chief, and recruited a wide range of people of insight who were committed to the Vietnamese national liberation movement.

Around 1910, with the determination of the South Seas strategy of the East Asian Alliance, Nguyen Van Thieu received further support from China, and was able to set up training camps in Guangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan and other places, and summoned Vietnamese youth in exile for training, with the Chinese side providing equipment and military salaries. By 1914, the formation of two light infantry divisions had been completed, most of which were filled by reservists from the Chinese Army. These two divisions, together with the 301st Division of the Nanyang Volunteer Army, whose soldiers were mainly from overseas Chinese who fled back to their motherland during the repeated anti-Chinese wave in Nanyang, formed the First Army of the Asian Liberation Army (AFLM), which was incorporated into the Sixth Army before the war.

From December 26 to 29, 1914, the 1st Army of the Asian Liberation Army, with the support of the main force of the 2nd Fleet of the Combined Fleet, forcibly landed in Ha Long Bay near Haiphong, and then quickly captured the port of Haiphong, and cooperated with the main force of the group army advancing from the front, and completed the general encirclement of the French forces around Hanoi. During this period, the two divisions of the Vietnamese Restoration Army performed exceptionally well, not only fighting bravely, but also enthusiastically supporting the people wherever they passed, delivering water and food, leading the way, and underground liberation organizations in various places also organized uprisings, attacked colonial strongholds, blocked the French army's lines of communication, and even directly seized towns to meet the PLA - this is the meaning of the existence of the Asian Liberation Army.

This is a war of national liberation in Asia, not a simple war of great powers vying for colonies, and the participation of the Vietnamese Restoration Army and the Nanyang Volunteer Army is one proof of this.

Nguyen Van Thieu's efforts have yielded gratifying results, or rather, everything that the empire has spent on Nguyen Van Thieu has not been in vain......

After reaffirming his own righteousness in a short moment, Yan Fu quickly withdrew the gaze cast on Nguyen Van Thieu's face and continued his report: "In order to complete the pacification of the entire territory of French Indochina as soon as possible and promote Siam to enter the war as soon as possible, the army and navy have agreed to launch a resolute and powerful landing operation at Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay at the same time in the next two weeks, and the two Vietnamese divisions of the 1st Army of the AFLA Army will retake Central and Nam Ky, and the 2nd Fleet, including the 2nd Mobile Force, must provide strong support for this. ”

In addition, the 57th Army, which had completed the Hong Kong Raid, was heading for Siam, and the Second Fleet was also required to escort it and provide support for the Cambodian Raiders scheduled to be launched jointly with the Siamese Army. Given that the Philippine operation is still ongoing, the landing grounds in Lingayen Bay and Subic Bay will also need to be covered by the Second Fleet—"

"In short, until the reorganization of the main forces of the First Fleet is completed, the Second Fleet will be solely responsible for all the tasks of supporting the communication lines and landing sites in the South China Sea, and I hope that the naval forces of the allied countries in the Second Fleet, especially Vice Admiral Yamaya's Second Mobile Force, will be able to earnestly carry out Commander Ma's orders, unite as one for the final victory of the alliance, and open up a new situation in the South China Sea."

Originally, the above remarks were mainly addressed to the Allied representatives attending the meeting, but the representatives of the Japanese and DPRK navies present immediately nodded their heads and said that they would convey this meaning to the country as soon as possible, and that the domestic military department would strictly order all units to completely obey the command of the superior commander of the joint forces.

In view of the fact that at the last Joint Meeting of Supreme Commanders, Japanese Navy representative Heihachiro Togo accused Ma Shengyu, commander of the South China Sea Fleet and Second Fleet, of being so afraid of the enemy that he failed to completely annihilate the Combined Fleet of the Four Nations. Judging by the reaction of the delegates, it seems that the previous worries can be put aside for the time being.

"The newly formed Southeastern Front Fleet, with the reorganized 3rd Fleet as the basic force, will shift its mission area to the area from the Philippine Sea to the Bismarck Sea, with the main task of protecting the communication lines in this sea area. The main task for the next two weeks was to support the landing operations of the Seventh Army in Ramon Bay in eastern Luzon and Davao Bay in southern Mindanao, in an attempt to quickly pacify the Philippine Islands and prepare for the next offensive against Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. It is hoped that under the outstanding leadership of Commander Matsumura, this mixed fleet, which is based on the Japanese and DPRK naval forces, will continue to carry forward the spirit of courage and perseverance displayed in the naval battle of Lingayen Bay and effectively fulfill the new tasks assigned by the base camp. ”

Dongxiang was quite satisfied with this, squinting his eyes slightly, looking high-spirited and satisfied.

The Allies also need to be praised, but the most important thing is to throw them flesh and bones in time.

"As for the newly formed North Sea Fleet, the joint base camp will only give opinion instructions, and the specific command will be the sole responsibility of the Japanese military command organs, and there is no need to accept the orders of the joint base camp for the Kamchatka offensive operation that the Japanese army is about to launch alone, except for timely informing the joint base camp of the forces and ships that need to be mobilized. On behalf of the Admiralty at the base camp, I wish this operation a complete success. ”

The Japanese representative hurriedly slapped his face with joy - can the dog not wag its tail when it sees the meat and bones?

Yan Fu exchanged glances with Liu Bailiang, chief of the General Staff, and waited until the applause naturally subsided before continuing to report: "As for the East China Sea Fleet, it will carry out the second phase of the scheduled mission, that is, to assist the East China Sea Front in completing the construction of an integrated defense system of Hawaii sea, land and air, blockading and attacking the west coast of the United States, and according to the needs of the situation, according to the specific instructions of the base camp, cooperate with the army to launch a surprise landing operation at an appropriate location. Among them, the Fifth and Sixth Fleets will be stationed in Hawaii, and the Seventh Fleet will be responsible for ensuring the sea lines of communication between the mainland seaports of East Asia and Hawaii. It is hoped that the Allied ships in the Seventh Fleet will be united, brave and enterprising, and meticulously obey orders, in an attempt to sweep the Pacific Ocean and open up a great cause! That's the end of my remarks, thank you. ”

This time it was a unanimous and enthusiastic applause, and the applause lasted for a long time—whether it was carried away by the surging enthusiasm, or whether it was a tacit agreement reached in private, and in short, no one asked what mission the mobile fleet was going to perform, which was omitted from the report.

In fact, even Yan Fu himself could not know the exact location of the mobile fleet at this time.

Since yesterday, 10 January, the entire mobile fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Liang Shuming has completely cut off the transmission of wireless telegraphy, and Yan Fu has no idea what route the fleet will choose to sail to the predetermined target of the "plank road" operation -- everything that follows is completely up to the mobile fleet command set up by Liang Shuming on the "Dapeng" to make its own decisions.

Hopefully this is the last gamble