Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2182 The Little Marquis ([-]) The Western Expeditionary Army is dispatched!
There are several heavy ships with huge sails swaying; they travel across the sea and cut through the waves.Jinghua's Western Expedition Fleet lined up its troops, set sail from the south, and sailed southward towards the Dragon Tooth Strait.

According to the emergency military order of the Military Command Department, Aragon Yat Guards Envoy Musali should have rushed from Araya City (Malacca City) to Huzhou Military Port (Singapore) at this time, preparing for the temporary stationing of the Western Expedition Fleet, replenishing drinking water and other necessary supplies, and arranging all arrangements. The fleet rested in port for the night.

Time flies, and the scale of the Nanyang Fleet at this moment has become increasingly expanded.Compared with the Beiyang Fleet, which has almost been fixed in size and has no need to increase its size, the Nanyang Fleet has continued to expand. The total tonnage of active warships has reached 12 tons, carrying 800 artillery pieces of various types and levels, and 5240 formal sailors. .

The above all refer to the establishment of regular warships, and statistics are not usually made. The armed transport fleet is listed as a reserve for the decisive battle at sea. The total tonnage is as high as 22 tons, with 4000 artillery pieces of various types and 7640 sailors. people.

It can be said that in this era that is just about to enter the seventeenth century, even if the strength of the Nanyang Fleet is placed in Europe, it can still move sideways in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Baltic Seas.

Of course, supporting such a large fleet requires various necessary conditions, whether it is personnel, artillery, ships, or other more trivial materials, in the final analysis, a lot of money is required.Only a company like Jinghua, which completely monopolizes trade in East and Southeast Asia, and even controls the source of most export products, can do this.

For economies with relatively greater purchasing power such as Europe and West Asia (generally speaking, including the Middle East in Angsa's formulation), the most competitive products in East and Southeast Asia are such as porcelain, silk, tea, spices, gems, medicinal materials and, more recently, Almost all of the floral fabrics that have emerged over the past decade can only be obtained from Jinghua.

Therefore, Jinghua has undoubtedly made huge gains and become a global silver black hole, and even now has a tendency to become a gold black hole.It is precisely because of such huge profits that the scale of the Nanyang Fleet has gradually expanded to this point.

This time, the Western Expedition Fleet roughly included half of the entire Nanyang Fleet. It is said that it only defeated Arakan and the Mughals. Even if the navies of all countries in the Indian Peninsula were combined together, they might not be able to defeat this Western Expedition. fleet.After all, their maritime strength is only that much. There may be many ships, but most of them are small merchant ships, and their armed strength is not worth mentioning.

As for the current enemies, the Arakans and the Mughals, it's funny to say that the former's naval strength may be stronger than the latter's.After all, Arakan is a country with Chittagong Port. There is no doubt that maritime trade is important to them, and the Mughals...

A group of Persian Mongolian descendants who came from Afghanistan through the Hindu Kush Pass to conquer the Indian subcontinent only a few decades ago and have just established a foothold in northern India. How much do you expect them to pay attention to naval construction? Isn't that nonsense?
In particular, the Mughals are now facing the sea to the east and west. The west side still has some maritime power because of the need to go to Mecca for pilgrimage. But in Bengal to the east... the Mughals have not realized the need to build maritime power at all. necessity.They only retained a few offshore boats with meager firepower, which was enough to deter the small pirate gangs that had long been beaten to pieces by Jinghua but still refused to be completely wiped out.

Now, Jinghua's Western Expedition Fleet is here. Except for some maritime forces in Chittagong in Arakan, there are almost no opponents in front of the Western Expedition Fleet.As for the Arakan Navy... Theoretically, they are not called a navy, because they are usually merchant ships. When the kingdom needs them for combat, they will be temporarily recruited and organized.The kingdom itself does not have a serious navy, and the core of its wartime formation is nothing more than the king's private merchant fleet.

Since the opponent's navy is not worth mentioning, why is the Western Expedition fleet so large?
Two reasons: first, the army unit responsible for transportation is huge, with a lot of soldiers, combat equipment, and food supplies. More ships are needed to ensure that even if it encounters losses at sea, it will not affect the war situation; second, to prepare for the Western invasion The Portuguese Empire and even other European forces that had just shown signs of entering the Indian region intervened, and at the same time formed a deterrent to them and even the countries in southern India, establishing the image of "Beijing is invincible".

On the "Tungyu City", the flagship of the Western Expedition Fleet, the generals gathered together and were having a meeting.

In terms of the navy, there are Gao Jing, commander of the Nanyang Fleet and commander of the Western Expedition Fleet, Ruan Fuze, deputy commander of the Western Expedition Fleet and commander of the mobile fleet, Takagi San, deputy chief of staff of the Nanyang Fleet and chief of staff of the Western Expedition Fleet, and Hu, the captain of the "Taungoo City". Tide.

There are many in the army, including Gao Lian, deputy chief of staff of the Southern Xinjiang Military Command Department, Gao Sigang, commander of the second town of Dingnan Garrison, Gao Siyao, commander of the third town of Phnom Penh Garrison, and Huang Yingpin, the Xuanfu of Annan Vietnam and the garrison commander of Nghe An. , Cen Yunhan, the garrison envoy of Beisu Province and the temporary commander of the third town of the old port garrison; Cen Maoren, the garrison envoy of Huapanfu in Nanzhang and the first assistant commander of the second town of the Vientiane garrison; Huang Congzhe, the second co-president of the three towns; Huang Nanjin, the garrison of Jinpuzhou, Haidong Prefecture, Annan and the first co-president of the second town, Haidong Prefecture.

Among them, Gao Lian, Gao Sigang, Gao Siyao, Huang Yingping and Cen Yunhan hold military positions of commander and above, so it is not surprising that they are qualified to participate in the meeting.Mainly, the latter three, Cen Maoren, Huang Congzhe and Huang Nanjin, were named by Gao Yuan and asked to attend the meeting. It was obvious that they had the purpose of deliberately elevating their status.

In terms of the organization of the Western Expedition, there are only two major generals who have not yet appeared here: Ruan Song, deputy commander of the Bago Garrison and commander of the second town, and Xia Zhongming, the crown prince of Bago.

Now, it is time to explain the Western Expeditionary Army, especially its army organization and combat arrangements.

As mentioned before, the army of the Western Expedition was divided into two groups: the north and the south.Among them, Ruan Song, the deputy commander of the Bago Garrison and the commander of the second town, served as the commander of the North Route Army, and Xia Zhongming, the crown prince of Bago, served as the deputy commander of the North Route Army.

The North Route Army has 12700 people in the Second Town of the Bago Guard Army and 5000 people in the Bago Palace Guards and the South Army, totaling about 8000 people. It is known as the [-]-strong army. Beijing does not like the "so-called", but this time the North Army The mission of the Route Army was to lure the enemy, so they changed their lead.

The battle plan of the Northern Route Army was not complicated: to go out via Phimusi, cross the Arakan Mountains and attack central Arakan, with the intention of cutting off the Arakan Kingdom from the middle, and forcing the main force of the Arakan Army to resist.If the Arakan army falls into the trap and goes there, it will hold back the enemy until the Southern Route Army captures Chittagong before making a final decision.

For example, if the Arakan Army immediately withdraws its troops and returns for reinforcements, the North Route Army will follow behind and wait for the opportunity. If the opportunity is good, it can attack alone. If the opportunity is not good, it will be prepared to cooperate with the eastward advancing South Route Army to outflank the Arakan Army.All in all, the main force of the Arakan Army must be annihilated in one fell swoop.

As the main force in this battle, the Southern Route Army was much stronger than the Northern Route Army, and they had already completed boarding the ship at this time.This route army is personally commanded by Gao Yuan, the deputy commander is Liu Xin (temporarily leading from afar, will arrive soon), and the chief of staff is Gao Lian.

The combat strength of our army is as follows: 12700 people from the Gao Sigang Department of the Second Town of the Dinh Nam Garrison, 12700 people from the Ko Siyao Department of the Third Town of the Phnom Penh Garrison, and more than 4500 people from the First Association of the Wolf Soldiers of Nghe An Prefecture’s Huang Yingcheng Department (4038 people in this volume, However, his sister Huang Zhiting temporarily sent the Royal Guards stationed in Nancheng to strengthen the first battalion of cavalry and the first battalion of artillery), and temporarily added 4500 people to the first agreement of the Cen Yun Han Division of the Third Town of the Old Port Guard Army (with temporary reinforcements provided by Gao Jue) ), there are about 4000 people from the Cen Maoren Department of the First Association of the Second Town of the Vientiane Guard Army, about 4000 people from the Huang Congzhe Department of the Second Association of the Phnom Penh Guard Army’s Third Town, and about 4000 people from the Huangnan Kam Department of the First Association of the Second Town of Huang Family Langbing in Haidong Prefecture. [-] people.In addition, there were more than a thousand elite armed servants sent to Gao Yuan by Gao pragmatism when he went south.

As a result, the total number of troops in the South Route Army was about 47000, which was claimed to be [-]. This route was more "Beijing" and there were almost no false reports.Their initial combat missions have been mentioned above and will not be repeated.

After the initial mission is over, that is, after the main force of the Arakan Army is destroyed, the Northern Route Army will stay in Arakan and wipe out the remaining forces, while the Southern Route Army will have a more arduous task, waiting for an opportunity to march westward into Bangladesh.A military meeting is being held, and the latest intelligence has been compiled here.As the coach of this battle, Gao Yuan is very young, but perhaps because he has been in front of Gao Pingshi all the year round and has met countless famous ministers and generals, he does not have stage fright and can talk eloquently.

"As you all know, the Western Expedition is about to begin in full swing. As for the Northern Route Army, Commander Ruan Song is already making final arrangements before the expedition. He is just waiting for Deputy Commander Xia Zhongming to arrive quickly. Eighteen thousand soldiers are in the mountains of Myanmar. The fighting North Army will march north to Beimu.

If there is no accident, our "unusual movements" in Myanmar have also been spread widely in Arakan by our side. I think the Kingdom of Arakan will not turn a blind eye to this, and will soon mobilize its troops to face the enemy in the east.Do you have any objections to the movements of the Northern Route Army? "

The North Route Army was mainly engaged in containment. This plan had been decided for a long time. If the generals had any objections, naturally they all looked calm and no one spoke.

"Very good, let's discuss the Chittagong attack now. Chittagong is both a seaport and a river mouth port. It is not only the largest port in Arakan, but also an important port in the entire Bay of Bengal. Therefore, the Arakans have deployed heavy troops here, with a total of 5000 Fortunately, Chittagong has not suffered a major battle for many years, and our detailed surveys show that its defensive soldiers are quite slack. This is something our army can take advantage of.

According to the plan, our grand fleet will be divided into three parts: the mobile fleet patrols in the northern waters outside the port to intercept possible maritime reinforcements from the Mughal Empire's Bengal Governorate; the main part of the grand fleet is divided into two parts: the seaport and the river. The ship formations are Seaport [-] and River Channel [-]. The seaport blockade and attack are mainly warships, and the river blockade and attack are mainly armed transport ships.

Gao Sigang and Gao Siyao are responsible for the attack on the harbor. You two need to lead your troops as the main force to attack the city of Chittagong. Is there any difficulty for you two? "

Gao Sigang and Gao Siyao raised their heads slightly and said loudly: "No!"

"Very good." Gao Yuan nodded lightly like his father, and then continued: "Chief of Staff Gao Lian is responsible for the command and coordination of this journey. Chief of Staff, do you have any questions?"

Gao Lian pondered for a moment and said: "There is no problem at my place, but may I ask... er, Commander, where will you be at that time?"

"At that time, I will supervise the battle on the river." Gao Yuan tried his best to be as calm as when giving orders to his father, and said calmly: "You will supervise the seaport, focusing on capturing Chittagong; I will supervise the river, and I will set up formations along both sides of the river to block the collapse of the city. It is important for the troops to flee eastward or to block possible Arakan reinforcements from the southwest to support Chittagong."

In fact, what Gao Yuan did was to hand over a task with great merit and low risk to Gao Lian, while he himself received a task with small merit and high risk.

The reason is simple. The attack on the harbor is obviously the key to victory in this battle. However, as mentioned just now, in addition to the mobile fleet, those remaining outside the harbor to attack Chittagong are the main warships, while those armed transport ships with relatively weak combat effectiveness are Go to the river and block the channel.

Coupled with the mobile fleet heading north to block reinforcements, this means that the main force of the Jinghua Western Expedition Fleet outside the harbor is unlikely to encounter any danger. As the commander in this area, Gao Lian is absolutely safe.

On the other hand, in terms of river channels, we must first worry that the defenders in Chittagong will find that the enemy force is too powerful and outnumbered, and then abandon the city and flee towards the central part of Arakan, that is, to the southwest.However, to escape to the southwest, you have to cross the river. This is the side where Gao Yuan said he wanted to "fortify along both sides of the river."

The so-called don't chase after the enemy, because people who are fleeing often have only two states of mind: one is when they are running away and find themselves facing difficulties, their psychological defenses completely collapse, and they surrender directly or wait for death; the other is when their desire to survive explodes, and their fighting power suddenly increases, like The Chu army that has broken the cauldron and sunk the boat is generally invincible.

It can be seen that fortifying the west bank of the river is itself a very dangerous task.However, the danger is not limited to the West Coast. In fact, the pressure on the East Coast may also be light.

Gudubdia Island on the east coast was originally occupied by the European pirate mercenaries. Because the King of Arakan was still somewhat defensive, he arranged for it in a city called Benskhali on the mainland not far from the island. Three thousand defenders.This place is not far from Chittagong, only about sixty miles away. If we march all the way by force, we can reach it in about a day.

Even if the Western Expedition Fleet goes smoothly and is not discovered by the pirate mercenaries on Gudubdia Island and then notifies the Arakan land defenders, the time window for the Arakan reinforcements to rescue Chittagong will only be one day at the earliest.

If Chittagong is successfully captured within one day, that's it. If Chittagong is not captured within one day, Gaoyuan along both sides of the river to block the Chittagong deserters and Bensk Khali's reinforcements will have to face the two sides along the east and west sides of the river. Facing the pressure of siege.

Gao Lian was obviously worried about this.Although the eldest young master's performance up to now has been excellent, he is calm and stable, and his thinking is clear, but now it is only before the war, and he does not face any difficulties, let alone danger.It's not surprising that people can perform stably at this time.

However, once on the battlefield, with guns and guns blaring and enemies on both sides, who knows whether the eldest young master can still be as calm as he is now?In the unlikely event that the eldest young master is injured, even if the eldest young master is just frightened, Gao Lian, the chief of staff of the Western Expeditionary Army, will not be able to bear the consequences. !

"Commander, I apologize for my objection to this arrangement. I believe that the commander, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, should supervise the seaport attack. This is an important task of the battle, and the commander must be personally present to encourage the soldiers to take the lead. As for blocking the enemy on the river, this is just a matter of cooperation. , Commander He Lao is at your command, just go from your humble post!"
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PS: I was stuck on the road last night, and it was already early in the morning when I got home, so I had to move yesterday’s 2K to today, merge it and send it together.

(End of this chapter)