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Chapter 303 Banditry in the South China Sea 2
"... General, I have received my order and resigned!" Li Ruzhang was speechless at this moment. Although it was not an imperial edict, but with the approval of the naval governor and the navigator, it must be the emperor's original intention. He immediately turned around and left with fists in his hands and a salute.

He was no stranger to the trick of raising bandits to show their self-respect. His father had done this in Liaodong back then, deliberately keeping the Jianzhou Jurchens to make them bigger, and then driving them to fight with other tribes as minions.The Ming army was waiting for opportunities, and sometimes would intervene to mediate and pretend to be good guys.

However, this trick in my father's hands seemed to be less thorough than the emperor's. It could be used to destroy the country without any moral burden, and even deceived all the officials in the court.

As a result, even if the court was not happy to see the navy grow bigger, it could not raise any objections.A giant sea bandit appeared in the South China Sea and robbed the Annan Kingdom.If we don't step up the eradication, who can guarantee that they won't appear under the walls of Guangzhou, Hangzhou, or even the capital?

This is Chi Guoguo's blackmail. If you want to destroy the giant pirates at sea, you must have a strong navy. If you want the navy to be strong, you must recruit troops, buy horses, and build more warships.Then the emperor could unscrupulously tilt resources and policies toward the navy. This would not be a waste of money and food but a military force, but a matter of ensuring peace and justice.

As for whether being an emperor should be so eccentric and full of tricks in order to achieve legitimate needs, tell lies without blinking an eye, and even harm the vassal, Li Ruzhang must nod.

What kind of virtue are civil servants? Not only I feel deeply about it, but my dead father also suffered a lot.It’s so hard to do something, and even harder to do good.Only by treating good things as bad things and playing tricks and tricks everywhere can we achieve this.

As each small boat approached the beach driven by the oars, strong figures jumped off the boat one after another, trying to maintain their balance in the waist-deep water while dragging the small boats towards the shore. .

Regardless of whether there are enemies on the beach or not, the Marines must occupy and build the first line of defense within the designated time, and then gradually advance inland until all the artillery vehicles and supplies are transported up before they can take a break.

Dozens of small boats kept transporting personnel and supplies back and forth. By the time it got dark, more than 2000 marines and less than half of the artillery and supplies had successfully landed ashore.

At this time, the front line of defense was more than 2 miles away from the beach, and a small group of scouts went deep into about 10 miles, marking all possible places along the way where people might be present, and looking for traces of the Annan defenders.

Li Ruzhang landed with the first batch of small boats, and immediately set up a tent in the woods closest to the beach and established a temporary command post.Surrounding him were not only the guards with live ammunition and half-body armor, but also seven or eight young officers without armor. Each of them had a white ribbon sewn on their shoulders, which was different from the red ribbons worn by Marine soldiers and officers. the difference.

These young officers are part of a very new and special department in the Navy called the Staff Department.Although it is affiliated with the navy, it is not under the command of the navy, but directly takes orders from the emperor.The officers under the staff department are called staff officers, and there are more than 20 of them.There is no distinction between superiors and subordinates among the staff, and there is no leadership position.

This is not a too weird arrangement. According to common sense, the staff is on the same level as the navy. It is more like the traditional military supervisor and gun supervisor. It is a method used by the emperor to supervise and check the naval governor.

The naval generals thought so too at first, but after a while they felt it was different.In addition to participating in training as usual, the staff officers do not interfere in the daily management of the navy, let alone the appointment and promotion of officers at all levels.

But when he goes out with the army, he can influence the generals' orders.His job content is quite extensive, helping the commander to correct omissions and determine the combat plan, issue combat instructions, record the combat process, provide local intelligence, draw accurate maps, etc. He is both like a counselor and a lieutenant.At first, the naval admirals, including Li Ruzhang, did not have a good impression of these young officers who were still in their infancy and had never been on the battlefield, but they could point fingers at will. They only dared to be angry and dare not speak out because the emperor was behind them. They tolerated everything and never cared about it in their hearts. Think of them as counselors or lieutenants.

But after getting along for a while, especially after going to Japan on the ship, these staff officers were not only recognized by the generals of the Marine Guards, but also the officers of the Marine Guards, who had always set their sights on others, were not willing to accept them.

The reason is not that the emperor has spoken, nor that he has achieved any great military exploits. It is a bit funny to say that it is actually a skill that is most hated by frontline generals, just talk on paper!

The staff officers and the navigators on the battleships seemed to come from the same school. They would all use an instrument called a sextant. Wherever the ship went, they looked at the sun and looked at the white paper covered with small grids like a chessboard. Dots and jabs.

They say this is called surveying and mapping, and it is specially used for making maps.With these dots and lines, not only can we find routes on the sea, but we can also outline land, rivers, mountains, ravines, etc. The effect is extremely realistic.As long as you have enough patience, even the small river ditch at the head of the village can be clearly and accurately marked on the map.

With these maps and after studying the geography courses established by His Majesty, you can follow the maps and accurately find any topography, landforms, cities and villages marked on the maps, whether you have been to the field or not.

It would be even more amazing if it is used in combat. People who are hundreds of miles away can understand the specific terrain of the destination according to the map, and know whether it is backed by a mountain or next to a river, whether there are woods or swamps, and where is suitable for camping and where is suitable for ambush. Do this in advance Be prepared.

At first, except for Yuan Keli and the navigator, the naval generals basically did not believe this statement.Although with the performance of the navigator in front, it should be correct that the advisers would be able to find the route, but the map they drew was definitely not that impressive.

If you can achieve half the effect, you can become a general of an army, no worse than Zhuge Liang in the novel.If you really have this kind of ability, then you can't be regarded as a rank-and-file staff officer. It's enough to be directly a commander-in-chief.

But when the fleet arrived at Tsushima Island, it was impossible to believe it. It only took three days for the staff and pilots to outline the entire island on the map without even getting off the ship, and then told Yuan Keli with certainty where to find it. The harbor, where is the beach, where is the cliff.

It may sound like nothing, but wouldn’t it be obvious just by looking at it with a telescope, without wasting three days?But Li Ruzhang knew in his heart that this was really a big deal.

From now on, no matter who leads the fleet to come here again, as long as there is a pilot or adviser following him, he will be able to find ports, beaches, mountains, woods, villages, and towns accurately as if he has been here with a map.

(End of this chapter)