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Chapter 560 Actively Prepare for War 4
"Commander Huang, most of the warships and armed merchant ships participating in the Battle of Manila are in place. Only Liu Qianhu's fleet has not arrived yet."

While Governor Aguna was actively preparing for war, the Daming Naval Base in Da Nang also welcomed 6 Qin-class warships and 8 armed merchant ships. Along with the battleship, in addition to the Marine Corps, there was also Huang Nanping, the naval commander of Nanyang.

The naval admirals and staff who had arrived earlier stood neatly on the pier, watching the boat slowly dock. As soon as Huang Nanping stepped onto the stone steps, a registration form was handed over, along with a silver pen.

"Liu Qianhu will stay in Guangzhou to act for outsiders and will not participate in this battle. How is your battle plan going?"

Huang Nanping had long been accustomed to this kind of welcoming scene where business was the first thing to talk about without any clichés. He gave a casual salute, took the document and glanced at it briefly, then picked up a pen and signed his name.

Since the establishment of the Naval Staff and a group of staff officers, all the rules of greeting and sending off in the Navy have been gradually revoked. Not to mention the arrival of the Naval War Guard Nanyang Commander, even if Governor Yuan came, there would still be no ceremony or banquet.

Talk about things when you need to, and don't wander around when you have nothing to do. You have to get used to it, and you have to get used to it if you are not used to it. This is not because the staff are deliberately trying to be difficult, but because of the emperor's golden words.

When the emperor inspected Dagukou, he said in front of a group of naval generals that every copper in the navy's funds must be used for official affairs. Anyone who dares to spend a tael of silver should wait for Dongchang and Jinyiwei to come to greet them.

"The General Staff has drawn a map of Manila Port based on the existing intelligence. From the map, it seems that this battle is not easy to fight. If we use traditional methods to attack and land, I am afraid there will be a lot of casualties." A staff officer took over the document. , pointed to the two-story building not far away, and introduced the situation as he walked.

"It's definitely not easy to fight. I was summoned to the Yangxin Palace before I came here. His Majesty ordered that this battle should not only win but also reduce losses. If you can't think of a perfect strategy, you'd rather not attack than take action without permission. Take a few steps quickly. , go inside and explain the battle plan in detail, and let the captains of each ship and more than a hundred Marine Corps personnel participate. "

Huang Nanping was not surprised by the staff's assessment. Back then, his father Lin Afeng still failed to capture the city of Manila with tens of thousands of people and hundreds of ships. Although he is now equipped with better warships, more artillery and muskets, the combat goals proposed by the emperor have also become higher and higher, making it even more difficult.

"Would you like to call me an officer of the Ruan family?" The staff officer nodded to the ordering soldier and then added.

"...No need for the time being. They only need to obey orders and do not need to participate in formulating the battle plan. Before everyone boarding the ship and setting off, they must pay attention to confidentiality. There is no shortage of people in the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants." Huang Nanping thought for a while, Not only did they not agree to allow Annan officers to participate in the combat meeting, they also put forward higher confidentiality requirements.

This was also what the emperor personally warned before leaving. Although 2000 soldiers were borrowed from the Ruan family for this large-scale attack on Manila Port, it did not mean that both sides could be of the same mind and must distinguish between far and near.

"Everyone, tell me, how should we fight this battle so that we can win with less and win more?"

The Da Nang Naval Base is very large, and some of the naval officers who came first had to ride their horses. Soon the largest conference room on the second floor was full of people, staring at the huge pictures on the wall and communicating with each other, until Huang Nanping spoke. "How accurate is this map?" The first person to speak was a Marine Sento. Judging from his age in his early twenties, he should not be from the pirate or military department, but more like from the Imperial Horse Guards or the Kaito Division. . The way he opened his mouth was more like a classmate. He didn't show any kindness to his classmates and started questioning the staff.

“According to His Majesty’s order, the Naval Staff has begun surveying and mapping parts of the South China Sea and ports since its establishment, including North Korea, Japan, Annan, and the Philippines.

The data comes from three sources, professional surveying and mapping of naval vessels, descriptions of merchant sailors and field surveys by special intelligence personnel. The credibility should be very high, and there is reason to believe that it is more accurate than the map used by the Spaniards themselves. "

In the face of doubts, the naval staff officers were not ambiguous and immediately gave very professional and accurate answers. Using data to formulate combat plans is a specialty of the staff. Without the support of this system, they would be blind and even worse than pirates.

"In this case, I personally think there are no more than two situations. First, the Spaniards send all their main forces out of the port to fight, which requires the colleagues of the Marine Guards to deal with it. As long as they can completely annihilate or most of the enemy's fleet, Manila Hong Kong is basically undefended.

Second, the Spaniards were self-aware and refused to go out of the harbor to fight at sea. They all huddled in the city and on both sides of the river, so they had to rely on land troops to fight ashore.

According to the markings on the map, the north and south sides of the river mouth are full of tidal flats and wetlands close to the sea. People and ships cannot walk on them. The only way is for warships to penetrate deep into the river mouth. They first use naval guns to knock out the shore guns on the docks and castles, and then the Marine Guards force the landing.

If this is the case, there is no need to choose a landing point, the dock is the most convenient. First, a cargo ship will carry 200 soldiers to the dock to consolidate the landing point, and then follow-up troops will go ashore in batches. Let me express my position. I am willing to personally command the dock to attack. If nothing happens, we can take it in an hour and a half! "

With the assurance from the staff department, Marine Guardsman Qianhu was completely relieved, looked at the map and began to analyze the battlefield. There was no conspiracy, it was a head-to-head confrontation, and he was very confident and actively asked for the first wave to land.

"Zhu Qianhu, His Majesty didn't ask you to risk your life with Marine Guards! Commander Huang just said that His Majesty not only demands victory but also reduces losses. Manila Port is just the beginning of the Nanyang war plan. If you continue to work hard like you Before we even reached the Arabs’ den, we had to change all the Marine Guards!”

However, Qianhu's speech was immediately met with firm opposition from the naval staff. In order to be more convincing, they also quoted the emperor's oral instructions relayed by Huang Nanping, and then looked to the future to refute Qianhu's battle plan from a grand strategic level.

"Deputy Chief of Staff Zhu, Your Majesty did not say that a person cannot die! War is not about looking at the map and drawing, where are the undead people? There is only such a big place in total, where can we disembark without storming from the dock? Why don't you come up with some ideas and let us all see if Zhuge Liang is calling for nothing?"

Despite the fact that the Naval Staff was under the dual management of the Governor and the Emperor, and had a detached status, Marine Guard Qianhu showed no fear at all. He opened his mouth to retort, and his words were very rude.

(End of this chapter)