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Chapter 972 Bear Exorcism Operation
But before the ministers returned from their inspection, a navy communications ship arrived first, and two confidential staff officers from the General Staff personally delivered a top-secret document, the Wala combat plan.

Ever since the decision to attack the Oirat was made at the Imperial Conference, the General Staff restarted the war machine that had been stagnant for nearly ten years. Various combat supplies and troops were continuously assembled in Hami and Turpan via rail carriages.

为了百分百完成皇帝一战将瓦剌各部抹平的意图，总参谋部为此战下了血本，从北方、华中、西北、内蒙古都司抽调了第2、9、10、19、30卫，加上原属西域都司的第35、36、37、38卫，汇集了9个卫五万多兵力。

It was divided into two groups, east and west, co-ordinated by Army Governor Du Wenhuan who was personally stationed in Hami. Led by Northwest Commander Lei Laohu and Western Region Commander Huang Taiji, they began to cross the Tianshan Mountains ten days ago and headed straight for Balikun, the gathering place of the Khoshut tribe, and Weilumu, the gathering place of the Dzungar tribe.

Currently, there are only three tribes of the Oirat Mongols left north of the Tianshan Mountains. The Torghut tribe moved westward a few years ago, the Dzungar tribe is active near the Altai Mountains, and the only two tribes closest to Hami and Turpan are the Dzungar and Khoshut tribes.

According to the combat plan of the General Staff, this battle did not require a quick victory or secrecy, but rather the goal was to use absolute strength to first sweep through the main settlements and winter pastures of the Dzungar and Khoshut tribes in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains.

Force them to either flee northward or face a decisive battle. In the cold winter, there is basically no possibility of hiding. After most of them are eliminated, the next plan will be decided based on the movements of the Durbet tribe.

If the Durbet tribe came south to rescue them, we could just encircle and suppress them together. Then we could continue to move northward into the jurisdiction of the three Outer Khalkha tribes and force their leaders to make a final statement with our army, whether they would submit to the country or continue to be the enemy. We should stop playing the game of being ambiguous.

If the Durbet tribe did not move south or chose to retreat, the Ming army would still have to move north into the jurisdiction of the three Outer Khalkha tribes. In any case, one of the Oirat and Outer Khalkha tribes must be completely eliminated, preferably two.

Then we have to use them to find traces of the Russians and find out where the Russian expeditions have progressed to and where they have built camps over the years.

For any Russian forces that cross the Irtysh River, troops will be sent to occupy them. Most invaders will be captured and forced to do hard labor, while a small number can be released.

Let them take a letter to Tsar Mikhail I and make clear the attitude of the Ming Empire: the Irtysh River and the lower reaches of the Ob River are the natural dividing line between the two countries, and do not send anyone to harass the east anymore.

As for the desire to find an outlet to the sea, the Ming Emperor understands and sympathizes with it, but he cannot give up his territory. If you want the two countries to continue to live in peace, then send envoys to talk, first determine the border and then listen to the Ming Emperor's advice.

"Kill less and capture more, and pay attention to the weather. Take this opportunity to send more small reconnaissance teams to the north to map the Yenisei River basin. The specific details will depend on the war situation and you can decide for yourself."

Hong Tao really has nothing to say about army operations. Although the staff officers of the General Staff and the Army Staff are very young, most of them have more than 20 years of combat experience and are definitely better than their predecessors in tactics and strategies.

The help I can give them now is limited to the level of grand strategy and national politics. It is enough to make my intentions clear. Saying too much will make them feel constrained.

"Inform the ministers to hold a royal meeting here this afternoon. The Nanyang Governor, the Nanyang Fleet Commander-in-Chief, and the Chief of Staff will also attend."

After giving instructions to the General Staff, Hong Tao walked to the window and looked down at the dock in the distance and the fields and villages on the other side. He was lost in thought for a while and suddenly made a temporary decision. After arriving in Manila, although he did not follow the ministers to inspect everywhere, he was not idle. He met visitors almost from morning to night. The visitors included local military and political officials, Taoist leaders, civilians, and some mysterious people who were unknown to anyone but held the badge of the Advisory Office.

The so-called Advisory Office was originally the Statistics Department. In the 26th year of Jingyang, the Navy General Staff and the Army General Staff officially established their own intelligence departments, also named the Statistics Department.

Hong Tao felt that the name had become too vulgar, so he separated the original Statistics Department from the General Staff and made it directly report to himself, replacing the notorious East Factory and changing its name to the Advisory Office.

At the same time, he also made major adjustments to the royal institutions, removing many unnecessary departments and adding the Emperor's Office, which was under the jurisdiction of Wang Chengen.

Things like the Cuju team, the geckos, two newspapers under his full control, the Royal Academy, the Secretariat and the Zhongshufang were all under the name of the Emperor's office.

This Royal Academy was formed by the merger of the former Haihusi and Beixing Palace. After changing to a more high-sounding name, it became the third education system after the imperial examination and the new school.

Graduates from here can directly enter the army and become low-level commanders or staff officers at all levels after one or two years of internship. They can also start as clerks and enter the civil service system after being selected.

The intention is obvious. As the principal of the Royal School, Hong Tao must use his privileges to stuff his students, who have undergone ten years of education or brainwashing and are completely loyal to him, into all military and political departments in order to ensure the stability of the power system.

With their presence, it becomes several levels more difficult for both military and civilian officials to form a small group to force the emperor to abdicate or stage a coup, and they can no longer even play the game of lying down and being lazy.

Because there is always at least one pair of young and fanatical eyes watching from top to bottom, left to right, whoever is disloyal to the emperor or detrimental to the empire will be their target to replace.

But there will come a day when these young people are no longer young, no longer passionate, and their ideals will be eroded by reality. By then, they may be more opposed to this system than the officials selected through the imperial examinations and the new studies. What should be done?

Hong Tao’s solution is simple, crude and extremely cruel: four words: metabolism!

The Royal Academy's endless stream of graduates are used as the next wave to constantly urge, squeeze, and drive out previous graduates. Anyone who has been tortured by the system and has become slick, has no passion or ideals, wants to lie down or even want to rebel, will be ruthlessly eliminated by his younger classmates.

As the saying goes, the waves behind push the waves ahead. No matter how hard the waves ahead try, they will eventually be left on the beach. For example, the current Chief of the General Staff, Tan Mingming, is just 40 years old, while the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Yu Tianyuan, is only 37 years old, but they are already considered the front wave.

If they were tired, exhausted, annoyed, or wanted to lie down, before their backs even touched the bed, they would be pushed onto the beach and beaten to pieces by the confidential staff officers who were in their early thirties or even younger.

(End of this chapter)