Chapter 614 - The Battle Plan
"So he'll be dealing with Liu Xiang soon."
"Fortunately, Liu Xiang serves as a buffer. Otherwise, Zheng Zhilong would be quite a handful for us to deal with."
But this basically confirmed that Zheng Zhilong wouldn't provide assistance for Wang Zunde's punitive campaign. Guangdong would have to rely on its own forces, greatly reducing the military pressure Lingao faced.
"Here are several military intelligence reference booklets compiled by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau based on existing materials, for everyone's reference."
Wang Ding then distributed the booklets. They were titled: Guangdong Ming Force Designations and Garrison Distribution, Guangdong Ming Military Officer Roster, Captain and Above, Ming Military Weapons and Equipment Illustrated Catalog with Main Specifications: Army (Navy) Volume, Ming Military Organization Quick Reference, and Ming Military Tactical Characteristics.
These booklets were partly compiled from historical records and accumulated research materials, and partly from fragmentary intelligence gathered through various channels since D-Day. The latter came from extremely diverse sources: some were military intelligence specifically collected by the Guangzhou and Leizhou stations; some were extracted from Qiwei Escort Bureau's routine reports. The most valuable were interrogation records of surrendered Ming soldiers and county yamen military archive clerks, as well as military files from the county yamen's archive storage—not a few of which were genuine firsthand source materials.
Wang Ding and his colleagues had also taken the trouble to specifically visit Lin Shenhe. In the Weapons Research Institute's warehouse, various cold and hot weapons used by Ming forces and pirates were stored by category. From the beginning, Lin Shenhe had consciously rescued quite a few captured Ming-era weapons from the steelworks. After cleaning and oiling, they were preserved. He had even specifically petitioned the Executive Committee to set up a testing range for conducting lethality tests on captured Ming-era weapons.
These lethality tests covered not only firearms but also cold weapons like spears, bows and arrows, and swords. They also tested casualty effects on personnel both armored and unprotected.
Lin Shenhe's only regret was the lack of ballistic gelatin. As for using livestock as targets, the cafeteria certainly wouldn't agree—meat made into a mangled mess with a rusty iron smell wasn't something anyone would want. They had to make do with clay and similar substitutes.
Without these actual test results, relying only on historical records with their contradictory and often scientifically implausible descriptions, the booklet on Ming weapons performance couldn't have been compiled at all.
Everyone found the booklets very convenient. Officers who had served in the PLA in particular were quite familiar with such materials. They were a simple and effective way to understand the enemy.
"These booklets are excellent! You've done good work." He Ming nodded approvingly.
Seeing smiles appear on the faces of He Ming, Chen Haiyang, and others, Wang Ding knew the Foreign Intelligence Bureau's round-the-clock work in recent days hadn't been in vain. At minimum, the military had already gained some recognition of their intelligence work.
"Alright, let's speculate on the Ming forces' specific military actions," He Ming said. "Then formulate several contingency plans."
Dongmen Chuiyu stood up, beaming. Since transferring to the General Staff, he had quickly been appointed Secretary-General, responsible for overseeing daily General Staff operations—the Chief of Staff position, being too powerful, couldn't be given to anyone without controversy, so it currently remained unfilled.
Dongmen Chuiyu had originally maneuvered for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff position, but that also seemed too prestigious, so he became Secretary-General instead, presiding over joint meetings. He functionally served as the chief of staff.
"Gentlemen. For the Ming to launch a military attack on Lingao, the most likely approach is a simultaneous land-sea offensive." He pulled back the map curtain behind him, revealing a large-scale map of northern Hainan.
Given the Ming forces' training and equipment level, deploying tens of thousands of troops would require carrying large quantities of weapons and supplies—not just in the seventeenth century, even in the twentieth century, landing large numbers of troops with supplies in the face of an enemy was an extremely difficult and risky undertaking. Given the Ming forces' organizational capabilities and fighting spirit, a full-force assault landing at Bopu was certainly not going to happen.
The various units would cross the sea in batches to Qiongshan County to concentrate forces. Once troops had assembled and rested, the main force would advance along the coast. The navy would sail along the coast in a combined land-sea advance, providing mutual support—this was the safest and most likely approach. Whoever commanded this attack, the general pattern would be the same.
And the Ming forces' concentration point would certainly be Qiongshan County. Not only did it have a large harbor convenient for military transport, it was also the Ming government's main garrison base and administrative center on Hainan, making coordination easier.
"Could the enemy come from the Danzhou direction? The Ming love to play the multi-pronged suppression game."
"That's possible," Dongmen Chuiyu said. "Danzhou has one of the Ming government's official granaries on Hainan. Launching from there would reduce the pre-positioned grain requirements and ease logistical pressure."
Ancient armies frequently employed divided-column convergence and multi-pronged advance tactics during operations. This wasn't just for strategic and tactical reasons—it was also largely to reduce marching organization and supply difficulties.
"Additionally, Lingao sends over two thousand shi in supplementary provisions to Danzhou annually, indicating Danzhou's garrison military households still maintain considerable numbers and have some combat capability," Wang Ding reminded everyone. "We can't ignore the possibility that the Ming may mobilize Danzhou's garrison to expand that column's size."
"Hmm, so we'll also need to deal with enemies from the Danzhou direction. The Gaoshan Ridge area only has a security company and a fortress artillery battery," He Ming flipped through his notebook. "Approximately how many enemies could the Danzhou direction deploy?"
Dongmen Chuiyu said: "That depends on how many Guangdong troops the Ming government plans to ship to Danzhou. If they only conscript local military households, five hundred at most."
"If the Ming commanders plan to forage locally, the troops shipped to Danzhou won't be too few," He Ming said. "According to the intelligence department, if the Ming deploys twenty to thirty thousand men, at least three to four thousand should be shipped to Danzhou."
Adding locally mobilized garrison forces, figure five thousand. This column marching overland would cause enough commotion along the way. If the transmigrator collective had to prepare to meet enemies on two fronts, their forces would be stretched thin.
Dongmen Chuiyu said: "I propose the navy establish a blockade line and directly intercept these forces. Guangdong troops shipping to Danzhou must pass through the Qiongzhou Strait. We don't even need to leave Lingao territory—we can intercept in the Denglongjiao waters. Capture this entire force directly."
"The navy will handle this." He Ming noted this in his notebook and asked Chen Haiyang, "Does the navy have any difficulties?"
"No, but the navy can't guarantee capturing all the enemy. If they don't cooperate, we'll have to sink a few to make a point."
"Where should the blockade line be set?"
"In the waters west of the Leizhou Peninsula to Danzhou. We'll need to deploy two patrol boat squadrons for day and night patrols. One sailing cruiser patrol squadron should be on standby in port ready to reinforce at any time," Chen Haiyang said. "We can't just patrol near Denglongjiao. The Ming may also march overland to Leizhou and board ships there—so we need more vessels." He studied the map carefully. "If Leizhou could provide shipping intelligence, it would be much easier—we'd just blockade the ports directly."
"I don't think that's a problem. Our system in Leizhou should be able to manage that," Li Yan said.
Bei Wei said: "Leave this to the Special Reconnaissance Team—this is military reconnaissance, our specialty. The Special Reconnaissance Team guarantees mission completion."
"The Danzhou enemy column is only a possibility," He Ming said. "This threat will be the navy's and Special Reconnaissance Team's responsibility."
Next came discussion of a topic hotly debated in Parliament: whether to proactively engage outside their borders or conduct a defensive counterattack from prepared positions.
On this issue, not only was Parliament internally divided, but the military itself had differing opinions.
Most people advocated defensive operations from prepared positions. Their main arguments were:
The highest-ranking military officer among the transmigrators who had served had only been a PLA company commander. No one had experience facing a war of this scale. There would inevitably be many command and coordination problems. Defense was relatively easier than offense.
Second, the soldiers had plenty of training but little combat experience. They needed battle to test them. When fighting an enemy with numerical superiority, organizing combat was easier for the defending side, and soldiers' psychological pressure was much less. More importantly, using a defensive victory to build soldiers' confidence.
After a defensive victory, then begin pursuit—rear-area order would be easier to maintain. A defensive victory would greatly encourage civilians who favored the transmigrators, intimidate hostile elements, and bring fence-sitters to the transmigrators' side.
Finally, the strategy of defense first, then counterattack, fit well with the traditional Chinese way of thinking—"don't fire the first shot," "let them start the trouble," "tolerance has limits." The transmigrators would gain moral high ground. Propaganda could emphasize that what the transmigrators had done in Lingao wasn't like harmful pirates at all—rather, they had attacked pirates and evil gentry, developed production, taken in refugees, and stabilized society. They could be called model gentry. Being suppressed despite all this was completely unreasonable. This would lay good groundwork for future expansion.
"Given the Ming forces' scale, organization, and Hainan's road conditions, the enemy's advance route can only be along the post roads, advancing county by county. This way they can more conveniently obtain supplies along the way. Marching is also easier—after all, the Ming will be carrying large quantities of supplies and firearms, requiring certain road standards." Dongmen Chuiyu pointed at the large map. "This gives us the advantage of choosing our battlefield at will. We just need to select terrain favorable to our weapons anywhere along the Qiongshan-Lingao post road and deploy our forces. We can even conduct battlefield construction in advance—dig trenches, build bastions, even transport heavier artillery to positions. The advantage is very clear."
Unexpectedly, Dongmen Chuiyu's eloquent argument was immediately refuted by Armored Corps Inspector General Bai Yu. Not only did he refute it, he first stuck a defeatist label on Dongmen.
"We know the Ming's attack route. We have radio and map advantages. We should exploit our mobility advantage to concentrate forces and defeat the enemy piecemeal. Some could even be routed at the Pearl River estuary, fully demonstrating our technological superiority. Our army indeed lacks combat experience, but our soldiers are well-trained, well-fed, and commanded by modern military talent. Defensive warfare isn't necessarily easy—the enemy outnumbers us more than five to one. Pure defense will only lower our morale. Finally, 'attacking pirates and evil gentry, developing production, taking in refugees, and stabilizing society'—that's evidence of rebellion! It's called 'buying hearts and minds.' For the Ming government, that's more heinous than burning, killing, and raping."
His argument was: the transmigrator collective was in an absolutely advantageous position and should definitely take the initiative to attack and seize battlefield control. When facing a severe disparity in forces, seizing initiative was even more important. Defensive operations actually placed the weaker side in a passive position. Defense demanded more of soldiers and created greater pressure than offense.
Not proactively attacking but waiting for the enemy to attack wasn't moral high ground but weakness. Lingao's ability to protect the interests of the vast majority of people under its rule was the greatest moral high ground. The transmigrator collective had to demonstrate its strength and determination to protect its people—only then could it lay good groundwork for future development.
Finally, he strongly demanded that after annihilating the Ming forces, they bombard Guangzhou city. If explosives permitted, they should preferably blow down a section of the city wall to give officials and gentry sufficient shock.
The two sides debated this question extensively, ranging from military tactics all the way to political significance and economic construction.
Those favoring engagement outside borders had another concern: defensive counterattack was certainly safe, but what about the infrastructure already built within Lingao? Farmland, water systems, roads, power poles—these couldn't be defended. If the imperial forces systematically destroyed infrastructure during their advance, setting aside the loss of facilities and materials, people's hearts would become unstable. It would be extremely disadvantageous for post-war reconstruction.
Chen Haiyang wasn't enthusiastic about decisive battle outside borders either. He said:
"I have doubts about our current army's capability for decisive battle outside borders: the navy lacks sufficient large vessels. Our long-range attack and projection capabilities are insufficient. If the Ming concentration point is in the Pearl River Delta rather than the Leizhou Peninsula or Hainan Island, though our forces could inflict heavy casualties, unless we send troops to plunder the surrounding area, our prisoner captures and material seizures would be relatively limited. That's the first problem.
"Second, fighting on the mainland places higher demands on our intelligence, logistics, and military organization. This is our first large-scale operation. Being slightly more conservative—letting them land on Hainan, then completely destroying the invaders—isn't a bad option."
He pointed at the display board:
"I believe from all considerations, the Ming will set their concentration point near Qiongzhou Prefecture city—this is also what the General Staff just hypothesized in their operational planning. In that case, we needn't let the enemy enter Lingao. Instead, we take advantage of their concentration at Qiongshan, attack with land and sea forces simultaneously, and destroy them in one fell swoop. Whether we actively assault the city or set up positions outside Qiongshan County to lure the enemy to attack—either works.
"Ming forces concentrating at Qiongshan County will certainly disturb the local area considerably, but they're still imperial troops—they won't go so far as to burn, kill, and rape. Damage to the region won't be too great. We can take over afterward without major relief work, and we even gain a point in public opinion. Also," he said, "I personally favor active attack rather than setting up defenses and waiting—when Ming forces are at our doorstep, seeing a vast army with no retreat available, soldiers' pressure is even greater. Letting them attack proactively actually reduces pressure. Once they fight one engagement and see the enemy is just clay chickens and tile dogs, the pressure naturally disappears."
Chen Haiyang's proposal won most people's approval. The final battle plan was: the navy would establish a blockade line in the Qiongzhou Strait, preventing enemies from entering Lingao waters and blocking them from directly landing forces in Lingao for harassment operations.
The army would dispatch small units and the Special Reconnaissance Team for screening operations toward Qiongshan. Keep enemy scouts and small units from entering areas near Lingao.
Once the enemy main force concentrated and left Qiongzhou, the navy would first destroy the Ming naval forces, cutting off the Qiongzhou Strait connection with the mainland and preventing sea retreat. The army would seek opportunities for decisive battle with the enemy main force in the field, using naval warships for mobility if necessary. After destroying the enemy, ride the momentum to take Qiongzhou Prefecture city.
Wei Aiwen then stood up to speak: "I have no objections to the battle plan itself. But I hope the planned battle is a proper, dignified field battle: at a time and place of our choosing, fight a magnificent great battle—and film the entire process for future repeated viewing. This is a political battle—we want everyone to understand our power. Especially for our soldiers—many of them don't yet realize what the weapons in their hands mean. Centuries of habit make them believe common people can't beat officials. Even with powerful weapons, if they've truly experienced it through practice, they'll have an earth-shaking transformation of consciousness."
After the battle plan was formulated, the General Staff and Foreign Intelligence Bureau conducted consultations. Both sides decided to send out two joint military reconnaissance teams on a staff tour. The focus would be a comprehensive survey of terrain, key passes and roads, towns and administrative seats, and garrisons along the Qiongshan-Lingao line. These materials had been collected before; this would be a verification pass.
Additionally, the reconnaissance teams would conduct comprehensive reconnaissance and evaluation of possible Ming concentration points and possible battle sites, preparing relevant contingency plans. Also, to determine how many ports ships could approach along the Qiongshan-Lingao coast, and to measure hydrological conditions, naval intelligence officer Xu Ke would lead another reconnaissance team for surveys.
"Also, we need to conduct maintenance and reinforcement of existing units," He Ming said. "Currently the army has considerable shortfalls. Many auxiliary units are under strength. Artillery has even more vacancies. We'll need to temporarily conscript personnel for supplementation. However, this involves mobilization issues and must be coordinated with the Council of Administration."
(End of Chapter)