Li Zhongtang has his own difficulties, but who doesn't have some difficulties? As the current top commander of the Qing army in Shandong, Ding Ruchang is very difficult at the moment. The main reason for his difficulties is that he comes from the aid of Alvaro, the top commander of the Qing army.
Lieutenant General.
"Lieutenant General, your Excellency's idea is too radical. It will not work with your Majesty's side. It will not work."
Ding Ruchang didn't care about anything else and kept making gestures that didn't work.
There was no way to stop him from being anxious. Lieutenant General Alvaro came up with a jaw-dropping plan as soon as he arrived.
Taking the 1st Guards Division, which had just ended the Shandong Campaign, as the main body, under the leadership of the fleet, they landed on Jeju Island and occupied the island.
Lieutenant General Alvaro has made a lot of preparations for this. He has a considerable understanding of the hydrological characteristics of Jeju Island, the number of troops stationed, the situation of the port, etc.
Occupying Jeju Island is a stroke of genius, at least that's how Lieutenant General Alvaro sees it. Because Jeju Island is outside the Tsushima Strait, it is perfectly suitable to block the strait nearby and force the Japanese troops who landed in Liaodong and North Korea to the point where they are out of ammunition and food.
.
It's just that after Lieutenant General Alvaro came up with this plan that satisfied him, Lieutenant General Ding kept saying that it was not feasible.
"Ding, there is nothing wrong with this. It is much better to occupy Jeju Island than to directly land in Liaodong. We can even surround the 100,000 Japanese troops who landed. As a soldier, you cannot ignore this tempting result."
However, no matter what Lieutenant General Alvaro said, Ding Ruchang always looked incompetent, which made him very distressed. He even directly passed over the incompetent General Ding and reported directly to Prime Minister Li. I believe he will definitely do it.
Support this great plan.
Feeling that the conversation with General Ding was a complete waste of time, Lieutenant General Alvaro stopped wasting words and returned directly to his ship, the Turin.
"General, the minister is here."
"Invite him over quickly."
Lieutenant General Alvaro, who had been depressed just now, immediately felt much better.
"Lieutenant General Alvaro, long time no see."
Minister Jia Liwen soon appeared in front of him.
"Hello, Mr. Minister, why are you here, but is there anything you need my help with?"
The last words of Lieutenant General Alvaro were not in vain, because the task force he led, in addition to participating in the fight in Japan, also cooperated with Minister Jia Liwen to expand its influence in China.
Faced with Lieutenant General Alvaro's inquiry, Jia Liwen said with a smile, "I have nothing to do with my visit this time. I mainly came here to see our country's officers and soldiers after a bloody battle."
"At present, the young men are very good. They all maintain a good mental state, and the materials are also good. The Qing people also sent them in time. Except for some Qing generals whose minds are like stones, everything is so beautiful."
Lieutenant General Alvaro couldn't help but complain after saying this, and as the minister, Jia Liwen couldn't hear it and spoke directly.
"What's going on?"
Lieutenant General Alvaro directly planned to land on Jeju Island and establish an absolute victory for the Qing Dynasty. However, he was not recognized and told Minister Jia about it.
At the end of the sentence, the Lieutenant General still couldn't help but said, "Do you think these Qing generals are as stiff-minded as rocks? No wonder they can't defeat the Japanese."
Faced with Lieutenant General Alvaro's complaint, Jia Liwen smiled and said, "I don't know if the minds of Qing generals are like stones, but if I were a Qing general, I would never accept your proposal."
"Why?"
Hearing this, Lieutenant General Alvaro became very curious, because this shouldn't be the case. As the minister of his country, couldn't he see the quality of this plan?
"Because your plan did not take into account political risks."
Minister Jia directly named him and said, "At present, the Japanese army has occupied Haicheng and Liaoyang. Fengtian City, which has a great political status, is about to be attacked by the Japanese army. At this time, you proposed to occupy Jeju Island in an attempt to cut off the maritime siege of Tsushima Strait.
Settle the enemy. Let’s not talk about whether it is reliable or not. How long does it take to complete the siege?”
"Anywhere from three to six months."
"Lieutenant General, I can responsibly tell you that Prime Minister Li told me that if we don't see our troops in Liaodong for half a month, it will be difficult for his troops to withstand the enemy's offensive."
"In fact, according to the observation of my personal emissary, the delay of the Japanese is mostly due to the poor road conditions and food and grass problems. The Qing army in the local area played a very small role. In addition to harming the local people, they ran away when the enemy attacked.
No one else is faster. But this also has an advantage. It is difficult for the advancing Japanese army to raise food and grass from the local area, even if they use some cruel and inhumane methods."
"Your Excellency, you mean that the Qing government attaches great importance to Liaodong at present, and they will not agree to actions that cannot directly affect the battle in Liaodong?"
"Yes, you got the answer right. Although your plan seems to have very good results, my intuition tells me that the greater the appetite, the more cautious you need to act. Don't even think about making other moves without the support of the Qing people themselves."
Minister Jia's words made Lieutenant General Alvaro pick up his plan again and take a look at it, and then put it down again. It seemed that he had indeed underestimated the influence of politics, and if he was thinking about it at this time, he felt that the plan was too good.
Blocking the Tsushima Strait is a bit difficult for our own task force. The sea conditions of the Tsushima Strait are unknown. If we encounter complex sea conditions, it will be difficult to predict whether we will be attacked by the enemy.
In addition, even if the Tsushima Strait is blocked, Japanese ships can still sail from the Sea of Japan to ports in eastern North Korea for transportation. In addition to making supply more difficult, they cannot trap the enemy to death.
Therefore, once all the difficult factors are considered, the previous idea of occupying Jeju Island and trapping the enemy to death feels a little inappropriate.
Because in the military, thinking about the best in everything is called being completely divorced from reality.
Unexpectedly, I also made such a low-level mistake because I wanted to make a big contribution.
If it hadn't been for Minister Jia's words, he would have been dazzled by victory and regarded the Japanese as waste. You must know that in the previous naval battle, he almost suffered a loss.
"It seems that the next priority is to reinforce the Liaodong Peninsula. I will study the choice of landing site."
Seeing that Lieutenant General Alvaro was finally back on track, Minister Jia Liwen felt relieved, otherwise he would have wanted to blurt out domestic instructions.
In fact, it's nothing, I just don't want this war to end too early. After all, the Italian navy and army still have to eat, who dares to step forward and eat their rice bowls.
It's just that what Minister Jia thought was actually done, but it was only in Rome.
