Chapter 285 The Little Marquis (13) The Western Expeditionary Army is dispatched!
There were several heavy ships with huge sails swaying; they sailed across the sea and cut through the waves. The Jinghua Western Expedition Fleet lined up its troops and set sail from the south, sailing southward towards the Dragon Tooth Strait.
According to the emergency military order of the Military Command Department, Longya garrison envoy Musali should have rushed from Longya City (Malacca City) to Huzhou Military Port (Singapore) at this time, preparing for the temporary stationing of the Western Expedition Fleet, replenishing drinking water and other necessary supplies, and arranging all arrangements.
The fleet rested in port for the night.
As time goes by, the scale of the Nanyang Fleet at this moment has become more and more expanded. Compared with the Beiyang Fleet, whose size has almost been fixed and there is no need to increase the size, the Nanyang Fleet continues to expand, and the total tonnage of active warships has reached 120,800 tons, carrying
There are 5,240 artillery pieces of various types and levels, and the official establishment is 34,816 sailors.
The above all refer to the establishment of regular warships, and statistics are not usually made. The armed transport fleet is listed as a reserve for the decisive battle at sea. The total tonnage is as high as 224,000 tons, with 7,640 artillery pieces of all types and levels, and 50,400 sailors.
people.
It can be said that in this era that is just about to enter the seventeenth century, even if the strength of the Nanyang Fleet is placed in Europe, it can still move sideways in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Baltic Sea.
Of course, supporting such a huge fleet requires various necessary conditions. Whether it is personnel, artillery, ships, or other more trivial materials, in the final analysis, it requires a lot of money. Only Jinghua has a complete monopoly on East Asia and Southeast Asia.
This can only be achieved by trade and even controlling the sources of most export products.
For economies with relatively greater purchasing power such as Europe and West Asia (generally speaking, including the Middle East in Angsa's formulation), the most competitive products in East and Southeast Asia are such as porcelain, silk, tea, spices, gems, medicinal materials and more recently.
Almost all of the floral fabrics that have emerged over the past decade can only be obtained from Jinghua.
Therefore, Jinghua has undoubtedly gained huge profits, becoming a global silver black hole, and even now has the tendency to become a gold black hole. It is precisely because of such huge profits that the scale of the Nanyang Fleet has gradually expanded to this point.
This time, the Western Expedition Fleet roughly includes half of the entire Nanyang Fleet. It is said that it only attacks Arakan and the Mughals. Even if the navies of all countries in the Indian Peninsula are combined together, they may not be able to defeat this Western Expedition.
Fleet. After all, their maritime strength is just that. There may be many ships, but most of them are small merchant ships, and their armed strength is not worth mentioning.
As for the current enemies Arakan and Mughal, it’s funny to say that the former’s naval strength may be stronger than the latter’s. After all, Arakan is a country with Chittagong Port, and the importance of maritime trade to them is undoubted.
Mughals...
A group of Persian Mongolian descendants who came from Afghanistan through the Hindu Kush Pass to conquer the Indian subcontinent only a few decades ago and have just established a foothold in northern India. How much do you expect them to pay attention to naval construction? Isn't that nonsense?
In particular, the Mughals now face the sea to the east and west. The west side still has some maritime power due to the need to go to Mecca for pilgrimage, but in Bengal to the east... the Mughals have not realized the need to build maritime power at all.
Necessity. They only retained a few offshore boats with meager firepower, which was enough to deter the small pirate gangs that had long been beaten to pieces by Jinghua but still refused to be wiped out.
Now, Jinghua's Western Expedition Fleet is here. Except for some maritime forces of Arakan in Chittagong, the Western Expedition Fleet has almost no opponents. As for the Arakan Navy... In theory, they are not called a navy, because they are usually merchant ships.
When the kingdom needs them to fight, it will temporarily recruit and organize them. The kingdom itself does not have a serious navy, and the core of the wartime formation is nothing more than the king's private merchant fleet.
Since the opponent's navy is not worth mentioning, why is the Western Expedition fleet so large?
Two reasons: first, the army unit responsible for transportation is huge, with a lot of soldiers, combat equipment, and food supplies, so more ships are needed to ensure that even if it encounters losses at sea, the war situation will not be affected; second, to prepare for the Western invasion
The Portuguese Empire and even other European forces that had just shown signs of entering the Indian region intervened, and at the same time formed a deterrent to them and even the countries in southern India, establishing the image of "Beijing is invincible".
Aboard the "Taungoo City", the flagship of the Western Expedition Fleet, the generals gathered together and were having a meeting.
In terms of the navy, there are Gao Jing, commander of the Nanyang Fleet and commander of the Western Expedition Fleet, Ruan Fuze, deputy commander of the Western Expedition Fleet and commander of the Mobile Fleet, Takagi San, deputy chief of staff of the Nanyang Fleet and chief of staff of the Western Expedition Fleet, and Hu, the captain of the "Taungoo City".
Tide.
There are many in the army, including Gao Lian, deputy chief of staff of the Southern Xinjiang Military Command Department, Gao Sigang, commander of the second town of Dingnan Garrison, Gao Siyao, commander of the third town of Phnom Penh Garrison, and Huang Yingpin, the Xuanfu of Annan Vietnam and the garrison commander of Nghe An.
, Cen Yunhan, the garrison envoy of North Jiangsu Province and the temporary commander of the third town of Jiugang Garrison; Cen Maoren, the garrison envoy of Huapanfu in Nanzhang and the first assistant commander of the second town of Vientiane garrison;
Huang Congzhe, the second co-president of the three towns; Huang Nanjin, the garrison of Jinpuzhou, Haidong Prefecture, Annan and the first co-president of the second town, Haidong Prefecture.
Among them, Gao Lian, Gao Sigang, Gao Siyao, Huang Yingping and Cen Yunhan hold military positions of commander and above, so it is not surprising that they are qualified to participate in the meeting. Mainly the latter three, Cen Maoren, Huang Congzhe and Huang Nanjin, are subject to
Gao Yuan named those who requested to attend the meeting, obviously with the purpose of deliberately elevating their status.
In terms of the organization of the Western Expedition, there are only two major generals who have not yet appeared here: Ruan Song, deputy commander of the Bago Garrison and commander of the second town, and Xia Zhongming, the eldest son of the Bago King.
Now, it is time to explain the Western Expeditionary Army, especially its army organization and combat arrangements.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As mentioned before, the Western Expeditionary Army is divided into two groups: north and south. Among them, Ruan Song, deputy commander of the Bago Garrison Army and commander of the second town of the North Army, is appointed as the commander of the North Army.
, Xia Zhongming, the crown prince of Bago, was appointed deputy commander of the North Route Army.
The North Route Army has 12,700 people in the Second Town of the Bago Guard Army and 5,000 people in the Bago Palace Guards and the South Army, totaling about 18,000 people. It is known as the 50,000-strong army - Jinghua does not like the "so-called", but this time
The mission of the Northern Route Army was to lure the enemy, so they changed their lead.
The battle plan of the Northern Route Army is not complicated: go out via Phimusi, cross the Arakan Mountains and attack central Arakan, with the intention of cutting off the Kingdom of Arakan from the middle, forcing the main force of the Arakan Army to resist. For example, in the Arakan Army
If we plan to go there, we will hold back the enemy until the Southern Route Army captures Chittagong before making a final decision.
For example, if the Arakan Army immediately withdraws its troops and returns to support, the North Route Army will follow behind and wait for the opportunity. If the opportunity is good, it can attack alone. If the opportunity is not good, it will be prepared to cooperate with the eastward South Route Army to outflank the Arakan Army. In short, it is necessary to attack the Arakan Army in one fell swoop.
Annihilate the main force of the Arakan Army.
As the main force of this battle, the South Route Army was much stronger than the North Route Army, and they had all boarded the ship at this time. This route army was personally commanded by Gao Yuan, and the deputy commander was Liu Xin (temporarily led remotely, very soon)
Will be here soon), the chief of staff is Gao Lian.
The combat strength of our army is as follows: 12,700 people from the Gao Sigang Department of the Second Town of the Dinh Nam Garrison, 12,700 people from the Ko Siyao Department of the Third Town of the Phnom Penh Garrison, and more than 4,500 people from the First Association of the Wolf Soldiers of Nghe An Prefecture’s Huang Yingcheng Department (4,038 people in this volume,
However, his sister Huang Zhiting temporarily sent the Royal Guards stationed in Nancheng to strengthen the first battalion of cavalry and the first battalion of artillery), and temporarily added 4,500 people to the first agreement of the Cen Yun Han Division of the Third Town of the Old Port Guard Army (with temporary reinforcements from Gao Jue)
), there are approximately 4,000 people from the Cen Maoren Department of the First Association of the Second Town of the Vientiane Guard Army, about 4,000 people from the Huang Congzhe Department of the Second Association of the Third Town of the Phnom Penh Guard Army, and about 4,000 people from the Huangnan Kam Department of the First Association of the Second Town of Huang Family Langbing in Haidong Prefecture.
4,000 people. In addition, there are more than a thousand elite armed servants sent to Gao Yuan by Gao pragmatism when he went south.
As a result, the total number of the Southern Route Army was about 47,000, which was said to be 50,000. This route was more "Beijing-China" and there were almost no false reports. Their initial combat missions have been mentioned above, so they will not be repeated.
After the initial mission is over, that is, after the main force of the Arakan Army is destroyed, the Northern Route Army will stay in Arakan and wipe out the remaining forces, while the Southern Route Army will have a more difficult task, waiting for an opportunity to march westward into Bangladesh.
A military meeting is being held, and the latest intelligence has been summarized here. As the commander of this battle, Gao Yuan, although young, may be because he has been with Gao Pragmatic all year round and has seen countless famous ministers and generals, so he does not
Stage fright, talkative.
"As you all know, the Western Expedition is about to begin in full swing. As for the Northern Route Army, Commander Ruan Song is already making final arrangements before the expedition. He is just waiting for Deputy Commander Xia Zhongming to arrive quickly. Eighteen thousand soldiers are in the mountains of Myanmar.
The fighting North Army will then march north to Beimu.
If nothing unexpected happens, our "unusual movements" in Myanmar have been carefully planned by us and spread widely in Arakan. I think the Kingdom of Arakan will not turn a blind eye to this, and will soon mobilize its troops to face the enemy in the east. What do you think about the north?
Do you have any objections to the movements of the Route Army?"
The Northern Route Army was mainly engaged in containment. This plan had already been decided. If any generals had any objections, naturally they all looked calm and no one spoke.
"Very good, let's discuss the Chittagong strategy now. Chittagong is both a seaport and a river mouth port. It is not only the largest port in Arakan, but also an important port in the entire Bay of Bengal. Therefore, the Arakans have deployed heavy troops here, with five
There are about a thousand people. Fortunately, Chittagong has not suffered a major battle for many years, and our detailed surveys show that its defensive soldiers are quite slack. This is something our army can take advantage of.
According to the plan, our grand fleet will be divided into three parts: the mobile fleet patrols in the northern waters outside the port to intercept possible maritime reinforcements from the Mughal Empire’s Bengal Governorate; the main part of the grand fleet is divided into two parts: the seaport and the river, and the ship
The ship groupings are Seaport 2 and River 1. The seaport blockade and attack are mainly warships, and the river blockade and attack are mainly armed transport ships.
Gao Sigang and Gao Siyao will be responsible for the attack on the harbor. You two need to lead your troops as the main force to attack the city of Chittagong. Will you have any difficulties?"
Gao Sigang and Gao Siyao raised their heads slightly and said loudly: "No!"
"Very good." Gao Yuan nodded lightly like his father, and then continued: "Chief of Staff Gao Lian is responsible for the command and coordination of this journey. Chief of Staff, do you have any questions?"
Gao Lian pondered for a moment and said: "There is no problem at my place, but may I ask... er, Commander, where will you be at that time?"
"At that time, I will supervise the battle on the river." Gao Yuan tried his best to be as calm as when giving orders to his father, and said calmly: "You will supervise the seaport, focusing on capturing Chittagong; I will supervise the river, and I will set up formations along both sides of the river to block the collapse of the city.
It is important for the troops to flee eastward or to block possible Arakan reinforcements from the southwest to support Chittagong."
In fact, what Gao Yuan did was to hand over a task with great merit and low risk to Gao Lian, while he himself received a task with small merit and high risk.
The reason is very simple. The attack on the harbor is obviously the key to victory in this battle. However, as mentioned just now, in addition to the mobile fleet, those remaining outside the harbor to attack Chittagong are the main warships, while those armed transport ships with relatively weak combat effectiveness are
Go to the river and block the channel.
Coupled with the mobile fleet heading north to block reinforcements, this means that the main force of the Jinghua Western Expedition Fleet outside the harbor is unlikely to encounter any danger. As the commander of this area, Gao Lian is absolutely safe.
On the other hand, in terms of the river, we must first worry that the defenders in Chittagong will find that the enemy force is too powerful and they will abandon the city and flee towards the central part of Arakan - that is, to the southwest. However, to escape to the southwest, they have to cross the river, which is
Gao Yuan said he wanted to "fortify one side along both sides of the river".
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! It is said that people who are fleeing often have only two states of mind: one is to run away and find that they are facing difficulties, and their psychological defenses completely collapse, and they surrender directly or wait for death;
One is that the desire for survival breaks out, and the combat effectiveness suddenly increases, like the Chu army that is in ruins and is as invincible as the Chu army.
It can be seen that fortifying the west bank of the river is a very dangerous task in itself. However, the danger is not limited to the west bank. In fact, the pressure on the east bank may not be light either.
The Gudubdia Island on the east coast was originally occupied by the European pirate mercenaries. Because the King of Arakan was still somewhat defensive, he arranged a settlement in a city called Benskhali on the mainland not far from the island.
Three thousand defenders. This place is not far from Chittagong, only about sixty miles away. If we force the march all the way, we can reach it in about one day.
Even if the Western Expedition Fleet goes smoothly and is not discovered by the pirate mercenaries on Gudubdia Island and then notifies the Arakan land defenders, the time window for the Arakan reinforcements to rescue Chittagong will only be one day at the earliest.
If Chittagong is successfully captured within one day, that's it. If Chittagong is not captured within one day, Gaoyuan, which is blocking the Chittagong deserters and Bensk Khali's reinforcements along both sides of the river, will have to face the two sides along the east and west sides of the river.
Facing the pressure of siege.
Gao Lian is obviously very worried about this. Although the eldest young master's performance so far has been excellent, calm and stable, and his thinking is clear, but now it is only before the war, and he does not face any difficulties, let alone danger. People
It is not surprising that he can perform stably at this time.
However, once it is really on the battlefield, with guns and guns blaring and enemies on both sides, who knows whether the eldest young master can still be as calm as he is now? What if there is an emergency, let alone the eldest young master being injured?
It's too likely to happen. Even if the eldest young master was just frightened, I'm afraid Gao Lian, the chief of staff of the Western Expeditionary Army, would have to bear the consequences!
"Commander, I apologize for my objection to this arrangement. I believe that the commander, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, should supervise the attack on the harbor. This is an important task of the battle, and the commander must be personally present to encourage the soldiers to take the lead. As for blocking the enemy on the river, this is just a matter of cooperation.
, Commander He Lao is at your command, just go from your humble post!"
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PS: I was stuck on the road last night and it was already early in the morning when I got home, so I had to move yesterday's 2K to today, combine it and post it together.
