Of course, Bao Yifen said: "In this regard, our navy has two plans. One is to launch a companion attack in other places to attract the attention of the Ming navy in the Pearl River Estuary and Qiongzhou area, and attract them to other places. Then we will
The navy covered the army's large-scale landing, trying to successfully land before the Ming navy could react, and rush to transport a batch of ammunition supplies."
"What's next?" Zeng Ziwen asked: "Once the Puppet Navy reacts and blocks the Qiongzhou Strait, what about the subsequent supply transportation?"
Bao Yifen said with some embarrassment at this time: "Well, the army needs to solve the difficulties on its own in the subsequent battles. This, let's just suffer from the enemy! Of course, our navy will still do its best to transport supplies for the army in the subsequent battles.
"
Hearing this, Zeng Ziwen wanted to scold her. The Emotional Navy just sent its troops to the island and ignored them. Whether there will be additional troops and ammunition in the future depends entirely on luck!
But at this time, someone else asked: "What if the Ming navy is not attracted by our accompanying attack?"
At this time, Bao Yifen said in a cautious tone: "If the Ming navy remains unmoved, then the sea-crossing fleet will be divided into two. One group of empty ships will pretend to be the main force for crossing the sea to attract the attention of the pseudo-Ming navy, and the other group will
It’s time to cross the sea and land!”
Everyone understood this plan, which was to send part of the fleet to die on their own initiative to cover the landing of another fleet.
This is simple to say, but after preparation, it represents a bloody and cruel fact, because if we really do this, we don't know how many people will die. Even if there are no army landing troops on these ships, there are many sailors.
The navy is going to sacrifice itself to cover the army's landing!
So at this time, Zeng Ziwen said: "The navy understands justice, and the army admires it!"
Li Xuan, who was sitting at the top, nodded slightly after hearing this. Bao Yifen formulated such a plan, which shows that this person still has an overall concept. He does not simply consider the navy's own interests, but considers the entire Tang Dynasty.
based on interests.
Otherwise, there would be no need for the navy to formulate such a plan!
As the meeting drew to a close, the army and navy had completed coordination and proposed the overall Qiongzhou combat policy. Li Xuan approved the plan on the spot.
The next step is to prepare troops and prepare for the sea crossing and landing campaign.
Next, the army and navy have a lot to do. The army must prepare troops for cross-sea operations, and the navy must prepare ships. When everything is ready, the final sea-crossing landing operation will begin.
And these preparations also include accompanying attacks!
Through the coordination of the navy and army, the accompanying attack location was placed on Nan'ao Island, because from a military strategic and political perspective, there are still thousands of remaining soldiers on Nan'ao Island, and Wang Yue, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, is still here. If the Tang Dynasty made a
In order to launch a massive attack on Nan'ao Island, it was naturally impossible for the navy in the Guangdong region to turn a blind eye.
After all, the Guangdong Navy is also a military force under the command of Wang Yue. Once Wang Yue gives the order, the Guangdong Navy will definitely focus on protecting Nan'ao Island.
By then, the Guangdong Navy may still have a certain fleet left in places such as the Pearl River Estuary, but I'm afraid there won't be many naval forces left in Qiongzhou Prefecture.
After all, the Guangdong navy is not infinite, and it is impossible to defend all the coastal areas of Guangdong.
In order to make a gesture of attacking Nan'ao Island, the First Mixed Regiment and other troops located in Chaozhou Prefecture searched for ships and stocked them at several docks on the seaside.
Naturally, the Ming army on Nan'ao Island quickly discovered something was wrong. As expected by the Tang Army and Navy, the Ming army on the island was extremely nervous and frequently sent out ships to patrol the sea. At the same time, they also sent speedboats to the Pearl River Estuary.
, prepare to dispatch the fleet back to defend Nan'ao Island.
After watching the time pass, Li Xuan received a report from the Fourth Army, saying that after a two-month siege, the Ming army in Jingzhou City was finally unable to resist the Fourth Army's attack.
The city was destroyed and people died.
Of course, although there are only a few simple sentences in the battle report, the entire battle of Jingzhou is not a single siege, but a series of battles.
Although Zhang Yue had already given up on Jingzhou a long time ago, he also knew that the puppet Tang rebel army on the opposite side was trying to encircle the area to bring reinforcements, but he did not give up on Jingzhou easily. On the one hand, he strictly ordered the Jingzhou defenders to defend to the death, and on the other hand, he tried to mobilize
The troops went to Jingzhou.
What are you going to Jingzhou for? It's not just to rescue Jingzhou, but to use Jingzhou City to consume the forces of the puppet Tang rebels.
Zhang Yue mobilized a lot of troops, but several attempts to enter Jingzhou failed because the strength of the Fourth Army far exceeded their expectations.
After investing more than 20,000 troops, they failed to reach Jingzhou City. Instead, they lost thousands of troops and generals. Later, Zhang Yue completely gave up on counterattack and waited for Jingzhou to fend for itself.
Under this situation, although there was no shortage of food and military pay in Jingzhou City and there was no need to worry about starvation or lack of weapons, the morale of the troops was very low and they could not stop the Fourth Army's attack.
And this was Chen Keqiao's cautious approach in order to avoid causing a large number of casualties. He did not launch a large-scale attack, but continued to conduct shelling and small-scale test attacks.
Under such torture, the defenders in the city finally couldn't hold on and collapsed completely after being besieged for two months.
After capturing Jingzhou City, it also represented the end of a series of battles between the Fourth Army and the Huguang Ming Army in Jingzhou.
If it begins when the Fourth Army enters Jingzhou, then the Fourth Army has already defeated 50,000 enemy troops, killing more than 5,000 enemy troops and taking nearly 30,000 prisoners.
In the early stage, there were three garrison brigades formed on the spot just by using these prisoners. Of course, these garrison brigades did not have official designations yet, and they were quickly disbanded. These surrendered soldiers were reorganized according to the new round of reorganization plan of the Tang Dynasty.
Reorganized.
After several months of continuous fighting, the Fourth Army also ushered in a rare time to rest and recuperate. At the same time, it was free to clear out and mobilize the remaining Ming army soldiers in Guilin Mansion.
When the war on the Fourth Army comes to an end, in fact, the Tang Dynasty's large-scale operations in the northeastern Guizhou, northeastern Guangdong, and Huguang areas have come to an end and have entered a period of rest.
After all, it is impossible for the army to continue high-intensity operations all the time. It needs time to rest and replenish soldiers and equipment. Otherwise, the troops will be exhausted in a hurry.
As for the area from Guangxi to Yunnan, because the mountain roads are difficult to navigate and there are not many strong Ming troops on the other side, Datang did not invest many troops. It has always been small-scale fights, which cannot affect the overall situation.
Under this situation, the army of the King's Division of the Tang Dynasty began to focus its main energy on reorganization, striving to completely complete the reorganization of each infantry division in September, and at the same time complete the replenishment of guns, artillery, and ammunition for the above-mentioned units.
Of course, while the main force of the army is being reorganized and replenished, the navy and part of the army are still not idle. They are preparing for the Qiongzhou Prefecture strategy.
When the troops stationed at the Pearl River Estuary reported that the activities of the Ming Navy entrenched in the Pearl River Estuary had been greatly reduced, and that there were also many fewer Ming Navy naval forces on the Qiongzhou Strait, the top military and naval officials knew it and launched the Qiongzhou Campaign.
The time has come.
In early August, the Second Mixed Regiment of the Tang Dynasty Army, specially formed for the Qiongzhou Campaign, arrived in Leizhou Prefecture and began adaptive training.
Like the first mixed regiment, this second mixed regiment was also drawn from existing units, mainly from the 1st Infantry Division and the 6th Infantry Division. This unit has one infantry battalion, one reserve battalion, and one
A grenadier corps, a shotgun corps, a cavalry corps, and a baggage battalion.
The total strength is about 1,800 people, and it is rare to have a grenadiers.
After the First Infantry Division and the Sixth Infantry Division are transferred from the above-mentioned units, they will form corresponding units to fill the gaps. This will inevitably affect the combat effectiveness of these two units in a short period of time, but the actual impact is not significant.
As the reorganization of the Tang Army continued, the Sixth Infantry Division took the lead in completing the reorganization, while the Fifth Infantry Division was also fully reorganized and had full strength. However, both units still lacked sufficient guns, especially artillery.
.
Therefore, according to the original plan, the Sixth Infantry Division was supposed to go north to Huguang at this time, but it has been delayed and continued to assist the Fifth Infantry Division in consolidating the defenses in various parts of Guangdong.
After all, the 5th Infantry Division has not yet achieved combat effectiveness, so it is difficult for it to support the defense of such a large Guangdong alone.
Currently, multiple troops are stationed in various places in Guangdong. The ones currently stationed in Lianzhou Prefecture, Leizhou Prefecture and other areas in Guangdong are the 15th Infantry Regiment, which belongs directly to the 5th Infantry Division. This is a spear with a pure cold weapon.
Regiment, in fact, the core of the regiment was adapted from the 7th garrison brigade that used to be stationed in the western part of Guangdong.
After the reduction, the unit was assigned to the 5th Infantry Division and given the new designation of the 15th Infantry Regiment.
With the preparation of each infantry division, the original designations of each regiment have also undergone certain changes. For example, the original 3rd Infantry Regiment is now renamed the 4th Infantry Regiment, because after the new reorganization, not only the organization
Reorganization and numbering will also remain unified.
Changes will be made in accordance with the principle that each division has three infantry regiments and their numbers are postponed.
As for the new 3rd Infantry Regiment, it will be reduced from the 4th Guards Brigade and will eventually be a spear regiment with pure cold weapons.
Other garrison brigades will also be downsized accordingly. Most of the garrison brigades are downsized into regiments, directly cutting half of their strength.
However, some garrison brigades are so weak that they do not even have enough troops for one regiment after downsizing. In this case, these troops will be arranged to supplement the temporary regiments, or the infantry regiments that have vacancies.
Now, except for a very few, such as the 9th garrison brigade that performs combat missions on Nan'ao Island, all other garrison brigades have been declassified. Now the selected qualified soldiers are undergoing intensive training after being downsized.
While the various divisions of the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty were reorganizing, in mid-August, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Qiongzhou Campaign officially began.