Chapter 1318 Prepare for war
In the foreign wars launched by Haihan in the past, military expenditure has always been one of the focuses of debate between the civil and military factions. The tactics of the Haihan Army are basically formulated around guns, weapons and maritime maneuvers, which also determines that the cost of combat is very staggering. The minimum daily consumption of an army battalion-level unit during wartime is tens of thousands of yuan, and it needs to use The naval consumption of battleships is still higher than that of the army. As the saying goes, when a cannon goes off, there is ten thousand taels of gold. Although the benefits of the war are huge, the expenses are also quite staggering. The consideration of Haihan’s senior management is to avoid doing loss-making business as much as possible. The wartime military expenditures must be managed from other aspects. Only then can the income be made up.
Heyhan's practice of claiming compensation from the defeated party after the war is not new. Portugal and the Netherlands have all been victims of Heyhan's routine. Naturally, the Spanish Empire, which is also famous for its rich and powerful wealth, cannot let it go easily. Ning Qi even suggested that Tao Donglai recall Schneider from Danzhou as soon as possible and ask him to quickly formulate the payment requirements for war compensation so that he can It was time to put pressure on the Spanish as soon as the war ended.
Of course, this is actually just a joke. Haihan is indeed relatively confident about the outcome of this war, but everyone has no idea how long the war will last and which areas it will affect. The content of claims for post-war negotiations cannot yet be discussed. The Spaniards held back for such a long time before retaliating against Haihan. It must have been a long-term planning. When the two sides fight, the opponent may not be defeated in one blow under ideal conditions. If the Spanish fleet changes its target and attacks other areas along the coast of Hainan Island, the Haihan Army may not be able to achieve a watertight defense.
It has to be said that under the conscious management of the Crossing Group, Haihan's war preparation efficiency was indeed quite good. On the day that Fort Victory sent telegrams to various places, local governments and relevant departments across the island began to mobilize for war separately.
Haihan's war mobilization was planned, and each department and official in each position had a division of labor that was divided in advance. War mobilization is divided into three levels. The first is local small-scale wars. For example, almost all the wars launched by Haihan overseas in the past years are included in this category. Such wars have little impact on Haihan's homeland, and the size of the participating troops is in the thousands. , what needs to be mobilized is mainly various combat materials.
The second level is a large-scale war. So far, it is probably only the period when troops were dispatched to Annan in the early days of time travel. For Haihan at that time, it was considered a large-scale war. Although the troops invested were very limited, the Haihan army at that time was Fang had gambled all his limited wealth. At that time, all manufacturing industries in the Haihan controlled area gave priority to supplying war needs, and a large number of young people were recruited as reserves. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was a nationwide mobilization.
The third level is a major war that determines the fate of the country. If such a situation really occurs, it may not only be the troops stationed on Hainan Island that need to be mobilized. The Executive Committee may even recall troops stationed overseas. At the same time, Recruit all citizens of appropriate age, and even ask allies for assistance in defense. If the situation worsens to a certain extent, the Crossing Group may have to leave Hainan Island to find another place to stay. Of course, this hypothetical scenario is only needed to formulate a plan. So far, there seems to be no opponent in the South China Sea that can put Haihan in danger of annihilation. And as Haihan grows stronger, there is the possibility of such an extreme situation. It's also getting smaller.
The war mobilization this time is only at the first level. A foreign armed invasion of thousands of people will not disrupt the powerful Haihan Kingdom. The mobilization in most areas is mainly aimed at the garrison and the militia. , with the purpose of strengthening local defense. Only a few naval units received orders from the Ministry of National Defense to rush back to Sanya to defend the capital.
Most of Haihan's combat supplies are produced in Sanya, and since they are fighting at home, they don't have to worry too much about the supply of supplies. However, all ordnance industry departments have quietly canceled the vacation arrangements for all personnel, and will start producing combat supplies such as guns and ammunition at full capacity from now on. If necessary, in addition to the existing garrison, Sanya can also arm a reserve militia force of about 3,000 people at any time to participate in the battle. It can be said that the confidence is quite sufficient.
In terms of war mobilization capabilities, Haihan has long surpassed most countries in this era. The only obvious shortcoming is probably that the scale of the armed forces is relatively limited. Compared with real big countries, the military strength will indeed be relatively thin. This is because Haihan's current control area and total population are limited. There are only so many people of suitable age who can be recruited into the army, and the size of the standing army that can be maintained is naturally that. Secondly, the training, daily operation, and combat costs of the Haihan Army are very high. Even if the country has money, it really cannot afford to support a large army.
Two days later, all the senior members of the Executive Committee returned to Fort Victory, and everyone met again to discuss the current preparations for war.
The navy had already dispatched two reconnaissance fleets the day after receiving the news, heading east to the hinterland of the South China Sea, hoping to find traces of the Spanish fleet halfway along the way. However, during the voyage of more than 700 nautical miles, it is obviously impossible for the Spanish fleet to sail to Sanya in a straight line. Under the current technological conditions, expecting to find the opponent's fleet in the vast sea is almost the same as finding a needle in a haystack, even if you know the opponent's The approximate heading is not of much use, so I can only try my luck.
There are still a few radars on the ship that the time travelers brought here, but the executive committee believes that there is no need to go to war over this. The time travelers have to go to sea to operate it themselves, not to mention the search effect of these civilian radars on wooden sailing ships. Not necessarily that good. It would be better to let the reconnaissance fleet go out to sea to try its luck. If something is discovered, just use the ship's radio to send back a simple warning message.
The navy's armored fleets are gathering from various places to Sanya. It is expected to be completed within three to four days. Together with the locally stationed naval fleet, there will be almost two fully-equipped fleets guarding Sanya at the same time. The security level in Sanya can even be said to be the highest in history. If the Spaniards really take Sanya as their primary offensive target, then they will be kicked on the iron plate. Haihan's military deployment is not to say foolproof, but at least it is fortified at all levels, leaving no obvious opportunities for the enemy to take advantage of.
Civilian war preparations are also being steadily advanced with the cooperation of multiple departments. The leading role among them is naturally the Propaganda Department, which serves as the government's mouthpiece. After the news was released to the people in a planned and step-by-step manner, the current mood of the people is relatively stable. The citizens have a high degree of trust in the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army and believe that the pirate armed forces are not enough to threaten Sanya's coastal defense.
Most of the people who were relatively nervous were foreigners. They either had shipping businesses that would face the risk of pirate attacks, or they suspected that Haihan had other agendas. But in general, even foreign personnel do not doubt that the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army is enough to deal with the underworld armed forces who are rumored to be preparing to cause trouble in nearby waters. Almost no one is worried about security problems in Sanya. The unstable public sentiment or even social unrest that Haihan's senior officials were worried about earlier does not seem to have occurred so far. Naturally, the propaganda department has the greatest credit for this. Ning Qi has sent out all the personnel from the Propaganda Department, trying to use official power to guide public opinion. So far, the effect seems to be quite satisfactory, at least the public opinion supporting the military's action still accounts for a clear majority.
Preparations for supplies are also being carried out in an orderly manner. The supplies required for naval operations are currently in place and are expected to be loaded onto ships tomorrow. Then the two fleets will take turns patrolling the waters near Sanya to keep the enemy at bay as much as possible. In addition, the war will not be allowed to spread to Sanya.
"Everything is ready, just waiting for the Spaniards to arrive." After listening to the reports from various departments, Tao Donglai was quite satisfied with the current preparations for war. Now that Yan Chujie has rushed back, he and Johnson will each command a fleet to go to sea to challenge the Spanish fleet, leaving Sanya's coastal defense affairs to Yan Chujie.
As the scope of Haihan's control gradually expands, it is difficult for forces to directly threaten Haihan's homeland. Most of the military generals are expanding their territories overseas, and the number of senior generals staying on Hainan Island is extremely limited. Because of this, Tao Donglai finally got another opportunity to lead troops to fight.
It had been a long time since Tao Donglai had personally led an army on an expedition. This rare opportunity also made him quite excited. He had dug out all his equipment and belongings in the past two days. Although it is unlikely that individual equipment will be used when commanding a fleet at sea, he feels that he can better integrate into the role of a commander by putting on a military uniform and carrying a steel gun. After all, he usually sits in the office dealing with various government affairs, and the atmosphere on the battlefield is completely different. Unless he tries to give himself more psychological hints, he is a little worried that he will not be able to get into a good state after going into battle.
At this time, on the sea about 400 nautical miles away from Sanya, the Spanish fleet, which was not aware that its opponents had detected its whereabouts, was sailing westward according to the established route. According to the intelligence obtained by Haihan, the target of the Spanish fleet is indeed the port city of Haihan, headed by Sanya, and most of the reasons why the Spaniards did this were indeed to retaliate for the one-shot attack on Taiwan Island. hatred.
Two years ago, Haihan attacked the Taipei area under Spanish control. The Spaniards were unprepared and were driven out of the area by Haihan's army. After Haihan seized Taipei, Spain had lost the transit port on the Northeast Route, while the rival Dutch were able to maintain their stronghold on Taiwan Island. Due to Heihan's intervention, Spain inexplicably lost in the competition with the Netherlands.
After suffering this embarrassing loss, the Philippine Governor Aragones began to plan revenge against Haihan. But according to officials who fled back to Taipei, the firepower of Haihan's warships was still superior to that of his own, and the troops were well-trained, especially the artillery units, which were by no means comparable to the troops they had encountered in the Far East in the past. Aragones was a little suspicious at first that this was an excuse to shirk responsibility, but later after learning from many parties, he learned that Portugal and the Netherlands also lost their temper after fighting against the Haihan Army, and then realized that there was a problem emerging in the South China Sea. A very strong competitor. Fortunately, Haihan seemed to have no intention of expanding to the Philippine Islands. After occupying Taipei, he went straight north along the Ming Dynasty coastline. This also made Aragones feel a little relieved.
Of course, this revenge must be avenged. The Spanish Empire cannot tolerate someone stepping on its face and walking away calmly, not to mention that this damn guy is still its direct competitor in the Far East.
After having a general understanding of Haihan's situation, Aragones did not act rashly. Instead, he followed the advice of his think tanks and first sent spies to lurk in Haihan's territory to find out more military and political intelligence, so as to find out what Haihan was doing in defense. shortcomings. However, not long after the plan was implemented, the spy network that the Manila authorities had painstakingly set up in Sanya was uprooted due to an accident, which severely damaged the intelligence department. Aragones had to postpone the implementation of the retaliation operation again in order to Let the intelligence department recruit new manpower and build an intelligence network in Sanya again.
By the time the intelligence network set up by the Spaniards on Hainan Island resumes operation, it will be this year. After the fleet of large sailing ships from the Americas arrived in Manila, Aragones decided to use these armed sailing ships to attack Haihan. Because these large sailing ships needed to use ocean currents to return to the American colonies, they would have to wait until next year to come to Manila again, and he had no patience to wait another year.
Aragones did not intend to start a tug-of-war with Haihan in a place like Taipei, so his first target when formulating a revenge plan was Sanya, the capital of Haihan. According to the information available, Sanya is one of the most prosperous commercial ports in the entire South China Sea, and almost all of the few pure-blooded Haihan people who rule the Haihan Kingdom have settled in Sanya. Aragones believed that if he could break through the defense line and occupy the city in one fell swoop, and wipe out Haihan's ruling organs and high-level officials, he might have the opportunity to immediately collapse this emerging country that was less than two years old. By then, let alone the Taipei stronghold, taking advantage of the situation to annex Hainan Island may not be a delusion. Moreover, Haihan was extremely wealthy. If he captured Sanya, the profits from just looting the area would be unimaginable. Aragones simply could not resist such a temptation.
Going straight to Huanglong and occupying the heart of Haihan Kingdom was roughly the revenge plan formulated by Aragones. However, he still faces many difficulties in turning this paper plan into reality.
(End of chapter)