Chapter 2889
A huge map of the South China Sea hangs on the wall of the conference room, which marks the locations of Haihan's main ports, garrison points, colonial areas and mineral deposits under development in the South China Sea.
It is not difficult to find from the map that the distance between Cam Ranh Port, Manila and Sing Tao is about 2,600 miles. The distance between Manila and Xingdao is as far as five thousand miles, diagonally across the entire South China Sea. Even with the faster Haihan sailing ship, it would take eight to ten days to complete this voyage with smooth sailing.
Due to the geographical environment, Haihan's main garrison locations in the South China Sea are far apart, which results in almost no conditions for coordinated operations among the garrison troops. Military operations in various places have always been carried out independently, and it is difficult to provide effective assistance to each other.
"A few years ago, Manila had to clean up some hostile indigenous armed forces on Luzon Island, and it needed external assistance. In the end, more than 2,000 troops were mobilized from Hong Kong in Guangdong, Kaohsiung Port in Taiwan, and Zhangzhou Port in Fujian to assist. . These are the closest ports to Manila. In comparison, Sanya and our place are too far away from Manila.”
Mu Zhennan gave an example to illustrate the long distance between major ports in the South China Sea, which is somewhat inconsistent with people's inherent understanding of the South China Sea region.
Haihan's ruling areas in the South China Sea have always seemed to be regarded as the peripheral defense area to protect Hainan Island. However, in fact, the area of this defense area is so large that it is impossible to form a joint force between various garrison points. Although navies in various places are affiliated with the South China Sea Fleet, in fact, each detachment is a relatively independent fleet with complete combat organization.
If Qian Tiandun wants to mobilize the garrison in the South China Sea to fight, he must face such an objective environment that seems to be somewhat fragmented.
Feng Annan said: "To be honest, I think Manila may not be too interested in joint operations, especially cooperation with Xingdao. The two places are too far apart. In terms of distance alone, cooperation between Manila and the East China Sea Fleet is better than Convenient to go to Malacca ”
Qian Tiandun responded: "Old Feng, you misunderstood. The coordinated action I mentioned earlier does not mean that troops from various places must be mobilized to perform combat missions in one place, but to find breakthrough directions within their respective jurisdictions. Unless they encounter an encounter It is difficult to deal with difficult situations, so it is necessary to concentrate troops in one place. ”
Feng Annan said: "Since each of us is fighting separately, how can we coordinate together?"
Qian Tiandun said: "The troops stationed in various places retain the right to command, but the combat objectives and action plans must be agreed upon together. Otherwise, how can we pass the executive committee level?"
Yan Chujie smiled and said: "I finally understand. You are planning to form a clique to put pressure on the Executive Committee!"
Although Qian Tiandun has been in the north for a long time and has limited understanding of the direction of the South China Sea, he has indeed seen through some of the shortcomings in this stable situation.
The Executive Committee focuses its development on the mainland and does not want the stability of the South China Sea region to be disrupted, so it is unwilling to provide necessary support to various overseas colonial authorities. Because various colonial authorities lacked sufficient profit motivation, they would not take the initiative to organize military operations for the purpose of external expansion.
However, several colonial areas in the South China Sea that have the ability to organize military operations are too far apart from each other and have weak interest relationships, making it difficult to form a joint force. They have always been in a state of sweeping away the troubles. Now that these issues have been put on the table, Qian Tiandun is not afraid to speak more clearly. He did not believe that these local officials who held military power were all gentle, courteous, and peace-loving people. As long as they were given suitable opportunities and allowed to see considerable expected benefits, these people would definitely take action. .
What is lacking now is the conditions for them to make up their minds.
Qian Tiandun said sternly: "The Executive Committee should give overseas colonies more power and a higher proportion of revenue, so that our country's overseas colonial operations can be profitable. In this way, in addition to officially organized operations, it can also promote Spontaneous behavior among the people.”
Yan Chujie said: "Have you tried this theory before in Sanya? You also know that the executive committee will not let go so easily."
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "I think it's because my personal influence is not big enough, so I have to recruit more people to join the team. Only when more people speak out can the executive committee pay enough attention."< br>
Yan Chujie actually knows better than Qian Tiandun whether the military leaders leading troops in the South China Sea will be tempted if the Executive Committee relaxes restrictions on overseas colonies organizing foreign military operations on their own.
The garrison environment in Annan is the most comfortable, and there have been few opportunities to come into contact with hostile forces in recent years. But this does not mean that Feng Annan is really content with the status quo and is willing to guard Annan's three-acre land and be a prince of peace.
Although the military expenditure standard of the Annan garrison is not as high as that of front-line troops such as the special operations division, it is not low. Not only does Feng Anan have an independent battalion of the Marine Corps under his command, but as far as Yan Chujie knows, the Cam Ranh Port Shipyard has never stopped building warships and has been slowly and steadily updating the combat ships of the second detachment.
If we only relied on the military expenditures allocated by the Ministry of National Defense to the Annan garrison, it would be difficult to maintain the current garrison scale and equipment update speed, so Feng Annan should have subsidized a lot of money from his own pocket. The reason that drives him to do this is probably not his intention to retire in Annan.
The level of war preparation in the direction of Manila is slightly higher than that of the Annan garrison. The local area was taken from the Spanish by Haihan through war. Although the Spanish are currently being driven further to the southern sea, they still objectively pose a certain threat to Manila. Of course, this is also one of the main reasons why the Manila authorities have been applying to the Executive Committee for military funds and weapons and equipment.
Qiu Yuan, who is in charge of the local government, and Xiao Liang, who is in charge of commanding the garrison, are not good people. Every year, on the pretext of combating piracy or wiping out Spanish colonial armed forces, it has become a local norm to pull garrison troops to the Sulu Sea south of Luzon Island for actual combat training. If we really want to start a war, the local garrison will definitely enter the state much faster than the Annan garrison.
As for Xingdao, Yan Chujie didn't need to think too hard. Roger would definitely support Qian Tiandun's plan without hesitation. As early as several years ago, the armed fleet stationed at Sing Tao had sailed westward from the Strait of Malacca many times to explore the waters of the Bay of Bengal.
Roger even made several reports to the Executive Committee, hoping that the Executive Committee would invest resources to support him in establishing a colony in the southern part of the Indian Peninsula. However, because wars broke out in many places in the north at that time, the executive committee's attention and resources were directed to the north, so Roger's suggestions have been shelved.
(End of chapter)