Chapter 2931
The northern and southern ends of the Philippine archipelago are two large islands, Luzon and Mindanao respectively. The central Visayas region, which is the primary target of the Manila authorities this time, has a more complex geographical environment, consisting of seven large islands and hundreds of islands. Made up of small islands, Cebu is just one of the regional capitals established by the Spanish colonial authorities.
The Spaniards have been operating in the Visayas for a century. There are many large and small colonial areas, and some villages and towns are even located deep into the inland areas. If we had to clear them one by one, it might take two or three years to clear them all.
Precisely because cleanup operations are time-consuming and laborious, the measures taken by the Manila authorities in this area in the past were often just a mere formality. The Haihan Army took port towns as its main target, captured some Spanish immigrants who had not had time to escape, and then voluntarily evacuated after destroying the ships and port facilities. Although it had a certain effect, it did not prevent the Spanish from making a comeback.
Therefore, in the action plan formulated by the General Staff this time, traditional military strike methods will no longer be the purpose of the operation, and will be replaced by military occupation. In order to shorten the operation time as much as possible and not leave room for the opponent to hide in this area, the navy will attack in multiple ways at the same time and carry out simultaneous attacks on multiple targets.
"We plan to divide the fleet into four lines, deploy in parallel from west to east, and carry out simultaneous attacks on the colonial ports on Panay Island, Masbate Island, Samar Island, and Leyte Island respectively."
Feng Xingbang pointed out the planned attack target location on the map while explaining: "After occupying the main ports of these islands, we arranged for the reserve army to be stationed there, and the main force continued to move south to attack Negros Island, Cebu Island, and Bulgaria. Wajima launched the next round of offensive.”
"The navy wants to divide its troops into four directions. Can the offensive be synchronized?" Haru Gongfa asked. However, the target of his question was not Feng Xingbang, but Jiao Fei, the combat commander of the fourth detachment of the South China Sea Fleet.
Jiao Fei, like Yu Tiezhu, commander of the Fourth Army Division, was one of the officers who stayed after the Battle of Manila. In the past, he was one of the front-line commanders in the operations against the Spanish colonies in the south. Therefore, Jiao Fei must know more about the situation in the Visayas than young officers like Feng Xingbang.
The combat plan formulated by the staff department sounds good, but whether it can be implemented in place has to be judged by Jiao Fei, who serves as the operations commander.
Jiao Fei responded solemnly: "As long as the time of action is determined, it is not difficult to launch attacks on these targets simultaneously. The Spanish ports basically do not have decent shore defense firepower, and there is no armed fleet protection. It will be difficult for us to carry out landing operations. Not big. But it is not up to our navy to decide whether the attack and suppression after the landing can be carried out smoothly.”
Jiao Fei said a few words and kicked the ball to Army. However, this does not mean that he shirks his responsibility. The navy is only responsible for transportation and attacking ports, and of course the army should complete the operations on the shore.
Yu Tiezhu said: "These settlements vary in size. Some are just seaside towns that have been established recently and have no local armed forces at all. But some places that have been in business for a long time have relatively strong fortresses, so how long will it take?" It cannot be said that the time can be taken. Of course, I guarantee that the Fourth Lu Division will do its best and will not exceed the time limit of the combat plan. "
Feng Xingbang said: "In the combat plan, we set a time limit of forty-eight hours for each location where landing operations are required. If there are no accidents, I believe that our troops will be enough to complete the task of capturing the local area during this period. Of course, on the second day Among the targets of this round of offensive, even if we successfully defeat places with a relatively large population like Cebu, it may take more time to control the situation.”
Fang Peng of the Military Intelligence Bureau has previously said that the permanent population of Cebu may be around 10,000 people. Controlling the local situation after the war is indeed not as simple as stationing an army. And judging from past situations, local people will inevitably flee inland to avoid the war after the war. How to gather these fleeing people and bring them under Haihan's rule will also be a big problem. Xiao Liangdao: "The occupation of the Visayas will be regarded as the completion of the first phase of the mission. I hope to complete this goal within this year, and then launch the offensive against Mindanao early next year."
Qiu Yuan asked: "When will the west be launched?"
Xiao Liangdao: "Considering the addition of special operations divisions, I think they will spend much longer time preparing and coordinating than we do. Maybe we have defeated the Visayas here, but the other side has not yet started. ”
Harugong also responded: "Qian Tiandun is a practical man, but Annan and Xingdao have always been fiercely contested. Who will lead the westward expansion plan, probably no one will obey the other. When they decide the master, This time, we may have started to report our merits to the Ministry of Defense.”
Feng Xingbang couldn't help but look a little embarrassed. His father, Feng Annan, was the commander of the Annan garrison. If those people on the west side of the South China Sea really started to quarrel over the competition for credit, Feng Annan would definitely be involved.
However, when these big shots discussed this topic in front of him, they obviously did not treat him as an outsider.
Although the combat plan and preparations are far from perfect, Qiu Yuan and others are still full of confidence in seizing the opportunity. After the meeting held in the Cavite base, Qiu Yuan immediately signed a war mobilization order in the name of the Luzon Region Management Committee. Luzon Island and all surrounding areas under the jurisdiction of Haihan entered from that day on. Wartime control state.
All ships heading to the southern Philippine Islands were temporarily detained to prevent leaks. Several businesses in Manila were suddenly seized by the authorities, and a group of people said to be doing business with Spain were secretly arrested by the Ministry of Security.
Of course, the Ministry of Security did not just notice the existence of these people at this time. They just kept these information channels open to paralyze the Spaniards in the south. But when it came time to take action, it was natural to cut off these intelligence channels as soon as possible and not give the Spaniards time to react.
Settlements across Luzon Island have received official notifications, and local militia and police have all been temporarily integrated into the local security forces to take over the functions of the garrison.
The troops stationed in various places have been mobilized to the Cavite base in advance for various reasons such as training and defense changes. Many troops transferred from other places have been assigned combat missions by the command department before they even have time to conduct joint training.
(End of chapter)