Chapter 2951
"Good news, good news! A great victory for our army! The Luzon Region sent troops southward, fought thousands of miles, won consecutive battles, and conquered several cities in the Western Emirates!"
The newsboy excitedly waved the newspaper in his hand and shouted to passers-by. After hearing this, many people stopped and took out money from their wallets to buy a newspaper and read the latest battle report published on it.
It has been more than a month since the Executive Committee announced the military plan for the South China Sea. Just when people were speculating on when the Haihan Army would take action, the first battle report finally arrived.
Although everyone could predict that the Haihan Army would win as always, as soon as the news came out, everyone couldn't help but buy a newspaper and read it carefully. Even the lower Liba people who are not very illiterate will find a teahouse to sit in after work and buy a cup of the cheapest tea. Mr. Shu will explain the latest news published in the newspaper.
The two newspapers, Haihan Times and Sanya Express, are showing off their own talents. They both want to use this rare subject to write articles and increase the circulation of the newspapers.
As a state media, Haihan Times has reliable official news channels, and most of the war reports published are first-hand information provided by the Ministry of National Defense. The Ministry of National Defense also intends to let Haihan Times increase its coverage of this military operation in order to build momentum for the upcoming winter recruitment.
Therefore, the battle report published by Haihan Times contains some very specific information, such as where and on which month the Haihan Army attacked, the duration of the battle, the number of enemies killed and captured, etc., allowing viewers to understand the frontline very intuitively. War situation.
Sanya Express, on the other hand, spent a lot of money to compete with its old enemy. Not only did it plan a series of reports on this military operation early, but it also sent reporters to major garrison bases in the South China Sea at all costs to follow the troops. Collect information nearby and publish it, and then send it to the newspaper by telegram to ensure the timeliness of the news.
The reporting strategy of Sanya Express is very clear, which is to highlight the characteristics that Haihan Times does not have. You have information on the progress of the operation provided by the military, and I have front-line interviews with reporters; you report on the macro battle situation, and I write about personal deeds.
In this way, the battle reports of the two newspapers can be considered to have their own characteristics, and the sales volume are quite good. And this kind of competition also provides the outside world with more information channels to understand the war in the South China Sea.
At this time, the Su family and his son from the Dutch Embassy were studying the latest battle reports published in these two newspapers.
More than a month ago, both newspapers published commemorative reports on the 21st anniversary of the Battle of Victory Port in Haixi. At that time, Su Keyi had already realized that this was a propaganda pavement for Haihan's plan to use force in the South China Sea, and wrote a special report Ask his son Su Yongshan to send a clipper back to Batavia.
Su Keyi originally expected that it would take several months for Haihan to mobilize troops, but he did not expect that the Luzon Region would implement it so quickly and had already begun to attack the Spanish colonies in the direction of the Philippine Islands.
While the father and son were reading the battle report, they compared it with the map of the South China Sea spread out on the table to look for the locations mentioned in the battle report. Although they had never been to the Philippine Islands, with the map as a reference, they could roughly understand the progress of the Haihan Army's operations.
"Father, judging from these battle reports, the child infers that the first phase of the Haihan Army's action is to clear out all Spanish settlements within a radius of a thousand miles south of Manila." After Su Yongshan studied the map, Finally came to a conclusion. Su Keyi asked: "Do you know why it is in this range?"
Su Yongshan replied uncertainly: "This may be because the Haihan Army launches multiple attacks, which can only ensure that military operations within this range can receive reliable logistical support."
Su Keyi nodded slightly and said: "You are right. The Haihan Army fights fiercely, but its shortcomings are also very obvious, that is, it relies heavily on logistics. Once supplies are interrupted, the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army will also plummet. This is also One of the main reasons why Haihan only occupied the coast in the Ming Dynasty and did not go deep into the interior. ”
Su Yongshan said: "According to this, the Haihan Army must first convert these occupied areas into transit supply points before continuing to launch an offensive southward."
Su Keyi said: "This process may be much faster than you think. I don't think the Haihan Army will spend too much time in these settlements."
Su Yongshan asked: "Didn't you analyze last time that once Haihan takes action against the Spanish, he will no longer just sweep the settlements as before, but will implement a long-term occupation. If you want to do this, it will only be to attack the Spanish." Immigration to the local area will take about one or two years, right?”
"You have to look at this issue based on the information revealed in the battle report." Su Keyi patiently analyzed it to his son: "You see it is stated here that not only the regular troops of the Fourth Army Division and the South China Sea Fleet participated in this military operation , and there are also many militia forces under the jurisdiction of the Luzon Region.”
"What does this mean?" Su Keyi looked at his son and said: "With the capabilities of the Haihan Army, the regular army is enough to defeat the local Spanish armed forces. Why do they need to invest a large number of militiamen? Do the Haihan people think that the military expenditure is too much to use up? I think the only reason to mobilize the militia is that a large number of armed personnel are needed to complete the long-term occupation of the conquered area, so that the regular army can free up its hands and feet to continue the offensive.”
"Furthermore, the battle report also mentioned that after completing a short rest, each participating force will engage in the next step of action. I don't think this is an empty threat. This time the Spaniards may not be able to get away with it like they did in previous years. .”
Su Yongshan said: "But I think something is strange. The Luzon Region has not carried out many military operations in recent years, and they are often just a show. They go to the south for an armed parade and then go back. This time, they are so active, even What’s the point of being dispatched before Qian Tiandun’s special forces division?”
Su Keyi said: "My father never thought about this. Logically speaking, the Haihan Executive Committee transferred Qian Tiandun and the special warfare division to the South China Sea to let them serve as the main force in military operations, but the Luzon Region did not I’m ahead of the curve, I don’t know what the secret is.”
The Su family and his son never expected that the Luzon Region would take action so quickly. They mainly wanted to grab the jackpot, increase their influence, and prepare for the next step of upgrading equipment, expanding the size of the armed forces and expanding the military budget. Otherwise, if the special operations division were to take the lead on the west side of the South China Sea, it would not be so easy to get the headlines on the newspaper.
One of the reasons for dispatching the militia is to free up the main battle force to continue advancing southward. One of the reasons is to grab more progress as quickly as possible and keep more of the domestic attention in the direction of the Philippine Islands. Of course, as outsiders, it would be difficult for the Su family and his son to detect these small calculations.
(End of chapter)