Chapter 2988
When the cannon goes off, there is a thousand taels of gold. The process of fighting is a constant burning of money. It can be said without hesitation that the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army is based on huge military expenditures.
It is precisely because of the huge investment that the Haihan Army is able to far surpass the armies of its contemporaries in all aspects such as food, clothing, weapons and equipment, and logistical support, thus possessing extraordinary strength.
Since the mobilization of troops stationed in various places for training before the war began, the Luzon Region has already begun to pay for this operation. Since the army set off from the Cavite base in Manila Bay, the average daily military expenditure during the sea march has been more than 100,000 yuan. After entering combat mode, this number will even double.
It has been almost two months since the war began, and the front line has been pushed thousands of miles south of Luzon Island. The goals set before the war have basically been achieved, and the capacity of the Manila authorities is about to reach its upper limit.
So far, the cost of this operation has exceeded 5 million yuan, which is almost the same as the Luzon Region's entire year's fiscal revenue.
In terms of material supply, although the Luzon region's self-produced and self-sold food is fully sufficient to supply the needs of the war, the weapons and ammunition consumed during this period are about to overwhelm the local arsenal. And replenishing these combat supplies is not a task that can be completed in a short time.
Whether it is military expenditure or material consumption, it is an extremely heavy burden for the Luzon region. If the war continues, it is likely to have to bear additional liabilities for this war.
Moreover, during this battle, the number of casualties was indeed not small, and all participating troops also needed to rest and recuperate as soon as possible to replenish soldiers and combat supplies.
From Xiao Liang's point of view, of course he would like to push the battle line further south to the Celebes Sea and drive the Spaniards south of the equator, but the reality is that such a goal cannot be achieved.
He must end this round of offensive as soon as possible, and then seize the time to digest the newly occupied areas, so that maybe next year he can launch a new round of offensive and continue to attack Mindanao southward.
That is the largest island in the Philippine archipelago second only to Luzon Island. It is larger than the seven large islands occupied this time combined, and is almost equivalent to three Hainan Islands. As long as Mindanao is eaten, it means that Haihan has completed its control of the Philippine Islands.
By then, the Luzon Region will also have more sufficient reasons to apply to the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense for military expansion and upgrades.
Of course, all long-term plans must be based on achieving complete victory in the current stage. The most urgent task now is to wipe out the remaining Spanish forces on Cebu Island that are still capable of causing rebellion.
"According to the information we currently have, there are about two to three thousand militants on Cebu Island. Most of them are hiding in the mountains and forests in the middle of the island. A certain amount of troops must be invested to carry out the clearing operation. We are currently taking the measures The main measures are to cut off these people’s connection with urban Cebu, so that they cannot obtain supplies and intelligence.”
Yu Tiezhu explained the battle situation to Xiao Liang while pointing out possible hiding places on the map.
The map uses red markers to mark a densely packed number of locations in the center of Cebu Island, as many as twenty or thirty. These are temporary locations based on information provided by prisoners of war, but these are basically unconfirmed. It is difficult to carry out encirclement and suppression in these camps set up in the wild. The Fourth Army Division has limited troops and does not have so many troops to send to the mountains for field battles. Therefore, it has been stationary for many days, guarding the city and waiting for the Spaniards to fall into their trap.
Although this wait-and-see method also eliminated some guys who couldn't bear loneliness, it obviously couldn't completely eliminate those enemies who were still hiding in the mountains and forests, waiting for opportunities.
This time, Xiao Liang brought a battalion of reinforcements, which could make the local clearing operation more proactive.
The day after Xiao Liang and his troops arrived in Cebu, officers of the garrison at company level or above received orders to hold a war preparation meeting at the headquarters in the city.
The headquarters is located in the former residence of the Spanish colonial governor. Although not a single bit of the gold and silver in this place has been left, fortunately, the place is large enough to accommodate various offices of the division headquarters. The chapel attached to the mansion was also converted into a war conference room.
Yu Tiezhu explained the combat plan to the officers. The first target is a mountain valley more than ten miles away from Cebu City. Although it looks very close on the map, because there are mountains between the two places, the actual journey is much longer than the straight-line distance, and it is expected to take at least one day of marching.
"There is a river in this valley, so the water source is very abundant. It is said that the Spanish also cultivated a large area of farmland there, which can meet part of their food needs. Half of the Spanish temporary settlements we currently know are Surrounding this valley and destroying this place is equivalent to destroying the enemy's important food source."
"After completing the clearing operations in this place, we will march westward along the river in the valley. As you can see, there are many lakes along the basin of this river, and the Spaniards built many camps along the lakes. .The Marine Corps will march towards this area from the west coast of Cebu Island and attack the enemies hiding here together with the Eastern Route Army!”
After explaining the general combat plan, Yu Tiezhu explained the difficulties: "First, the enemy may use his familiarity with the environment to continuously launch sneak attacks and surprise attacks. Second, the combat area is far away from the base camp. During the combat, Material supplies and logistical support must be stable.”
The next meeting is to assign combat tasks to each army. This operation will invest two infantry battalions on the east road, while the west road will be mainly Marine Corps, with a total of about 1,500 troops.
The next day, the vanguard unit responsible for forward reconnaissance set off secretly and entered the mountains and forests on the west side of Cebu City.
The Bangui Battalion, which is responsible for guarding the city, also deployed a company to participate in the operation. The team led by Zheng Agui was "lucky" to be transferred to the participating troops because of their bravery in previous battles and repeated military exploits.
The batch of combat supplies brought by Xiao Liang came in handy at this time. All combatants received more combat supplies than before, and the amount of ammunition distributed almost quadrupled. Of course, this is also taking into account the special environment of this combat operation to reduce the combatants' dependence on logistical supplies as much as possible.
Originally, each team participating in the war was also issued a grenade, but no one, including Zheng Agui himself, had received training in the use of grenades. They were not entitled to this special benefit, so they could only watch it covetously. Other teams received new weapons.
(End of chapter)