Shi Diwen walked slowly to the huge map hanging on the wall, thinking about whether there was anything that needed to be strengthened in the current combat plan.
According to his previous agreement with Chen Yixin, the East China Sea Region and the Northern Region will send troops at the same time to open battlefields in Shuntian Prefecture in North China and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions respectively.
Although the Fuguang area in the south is not included in their joint troop dispatch plan, if the situation develops to the point of war, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably have to mobilize all its troops to deal with the main battlefield. I believe that its counterparts in the south will not miss this easy way to expand their territory. opportunity.
In view of the strength gap between the two armies, the suspense of this battle is not the outcome, but how much meat Haihan can take this opportunity to cut off Daming.
As for whether this war will become a war to destroy the Ming Dynasty, Shi Diwen does not have such big ambitions.
Even though Shi Diwen was extremely confident of the final victory, he did not think that he could accomplish all his efforts in one battle and rely on this round of war to destroy the Ming Dynasty.
The depth of the Ming Dynasty's territory was too great, and it was still an insurmountable obstacle for the Haihan Army, which relied heavily on logistical supplies. Moreover, with Haihan's current military strength, it is still difficult to completely occupy the vast hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.
Chen Yixin, who was standing side by side with him, was also staring at the map on the wall, but wherever he looked, he was a little surprised by Shi Diwen.
"If we mobilize troops here in Ming Dynasty, the actions of the special warfare division in the South China Sea will probably be greatly affected by this."
Hearing the concerns expressed by Chen Yixin, Shi Diwen responded: "There are loud voices from the South China Sea asking the Executive Committee to provide support, but in my opinion there are still some elements of performance. While constantly crying out, we continue to advance the front. , this is what they are good at! ”
Shi Diwen knew that Chen Yixin was worried about Qian Tiandun. After all, he and Qian Tiandun had a master-disciple relationship. His ability to become the consul of the Northern Region and even join the executive committee had a great influence on Qian Tiandun's years of support. relationship.
Qian Tiandun's purpose in going to the South China Sea was to use troops abroad, and he did not hesitate to abandon the foundation of his business in the north for many years. But if Haihan goes to war with Ming Dynasty, resources will be given priority to the battlefields on the mainland, and military operations in the South China Sea will inevitably be affected.
The main driving force behind Haihan's recent heated internal and external disputes over its development direction are several military leaders in the South China Sea. As a military leader, Shi Diwen would not speak out against these colleagues, but as the governor of the East China Sea Region, he was of course more willing to exert force in the direction of the Ming Dynasty.
As soon as the Hangzhou assassination incident came out, it was the perfect reason to start a war, and the effect was a hundred times better than those propaganda methods in the South China Sea. Shi Diwen advocated military means to retaliate against the Ming Dynasty, and soon won the support of the Executive Committee.
But he did not think that the military operations in the South China Sea would stop here. After all, there were almost zero local opponents who could compete with Haihan, and Spain, the only relatively capable country, was driven to the corner of the map.
Elite troops like special operations divisions only need to deal with some unformed indigenous armed forces. Isn't that easy? Facing an enemy of this level, Shi Diwen was convinced that they were fully capable of pushing all the way, and there should be no need for the Executive Committee to give them special care.
Chen Yixin sighed and said: "It would be nice if Brother Qian could wait a year or two more in the north... He should not be absent from such a major battle as the attack on the capital."
Only then did Shi Diwen understand where his heart was, and said with a smile: "Old Qian is such a free and easy person, do you think he would care about this? Besides, even if he did not participate in the battle to attack the capital, how could his military exploits be less? After he mentioned this, Chen Yixin felt relieved and said with a smile: "Brother Qian used to say that success does not have to be mine, success must be mine. That's probably what he meant. ! ”
While Haihan is secretly preparing for war, other activities are still being arranged in full swing. Among them, the one that has attracted the most attention from the outside world is the military exercise used by Haihan to demonstrate the performance of weapons.
The organization of this military exercise is naturally the responsibility of the Donghai Garrison, as the landlord. The training ground was located in an abandoned residence of a thousand households in Yuhang County, west of Hangzhou.
The Ming army troops who defended Hangzhou were once stationed here, but the building has fallen into disrepair and has long since lost its former glory. After Haihan took over Yuhang, he felt that the place had little value for repairs, so he simply abandoned it.
Such a place was chosen as a military exercise venue, firstly, because it is far away from populated areas, so the exercise will not disturb the people; secondly, the abandoned station here is actually a small fortress, which can be used as an attack target. Demonstrate weapon performance.
This military exercise was not open to the public. A temporary military restricted area was set up two miles outside the exercise ground. Only Haihan internal personnel and invited foreign envoys could attend the exercise.
The number of foreign envoys invited this time was much larger than those who attended the previous arms sales conference. Almost all foreign envoys who came to Hangzhou to participate in the National Day celebration received invitation letters from Haihan.
The only exception is Yue Shizong, the Ming envoy who is still regarded as a "hostile figure".
Although Yue Shizong's travel ban has been lifted and Haihan allowed him to leave Hangzhou, he still chose to stay, firstly to avoid returning to China at this time and taking the blame, and secondly, to try his best to mediate through diplomatic means to prevent Haihan from using troops against the Ming Dynasty.
However, he soon discovered that his sense of existence seemed to have suddenly dropped to an almost transparent level. No matter which yamen he went to visit Haihan, he was refused admission. Those Haihan officials who had interacted with him in the past now regarded him as a stranger. People are not accepted at all.
Even when he visits envoys from other countries, he will still be rejected. Everyone gave him a wide berth, and it seemed that no country was willing to get involved in the dispute between Ming Dynasty and Haihan.
Haihan's refusal to communicate made Yue Shizong even more anxious. Senior officials of the Executive Committee have previously expressed their attitude to him. If this matter cannot be properly resolved, the two countries will have to resolve their differences on the battlefield.
The so-called proper solution is to put forward several harsh conditions that are basically impossible for Ming Dynasty to accept.
Yue Shizong realized that the relationship between the two countries had slipped to the brink of war, but the court was probably not aware of this risk. He had written several memorials in succession and ordered them to be sent to the capital at an 800-mile speed.
But even so, it may still not be able to keep up with the pace of Shanghai and Han. In particular, Haihan invited envoys from various countries to visit the military exercise, but he ignored the invitation of Ming Dynasty, which made Yue Shizong even more frightened.
He had already thought of the worst possibility, which was that Haihan would declare war against Ming Dynasty to the envoys of various countries after the military exercise. Troops participating in military exercises will also go directly to the battlefield.