Chapter 3564
After spending three leisurely days in Beimen Port, Zheng Agui received a notice that officers at the company and battalion levels gathered at the garrison headquarters for a meeting.
Zheng Agui thought that this should be a routine combat preparation meeting before each large-scale operation, so he did not dare to neglect it and reported to the headquarters in advance.
The Beimen Port garrison headquarters is still working in a tent. If there were not guards standing at the entrance of the tent, this place would be no different from the barracks where Zheng Agui's company lives now.
A row of wooden houses built in advance by the vanguard were originally intended for use by the headquarters, but because there were many wounded among the troops arriving here, this row of wooden houses was assigned to the military doctor's office.
After the battle with the Spaniards came to an end, many troops have arrived at Beimen Port one after another. As a result, there were forty or fifty officers who came to attend the meeting today, so much so that a tent was used as the venue. There was no room to sit inside.
Battalion-level officers had front-row seats reserved in advance, while company-level officers who came late had to stand at the door of the tent and listen.
Zheng Agui said hello to the officers he knew, while looking around, wondering who would chair today's meeting.
The jurisdiction of the Luzon Region is almost all composed of large and small islands, so the garrison points are relatively scattered. In order to facilitate command and management, the garrison troops in many places are based on battalions. Independent battalions like Bangui Camp are at least There are as many as a dozen.
In this operation south to the New World, the troops mobilized by the Luzon authorities from various places were mainly battalion-level units like this.
Originally, Xiao Liang, the commander of the Luzon garrison, was going to personally command the operation. However, due to illness before the operation began, he had to hand over the command to his deputy, the commander of the Luzon Navy, Jiao Fei.
When Zheng Agui's Bangui battalion ended its combat mission and rushed to Beimen Port, it is said that the Manila fleet led by Jiao Fei was still fighting with the Spanish in the Bacchan Islands in the Maluku Sea in order to let the Spanish who had been fighting for many days Several troops were able to withdraw to Beimen Port in the south to rest.
That sea area is three thousand miles away from Beimen Port. Logically speaking, it is unlikely that Jiao Fei will rush over so quickly. Therefore, Zheng Agui guessed that either Jiao Fei will take command through the radio remote control, or other generals will be arranged to take command. These troops stationed at Beimen Port.
The answer was soon revealed. When the meeting time came, a young officer walked quickly to the stage and announced that he would serve as the commander of the Beimen Port garrison. Moreover, this person Zheng Agui is quite familiar. He is Xiao Zhengyang, the son of Xiao Liang.
The two had fought side by side on Cebu Island two years ago. At that time, Zheng Agui's team was temporarily recruited by Xiao Liang, and in the follow-up operation, they captured a big fish - Vidal, a senior Spanish official who was the governor of Cebu at the time.
It was precisely because of his temporary participation in this arrest operation that Zheng Agui received a valuable military merit and had opportunities for promotion in the future.
Last year, the Luzon Region sent meritorious personnel to Hangzhou to participate in the National Day military parade. Zheng Agui and Xiao Zhengyang were also among the troops, and they could be considered to have some personal relationships.
When the two met in Cebu Island, Xiao Zhengyang was just a captain in the Marine Corps of the South China Sea Fleet. When they met in Hangzhou last year, Xiao Zhengyang was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
When they met again at Beimen Port today, Zheng Agui noticed that the rank badge on Xiao Zhengyang's military uniform was already a colonel. Such a speed of promotion is naturally enviable. The battalion commanders participating in today's meeting have the rank of major or lieutenant colonel, and Xiao Zhengyang's military rank is even higher, and he is indeed qualified to be the commander.
Although Xiao Zhengyang's father, Xiao Liang, controls the military power of the Luzon region and will invisibly help his career in the military, most of Xiao Zhengyang's military achievements come from front-line combat, so his promotion is justifiable.
Xiao Zhengyang also noticed Zheng Agui, an old acquaintance. However, there were so many people in the venue that he could not specially greet Zheng Agui, so he just nodded slightly.
Xiao Zhengyang didn't talk nonsense. After briefly introducing himself, he ordered people to hang up a large map and began to explain the next combat mission.
The current battle between the Luzon Army and the Spanish is roughly concentrated in the area between Mindanao, Borneo, Papua and the New World.
It only looks three feet square on the map, but in fact it is about the same size as the South China Sea, which includes the Celebes Sea, Maluku Sea, Banda Sea, Seram Sea, Timor Sea and many other sea areas, including large and small There are hundreds of islands, and the largest island, Sulawesi, is even much larger than Luzon. There are countless bays on the coast of these islands where ships can hide.
The Spaniards have obviously learned the lessons of the early years and no longer tried to build strong cities to resist the Haihan army. Instead, they adopted a more flexible combat strategy. Combat troops continued to maneuver among the colonial points on various islands through armed fleets. , not facing off against the Haihan Army.
Although the Luzon Army has superior strength, it is not easy to kill several of the opponent's armed fleets in such a large range. Several attempts to eliminate the opponent at sea have failed.
After entering the truce period, Jiao Fei, who commanded the operation, also realized that he had to change his previous tactics. He no longer regarded the opponent's armed fleet as the primary target, but invested more land troops to destroy the Spanish supplies in the area one by one. point.
Using force to overcome skill is a combat plan that is very suitable for solving the current situation. But in this way, the combat cycle will inevitably be delayed longer, and it will also have an impact on the plan to develop the New World.
Therefore, Manila has given Jiao Fei a time limit to complete the clearing of this area within two months and open up the route between the Luzon Region and the New World.
"Two months may seem like a lot of time, but you have just returned from the battlefield, so you should be very aware of the environment there. It is very time-consuming to implement a clearing operation, and efficiency can only be improved by splitting up operations."
Xiao Zhengyang raised his hand and pointed at the map and said: "The area responsible for the Beimen Port garrison is mainly the Timor Sea, Savu Sea, Lesser Sunda Islands, and Aru Islands."
"The area north of the Banda Sea, including Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands, is under the responsibility of the troops led by General Jiao Fei."
Zheng Agui looked carefully at the area Xiao Zhengyang pointed out on the map, and couldn't help but feel worried in his heart.
The area that the Beimen Port garrison is responsible for is more than 3,000 miles wide from east to west. A single trip by ship takes six or seven days. During this period, there are hundreds of islands. With just a few battalions of men and horses in Beimen Port, they can really make it in two days. Can we complete the clean-up task within the one-month time limit?