Chapter 3601
They had heard about the Luzon Region's exploration and development of the New World in the South before. However, the Luzon Region has not publicly announced the specific location and development progress of this new continent, and the outside world is not very clear about this.
Li Zhencheng asked: "Mr. Xiao, how long does it take to sail to the New World in the south, and how far is it from the area where the Spanish are currently at war?"
Xiao Liangdao: "If you start from Manila Bay and destination Beimen Port, it will take about ten days one way. The Lesser Sunda Islands on the south side of the current battlefield is still about a thousand miles away from Beimen Port in the New World."
After hearing this, Li Zhencheng made a mental calculation in his mind. The one-way trip to Beimen Port is estimated to be six to seven thousand miles. It is such a remote place. Fortunately, the Luzon Region is willing to invest resources in development. In terms of materials and personnel, The transportation costs will be prohibitively high.
The most critical thing is that the two fleets need to operate separately. Even if one of them is operating in the theater closest to the New World, it will be a huge distance away. This makes it basically impossible to maintain surveillance on the Fujian fleet.
Perhaps thinking of the same situation, Xu Kaiyuan seemed extremely satisfied with this arrangement, and immediately volunteered, expressing his willingness to lead the Fujian fleet to undertake escort missions in the theater.
Qiu Yuan and Xiao Liang expected Xu Kaiyuan's enthusiasm. The Xu family has always regarded overseas battlefields as a rare opportunity to gain military glory. Now that they have sent troops, they will definitely not be satisfied with escort missions. Participating in combat is the real purpose of the Fujian fleet here.
"Then I think we might as well just decide on the task allocation. Xu Kaiyuan will lead the Fujian fleet into the war zone to perform escort missions, and Li Zhencheng will be responsible for making a trip to Beimen Port. What do you think?"
After hearing Xiao Liang's suggestion, Xu Kaiyuan agreed without hesitation. Li Zhencheng was already one step behind before taking the initiative to ask for a fight. If he fought again now, his intention would be too obvious, and he also expressed his willingness to obey the arrangement.
However, Li Zhencheng also raised an idea: "When the Taiwan fleet completes its mission and returns, can it also enter the theater to perform combat missions?"
Xiao Liang smiled and said: "It depends on the situation at the time. If the Taiwan fleet is needed, we will inform you of the specific mission through the radio."
Xiao Liang didn't say anything, but he also left some hope for Li Zhencheng.
Regardless of whether he can continue to monitor the Fujian fleet, Li Zhencheng also hopes to perform well in this expedition. Especially if Xu Kaiyuan received military honors during combat operations, he would not be able to go back empty-handed.
After a brief meeting, Li Zhencheng and Xu Kaiyuan resigned and rushed back to the fleet to formulate action plans.
Xiao Liang asked Qiu Yuan: "What do you think of these two young people?"
Qiu Yuandao: "Although it has an edge, it is a little unpolished. Letting them act independently will still have certain risks."
Xiao Liangdao: "Only by showing true ability can the Xu family have a chance to win military glory and maintain the family's political status. Xu Kaiyuan should understand this very well, so he is so proactive."
"As for Li Zhencheng... I'll arrange a place for him to improve his performance when I see him. If something goes wrong with him, it won't be easy to explain to Li Dou later."
Qiu Yuanshen nodded in agreement and said: "Li Dou has always cared about his family. Allowing his son to lead troops to Luzon also shows his trust in us. We cannot let this kid have anything happen to us." Li Zhencheng did not agree. Knowing what the two heads of Luzon thought of him, his mind was now filled with the dozen or so complicated sea charts in front of him.
Although he had roughly seen the map here before setting off from Taiwan and knew that the geographical environment here was relatively complex, the truly detailed and detailed combat maps were provided by the local Military Intelligence Bureau in Luzon after arriving here.
The charts sent by the Military Intelligence Bureau were not one or two, but dozens. It took two horse-drawn carriages just to transport the drawings, which were stored in brown paper cylinders.
These drawings include both overall views of large areas and detailed drawings of key sea areas and islands. Because there were so many drawings, the ship's conference room could not be opened at all, so we had to take out some of them for study first.
The densely packed islands and complicated waterways on the chart are enough to make those who watch dizzy.
Even if Li Zhencheng is a naval captain and has relatively rich navigation experience, he must rely on the explanations of the local combat staff to piece together the rough outline of the current battlefield from these charts.
He also understood from this why the Luzon region has been unable to deal with the Spaniards in the southern seas for so many years. To wipe out the Spaniards in such a complex environment, it would indeed be difficult for the Luzon Region alone.
What's more, in addition to annihilating the Spaniards, the Luzon Region now also has to maintain New World colonies thousands of miles away. For this reason, they did not hesitate to second a fleet from other places to escort the supply fleet, which shows that they attach great importance to the colonies in the New World.
Li Zhencheng thought that two or three days in Manila Bay was enough time, just to coordinate and communicate with the local garrison and convoy fleet, confirm the mission route, receive supplies from the logistics department, and then set off. .
But after seeing these charts with his own eyes, he realized that he actually didn't have much preparation time left for him. Even if he only used it to plan the route for this mission, he would be very nervous.
After heading south from Manila through the Celebes Sea surrounded by Borneo, Mindanao and Sulawesi, we entered the so-called "war zone".
In view of the special need for the supply fleet to avoid risks as much as possible, the Luzon Combat Command recommends not choosing the shortest route for this mission, that is, passing through the Maluku Sea, Banda Sea, and Timor Sea in the middle of the war zone. New World.
Although this route has the shortest voyage, it also carries the greatest risk of encountering the Spanish fleet. The supply fleet that was attacked before suffered a big setback on this route.
Li Zhencheng really wanted to take his troops to have a try with the Spanish fleet, but this was not the home ground of the Taiwan fleet, and he could not act against the wishes of the Luzon Combat Command, so he could only choose a ship with a longer range but lower risk. Detour route.
One is from the west side of the battlefield, passing through the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Sulawesi, then going south through the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok, and then turning southeast to the New World. Beimen Port.
Although this route is nearly half longer than the shortest route through the war zone, it is relatively safe. Moreover, the area around Lombok Island has just been cleared by Zheng Agui's company, and there are basically no Spaniards in the nearby area.
The other route is to take the eastern route, bypassing the warring sea area, and go south along the west coast of Papua Island to Beimen Port. The voyage of this line is more than a thousand miles shorter than the western line, but there are many sea areas that have not yet been cleared, and there may be certain risks.