unclear

Chapter 1322 Eastern Expedition 8
"...The astronaut and Tan Mingming are both blind. Mr. Du underestimates the heroes of the world. When formulating the battle plan, he should have sought the opinions of generals at all levels.

Fortunately, you took it out, otherwise, I don't know how many soldiers would have died in a foreign country. Regardless of whether this method works or not, Du would like to thank the commander-in-chief of Sai for his righteousness on behalf of the army officers and soldiers! "

Du Wenhuan read slowly at first, then faster and faster, and finished reading only a few pages in less than ten minutes. Then he straightened his uniform with a serious face and saluted Settle.

What was written in the notebook was not a logbook, but a not-too-complicated battle plan. It only described the strategic development direction for the next period of time from the perspective of utilizing the local ethnic groups, and specifically mentioned the names of the ethnic group leaders, the approximate activity areas, and the characteristics and tendencies.

But it was this very one-sided yet specific plan that made Du Wenhuan more confident about the prospects of this war.

The General Staff and the Army Staff had not thought about the issues of post-war appeasement and management beforehand, but they did not have much relevant information on hand and could only deduce based on similar combat cases.

To put it nicely, this is called inference, to put it bluntly, it is just empty talk. Sometimes it is closer to the truth, and sometimes it is far from it. It is purely a matter of luck.

Now this problem has been solved, at least partially. The cause was just a plan of less than 10,000 words, written by a naval commander who was not involved in the landing operation.

If the Army General Staff and the General Staff had thought more about the operational plan and consulted more than just the senior officers, they would have seen this earlier and could have formulated a more detailed and feasible plan based on this.

The emperor would have to wait for him to judge what went wrong, but he could immediately come to a conclusion on whether to adopt this plan and make adjustments to the plans of the General Staff and the Army Staff.

"No, no... This method was just something I came up with on a whim during the voyage, and its effectiveness has not yet been verified. I would like to use the port of Guayaquil as an example. Even if it is ineffective, it will not affect the progress of the other combat targets. What do you think, Governor?"

Before Du Wenhuan made his statement, Settle had already prepared himself for rejection. Compared with the navy, the army's combat methods and ideas are obviously different. The biggest feature is that it follows a plan step by step and will not easily take risks.

This is easy to understand. No matter how big the changes are on land, they are limited. It is not like the sea, which changes at any time. As long as it is carefully considered beforehand, there will usually not be too much difference. In this environment, when a large army fights, a small move will affect the whole body, so it is often better not to change.

Moreover, Du Wenhuan was the commander-in-chief of the army and must have participated in the formulation of the battle plan. Changing the plan was tantamount to slapping him in the face and accusing him of not doing his job well. It was already very magnanimous of him not to turn hostile.

But the effect was unexpectedly good, Du Wenhuan not only read the plan carefully but also agreed with it. This made Settle both excited and nervous, fearing that his interference would ruin the overall battle plan, so he quickly retreated.

"Guayaquil... it doesn't seem to be listed here! Can you tell me in detail why you chose this place as the pilot?"

Although Du Wenhuan is almost 60 years old, his memory is still good. He immediately realized that there was something wrong with the location proposed by Settle. None of the possible ethnic leaders listed in the notebook were here. "It's like this. Guayaquil is not only a port with many suitable landing sites, but it is also the location of the largest shipyard on the west coast of America except for the Port of Acapulco. Stabilizing it as soon as possible can make it an important fulcrum for subsequent material transportation and storage.

In addition, Guayaquil is a port with many businessmen. His Majesty said that businessmen are the easiest group to cooperate with. As long as they can see the tangible benefits, any obstacles can be overcome and any risks are willing to be taken.

Then there are the local indigenous peoples who have the worst relationship with the Spanish. It is said that when the Spanish landed here, they killed many indigenous peoples, and the means were not very glorious. After more than a hundred years, some tribes are still difficult to return to their original intentions, and riots of varying degrees often occur.

Finally, there is one more important point. The port of Guayaquil is located in the river. The river flows slowly, the river is very wide, and it is divided into two branches, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend. If we take this place, we will basically cut off the sea route between Lima and Panama.

Without the advantage of ships, it would be difficult for the Spanish to launch a large-scale attack from land even if they sent reinforcements. The terrain here is very similar to northern Myanmar, with high mountains and dense forests, almost no roads, and very inconvenient transportation. "

Settle did not include this part in the plan, mainly because it would be useless to include it. The army commander was in command in person, and it was unlikely that he would listen to the advice of a mid-level naval officer to temporarily change the battle plan. Writing too much would make him look arrogant.

"...Can we move to Mr. Du's cabin and convene a staff meeting for a combat meeting? Some things are not enough to just talk about in general terms, they require precise calculations!" Du Wenhuan listened very carefully and was quite satisfied with the content, but he was not satisfied. He looked around and couldn't find a suitable map.

He wanted to ask the guard to go to the cabin to get it, but he felt it was inappropriate to talk about this on the deck facing the sea breeze, so he simply asked Settle to attend the army's combat meeting. With the help of the staff, he looked at military maps of different scales and figured out all the problems in one go.

"Please come in, Governor!" At this moment, Settle wanted to say to God that he was so lucky. It was a blessing to meet such a broad-minded and peaceful senior.

I even felt that it was more comfortable than fighting with the emperor. He was very wise and often gave me fresh insights. But he was too venomous and his aura was too strong. I was confused by his criticism every day and I didn't dare to talk back. It hurt my self-esteem.

Compared with a year ago, the Galapagos Islands are much busier, especially Island 4 to the east of the main island. There are no more giant tortoises on the beach in the south, but engineers and laborers wearing Ming Dynasty navy uniforms.

After basically destroying the Spanish control of the sea in the eastern Pacific, the General Staff began a detailed exploration of the Galapagos Islands, with the main purpose of finding water sources. Eventually, a spring was discovered on Island No. 4 and a well was drilled.

With water, there was a basis for long-term garrison. After the main part of Pearl Harbor was completed, some craftsmen and engineers were secretly sent to Island No. 4 to build a small dock and supporting military facilities in the bay on the south side, and arranged for two Qin-class battleships and two communication ships to be stationed there permanently.

There are many places in the Galapagos Islands that are suitable for large sailing ships to anchor, especially the bay on the west side of the main island, where hundreds of warships can be anchored easily. However, the coastal water depth is not deep enough and there is a lack of groundwater, making it unsuitable for long-term garrisoning.

(End of this chapter)