I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 293 The Southern Expedition Begins

Hu Zongxian was wearing a fish-scale armor, a vermilion flying fish robe, a phoenix-wing helmet, and was sitting on a chair in the stern deck, stroking his beard.

Admiral Lu Tong stood on his left, and military officer Pan Yinglong stood on his right.

In front of him stood more than a dozen naval and marine battalion commanders, led by Yu Dayou, Zhang Yuanxun, Wu Weizhong and Yang Wen. They stood in silence with serious expressions.

The sea breeze blew violently, and the flags on both sides snapped like whips lashing the air.

Hu Zongxian asked in a deep voice: "Where are we now?"

Yu Dayou replied respectfully: "In reply to the commander-in-chief, the fleet has now passed the waters of Kinmen."

"Where is the Suzaku Navy now?"

"In reply to the commander-in-chief, the Suzaku Navy is full of princely sailing ships. They are faster than us when the wind is blowing and the sails are full. Just now, the speedboat communicated with the Kinmen lighthouse through flag signals, saying that they passed Kinmen at noon yesterday. So, they should have passed Chaozhou Chaoyang or Jinghai waters by now."

"Hmm, Li Chao, the commander of the Suzaku Navy, sounds very familiar to me. Admiral Lu, who is this person?"

"Replying to the Commander-in-Chief, Li Chao is from Wenling, and is the hereditary commander of the Taizhou Garrison. He learned riding and shooting since childhood, and is knowledgeable in military strategy.

In the 1556th year of Jiajing (), he served under the command of Tan Zili, the prefect of Taizhou, and served as a thousand households in several battles. In April of the th year, more than Japanese pirates plundered Guanyu Island in Taiping County. Li Chao led his army to kill more than Japanese pirates, and the remaining Japanese retreated.

Hu Zongxian slapped the armrest of the chair with his right hand, "I remember now. Tan Zili recommended Li Chao to me because of his talent and appointed him as the commander of the defense against the Japanese. I remember that he encountered the Japanese as soon as he took office. He rode alone with a spear and charged into the Japanese camp. The Japanese were frightened and fled, and he captured a lot of them.

In March of the 40th year, Tan Zili returned to Yihuang County, Jiangxi Province, to mourn for his father. At that time, Japanese pirates were roaming around Jiangxi Province. Li Chao was afraid that Tan Zili would be killed, so he pretended to be sick and took a month's leave. He led more than 100 of his men to attack the Japanese by surprise. Tan Zili was overjoyed and grateful. He asked the governor of Jiangxi Province to approve the appointment of Nangan Guerrilla.

He is indeed a man of affection and righteousness.

I still remember that in the spring of the 42nd year of Jiajing, Li Chao followed Tan Zili into Fujian. By February of the following year, he had wiped out the Japanese nest in Pinghaiwei and relieved the siege of Xianyou City. He was promoted to Lieutenant General Jin Yan. He commanded a great victory in Tainan and was promoted to the Protector of Zhejiang Province, stationed in Dinghai.

How did you transfer to the navy and become the commander of the Suzaku navy?"

Lu Tong replied, "Commander-in-chief, in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, the Crown Prince gave instructions to build a large navy and add a land warfare camp. The navy has expanded rapidly and is short of manpower. Li Chao is from the Taizhou Guard. In addition to being skilled in archery and horse riding, he has also learned how to sail and boat since he was a child and is proficient in naval warfare.

When he was stationed in Dinghai, he served as the Dinghai Camp for a period of time. He led the army well and eliminated four pirates and the Japanese Kagoshima Division. Later, the prince's large sailing ship was incorporated into the Ming Navy to form a new navy.

However, the prince's sailing ship is completely different from the ships of the Ming Dynasty. In terms of sails, manipulation, and artillery, we need to learn from the Portuguese and the Dutch while also figuring out our own business.

The subordinates reported to the prince and approved the selection of six generals from the navy to serve as captains of the prince's sailing ship to practice operation for training. Li Chao was the most outstanding and was the most adept at commanding the prince's sailing ship. Even the Portuguese chief instructor, who had participated in many naval battles in the West and had rich combat experience, was amazed by him.

After several trial voyages, bombarding Japan, destroying the Japanese Kanto Navy, and cruising Korea, Li Chao performed very well, and was granted permission by the Crown Prince to be appointed as the commander of the Xuanwu Navy. Now it is changed to the Suzaku Navy. "

The Ming Navy was relatively independent.

Its daily training and combat command are under the jurisdiction of the North, East and South Naval Fleet Commands.

The Navy Bureau is responsible for military status, officer selection and removal, and military law and discipline.

The Navy Bureau was directly managed by Liu Tao.

He first held the title of Vice Minister of War, and was later promoted to the title of Minister of War, assisting in military affairs in the Military Affairs Supervisory Office.

Hu Zongxian also knew the rules, and apart from matters such as coastal defense strategies, he seldom asked about the affairs of the Navy Bureau.

"That's good!" Hu Zongxian said with relief, "The Annan Mo family is a clown. With the combined efforts of the Ming army and navy, we can surely destroy them.

On the contrary, the Spanish. According to the intelligence collected by the Navy Bureau from the Portuguese and the Dutch, the Spanish are the most powerful among the Western barbarians.

They have thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of naval forces, covering all the oceans. They are overbearing and domineering. Their naval forces are sharp and experienced in combat, making them very difficult to deal with.

According to my deployment, the Suzaku Navy is the main force to destroy the Spanish fleet. Li Chao is a capable general, and I know his bravery and strategy. With him leading the Suzaku Navy, I feel relieved.

Pan joins the army! "

Pan Yinglong stepped forward immediately, "Commander-in-chief, I'm here!"

"Put out the map of the South China Sea. I want to discuss military strategy with you."

"Yes!" Pan Yinglong directed two clerks from the Military Affairs Office to carry out a wooden screen frame, hang a six-foot square nautical chart on it, and place it on the stern deck. The frame made a whistling sound in the wind, and the two clerks hurriedly supported the wooden frame for fear that it would be blown down by the wind.

"The Military Affairs Supervisory Office, which is responsible for planning, has drawn up a battle strategy for my reference. This South China Sea battle has two goals: one is to destroy the Annan Mo family, and the other is to destroy the Spanish fleet, in order to repay the country's disaster and to show the power of the emperor.

According to the strategy, the Ming army and navy were divided into three routes: left, right and center. The right route was for both land and sea. On the land route, Yin Zhengmao, the governor of Guangxi, was stationed in Wuzhou Prefecture, and Liu Xian was the commander of the front line, with 35,000 cavalry and infantry under his command.

Yu Dayou asked in surprise: "Liu Weiming has been transferred back?"

"Yes. For this military operation, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince called back Liu Xian, who is familiar with the battles in Lingnan."

"That's good." Yu Dayou looked at the others and was very happy.

"Various navies have come to reinforce Lingnan. The South China Sea Navy is no longer the same as before, and its strength has more than doubled.

The commander decided to divide it into three camps: the right camp, led by Chen Lin, stationed in Qinzhou and Zhanzhou ports; the middle camp, led by Zhang Yuanxun, stationed in Xiangjiang and Qiongzhou ports; the left camp, led by Yu Dayou, stationed in Wanzhou and Yangjiang ports.

The Marine Battalion is led by Wu Weizhong and Yang Wen and stationed in Qiongzhou Prefecture. I will lead the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi and the Nanhai Xuanwei Office to station in Hong Kong. Lord Lu, as the admiral of the Nanhai Navy and the deputy envoy of the Nanhai Xuanwei, will lead the Nanhai Xuanwei Office and the Nanhai Navy to station in Qiongzhou. "

"As ordered."

"The above is the current deployment. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

Yu Dayou immediately asked, "Commander-in-Chief, the ports of Qinzhou, Yangjiang, Qiongzhou, Wanzhou, and Zhanzhou are all newly opened ports with incomplete facilities, remote locations, and limited resources. Can they provide food and fodder for tens of thousands of naval and land forces?"

Hu Zongxian turned his head and looked at Lu Tong, who answered: "After receiving the imperial edict of national war, the Navy Bureau's Construction Department immediately recruited a large number of ships and craftsmen, working day and night to build piers, docks, houses and warehouses.

The Supervisory Office sent urgent letters to the Guangdong and Fujian Provincial Governments, and also sent instructions to the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Finance, asking them to recruit thousands of merchant ships, purchase countless food, grass, clothing, and bedding, and transport them to Hong Kong Port in an endless stream.

Lu Tong walked up to the map, pointed to a spot and said, "Xiangjiang Port is on the left side of Lingdingyang, in a village called Shipai, with a small port called Fotangmen. Previously, it was mainly used to transport Wanmu spices, so the locals also called it Hong Kong.

The harbor here is wide and deep, and it is adjacent to the estuaries of the East, West, and North rivers, with an advantageous geographical location. In the 45th year of Jiajing, the Navy Bureau started a large-scale construction here to build a harbor, preparing it to be the main port of the South China Sea Navy, and named it Xiangjiang Port.

Now that the facilities are complete, all materials, whether sent south or collected locally in Guangdong, are first stored here and then distributed and transported to various places.”

Hu Zongxian added: "It is because of the superior geographical location here that it is convenient for dispatching and commanding that I have stationed the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor's Office and the Nanhai Xuanwei Envoy Office there."

The court made such good arrangements, military orders were smooth, and there were no worries about food and military equipment, so everyone felt relieved.

If it had been forty-one years before the reign of Emperor Jiajing, no one would have been sure.

All previous wars were remotely controlled by the Ministry of War.

Those officials, both big and small, who deal with practical affairs, keep saying that they can make plans and fight battles thousands of miles away, but in fact, it's bullshit. They only use maps to defend against enemies and fight with words.

They said that food and fodder should be sent before troops move, but they didn't know how to send them first, and they pushed it all to the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue didn't care whether you were going to fight or not, and everyone was busy stuffing their own pockets first.

The soldiers who fought in the front were in trouble because of the reckless command of these civilian officials. Most of their energy was not focused on fighting the enemy, but on how to deal with the big troubles coming from behind.

Since the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually took over the suppression of the Japanese pirates in the southeast, the situation has changed.

The strategic intention is told to you, the combat objectives are made clear to you, food and weapons are prepared, all kinds of intelligence are collected, and then the command of the front line is delegated to you.

If you win, you will be rewarded; if you lose, the reasons will be analyzed and whoever is responsible will be severely punished. There are rarely any scapegoats.

In this situation, you only need to concentrate on dealing with the enemy generals in front of you, and don't be too brave in the battle. They are all pirates and pirates, what great talents can they have?
If they fight with real swords and guns, the officers and soldiers will lose to them.

In the past, we always lost battles because the officers and soldiers had not only their legs tied up, but also their hands.

After a series of victories, everyone's morale was boosted, and they deeply understood that all these victories came from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"The Supervisory Office has passed down an order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Taking advantage of the South China Sea war, the Navy Bureau must reorganize the navy."

As soon as Lu Tong opened his mouth, everyone immediately put away their thoughts and listened attentively.

(End of this chapter)