The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 236 How to fight if there are not enough supplies?
The officials summoned by Zhu Jianxuan quickly rushed to Wenhua Hall, including Fei Chun and Cao Zhendong who had returned from Yingtian Prefecture.

When everyone arrived at Wenhua Hall, looking at the identities of the other people around them, they knew that today's events were not simple, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince might have something important to arrange again.

However, because the Chinese New Year is coming soon, everyone subconsciously thinks that it is time to make arrangements for the Chinese New Year.

So most people come in happy and cheerful.

Everyone arrived and sat around the conference table. After Zhu Jianxuan sat down, he announced:

"In response to the request of the vassal army led by Tian Yiming, I am ready to abolish the feudal domains and set up provinces in Japan, and change the system of aboriginal rule.

"The local feudal chieftains in Japan will certainly not obey, so we must be prepared for a thunderous deterrence in advance.

“The main force in this battle is the Japanese vassal division. The battle will officially begin in the spring of next year. Everyone should prepare the logistics and supplies.

"If you have any questions or difficulties, please raise them as soon as possible. The most important thing is whether the medicine can be supplied."

The cheerful officials were stunned after hearing the opening, and then immediately became serious.

War needs to be prepared in advance, and it is not too early to plan the war for next spring.

But next spring won’t be a good time either.

Several privy councilors and generals were quite excited. There was another foreign war to be fought, which also meant that they had another chance to gain credit.

But the civil servants are a little worried.

It’s not that I’m worried or suspicious about why Zhu Jianxuan wants to invade Japan.

Now Japan is the only semi-independent country on the east coast of Shenzhou. It is only natural to control Japan after the mainland is abolished.

They were worried that there were too many wars and projects going on, and if another one was opened, the court's logistics would not be able to support it.
Grand Secretary Shen Chu first said:

"Your Highness, the supply of medicine is indeed a big problem.

"The Ming Dynasty has just finalized its plan to fully develop Africa. In the next few years, it will provide a total of 500,000 rifles to the vassal states, and will continue to supply them with the ammunition they need.

"The problem with the rifle is not that big. The Australian arsenal's production in two years is enough for the rifle to be put into service, and subsequent wear and tear and replacement are not a big problem.

"The key issue is the supply of ammunition, especially propellant.

"When opening up the sparsely populated interior of Africa, the army's ammunition consumption is relatively small when facing those low-level indigenous states.

"We can only barely supply them if we control the intensity of the battle and the speed of supplying the various vassal towns.

“Japan has a large and dense population, and its political and military capabilities are much higher than those in Africa.

“So the ammunition consumption for conquering Japan would certainly be much higher than for conquering a similar area of ​​African land.

“The amount of ammunition consumed in the entire African operation is comparable to that of Japan.

“Therefore, I suggest that Japan’s move to abolish feudal domains and establish provinces can be postponed for a while.

"Wait until we build up our industrial system in the north and Liaodong."

Zhu Jianxuan knew that what Yao Nai said made sense, but this matter could not be delayed for too long.

It would take at least three years to build the industrial system in the north and Liaodong and start large-scale production of various military supplies.
"The Japanese King Tokugawa Ieharu is dying, and doctors in Edo have determined that he will hardly survive this winter, so next spring is a very good opportunity.

"If we wait for two or three years, supplies may indeed become more abundant, but the situation in Japan will also change, and such an opportunity will be difficult to come by again.

"Now we have to find a way to squeeze out enough ammunition so that the vassal division can attack next spring and directly control the situation in Japan."

Zhu Jianxuan explained this situation, and then directly asked and confirmed the situation on the mainland:

“Nowadays, it should be easier for a large number of old military factories in Zhejiang and the south to switch to producing round-nosed bullets, right?
“It’s the bullet used in the rolled-barrel, black-powder, bolt-action rifles of the past.

“If you have really poor skills, you can just squeeze the spherical bullet into an egg shape, keeping the top round and flattening the bottom.

“I wrapped the bullet shells in tinfoil, trying to avoid lead as much as possible, and managed to use them for two years.

“There should be a large number of black powder factories in the South, and they are being arranged to be gradually closed down and eliminated, right?

“We can also let them continue production for a while.

"An 8mm rifle, loaded with black powder and pure lead bullets, is certainly less powerful, but it still has a range of at least 300 meters.

"Compared with traditional smoothbore guns, it still has cross-stage advantages in range and power." All subsequent vassal states will use both smokeless powder copper-coated lead long bullets and black powder pure lead tinfoil bullets at the same time.

“Copper-clad lead bullets are used in frontal combat by the main army, and pure lead tinfoil bullets are used for security patrols.

"In East Africa, the main task for the development of the royal family and the new vassal kings of the court is to build railways for the time being, and not to expand inland on a large scale for the time being.

“Starting from Mombasa, build a railway to the shores of the Great Lakes in East Africa.

"As the railways advanced, the pioneering forces generally slowed down their pace of expansion inland, and also reduced their early investment in personnel and weapons.

“The Japanese also used copper-clad lead normal bullets in frontal combat, and pure lead tinfoil bullets for security patrols.

“At the same time, we ask the feudal lords and all soldiers involved in Japanese operations to remember to pick up the shells and reload them.

"This should free up enough bullets for Japan's operations, right?"

After Zhu Jianxuan made these arrangements, the generals and ministers around him all reacted.

Since there are not enough genuine high-end weapons at the moment, we should just compromise a little.

In fact, in the original history, metal fixed bullets were not developed overnight.

It is the existing rolled cartridge case and pure lead round-headed tinfoil-wrapped bullet, which was gradually improved to the form commonly seen in later generations.

It is just right for Zhu Jianxuan to let the old factories in Daming produce similar intermediate products now.

This combination of rifle and bullet still has a range and accuracy advantage of at least two hundred meters compared to regular smokeless powder pointed copper-clad lead smoothbore musket bullets.

Even compared to traditional muzzle-loading rifles, it has great advantages.

Zhu Jianxuan held a meeting with his trusted ministers to discuss and determine the issue of bullet supply.

Then we began to discuss the direction of the combat operation and determine the time schedule for the operation.

After the meeting, the secretaries went back to make detailed battle plans.

The Grand Secretaries issued orders to adjust the types of bullets provided to the vassal states and notified official factories such as the Southern Investment Company to adjust their production lines as quickly as possible and increase production as much as possible.

Generals Liu Biao, Zhou Dahu and Tian Yiming received the order and immediately went to Korea.

Liu Biao and Zhou Dahu stayed in Korea and used the transfer order directly issued by Zhu Jianxuan to gather Japanese servants in the Korean region.

Liu Biao and Zhou Dahu were both among the first batch of mid-level officers of the Wu State. During the subsequent combat operations, they were promoted to commanders of the main divisions.

When transferring subordinate troops from the main force, their positions are usually upgraded.

Now the two of them will directly serve as commanders of the puppet divisions, responsible for commanding the remaining nine Japanese puppet divisions, and directly responsible for the command of the entire Japanese combat operations.

Tian Yiming followed Zhu Jianxuan's orders alone to assemble a Japanese servant division as soon as possible and set off for Edo as soon as possible.

It takes time to assemble troops, especially in the cold winter.

Tian Yiming was busy until December 25th, when he led the First Division in Japan to arrive in Japan on 20 steam sailing ships and sailed into the bay where Edo Castle was located.

The Japan Warm Current passes through the Edo Sea, so the cold winters are not long. The heavy snow this winter is actually a special case.

Now it is past the Beginning of Spring and the weather is no longer as cold as in winter.

But now the situation in Edo Castle is about to change.

Just as Qu Xian had guessed, although Tokugawa Ieharu's cold was cured by his medicine, he ultimately did not get out of bed.

Tokugawa Ieharu's hands and feet inexplicably became uncontrollable, and after he woke up he could only continue to lie in bed.

Tokugawa Ieharu himself knew at that time that he probably would not live long.

Daming's doctor did not tell him the truth.

Finally, on the day of the beginning of spring, the night of December 20th, Tokugawa Ieharu closed his eyes forever.

Tokugawa Ieharu did not survive the winter.

(End of this chapter)