After becoming his disciple and formally forming a "one party" with the army and the headquarters, Xiang Xiaoqiang asked with a smile:
"Ming Gong, may I ask what 'mystery' Ming Gong thinks about the student's troop ratio?"
Zhang Zhao first held the piece of paper for troop allocation, stared into Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes, and said with a smile:
"Xiao Xiang, tell me honestly, does this kind of troop deployment assume that our army will cross the Yangtze River and take the initiative to attack the Qing army?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't show off, and smiled honestly:
"Ming Gong saw this little thought of the students at a glance. Yes, this troop ratio is exactly what the students would do if they assumed that our army would go north to regain lost territory and take the initiative to attack the Qing army. Ming Gong felt..."
Zhang Zhaoxian smiled and said:
"Does Xiaoxiang have a cousin? I will call you by my cousin to make you feel closer."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was happy and said quickly:
"Students have a nickname: stand tall, stand straight, stand tall, and stand tall. It is a gift from your majesty."
"Oh? A gift from His Majesty?"
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng both looked at each other and immediately smiled:
"The word "hao", "hao", echoes the word "Xiaoqiang", which is very suitable."
Tang Yunsheng also smiled and said:
"Your Majesty's knowledge is truly worthy of its reputation."
After the two of them flattered Zhu Yourong in front of Xiang Xiaoqiang, Zhang Zhao first looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang and said solemnly:
"Come to think of it, the hypothetical exercise of going north to attack the Qing army was just a whim and a novelty on your part, or did you really have this idea?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang also solemnly said:
"Students really have this idea."
Zhang Zhao stared at his eyes for a while and then said slowly:
"How long have you had this idea?"
"Students have had this ambition since they were very young."
"..."
Zhang Zhao first slowly pulled his face down and leaned on the sofa. He was obviously not satisfied with this kind of official talk.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sweated, knowing that he was a bit glib. Old man Zhang obviously didn't like glib. He quickly said again:
"Ming Gong, it's like this... Although the students have been determined to drive out the Qing captives and restore the Ming Dynasty since they were very young, but... they really have this clear idea when they serve as the commander of the People's Guard and truly become the leader of the army.
After the general."
Zhang Zhao nodded first and his face softened a little. This statement seemed to him credible.
Xiang Xiaoqiang said again:
"In the Battle of Pukou a few months ago, students led an army to attack Pukou and witnessed hundreds of thousands of Qing troops rushing to surrender to our army... and also saw the corrupt local Manchu government transforming itself into an official in order to make money.
As kidnappers, the townspeople who did not give them bribes could not escape and had to be bombed alive... At that time, the students really saw the feasibility of defeating the Qing captives and regaining the north.
"Ming Gong, you were sitting in the headquarters at that time, strategizing and controlling the overall situation, and were not on the scene. But if you were there at that time, you would be as shocked as I was... The Qing army poured out of the town like a tide and rushed towards our army...
…At that time, we had only crossed a small part of the river. The brothers were terrified and fired with machine guns...But the Qing troops still rushed over desperately...In the end, they were surrounded by dozens of times the Qing troops.
These Qing troops all rushed forward and surrendered...
"When we continue to attack Pukou Town, we often encounter thousands of Qing troops. Thousands of people run towards us and surrender to our companies and platoons...Ming Gong, you can't imagine how far they have gone.
... They held up all white things: white sheets, white bandages, white shirts, white cotton in the quilt, white paper... All the white things were robbed, and there was even a group of Qing soldiers who used all their strength to eat.
The son carried half of the floor slab and moved towards us step by step... just because one side of the floor slab was painted with white plaster...
"Ming Gong, you also know that opposite Pukou is Nanjing, and Qing Emperor Guangwu is determined to capture Nanjing in the New Year. The Qing troops he deployed in Pukou must be elite. Except for the Eight Banners Division, most of them are Han troops
The elite of the New Han Army, even those used as cannon fodder, are the more capable parts of the Old Han Army... However, it is these elites of the Qing Army who are rushing to surrender to us...
"When the hundreds of thousands of prisoners were sitting on the river bank in darkness, our brothers who were staying on the river bank were very scared. At that time, our large troops were either on the other side of Pukou, or they had already attacked inward.
There were only a few thousand people guarding the prisoners by the river. Even if the hundreds of thousands of Qing soldiers had surrendered their guns, if they had gone back on their word and planned to resist, the thousands of us would have died without a burial place. But not only did they
They didn't seem to want to resist, but instead sat together laughing and chatting, looking very happy. Later we found out that their only worry at the time was that we would not take them back to Daming and abandon them on the North Bank..."
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng listened carefully and fell into deep thought. They were both commanding the overall situation in the Purple Mountain Fortress at the time. Later, when they heard the battle report, they only knew the process and results, but did not know so many details.
Xiang Xiaoqiang took a deep breath and said seriously:
"Ming Gong, Tang Gong, if we are facing this kind of enemy who has no intention of fighting, if our motherland is occupied by such a hopeless government, then what reason do we have for not fighting back? What's the reason for us not to fight back?
How could it fail?"
…
Zhang Zhao first leaned on the sofa and thought deeply, then said after a while:
"Well, have you told His Majesty about this idea?"
"Said."
"What's your Majesty's reaction?"
"Your Majesty... ahem," Xiang Xiaoqiang thought for a few seconds and decided to sell Zhu Yourong, "Your Majesty... uh, he cried."
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng looked at each other in confusion.
"...Your Majesty is crying?...It's because..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed and whispered:
"Because of excitement. Your Majesty also wants to see the lost ground be recovered while she is in power... This is why Your Majesty came to observe the exercise."
Zhang Zhao thought deeply and nodded.
Tang Yunsheng looked at Zhang Zhao and said nothing, then asked:
"Well, let's make a hypothesis... Don't you have this idea? Then how long do you think your idea... can be put into practice."
"Fighting against the Qing?"
"right."
Xiang Xiaoqiang thought about it for a moment. In fact, he didn't need to think about it, because he had already thought about this issue countless times. Being in deep contemplation now was just to express his solemnity, not to say it casually.
"The attack will begin within one to two years," he said, "and the war will end within three to five years."
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng looked at each other again without any expression. Tang Yunsheng asked again:
"When you say 'end the war', you mean...?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang gestured with his hands on the coffee table:
“Students boldly imagined that there might be two big possibilities for ending the war... One is: one of our troops attacks north from the Yangtze River defense line, and the other troops land from Shandong, and go south from there, the two forces form a pincer.
Offensive, form a strategic encirclement of the Qing army in between, and then quickly divide, defeat, and eliminate them. Then continue to attack north. In this way, the ideal result is that the final front line is stabilized on the Yellow River-Qinling line. In this way, it is equivalent to our
This generation has regained half of the lost ground.
"In the past, we relied on the Yangtze River to the east, but now it has become the Yellow River. In the past, we relied on the Daba Mountains in the west, but now it is the Qinling Mountains. To the east, we occupy the richest and most productive area in the north; to the west, we occupy the richest and most productive area in the north;
On the front, we occupy the higher and more dangerous natural barrier - the Qinling Mountains. Before, our Sichuan Basin could not be used as a strategic rear area, but now the frontier has moved north to the Qinling Mountains. The Sichuan Basin, the land of abundance, has officially become a fertile strategic rear area. And beyond the Qinling Mountains, the land of abundance has officially become a fertile strategic rear area.
The land of Guanzhong in the north, Shaanxi, has officially opened its door to us. If our generation is destined to be unable to regain the entire territory, then we can create an ideal strategic situation for the next generation.
"Of course, another possibility is to wipe out the Qing captives and regain the entire territory in this war. This possibility is relatively optimistic, and students don't dare to think about it yet."
…
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng listened quietly and pondered. From time to time, they looked at each other and then at Xiaoqiang.
From Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, the two marshals heard that the young man in front of them was very realistic and not the kind of person who was arrogant and ambitious. Zhang Zhaoxian originally heard Xiang Xiaoqiang talk about regaining the lost territory in Jiangbei, and thought he planned to regain the entire territory.
Well. Now it seems that his plan is just to capture a few hundred kilometers to the north and then stop. If the Qing army is really as vulnerable as he said, and air superiority is really such a cure-all, then...
It's not unrealistic.
Zhang Zhaoxian asked this time personally:
"Excuse me, why do you think it would be better to launch a war within one to two years?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"Ming Gong, this is what the students think. At present, we have just finished a war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties. A large number of troops have been on the front line and have seen blood. Moreover, the country has not yet lifted the wartime economic system. We and the Qing rebels are still
We are in a certain arms race. At this time, we are stepping up preparations for war. The Qing Dynasty will not easily think of us attacking. But it is conceivable that in a few years, we will inevitably restore a peaceful economic system.
"If we mobilize again at a certain period in the future, say ten years later, the Qing captives will definitely know exactly what we want to do. Besides, by that time, our group of people will not be in the Ming army.
And there will be a group of new recruits who have never seen blood and have no actual combat experience. By that time, it will probably be all peaceful again, and no one will want to fight.
"There is another important reason, Ming Gong, our air superiority over the Qing Dynasty can only be maintained for a few years at most. Emperor Guangwu of the Qing Dynasty is ambitious and has seen the gap between the aviation industry and us, and is now working hard to achieve the localization of all aircraft.
Ming Gong, this won’t take a few years. We are now in an era of technological change. Many new weapons and new tactics have just appeared. Some countries still have them, and some don’t; some countries do, and some do.
Countries don’t; some countries take it seriously, some don’t…
"If in five years or ten years, everyone will have it, understand it, and pay attention to it. In that way, the advantages given to us by the times will be filled up. Isn't this the case with every technological innovation in history?
?First, one country has it, but other countries don't. This first country can take the opportunity to rise and become strong for a while... But after a few years or decades, everyone has it. So, the strength of each country is reshuffled, and everyone has it.
On the same starting line.
"Ming Gong, Tang Gong, the current situation is that we have it, but the Qing Dynasty does not; we know it, but the Qing Dynasty does not; we value it, but the Qing Dynasty does not... This is a good opportunity that has not been seen in more than two hundred years... We
If we do not seize this opportunity to attack the north and regain the lost territory, then we may really have to wait for several generations. Now the north and the south have been divided for more than two hundred years. If they are divided for more than a hundred years,
Then it will really become two countries."
…
Zhang Zhaoxian and Tang Yunsheng listened to Xiang Xiaoqiang's words and pondered.
After a while, Zhang Zhao leaned over, patted Xiang Xiaoqiang on the shoulder, and said:
"Come on, let's not talk about it now. Go back and prepare for the drill. We will discuss it after the drill is over... We will consider your words, and we will use the results of this drill as an important reference. Do you understand?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt exhausted, leaned on the sofa, smiled, and murmured:
"Thank you Ming Gong...Tang Gong...student...understand..."