Episode 77 The Victory and Failure of the Exercise
Episode 77 Victory or Failure in the Exercise
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that the "rumors" from the outside world were indeed correct. The guise of this exercise was to assume that the Qing army would return south and the Ming army would fight back, but the real assumption was that the Ming army would march north to attack the Qing army.
In addition, he also knew that the so-called "rumors from the outside world" were not "popular". The exercise only lasted for two days, and it was mainly mobile warfare in the vast countryside. Although many villagers and citizens noticed that there was something wrong in these two days.
For such a military action, one could probably guess that it was an exercise, but that was all. During the two days, a small number of fast-responsive media sent reporters by car to search and interview, but the exercise area was too large, especially the Blue Army, which was too elusive.
Now, there are only a few journalists who can be found on the battlefield.
Even these reporters only took some battlefield photos, wrote some personal speculations, and interviewed a few soldiers when the officers were not paying attention. That was all. Until the end of the exercise last night, the press only knew about this exercise.
The fragments are incomplete, and the scale, area, etc. of the exercise are still unclear.
It was only this morning when the press swarmed to interview various departments of the Army that more complete information was obtained, including what the assumptions of the exercise were, etc. Where did the "outside rumors" come from? It was just the newspaper's own speculation and the excuse "the outside world"
It's just a "rumor". If we hadn't taken the initiative to hold a press conference, you wouldn't even have a "rumor".
But Xiang Xiaoqiang has long since learned not to offend these uncrowned kings. When they say “rumored”, just say “rumored.” He thought twice and said with a smile:
"Maybe it's the arrangement of the two parties in this exercise that makes everyone a little confused. For example, why is it obviously that the Red Army, representing the Qing Army, is the defender, while the Blue Army, which is assumed to be the Ming Army, is the attacker."
Having said this, he looked around at the reporters. The reporters carried cameras and notebooks to record his words, and then looked up at him. Many people nodded slightly, indicating that they had this problem.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was slightly satisfied. He had successfully led the question of whether this "rumour" was true or false. That would be easy to handle. All he had to do next was to explain the "why", avoiding the need to speak in person.
Tell lies.
He knew that one day the Ming Dynasty would really launch its Northern Expedition to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and at that time, everyone would understand the true purpose of this exercise. As an important public figure, Xiang Xiaoqiang, whether for national security reasons or not, would personally speak to the media and
If the people of Ming Dynasty tell lies, it will always be a stain.
He continued:
"The Manchu and Qing Army is known as the 'Thousand Division Army', but so far it does not have even a semi-motorized infantry division. In the Ming Army, semi-motorized army divisions are already very common. As for the proportion, this involves military
I'm sorry I can't tell you the secret. But I can tell you that our army's semi-motorized combat units are very common and can form a strong deterrent. In addition, there are also a small number of fully motorized infantry divisions, mechanized infantry divisions and
Armored divisions. These are things that the Qing army did not have.
"This determines that on a vast battlefield, although the numerical advantage will be on the Qing army's side, the mobility advantage will be on our side. If we consider that the Qing army has just crossed the Yangtze River and headed south, there are not enough vehicles to transport various baggage.
If they are in the state of light infantry, their mobility will be even worse. Therefore, during the exercise, the numbers and mobility of the red and blue sides were roughly based on this ratio. As a result, everyone saw that the blue army controlled the battlefield.
The Red Army has no right of maneuver and acts like a defender."
A second reporter asked:
"I am a reporter from Jinling Business Daily. I would like to ask Marshal Zhang Zhaoxian, as the chief planner of this exercise, what do you think of the Army's disastrous defeat at the hands of the People's Guard and such a disproportionate defeat?"
When Zhang Zhaoxian, Tang Yunsheng and Xiang Xiaoqiang heard this question, they all looked at each other and understood that this kind of question would definitely appear at the press conference. The best way for newspapers to gain attention is to say that the Red Army was defeated by the Blue Army.
The army suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the People's Guard.
Xiang Xiaoqiang glanced at Tang Yunsheng with some worry, fearing that this old man was small-minded and had something in his heart. If he was provoked by the reporter's words again, the estrangement would be broken. But Tang Yunsheng's expression did not seem to mean that, and he smiled slightly,
He picked up the tea cup and took a sip.
Zhang Zhaoxian smiled and said:
"First of all, let me correct it. It was not that the Army was defeated by the People's Guard, but that the Red Army was defeated by the Blue Army. The Blue Army was composed of one division each of the People's Guard and the Army. Each of these two divisions annihilated the number of Red Army divisions.
, are equal. And considering that the Second Blue Division is only a motorized infantry division, its combat results are equal to those of the Blue First Division, an armored division, which shows that our Ming army not only has strong combat effectiveness of the People's Guard, but also has strong combat effectiveness of ordinary army divisions. The Blue Army
It won not because half of it was the People's Guard, but because it adopted advanced new tactics.
"I would also like to remind everyone that this exercise is experimental in nature and is more technical than political. What is the test? It is mainly to test new tactics and test whether it can be done short-term while having full air control and maneuverability.
In a short period of time, less can defeat more. Before planning this exercise, Tang Shuai and I, as well as some other generals, discussed this military issue. We were all very interested and felt that it was very important to our defense and security. Everyone was here
I thought, if the Qing invaders invaded the south again, would we be able to greatly reduce casualties by adopting this tactics? Can we use our strengths and avoid weaknesses, and win more with less?
"Shuai Tang, Commander Xiang, and I all believe that the new method of warfare is very superior and should have great power. But to what extent is it superior and how powerful is it? This needs to be tested in detail. So, we asked His Majesty to make plans.
This actual military exercise was said to be experimental in nature and without political overtones, but after all, assumptions still have to be made, that is, someone must play the role of the Ming army, and someone must play the Qing army. Although Tang Shuai is also very
I am optimistic about the new tactics, but in order to make the "experiment" more rigorous and more able to withstand scrutiny, I asked him to personally conduct it and serve as the commander-in-chief of the Red Army.
"But you just asked why the red side lost so miserably. You know, the red side has no air superiority or land maneuvering rights at all. Before the exercise, we didn't pay much attention to these 'two rights'. We paid more attention to them.
It's time to compare the strength of the two sides. But after this exercise, we know that without these 'two powers', not to mention three times the strength, but ten times the strength, in layman's terms, we still can't use it and can only be beaten passively. This is also
The purpose of our exercise. From this point of view, Tang Shuai has not failed, and the Army has not failed. They, like all the officers and soldiers participating in the exercise, are winners."
Xiang Xiaoqiang listened to the old man Zhang Zhaoxian's words and was really convinced by him. The old man's official accent was smooth and beautiful.
What happened? Xiang Xiaoqiang breathed a sigh of relief at this time and looked over at Tang Yunsheng. Tang Yunsheng happened to be looking towards him as well. The two of them smiled slightly and seemed much more relaxed.