Emperor Guangwu sat in his chair, glanced at the two commanders-in-chief and the officers at the sticky pole in front of him, crossed his legs, and read the Ming army assembly report again.
"You mean, the Ming army mobilized its troops because..."
he asked thoughtfully.
Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief Li Min immediately said:
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is because Nanming is afraid of the power of our Qing Dynasty and is extremely frightened, so it has sent troops to the defense line of the Yangtze River to defend the country!"
Guangwu stared at the report and nodded slowly. After a while, he said to himself:
"Well, that's right, that's the only way it makes sense."
"The Emperor's Holy Ming!"
Guangwu hesitated for a moment, hesitating, and there was a thought lingering in his mind. He was considering whether to say it to these ministers. When he faced his ministers and minions, he had never been so hesitant in speaking. But
, this idea was indeed a bit absurd. He didn't know if saying it would make these slaves secretly laugh at him.
...That is: Isn't it possible that Nanming took the initiative to attack the Qing Dynasty?
Guangwu looked at the subservient servants and couldn't open his mouth. He hesitated several times and just said:
"Li Min."
"The slave is here."
"You can tell me the comparison of the main strengths of the Qing army and the Nanming army."
Li Min was startled:
"Your Majesty, are you the army of the Ming Dynasty that is gathering north, and the army of the Qing Dynasty that is facing me?"
"No," Guangwu waved his hand, picked up a cup of tea and drank, and said lightly, "an overall comparison of the entire army."
"Oh! Oh!" Li Min's face was sweating, and his throat was dry, "I'm so stupid! Let me think about it..."
Guangwu raised his eyes and said calmly:
"Why, you are the commander-in-chief of the army. Don't you always have these numbers in your head?"
"No, no," Li Min said in a panic, sweating like rain, "Your Majesty... these numbers are true in the slave's mind, but they are rough numbers and not precise... because the exact numbers change every day...
…”
Guangwu said impatiently:
"I don't want to be precise, just give a rough idea."
Li Min relaxed a little, and some color returned to his face. He secretly wiped his sweat, carefully recalled it, and made up some words:
"Your Majesty, there are currently nearly 700 divisions in the Qing Army... Oh, the actual number is 695, about 11 million people. Among them, the most elite ones, equipped with tanks and fully equipped with personnel, are the ones with the strongest combat effectiveness.
There are about 350 divisions... And the Nanming Army currently has only 150 divisions, about 2 million people, only one-fifth to one-sixth of our Qing Dynasty. These 130
Among the divisions, only half are equipped with tanks and are relatively elite. The remaining half are usually guarding the southwest rear areas in Guangdong, Fujian, and Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. They are only there to look after homes and hospitals, and we don't really count on them.
Those who went into battle... those who were actually deployed behind the Yangtze River defense line were the seventy or eighty divisions. In other words, the total ratio between our army and the enemy was 5.5:1, and the ratio of the elite troops was also 5:1...
"Your Majesty, this is just based on the number of people. As for equipment, the gap between the enemy and ourselves is also very big... First of all, artillery. Our Qing Army currently has about 120,000 artillery pieces of various calibers and uses. And the Nanming Army's
The total number of artillery pieces, according to the latest intelligence analysis, is about 30,000 to 35,000. Comparing our army's artillery with that of the enemy,
About 3.5:1.…Your Majesty, there are also tanks. The total number of tanks equipped by our Qing Army is about 4,000, while the Nanming Army’s tanks are only about 1,500. This is not counted, most of them are still in use.
They are all lightweight Lightning Type 1 and Type 2, with thin armor and weak firepower. They cannot be compared with our Qing Dynasty tanks..."
Guangwu nodded slowly, waited for a moment, and asked:
"Well, is there anything else?"
"there is none left."
"Where's the plane?"
"Oh, you deserve to die, slave," Li Min quickly apologized. It seemed that he was not fooled, so he had to continue, "Your Majesty... this... needless to say, Nan Ming has a little more aircraft than our Qing Dynasty. Nan Ming currently has combat aircraft.
There are about 2,500 aircraft, while our army has about 1,800 combat aircraft, which is about 70% of the Ming army..."
Guangwu nodded, turned to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and said:
"Fuxiang, are the numbers correct?"
Bai Jia-Fuxiang bowed and answered carefully:
"Back to the emperor, it's probably this ratio."
Guangwu stood up with satisfaction and walked slowly. He also knew the approximate proportion of the Ming and Qing military strength in advance, but that was a month ago. And these numbers, especially the enemy's numbers, gradually spread as the intelligence spread.
Hui is always changing. The current comparison of military power between the Ming and Qing Dynasties still makes him very satisfied. The Qing army has always had an overwhelming advantage over the Ming army.
Troop strength: Qing army 11 million - Ming army 2 million;
Artillery: 120,000 Qing army - 35,000 Ming army;
Tanks: 4,000 for the Qing Army - 1,500 for the Ming Army;
Aircraft: 1,800 for the Qing Army - 2,500 for the Ming Army.
…
Except for the slight disadvantage in the number of aircraft, all other figures form an overwhelming advantage for the Ming army. In this case, unless a group of lunatics are in power, it is absolutely impossible for Nanming to be crazy enough to attack the Qing Dynasty. Not to mention the Qing Dynasty
The population was four times that of Nanming, and the number of men was 14 times that of Nanming. This means that the Qing Dynasty had almost unlimited
In terms of war potential, even if the existing 11 million people are all used up, a second 11 million and a third 11 million can still be recruited. And Nanming's 2 million is probably close to its recruitment limit. After all,
After that, they can recruit up to 1 million more people, and they won't be able to recruit anymore. Unless they also send women to the battlefield.
Of course, the equipment and quality of the Qing army are not as good as those of the Ming army, but Guangwu still has a lot of them. Moreover, when the soldiers are counted, it is not uncommon for them to fill up and empty their pay, and even lie about their numbers. But in Guangwu's view, these situations
Basically only appears in those places
The figures for the miscellaneous divisions, garrison divisions, militia, and the Qing's regular army are basically reliable. Even if the 3 million fictitious troops are removed, the Qing army still has 8 million solid troops. Compared with the 2 million of the Ming army, it is still overwhelming.
sexual advantage.
Therefore, the only realistic explanation for the Southern Ming's troop deployment this time is that they were afraid and mobilized heavy troops to go north to guard the country to prevent the Qing Dynasty from using this as an excuse to invade the south through a large-scale exercise.
Emperor Guangwu realized that he had made a false alarm and felt a little better, and ordered:
"Continue to collect information on the movements of the Ming army, and work more carefully. If you analyze any new results, don't forget to show them to me."
"Hey! I obey your order!"
…
But what Emperor Guangwu didn't know was that in a country like the Qing Dynasty, the military and government systems were unimaginably corrupt and inefficient, and there was a deep-rooted tradition of reporting good news but not bad news. As an emperor, his own eyes were blinded.
The level is far beyond what can be imagined while sitting in the imperial palace in Beijing. Even people like Guangwu
A clear-minded emperor, even if he goes to inspect a hundred times a year, what he can see is only the tip of the iceberg. Because even if he is the dictator of this country, he will face ten million people.
A large network formed by the common interests of privileged bureaucrats. In front of this large network, even Emperor Guangwu was small.
What Emperor Guangwu didn't know was that each of the four data he heard about military strength, artillery, tanks, and aircraft while sitting in the palace was far from the reality. Among them, the total military strength was the farthest.
.
Now it can be said that on both sides of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the person who knows the true situation of the Qing army best is no one other than Shi Shigege.
The real situation is just like what Fourteen Gege analyzed last time: the Qing army did not have 700 divisions and 11 million people. In fact, it only had about 450-500 divisions and 6-7 million people. Among them, the ones with the strongest combat effectiveness were
There are more than 200 divisions with 3-4 million men. The remaining more than 3 million troops are either shabby soldiers, or just numbers on the books and temporary peasant actors.
On the contrary, the Ming Army did not only have 2 million troops. In the general mobilization stage before the Ming and Qing wars at the beginning of the year, Nanming had already recruited 2.2 million troops. After these eight months of low-key military expansion, the total strength of the Ming Army is now 2.1 million.
Each division has 3.1 million people.
The most important thing is that the Ming army is not like the Qing army. The strength of the Ming army is real, and it can be accurate to a fraction.
In addition, because the Beiqing underestimated the Ming army by 60 divisions, and the average artillery equipment level of each division of the Ming army was also greatly underestimated, the actual total number of artillery pieces of the Ming army was not 35,000, but 60,000.
Also underestimated are the tanks of the Ming Army. The number reported by Li Min to Emperor Guangwu was 1,500. In fact, this is only the approximate number of tanks of the People's Guard's 5 armored divisions and 5 mechanized infantry divisions. In addition, the Ming Army also
There are 44 motorized infantry divisions, each
The division is also equipped with 1 tank battalion and 32 tanks. In other words, in addition to about 1,500 tanks of the People's Guard, the Army Motorized Infantry Division also has about 1,500 tanks. The number of existing tanks in the Ming Army is not 1,500.
But exactly twice that: 3,000 vehicles.
As for combat aircraft, they are indeed the only item in which the Ming army has more aircraft than the Qing army. Not only are there more than the Qing army, but they are much more than the Qing army estimated. It is not 2,500, but 3,200.
If Emperor Guangwu could not be deceived, or be deceived as little as possible, he would get a completely different comparison of strength:
Troop strength: Qing army 7 million - Ming army 3.1 million;
Artillery: 120,000 Qing army - 60,000 Ming army;
Tanks: 4,000 for the Qing Army - 3,000 for the Ming Army;
Aircraft: 1,800 for the Qing Army - 3,200 for the Ming Army.
…
On September 20, the Beiqing "Century Exercise" began. The number of Qing army divisions participating in the exercise reached 120, and all the elite troops of the Qing army were involved in this exercise.
At eight o'clock in the morning, at the exercise venue in the outskirts of Beijing, Emperor Guangwu made an announcement, and 20,000 cannons fired loudly at the same time.
For a time, gunpowder smoke covered the sky and the sun was covered by the explosion, and the explosion shook the mountains. The people in Beijing could clearly feel the earth shaking. They all felt the power of the Qing Empire and the powerful power of His Majesty the Emperor.
At the same time, Daqing Radio began to provide impassioned drill explanations to the world.
This unprecedented large-scale exercise in human history will last for three months, and its geographical scope will span more than a thousand kilometers. It will "conquer" all the way from the suburbs of Beijing and finally reach the "victory point" on the north side of the Dabie Mountains. Like a dagger,
Approaching the Yangtze River defense line of Xiangfan Fortress in Nanming.
Although Emperor Guangwu had no intention of practicing a southern invasion, this series of aggressive arrangements would definitely make Nanming sleepless and extremely nervous during the past three months.
Let Nanming know how high and thick the sky is, which is one of Guangwu's purposes.
…
The tense atmosphere spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. All the media were intensely discussing the possibility of the Qing army's southern invasion. Especially in several cities along the Yangtze River defense line, the atmosphere had exceeded the level of "tension." At the end of last year, pre-war mobilization
The panic atmosphere seemed to have quietly reappeared.
At the same time, on all the north-south highways in Nanming, military vehicles lined up one after another in a long line, with no end as far as the eye could see. Behind each vehicle was an artillery piece, covered with gun jackets.
On many railways, military columns were also shuttled around the clock. Division after division and corps after corps were transferred from the southern provinces to the north and assembled on the south side of the Yangtze River defense line. Inspiring slogans were written in white paint on the military columns:
"Swear to the death to defend the Daming Mountains and Rivers!"
"The Yangtze River Defense Line is stronger because of us!"
"Protect the line of defense! Defend your wives and children! Defend your brothers and sisters!"
"Defend the home and the country! Make contributions!"
"Don't teach Huma to cross Yin Mountain!"
…
The military trains that run on the railway during the day are mainly troop carriers, and the additional ones are mainly passenger cars. But at night, there is another kind of military train that runs on the railway - all flatbed cars.
On these flatbed vehicles, under the thick canvas and fixed with steel cables, are thousands of large-depth offensive weapons: tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery...