In addition to being concerned about the Ming army's main offensive these days, Guangwu was most concerned about the Ming army fleet at sea. This incident was like a thorn in the back, making Guangwu unable to live in peace, eat well and sleep poorly.
On the three days of 15th, 16th and 17th, Ming Dynasty made more and more efforts to send ships to the Changshan Islands in the north. On the 11th, the first fleet only had 7 ships, on the 15th, the second fleet reached 10 ships, and on the 16th, 18
Ships, 22 ships on the 17th. Now heading north on the Yellow Sea
The ones that went back and forth from the south were all cargo ships. It used to be that Nan Ming was still secretive, fearing that others would find out. Now every time he goes to sea, there are Japanese reconnaissance planes flying overhead. It seems that Nan Ming also knows that it can't be kept secret anymore.
Just give it a go and start working openly and honestly.
With no sea control, no submarines, and only some offshore torpedo boats, Beiqing does not have much ability to break diplomatic relations at sea. Therefore, according to common sense, Nanming's normal cargo ships do not need warship escort at all. But now Nanming has compiled all "cargo ships" heading north
Forming a fleet, and then arranging warships to escort the whole journey, there is no doubt that the ship must be carrying very important "cargo". Once it is sunk, it will suffer huge losses.
What kind of "goods" will Nanming continue to transport to the Changshan Islands now, and it is extremely important, and will suffer huge losses if it is sunk?
That is - a person. A soldier.
Nanming now has the same concept as Europe and the United States in which human life is above all else. Moreover, Nanming has a population base of less than 100 million, of which only a small number are men, so it cherishes its soldiers even more. Each troop transport ship is equipped with thousands of soldiers. Once it encounters a torpedo boat
If it is attacked and sunk, thousands of lives will be lost in the sea. This is unbearable for Nanming. In other words, Nanming can accept the normal death of thousands of people on the battlefield, but cannot accept the death of thousands of people because the escort is not in place.
Thousands of people died.
Therefore, even if the secret of the troop transport may be exposed, Nanming is willing to send warships to escort it.
Guangwu was collecting intelligence on Nanming's rear every day, and also tried every means to send spies to several ports in Nanming. There is no doubt that Nanming now does not just sail from one port in Ningbo, but is scattered to multiple ports. But often
The troop transport ships all come from Ningbo
Set off. According to analysis, the troop transport ship should have arrived at sea, then rendezvoused with cargo ships departing from other ports, formed a fleet, and then headed north into the open sea, probably off the eastern coast of Zhoushan Islands, to meet up with the escorting warships.
The entire fleet began to head north.
A group of intelligence officers and staff were calculating the strength of the troops every day, calculating how many troops Nanming transported to the Changshan Islands. Because there were lurking spies from the Northern Qing Dynasty in Ningbo Port, they could see clearly every time the troops boarded the ship, so Guangwu had a clear view of each troop.
The strength of the fleet is still roughly known. By the 17th, the Beiqing headquarters calculated figures that the Nanming had successively transported 100,000 to 120,000 troops to the Changshan Islands.
100,000-120,000 troops was nothing to the Northern Qing Dynasty, but it was definitely not a small number to the Southern Ming. At this point, Guangwu believed that if Nan Ming was just trying to deceive, he would spend ten thousand troops.
Tens of thousands of troops are left idle. This is
The price is too high. If Nanming puts these hundreds of thousands of troops directly into the battlefield and in the main direction of attack, it will achieve greater results. In a certain direction of Nanming's attack, with more than 100,000 troops and less than 100,000 troops, the attack
The effect may be drastically different.
What's more, this is not just a human problem. Nanming is still sending freighters, real freighters, to the north. The water lines of these freighters are very low, and the decks are covered tightly with canvas. The reconnaissance planes can barely
It looks like some kind of equipment, vehicles or the like. Nanming has dispatched more cargo ships than troop carriers in the past few days. Think about it and you will know that hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed on those islands, eating, drinking, sleeping, and living every day.
All require the consumption of a large amount of materials.
Guangwu once doubted whether the Changshan Islands could accommodate so many people. The Changshan Islands off the coast of Liaodong cannot be seen on the national map. They have to be seen on a high-magnification map. If you want to see it in detail,
, we must use a special detailed map of the Liaodong Peninsula. With hundreds of thousands of troops on it, is there such a big area?
But the staff officer below explained it to him. The Changshan Islands may seem small, but they are composed of more than 50 islands, with a total land area of 170 square kilometers. There are more than 20 islands with permanent residents alone.
According to intelligence, there are more than 30,000 residents on the Changshan Islands, and the total number of sailors, logistics, aviation, marines, shore artillery units, and anti-aircraft artillery units of the Nanming Dongjiang Fleet totals more than 50,000.
On an island that can permanently station more than 30,000 residents and more than 50,000 troops, there is no problem in theory if two or three times more troops can be stationed in wartime.
"Two or three times..." Guangwu stared at the map on his desk with a magnifying glass and said thoughtfully, "You mean, there is at least 200,000 to 300,000 garrison potential on the Changshan Islands?"
Wu Ya-Chongshan, the deputy chief on the left side of the sticky rod, answered carefully:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty...theoretically, this should be the case."
Guangwu dropped the magnifying glass on the table, leaned back in his chair, and said irritably:
"300,000!... Now there are 100,000. If we add another 300,000, that will be 400,400. Looking at the current combat effectiveness of the Illuminating Army, 400,000 will not only capture Shandong, but they can also attack the Xuzhou Corps from behind after capturing Shandong.
, and conquer Henan as well... There are now less than 600,000 troops on the line from Xuzhou to Shangqiu... And the Shandong Peninsula... there are only a few divisions now. If we really let them conquer like this, we will have lost half the battle.
.”
Chongshan lowered his head carefully and did not interrupt.
Guangwu suddenly asked:
"Chongshan, do you think Nan Ming's troop transfer might be a scam?"
Chongshan raised his head and rolled his eyes twice, weighing what to say.
"Your Majesty... you mean..."
"I mean, is it possible that Nanming didn't transport troops to the Changshan Islands at all, and that the fleets were simply empty, just for show? So that we could transfer troops from the west to Shandong, and they could transfer troops from Zhengzhou
Cross the river and go north?"
Chongshan was sweating a little. He was sweating not because he was shocked by Guangwu's idea, but because he didn't know how to express his position. As an old spy, he had already thought of the possibility that Guangwu was thinking of now.
It's just that he never told anyone about it because he himself analyzed that it was impossible.
However, I feel that it is impossible to do it myself, but once I express this to the emperor as my own opinion, it means that I have to take responsibility. This really requires some courage. He himself thinks it is not a scam, but if it happens in the future
It proves that this is a scam, and you will never get any good results from it.
Chongshan originally wanted to be a tortoise out of habit and get over the ambiguity, but then he thought, if he was the only officer, then he would just shrink back, it would be okay. But now there is a competitor. Now the emperor has made it twice
If the leader is in charge of the sticky pole, if they are equal, it means that two people will compete with each other. What to fight for? You have to compete for performance to see who understands the holy will better and who is stronger.
If the emperor couldn't get a satisfactory answer from him and asked the boy again, and the boy gave the emperor a satisfactory answer, wouldn't he be inferior to that boy in the emperor's heart? It seems that just thinking about how to be safe is not enough.
, sometimes you have to take some risks.
Thinking of this, Chongshan boldly said:
"Your Majesty, I think this is unlikely to be a scam."
"Why?"
"Your Majesty, we have an intelligence agent in Ningbo Port. He watched tens of thousands of Ming troops get off the train and board the ship every night... Based on what he saw, there were almost 100,000 troops. According to our estimates
It’s also relatively consistent.”
Guangwu said:
"What if Nanming let our people see it on purpose? What if they put tens of thousands of soldiers on the ship and sail away every night, then sailed around the sea, then sent all the soldiers off the ship at another port, and drove the empty ship to Long Island?
Where are the mountains and islands?”
"This..." Chongshan muttered and said, "This servant has also thought of this. But... the emperor wants to transport hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the sea and then transport them back again immediately, so these hundreds of thousands of soldiers are all in the know.
There are hundreds of thousands of insiders. No matter how strictly they are ordered to keep secrets, it is impossible to keep them secret.
Keep it secret. What should we do with these hundreds of thousands of soldiers? Send them back to their original units? Then word will spread immediately. Centralize and seal them up? Then the price is too high. In order to pull off a scam, we have to self-freeze hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
, these hundreds of thousands of people cannot participate in the war, cannot be stationed in the rear, and can only be kept in isolation..."
Guangwu nodded slowly:
"Well, that makes sense."
"Your Majesty, what's more important is that if such a large force is enclosed, there must be quite a large venue and quite a lot of living facilities. A large amount of materials must be transported in and out every day. There must be hordes of people every day.
When a car goes in... it's like adding a small city out of thin air, and it's impossible for our intelligence network in Nanming to be unaware of it."
"Well, that makes sense," Guangwu nodded frequently, "That's a good analysis."
Chongshan was very happy. He felt that he had finally defeated Youshi Chang.
…
At this time, another official from the sticky pole department came outside and asked to see Guangwu. When Xuan came in, it was one of Chongshan's adjutants.
After meeting with Guangwu and Chongshan, the adjutant presented two pieces of intelligence he had just received.
One is Japanese intelligence: This morning (18th), a reconnaissance plane discovered a huge Nanming fleet in the Yellow Sea! The core of the fleet is: the battleship Changping, the battleship Yanping, the aircraft carrier Tianji, and the aircraft carrier Tianquan
, the Han signal heavy cruiser, the Yue Fei heavy cruiser, the Xu Da light cruiser, and the Yu Chun light cruiser. Escorting these 8 large ships are 20 destroyers.
Now, this terrifying fleet is heading north at a high speed of 22 knots!
Guangwu's head suddenly buzzed.
He didn't have much reaction, handed the information to Chongshan, and then picked up the second information to read.
This is a secret telegram sent back by the Qing Empire's ambassador to the United States. The ambassador accidentally discovered this matter when he was buying newspapers in Washington.
A week ago, a trading company in Nanming made purchases in the United States. The order was for 100,000 camping tents and 300,000 moisture-proof sleeping bags. This large order was placed to six camping supplies companies. In the state where one of the companies is located, there is a Jew
The group sued the camping supplies company, saying it violated the Neutrality Act by selling military equipment to belligerents at war.
Because the Neutrality Act, which was extended in February 1936, stipulates: "In the event of war between two or more foreign countries or in the course of a war, the President shall declare the matter, and thereafter any arms shall be transferred from any place in the United States or its possessions."
, it is illegal to transport ammunition and military equipment to the ports of belligerent countries, or to neutral countries for transshipment to belligerent countries."
Of course, this camping supplies company was unwilling to give up such a large order, so it defended itself, saying that what I sold was camping supplies, not military equipment. But the lawyer of the Jewish group bluntly said that this was pretending to be confused. Now the Ming Empire
They are at war with the Qing Empire, and none of them would buy hundreds of thousands of tents and sleeping bags for fun. These are obviously used for the army to camp in the field. If this is not "military equipment", what does it belong to?
As a result, the state court ruled that the company violated the Neutrality Act and was prohibited from doing the transaction.
Then the incident was reported in the newspapers. But at that time, the incident was not a big deal and had not received national attention. The ambassador of the Northern Qing Dynasty in Washington did not know about it yet. But what happened next was extraordinary. This case
Recently, similar Jewish groups came out to sue these companies in the three states where the other five camping supplies companies were located, claiming that they violated the neutrality law and sold military equipment to belligerent countries.
Because Nan Ming had good relations with Nazi Germany, the Jews also hated Nan Ming.
The Anglo-American legal system attaches great importance to previous precedents, and as long as they don't act stupid, no one will think that Nan Ming really bought it as "camping supplies." So the courts in three states ruled against the camping company.
Of course, these six camping companies were unwilling to give up such a large order, so they joined forces and appealed to the federal court. As a result, the matter became a hot topic across the country. Major newspapers also reported on it. So the Ambassador of the Northern Qing Dynasty in Washington
Got it too.
…
Envoys from various countries generally have two identities. One is a diplomat, and the other is an intelligence officer. They all have very strong intelligence qualities.
The Beiqing Ambassador to the United States analyzed that this incident should be a signal that Nanming intends to start large-scale arms purchases in the United States. Because Nanming’s textile production capacity is among the best in the world. 100,000 tents and 300,000 sleeping bags are not enough.
As for importing to the United States, this should be Nan Ming's attempt to ask for directions. He wanted to use this kind of "between" method first.
Let’s try something between “Military Equipment” and “Camping Supplies” to see how well the United States implements the Neutrality Act. If the purchase is successful this time, the next time it may be to purchase other larger and more sensitive things. Such a step
The gradual “boiling a frog in warm water” allowed the United States to gradually tolerate it, and finally it was able to purchase large quantities of armaments without restraint.
The ambassador analyzed that this means that it is very likely that Nan Ming's ambitions towards the Qing Dynasty are not the slightest, but that they really intend to fight a comprehensive and long-term war and really want to completely destroy the Qing Dynasty. Compared with the Qing Dynasty, Nan Ming has the biggest
The disadvantage is that it has relatively insufficient war potential. But Nan Ming is very rich. If Nan Ming can purchase in the United States unimpeded, it will be equivalent to using the United States' nearly unlimited industrial capacity for its own use, making the United States an arsenal to support Nan Ming's war.
.
Fortunately, Nan Ming's first attempt failed. However, because the federal court has not yet made a ruling, the ambassador said that we should not take it lightly.
Why? Because although state courts in several states have upheld the Neutrality Act, the current Neutrality Act only stipulates that sales cannot be made to belligerent countries, but does not prohibit civil war. Moreover, the Neutrality Act
》 gives the power to determine "whether it is a belligerent country" to the President of the United States. In other words, like the current situation between the Qing Dynasty and the Nanming Dynasty, although the US state courts have determined that two independent countries are at war, they have not specifically determined whether they are two independent countries.
As an independent country, in such contentious situations, the president has the final say.
And Roosevelt just became president in 1933. This is his last year, and the election is coming early next year. He definitely wants to be re-elected. Most American people are on the side of Nan Ming, and if Nan Ming can really make purchases in the United States, he will definitely
It can stimulate the recovery of the U.S. economy after the Great Depression and create many job opportunities. If Roosevelt wants to win votes, there is no better opportunity than this.
But conversely, the Qing Dynasty did not have no chance. The United States has the strongest laws, and as long as the laws are dead, the president can only stare blankly. The Qing Dynasty and Nanming both have seats in the League of Nations, which is the most powerful legal basis.
If the federal court can uphold this article and determine that the Ming and Qing Dynasties were two warring countries, then there is nothing the president can do.
But Nan Ming will definitely say: This is our civil war, and we are not a belligerent country. Beiqing also admits this. If you don’t believe it, ask Beiqing.
…
The ambassador vaguely reminded that if such a situation occurs, the emperor should consider how to respond.
…
Guangwu took these two pieces of information and fell into deep melancholy.
Needless to say, the first one is that the Grand Fleet has moved north, and landing should be imminent. The Nanming landing will definitely rely heavily on sea and air superiority. Nanming is on the Yellow Sea. There are already two aircraft carriers cruising, bombing along the Jinpu Railway. Now the other two are
The four aircraft carriers of Nanming have all moved north. The aircraft of these four aircraft carriers, plus the original aircraft of the Dongjiang Fleet, will be a formidable air force.
There are also two battleships, two heavy cruisers, and two light cruisers. Together, these firepower will far exceed the shore defense artillery of any port in the Shandong Peninsula, including the two military ports of Weihai and Qingdao.
But no matter what, the first problem is always expected. The method to deal with it is also very simple: just move troops into Shandong.
The real melancholy is the second question. Nanming went to the US military to purchase weapons.
...This is not only a question of whether the United States should be sold to Nanming, but also involves a very sensitive issue of "status." Traditionally, neither the Qing Dynasty nor the Nanming Dynasty recognized the other party as a legitimate government, and both insisted that they
It is the only legal government. No matter how the two sides fight, they insist that it is a civil war.
But now that the Qing Dynasty has admitted that it is a civil war, Nan Ming can smoothly purchase in the United States. Not only can it buy so-called "military equipment", but also weapons and ammunition can be purchased directly. This means that the entire American arsenal has opened its door to Nan Ming.
Buy whatever you want.
On the other hand, if the Qing Dynasty did not recognize that it was a civil war, it would be equivalent to recognizing that Nanming was a legitimate government, and it would be slapping itself in the mouth.