Episode 120 The Army Wants to Win Quickly, the Navy Wants to Win
Episode 120: The Army is greedy for quick victory, while the Navy wants to gain credit
On the evening of the 7th, the senior officers’ restaurant of Purple Mountain Fortress.
This restaurant is commonly known as the "General Hall". It's not that only generals can come in to dine, but this restaurant is of a higher standard than the large restaurants outside. The food is more exquisite and sophisticated, so you need to pay for it yourself, and the price is also more expensive. Therefore,
Generally, only high-ranking officers, such as generals and colonels, go to patronize it. And ordinary large restaurants are
It's free, and the food is good, but not that particular, so generally lieutenants and non-commissioned officers eat in the large dining hall. If lower-level officers and soldiers are willing to spend more, they can also sit down and order in the "General Hall". But that's it.
It's not worthwhile to come, and secondly, it's really uncomfortable to be surrounded by senior officers who are n levels higher than you.
There are no uncomfortable hard and fast rules. Such a simple "price threshold" naturally separates senior generals from junior officers. This is also the proud design of the director of the fortress canteen. However, there are many exceptions, such as the personal wear of many generals.
Adjutants and secretaries also often "follow the leader to benefit" and go to the "General Hall" to eat together, and the leader pays the bill. For example, Xiu Xiu, Qiu Qiu and Hu Jiong.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is much better at showing off than those old men. He often eats in large restaurants. As the youngest general, he has no qualifications and has the need to show off and be friendly.
But today he went to a high-end restaurant to take a photo first.
There was soft music playing in the quiet and elegant small restaurant. Well-dressed generals and marshals sat at the dining table in twos and threes, chatting in low voices. Waiters in white uniforms carried dinner plates and occasionally shuttled between them, presenting dishes and wine.
Xiang Xiaoqiang and Hu Jiong came in quietly, searching for Zhang Zhaoxian from table to table. Finally, he found a large table at the end that was separated by a screen, and five senior generals were dining together. They were: Zhang Zhaoxian, chief of staff of the headquarters,
Tang Yunsheng, Chief of the Army General Staff, Xiong Dingming, Chief of the Navy General Staff, Fang Dongcheng, Commander of the Left Army Group, and Feng Lingcai, Commander of the Right Army Group.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was delighted when he saw it. Just in time, all the right people in charge were here. A small meeting could be held here.
He greeted several officers, then sat down, and first arranged for Hu Jiong to eat at a small table outside the screen, asking him to watch the big table and not let anyone eavesdrop or let the waiter come in again. Then
, Xiang Xiaoqiang lowered his voice and told several generals the explosive news.
The reactions of several old men were extremely shocked. This gave Xiang Xiaoqiang a sense of accomplishment.
Tang Yunsheng's first reaction was: Is this a trap? Then several people combined it and felt that the possibility of a trap was not very high. After all, Japan held an Imperial Council. It was a big deal to convene a military and political Imperial Council.
It happened. This matter itself cannot be concealed. Secondly, if Japan is setting up a trap, what is its purpose? No matter how you look at it now, it is more profitable for Japan and Ming Dynasty to join forces to carve up Beiqing.
In other words, this incident is not a trap, and it will be more beneficial to Japan than if this incident is a trap.
"I have already made arrangements," Xiang Xiaoqiang said, "to mobilize the intelligence network in the Japanese military department to inquire into the authenticity of this matter from various aspects. Kenji Doihara is the Japanese military attache stationed in Ming Dynasty, a diplomat, and represents the Japanese official
Unless you are preparing to go to war with us, it is unlikely that you will use diplomats to directly set a trap. After all, you still have to leave room for us to get along with you in the future."
Zhang Zhao nodded first and said:
"In our army, one is the Jinyi Guards and the other is your People's Guard. In terms of intelligence against Japan, because of Princess Liaoyang, your People's Guard is the best in Ming Dynasty. Now this matter is
The intelligence work will be left to Tingzhi and Princess Liaoyang."
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded:
"Don't worry, Ming Gong."
Xiang Xiaoqiang understood what Zhang Zhaoxian meant. Now, although the Fourteenth Princess holds a public position in the Ming Dynasty and is only a school-level officer, she has the title of princess and a noble status. As long as she is not willing, no one can command her. Now she only recognizes
Xiang Xiaoqiang is completely the subordinate of Xiang Xiaoqiang. If it weren't for Xiang Xiaoqiang, Shi Shigege would not even stay in Daming to work.
Zhang Zhao looked around first and then said:
"So everyone, let's assume this is true. This matter is really beyond everyone's expectations. What do you think about Japan's proposal?"
…
After a secret discussion at the dinner table, except for Xiang Xiaoqiang who insisted not to join forces with Japan, almost all of the other "owners" advocated accepting Japan's proposal, joining forces to carve up Beiqing, and ending the war immediately. There was only one Xiong Dingming,
Xiong Dingming, the chief of naval staff who had little friendship with Xiang Xiaoqiang, stood by Xiang Xiaoqiang and opposed joining forces with Japan, advocating using Ming Dynasty's own power to unify China.
But his reasons were different from Xiang Xiaoqiang's. Xiang Xiaoqiang's opposition was mainly due to his natural wariness of Japan, and he didn't want to give it a chance to get involved in the East Asian continent.
Xiong Dingming objected and brought it to the table for two reasons: First, the current war situation is progressing quite smoothly. The capture of Xuzhou is just around the corner, and the occupation of Shandong south of the Yellow River is not far away. In that case, the Beiqing will be defeated and enter
The countdown to collapse is beginning. At this time, a large area of land is being offered to trade with Japan, just to quickly destroy the Beiqing. It is fun at the moment, but in the long run, it is not worth it.
The second reason is that if Japan and Japan carve up the north, who does the Liaodong Peninsula belong to? If Japan wants the entire Manchuria and Mongolia, and Shanhaiguan is the border with the Ming Dynasty in the east, then the Liaodong Peninsula will obviously be on the Japanese side. But the geography of the Liaodong Peninsula
The location is extremely critical, it can be said to be Beijing, Mt.
The gateway to the East. Moreover, there is the Lushun Military Port at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, which is one of the best military ports in East Asia. Japan also has the third largest navy in the world and the largest navy in Asia. If they really want to get the Liaodong Peninsula, two or three battleships will dock at Lushun.
, then Daming won’t be able to sleep.
However, although several others admitted that this was a problem, they believed that it was only a minor issue that could be resolved through negotiation. Now Japan is developing rapidly, but it has a small land, a small market, and a lack of resources.
In the words of "imperialist political and economic development is unbalanced", they are eager to create problems in the mainland.
A resource area can also expand a small land space and alleviate urgent needs. Therefore, Japan begged Ming for this matter, and Japan's small army did not dare to play tricks with Ming on land. Ming could have negotiated it in advance.
Japan can cover Mongolia, but it cannot include the Liaodong Peninsula and the Liaoxi Corridor that connects the interior and exterior of the country.
Even if Japan really doesn't agree, just use a little more land from Outer Mongolia to compensate it. Even if Japan doesn't agree, it still has to agree.
Xiang Xiaoqiang admitted in his heart that he was judging a gentleman with a villain's heart - but he felt that several other people would definitely have the same idea as him, that is, the navy had just participated in the Northern Expedition, and had just been in Haizhou
It has been successfully exposed and is getting better. It would be unfair to the Navy to end the war quickly now. The Navy still has countless officers who are eager to be promoted quickly through this war.
If the Ming Dynasty did not join forces with Japan and relied on the Ming Dynasty to push the Qing Dynasty from the south to the north, at least two or three major landing battles would have to be carried out - at least one in Shandong, at least one in Liaodong, and at least one in Tianjin.
These are the most critical moves. In this way, the navy will account for a large proportion of the credit for defeating the Beiqing.
But the Army is on the contrary. In terms of merit, it has already "shielded the sky and the sun". However, a large number of soldiers are bloody on the battlefield every day, and the level of casualties is not comparable to that of the Navy's few landing battles. The Army wants to quickly,
It is understandable to safely end the war and unify the country.
…
Zhang Zhao first raised his wrist to look at his watch, then picked up a napkin to wipe the corners of his mouth and said:
"Everyone, this is not a place for discussion. Has everyone eaten? Let's move to the conference room to discuss. There is a map there."
Several people said "It's done", then stood up one after another, followed Zhang Zhao and left the restaurant first, and came to a small conference room.
After some discussion, the situation was basically the same. Several generals of the Route Army agreed to unite with Japan. Only Xiang Xiaoqiang and Xiong Dingming disagreed. The relationship between the two seemed to have become closer because of this. Xiong Dingming looked at Xiaoqiang with a lot of eyes.
A bit affectionate.
Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly he had a flash of inspiration and threw out a weight:
"Ming Gong, gentlemen... To be honest, the students have some undiscovered minerals and energy information in the East Asian continent. Alas, let's talk about it now... Just in the northeast of Manchuria and Mongolia, there is a piece of China's third
One...oh no, it is the largest oil field in East Asia. Its scale and reserves are as high as those in Shaanxi and Sichuan.
The field is far beyond comparison. It is a super large oil field. If Japan takes possession of it, it will establish a "self-sufficient high-level national defense system." Maybe there will be no need to import oil from the United States... Now we have it
By crossing the Strait of Malacca, we can at least take Japan. If that happens, we won’t be able to take Japan at all.”
Several other people glanced at each other, and then looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang with strange expressions.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed again and said:
"The approximate location of the oil field is just west of Suihua, 150 kilometers away."