1890 King of Southeast Asia

"On August 18, the 12th Regiment of the Qing Empire Army came into contact with our army in Nanpi County. Our army only had one battalion in Nanpi. We were outnumbered by the enemy and had to withdraw to Cangzhou."

At the General Staff, Liu Yiming was looking at the battle situation map, and Xie Hui was explaining it to him.

"The Qing Empire mobilized more than six divisions to encircle our army. Because the second battlefield is given priority, we hope to shrink the defense line.

In the Cangzhou Prefecture and Wuding Prefecture areas, we plan to build a first-line position along Qing County, Cangzhou, and Cang County; Huanghua, Haixing, Wudi, and Binzhou will build a second-line position.

The first-line position is a huge salient. With this as the starting base, the vast area of ​​nine counties clamped by the first and second-line positions is very suitable for mobile operations, giving full play to our army's advantages.

In Dengzhou Prefecture, our troops are even more scarce. The General Staff plans to abandon all but the large strongholds within ten kilometers along the coast and defend Penglai and Longkou."

After Xie Hui finished speaking, he looked at Liu Yiming with some trepidation.

After all, it was agreed to conduct large-scale mobile warfare, but his plan was mainly to defend.

"The overall defense line of this plan is more than 200 kilometers. If one point is broken, it will be divided and surrounded by superior forces." Liu Yiming was indeed a little dissatisfied.

It was not aimed at Xie Hui's change of combat thinking. After all, he was busy opening up the second battlefield before and ignored the lack of transportation capacity.

Unless a larger-scale mobilization is carried out and civilian ships are requisitioned for transportation, the Nanhua Army in Shandong will not get enough supplies for mobile warfare.

The Nanhua Army is not a light infantry. It not only has cannons but also a large number of automatic firepower and individual artillery. A large amount of ammunition is needed to exert the combat effectiveness of these weapons.

Fuel is needed to transport ammunition, and fuel needs to be transported from Brunei. Before the second battlefield was opened, the transportation capacity was sufficient, but after the opening, the supplies tended to the second battlefield, and there was a temporary shortage.

It is no problem to force mobile warfare, but the outcome is unknown.

Liu Yiming was dissatisfied with the fact that this defense plan was "too perfect", even taking into account every stronghold and making full use of the troops.

But Nanhua only had one division of troops here. One division faced six or seven divisions, and dared to disperse the troops on a defense line of more than 200 kilometers.

If any location was breached, it was likely to be divided and surrounded. Even if the front-line commander was not decisive enough, failure was not impossible.

"Dengzhou only needs to defend three strongholds, and with the cooperation of the navy, only one battalion needs to be reserved for each place, and about 2,500 people can be drawn out to fill Cangzhou Prefecture and Wuding Prefecture."

"This batch of mobile forces can be kept as a reserve to deal with possible situations." Xie Hui took out a small flag and stuck it on the map.

"It's still not appropriate. This war is not aimed at destroying the enemy's living forces. The core goal is to occupy Tianjin, the core city in the north. The rest of the places are not important. I'll give you half an hour to re-plan." Liu Yiming shook his head.

He just realized that Xie Hui arranged the tactics in this way in order to let the Qing Empire attack, mobilize the Qing Empire to conduct mobile warfare, or even counter-encirclement.

The core of the strategy is to "kill as many enemy forces as possible".

But this is not the Middle East. In the Middle East, it is because the locals have always wanted to rebel and make trouble when there is nothing to do, and the proportion of Chinese is relatively small.

...

After a tense half an hour...

"After a brief discussion, we plan to build a defensive position with Cangzhou Prefecture as the core, and build a logistics and departure base with Huanghua as the core. The mobile forces will be concentrated here.

Use Cangzhou to attract the firepower of the Qing Empire. When the time is right, the mobile forces will attack from the rear to the north, and attack Tianjin from the north and south."

"As for the other county governments, they cannot be abandoned directly, so as to prevent the Qing Empire from discovering the flaws; most of the troops will be withdrawn, and light firepower will be reserved. When the Qing Empire Army attacks, simple firepower coverage will be carried out and retreat to the coast."

"That's the general direction." Xie Hui said, looking at Liu Yiming.

"Okay, don't feel bad about these county governments. They are not very useful to us. We don't have that much money to invest. Just hold on to Tianjin." Liu Yiming laughed at Xie Hui, who looked painful.

Both the navy and the army factions in Nanhua are staring at the current occupied areas, not at this piece of land, but at the population on it.

The population of Nanhua restricts the speed of Nanhua's development and the strength of Nanhua's expansion. Once the war started, many departments experienced a shortage of labor.

And this province has a population of more than 30 million, which is equivalent to more than three-quarters of the total population of Nanhua, and they are all Chinese. How can it not make people jealous?

The three prefectures occupied by Nanhua have more than 20 counties under their jurisdiction, with a population of more than 8 million. There have been several voices of "Northern Expedition" in the government, all because of the population.

But! It's not time yet...

…………

"Master Yuan, your country has persisted long enough this time~. Why weren't you so determined when fighting the Japanese?

On the contrary, we are the ones who are busy and exhausted, but in the end, we get nothing good." Lin Pingzhi brewed Biluochun without even looking at Master Yuan who was sitting opposite him.

"Master Lin, don't get me wrong. I am firmly against the war between our two countries, but your price is too high, and... your country is too impatient.

I am trying to persuade the ministers in the court, and you started fighting, making me feel embarrassed! Alas~" Master Yuan showed an aggrieved expression on his face, secretly observing Lin Pingzhi, but found that he didn't even raise his head.

"Sir Yuan, let's not play this game. Can you convince Zaifeng? Zaifeng just came to power and was assassinated. If he can't protect his own brother, then he will be sidelined as the regent sooner or later."

"We know that you can't admit Zaixun's mistakes, let alone compensate according to the contract. We have no choice but to get it ourselves."

Lin Pingzhi made two cups of tea and handed one to Sir Yuan.

"Let's not talk about the past. The conditions for the armistice are changing every day, and the situation on the battlefield is changing three times a day. Considering that we have known each other for so many years, I advise your country to agree to our conditions as soon as possible. Drink tea." Lin Pingzhi said, looking at Sir Yuan calmly.

Sir Yuan felt uneasy when he looked at him.

Sir Yuan picked up the teacup and sipped the tea silently.

"Can the compensation be changed to other names? For example, a loan? We can give your country a satisfactory interest rate.

Our two countries have cooperated so many times, I really don't want the relationship between the two countries to break down." Sir Yuan put down the teacup and wanted to make a final effort.

"This is not a matter of interest. Nanhua has huge overseas assets. If everyone does this, what can our country develop?" Lin Pingzhi also put down his teacup.

"Our country is discussing the necessity of expanding the war. I advise you to make a decision quickly, otherwise it will be too late when the government passes it."

"If the scale of the war expands further, the relationship between the two countries will not be so easy to repair. At that time, even if the Qing Empire can pay less, what's the point?"

"Will Japan take advantage of the situation? The Russian Empire still has a large number of Cossack cavalry in Siberia. Without the assistance of Nanhua, what can you do to stop it?

Lin Pingzhi was talking, but the secretary brought the latest telegram.

"Our army has increased its troops to the north, and the General Staff is formulating a combat plan to attack the capital. By that time, your country will pay more. Lin Pingzhi shook his head.

...

"Is that what he said? Did he say how many troops were added?" Prince Qing looked solemn.

"How could someone tell me such a military secret?" Lord Yuan smiled bitterly.

"After all, they came from a long distance across the ocean, so their number won't be too large. We have the advantage of time, place and people, so we may not be unable to fight them!" Zaifeng's face was gloomy.

As soon as Lord Yuan came back, he told all the conversations he had with Lin Pingzhi. Of course, he didn't tell the reason why the Qing Empire refused to recognize him.

"What the Regent said... is not without reason. We can fight the Japanese and we can fight Nanhua. Nanhua is farther away and the cost is higher. If we fight for two more months, he won't be able to hold on." Prince Qing nodded when he heard it.

Although the Qing Empire was defeated in the past few wars, it still looked good on the battlefield, especially in the most recent battle with the Japanese, where it had a beautiful exchange ratio.

This gave them enough confidence. They believed that as long as there was sufficient military pay and ammunition, the new army of the Qing Empire would not be inferior to the armies of the great powers, including Nanhua.

"This... the ammunition stored by each army is only enough for half a month. Even if we plunder the treasuries of various places, according to the intensity of the previous war, it is only enough for one month." Lord Yuan interrupted their fantasy.

"Didn't they allocate ammunition from the Beijing arsenal? Is it not enough?" Zaifeng questioned.

"Your Highness, the Beijing arsenal has released 2 million bullets. If they are evenly distributed among the several regiments dispatched this time, each soldier will get less than 30 bullets. What can they do?" Lord Yuan smiled bitterly.

"What about the arsenals in various places? What about your Beiyang arsenal? What about the ammunition prepared by each army? Where did all the ammunition go?" Zaifeng was shocked. This account really couldn't be calculated carefully.

"Your Highness, when the eight regiments were newly established, the Army Department drew a large number of ammunition from various places, and what was returned was a list for them to order.

In addition, in the previous war, all the weapons were sent to the front line, and after the war, they were all collected in the Beijing arsenal. There were few local stocks.

The orders of various gun factories and machine bureaus are full, and they are still ordered overseas, and they have not been replenished yet." Lord Yuan said while looking at Zaifeng.

In the final analysis, this matter is the fault of the previous Minister of the Army. Who was the previous Minister of the Army?

Zaixun!

"Overseas..." Zaifeng was silent.

Where is overseas? Only Nanhua, because only Nanhua uses 6.8mm rifle bullets, and the standard weapons and ammunition of the new army are also 6.8mm.

You can buy from Nanhua at ordinary times, and there are discounts for large quantities. Now the two sides are fighting, will others sell?

"Ahem!" Prince Qing coughed, and the two looked at him.

"Tieliang has arrived. Let him launch an attack as soon as possible. As long as he gets a breakthrough, he will promise some benefits to Britain and France and negotiate with Nanhua. How about it?" Prince Qing looked at Lord Yuan.

Lord Yuan's eyes lit up and nodded.

"The Regent and Prince Ning are contacting Japan to see if they can buy a batch of Japanese firearms and ammunition to prepare. I don't believe that a living person can be suffocated to death by urine?" Prince Qing looked at Zaifeng again.

Zaifeng hesitated, looked at Lord Yuan and then at Prince Qing, and finally sighed and nodded in agreement.

.