Chapter Fifty-Eight: Defense or Offense

The specific terms of the peace talks he proposed were:

The government could continue to appoint and dismiss officials in Hainan without any interference from the Transmigration Group. The annual taxes would be paid in full. At the same time, they could promise a share of the profits to the main officials in Guangdong—provided, of course, that they invested.

In return, the Transmigration Group would guarantee the convenience and safety of its commercial activities and population transport in Guangdong.

As a reward, the Transmigration Group would eliminate Liu Xiang for the Guangdong government.

“I’m not against these three demands, but I feel that it’s impossible for the other side to accept them,” Jiang Shan expressed his doubts about Si Kaide’s peace talk proposals. “Neither Wang Zunde nor Li Fengjie would have the guts to do such a thing. There are many officials in Guangdong, and if someone were to impeach them, this matter would surely be exposed.”

“We can model ourselves after Zheng Zhilong. If Zheng Zhilong could be pacified and negotiate peace, why can’t we? The damage we have caused to the Ming, on the surface, is much less than that of Zheng Zhilong. He even occupied Xiamen, while we haven’t conquered any place.”

“That’s right. When it comes to ‘abiding by the law,’ we are the top maritime power in Guangdong and Fujian,” someone sneered from below.

“No interruptions!” The gavel pounded again.

“Take out Liu Xiang? I think we’re getting a bit overconfident,” Chen Haiyang said. “If Liu Xiang attacks Lingao, the Navy can guarantee he won’t return. But if he doesn’t engage us in a decisive naval battle, it will be very difficult to wipe him out quickly—our ships are still primarily sail-powered, and searching for his ships in the coastal waters won’t be easy.”

“If we hit him hard once, he’ll collapse. His followers might even defect to us.”

…

“I’d like to speak. What official title are we hoping to get after these peace talks and pacification?” Wen Desi asked slowly. “It’s not going to be the Bopu Inspector, is it?”

The Senate burst into laughter. Given the damage Zheng Zhilong had caused the Ming, his pacification had only earned him the title of Maritime Defense Guerrilla Commander. The Transmigrationists were far less of a threat, so getting the title of Inspector was a real possibility.

“We don’t have to ask for any official position, as long as they recognize the facts on the ground,” Si Kaide said.

“We can’t just look at the bright side. What if the Guangdong authorities refuse to negotiate with us?” Wu De asked. “What’s the follow-up plan?”

“Then we’ll march on Guangzhou and take the city!” Si Kaide said without hesitation. “We may not be able to occupy Guangzhou for a long time, but taking it is not a problem. At that point, all the officials in Guangzhou will be in our hands. Wang Zunde and the others wouldn’t be willing to die for the city, would they?”

“If you want to negotiate, you have to give up the idea of directly threatening Guangzhou,” Jiang Shan said. “If you plan to take Guangzhou to threaten Wang Zunde, he and the others might not believe we can take it. Back then, when the British attacked Yuexiu Mountain and fired rockets into the city, Yishan might not have been so obedient otherwise.”

If the navy were to capture the forts at Humen and Shajiao, and the army were to then take Yuexiu Mountain, Wang Zunde and the others would likely have no choice but to commit suicide for their country—such an unprecedented defeat would be impossible for him to hide from anyone. Not to mention all the officials in Guangzhou, there were also officials from the inner court and a eunuch system like the Jinyiwei and the eunuch guards. It was a matter of considerable concern whether everyone could work together to deceive the emperor.

Despite many doubts about whether the goals could be achieved, the majority of the Elders still favored negotiating peace with the Ming on the premise of occupying Hainan, and striving for a few more years of peace. In the end, the Senate passed the proposal on peace talks.

Subsequently, on the motion of the Elders, an orange alert was issued throughout Lingao. Relevant mobilization was carried out in civil affairs, industry, agriculture, and other areas, and all departments immediately formulated relevant war plans.

Although some Elders proposed that the Executive Committee be immediately reorganized into a Supreme Command Headquarters, this was resolutely opposed by a group led by Shan Liang, who argued that this battle did not rise to the level of national survival. Since the Transmigration Group had already established many specialized agencies, these professional bodies should be responsible.

“At most, this is on the level of the Sino-Vietnamese War. A small-scale mobilization is enough. There’s no need for the Executive Committee to become a Supreme Command.”

The majority of the Elders agreed with him. Many felt that the current Executive Committee already had too much authority, and giving it supreme command would make it even more powerful. Thus, Qian Shuiting proposed that since the position of Minister of Military Affairs had not yet been filled, the Senate could immediately elect a “Minister of War” to handle war preparations and combat missions. This position would be temporary and would be abolished after the war ended.

The Senate finally voted to appoint Army Chief of Staff He Ming as Minister of War, for a term of 90 days starting immediately, temporarily acting as the head of military affairs. The Minister of War was authorized to carry out full military and political mobilization of the armed forces during his term.

After the term ended, the position of Minister of War would automatically be abolished. If the war had not ended by the expiration date, the Senate could extend the term by 90 days through a general vote. Every subsequent extension would require the approval of the Senate.

“Isn’t this becoming like a ‘dictator’?” Yu E’shui said.

“A 90-day Minister of War!” Zhang Bolin said with dissatisfaction. “We’re more vigilant against our own people than against the enemy! How boring!”

“Hmph,” Wei Aiwen sneered, and got up to leave the increasingly noisy meeting hall.

It was a good thing he left, otherwise the next scene would have made him even more furious.

At this time, Wu Nanhai submitted a proposal he had submitted together with Zhan Wuya. The content of the proposal was to require the army and navy to wait until the Ming army landed on Hainan Island before annihilating them in one fell swoop. And they had to “capture as many prisoners as possible.”

Thus, someone proposed the idea of a defensive counterattack. Specifically, they would let the Ming army land on the island and assemble at their leisure, then select a pre-set position to set up defenses and engage in a decisive battle.

This idea of waiting for the enemy to exhaust themselves and launching a defensive counterattack appealed to many Elders—in their view, the Ming government’s expeditionary force was a huge “labor transport team.” If this “labor transport team” was routed before it could land on Hainan Island, the plan to capture tens of thousands of prisoners and make a fortune would be ruined.

Considering the new army’s superior firepower and relative lack of combat experience, everyone felt that this was a very suitable approach for the Transmigration Group.

“I believe a defensive counterattack is highly inadvisable! Because some of the measures we have taken have caused considerable ideological confusion!” Just as this resolution was about to be finalized, Ji Tui’si took the podium and shouted: “First, we must legitimize ourselves! We can no longer continue to operate under the title of ‘Australians’—this will only cause greater mental confusion for our army and people!”

He roared, his words accompanied by fierce gestures.

“I know that many Elders are very satisfied with our current state, and even feel that this model is quite effective. But this model has a terrifying side effect: the people who follow us lack a true object of allegiance!

“To put it bluntly, our Transmigration Group is now an illegal armed group with no name or status! The army is now in a state somewhere between mercenaries and bandits! It is not the army of a country with a just cause.

“If we really establish an independent country and obtain a just cause, and clarify the ideology and allegiance of the native soldiers, whether you call it a just cause, a spiritual contract, or a mark of power, we don’t have it now. For a long time, we have not denied the orthodox status of the Ming Dynasty—this is a serious problem! For one thing, under which banner will the soldiers fight? We don’t even have an official flag yet! When the army is about to go on an expedition and has no military flag, isn’t that absurd?”

A commotion arose among the Elders. This was indeed a problem.

“What will be the result of this ambiguous state? For the native soldiers, they will have to truly confront the imperial army! For soldiers who were still Ming subjects at most a year or two ago, this is rebellion. The psychological pressure of confronting the imperial army is a joke to us, but it is very different for the native soldiers.”

Rebels, and rebels waiting to be suppressed by the imperial army—this experience, which was different from the social experience that the soldiers had been subtly influenced by over the years, was a great test for the entire new army.

“We cannot place our loyalty on the soldiers’ ability to truly understand how powerful we are. I believe that from a technical point of view, a defensive counterattack seems like a good idea, but it is actually a bad idea. The prestige and orthodox concept accumulated by the Ming Dynasty over two hundred years is no joke!

“The soldiers and workers, in the tense day-to-day preparations for war, waiting for the imperial army to come and kill them, will only see their morale worsen. The natives will fantasize about how powerful and unstoppable the Ming army is, and they will scare themselves to death, even leading to deserters and people who try to secretly collude with the Ming army…”

“Isn’t that perfect? The waverers will be exposed and purged, and the ones who remain will be the most determined warriors!” Merlin said.

“What if this psychological pressure causes most of the affiliated forces to waver? Do we apply the principle of ‘the law does not punish the masses’ or do we kill them all?”

Merlin said: “Let’s see how they perform. Wavering has different levels. The ones who jump the highest will surely die the most miserably. The rest can be punished according to their corresponding levels. We don’t control a lot of manpower now, so it’s not a big problem to punish the masses.”

“Too wasteful! Every soldier in the army has received at least six months of military training. In terms of military quality, they are the best in this era. Not to mention that many have mastered more advanced military skills. Among those waverers, there may be technical and military backbones that Lingao has painstakingly cultivated. Killing them would be more than just a pity. And they may not necessarily want to betray Lingao. It’s purely due to the accumulated prestige of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps it’s just a moment of weakness. What we need to do is to give them confidence, to believe in the power of Lingao, to let them believe that Lingao can protect them, and at the same time, to make them realize the consequences of betrayal. They may become the most loyal subordinates in the future.” Ji Tui’si finally proposed: an immediate general mobilization, with the navy and army dispatched together, bringing mortars and rockets, to first take down the Hainan prefectural city to build confidence, and then the main army would march on Guangdong. They would capture Xiangshan County or Xin’an County, and then bargain with the Ming court—if they did not comply, they would bombard Guangzhou again.

At this time, Wu De requested to speak: “I agree with the operational model of a defensive counterattack in a pre-set position—the natives have already seen our soft and hard power. And we have invested a lot in the army. Political education, recalling past bitterness and thinking of the sweet present, a sense of honor for soldiers, high salaries, a modern military management system… all of these have been implemented without exception. It would be an exaggeration to say that the soldiers would be scared stiff at the mere mention of the Ming army.”

He paused for a moment: “As for your point that the Transmigration Group currently lacks a proper name and legitimacy, I completely agree. We do need a name. Li Zicheng knew to inherit the title of ‘Dashing King,’ and even bandits know to have a resounding name. It is indeed not good for us to always use the name of ‘Australians.’ First, we are willingly overseas people, and it is easy for people to label us with the ‘distinction between Chinese and barbarians’; second, the people who follow us do not have a proper name and are not clear about the object of their allegiance.”

“I also support the strategy of meeting the enemy outside our borders!” Someone seconded Ji Tui’si’s proposal. “We must attack, actively and proactively. This is Lingao’s founding war, and its significance is no less than that of the Korean War. We must win before we fight, and not only win the first battle, but win a great victory, in order to display our military might to the outside world and to intimidate those among the natives who are still suspicious and have ulterior motives. Seeing is believing. When they see with their own eyes that our military-industrial complex can have such great power, it will definitely increase internal cohesion.”

“I object, this is a disguised expansion of the scope of the war…”

The entire Senate was immediately plunged into a great debate between “defensive counterattack” and “meeting the enemy outside our borders.”

Even He Ming, who was famous for his resolute attitude of “obeying the Senate and the Executive Committee,” now showed a look of displeasure on his face. He stood up and asked to speak.

Both the “outside the borders” faction and the “defensive” faction looked at him with hope. The attitude of this newly appointed Minister of War would clearly determine which strategy would gain the upper hand.

“Since the Senate has already granted me the authority of Minister of War and has formulated the guiding principles of the war,” He Ming said word by word, “I will lead my colleagues to organize and implement the campaign within my authority and under the guiding principles. I have my own discretion in this matter. Therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for the Senate to discuss what operational model to adopt. And such topics should not be included in the meeting agenda—at the same time, I also request that during the war, any proposals involving campaign tactics will not be discussed or resolved in the Senate.”

This speech was somewhat surprising, but some people secretly nodded in agreement:

If the Senate passed a resolution every three days on where to attack, and a request every five days on how to use the artillery, this war could not be fought.

“…The ancients had the concept of ‘a general in the field is not bound by the orders of his sovereign.’ Therefore, I demand that the Senate not interfere with my command authority under any pretext during my term of office. That is all.”

“Good! Old He is awesome now!” Zhang Bolin slapped his thigh in excitement. “He’s not wishy-washy at a critical moment!”

“I agree with He Ming’s view!” Ma Qianzhu said. “When it comes to fighting a war, not everyone can be Napoleon. It will be chaotic!”

“I see, everyone’s enthusiasm is understandable. But after all, not everyone is a professional,” Wen Desi, who had been silent all along, now expressed his opinion. “It’s better to leave this kind of thing to the professionals. As for the various plans and strategies that everyone has proposed, I suggest we open a special staff section on the BBS. Everyone can post their ideas and suggestions there, and let our comrades in the military make the choice. This way, we can have the best of both worlds.”

He Ming said: “I don’t object to that. I absolutely don’t object to brainstorming. But operational command must be highly unified: we can’t have everyone with their own idea, let alone a new policy or order every few days. In addition,” he added, “please post all suggestions and plans related to operations on the BBS, or provide written documents. But please refrain from face-to-face meetings—the General Staff will be very busy recently. I hope everyone understands.”

After the meeting, the Executive Committee held an expanded administrative work meeting. The attendees were all the heads and deputy heads of various departments, as well as the heads of major subordinate business departments.

The first matter was to task the propaganda department with designing the national flag and the army and navy flags of the Transmigration Group, as well as the official military anthem.

Military anthems had already been using several from the old world. Now it was just a matter of officially deciding on them. The flag was a bit trickier—after all, it wasn’t like a “collection of military anthems.”

“We can hold off on the national flag for now. After all, we need to be cautious. Let’s design and use the army and navy flags first. It’s not right for the army to not even have a flag,” Wen Desi said. “The military flag should be simple, not too complicated. It’s best to use solid colors. Our dyes are still mainly natural dyes, so we can’t produce very complex colors.”

Dingding suggested: “It’s best to solicit designs publicly and have everyone vote.”

“As for the name of the country, since we already have a public propaganda line, we can officially name it the ‘People’s Revolutionary Government of South Australia.’ If you think that’s not domineering enough—then the ‘South Australian Empire’ is fine,” Du Wen suggested.

“To call ourselves an empire with only one county is absurd. It’s not good, and it will only aggravate the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.”

“Then let’s go with ‘Ao-Song.’ Haven’t we always wanted to be the successors of Yaishan?”

After some discussion, everyone felt that the name “Ao-Song” was more ideal. It both confirmed the previous name of “Australians” and showed the Transmigration Group’s Chinese descent—this was a statement that had already been used when creating the origin of the Australians, killing two birds with one stone.

The brand of being a descendant of the Great Song was still very resounding.

“As for the future, we can call ourselves whatever we want. The Galactic Empire, the Galactic Republic, the Interstellar Federation, the Star Han Empire… whatever. For now, we’ll use ‘Ao-Song.’ With the name of the Great Song, those corrupt Confucians can’t attack us for being barbarians—we are not only of Chinese descent, but also descendants of the Zhao-Song, much more orthodox than the Zhu-Ming,” Wu De said.