Chapter Eighty-Two: The Battle Plan

“The most suitable location is, first, at the foot of Chengmai County town, and second, at Shishan, halfway between Qiongshan and Chengmai,” Dongmen Chuiyu pointed to these two places with his teaching pointer.

“According to the map data and the reconnaissance of the special reconnaissance team, Shishan has an altitude of 112.5 meters. It is a conical single dormant volcano with a slope of 31 to 55 degrees. The vegetation is mainly a mixture of deciduous and evergreen forests. It is 362.4 meters away from the nearest post road. If we intercept the government army here, the Fubo Army will have a topographical advantage.”

Following Dongmen Chuiyu’s pointer, the officers cast their eyes on a small hill on the sand table. The post road was winding at the foot of the mountain, and there was a large open space on the southern slope of the mountain.

“Please see the slide.”

With his voice, photos of Shishan taken on site appeared on the curtain wall, including photos of the mountain’s shape, terrain, and the distance and orientation between it and the post road from various angles.

The people present had just seen the topographical map on the sand table, and now they were looking at the on-site photos. By comparing the two, they had a more concrete impression.

“Shishan is seventeen kilometers east of Qiongshan County town and sixteen kilometers west of Chengmai County town, which is the middle section of the journey from Qiongshan to Chengmai. We have a certain geographical advantage in fighting here. The artillery can be placed on the top of the mountain. An observation post can be set up on the top of the mountain, equipped with high-power binoculars to monitor the situation within a radius of more than ten kilometers.”

Everyone stared at the slide, and some began to discuss where to deploy their troops.

From the sand table and the photos, there was a large open space north of the mountain. If the main force was arrayed here, it would be enough to force the Ming army into a decisive battle. With the fire support of the artillery, the advantage was very obvious.

“If we have a decisive battle here, once the enemy is routed, they will scatter and run,” someone raised an objection. “This is an inland area, and it is a continuous hilly area. From the photos, the vegetation is quite dense. It will be very difficult to capture prisoners once the enemy is routed.”

“Our soldiers are trained according to the line-infantry tactics,” Fu Sansi coughed. He was a former PLA company commander and had been in the new recruit camp for a long time. He was very good at training soldiers. He was currently the training director. Because there were not enough professional soldiers, he temporarily acted as the commander of the fifth battalion during this army expansion. “Now about half of the soldiers in the army have been recruited in the last three months, and most of them are still relatively unfamiliar with fighting as skirmishers in complex terrain. Once a pursuit and interception operation is launched, the line infantry will be almost useless, and we can only rely on the grenadiers and light infantry.”

“I think it’s better to have a decisive battle under the city of Chengmai,” Zhu Quanxing said. This person was in his thirties, a former small clerk, with a full beard and small eyes. He was the commander of the newly formed sixth infantry battalion and had no actual combat experience. He had become an acting battalion commander by relying on his fanatical practice of line-infantry tactics.

The terrain under the city of Chengmai was flat, which made it easy for poorly trained troops to deploy, maneuver, and fight. Moreover, Chengmai County town was very close to the sea and could receive support from the navy. In contrast, Shishan was more than 20 kilometers away from the coastline, and the navy could not even watch the fun, let alone provide support.

“These are photos of Chengmai County town and its surrounding environment,” Dongmen Chuiyu changed the slide to Chengmai County town. Chengmai County town was located on the bank of a river only three or four kilometers from the sea. The post road came from the south, passed through the south gate of Chengmai County, and then turned west.

If the enemy was defeated here, some of the routed troops would try to rush into Chengmai County town and rely on the city to defend and wait for reinforcements, while some would retreat along the post road towards Qiongshan County.

According to one of the several plans drawn up by the staff department, a small number of troops and artillery would be deployed in advance near Shishan or other favorable terrain to form an interception line. When the enemy fled to this point, they would be intercepted, and at the same time, the defeated army would be forced to surrender.

But this plan would cause further division of forces. With insufficient overall forces, it was very doubtful whether a thin blockade line formed by a small number of troops could stop a routed army that was determined to escape.

Another plan of the staff department was to use the Fubo Army’s mobility and battlefield control. After defeating the enemy under the city of Chengmai, they would use mobile troops—cooperating with armed agricultural vehicles if necessary—to block the post road leading to Qiongshan, and leave a gap in the direction of Chengmai County town, forcing most of the routed troops to flee into Chengmai County town.

This would create a situation of a siege battle. With more than ten thousand men fleeing into the small Chengmai, with no provisions inside and no reinforcements outside, under the superior artillery fire of the Fubo Army, they could be quickly forced to surrender. Even if they did not surrender, the city could be quickly breached.

Although this would mean breaking a county town of the Ming, it was after all only a county town. If a county magistrate died, the shock would not be too great. After the battle was over, they could withdraw from the county town and let the subsequent officials claim to have “retaken” it.

“I have a personal opinion,” someone raised his hand.

“Please speak,” Dongmen Chuiyu saw that this person was Zhu Mingxia, the commander of the fourth battalion. He had very short hair and dark, rough skin. He was very capable. This person was from the armed police and was very experienced in squad and platoon tactics.

“First, the enemy may not surrender. If the enemy does not surrender, there will inevitably be greater casualties in the siege,” he stood up and said. “We do have an artillery advantage, but with only the firepower of 12-pounder cannons and 24-pounder howitzers, we obviously cannot destroy the city wall. The soldiers still have to rely on climbing the city wall to break into the city. If the enemy is relatively stubborn, they can inflict more losses on our army during our army’s climbing of the city wall and the street fighting after entering the city.”

He strode to the sand table: “My suggestion is that after defeating the enemy, we should use our army’s high mobility to quickly push the remnants of the Ming army into a ‘desperate situation’ after defeating them, forming an encirclement and annihilation. It is not uncommon in military history for a small army to encircle a large group of fleeing enemy troops.”

Everyone watched his teaching pointer move with rapt attention.

“I have studied the geographical data prepared by the staff department, and there is a very suitable place,” he pointed to the triangular area of the river fork south of the county town on the sand table. “This place is surrounded by water on three sides. Once the enemy enters, it will be very difficult for them to break out. Our army can then effectively form an encirclement of the enemy with a smaller force.”

“This place is too small, and the river is not deep enough,” Dongmen Chuiyu said. “According to the reconnaissance team’s report, the average depth of this river is only 1-1.2 meters, and it can be barely waded across.”

“Then push them to the seaside,” Zhu Mingxia said.

This proposal was approved by the majority. First, everyone felt that ordering soldiers to carry ladders to climb the city wall would likely result in greater casualties. Second, forcing the enemy to retreat to the seaside could get support from the navy’s warships. Under the land and sea encirclement and the superior artillery fire of the navy’s warships, the enemy’s morale would further decline, and it would be easy for them to surrender in large numbers.

The staff department immediately studied it and revised the plan.

In the northwest of Chengmai County, there was a small peninsula called Xiaoyingchang. If the enemy was forced into this place, the Fubo Army would only need naval vessels and a small number of infantry to form an encirclement.

Finally, He Ming decided to have a decisive battle with the Ming army under the city of Chengmai. The core of the plan was: to deploy the main force south of Chengmai County town, defeat the main force of the Ming army in battle, and then use mobile forces to force the enemy to retreat to the seaside at Xiaoyingchang or into the county town, to achieve the goal of annihilation.

It was decided that the total force for the decisive battle would be five infantry battalions: the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th infantry battalions. Excluding the 2nd infantry battalion, which had been transferred to Sanya, the Lingao garrison battalion, which was left to guard Lingao, and the infantry training team, which was training new recruits, the Fubo Army’s infantry was out in full force.

The artillery dispatched three field artillery companies, and the artillery training team formed a supplementary company. In addition to the artillery student soldiers, this company also carried as many as 20 cannons as replacements and reserves.

In addition to Ye Mengyan’s detachment, the special reconnaissance team was reinforced with a detachment personally commanded by Bei Wei.

Pan Da commanded the engineer company. He had originally wanted to form another infrastructure engineering unit, but time was running out, so the Executive Committee decided to temporarily subordinate the engineering team that was building roads in Chengmai County, along with its personnel and equipment, to him.

The Fubo Army’s auxiliary forces were large, including cooks, transport teams, medical teams, and stretcher teams. Most of these were composed of conscripted militia. They were organized into a field army logistics column. Jia Mofei served as the commander-in-chief of the logistics column. This person had previously worked in the logistics industry and had considerable experience in organizing material transfer.

The total number of participating troops was ten thousand, of which four thousand five hundred were infantry, seven hundred and fifty were artillery, and two hundred were engineers. In addition, there were four hundred students from the various branches of infantry, artillery, and engineering, and the rest were auxiliary personnel such as transportation, medical, rear guard, and military industry.

The navy dispatched two 8154s, four two-masted warships, and twelve single-masted triangular-sailed patrol boats. At the same time, a marine battalion was on standby in Bopu as a general reserve, to be put into battle depending on the situation.

The field army, according to the previously issued organization regulations, reorganized and adjusted all the troops. The basic tactical unit of the infantry battalion was officially set as: eight companies per battalion: one company of grenadiers and one company of light infantry, and the rest were line infantry companies. This was a typical organization of the line-infantry era. The grenadiers not only had to be “strong and brave,” but were also true “grenade throwers.” As for the light infantry, the standard of the line-infantry era was to use rifled muskets, be small and agile, and be composed of soldiers who had received skirmisher training. However, since the Fubo Army was already fully equipped with rifled muskets, and skirmisher tactics were also trained by all, the light infantry only became a designation for a branch of troops specializing in skirmish warfare.

Each infantry company consisted of 3 officers, 5 non-commissioned officers, 1 drummer, 1 fifer, and 90 soldiers. In this way, the total combat personnel of the battalion was about 800 men, which was roughly enough to complete an independent combat mission.

In order to inspire the soldiers’ sense of honor, the grenadiers and light infantry were given special uniform decorations. The grenadiers were issued red decorative cords, and the light infantry were green. But hanging on the soldiers wearing simple gray uniforms, it was hardly beautiful.

“Let’s make do with it for now. We’ll change our uniforms after the war. The soldiers are dressed like flour sacks. Not at all imposing,” Wen Desi commented on the clothing issue after inspecting the troops. “The officers’ appearance is also too rustic. They only have a command sword. There’s no distinction at all. In line-infantry warfare, the positions of officers and non-commissioned officers must be very conspicuous, so as to boost morale!”

“How about putting a feather on the officers’ helmets?” He Ming’s mind couldn’t quite turn the corner. He vaguely remembered that in the movies he had seen, the officers’ hats in the line-infantry era had feathers or something like a feather duster stuck on them.

“It’s too ugly. You need a suitable hat or helmet to use feathers. What does it look like to stick a feather on a safety helmet!” Wen Desi said with dissatisfaction. “For now, let’s use a rosette as a decoration on the helmet. Let’s look up the information. I remember someone is very knowledgeable about this!”

After the organization was completed, the Senate held a grand ceremony of presenting military flags in Maniao, and presented the army flags to each battalion.

The army flag was bright red, with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center, symbolizing the expansion from the wormhole that radiated light. On the five-pointed star was a raised clenched fist, symbolizing the armed forces of the empire. A long white cloth strip with the battalion’s designation was sewn next to the flagpole. The flagpole was a long white pole, and at the top of the flagpole was a bronze double-headed eagle, symbolizing the imperial power watching over the eastern and western hemispheres. The double-headed eagle stood on a bronze oak leaf wreath, with the Roman numeral of the unit’s designation in the middle of the wreath. Under the double-headed eagle, a golden sash could be additionally decorated to mark the battalion’s honorary title and the medals it had won.

In addition to the battalion flag, each battalion could also have its own battalion flag, with no limit on the design, as a special symbol of the battalion. This triggered a totem craze. Of the five participating battalions, some used animals, and some used patterns. For a time, it was a lively scene. Since the aesthetic tastes of the battalion commanders and company commanders were different, strange flags such as the double bear underpants flag and the rising dragon burping flag appeared one after another. In view of the fact that the quarrel had no result for a while, the General Staff had to temporarily request that everyone not continue to discuss this issue endlessly—it would be discussed after the war.

The infantry companies below the battalion were also issued company flags, which were smaller than the battalion flags. The company flag did not symbolize the power of the Senate like the battalion flag, but was just a unit symbol.

After the flag presentation ceremony, the field army held a military parade in Maniao. The entire army conducted a infantry parade in company and battalion formations. The drill ground was filled with dust and smoke, and the sound of cannons rumbled. The nearby common people all knew that the Australians or the bandits of Lingao were about to fight a major battle with the government army.

As the Fubo Army sharpened its weapons and fed its horses in Maniao, the government army that had assembled in Guangzhou finally began a large-scale sea crossing operation in June 1630 after two months of preparation.

Whether it was the reconnaissance detachments of the special reconnaissance team ambushed outside Qiongshan County town and Haikou Thousand-Household Post, or the intelligence organizations within Qiongshan County, or even the intelligence personnel in Guangzhou, they were all sending warnings that the main force of the government army had begun to cross the sea and assemble.

The garrison troops and village braves from Qiongshan, Chengmai, and Wenchang were also assembling in the direction of Haikou. According to the latest report, the government army would hold a grand military review and flag consecration ceremony in Haikou at the end of June of the solar calendar.

According to the usual practice, after the grand military review and flag consecration ceremony, the army would set out—a major battle was imminent.

The sound of the signal cannon woke up Gou Chengxuan, who was sound asleep. He quickly got up and put on his clothes. After Lai Da volunteered to go to Lingao to gather military intelligence and mobilize the village braves, his situation had improved greatly. Although it had not been officially announced, He Rubin seemed to have already regarded him as a guest official. Not only was he assigned an old soldier in his fifties to serve him, but his supplies were also much more generous than at the beginning. Although it was not as good as that of a formal staff member, at least he ate better than the ordinary soldiers.

Because he was not a formal staff member, nor was he a military officer, he was not required to attend the morning roll call and meetings. He Rubin would only summon him when he needed to consult him. Gou Chengxuan’s days were very casual.

At the end of June, he crossed the sea to Qiongzhou Prefecture with He Rubin’s central army. After returning to Qiongzhou Prefecture, he spent almost every day and night in extreme excitement. He thought of how he had been hiding like a rat for more than two years, not only having to risk being captured by the bandits, but also suffering the contempt of others. Now he was about to return to his hometown with the main army, and the excitement in his heart was beyond words.

From the time his central army crossed the sea, the garrison troops and village braves mobilized from the various counties in northeastern Qiongzhou arrived at the Qiongshan main camp one after another.

He Rubin assembled the main army outside Qiongshan County town. In order to express his attitude of not shirking hardship and personally going to the front line, he set up his command tent outside the city instead of occupying the houses inside the city.

On the fields outside the county town, the government army’s camps were one after another. Day and night, the sound of drums and horns was continuous, and the shouts of men and the neighing of horses created a tense atmosphere before the battle.

The military camp where Gou Chengxuan was located was the location of He Rubin’s central army camp, situated on a small hillside, facing the sun and sheltered from the wind. Standing in front of the tent, he could overlook the entire drill ground in front of the central army camp.

Although the formal drill and flag consecration ceremony would not begin until the hour of the dragon, the generals and soldiers who were originally sound asleep in their respective camps had already been awakened by the sound of the cannons and horns just now, and they all came out of their tents one after another. Thus, the various camps became crowded with people again, with men shouting and horses neighing.

Some soldiers were hastily tidying up their clothes, some were rushing to the thatched huts to relieve themselves, those who were quick were already surrounding the cooks with their rice bowls ready to eat, and there were also those who were cleaning their swords and spears, putting on their helmets and armor, wiping their firearms, and saddling their warhorses… and so on. With their activities, all kinds of voices, footsteps, and the clashing of objects sounded in a chaotic manner.

Gou Chengxuan had never seen such a scene before. Seeing such a magnificent sight, he thought that the government army’s military might was so strong that even if the bandits’ firearms were sharp, they would probably not be able to resist. He watched with excitement.

He saw small groups of troops already beginning to assemble on the drill ground. Those with neat armor were the camp soldiers mobilized from the mainland, those with old weapons and armor were the local garrison troops, and those wearing only cloth jackets and holding a variety of weapons were the village braves. No matter which group of troops they were, they all held various flags.

“Woo—woo—woo—” the long sound of the horn sounded again. Gou Chengxuan looked into the distance and found that an earthen platform had been built on the drill ground, which was probably to be used for the military review and flag consecration. A cloth curtain had been set up on the platform, and seats had been arranged. On the left and right sides, many large and small flags were inserted. A wide flight of steps extended diagonally from the front edge to the ground. In front of the left side of the general’s platform, a giant flagpole was also erected. A central army banner was unfurling in the morning breeze, making a rustling sound.