On the corridor leading to the Qinzheng Hall of the Hot Spring Palace, Zuo Zongtang and the current Zuo Prime Minister Pan Zuyin met each other. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info casually asked about the fighting on the front. Unlike when Zuo Zongtang was the left minister before, the current cabinet has the right to intervene in military affairs, and the War Department and the Navy Department belong to the cabinet, although the appointment power of the two Shangshu and the chief of staff of the army and navy, the director of education, and some other key military positions are in the hands of the emperor. However, the left and right ministers of the cabinet are still the nominal bosses of the army and navy, so Pan Zuyin, the left minister, knows about the affairs of the front.

"The emperor is really blessed with great fortune, and the princes are all talented, and they can be on their own wherever they are put in, which is much better than those wastes who can only engage in political disputes in the pseudo-Qing Dynasty." Pan Zuyin and Zuo Zongtang talked about the great victory that Zhu Guowei had just achieved, and then praised Zhu Jishi's princes in passing.

"You mean King Dali?" Zuo Zongtang smiled and shook his head, "It's just a tofu army." If you want to fight a tough battle, the king of Donghua is still powerful, but he fights the American army. ”

How fierce the fighting is on the North American side, in comparison, the Indochina battlefield is just a pediatric. Moreover, Zhu Guowei's advance speed can really only be described as rushing, and he even won easily, which can only be said that the opponent is too weak.

"The Burmese army is indeed weaker, and the next thing will depend on how the British and Indian troops are." Pan Zuyin said, "According to the news from the front, about 30,000 British and Indian troops have arrived 10 kilometers north of the Guling Temple and are building positions, and it seems that they are about to counterattack." ”

"30,000 Anglo-Indian troops have arrived? King Dali's luck is really not ordinarily good! If the British and Indian armies had arrived one day earlier, the King of Dali would have been defeated now! Zuo Zongtang shook his head and stopped. I've arrived outside the door of the Imperial Study. The imperial study is where Zhu Jishi works on weekdays. There were female officials waiting outside, and when they saw Zuo Zongtang and Pan Zuyin arriving, they hurried in to report.

In the imperial study, Zhu Jishi was discussing the smooth southwest war situation around a sand table platform with Shi Dakai, the secretary of the War Department, and Wang Dehu, the secretary of the Admiralty. Hearing that Zuo Zongtang and Pan Zuyin had arrived, he hurriedly asked Nanben Takako to bring the two into the imperial study.

"No need to be polite, let's come and discuss together." Zhu Jishi beckoned to the two. Zuo Zongtang is now an adviser minister, that is, a minister hired to ask. Naturally, I had to go to the emperor and wait for the emperor to ask. Pan Zuyin came to report to Emperor Zhu on government affairs, but Zhu Jishi just listened to it, and he had no interest in trivial matters in the court for a long time. Besides, how much can he know about the suffering of the people, a promiscuous king who lives in the deep palace all day long and is accompanied by a beautiful girl? It is better to let the parliamentary majority party take charge and be the boss of the house.

"That kid of Guowei is a newborn calf and is not afraid of tigers, and any old and serious general will not be able to fight a battle like him." Hearing Zuo Zongtang and Pan Zuyin's words praising Zhu Guowei, Zhu Jishi felt a little uneasy. This son of his was too bold to fight the war, and he did not even think about what to do if the war was unfavorable.

"The Southwestern Front has just reported a new program for the Assam campaign. It was proposed by the National Health again. Zhu Jishi said lightly, "This time he still has the idea of fighting without logistics, and wants to attract the British and Indian troops to the front line of the Guling Temple, personally lead 20,000 elites to sneak through the Naga hills, and raid the Imphal fortress with the cooperation of the Assamese, pull out the nail of Imphal in one fell swoop, and open the door to India." ”

Zuo Zongtang and Pan Zuyin glanced at each other, they didn't know much about military affairs. However, the method proposed by Zhu Guowei may also be realized, and with the cooperation of Su Yanfa, the prince of the princely state of Assam, it should not be difficult to sneak through the Naga hills. As for the sneak attack on the Imphal fortress, it may not be successful, but it is not difficult to find a danger west of Imphal to defend it and cut off the retreat of the British and Indian troops.

"Your Majesty, it is possible that King Dali's plan will come true," Zuo Zongtang said with a smile, "Isn't it just to woo the prince of Assam to sneak over the Naga hills?" It's just that...... The king of Dali is young and vigorous, and likes to take risks, but he only knows that leading troops to rush and kill seems to lose the dignity of a king. It would be better to recall it to Ava, and then send the old generals to invade Assam with troops. ”

"Mr. Ji Gao is not optimistic about the king of Dali leading the troops?" How could Zhu Jishi not hear Zuo Zongtang's subtext, he raised his eyebrows, "Now the king who leads the troops to fight is not only the king of Dali, I have to recall them?" ”

"The king of Dali blindly takes risks, and he is always not reliable and serious."

Zhu Jishi glanced at Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai said: "There is no reliable way to attack India by land, if you want to hold the weight, you should first decide the victory or defeat at sea, then take Singapore, open up Malacca, and then advance by sea, go through Imphal and Arakan and enter Bengal, and fight a decisive battle with the British on both sides of the Jamuna River, and finally Calcutta can lay the overall situation." ”

Shi Dakai was talking about the contents of the southern operational plan put forward earlier by the General Staff. On the surface, it seems to be steady and steady, step by step. However, the difficulties in implementing it are not small, mainly because the winner and loser at sea are not completely certain, and the Singapore fortress is well defended, so it is difficult to capture it in a short time.

Although the navy of the Ming Dynasty is not weak, there is still a gap compared to the United Kingdom, at least the total tonnage is less than half of that of the United Kingdom, and the size of the ironclad ships is not as good as others. In addition, the decisive battle at sea was not something that the Ming army could fight if it wanted to. The main force of the British Eastern Fleet is now shrinking in the port of Singapore, and it is indifferent to let the Ming Navy deploy mines outside the Strait of Malacca, but only sends some fast cruisers out to compete with the Ming cruisers. Zhu Guoguang's Tianjin took part in three naval battles in January 1876 alone, but achieved little success.

And if you want to force the British Eastern Fleet to leave the port for a decisive battle, or Xie has two methods: opening the Australian strategy and attacking the Singapore fortress.

For the former, the Ming Admiralty believed that the mere attack on Java Island would not necessarily force out the British fleet. After all, Java was not a British colony either. In order to attack Australia, it is not possible to have tens of millions of troops, but at least two or three hundred thousand troops, and this can involve the distribution of sea transportation capacity -- the distance between the Ming mainland and Australia is not as close as that to North America, and a considerable section of the shipping route is under the threat of British ships breaking up diplomatic relations, and naval escorts must be dispatched, which will disperse the navy's already insufficient forces.

In addition, even if the Ming Dynasty began to fight in Australia, the British did not have to rush to use the Eastern Fleet to fight an uncertain decisive battle, they had time to transfer the main force of the home fleet to the East, and then use the superior fleet to fight the Ming Navy. Because the operation to conquer Australia is a very long process, it is simply impossible to project troops to the densely populated southeastern Australia in one go.

As for the attack on Singapore, the General Staff of the Ming Army found it difficult to win in the short term. Because the British have been operating in Singapore Fortress for more than ten years, not for a day or two! The entire fortified area is not limited to Singapore Island, but also includes a large area across the Straits of Johor. The entire fortified area is covered with trenches, bunkers, barbed wire, and deer. Thousands of artillery and more than 150,000 defenders were also deployed. The whole thing is a rolled up steel hedgehog, and without a few months and hundreds of thousands of casualties, this fortress cannot be filled at all. Although the Ming army has made a plan to attack Malaya, the Singapore fortress will not be moved for the time being.

Therefore, the Ming Navy and Army are now in favor of taking a risk in India, and if they can stir up the rebellious spirit of the Indian princely states, they may cause great confusion in the British position. When the time comes, it will be much easier to attack Australia or Singapore.

"If you want to take risks, you can't sneak directly into the Naga hills, you still have to fight a dignified battle with the British, and first find out the reality of the British." Zuo Zongtang also knows that it is very difficult to storm Singapore or start an Australian war, and it is relatively easier to disrupt India. "In addition, it is not safe to rely on 20,000 people to attack Assam, it is best to dispatch an army of more than 100,000 people, and it is also advisable to use veterans like Wu Changqing to command the generals."

"That's fine, let King Dali fight first, and probe the reality of the Indian army." Zhu Jishi thought for a while, nodded and agreed to Zuo Zongtang's suggestion. (To be continued......)