The continuous period of dark and gloomy weather finally passed, and the wind blew away the dead leaves on the trees, heralding the arrival of winter.
The fortifications of Port Arthur had been completed, and strongholds and trenches had been built in the surrounding areas, forming a complete defense system.
In the harbor, nearly a hundred large and small ships are moored in a row. Looking from a high place overlooking the entire harbor, it looks as calm as a pleasure boat on a lake.
"Zuo Xie has six thousand soldiers, plus General Zhang's five thousand. They have ammunition and supplies, and each occupies a strategic position. Even if tens of thousands of Jian Nu come to attack, we will be able to resist."
Zhang Pan was full of confidence, raising his finger and pointing with an arrogant air.
The new general of Dengzhen, Zhang Keda, was a military scholar during the Wanli period. He was not only good at fighting but also talented. He was both civil and military, and had the style of a Confucian general.
While defending Guazhou in Zhejiang, Zhang Keda captured bandits who were robbing tribute ships and was subsequently promoted to guerrilla and lieutenant general. He later served as a guerrilla commander under General Wang Minghe in pacifying the southwest, where he also made significant contributions.
Later he was transferred to Ningbo and stationed in Zhoushan, where he defeated the invading Japanese pirates many times and was promoted to deputy general.
Moreover, Zhang Keda devoted himself to coastal defense. He often inspected the coastal terrain and military strength in person and drew a "Coastal Defense Atlas" to submit to the court. As a result, he was favored by Zhu Youxiao and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of Shandong Denglai.
Now, after checking the defense of Lushun, Zhang Keda understood and agreed with Zhang Pan's confidence.
Despite his numerous military exploits in the southern battles, Zhang Keda felt that he knew very little about the Jiannu, so he took this opportunity to bring out the troops from Dengzhen for actual combat training.
You know, although Dengzhen was expanded, only Zhang Bang's troops had experienced actual combat.
Therefore, Zhang Keda sent 5,000 reinforcements with the idea of training troops, and also transported a considerable amount of food and supplies allocated by Governor Yuan.
If that were all, Zhang Keda wouldn't have made the trip. As an expert in naval warfare, he actually had a more aggressive strategy that he wanted to discuss with Zhang Pan.
"General Zhang will hold Port Arthur firmly. If the Eastern Tartars attack, the First Brigade led by Zhang Bang of Dengzhen and the Right Brigade led by General Kong can unite and trap them at Port Arthur and annihilate them completely."
Zhang Keda was very satisfied with the defense of Port Arthur, so he told them his plan. "This idea has been approved by Lord Yuan. You, me, and General Kong will discuss and decide on it together."
Zhang Pan agreed without much thought. This was not a strange plan. Such a battle plan had been in place for a long time.
If the Ming army had more troops when Amin attacked Port Arthur for the first time, they would not have attacked from both sides, but would have completely cut off the enemy's retreat and wiped them out.
Of course, it is normal for the new army to be cautious in its first battle.
"Although the imperial court hasn't approved the plan to cut through the narrowest part of Nanguan Island and divert seawater for self-defense, digging trenches and erecting forts to establish a defensive line would have a similar effect," Zhang Pan said. "That would be faster and less expensive."
As he spoke, Zhang Pan bowed to Zhang Ke and thanked him, saying, "With the troops sent by Lord Zhang, we will be able to hold this line of defense and establish an unbreakable foundation in southern Liaoning."
The idea of cutting off Nanguan Island by digging a river and establishing a stable base in an area of 130 miles was reported to the court but was immediately rejected by Zhu Youxiao.
To be precise, it was the rejection of the river digging, not the establishment of a land base.
Digging an artificial canal of more than ten miles cost two hundred thousand, which was not high considering the labor cost.
But for Zhu Youxiao, this method had extremely low cost-effectiveness and was too time-consuming, and it was hard to say how effective it was.
In order to stop the Jiannu's attack, how deep and wide should this canal be dug? Do we have excavators? How much manpower will be needed? How long will it take? Will the Jiannu watch you dig?
The difficulties could certainly be overcome, but would the dug canal freeze over in winter? It would be both costly and labor-intensive, and if the Qing army could only walk through it, all the work would be wasted.
The Bohai Sea is a semi-enclosed inland sea, subject to strong Siberian cold waves in winter, and often suffers severe ice disasters. For example, the massacre of Juehua Island was caused by the solid ice covering more than ten miles of the sea surface.
As for the Yellow Sea, the ice conditions in winter are less and lighter than those in the Bohai Sea, but we should not take it lightly.
Taking all these considerations into consideration, Zhu Youxiao believed that building a trench and breastwork fortification of more than ten miles would be much more appropriate than digging an artificial canal.
To be more secure, he outsourced the processing of a large amount of wire to private workshops, hoping to manufacture it in a short time and transport it to Lushun to add barbed wire barriers to the trench breastwork fortifications.
Don't underestimate the simple and quick-to-lay barbed wire. During World War I, at least tens of thousands of soldiers died because of it.
In particular, the multiple deployments were sufficient to block the Jiannu cavalry and infantry, subjecting them to intensive musket fire and making it difficult for them to move.
Of course, Zhang Pan and Zhang Keda don’t know about this new defensive tactic yet, and martial arts are also researching and experimenting with the new idea proposed by the emperor.
But Zhang Pan thought of mines and picket fences and decided to use them for defense.
In his opinion, as long as there were enough troops, a defense line of about ten miles could be defended without digging a river.
With one corps from Dengzhen and Kong Youde's right corps, he already had enough troops. In other words, he could now recruit a large number of civilian workers and take action while the land was still frozen.
As long as they can safely get through the winter, they can start farming on this piece of land of about 100 miles in the spring of next year, making the occupation more stable.
With a solid bridgehead, we can then look into the three states and combine our forces overseas, bringing the war to Ping Liao into a more favorable and proactive stage.
In fact, the emperor was more anxious than Zhang Pan to occupy a land base on the Liaodong Peninsula. Moreover, Lushun was the throat of the Liaohai Sea and played a vital role in the "four-way deployment".
Zhang Keda originally wanted to use the advantage of the navy to lure the Jiannu to the foot of Lushun Fort, and then land to cut off their retreat.
But the Jiannu didn't react, and if they waited any longer, winter would set in. Using the 20,000 troops of the Three Alliances to advance to the South Pass was a viable strategy.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ke laughed and nodded, saying, "In that case, we should speed up our preparations and start the operation in the near future."
Zhang Pan was overjoyed to receive Zhang Keda's approval and expressed his gratitude with a bow.
Although the Dengzhen troops led by Zhang Keda were considered guest soldiers, they were older, more experienced, and had higher ranks than Zhang Pan. If he didn't cooperate, Zhang Pan would be unable to command them.
In fact, Zhang Pan did not expect that General Dengzhen would come to Lushun Fort in person, and Zhang Keda did not expect that it would make things difficult for Zhang Pan.
Fortunately, the two of them had similar personalities. Zhang Pan was a scholar, and Zhang Keda was also a book lover. They were both cultured people, so they had a lot in common.
The two men fetched a map and discussed the plan. Once the specific action was finalized, Zhang Keda would be stationed at Port Arthur, while Zhang Pan and Kong Youde would take command of the front lines.
Such an arrangement not only takes into account Zhang Keda's identity, but also facilitates specific combat command, which is the best of both worlds.
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