In the familiar large conference room on the top floor of the stern deck of the Zhenwo.
The headquarters commanders of the southbound fleet, as well as captains, boat captains and ship captains were all seated there.
As the construction of the coast guard force becomes increasingly formalized, the Coast Guard Regulations stipulate that when a ship is in all waters outside its home port, there must always be a chief officer on duty.
For example, when Jin Ke left the fleet to meet Zhao Hao, Ma Yinglong, who served as the fleet's political commissar, had to stay at his post.
Therefore, the operational meeting could only be held twice. First, for the captains, boat captains, and ship captains, and then after they returned, for the police commissioners, police instructors, and police supervisors who worked with them.
Although the meeting had not yet begun, the police officers sat upright and the meeting room was completely silent until the duty officer at the door shouted loudly, "The commander-in-chief has arrived!"
Everyone stood up in unison and saluted respectfully as Commander-in-Chief Zhao strode in.
Jin Ke, Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong followed Zhao Hao in.
Young Master Zhao was very satisfied. He turned to Wang Rulong and said with a smile, "It's much better than the time during the 'Punishment Operation'."
"If you haven't made any progress, then your time in the police academy was wasted?" Wang Rulong grinned, and the police officers shuddered when they saw this.
God knows how many times they were injected with spirits to become like this.
"At ease, everyone." Zhao Hao then turned around and waved to the police officers.
With a clatter, the police officers stood at attention.
Then Master Zhao said in a loud voice: "After a long wait, we are finally making a big move!"
The police officers immediately showed excitement on their faces, as if they were happy to hear about the war.
Indeed, the war against Japan has been going on for almost two years, and for the past two years, we have been training and training, and the occasional deployments are only small-scale operations. Not only is it boring, but without military merits, promotions are slow, and bonuses are small!
Finally, the moment has come for the young master to announce a big move, which means promotion, medals, points, bonuses...these tempting little treasures are finally not far away from them!
"It seems like you can't wait any longer." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh when he saw this. "Then I won't waste your time. Let's start the meeting formally."
After saying that, he sat down on a chair by the window and listened to their meeting quietly.
Jin Ke also sat down with him and listened. As soon as Wang Rulong arrived, he delegated the command of the fleet. As the second-in-command of the Coast Guard, he still had some attitude.
~~
Therefore, the meeting was chaired by the fleet commander Wang Rulong, and first of all, Ma Yinglong, the head of the garrison area and the fleet police committee member, gave a summary of the military situation.
A gold star is also embroidered on Ma Yinglong's training uniform, representing that the police commissioner is equal to the commander.
He first saluted Zhao Hao and Jin Ke, and then began to preach:
"After nearly two years of planning, the time is ripe to implement the southward strategy formulated by the young master. The southward strategy is a series of grand plans that require the cooperation of the entire group. Among them, the mission of our Coast Guard is to seize the 5,000-mile long island chain from the south of Tanegashima, from the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan Island, Dongsha Islands to Qiongzhou Island!"
"Hiss..." The police officers couldn't help but gasp. What a grand plan.
They were originally very proud of their more than 100 ships and more than 9,000 people... At the strong request of the officers and soldiers of the task force, ten medium-sized Wuwei ships including the Yixue also joined the main fleet. So now the total number of ships in the fleet has reached 104.
The main battleship has a crew of 200, the medium-sized ship has a crew of 100, the light ship has a crew of 50, the speedboat has a crew of 15, and the supply ship has a crew of 30. Add to that an additional 2,000 marines and 2,000 auxiliary police, and the fleet has a total of 9,550 people! At least in the East Asian waters, it can definitely be called the strongest!
But compared with the 5,000-mile long island chain, these few ships and people become just a drop in the ocean...
"Don't worry, we don't have to occupy all the islands, we just have to control the waters within the island chain." Ma Yinglong smiled faintly and said, "Or let me put it another way, our mission is to clear the coastal waters of Daming and control several important nodes as cruise relays. Wouldn't everyone feel more relaxed?"
"Haha, this makes things much easier." Haierge and others laughed, and the police officers also laughed.
"But Ryukyu is an exception right now!" Ma Yinglong changed the subject and said in a cold voice: "I believe everyone has already known that on the eighth day of May this year, the Jiangnan Group was attacked by an armed gang of unknown origin at Naha Port in Zhongshan South Country of Ryukyu. Our security team fought bravely and saved the warehouse. However, ten cargo ships on the dock were looted, 33 sailors on board were killed, more than 100 were injured, and the loss was as high as 100,000 taels!"
The atmosphere in the conference room immediately dropped to freezing point. Although the Ryukyu Kingdom was not within the defense zone of the security zone, the "Naha Massacre" was still regarded as a naked provocation by the arrogant police officers!
"It has been more than two months since the incident. The Group, Jiangnan Trade, and the Security District Office have all investigated the tragedy and have basically concluded that this was a long-planned attack against our Jiangnan Group!" Then Ma Yinglong continued:
"Because the Jiangnan trading fleet only stops at Ryukyu once a month, unloading the goods brought in and then loading the goods purchased by the trading station. It will leave Naha Port and return in no more than five days. According to the information from all aspects, the thieves have been secretly watching us for a long time, and they have finally figured out our action patterns and true and false."
After a pause, he picked up the stick and pointed at the map of Naha Port on the wall behind him, saying, "Naha is actually an outlying island, connected to Shuri Castle by a long embankment. It is the throat of the Ryukyu Kingdom leading to the open ocean, and its location is very dangerous."
Zhao Hao sat at the window, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar map of Naha, and couldn't help but feel that the world had changed. Four hundred years later, siltation completely connected the northern part of this floating island with the main island where Shuri Royal Castle was located, gradually turning it into a peninsula. Therefore, few people know that Naha was originally an outlying island, just like they don't know that Naha Island was once a concession of the Ming Dynasty.
A humid sea breeze blew over, bringing Zhao Hao back to his senses. He couldn't help but sigh softly. He had been feeling a little heartbroken since arriving in Ryukyu. Obviously, we were the first to arrive.
Ryukyu is obviously ours...
~~
Ma Yinglong on the stage naturally could not understand the young master's loss, and continued to speak at his own pace:
"Therefore, two castles were built at the entrance of Naha Port - the South Fort and the North Fort, to guard the Ryukyu capital's outlet to the sea. Now, everyone, do you see the problem?"
The police officers nodded one after another, and Xin Fei said, "With such a superior terrain, as long as we are a little cautious, the thieves will have no chance to take advantage of it."
"That's right." Ma Yinglong nodded and said, "Because Ryukyu is located at the crossroads of the north-south shipping route, it is often attacked by pirates and Japanese pirates, so the security is very strict. They stationed a thousand troops on the island and enforced a strict curfew - after nightfall, the Mu Tang Gate on the long embankment was closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave. The north and south artillery platforms were also brightly lit every night, and there were troops on duty day and night to prevent unidentified ships from entering the Anji River estuary."
"It is precisely because of this that the Ryukyu Kingdom had the confidence to reject our request to set up a police station to protect the trading post." Ma Yinglong continued: "But what is puzzling is that on that night more than two months ago, all the Ryukyu people's defenses failed. The thieves attacked Naha Port from both land and sea, and then retreated safely! The Ryukyu army, which arrived late, didn't even capture a single prisoner!"
"Fuck it!" A police officer yelled, "There must be a spy! And he must be a high-ranking one!"
"We suspect the same thing." Ma Yinglong raised his hand, signaling everyone not to get excited, and continued: "Jiangnan Group and Jiangnan Commerce have sent senior executives to Shuri Castle several times to negotiate, and put forward four demands - ordering them to find out the truth, make compensation, make thorough rectifications, and agree to our setting up of a police station to protect their own trading station!"
The police officers nodded, thinking this was reasonable.
"But they just keep shirking their responsibilities and keep delaying our demands. So far, they haven't made any meaningful response!" At this time, Wang Rulong suddenly interrupted and shouted, "This is a naked contempt for our Jiangnan Group and the Coast Guard! It's also a great disrespect to you, Young Master! Do you agree?!"
"No!" the police officers shouted.
"What if he doesn't agree?!" Wang Rulong asked again.
"Beat him up!" The police officers rolled up their sleeves, eager to rush to Naha Port and drag the King of Zhongshan out of the palace and beat him up. Who gave him the courage to refuse a toast and drink a forfeit? !
"Okay, so our first phase of the combat mission is to subdue Ryukyu, obtain Naha Port, and control all local trade routes as punishment for them!" Wang Rulong announced the combat goal with a grim smile, and then handed the conversation back to Ma Yinglong, saying, "You continue."
"Then let me first introduce the intelligence about the Ryukyu Kingdom." Ma Yinglong had been a partner with Wang Rulong when he was in the Qi Family Army. Others couldn't stand this domineering guy who would interrupt others at will, but he was not affected at all and could follow the other party's rhythm smoothly.
"To make everyone understand the current situation of Ryukyu more clearly, we have to elaborate on the history of Ryukyu. Because it is the historical reasons that have created the complex situation of Ryukyu today."
"Ryukyu is a country of islands of different sizes. The name of the place comes from the Sui Dynasty, when the cavalry officer Zhu Kuan went out to sea to inform other countries. He saw that the islands were like a dragon floating on the water, so he named them "Liuqiu". In this dynasty, the place was given the beautiful name "Ryukyu". When Zhu Kuan visited, the local indigenous people still maintained the primitive tradition of eating dead human flesh. It was not until 100 years later that small armed countries ruled by multiple chieftains began to appear in the area..."
"After a long period of annexation and chaos, by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, three larger kingdoms had formed on the Ryukyu Islands: Shanbei Kingdom, Shannan Kingdom and Zhongshan Kingdom. Because Zhongshan Kingdom was the first to pay tribute to our Emperor Taizu, it was recognized by the imperial court as the orthodox kingdom of Ryukyu."
"Later, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, a chieftain of Shannan State...they were called Ansi and overthrew Zhongshan State. They asked the Ming Dynasty to confer the title of King of Zhongshan and were given the surname Shang. From then on, it officially became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. With the Ming Dynasty as a backer, the Shang Dynasty eliminated Shannan and Shanbei States and unified the Ryukyu Islands. Of course, the islands far away from the main island were still not well controlled, and repeated rebellions and surrenders have always been the biggest problem for the Ryukyu Zhongshan Kingdom."
ps. I went out to do some work this afternoon and I was exhausted. Only two more chapters...