At the Nan'ao Island Command, Zhao Hao has been suffering from insomnia for several days.
After the victory on the first day, the bad news that Qing'ao Bay was blockaded by the Portuguese fleet, Lin Feng was injured, the three squadrons were damaged, and the Ryukyu fleet withdrew from the battle came one after another, making Zhao Hao experience the most difficult time in his life.
He finally understood that he was still an ordinary person after all. The reason why he was able to "remain calm in the face of major events" before was because he had the blessing of the great prophecy, which allowed him to cheat and know that he would win. What was there to be nervous about?
But this time is completely different from the previous ones. This is a war that does not tolerate any fraud! The new Coast Guard fleet faces the old naval power Portugal, and the outcome is unpredictable...
Moreover, he changed the plan at the last minute and went to war with the Portuguese before the Coast Guard fleet was fully equipped with new warships. If he failed, he would have to apologize to the entire group.
The reasons for starting the war early were as strong as the self-doubt we have now.
But such words cannot be said to anyone, as it would shake the morale of the army and even the faith of the subordinates.
Zhao Hao finally realized that I could do anything about those important figures who decide the course of history.
Anyway, he has started to smoke to numb the torment in his heart...
At this moment, he was sitting on a high stool with a glass of wine, ready to drink a couple of glasses to see if he could get some sleep.
Originally, Mr. Zhao planned not to smoke or drink before giving birth. Unfortunately, he broke the rules...
He stared at the sand table, as if trying to see through the fog of war, but in fact his mind was blank and he had no idea what he was thinking.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps brought him back from his trance. Zhao Hao quickly pinched his thigh to cheer himself up.
Then I saw that it was Jin Ke who came, followed by a black man...
"Sir, General Lin has sent a letter!" Jin Ke pointed at the black man and introduced him, "This is Lin Zhixuan, the general flag bearer under General Lin. He was the one who swam over ten miles to deliver the letter!"
As he said this, he handed the small piece of paper in the wax ball to Zhao Hao.
When Zhao Hao saw the content, he immediately became alert and questioned Lin Zhixuan in detail. Then he asked someone to take him downstairs to take a good bath and eat something.
Then Mr. Zhao drank the wine in the glass and laughed, "Mom, Master Lin has a lot of tricks. Here he is again!"
"It's a pity that the Portuguese are tight-lipped. We can only estimate the approximate time and don't know what they are going to do." Jin Ke said with a smile.
"Needless to say, of course they're going to target us!" Zhao Hao said with a smile, "If you want to cause trouble for Old Wang, why would you go through so much trouble? You should just kick those sea lords as far away as possible!"
"I completely agree with you, sir." Jin Ke nodded and said, "But how are they going to do it?"
Is it front entry, back entry, or front and back attack? We can only guess.
"This one..." Zhao Hao happened to be sitting on the west side of the sand table, and when he looked down he saw a scale model of Nan'ao Island.
In fact, there was no need to look at it. He had already memorized the information about the island in his mind over the past few days.
Nan'ao Island is over 100 square kilometers in area, with more mountains than flat land, but the altitude does not exceed 100 meters. In addition to Qing'ao Bay and Zhuqi Bay, this Bactrian camel-shaped island also has six or seven suitable landing sites, including Qianjiang Bay, Houjiang Bay, Baisha Bay, and Chishi Bay, which are easy to attack but difficult to defend.
It was simply a pipe dream for him to stop the enemy from landing on the island with only 3,000 troops under his command.
"No matter where they come from, they all have to come here in the end!" Zhao Hao suddenly smiled with relief, "It's good that they came. I've been waiting for them for a long time!"
"Yes, young master, you are really smart. They are here as expected." Jin Ke's flattery is always just right. "In the beginning, we chose Nan'ao Island instead of the safer Xi'ao Island as our forward base. Wasn't it to attract the Portuguese to fight a land war?"
Xi'ao Island is the second place for the Ryukyu Fleet to go for supplies, located in Zhelin Bay, Chenghai County. Zhelin Bay is the best harbor in Chaozhou. If the forward base is placed there, as long as the artillery is built, even if the Malacca Fleet comes, it will not be able to rush into the bay.
At the beginning, the staff officers of the General Office and the Operations Department strongly suggested that the forward base be set up on Xi'ao Island, which is only one-sixtieth the size of Nan'ao Island, rather than on the large and inappropriate Nan'ao Island.
But Wang Rulong insisted that it should be placed on Nan'ao Island. However, the role of the General Staff Office is to integrate all factors, analyze all possibilities, and come up with all feasible plans for the commander-in-chief to choose, rather than making decisions for the commander-in-chief.
So what Zhao Hao was faced with was a choice between two options. Both options had their pros and cons, and the plan clearly stated them all, waiting for him to make the choice.
In the end, Zhao Hao decided to set up his base on Nan'ao Island. The reason was simple: he had the clearest understanding of both the enemy and us.
The Portuguese are strongest in the navy. Although they are also strong in land warfare, their individual combat capabilities are extremely strong, and they have achieved brilliant results in Africa. But this is the Far East, and they only have a thousand natives, and most of them are crew members. The Portuguese soldiers who can go ashore to fight will not exceed 500 at most. The rest are soldiers hired from Annan, or even African slaves. Or they may bring some pirates to clear the way... I don't know how much their combat effectiveness has been reduced.
Although all of their members are navy, their strongest force is the land force - that is an army carefully selected and strictly trained by the generals of the Qi Family Army. They have the best equipment, the most generous treatment, and they know why they are fighting!
On land, he was absolutely confident that he could defeat the Portuguese, but at sea, he had no idea and even felt that he might lose...
Therefore, it was natural for Zhao Hao to choose to attract the Portuguese to land and fight on Nan'ao Island.
But will the red-haired devils fall for it? Zhao Hao has always been unsure. Although he has used all his means to make the Portuguese feel a serious sense of crisis that they must fight to the death. Although the intelligence said that the Portuguese alone brought nearly 10,000 soldiers, their 20 old lock ships were basically troop transport ships! So they must have fallen for it.
But until the moment when the real intention is revealed, no one knows whether the Red-haired Demons will choose a sea battle or a land battle in the end. Maybe Wang Rulong's fleet will be caught and taken away by them if they are not careful. In that case, the Red-haired Demons will not need to land and fight again. They only need to blockade Qing'ao Bay and they will have to surrender before the end of the year.
Zhao Hao asked someone to call Bei Peijia, the director of Nanjing Imperial College, director of Purple Mountain Observatory and director of Jiangnan Meteorological Bureau. He also led a team to Nan'ao Island and was responsible for providing weather and ocean forecasts for the fleet.
"Are you sure there will be heavy fog tonight and tomorrow?" Zhao Hao asked, holding the report sent an hour ago.
"Yes, Master. The south wind has started blowing this afternoon, but the wind speed is no more than level three." The oldest disciple of Master Zhao hurriedly replied, "The humidity on the island is already high, and the temperature difference between day and night is large. When the south wind blows, the humidity is even higher, and the ground temperature drops sharply. This makes it easy for the water vapor in the air near the ground to reach saturation in the second half of the night and condense into small water droplets in the morning, forming fog."
"Then when is the fog the thickest?" Zhao Hao asked again.
"The temperature is lowest in the early morning, and that's when the fog is thickest," Bei Peijia replied quickly.
Zhao Hao pondered for a moment, looked at Jin Ke and said, "Brother Jin, what would you do if it were you?"
"In the first half of the night, sail the fleet to the harbor for landing. In the second half of the night, lower the barge and land under the cover of fog." Jin Ke replied, "Many pirates have settled on Nan'ao Island before, so there is no need to worry about getting lost in the fog. You can reach the attack position before dawn. Finally, attack in the early morning when the fog is heaviest, and that is when the defense is the least relaxed."
"Okay, I'll leave it to Brother Jin then." Young Master Zhao stretched and said, "Damn, I haven't slept well for several days waiting for them. Now I can finally sleep well."
"Please rest assured, young master. You will win a great victory when you wake up." Jin Ke comforted him with a smile. Whether it was the Marine Corps or the Security Team, he had brought them up by himself, so he still had some confidence.
"By the way, has the liaison officer of the main fleet arrived today?" Zhao Hao asked.
"Probably not yet." Jin Ke replied, "But it will be soon."
"Notify them of this news." Zhao Hao ordered in a deep voice: "Let Brother Wang act immediately!"
He still understood the principle that a general must obey the orders of his master when he is away from home. So after Mr. Zhao issued a mission, he never interfered with how his commander carried out his mission.
~~
It was already twelve o'clock in the night when the speedboat returned to the Coast Guard fleet fifteen miles north of Qing'ao Bay and conveyed the latest orders to Wang Rulong on the Zhenwo.
After reading the message, Ma Yinglong, who was on duty, jumped up and ran quickly towards the fleet commander's room on the stern.
Although there was no light in the room, Ma Yinglong knew that Wang Rulong was definitely not asleep.
When the south wind blew tonight, Wang Rulong sensitively realized that the opportunity he had been waiting for finally appeared!
Since the war began, the three squadrons had fought fiercely with the red-haired devils and pirates, and even fought with the main Portuguese fleet, with considerable casualties. He knew all of this information clearly through daily communications.
But this aggressive pioneer was particularly patient this time, calm and even a little cruel. He completely ignored the casualties of his allies, never fired a shot from beginning to end, and even the fleet kept hiding from the Portuguese and never appeared on the battlefield.
This is precisely the cleverness of Zhao Hao's use of people. He let this front-line commander also serve as the chief of staff, so that he has grown from a general who simply led troops to fight into a talented commander with meticulous thinking and a cool head.
Wang Rulong knew very well that his main fleet could not go head-on with the enemy's large sailing ships. To defeat the enemy, he had to break the convention and adopt the most risky combat method!
In addition to your own courage, you must also rely on help from God and your opponents.
This heavy fog was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
But can his opponent give him this opportunity?
Starting from the afternoon, he sent out all speedboats to conduct non-stop reconnaissance of the area. However, the intelligence sent back was very annoying - the four Portuguese battleships were always in the center of countless pirate ships, and there was no chance for them to take advantage.
Did the red-haired devil miss such a good opportunity? Wang Rulong was so anxious that he couldn't sit still. How could he sleep?
But he couldn't let the officers and soldiers know that their commander was still awake, as that would convey his anxiety to them.
ps. No more tonight, try to reverse the time difference.