After Zhao Hao made up his mind to try his best to wipe out the Spanish fleet at sea, the focus of the discussion shifted to how to achieve this battle goal.

First, we need to determine the enemy's sailing route. More precisely, it is the route the Spanish will choose after passing Guam or Saipan.

This is crucial because the Coast Guard Fleet does not have the strength to split its forces. Moreover, according to the principle of "Always use the fleet in a concentrated manner" written by Mr. Zhao, it is not necessary to split the forces to defend. All forces should be deployed in the right direction to launch a strategic decisive battle with the enemy and achieve victory in one battle!

In addition, from a practical point of view, the exhausted army and damaged ships after a long ocean voyage are at their most vulnerable and most easily defeated before they land to rest.

Therefore, guessing the route chosen by the Spanish is the first step to annihilating them.

So which way will the Spanish take? After a short break in Guam or Saipan, they seem to have many options, but not many of them are actually feasible.

First of all, we can rule out the possibility that they will directly attack the Ming mainland or Taiwan.

Because the Spanish arrived at a time when the north wind was prevailing, it was completely impractical for the Spanish sailing ships, which could not sail against the wind, to go north in this season.

Secondly, the possibility of landing directly on Luzon Island is also very small.

The combat staff all agreed that the Spaniards, who had traveled across the ocean, needed rest the most and it was almost impossible for them to attack us directly upon arriving in Luzon. Even if their commander decided to take them by surprise, the exhausted soldiers would not agree.

Of course, the key to using troops is to catch the enemy by surprise. The Spanish commander said he did not want to break the routine and do the opposite to catch the enemy off guard.

But the prerequisite for doing so is that they get sufficient supplies and rest in Guam or Saipan in advance, and repair the large sailing ships damaged by the long voyage.

This required them to store a large amount of supplies in advance. Intelligence showed that they did store supplies in Guam, but the quantity was far from enough to support 30,000 troops to directly attack Luzon.

In theory, the Spanish could have gone straight to Cebu through the Dongmen Strait, but how drunk would they have to be to leave the Surigao Strait, which they controlled, and insist on passing through the enemy's controlled area?

So this possibility can basically be ruled out.

So there are only two more realistic choices:

One is to enter the Leyte Gulf and go to Cebu from the Surigao Strait.

The second option is to go south, detour from the southern tip of Mindanao, and stop in Brunei via the Sulu Sea.

Cebu has been the Spanish's home base in the Far East for more than 20 years. In the past five years, they have stepped up efforts to build high walls and store up food, making it the natural home port for the expeditionary fleet.

But Brunei Bay is a natural anchorage for large fleets, Borneo is rich in resources, and there are nearly 100,000 indigenous believers in and around Brunei City, so it can also be considered as an option.

The advantage of the latter is that the sea is wide and there are no choke points, so it is almost impossible to be ambushed. Therefore, it is much safer than the former.

So which one will the Spaniards choose?

The combat staff argued fiercely about this. One group believed that the exhausted Spaniards would choose the shortest route and go directly to their old nest Cebu to rest.

Another group of people believed that the Spanish would put safety first and take a detour to Brunei Bay - perhaps they captured Borneo last year just to pave the way for the expedition fleet.

Some even believed that the Spanish might split their forces, sending some to Cebu and some to Brunei.

This is the staff, who takes everything into consideration and is certain of nothing...

Of course, this multiple-choice question should have been answered by Zhao Hao and his generals.

~~

"First of all, it is impossible to divide the troops."

In the operations room, Wang Rulong, who had been bedridden in recent years and had lost almost all his weight, said decisively:

"The Spanish must have a general understanding of our strength. Their commanders should understand that if they divide their forces and our army does not, half of the fleet will be destroyed!"

"We don't want to see half of the Spaniards land safely, but the Spaniards can't afford the result of half of the fleet being destroyed!" Although this sea king is no longer as arrogant as he used to be, his eyes are wiser and deeper than before. He said:

"Since the commander of the Spanish fleet, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, is known as the 'Father of Soldiers', loves his soldiers like his own sons and is cautious in battle, he will definitely not make such a low-level mistake. He will concentrate all his forces in one place, so that he will not make any mistakes whether he encounters our army or not."

"That's right!" Ma Rulong clapped his hands after thinking for a moment and said, "The Spaniards definitely want us to divide our forces so that no matter where their fleet passes through, they can have a military advantage! So they will definitely concentrate their forces!"

"Yeah, that's true." Jin Ke nodded in agreement, and the three of them looked at Zhao Hao, who was standing in front of the sand table with his hands behind his back.

His subordinates were too superstitious about his judgment, so Zhao Hao didn't dare to speak easily, for fear of leading them into trouble.

Seeing that the three cobblers agreed, Master Zhao nodded and said:

“That makes sense.”

This question is over.

"So which route will they take?" Zhao Hao asked his general again.

"It's hard to say. Normally, we should go to Cebu via the Surigao Strait. But since the enemy commander is known for his caution, we cannot rule out the possibility that he would go the long way for the sake of safety." Wang Rulong shook his head and changed the subject:

"But instead of guessing what he'll choose, why don't we just make the decision for him!"

"You mean, we should take Cebu or Brunei first?" Jin Ke said thoughtfully, "Let him only have one choice?"

"Yeah." Wang Rulong nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly started coughing, and quickly took out a pill and swallowed it with tea.

"That's a solution, but it's difficult." Jin Ke frowned slightly and said, "Whether it's Cebu or Brunei, they are both tough targets. Now it's the rainy season and the typhoon season, so we can't deploy troops on a large scale. When the cool season comes, the Spanish fleet will arrive."

"That's right." Ma Yinglong nodded and said, "The General Staff Office also does not recommend attacking these two places before destroying the Spanish fleet. The defenders are full of hope and will resist very tenaciously. With our army's weak siege capabilities, we are bound to be in a tough battle."

After a pause, he continued, "On the contrary, if we can destroy the Spanish fleet first, then these two places are likely to surrender without a fight."

"I didn't say we really want to launch a siege." At this time, Wang Rulong took a breath and said, "We can feint to attack Brunei. From now on, we can create all kinds of illusions to make the Spanish in Cebu think that we will really attack Brunei. They will definitely notify the expeditionary fleet to anchor in Cebu first!"

"And the Spanish don't know that we already know the secret of their expeditionary fleet's upcoming invasion. If they believe that our four fleets gathered in Yongxia Bay to recapture Borneo, rather than targeting the expeditionary fleet, they will involuntarily relax their vigilance."

"Well, if the strategic deception can succeed, then the Spaniards will only have one way to go." Zhao Hao nodded slowly, his eyes fell on the Leyte Gulf and the Surigao Strait. He thought to himself that this was a really suitable place for a decisive battle.

As for how to conduct strategic deception, the General Staff Office has already drawn up a detailed strategy called the "Pousaka Plan". After reviewing it, the four people felt that it was already very complete and did not need to be supplemented.

So there is only one way left, whether to completely annihilate the enemy in Leyte Gulf and Surigao Strait.

The General Staff Office had naturally done their homework long ago, and had produced three sets of battle plans. However, after war game simulations, even the most daring plan could only annihilate more than half of the enemy, which was far from Zhao Hao's requirement.

"Our forces are about the same in strength, and the Spaniards have no intention of fighting. It's really unrealistic to want to annihilate them all." Jin Ke and Ma Yinglong both felt that they couldn't force it, so they could become fat in one bite.

"Is it unrealistic?" Zhao Hao said unconvincedly, "This is just a staff plan. My fleet commanders haven't said no yet!"

"Hehe." Wang Rulong rubbed his hands, his eyes shining with excitement, and said, "That's right, I haven't tried it yet."

"Okay, think about it carefully today, and we'll see what happens in our weapons room tomorrow." Zhao Hao nodded, and then instructed Ma Yinglong, "Notify Lin Feng, Xiang Xuehai, and others, and ask them to prepare a battle plan and come to the war chess room."

Now it has become a tactical issue, and the fleet commanders have their place to use their skills.

"Yes." Ma Yinglong responded quickly.

~~

Wargames, map work and data calculation are the three subjects that Zhao Hao focuses on promoting in the Coast Guard School. Wargames are based on the other two subjects, and he is known as the "magician" who directs wars.

War game players can use scientific methods such as statistics, probability theory, and game theory to simulate the entire war process in order to study and control the war situation. It can not only help train commanders at all levels, but also be used to test the success rate of various tactical plans.

In the war game simulation room of the Jeonra Island Coast Guard School, there is a command from Master Zhao hanging on the wall: "War game simulation is the commander's whetstone and touchstone"!

After ten years of his persistent promotion, commanders and staff at all levels have now developed the good habit of using war games to judge or familiarize themselves with combat plans.

At present, at least issues at the tactical level can be judged through war games.

Whether the battle plan is feasible or not can be determined in the war game room!

The next morning, in the war game room not far from the operations room, the staff had already set up a ten-meter by ten-meter battlefield map overnight and prepared the chess pieces for the game.

The map simulates the waters between the Visayas and Mindanao, including the Leyte Gulf, Surigao Strait, Bohol Sea, Bohol Strait and other areas where fighting may occur, all of which are restored strictly at a scale of 1:50,000.

In addition, the referee team also brought in ocean currents, wind directions, wave heights and other parameters from the sea area overnight, and calculated the speed tables and hit rate tables for both sides in various directions, in order to achieve a simulation effect that is closer to reality.