The next morning, all the ship commanders of the Punishment Fleet gathered in the conference hall again to accept the next stage of combat missions.

"Stand at attention!" the officer on duty shouted loudly, and all the police officers stood straight and saluted as Mr. Zhao strode in.

Wang Rulong, who was following behind Zhao Hao, had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, and it was obvious that he had stayed up all night again. There was nothing he could do, because Omura Junzhong surrendered too quickly, and the plan he had just made was useless.

He had no choice but to stay up all night with his staff, and in the morning he risked waking the young master from his wet dream to send the plan to Zhao Hao for review, so as not to delay the scheduled combat meeting.

"At ease!" Zhao Hao did not sit down by the window this time. Instead, he stood on the podium and made an opening statement to the generals: "Many of you were here yesterday. Did you see how treacherous those Japanese were?"

"Yes, they pretended too well. If they are not careful, they will be fooled." The police officers who were here last night all agreed and said, "They have a very bad conscience."

"Although the people of the Joseon Dynasty are also cunning, they dare not betray us. At most, they will find ways to be greedy and take a little advantage. But these Japanese are different. They are like wolves. If you are not careful, they will bite you." Ma Yinglong concluded.

"The difference between a dog and a wolf? That's about it." Zhao Hao couldn't help but smile, then he said to the generals in a serious tone, "But we have to deal with the Japanese. The Ming Dynasty's economic boom needs sufficient precious metals to support it, otherwise there will be severe deflation, which will lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of farmers..."

He suddenly realized that these warriors might not understand the logic here, so he said bluntly: "In short, the Ming Dynasty is short of gold, silver and copper, and it needs precious metals from Japan. In addition, since this country luckily resisted the two attacks of the Mongols, it has become arrogant and has lost its name. So we still need to tame them again and let them belong to the system of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise it will always be a big trouble!"

"Yes!" The generals responded loudly.

"So everyone, we are going to proceed to the next phase of the operation, which I will name 'Operation Beat the Dog'." After saying this, he gave up the podium and said, "Now, please allow Commander Wang to announce the specific tasks!"

"Yes!" Wang Rulong stepped forward with both legs together, stepped up to the stage, unfolded the leather folder in his hand and said:

"According to Master's instructions, the main goal of this phase of the operation is to gain absolute control of the seas of Kyushu Island, establish absolute deterrence against all forces in Kyushu, and lay a solid foundation for the final stage of the decisive battle plan!"

"The ships used in this Operation Takao are the entire punitive fleet except for ships 201, 217, 218, 219, 220, boats 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, and five supply ships."

"Why?" Haierdi couldn't help but ask. The captains who were excluded also echoed.

Wang Rulong glanced at them coldly, and Haierdi and others dared not say a word.

This is why Zhao Hao can only let Wang Rulong serve as chief of staff for the time being. If someone else were to formulate the combat plan, every combat meeting would probably turn into a fight.

Then Wang Rulong gave his own order: "The remaining fleet will be divided into two. I will lead the first fleet to go south to sweep all the ports in southern Kyushu, eliminate the Shimazu family's Bozu navy and other water forces, and force Tanegashima to surrender to you."

"The second squadron, led by Commissioner Ma, will march north to clear out all ships in Sasebo Bay, then continue north to Hiradoura to launch a punitive operation against the Matsuura family... According to the intelligence provided by Tangren, the Matsuura navy is currently badly damaged, but the main force of the Iki navy is still intact. There is also the Tsushima navy of the main family. Although they have been seeking peace, they must also be resolutely eliminated."

He swept his majestic eyes over the generals and said, "In a word, after this 'Operation Dagou', except for the naval forces of the Mori family and the Otomo family, all the maritime forces in the entire Kyushu Island must be eliminated, and as many coastal forces as possible must be subdued and forced to accept our protection."

After a pause, Wang Rulong grinned and said, "Of course, the protection fee cannot be reduced!"

"Yes!" The generals responded loudly, and each of them looked like a client going to a brothel, with green eyes.

Then Wang Rulong divided the two fleets into groups and issued specific combat missions and time limits. He then asked Ma Rulong, who was standing by, "Commissioner Ma, do you have anything to add?"

"According to intelligence, the naval forces of the various families on Kyushu Island are just so-so. As long as we fully utilize our firepower advantage, we can destroy their naval forces with minimal casualties, thus making the various forces fear the sea!" Ma Rulong solemnly warned:

"But everyone, please remember not to underestimate the enemy and rush in! To make an inappropriate analogy, the Portuguese had strong ships and powerful guns, and they had a great advantage over the Ming Dynasty. However, our army still relied on the right time, place, and people to defeat the Portuguese expeditionary fleet in the Battle of Tuen Mun and the Battle of Sai Cao Wan, so that they still dare not think of attacking the Ming Dynasty. It can be seen that weapon advantage is not the only factor that determines victory or defeat!"

"We originally only had fifty ships and more than three thousand people, and this time we divided our forces into three groups. Each fleet has only a dozen ships and a thousand people, which makes our strength even weaker. Those Japanese big names and small names have fought for several lifetimes, and each of them is as cunning and cruel as a wolf. As long as we show a flaw, they will bite us hard! We can't afford the loss, and there is no need to lose troops."

As he spoke, he gave an order to all the police officers in a deep voice: "So you must keep three things in mind. First, you must not land and fight without authorization. Second, you must always keep a safe distance from the enemy ships. Third, you must avoid night battles and battles with the wind. If any of these three situations occur, you must immediately alert your partners! If necessary, you can use the emergency veto power granted to you by the young master!"

"Yes!" The police chiefs raised their heads and responded.

The so-called "emergency veto power" is the most important power granted to police chiefs by Zhao Hao, and it is also the basis for them to compete with military chiefs.

Of course, the conditions for using this authority are very strict. It must meet the following conditions at the same time: first, it is in wartime or a critical moment of life and death. Second, the military commander obviously violates the orders of his superiors or has rebellious behavior. Third, it is really impossible to report to the superiors in time.

If any of the conditions are missing, this authority cannot be used. And after using the "emergency veto power", it must be subject to strict review by the garrison to prevent this power from being abused, causing the police chief to override the military chief and degenerate into a cancer like the military supervisor.

"Did you hear that? You must respect your partners. If anyone forces them to use a special move, I will not let you off!" Wang Rulong blew his beard and glared at the military commanders.

"Yes!" the captains, boat captains and ship captains responded in unison.

"Any other questions?" Wang Rulong's eyes swept over the crowd like a razor, and no one dared to speak. Even those who didn't receive the task didn't dare to say anything, for fear of being bullied.

"Damn Haierdi, do you know what you are doing?" Wang Rulong glared at the hapless Haierdi.

"No, I don't know. Please give me some instructions, commander-in-chief!" Haierdi, who couldn't escape being scolded even if he didn't say anything, said with a sad face.

"You have a more important mission." Wang Rulong said in a deep voice: "You will form the third fleet, responsible for getting the three Portuguese ships back to the base. This is related to the future of our coast guard, and there must be no mistakes!"

"Yes!" Haierdi and others hurriedly accepted the order in a deep voice.

"You will be the commander of this squadron, and Merlin will be the police commissioner." Wang Rulong then ordered, "You have three tasks. First, escort the Western ship, the spoils of war, and the rewards of the Omura family back to Chengshan Port. Second, when passing by Jiangchuan City, carefully launch a landing search to see if you can find the silver cellar of the Uku family mentioned by the Tang people. Third, after completing the escort mission, immediately return with ammunition and supplies. Ten days later, on the first day of October, join forces with the Second Squadron in Sasebo Bay, and then go south to Tanegashima to join forces with me!"

"As you command!" All the generals stepped together and followed the two commanders to salute Master Zhao: "We swear to serve you till death!"

Zhao Hao also returned the greeting with a serious expression: "Congratulations on your triumph!"

~~

After the order was given, the ships began to act separately.

On that day, the First and Second Squadrons completed their preparations for departure... mainly by replacing fresh water and replenishing fresh vegetables and eggs. The fleet was small in number, and the Omura family could still handle it with all their efforts.

Unfortunately, the Omura family did not provide any fresh meat, which made the quartermaster very angry and thought that Xiaofang Buging was perfunctory to him. Xiaofang Buging cried out that he was serving the heavenly army with the attitude of offering sacrifices to the gods, so how could he dare to be perfunctory?

"Then why is there no meat? Even if there is no beef or mutton, there must be a few pigs, right?" the quartermaster said angrily. In his opinion, a hospitality show without fat pigs would be absolutely insincere.

Xiao Fang hurriedly explained that there were no domesticated pigs in Japan, only wild boars. There were no domesticated sheep either, and cattle were used to plow the land or to make leather armor. Only the untouchables who were responsible for killing cattle to make leather would eat such filthy things. How could he dare to send the corpses of four-legged animals to the Heavenly Army?

The Tang Dynasty interpreter also explained that the Japanese respect for Buddhism has reached an abnormal level. Several hundred years ago, the emperor issued a "meat ban", declaring that according to Buddhism, you become what you eat, and eating meat will lead to rebirth as an animal, so no one is allowed to eat the meat of four-legged animals.

Later, due to the prevalence of Shintoism, eating corpses was considered unclean, so eating meat was basically completely banned. Even in the Warring States period, when people could not even get enough food, the daimyo turned a blind eye to their subordinates stealing prey, but raising carnivorous animals was absolutely unacceptable in Japan.

The quartermaster had no choice but to ask Xiao Fang to send all the chickens, male and female, to the soldiers as a snack, and then leave it at that.

Oh, yes, among the rewards sent by Xiao Fang, there are also a group of young Japanese women. This makes the coast guards who have not tasted meat for months very tempted, but unfortunately the military discipline is strict, and the police officers are not allowed to visit prostitutes on the ship, so they can only refuse...

ps. There will still be two updates today, and I will try to write more tomorrow.