Chapter 237: Peeling the Onion (Part 1)

Qu Dazhong sat on a rough wooden chair, hands on his knees, body leaning slightly forward, listening with rapt attention as Sha Zhengming assigned the tasks.

Qu Dazhong was a Fujian native, currently holding the official post of Mobile Corps Commander of the Fuzhou Marine Battalion. In theory, this position was the same as that of a certain fake Transmigrator who had just been publicly appointed as Mobile Corps Commander General.

Yet while the official titles were the same, the actual power was vastly different: for military officers, the number of troops under one's command was, to some extent, directly proportional to one's status. The troops under Qu Dazhong, this Mobile Corps Commander of the Marine Battalion, were naturally far fewer than those under "Cao Chuan."

The ten thousand troops that a certain pirate leader had revealed under Fuzhou City a few days ago, along with those strange ships and the Red Hair barbarians who had come to lend a fist, made Qu Dazhong, well-versed in naval warfare, fully aware that his own side was no match.

One had to know that the recent string of great battles between the government troops and Zheng Zhilong had ultimately ended in a crushing defeat for the Official Army. This great defeat not only sent Fujian Regional Commander Yu Zigao to prison, but also, from Yu Zigao on down, many imperially appointed military officers had died in battle, a large number of warships had been damaged or destroyed, and the soldiers had suffered heavy losses.

The defeat had not only severely damaged the hard power of the Fujian Ming Navy as a whole, but its soft power was also far from optimistic: at present, only Deputy Regional Commander Zhao Tingyuan, who had originally been stationed separately at Zhongzuosuo and had now even lost his old nest, was stuck in Fuzhou City awaiting punishment and review, so the hearts of the government troops under this man were all panicked and utterly devoid of fighting spirit.

Therefore, when the newly appointed Mobile Corps Commander General summoned various forces to the Matsu Naval Fortress for a battle conference, Qu Dazhong had come obediently — he had no airs to put on in front of these pirate leaders with their strong soldiers and sturdy horses.

Like everyone meeting the Transmigrators for the first time, upon arriving at the Mawu Water Camp, what Mobile Corps Commander Qu first saw were various shocks: the clean and orderly barracks, the boiler belching black smoke, and the glass windows that had only recently become fashionable in Fuzhou City.

Mobile Corps Commander Qu knew that glass was something these people made in Dayuan. But installing such expensive items on the windows of a barracks was a practice he truly could not understand.

However, once the formal meeting began, people felt the benefits of the glass windows: the bright room was filled with light, and every mark on the map could be seen clearly.

There were quite a few people attending the meeting today.

There was the newly appointed Mobile Corps Commander General Cao Chuan in his official robe, the meeting's actual host Sha Zhengming, Battalion Commander Sha, Mobile Corps Commander Qu Dazhong, five or six Outer Garrison Commanders including Du Dewei and Cao Hu, and also, three conspicuous Dutchmen and a translator were present.

The motley assortment of attendees quickly focused their attention on the detailed terrain map of the Xiamen surroundings on the wall. The Natives who had never seen the style of a later-generation satellite map all widened their eyes at this moment.

Setting aside the strange thoughts that popped into the minds of Ming People like Qu Dazhong and Du Dewei — "his ambitions are not small," "premeditated long ago," and the like — when the curtain on the wall was drawn open, the imposingly built Sha Zhengming picked up a pointer and began explaining to the map on his own.

The novel style of the strategy meeting captivated the attendees.

Sha Zhengming first used the map to introduce the historical background of the entire campaign. This included the current strategic posture of both sides, as well as the résumés and troop strengths of the enemy's major leaders from Li Kuiqi on down.

After introducing this background, Sha Zhengming began to explain the draft battle plan in detail.

The battle plan drawn up by the Transmigrators was called "Peeling the Onion," an extremely simple bandit suppression plan — the miscellaneous ragtag reinforcements present here were incapable of executing complex tasks.

The core of this plan was: the Fast Fleet would strike the enemy first, and after the enemy's strength was whittled down to a critical point, the main force would then move out to catch them all in one net.

So at the end of the meeting, Sha Zhengming concluded: "Once our main fleet has smashed the pirate bandits, everyone can then rush in all at once."

Although the Marine Battalion's current situation was poor, Qu Dazhong was, after all, an elite court military officer who had faced the pirates head-on, so he could not understand this logic: how could 8 ships smash a Pirate Gang whose total number reached a thousand vessels?... Even though those 8 strange ships were very fast, even though many of the pirates' ships were broken-down fishing boats.

Thereupon, Qu Dazhong revealed a smile, the kind with the corners of the mouth slightly upturned, carrying a hint of mockery.

Then his smile was spotted by "Cao Chuan" sitting nearby: "Does General Qu perhaps have a superior insight into the strategy? Please, speak freely."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. General Sha's strategy is upright and magnificent. Qu Mou is full of admiration!"

Qu Dazhong naturally would not choose this critical juncture to act like some tactical Great Master... These pirates were at the height of their power right now, and Matsu was their territory besides; who knew what scheme these people were hatching by tossing out a grand strategy. He, General Qu, would certainly not take that bait.

Hearing this man's seemingly respectful words, Sha Zhengming, who had already put down the pointer and walked back, gave a cold laugh: "General Qu is probably so bitterly hated of evil that he cannot bear to hear others boast. Very well, tomorrow we shall go out to sea for a drill, and it will surely satisfy the General."

The so-called drill was naturally not the Transmigrators' fleet dragging out the government troops' meager men and ships to beat them up, but a genuine live-fire exercise.

Early the next morning, the Fuzhou Outer Sea.

A large number of ships were gathered here. The most numerous among them were the pirates who had come out from the Mawei Barracks. These recruits, who had learned what military discipline was under stick-and-club education, were now packed tightly onto 10 brand-new Blessing ships, waiting to observe the exercise.

And Qu Dazhong's fleet was not far away. The General had only brought 5 ships out from the Marine Battalion this time, aboard which were all his officers and one part of his soldiers — he had not brought those whose morale was truly poor.

Finally, there were the three lonely Dutch ships.

Mr. Putemansi, after his trip to Fuzhou City, could be considered to have fulfilled a long-cherished wish. Now, he was actually here to bid farewell: the Dutch had a rather painfully acute understanding of the Transmigrators' military force, and they usually saw the power of these destroyers often enough in the Taijiang, so they were not interested in the so-called exercise... As soon as the exercise ended, they would return to Dayuan to reorganize their forces and prepare for war, having no time to waste here idly.

All the observing fleets vaguely formed a large circle on the sea surface, and in the middle of the circle were five or six dilapidated Chinese-style junks.

The next moment, the exercise began.

A white dragon was seen charging over from the distance. After showing the audience a high speed of over 12 knots, this white dragon began to approach the target ships, followed closely by standard cannon fire at a distance of 1000 meters.

The combination of 2 destroyers + 6 escort ships, a total of 44 Napoleon Cannons firing in sequence at high speed in a magnificent spectacle, instantly made the onlookers' jaws drop.

After the entire fleet had fired two broadside volleys at a distance of 1000 meters, two target ships were already slowly sinking. Next came the finale: the fleet first lowered all sails, then after circling the target ships at high speed in two 360-degree rotations, at a distance of 500 meters, it fired three volleys in extremely rapid succession.

"Such a divine object actually exists in this world?!" Comrade Qu Dazhong, who had seen everything clearly through the telescope gifted by the Transmigrators, now had hands trembling uncontrollably. He now thoroughly understood the meaning of that "Peeling the Onion" plan, and he agreed with it from the bottom of his heart.

Equally shocked as Qu Dazhong were those pirate recruits. Moreover, these recruits' shock also contained fear. Those among them whose brains were not stupid had by now figured out a certain logical relationship: if they had not followed the Shopkeepers to surrender back then, they would very soon have been sent by these strange ships with no sails and no oars to the seabed of Zhongzuosuo to become boxes...

The exercise proceeded very quickly.

Counting from the moment the distant fleet appeared, it took less than 20 minutes in total for the volleys to send all the target ships to the seabed.

In fact, the shorter the time, the greater the shock. Watching the receding figures of those onlookers laden with heavy thoughts, Zhang Dongdong and the others standing on the flagship could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

This exercise had actually been included in the plan long ago. Because if the Transmigrators did not demonstrate their power, then these recruits and the old hands of the Marine Battalion would shrink back in future battles, would be constrained and hesitant.

And once they discovered that their own side was actually clinging to a golden thigh, presumably these unprincipled fellows would think twice before doing certain things. Especially those government troops always thinking of retreating: if General Cao returned victorious, could those who had fled the battlefield beforehand still have good days?

With the conclusion of the exercise, the southward bandit suppression campaign, with the Crossing Fleet as the main force and the government troops and Dutch as auxiliaries, also began to enter its countdown phase.

In fact, the Transmigrators could not afford to drag things out any longer, because Li Kuiqi's side was about to make a move.

One had to know that over a month had already passed since the pirates of Zhongzuosuo first fell into internal strife and disbanded.

And this situation was actually a race: the Transmigrators and the Pirate Gang led by Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin were both desperately fighting for time to consolidate. Whoever succeeded in consolidating first could strike first.

And due to the existence of Xu Xinsu in Yuegang, the Transmigrators had always had an intelligence advantage; this was the reason they could squeeze out over a month to train the pirate recruits: Li Kuiqi's side was also consolidating.

However, just the day before everyone held the military meeting, a telegram sent from Yuegang stated: Li Kuiqi had already been "holding a general assembly of his ministers" and was preparing to pull off something big in the next few days.

So Zhang Dongdong and the others hastily convened the military meeting, and then hastily held the exercise — they could not allow Li Kuiqi to come ashore for large-scale plundering, otherwise neither Xiong Wencan nor "Cao Chuan" would have any good fruit to eat.

Fortunately, after over a month of consolidation, the Transmigrators' side, whether in terms of troops or logistics, including the Dutch who had come to lend a fist and the government troops, had all been coordinated. So, on the day after the sea exercise, Zhang Dongdong secretly took his leave of Xiong Wencan: there were too many eyes and ears in Fuzhou City; there was no necessity to make a big fuss with some grand departure ceremony.

... The first to set out was naturally the main fleet composed of 8 motor-sail gunboats. The Commander of this fleet was Sha Zhengming, and the Special Forces Deputy Commander was Mu Longcheng.

In fact, because the Navy's entire family fortune was here, apart from Comrade Liu Zhe who still remained in Dayuan to guard the home, the majority of the Navy Transmigrators had already come to Fuzhou with the previous main force and were stationed at the Mawei Barracks.