Chapter 2931

The northern and southern ends of the Philippine archipelago are two large islands, Luzon and Mindanao respectively. The central Visayas region, which is the primary target of the Manila authorities this time, has a more complex geographical environment, consisting of seven large islands and hundreds of islands.

It consists of small islands, of which Cebu was just one of the regional capitals established by the Spanish colonial authorities.

The Spanish have been operating in the Visayas for a century. There are many large and small colonial areas, and some villages and towns have even penetrated into the inland areas. If they want to sweep them one by one, it may not take two or three years.

All cleaned up.

It is precisely because the clearance operations are time-consuming and laborious that the crackdowns taken by the Manila authorities in this area in the past were often just a formality. The Haihan Army used port towns as its main target, captured some Spanish immigrants who had not had time to escape, and then took the ships

and port facilities were destroyed, they evacuated voluntarily. Although it had a certain effect, it did not prevent the Spaniards from coming back.

Therefore, in the action plan formulated by the General Staff this time, traditional military strike methods will no longer be the purpose of the action, but will be replaced by military occupation. In order to shorten the action time as much as possible, the opponent will not be left to hide in this area.

With an escape space, the navy will attack in multiple directions at the same time and carry out simultaneous attacks on multiple targets.

"We plan to divide the fleet into four lines, deploy in parallel from west to east, and carry out simultaneous attacks on the colonial ports on Panay Island, Masbate Island, Samar Island, and Leyte Island respectively."

Feng Xingbang pointed out the planned attack target location on the map while explaining: "After occupying the main ports of these islands, we arranged for the reserve army to be stationed there, and the main force continued to march south to attack Negros Island, Cebu Island, and Bao'an Island.

Wajima launches the next round of offensive."

"If the Navy wants to divide its forces into four directions, can it synchronize its offensive?" Haru Gongfa asked. However, the target of his question was not Feng Xingbang, but Jiao Fei, the combat commander of the Fourth Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet.

Like Yu Tiezhu, the commander of the Fourth Army Division, Jiao Fei was also one of the officers who stayed after the Battle of Manila. In the past, he was one of the front-line commanders in the attacks on the Spanish colonies in the south. So for Misha

Jiao Fei must have a better understanding of the situation in the Yan Islands than a young officer like Feng Xingbang.

The combat plan drawn up by the staff department sounds good, but whether it can be implemented will still have to be judged by Jiao Fei, who serves as the operational commander.

Jiao Fei responded in a deep voice: "As long as the time of action is determined, it is not difficult to launch an offensive against these targets simultaneously. The Spanish ports basically do not have decent shore defense firepower, and there is no armed fleet protection. It is difficult for us to carry out landing operations.

Not much. But whether the attack and clearing after the landing can be carried out smoothly is not our navy's decision."

Jiao Fei said a few words and then handed the ball to the army. However, this did not mean that he was shirking his responsibility. The navy was only responsible for transportation and attacking ports, and the operations on the shore should of course be completed by the army.

Yu Tiezhu said: "These colonial settlements vary in size. Some are just seaside towns that have been established recently and have no local armed forces at all. However, some places that have been in business for a long time have relatively strong fortresses built, so how long will it take?"

Time can be taken, but it cannot be generalized. Of course, I guarantee that the Fourth Lu Division will do its best and will not exceed the time limit of the combat plan."

Feng Xingbang said: "In the combat plan, we set a time limit of forty-eight hours for each location where landing operations are required. If there are no accidents, I believe that our troops will be enough to complete the task of capturing the local area during this period. Of course, on the second day

Among the targets of this round of offensive, places with a relatively large population like Cebu, even if we successfully defeat them, it may take more time to control the situation."

Fang Peng of the Military Intelligence Bureau has said before that the permanent population of Cebu may be around 10,000 people. Controlling the local situation after the war is indeed not as simple as stationing an army. And judging from past situations,

The local people will inevitably flee inland to avoid the war after the war. How to gather these fleeing people and bring them under Haihan's rule will be a big problem.

Xiao Liangdao: "The occupation of the Visayas will be regarded as the completion of the first phase of the mission. I hope to complete this goal within this year, and then launch the offensive against Mindanao early next year."

Qiu Yuan asked: "When will the west side launch its attack?"

Xiao Liangdao: "Considering the addition of special operations divisions, I think they will spend much longer time preparing and coordinating than we do. Maybe we have defeated the Visayas here, but the other side has not yet started.

"

Harugong also responded: "Qian Tiandun is a practical man, but Annan and Xingdao have always been fiercely contested. Who will take the lead in the westward expansion plan, probably no one will accept the other. When they decide the master,

This time, we may have started to report our merits to the Ministry of Defense."

Feng Xingbang couldn't help but look a little embarrassed. His father, Feng Annan, was the commander of the Annan garrison. If those people on the west side of the South China Sea really got into trouble because of the competition for credit, Feng Annan would definitely be involved.

However, when these big shots discussed this topic in front of him, they obviously did not treat him as an outsider.

Although the combat plan and preparations are far from perfect, Qiu Yuan and others are still full of confidence in seizing the opportunity. After the meeting held in the Cavite base, Qiu Yuan immediately announced that Luzon University

The war mobilization order was signed in the name of the District Management Committee, and Luzon Island and all surrounding areas under the jurisdiction of Haihan entered a state of wartime control from now on.

All ships preparing to go to the southern part of the Philippine Islands were temporarily detained to prevent rumors from leaking out. Several businesses in Manila were suddenly seized by the authorities, and a group of people who were said to be doing business with Spain were secretly arrested by the Ministry of Security.

.

Of course, the Ministry of Security did not just notice the existence of these people at this time. It just kept these information channels to paralyze the Spaniards in the south. But when it came time to take action, it would naturally cut off these intelligence channels as soon as possible.

Give the Spaniards time to react.

Settlements across Luzon Island have received official notifications, and all local militia and police have been temporarily integrated into the local security force to take over the functions of the garrison.

The troops stationed in various places have been mobilized to the Cavite base in advance for various reasons such as training and defense changes. Many troops transferred from other places have not even had time to conduct joint training before they have been assigned combat tasks by the command headquarters.
Chapter completed!