Chapter 2988

Once the cannon is fired, there is ten thousand taels of gold. The process of fighting is a constant burning of money. It can be said without hesitation that the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army is based on huge military expenditures.

It is precisely because of the huge investment that the Haihan Army is able to far surpass the armies of the same era in all aspects such as food, clothing, weapons and equipment, and logistical support, thus possessing extraordinary strength.

Since the mobilization of troops stationed in various places for training before the war, the Luzon region has already begun to pay for this operation. Since the army set off from the Cavite base in Manila Bay, the average daily military expenditure during the sea march was 100,000

Yuan or more, and after entering combat mode, this number will even double again.

It has been almost two months since the war started, and the battle line has been pushed thousands of miles south of Luzon Island. The goals set before the war have basically been achieved, and the capacity of the Manila authorities is about to reach its upper limit.

So far, the cost of this operation has exceeded 5 million yuan, which is almost the same as the Luzon Region's entire year's fiscal revenue.

In terms of material supply, although the Luzon region's self-produced and self-sold food is fully sufficient to supply combat needs, the weapons and ammunition consumed during this period are about to overwhelm the local arsenal. To replenish these combat materials,

It is not a task that can be completed in a short time.

Whether it is military expenditure or material consumption, it is an extremely heavy burden for the Luzon region. If the war continues, it is likely to have to bear additional liabilities for this war.

Moreover, during this battle, the number of casualties was indeed not small, and all participating troops also needed to rest and recuperate as soon as possible to replenish soldiers and combat supplies.

From Xiao Liang's point of view, of course he would like to push the battle line further south to the Celebes Sea and drive the Spanish south of the equator, but the actual situation makes it impossible to achieve such a goal.

He must end this round of offensive as soon as possible, and then seize the time to digest the newly occupied areas, so that maybe next year he can launch a new round of offensive and continue to attack Mindanao southward.

It is the largest island in the Philippine archipelago second only to Luzon. It is larger than the seven large islands occupied this time combined, and is almost equivalent to three Hainan Islands. As long as Mindanao is eaten, it means that Haihan has completed

gained control of the Philippine Islands.

By then, the Luzon Region will also have more sufficient reasons to apply to the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense for military expansion and upgrading.

Of course, all long-term plans must be based on achieving complete victory in the current stage. The most urgent task now is to wipe out the remaining Spanish forces on Cebu Island that are still capable of causing rebellion.

"According to the information we currently have, there are about two to three thousand militants on Cebu Island. Most of them are hiding in the mountains and forests in the middle of the island. A certain amount of troops must be invested to carry out the clearing operation. We are currently taking the measures

The main measures are to cut off these people’s connection with urban Cebu, so that they cannot obtain supplies and intelligence.”

Yu Tiezhu explained the battle situation to Xiao Liang while pointing out possible hiding places on the map.

The map is marked with red marks on a densely packed number of locations in the center of Cebu Island, as many as twenty or thirty. These are temporary locations based on the information provided by the prisoners of war, but basically they have not yet been inspected.

Confirm.

It is difficult to carry out encirclement and suppression in these camps set up in the wild. The Fourth Army Division has limited troops and does not have so many troops to send to the mountains for field battles. Therefore, it has been stationary for many days, guarding the city and waiting for the Spaniards to fall into their trap.

Although this method of waiting and waiting has also eliminated some guys who can't stand loneliness, it obviously cannot completely eliminate those enemies who are still hiding in the mountains and forests, waiting for opportunities.

This time Xiao Liang brought a battalion of reinforcements, which could make the local clearing operations more proactive.

The day after Xiao Liang and his troops arrived in Cebu, officers of the garrison at company level or above received orders to hold a war preparation meeting at the headquarters in the city.

The place where the headquarters is located is the former residence of the Spanish colonial governor. Although not a single bit of the gold and silver in this place has been left, fortunately, the place is large enough to accommodate the various departments of the division to work here. And attached to the residence

The chapel was also converted into a war meeting room.

Yu Tiezhu explained the battle plan to the officers. The first target was a mountain valley more than ten miles away from Cebu City. Although it looked very close on the map, because there were mountains between the two places,

The actual distance is much longer than the straight-line distance, and it is expected to take at least one day of marching.

"There is a river in this valley, so the water source is very abundant. It is said that the Spanish also cultivated a large area of ​​farmland there, which can meet part of their food needs. Half of the Spanish temporary settlements we currently know are

Surrounding this valley. Destroying this place is equivalent to destroying the enemy's important food source."

"After completing the clearing operations in this place, we will march westward along the river in the valley. As you can see, there are many lakes along the basin of this river, and the Spaniards built many camps along the lakes.

.At that time, the Marine Corps will march towards this area from the west coast of Cebu Island, and together with the Eastern Route Army, they will attack the enemies hiding here!"

After explaining the general combat plan, Yu Tiezhu explained the difficulties: "First, the enemy may use his familiarity with the environment to continuously launch sneak attacks and surprise attacks. Second, the combat area is far away from the base camp. During the battle,

The material supplies and logistical support must be stable."

The next meeting will be to assign combat tasks to each unit. In this operation, two infantry battalions will be deployed on the East Road, while the Marine Corps will be the main force on the West Road. A total of about 1,500 troops will be deployed.

The next day, the vanguard unit responsible for forward reconnaissance set off secretly and entered the mountains and forests on the west side of Cebu City.

The Banji Battalion responsible for guarding the city also deployed a company to participate in the operation. The team led by Zheng Agui was "lucky" to be transferred to the participating troops because of their bravery in previous battles and repeated military exploits.

The batch of combat supplies brought by Xiao Liang came in handy at this time. All combatants received more combat supplies than before, and the amount of ammunition distributed almost quadrupled. Of course, this is also

Taking into account the special environment of this combat operation, we tried to reduce the combatants' dependence on logistical supplies as much as possible.

Originally, each team participating in the war was issued a grenade, but no one, including Zheng Agui himself, had received training in the use of grenades, so they were not entitled to this special benefit, so they could only watch it covetously.

Other teams received new weapons.
Chapter completed!