Chapter 3576
Chapter 3576
Chapter 3576
Shi Chengwu was transferred from Hangzhou to Nanjing to take over the local defense after Hai Han and the Ming Dynasty signed a ceasefire agreement in July last year. It has been almost a year since then.
Although there were no major combat operations in the Nanjing direction during Shi Chengwu's tenure, the position of "garrison commander" was not an idle position, and there were indeed many matters that required his attention.
Shi Chengwu said: "My biggest realization is that managing local military affairs is much more complicated than just leading troops to fight in the past."
Nanjing was not only an important city in East China, but also a frontline fortress in the stalemate between Hai Han and Ming. The west bank of the Yangtze River, which was only separated from Nanjing by a river, was still controlled by Ming. Although the two countries had signed a ceasefire agreement, they had fought on and off for so many years and both sides understood that this was only a temporary ceasefire. Once one side completed its preparations for war, the war would surely reignite.
If the Ming Dynasty wants to recover the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it must first recover Nanjing before it can deploy its forces to the various prefectures in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River; and if Hai Han wants to advance to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, it also needs to launch an offensive with Nanjing as its base.
Nanjing, a big city on the Yangtze River, is very likely to be the starting point of the next stage of the war.
Therefore, Shi Chengwu's mission as the garrison commander must be closely related to war preparations. Not only must the garrison troops maintain their due combat effectiveness, but they must also advance various war preparations.
However, these preparations cannot be accomplished by the garrison troops alone. In particular, the preparation, storage, and transportation of various military supplies must rely on the coordination and cooperation of local governments.
Shi Chengwu was not in charge of both military and political affairs in Nanjing, so he did not have the power to issue orders on local affairs. He could only achieve his goals by seeking the assistance of the regent Tao Hongfang.
But as the governor of Nanjing, Tao Hongfang was definitely not considering the war preparations first. At the very least, they had to come after people's livelihood. After all, that was the main criterion for the Executive Committee to measure his performance.
Therefore, there will certainly be certain differences in their understanding and level of commitment to the preparations, and some disagreements are inevitable.
For example, last autumn, Shi Chengwu wanted to transfer the new rice collected by the government to reserve military rations and hand them over to the garrison troops. However, Tao Hongfang believed that the tens of thousands of refugees outside Nanjing who were in urgent need of help needed the food more, and the government's reserve grain was already seriously insufficient, so the new rice was eventually used as relief grain.
Originally, many military camps of the Ming army in and outside Nanjing City had been taken over by the garrison troops, but in order to accommodate the refugees, Tao Hongfang asked the garrison troops to vacate most of the barracks. As a result, the garrison troops had to live in tents for several more months.
As for sending out garrison troops to rescue the people and participate in infrastructure projects, there were too many of them to count. Sometimes Shi Chengwu even felt that the troops under his command were being used as free labor by Tao Hongfang.
Such measures requiring garrison troops to give way to people's livelihood occurred quite a lot during this year, but afterwards the local people only gave credit to Tao Hongfang, the local official, while Shi Chengwu did not get any real benefits.
Moreover, as time goes on, various preparations for war will be affected to some extent and will not be able to achieve the progress that Shi Chengwu expected.
Although Shi Chengwu did not express dissatisfaction, his cooperation was definitely not willing, and he still felt a little resentful. Shi Diwen listened to his son's story patiently and asked in a deep voice: "So you think the preparations for war were hindered because the local government did not cooperate with your needs?"
Shi Chengwu said: "That's not the case. I just think that if the officials in charge of Nanjing can cooperate with me more tacitly, perhaps the preparations for war will be much better than they are now."
Shi Diwen said: "As far as I know, Tao Hongfang has a very good reputation in Nanjing. Even if you think he is not suitable, the Executive Committee will probably not transfer him."
Tao Hongfang's appointment as governor in Nanjing was originally arranged by his father Tao Donglai. As long as Tao Hongfang did not make any big mistakes in Nanjing, no one would be able to shake his position. Moreover, Tao Hongfang had a good reputation after taking office and had some outstanding achievements. The Executive Committee would definitely not change the candidate for governor in Nanjing just because of his minor differences with Shi Chengwu in governing concepts.
Shi Diwen continued, "In the first year of occupying Nanjing, ensuring local stability was the top priority. This was the tone set by the Executive Committee, so the policy measures needed to be tilted towards people's livelihood. Now that the situation in Nanjing has basically stabilized, I will talk to Tao Donglai to see if I can make Tao Hongfang adjust his governing style."
"But you have to remember that you and Tao Hongfang are governing partners, not opponents. Don't think about who is better. I said this once when you took office last year. I hope you will keep it in mind!"
Shi Chengwu didn't dare to say much and responded respectfully. However, he knew in his heart that if his father went to discuss with Tao Donglai, it would most likely have an immediate effect. He immediately felt a lot more relieved.
After saying this, Shi Diwen asked him again: "During your stay in Nanjing, have you paid attention to changes in domestic and international situations? Tell us what you think."
Shi Chengwu said: "I have always been very concerned about the war that my father has been carrying out in Japan, but unfortunately I am too busy to go to Japan to observe and learn."
Shi Diwen said, "There are detailed records of what happened in Japan. I will send them to you to study slowly. As for the war over there, it is actually not worth observing. The scale and intensity are far less than the battle we fought with the Ming army last year."
Shi Chengwu said: "Once Japan is in chaos, our country will no longer be threatened in the East China Sea. From now on, our East China Sea region can concentrate resources to focus on attacking Ming. However, several overseas regions have made big moves this year. I don't know if it will affect the military resources allocated to us in the future."
Shi Diwen said: "This matter was also discussed at the Executive Committee meeting today. The final decision is to prioritize overseas operations. In terms of resource allocation and financial budget, the needs of overseas military operations must be taken care of first. The impact on the internal situation is probably inevitable."
Shi Chengwu hurriedly asked: "What about Nanjing?"
Shi Diwen said: "The most direct impact is that the allocation of military expenditures and the supply of war materials in the next two years may be reduced to varying degrees. This will continue until the overseas military operations come to an end, or the problem of the source of funds for the military budget is solved financially."
Shi Chengwu said: "Father, do you have a way to crack it?"
Shi Diwen said: "Finance, military industry, logistics, these are not the areas I am in charge of, how can I solve it? Unless the Executive Committee changes its mind and wants to concentrate its efforts on solving the Ming Dynasty first. But from the current situation, this matter is not urgent, and it is not enough for the Executive Committee to make major changes to the existing strategy."