Chapter 3585
Chapter 3585
Chapter 3585
The other people who attended the meeting did not object to Tao Donglai's statement. Although they might not agree to launch a new round of war at this time, since they were negotiating with the Ming Dynasty, they should unite and cooperate with Tao Donglai to put pressure on the other side.
Besides, what they objected to was only the timing of starting a war, not the strategy of continuing to encroach on the territory of the Ming Dynasty. If they could force the Ming Dynasty to give up its control over the two counties in Jiangbei without starting a war, then why not do it?
Yue Shizong naturally refused to give in. He knew that if he gave in here, he would be held responsible for the loss of territory, and he would have no way to explain it to the court. However, no matter how hard he argued or begged, he lacked strong power to support him, and could not convince the Hai Han Executive Committee to give up its claim to the two counties in Jiangbei.
"Master Yue, there is no point in saying more. I offer your country two options. One is to take the initiative to transfer the governance of Jiangpu and Liuhe counties to our country. Our country will guarantee the personal and property safety of all people in the county, and your country can continue to operate the industries in the local area in the same way as before."
"The second option is for our country to send troops to seize the two counties. But at that point, we will no longer promise any guarantees to your country, and all your industries in the area will be confiscated. If your country attempts to organize a meaningless resistance, then the resulting war will be a larger scale, and the responsibility will be entirely on your country."
Tao Donglai didn't want to waste any more time with the other party, so he took the initiative to come to a conclusion of two choices in this negotiation.
Yue Shizong, with a gloomy face, could only resort to the last trick of delaying, asking the Executive Committee to give him more time so that he could report to the capital for instructions. If this was done, the news from Hangzhou to Beijing could be delayed for at least another ten days, giving the local authorities more time to mobilize troops.
But how could such a little trick fool these old foxes present? Tao Donglai immediately stated that Nanjing's actions would not be affected by the Ming Dynasty's statement or not, and would continue to be carried out as planned. He then served tea and saw the guests off, ending the meeting.
After sending away the unhappy Yue Shizong, Schneider, who had been sitting next to him and hadn't spoken a word, asked, "If the other side still doesn't give in, then we'll really fight?"
Yan Chujie said: "I don't think the Ming Dynasty will agree to the concessions that Lao Tao is asking for. If we want to take those two counties, I'm afraid we will have to use force in the end."
Schneider said, "Then let me emphasize again that the current financial situation is not suitable for opening up a new battlefield. If Nanjing insists on fighting, I hope they will not ask the Executive Committee for military expenses next time."
Tao Donglai said: "Shi Diwen transferred the troops to Nanjing. I guess his original intention was not to start a war, and he did not mobilize the necessary materials for the war in Nanjing in advance. Shi Chengwu proposed to seize the two counties in Jiangbei instead of a larger goal. He probably knew that the current situation was not suitable for a big battle."
"But I think the young people have performed quite well since taking over Nanjing last year. We might as well give them another chance to show their abilities and see how they handle the current situation."
Everyone knows that Tao Hongfang is now in power in Nanjing. No one present would take the initiative to point out whether Tao Donglai's suggestions are selfish.
If this matter is accomplished, then naturally Tao Hongfang and Shi Chengwu will be credited with the achievement, but if it fails, it will not only be the two young men in Nanjing who will suffer the loss of face, but also the fathers who support them behind the scenes.
Schneider spread his hands and said, "As long as they don't ask me for money, they can do whatever they want."
As the Minister of National Defense, Yan Chujie naturally supported Tao Donglai's opinion. Although others did not agree with a major war, they did not want to offend Tao Donglai, so they finally passed a compromise resolution reluctantly, allowing Nanjing to "assess the situation and make its own decision."
While the meeting was still going on in Hangzhou, the fleet at Nanjing Yanziji Wharf had already set sail.
Shi Chengwu stood at the bow, looking at the north shore not far away. He did not feel nervous at all, but rather more excited.
Based on the continuous reconnaissance activities in the past few days, it can be basically confirmed that the defenders on the other side have not deployed defensive positions near the river bank. Regardless of whether the other side is worried about being bombarded by the Hai Han fleet or has no intention of fighting the Hai Han army at all, in short, the most dangerous part of crossing the river and landing should not encounter any decent resistance.
At this time, the action had not yet been approved by the Executive Committee, and Shi Chengwu was suspected of acting on his own. However, he believed that if he delayed, things would change. The Ming Dynasty was already negotiating with the Executive Committee through diplomatic channels. If the Executive Committee was persuaded by the other party and asked Nanjing to stop the action, then all the efforts spent on building momentum in the early stage would be in vain.
The only thing that made him feel a little regretful was that the opposing defenders had no warships and no defenses on the river bank. They were all hiding in the inland county town. The East China Sea Fleet had such a powerful lineup, but it could only be used as a means of transportation when launching a landing. It was really a pity.
Due to the limited army strength at hand, the two county seats in Jiangbei were more than 70 miles apart and neither was located by the river, so it was inconvenient to divide the troops to attack. Shi Chengwu's plan was to take Liuhe first and then attack Jiangpu.
Shi Chengwu made such an arrangement with some selfish motives. If Jiangpu was attacked first and then Liuhe, many refugees would inevitably flee from Jiangpu into Liuhe County and then flee to Yangzhou via Liuhe. At that time, some of these refugees would inevitably be intercepted by Yangzhou, and the rest would be received by Nanjing.
By attacking Liuhe first, we can cut off Jiangpu's escape route to Yangzhou. Then Nanjing can absorb the local population on its own without having to give Yangzhou a share.
The fleet bypassed Bagua Island in the middle of the river without encountering any obstacles and successfully reached the north bank.
The fishing village by the river had long been empty, with almost all the villagers fleeing. At this time, there were only two types of people left in this place, apart from some people with limited mobility, and the rest were spies of the Ming army.
However, Shi Chengwu only deployed about 400 cavalrymen on this river bank and ordered them to sweep the surrounding areas, but the main force did not land here.
Because Liuhe County is twenty miles away from the bank of the Yangtze River, and the city is located on the bank of Chuhe River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, the fleet will sail to the downstream Qixia Mountain section of the river, and then go upstream from the mouth of Chuhe River.
However, due to hydrological conditions, the two larger Majestic-class warships could not sail into the upper reaches of the Chuhe River and could only remain on the Yangtze River as backup.
The Chu River estuary to the location of Liuhe County was a winding river that was sixty miles long, and many sections of the river had shallow sandbanks. No matter how good the Hai Han warships were, they could not reach high speeds in such an environment, and they finally arrived near the county town that afternoon.
I wish our great motherland prosperity and I wish all my readers a happy National Day!