New Shun 1730

"The Privy Council General Staff is still reliable."

"It is worthy of saying that the people in the world who know the most about the love between men and women do not become prostitutes, but hide in their huts and draw erotic pictures."

Speaking of the Privy Council's guidance on the siege of Gibraltar, Chen Qinghai talked about a consumption that was widely circulated among the senior military officials in Dashun.

Everyone smiled knowingly, and then laughed knowingly.

Dashun has always been vague about what the Privy Council does, what its relationship is with the military government, and its relationship with the chief officers of each army.

What he does in theory and what he does in practice mainly depends on the jokes circulated by the officers in various departments.

At least before Liu Yu and other first batch of outstanding ministers of the new school went to the Privy Council for retirement and the General Staff of the Privy Council became a nursing home, the image of the General Staff in the military was probably the joke made by Chen Qinghai.

After telling the joke, Chen Qinghai said again: "Sun Tzu said: Therefore, the method of using troops is: do not face the high hills, do not turn back to the hills on your back, do not follow from the north, do not attack the sharp soldiers, do not feed the decoy soldiers, do not contain the enemy when returning, and surround the enemy's remains. Que, don't force the enemy when you are poor, this is the way to use troops."

"The current situation is like besieging the enemy and impoverishing the bandits."

"Besieging the enemy's fortress, don't push the enemy if you are poor, but don't let the enemy easily see the fortress left behind and the pressure to run away."

“Topography like Gibraltar is a place where high mountains should not be faced and mountains on the back should not be turned against.”

"And the British chose this place as a fortress because of their confidence in their own navy. If they are not confident at all, this is a place of death."

"Therefore, the remaining obstacle and the driving force must be on the sea. All their hopes are placed on being able to defend for a long time and wait for their navy to rescue them."

"But in fact, their navy cannot and does not dare to come to the rescue. The French army and a large number of landing ships are all in Brest. If the main force of its navy comes here and the French land in Scotland, they will be attacking in the east and in the west. , The plan to surround Wei and save Zhao."

"But the defenders of Gibraltar must have some illusions about their navy."

"So, they also know that they have to find a way to survive until their navy comes to rescue them."

"What the General Staff is looking for is their mentality: How can they survive until their navy comes to rescue them? Therefore, the General Staff believes that after a long siege, they will definitely choose to attack Spanish towns, which is where we are standing now. Launch a counterattack."

"In order to obtain supplies and support until the navy arrives."

"Since it is said, don't face the high hills, and don't turn against the hills with your back."

"Our combat engineers have received professional grenadier trench warfare training, so we must use this idea to let the British counterattack."

"It's much easier for us to eliminate them in the trenches than to storm such a stone mountain."

Chen Qinghai briefly discussed the plans and reasons of the General Staff with these officers. The officers naturally agreed with this plan.

The battle in Gibraltar was considered the first battle of Dashun's army in Europe.

The previous voyage to Nanyang, as well as the subsequent peace talks in which Dashun participated in the War of Austrian Succession as a non-participating country in the War of Austrian Succession, and Dashun's participation in the coups of Russia and the Netherlands, were Dashun's first political appearance.

It can be regarded as truly moving from the background painting of the Eastern Empire that was made up by others, mysterious and swinging at will between extremely powerful and extremely backward, to the real plane.

Now, Dashun uses a language that has no cultural barriers between East and West and can be understood by both sides - war, cannons, muskets, and bayonets - to demonstrate its important position in the subsequent world structure.

No matter what, since I have chosen to go to the Western Sea again, I must fire this first shot beautifully.

Surrounding three and missing one is strategic thinking, and we must be good at utilizing it.

What Gibraltar lacks is its navy. Even though Dashun knew that it was impossible for the British navy to launch an effective rescue, the British defenders believed that it was a siege.

Because of this confidence, they will choose to fight back instead of defending until they lose their combat effectiveness and scurvy spreads on a large scale.

The direction of the counterattack can and can only be the Spanish towns stationed very close to them in Dashun.

in turn.

If they did not have this confidence, or were frightened by the strange weapons like Dashun's large flying monkeys and completely lost their confidence, then they would naturally choose to surrender before the scurvy spreads to the point where they lose all their combat effectiveness.

For Dashun, there is still a lot of time.

Because Dashun's strategy did not allow them to participate in the French adventure of landing in Scotland, and they would never support France and Britain's decisive naval battle.

Therefore, at least until August next year, Dashun will have plenty of time.

Because the storm season in the Caribbean will come in August, Dashun will not participate in the European war, but will help France regain Louisbourg and the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.

And before that, they would rampage in the Caribbean and seize islands where the British army had no defense.

Perhaps even participating in Spanish attacks on Portuguese colonies or the siege of Porto.

However, they will never participate in the land war in Europe, the French landing in Scotland or the direct landing in the United Kingdom.

Therefore, when this side will surrender, or when this side will be breached, in theory, it only needs to be before June next year without affecting the subsequent North American and Caribbean operations.

And if they break through and occupy it early, Dashun can get more bargaining chips.

Try to avoid a complete imbalance in Europe's situation, so as to achieve a new post-war pattern in Europe in a state of balanced external forces.

In other words, the army that Dashun can provide to Europe only has so many people.

Taking Gibraltar is a basic military achievement.

After that, what kind of fight can be achieved is an additional battle achievement.

This requires these officers to cherish the lives of soldiers and capture this place at the lowest possible cost.

It must be fast, ruthless, economical, and good.

With so many requirements, there is no doubt that the tactical guidance given by the General Staff Headquarters is the most suitable method.

However, after the general tactics are given, what to do specifically cannot be decided by the staff. It still depends on the decision of the chief officer.

Li Huan discussed tactics with the officers under the guidance of the staff department.

"The British are here because they are confident in their navy, so their defense against the Spanish side, that is, our defense this time, is still very complete."

"Of course, even if they are not so confident in the navy, attacking from the sea is expressly prohibited by Jinghai Palace's teaching materials. That would be a living target."

"If we want to capture it as soon as possible and eliminate the scene where the British surrendered after seeing the Sky Monkey, then we must find a way to lure them to fight back early."

"How to get them to fight back early, I think, we still have to use some means."

Looking at the defense on the opposite side, Li Hao had an idea in his mind.

Chen Qinghai thought about it and said with a smile: "Your Highness means that it is darkest and most dangerous before dawn."

"Suppose I have confidence in my navy and I believe that the navy can rescue us. Then, in addition to counterattacking to get supplies, we have to beware of another thing that we are most worried about."

"That's a real, massive assault."

"And at the moment before the actual assault, if I believed that the navy could rescue me, then I would choose to launch a counterattack before the launch of the all-out siege, burning grain, grass, and gunpowder, thus delaying the all-out siege."

"The best time to counter a siege is to disrupt the enemy's position before the besiegers launch a full-scale attack - if the British commander has any brains."

Li Han nodded and smiled: "That's exactly it."

"Put yourself in their shoes and put yourself in their shoes. If they didn't have confidence in rescue, they would have surrendered when winter came after the volleys of flying monkeys burned the town."

"If they still have confidence in the rescue, then they will choose to hold on until the end."

"If we wait for them to raid the town and snatch supplies, we don't know how long it will take. Therefore, the best way is to make a bureau."

"Of course we won't launch a forceful attack."

"But our engineers must show the ability to attack by force."

"After our engineers have demonstrated sufficient offensive capabilities, if we transport some French soldiers to our camp after a period of shelling and start preparing warships at the opposite port...then their commander will definitely It is believed that our all-out attack is about to begin.”

"And because he saw the offensive capabilities of our engineers."

"So, he must choose to launch a counterattack before we are ready for a full-scale attack, before our supplies, food, grass, soldiers, artillery, etc. are all in place."

"The best defense against an attack is to suddenly counterattack and disrupt the deployment before the enemy's attack is launched and when it has basically begun."

"We speak different words and eat different things from Westerners. However, things like strength, mathematics, and the art of war are always universally applicable."

When he said this, the officers almost all understood it, and now even those who didn't understand it already understood it.

It's nothing more than setting up a game to lure the enemy to attack.

However, to lure the enemy to attack, it is usually to show weakness or to show weakness if you are able.

An officer then said: "Sun Tzu said: Soldiers are deceitful. Therefore, they show their inability when they are able, they show their inability when they are in use, they show how far they are when they are close, and they show how close they are when they are far..."

"His Highness got what he wanted without showing off. He did not show his weakness to lure the enemy to attack, but showed his strength to lure the enemy. If you think about it carefully, it makes sense."

However, Li Han also smiled and said: "The beauty of using the art of war lies in one mind."

"If we talk about strategy, how do we show weakness? Since we can camp here, even if the British commander is a fool, we should know that we must be strong on land. Because Spain has joined the war, no matter how weak Spain is, no matter how weak France is , it’s impossible to show weakness even with twenty to thirty thousand infantry.”

"Their only possibility of victory is to wait until their navy comes to help. And the prerequisite for their navy to come to help is that the fortress is still there."

"That's why you have to show it's strong to lure it to attack. If you show it's weak, it won't move like a mountain."