Gambling with the destiny of England felt more thrilling to Tōjō Nijūhachi than gambling with the destiny of Japan.
The key was that he wouldn't feel any pain if they lost.
Therefore, after deciding to wager England's national destiny and go all-in against France, Tōjō Nijūhachi summoned a group of English officers and declared with unwavering conviction, "Gentlemen, I have decided to completely occupy France within three months!"
The English officers were stunned.
Just as many French officers had studied at the military academies of the Great Ming, many of these English officers were also graduates of the Great Ming's military academies.
Regarding France's current abandonment of vast territories, allowing English troops to land and occupy them, these English officers naturally had their own assessments.
Luring the enemy deep into their territory – the instructors at the Great Ming Military Academy had all taught this.
To counter this tactic of luring the enemy deep, it was simple: do not follow the opponent's pace, do not act according to the opponent's set script, and instead, steadily advance, reclaiming the land the opponent conceded, bite by bite.
These English officers were also aware that French officers would not idly watch the English army advance step by step; they would undoubtedly devise other tactics.
But who on earth could have imagined that while the French officers hadn't done much yet, Tōjō Nijūhachi himself would stir up such a storm?
And to occupy France completely within three months?
Was he dreaming?
Facing the questioning gazes of the English officers, Tōjō Nijūhachi remained unfazed. "You studied at the Great Ming Military Academy, and I, Tōjō Nijūhachi, also studied at the Great Ming's military institutions. Just as you can see through the French stratagem, I, Tōjō Nijūhachi, can also see through it."
Tōjō Nijūhachi spoke with utmost confidence and eloquence. "For such a tactic of luring the enemy deep, advancing step by step and consolidating gains is one method of breaking it, but rapid advancement is also a viable solution."
"The difference is that a step-by-step advance requires dedicating a portion of our energy to protecting our logistical supply lines, while simultaneously reinforcing troops to ensure stability in occupied areas."
"Rapid advancement, however, does not have so many issues."
"By adopting a rapid advancement tactic, we can launch a comprehensive offensive across France in the shortest possible time, mobilizing all French forces and forcing them to be spread thin, unable to attend to every threat."
General Edward, the Commander-in-Chief of the English Army, directly voiced his objection. "Rapid advancement is certainly a tactic to counter luring the enemy deep, but this tactic places extremely high demands on logistics, which the English army's logistics simply cannot meet."
"If we lose our logistics, it means our soldiers lose their supplies, and we will then be at the mercy of the French army."
"Or, perhaps, this is exactly what those damn French frogs want to see?"
Admiral Richard, the Commander-in-Chief of the English Navy, also expressed his dissent. "If we proceed with the original operational plan, our navy can fully cooperate with the army in combat, and even provide fire support in certain coastal areas."
"However, if we switch to a rapid advancement strategy, our navy will be unable to provide fire support to the army, nor can it coordinate with the army in combat."
Moreover, Richard had one more unspoken thought – if they fought according to the original plan, even if the English army couldn't defeat the French army, they could retreat in an orderly fashion. But if they switched to the rapid advancement plan, and the battle situation turned unfavorable, the English army would be trapped in a desperate situation with no retreat.
After some thought, Richard added, "Mr. Tōjō, you cannot demand the same from the English army as you would from the Ming army."
"In fact, there is only one Great Ming in this entire small world. What the Ming army can achieve does not mean that armies of other countries can also achieve it."
"For example, both we in England and their French army are fully armed when dealing with disasters, whereas the Ming army often only carries tools like shovels and crowbars."
"Similarly, the Ming army doesn't need to worry about supplies because when they fought the Qing army, any place was their own territory, and they could obtain supplies from anywhere. We, however, are fighting on the territory of these French frogs, and they won't kindly prepare supplies for us."
However, to the surprise of Richard and Edward, Tōjō Nijūhachi simply waved his hand with a smile, showing no concern for the difficulties raised by Edward and Richard.
"Of course, the French frogs won't prepare supplies for us, or rather, they won't deliver supplies to us. But..."
Tōjō Nijūhachi's expression suddenly turned ferocious. "If they don't give them to us, won't we take them ourselves? In India, those ‘Sammies’ also wouldn't prepare supplies for us, but these difficulties did not stop the Japanese warriors!"
"If they don't give, we take! If they are unwilling, we will fight until they are willing!"
"Local self-governance committees, village chiefs, and sweeping offensives – these tactics are the trump cards of us Japanese warriors in dealing with India. Now, I will teach you these tactics, and I hope you will all learn them diligently."
After Tōjō Nijūhachi roughly explained the gameplay of local self-governance committees and sweeping offensives, Edward, Richard, and all the officers, both high-ranking and low, fell into a state of existential doubt.
If the English army could truly fight according to Tōjō Nijūhachi's tactics, then it seemed? Possibly? Probably? They might not need any logistical supplies?
War, could it be fought like this?
If these ruthless tactics could not be broken, it was highly likely that France would indeed be captured by Tōjō Nijūhachi!
After careful consideration, Edward couldn't help but ask, "What about ammunition? This tactic can at best solve the problem of food supply, but it cannot solve the problem of ammunition supply, right?"
Tōjō Nijūhachi smiled and shook his head, saying, "Of course, we need ammunition supplies. But don't you forget, the firearms and cannons equipped by the French army are not much different from those equipped by the English army, and the ammunition is interchangeable."
"Moreover, we must learn to use the French frogs to defeat the French frogs."
"For example, we can drive the ordinary French frogs to attack the French army – if they open fire on the ordinary French frogs, then the ordinary French frogs will stop moving towards them. If they ignore them, then these driven French frogs will cause them significant trouble."
"Furthermore, we can also support a new French regime, and let the new French regime persuade those French officers to surrender."
Richard, unconvinced, retorted, "What if this tactic fails?"
Tōjō Nijūhachi let out a cold scoff and retorted, "Will the steady advance tactic definitely succeed?"
"As you just said, the French frogs are currently luring us deep. They want to lengthen our supply lines and then cut off our logistics with a single blow."
"From the very beginning, the English army has fallen into the trap of the French frogs, and our front line has been severely stretched – perhaps, the French frogs don't even need to cut off our logistics; the logistics of the English army will be stretched thin by the forward troops."
"Therefore, this is a gamble."
"If we win this gamble, England will be able to take all of France, including its homeland and overseas territories, as well as the wealth accumulated by France over centuries."
"If we lose, it will merely be a matter of halting the current war and entering negotiations."
"However, we still have the Habsburg family. As our allies, the Habsburgs will help us tie down a portion of the French forces, so the French army will not be able to fully deal with us."
Seeing Tōjō Nijūhachi openly admit that this was a gamble, Richard and Edward and the other senior figures of the English army fell into silence.
While others gambled with money, Tōjō Nijūhachi was gambling with the entire future of England. Could this possibly work?
But Edward and Richard couldn't find any reason to refute Tōjō Nijūhachi.
As Tōjō Nijūhachi had said, the French army was currently luring the enemy deep, and the English army's supply lines were already at a dangerous level. If they didn't take this gamble, England might not win either, but by taking this gamble, England actually had a sliver of hope?
With this thought, Edward abruptly stood up and saluted Tōjō Nijūhachi, "Mr. Tōjō, rest assured, we will strictly execute your operational plan!"
Seeing Edward take the lead in expressing his commitment, Richard could only sigh helplessly and salute Tōjō Nijūhachi, "Our navy will fully cooperate with Mr. Tōjō's operational plan!"
Tōjō Nijūhachi immediately became pleased. "May the Great Ming Emperor bless England, and may your fortunes in battle be long-lasting!"
...
The news of Tōjō Nijūhachi's command for the French army to change tactics quickly reached Louis XVI.
This was not particularly surprising, as England and France had been at odds for over a century, with both sides furiously planting spies in the other's ranks. Any minor stir in one camp was quickly reported to the other.
However, Louis XVI could never have imagined that England would heed the advice of a doctor and find a short, scrawny man from India to command the English army.
Even Napoleon expressed some concern. "If it were the officers of those 'rose beefs' in command, it would be manageable, but now that a short, scrawny man is in command, the subsequent battles will truly be difficult to fight."
Louis XVI frowned. "You mean, England has the support of the Great Ming?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Louis XVI immediately dismissed his own thought. "Impossible. Even if the Great Ming doesn't support France, they would never support England. There must be some misunderstanding here."
Napoleon said, "Of course, the Great Ming would not support England."
"If the Great Ming chose to support England, it's likely that not only would Tōjō Nijūhachi go to England, but the garrisons at the Great Ming's overseas military bases might also be mobilized – currently, there are no signs of mobilization from the Great Ming's overseas military bases, which indicates that Tōjō Nijūhachi is not backed by the Great Ming."
"In other words, we can rest assured and boldly kill Tōjō Nijūhachi, and even boldly go after George III and the others, as long as we don't accidentally harm that doctor from the Great Ming."
With that, Napoleon couldn't help but shake his head, bringing the conversation back to the current battle situation. "Tōjō Nijūhachi was originally a Japanese savage, and most Japanese savages are inhuman beasts, so the original operational plan needs to be changed."
Louis XVI was taken aback and asked, "Change the original operational plan? Do we have to face them head-on now?"
Napoleon shook his head again. "No, it's not time to face them head-on yet – what I mean by changing the original operational plan is not to abandon the original operational plan entirely."
Napoleon's statement made Louis XVI even more bewildered.
After thinking for days and not coming up with any answers, Louis XVI simply looked at Napoleon and asked, "How do we change it?"
Napoleon replied, "The original plan of luring the enemy deep remains unchanged; we will still lure the English 'rose beefs' to advance rapidly."
"What has truly changed are the troops originally planned to engage in a decisive battle with the English 'rose beefs'."
"As His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor said, no matter how many paths they take, I will only take one – I will lead an army to actively seek out the main force of the English 'rose beef' army and engage in a decisive battle!"
Louis XVI was immediately startled and exclaimed, "A decisive battle now?"
Napoleon nodded and said gravely, "You can never guess the bottom line of those short, scrawny men, or rather, they have no bottom line at all."
At this point, a hint of helplessness appeared on Napoleon's face. "If we allow that short, scrawny man to lead the English 'rose beefs' to wreak havoc on French soil, the French civilians will be extremely disappointed in you."
"If it were the old France, we certainly wouldn't care what kind of insane things that short, scrawny man might do. After all, it's war, and war is always cruel."
"However, Your Majesty has fully adopted the Great Ming's system..."
"If nothing else, the cabinet and the military government will be difficult to explain, and those traditional nobles will likely seize this opportunity to emerge."
"With the slightest carelessness, France could very well fall into turmoil."
Napoleon's words made Louis XVI frown as well.
When he had fully Sinicized France, Louis XVI had thought it through – since the strongest power on this small world was the Great Ming, it meant that the Great Ming's system must be extremely excellent, and that France's complete adoption of the Great Ming's system would surely have a positive effect.
And after adopting the Great Ming's system, France did indeed develop as Louis XVI had envisioned, even showing signs of prosperity.
However, Louis XVI had never expected that the Great Ming's system would also have such an aspect!