There was no conflict between the cabinet and the military, which was fine in the past, because the previous prime minister, Zou Zhuoyun, was relatively mild in behavior and would often laugh it off even if there were verbal conflicts.
But this is not the case for Gao Qingkui now. At least on such a matter that is related to the fate of the country, the saying "the prime minister's belly can support the boat" does not apply, so he refuses to compromise.
But after all, the emperor spoke, and the two confrontations stopped. Otherwise, it would be considered disrespectful and disrespectful.
Gao Qingkui glanced at the crowd and said seriously: "In any case, it is inappropriate to rush forward. Although we do not expect to be completely sure, we must be at least sure, otherwise we will treat the country as child's play."
Obviously, although this remark did not express an explicit accusation, it also implicitly said that the idea of the military department was a frivolous child's play.
So Wu Weihuan was annoyed again. The previous fire had not been extinguished, but now it was even more intense.
Seeing that something was not going well, Cheng Han, a comrade in the staff office, quickly tugged at the corner of his clothes, and then spoke first to smooth things over.
"Hey, stop it, stop it, you can't do anything nonsense when discussing national policy in front of the emperor." Cheng Han raised his hand to push up his gold-rimmed glasses and continued: "Gong Wei didn't go into detail before, so I'll add a few more words for him. "
He thought for a moment and spoke eloquently: "After the agreement signed that year expired, the United States began to strengthen the Bataan Fortress area. The local defense force was strengthened every ten days and every month, especially the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This is not difficult to weigh. Which one is more important, right? Regardless of whether Britain and the United States are determined to jointly defend themselves, the later it is delayed, the more troublesome it will be for our country and North Korea."
After the signing of the "Washington Naval Treaty" that year, because Ming Dynasty did not take advantage in the negotiations but suffered a bit, a separate sub-treaty with the United States was attached to it, the content of which is roughly as follows:
The U.S. military is not allowed to be stationed in the Philippines, the Philippine colonial indigenous troops are not allowed to exceed 60,000, the caliber of artillery equipment is not to be greater than 75mm, the number of tanks is not to exceed 120, and the permanent fortress area is not allowed to be expanded or updated.
The time limit is the same as the naval treaty, which means it will expire at the end of December in the thirty-sixth year of Zhichang.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty wanted to go one step further and hoped that the agreement would require the dismantling of the large-caliber coastal defense artillery in the Bataan Fortress and Corregidor Fortress. However, the United States firmly refused, and the bargaining ended with no results.
This is also a place that the Metropolitan Governor hates very much. The fortified areas and fortress areas are undoubtedly a tough nut to crack. They can contain a large number of one's own troops and waste a lot of time.
If it is delayed for several months or even half a year, the US military will have sufficient time to mobilize, train, and deploy, thus greatly increasing the uncertainty and variables of the war.
"Besides, oil reserves must also be considered. According to statistics and estimates over the years, our country currently consumes 12 million tons of oil every year, but its own production is only more than 4 million tons, and the self-sufficiency rate is only 30%."
"Being unable to make ends meet, we have an annual deficit of 8 million tons, and the strategic reserves of oil are approximately 13 million tons. Even if we save money, it will only reach the bottom in one and a half years. I don't need to say more about the serious consequences of this, right? "
After he finished speaking, Ma Mingli, vice president of the Consultative Yuan, asked with some confusion: "Can it only last a year and a half if I save money? This is much faster than I thought it would be."
Before Cheng Han could answer, Financial Cabinet Minister Li Guangyuan said casually: "How could we prepare for war in the past? Now the three armies are expanding. Those flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water, there will only be more and more big oil eaters. .”
Historically, Japan's average annual oil consumption during the same period was about five million tons. Today's Ming Dynasty is much larger, so the total consumption is naturally much larger.
Moreover, as automobile production increases year by year, the number of private automobiles is increasing. At the same time, the army, navy, and air force are all expanding their armaments and preparing for war. The average oil consumption next year will jump rapidly in the near future.
The helplessness in this regard is similar to that of the Japanese - although the Ming Dynasty has several oil fields, it has a large land, many people, many vehicles, many soldiers, and many ships.
Although it is unlikely that the British would dare to directly cut off the oil trade with the Ming Dynasty, it is really... uncomfortable for the Ansa people to take advantage of this weakness.
If there is a lack of oil, the Eastern Fleet and Nanyang Fleet will face the same dilemma as the Combined Fleet.
"I remember that the navy consumes more than two thousand tons every day." Zhu Lingjing suddenly said.
"Your Majesty, that was last year's measurement. Now...it's three thousand tons." Lin Xi corrected.
This navy is still in a preliminary state of combat readiness and consumes about 1.1 million tons of oil every year. If the intensity and frequency of training are increased, the consumption can be close to 2 million tons.
The current average annual consumption of the Army is about 700,000 tons, but with the rapid expansion of scale, it will soon go straight to one million tons.
The Air Force's oil consumption is relatively special, about 750,000 tons per year. It will also skyrocket as the scale and frequency of training increase, and the high-octane aviation gasoline it uses is more expensive to produce.
Calculated as of June 38, the Ming army's average annual oil consumption was approximately 2.6 million tons, and the total private oil consumption was as high as 10 million tons.
Several people in the military department have been emphasizing the necessity and benefits of starting the war early, and spare no effort to make the emperor show his attitude towards his side.
However, even if you agree with the idea at this time, it is not appropriate to express your position carelessly and directly.
In such a major military matter, the emperor must be cautious in everything he says and does.
"I heard that there was a plan for man-made oil a few years ago, right? What are the results recently?" As she spoke, Zhu Lingjing turned her head slightly and looked to the right.
Zhou Changfeng, who understood the situation, immediately replied without hesitation: "Yes, but there are many difficulties."
Okay, all the information I prepared these days finally came in handy!
He quickly took out one of the documents and read aloud while browsing:
“Before the discovery of oil fields, our country had been internationally recognized as an oil-poor country, so it paid more attention to man-made oil. In the 25th year of Zhichang, a shale oil retorting plant was established in Shenyang, hoping to use shale oil to obtain stable oil. Production."
"But as oil fields were discovered, this aspect was no longer taken seriously. In 1934 and 35, the National Oil and Gas Company built coal refineries in Taiyuan, using the Fischer-Tropsch method and Liu's method respectively. .”
"Considering that there are abundant oil fields in Nanyang, the military believes that investing in artificial oil technology is not cost-effective. Affected by this argument, this technology has become tepid, with little investment, technology has stagnated, and the production capacity of the pilot plant has Only two thousand tons.”
The so-called Fischer-Tropsch method refers to a hydrocarbon mixture synthesis method developed by two German chemists. It uses carbon monoxide under high temperature and pressure with the assistance of metal catalysts such as nickel and cobalt, and then adds hydrogen to generate a hydrocarbon mixture. .
In this way, coal can be used as raw material to produce fuel oil mainly composed of alkanes and olefins.
It can be said that Zhu Lingjing and Zhou Changfeng cooperated very subtly to pave the way for the subsequent decision.
"It should be like this." A colleague from the Navy Department said matter-of-factly: "The oil fields in the south are right in front of your mouth. Instead of spending huge sums of money to study this, why not use the money for military expenditures? Even building roads and bridges."
After a while, Zhu Lingjing, who looked indifferent, asked: "Staff Office, with the existing offensive strategy, assuming that Britain and the United States have colluded, how long will it take to pacify the Philippines and Southeast Asia?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, if everything... no, generally goes well, it will take about three months."
"What if it doesn't go well?"
"Four and a half to five months." Cheng Han thought for a while and muttered: "This is already a disappointing progress, and it is unlikely. If it is worse, there will be more variables and no way to predict it. "
The longer time passes, the more variables there will be, and it is indeed impossible to predict everything.
In fact, it is almost impossible to delay this for so long. Historically, the British, Dutch, and American troops in the Nanyang region were swept away and abandoned in just three months.
Although they are stronger in this plane, the Ming army is not just a freeloader. In terms of the number and quality of weapons, the Ming army's wealth is much richer.
Thanks to the principle of "chickens and dogs ascending to heaven", Zhou Changfeng, who had the title of military aircraft waiting for an imperial edict, only recently learned how big a surprise the Ming army had prepared for the US military.
In order to conquer the imaginary Bataan Fortress Area and Cologido Fortress Area, the Ministry of War secretly ordered two heavy mortars from the Tianjin Naval Arsenal.
The Tianjin Arsenal, which is mainly responsible for manufacturing the main guns of cruisers and battleships, naturally builds two mortars. Both of them were secretly delivered to service last year.
The special Type 37 mortar has a caliber of 416㎜, a shell weight of 860kg, a maximum range of 12km, and a muzzle velocity of 410m/s.
Consistent with the smaller 320mm mortar equipped by the siege heavy artillery brigade, the shell shell of the new mortar is also made of nickel-vanadium-manganese alloy steel, and the warhead is made of tungsten-nickel-chromium alloy, both of which are expensive materials that match the country's most important weapons. .
This thing can penetrate about three meters of reinforced concrete and can effectively destroy various permanent fortifications built by the Americans in the Philippines.
"Moreover, the military power of the United States will also grow, rather than remain unchanged." Zhu Lingjing suddenly spoke, adding a crucial blow.
Zhou Changfeng took over what she said and explained:
"It is expected that next spring, the United States will have about ten infantry divisions, two armored divisions, and two cavalry divisions, with a total strength of about 200,000, and 130 aviation squadrons. However, because the production of new weapons has not yet increased, , the equipment and training conditions are very average.”
"But by the year after next, it will add at least five divisions and 40 aviation squadrons, with the total strength increasing to more than 300,000, and its equipment and training will be significantly improved. And if there are changes, the army will expand even faster , if we go all out, it is entirely possible to surge to... half a million people or more."
At this point in the imperial meeting's discussion, the final decision is already obvious.
"So, does the cabinet have anything else to say?" Zhu Lingjing asked, and the pressure suddenly fell on the prime minister and several cabinet ministers.
"But...but," Lin Xi hesitated, "The situation in Europe is unclear. God knows when a war will break out, and our country will not be able to prepare for preliminary war preparations until at least next year."
"Don't forget diplomatic means." Cheng Han looked at Yu Shenhua, the minister of foreign affairs opposite, "There are many methods that can be adopted in this regard, and Mr. Yu should have a lot of experience."
The latter replied in a deep voice: "It is indeed possible to obstruct and delay the decision-making of European countries, but I am not completely sure how much time we can buy. It is impossible to predict."
"Enough. Throughout the ages, there has never been a reason to be fully prepared before going to war. Eighty percent preparation is enough." Wu Weihuan said.
The huge hall suddenly became quiet, leaving only the breathing of the people present and the whirring of the air conditioner outlet.
"It's not appropriate to be blindly optimistic, but... this is not a reason to be conservative. We really need to be more positive at the moment." Zhu Lingjing said lightly, and then spat out a few words, "Let's summarize it based on this."
You can clearly feel the sudden change in the atmosphere of the meeting. It's very subtle and metaphysical, but it's definitely noticeable.
Zhou Changfeng himself closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Because of the air conditioner, the indoor temperature was quite cool, and the feeling of taking a deep breath was particularly refreshing.
The fate of Ming Dynasty, or China, is mostly decided at this moment.
The summarized strategy was quickly drafted, with the core meaning being:
"The Ming Dynasty, with its vast territory and abundant resources, could ensure adequate supply of most materials, but the oil problem was difficult to solve.
In the long-term wait and see, (if there is a lack of oil) the national defense strength will gradually weaken, while the strength of the largest imaginary enemy will rapidly increase.
If things go on like this, Ming's ability to take the initiative will be significantly reduced, and its strategic first-mover advantage will gradually decrease until it is lost.
To this end, Ming Dynasty must quickly occupy and consolidate the resource producing areas in Nanyang in the early stages of the war to supplement itself and weaken the enemy.
Before that, try to use various diplomatic means to contain, influence, and delay the start of the European war, so as to buy time for Ming Dynasty's war preparations. "
In this way, the core issues of this imperial meeting were settled.
The representatives of the military department could see that they were in a happy mood, while several members of the cabinet were obviously in a bad mood and had mixed feelings.
But the meeting had to continue. The next topic was to improve productivity, and it focused on the productivity of the military industry.
After joint discussions, the productivity expansion plan was not controversial and everyone quickly reached a consensus.
It is planned that the output of 16 types of general military steel next year will increase to 2.7 million tons, 550,000 tons of special alloy steel, 60,000 tons of aluminum, 800,000 tons of ships, and 140,000 trucks.
In addition, Li Guangyuan proposed that a complete, comprehensive, and standardized general mobilization bill should be introduced in order to unify and coordinate various enterprises and governments, so as to exert their full strength as soon as possible in a possible general war.
The book "Total War" and its concepts have become quite popular in recent years. Several cabinet ministers have studied it, and Li Guangyuan also wrote his own experiences and evaluations.
As for the military department, it pays more attention to it. The Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Office specially organized a team to evaluate it.
By the time it was almost noon, all the planned issues had been discussed, and this extraordinary imperial meeting came to an end.
As the group of people walked out of Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhu Lingjing was thoughtful, while Zhou Changfeng was a little anxious.
elder sister! It's already noon, it's time to eat!
When she walked to the car and was about to get in, Zhou Changfeng said at the right time: "Your Majesty, I...can I go back first?"
"Where are you going back?" Zhu Lingjing stopped and turned her head, feeling that this guy was inexplicable again.
"Uh...go home."
"Go home? Did you leave something behind?"
"No..." Zhou Changfeng hesitated: "My wife...is waiting for me to go back for dinner."
(End of chapter)
