Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 703 Preparations for the United States (third update, please subscribe)
Mahan's three questions were so direct that Grant was a little confused.

Because the problem with his question turned out to be obvious.This is not a problem at all.

"Lieutenant Colonel, whether war will break out between us and the Ming Empire depends on them, not us!"

Once again, Grant responded with high-sounding words. In the past few years, the American public opinion circle and those observers have been talking about a topic-when will the war between the United States and the Ming Empire break out?
For the United States that has experienced the "Shame of Los Angeles", the threat of the Ming Empire to the United States has far surpassed that of the British to a certain extent, especially the threat of the Ming Empire to the sparsely populated Northwest of the United States.

It is also because of this that in the eyes of the vast majority of Americans, Ming Dynasty is the most direct imaginary enemy of the United States.Of course, this is also true, and, in the past few years, the United States has also been preparing for this war.

As a lieutenant colonel in the Navy, Mahan is of course very aware of this, but Grant did not give a direct answer.

"But if any country goes to war, their ultimate goal is to win the war. Am I right? Lieutenant Colonel!"

Of course, now that he is interested in what Ma Han is going to say next, he no longer needs to think about the issue of time.

"Yes, Your Excellency, the only question now is, how do we win this war?"

Facing Grant, Mahan said.

"We must see a real problem, that is, in the past few years, the power gap between the United States and Ming Dynasty has not been widened, but has been continuously narrowed. A few years ago, for the United States, the biggest advantage It is our advantage in population, but what about now? The Ming Empire already has a population of 1874 million. In the next few years, their population will continue to increase exponentially, and there will be tens of thousands of people almost every day. Chinese immigrants arrived in Daming by immigrant boats. In the past 120 alone, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in Daming, and more than [-] of them arrived in Vancouver, which is what they call the North Sea Governor's District, Your Excellency, "

Grant is very clear about the numbers Mahan mentioned. In fact, anyone who cares about the future of the United States will notice these numbers.

"These people are young, young men of reproductive capacity, and we are dealing with a population that is exponentially increasing, and soon their population will overtake ours, and by then our only advantage will be gone. It's all over."

Looking at the frowning Minister of War, Mahan continued.

"Of course, what ultimately determines the outcome of a war? It is the battlefield! What we are about to face on the battlefield is an opponent we have never been familiar with, and is far ahead of us in technology. Facing such an opponent , how can we defeat them and win the war?"

Ask again and say to Ma Han.

"North Sea Governor's District! Almost everyone put their hope of victory there. It seems that as long as we can occupy there, we can relieve the threat from Ming, because of coal! Without coal, Ming's factories cannot operate, and without coal, Ming Steel mills can't produce steel, without steel they can't build warships, make weapons. In the end, we will win this war."

All of this is not a secret at all. In fact, there are often such discussions in American newspapers, discussing how to occupy the Beihai Governor's District and cut off Daming's coal supply.

"Almost everyone has noticed where is Ming's weakness? There are neither enough coal mines nor iron mines in his homeland. If there is no coal from the Beihai Governor's District and no iron mines from Guinea, their industrial production will not be possible. It may continue. In the past few years, their dependence on external mineral resources has not decreased, but has been increasing. Therefore, everyone thinks so, which is of course correct. The problem is... We were able to occupy the Beihai Governor's District at the beginning of the war and conquer their fortresses. Can we defeat their army? You know, what we can see, they can also see. Otherwise, how would they build fortresses on the border What? If we want to capture those strongholds, we must pay the price in blood. General, it is more time."

Of course, Daming knew where his weakness was, and he also knew very well that the United States would definitely attack the Beihai Governor's District if war broke out, so after the "Los Angeles Incident", he immediately built many fortresses along the border.

"Time is on their side. It will take time to conquer the fortress, and it may even be a long process, one year or even two years. General, during this process, their defensive strength in the north will only increase. Strong, the army will only increase. And we have to consider the threat of Mexico. Their strength is very weak, but when our strength falls into the North Sea Governor's District, who can guarantee that they will not be involved? ?”

Faced with Mahan's analysis, General Grant nodded.

"We are very aware of this, so in the past and in the future we will continue to increase investment in the navy. Once a war breaks out, our fleet will prevent the Ming Empire from sending reinforcements to the north. The role in the future war."

"General, for the navy in the future, the most important task is to defeat the Ming Fleet. Only by defeating their main force can we gain command of the sea and prevent them from supporting the Northern Territory from the mainland. This is of course our plan. But this is not enough."

Ma Han shook his head and said bluntly.

"If we want to win, we must do two things. You have to let their fleet travel thousands of miles north to engage in naval battles with us near our waters. All we need is to fight this laborer at our doorstep. Expeditionary Fleet."

This is not a novel theory. In the plan formulated by the U.S. Navy, this point has been emphasized many times, which is to use the advantage of distance to defeat the expeditionary Ming Navy.Grant nodded slightly in agreement, and he asked.

"Then what about the second one?"

"The second is that we must build a chain around the North Sea Governor's District, just like the hinge we built in the south, to lock the Beihai Governor's District tightly. With our permission, under our blockade, there will not be even a single coal carrier. If it can sail to the south, to Daming, then the initiative of the war will be in our hands."

Mahan took a deep breath and said to Grant's gaze.

"But now we are not ready for this at all. We are just preparing for a naval battle with the Ming Empire, but we have not considered how we can win this war. We thought we could defeat them through a naval battle. And then win the war, but actually? It's just wishful thinking."

As a master of the navy, Mahan's judgment is very accurate. The United States seems to be preparing for the issue of dealing with Ming Dynasty, but in fact it is not prepared at all.

"Based on our current state of preparation, we are not only unlikely to win this war, but we may even lose it as soon as it breaks out."

As the saying goes, good advice hurts the ears, Mahan's words made Grant frowned, and he said a little unhappy.

"Then what do you think we should do now? Since you have said so much, there must be a corresponding solution now."

"Yes, General!"

Ma Han said confidently.

"That's why I'm here today."

(End of this chapter)