afterglow

Chapter 119 The Army Expansion Potential on the Other Side of the Ocean

It is called "Zou" when reporting official affairs to the emperor, and "Qi" when reporting official affairs to the prince.

The British side has no other appeals for the time being, and they do not intend to continue to engage in substantive confrontation with Ming Dynasty, because it is meaningless to do this right now, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Now the British Empire only wants to continue to maintain other colonies, and the key focus is still on the "balance of power policy" in Europe; as for the precarious situation in the Far East, it can be maintained day by day without any long-term consideration. It can be said that it is broken.

"Because the British and the Dutch are not afraid, can they make such a bold move? Come on, shut up, it's a cliché from the past." On the phone, Zhu Liqie reprimanded a lieutenant general of the Eastern Fleet very displeased.

These days, the emperor's health is not very good, so he is asked to act as an agent for some ordinary government affairs. Although he can't be called a supervisor, his power is not small.

Naturally, all forces and people from different factions do not want to miss this good opportunity. Everyone pays attention to the crown prince's behavior and measures to figure out his handling style.

"The world situation is uncertain, but some people can't sit still." Zhu Liqie complained to Zhan Shi Wu Zhengren next to him: "They seem to be sure that the United States will hold its nose and let it go."

The latter nodded with a helpless look on his face and said, "It's all about the dismantling of the country's armaments over and over again, but for the United States with such a complete and huge industrial construction, the transformation may not take a year."

"Although its army strength is small, it is easy to expand. According to the report of the year before last, the United States can arm at least sixty divisions just by hoarding combat equipment." Zhu Liqie stood up, paced and said: "Navy Not to mention, it has never been overlooked and is first class both in terms of scale and technology.”

His so-called combat readiness ordnance is mentioned in a report on US war preparations jointly compiled by the Intelligence Office of the Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of War, and is used to assess the speed of war preparation and military expansion of imaginary enemies.

Although the huge United States today has only an army of [-] people that does not match its size, its inventory of various weapons and equipment is well preserved and the number is very large.

For example, the M7917 rifle, the P-14 rifle designed by Enfield was flawlessly organized to open up new production lines in factories all over the British Isles, so the British went to North America to find manufacturers, and the Americans produced more than 100 million P-14 rifles in total. -7917 rifle, and finalized as Model [-], most of which were kept in stock after the war.

除此之外还有几十万支斯普林菲尔德M7903型步枪，超过四千门仿制的“施耐德75小姐”、Mle-7897型75㎜野战炮，一千余门仿制的施耐德Mle-7917型155㎜榴弹炮。

These huge number of weapons cannot be ignored. It is an underestimation to expand the army to sixty divisions. In fact, hundreds of divisions can be assembled.

This is just the first wave of consumption. Once it enters a state of war and completes the transformation of ordnance production, all kinds of weapons and equipment will be produced continuously like a torrent.

It can be said that this is what Zhu Liqie is most worried about. It is true that Ming Dynasty can easily acquire the whole of Nanyang, which can make Britain and the Netherlands swallow their anger, but how can they ensure that the United States will hold its nose and let it go?
Although the latter does have the possibility of backing down, how dare to rule out the possibility that the United States will choose to deal with it head-on and tough?
Anyone who dares not to consider this situation is no longer optimistic and confident, but naive and conceited.

How much will it cost to bring Daming and the United States to the negotiating table?In other words, with the current national strength of Ming Dynasty, can it resist it?

This is what Zhu Liqie is worried about as the crown prince-it is okay to fight, but how to end the war with dignity?

He is not sure about how to make the war "controllable", because he knows very well that those who have benefited from the war and made a lot of money will really be satisfied?Human greed is endless.

More importantly, one should not suffer from scarcity but inequality. The distribution of benefits is very complicated and uneven distribution cannot be avoided.No matter how precise the knife is when dividing the cake, it is inevitable to avoid more or less.

And this is precisely where the contradiction lies, and those guys will definitely not be willing to end it at that time—why does he earn so much from this, and I haven't earned much? The war is about to end, why not?
After thinking for a while, Wu Zhengren pondered: "It is unlikely that the Americans will completely abandon the Far East. No matter how shrewd businessmen are, they will take risks and try to invest. Once the war starts, unless the results of our army are so sharp that they immediately give up their thoughts. Otherwise they are less likely to choose peace talks."

He paused, and then said: "For example, as the Navy said, if it can achieve a devastating blow to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet in a short period of time, it will be enough to make it completely abandon the Far East."

If a devastating blow to the Pacific Fleet can be achieved, then the vast Pacific Ocean will be patrolled by the Ming Navy, and the west coast of North America will be wide open. In this case, the Americans are indeed likely to choose peace talks, because they cannot build ships to replenish them in a short time.

Conversely, if only one or two fingers are injured, then the Pacific Fleet can continue to circle and delay. As long as one or two years are won, the follow-up ships will be added into service like dumplings.

Zhu Liqie snorted coldly, and said casually:
"But it's unlikely. The navy just wants to expand its fleet on a large scale after the treaty expires. But is this useful? The Pacific Fleet of the United States can be shrunk down in Hong Kong and turned into an 'existing fleet'. Does the Eastern Fleet want to stand up to the port and coastal defenses? Cannon fire to launch a strong attack?"

"Although the current situation is deteriorating, it is estimated that it will take at least three or four years to reach its peak. Instead of investing huge sums of money in fleet expansion now, it is better to invest in construction for another year. There is no rush to increase military expenditures. It’s been two years, the more we build now, the more stamina we’ll have when we fight.”

"Your Highness," at this time, an attendant hurriedly walked in, "The earthquake in Meizhou and Qingshen County was not strong, but it is reported that it has caused the collapse of hundreds of houses and the casualties of hundreds of officials and civilians. .”

"When did this happen?"

"Just before, Youshi."

"Fortunately it wasn't the earthquake at night..." Zhu Li said without hesitation: "Let them investigate the situation as soon as possible, and those who conceal or lie will be severely punished, and the surrounding state capitals will be ordered to assist in the rescue. Just come as usual."

After finishing speaking, he thought of something, and added: "The road conditions in Meizhou are not good at all, and this time the road is bound to be cut off. Send a telegram to the Sichuan capital to dispatch the air force to help if the delivery of supplies is not smooth."

"The decree has been issued, I understand." The attendant who came to report bowed his hands and took the order, and then left quickly.

Wu Zhengren next to him also reported: "Your Highness, the itinerary for the end of the month is already being arranged. The automobile production line of Yangyue Company is basically completed and is still being debugged. Trial production will start next month. If there is no accident, it will be ready in winter this year." put into production."

"That's good."

(End of this chapter)