At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 707: Conference on Qi Wu and Unity

In fact, the Han Dynasty's military equipment was already a bit excessive. When the Han Dynasty started to use mules and horses, the purchase of horses for a battalion of soldiers cost more than 30 million yuan. Add to that the weapons and equipment and welfare benefits of the soldiers. The cost of a fully mule-and-horse battalion reached over 100 million yuan. The cost of a regular cavalry battalion would triple, and the cost of a heavy cavalry battalion would triple again.

The Han Dynasty had two heavy cavalry battalions and eight cavalry battalions. It cost 200 billion yuan just to maintain these ten battalions. There were fifty mule and horse battalions. The military expenditure of these standing armies was billion yuan. Together with the county troops, infrastructure troops, and rail troops, the military expenditure of the Han Dynasty's army exceeded billion yuan, which is several times the fiscal revenue of many countries. Coupled with the navy's expenditure of more than billion yuan, the Han Dynasty's military expenditure was greater than the total economic output of many major countries.

But the three dukes and nine ministers of the Han Dynasty found that the Han Dynasty was invincible in the world, and it was enough to send out a few cavalry battalions and a few mule and horse battalions for external wars. The extra mule and horse battalions could only stay in the Central Plains doing nothing. Moreover, the Central Plains was not a grassland, and the cost of raising war horses was more than 10 times higher than that of the grassland. In addition, with the improvement of the Han Dynasty's railway network, people could travel thousands of miles a day by rail, and that was an understatement. The mules and horses in the heartland of the Central Plains became a bit redundant.

Although the military officer Chai Wu and the military supervisor Ding He shouted in grief at the Sages Conference: "Although the world is at peace, forgetting war will lead to danger. The Han Dynasty's dominance over the world depends on its powerful navy and army. Reducing military spending is like cutting off one's own arms."

But the three dukes and nine ministers of the Han Dynasty, led by Chen Lei, were unmoved. Chen Lei threw a pile of documents in front of Chai Wu and said, "This is the details of the military expenditures of the top 19 countries in the world. Excluding the Han Dynasty, the military expenditures of these countries combined are only % of that of the Han Dynasty. The military expenditure of the Han Dynasty alone is almost equal to the sum of the military expenditures of all countries in the world. In this case, General, you still say that forgetting war will lead to danger. General, your martial virtue is not a little too abundant. Tell me who else can be the enemy of the Han Dynasty. If you can name it, we will not reduce the military expenditure."

Chai Wu looked embarrassed. He used to be able to talk about the Huns threat theory, but now the Huns are divided into two groups. They are hostile to each other and their main energy is focused on each other. If he talks about the Huns threat theory again, it would be like treating the sages present as idiots.

As for the fact that Rome's annual military expenditure was not enough to cover the consumption of a heavy cavalry battalion of the Han Dynasty, Carthage was a younger brother of the Han Dynasty, and the Seleucid Empire was a newly acquired younger brother of the Han Dynasty. The Han people were all their advisers, and even the consuls were Han generals. To put it nicely, they were younger brothers of the Han Dynasty, and to put it bluntly, they were puppets of the Han Dynasty. Egypt was even more torn apart.
Chai Wu looked at the globe and realized that he couldn't find an enemy in the world that he could defeat.

The fake Dian Qing delivered a fatal blow, saying, "Using mules and horses at the border can indeed speed up the march and the supply of materials, but in the Central Plains, the railway network is dense. No matter how fast your war horses run and how much material you transport, they can't compare to the railways. The mule and horse camps in the heart of the Central Plains are simply redundant."

So at Chen Lei's strong request, the Sages' Assembly passed a resolution to reduce military spending, and the standing army in the heartland of the Central Plains had to be lightweight again.

There was no way. The industrialization within the Han Dynasty was in full swing. Hundreds of county governors fought each other every year for fiscal transfers. Everyone was busy building railways, roads, canals and other infrastructure, upgrading industries, and building new industrial zones to make money.

Seeing that the military's expenditure was so huge and most of it was useless, it was naturally intolerable. After the war between Serbia and Huns, the Han high-ranking officials generally believed that within 20 years, the Huns would no longer be a rival to the Han army. The equipment of the Han army was enough to crush the armies of other countries, and there was no need to increase the armaments and increase their own consumption.

Therefore, in recent years, the Han Dynasty began to reduce unnecessary mule and horse camps and use more resources to resettle retired soldiers and local construction.

Generals like Chai Wu could naturally see the improvement in combat effectiveness brought about by the motor battalion, but military spending was decreasing, so reforms that increased consumption were naturally not taken seriously.

Moreover, the first things this new army eliminated were the Han Dynasty's heavy cavalry and armored cavalry, which was somewhat offensive to a cavalry general like Chai Wu.

This is a bit like Niu Niu creating a dreadnought-class battleship, which directly eliminated his own ironclad ships of more than 200 million tons and brought trouble to himself.

He wouldn't mind if he could increase military spending and set up a few motor battalions to increase the combat effectiveness of the Han army, but Prime Minister Chen Lei has already clearly told the Taiwei Mansion to formulate a plan to cut military spending and reduce the current military spending by more than 30%.

Chai Wudinghe and his men were busy lightening the weight of the Han army and cutting off some unnecessary mule and horse camps, so they had no idea of ​​setting up a new army.

In this way, Zhou Yafu's theory of motorized infantry was shelved.

It was discovered by chance by the emperor, who regarded it as a treasure.

As the Han Dynasty has been extending its favors over the years, the relationship between the imperial court and the princes has become tense. When it is difficult to convince people with virtue, it becomes more important to convince them with force.

Xu Aimin has not forgotten that when his father was in power, at almost every meeting of princes, he would ask Dianke to lead the princes and their envoys to visit the Han Dynasty's arsenals and military camps. The heavy cavalry camp was a place that must be visited every time, and exercises would be conducted in front of the princes, in order to achieve the goal of winning people over with virtue, and the effect was extremely significant.

Over the years, the princes were extremely obedient to the court and could execute the court's orders very well. Wei and Shanggu disappeared without a trace under the Enfeoffment Order, Zhao was relocated, and the huge Nanyue Kingdom was divided into six. These princes did not dare to complain at all, but instead said that the court was fair and just, and the princes were convinced.

But in the past ten years, the princes of the Han Dynasty began to become a little turbulent. The princes reduced the money they paid as tribute for various reasons.

The sons of the princes got drunk and went wild. They took a few of their followers, drew their swords, climbed on their chariots, and rushed into the streets, shouting that there were traitors in the court and that they wanted to purge the emperor's side.

If this were a real feudal dynasty, those princes would be scared to death by their own offspring. This would be a rebellion, and the nine generations of the clan would be executed. Even if you just talk about it, it won't work.

But the Han Dynasty was an industrialized dynasty, and its legal system was closer to modern ones. The system of collective punishment was not only abolished, but because most of the founding generation of the Han Dynasty were forced to rebel because of this system, collective punishment has become one of the evidences of the Qin Dynasty's crimes.

The presence of the children of the Han princes in Chang'an City was a manifestation of their obedience to the court, and it became the responsibility of the court to educate these children of the princes into talents.

At least after decades of education by Xu Fan, the principle of equal rights and responsibilities has been deeply rooted in people's minds. In other words, when these princes' children get drunk, the main responsibility lies with the Han court.

Is it because the imperial court has done something to bully them that these princes' children have complaints about the imperial court and even believe that there are treacherous ministers in the court?

The court was in an awkward position. It was not good to punish them harshly, nor was it good not to punish them. Moreover, Xu Aimin knew that the princes were resisting the court's extension of favors. Even if they were punished, it would be useless. Instead, it would put the court at a moral disadvantage and make the people of the Han Dynasty sympathize with those princes.

Therefore, Xu Aimin did not follow the pace of the Han princes. He detained those princes' descendants who were drunk and acting crazy for violating public security regulations for a few days and then released them.

He did not bother with these minor details, but wanted to intimidate the princes of the Han Dynasty with military force.

Zhou Yafu was the one who brought Xu Aimin a bigger stick. According to Zhou Yafu's theory, the mobility advantage brought by the motor vehicle soldiers was enough to crush the mule and horse battalion that was ten times larger. This was the big stick that Xu Aimin needed.

Therefore, under the promotion of Xu Aimin, the first experimental mechanized battalion appeared in Zhou Yafu's General's Office.

Chenjun's automobile factory designed and produced specifically for the military, including more powerful transport vehicles, sturdy assault jeeps, highly maneuverable reconnaissance motorcycles, and safer reconnaissance airships. All of this is what we see before our eyes.

Xu Aimin looked at the mechanized battalion excitedly and said, "The 30,000 cavalrymen from the Mobei Military Governor's Office are about to arrive in Jiuyuan County. My dear, are you sure that your mechanized battalion can defeat the Mobei Army?"

Zhou Yafu said firmly: "The Mechanical Battalion will win without a doubt. No matter how strong the cavalry is, its mobility range cannot exceed 100 miles a day, but the Mechanical Battalion can move more than 500 miles a day. The speed difference allows our Mechanical Battalion to achieve a situation where the majority defeats the minority and the fast defeats the slow in a small area. In addition, there are airships in the sky for reconnaissance. Ordinary troops cannot fight against the Mechanical Battalion, and they cannot escape."

"This is still a small-scale military battle. The larger the battle, the stronger the combat effectiveness of the mechanized battalion will be. Modern warfare is fought with ammunition. A transport vehicle is equivalent to the ammunition load of more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages, and the speed is 10 times faster. This means that the amount of ammunition of the mechanized battalion on the battlefield is dozens of times that of the mule-drawn battalion. This can greatly enhance the industrial advantage of our Han Dynasty and overwhelm the enemy with dozens of times more ammunition."

Zhou Yafu continued: "In addition, our army has made some improvements, installing Gatling machine guns on trucks and jeeps, which has greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of soldiers."

"Our army is still trying to add armor to the transport vehicles. Armor 20mm thick is enough to resist rifle bullets. This type of armored personnel carrier can greatly enhance the safety of soldiers on the battlefield. However, the horsepower of the current vehicles is still too small. Not only will the speed of the vehicles be slowed down after the armor is installed, but it is also very easy to have accidents. However, Xiayang Automobile Factory has cars with higher horsepower to meet the demand for armored vehicles."

Zhou Yafu was even more excited and said: "We also plan to install artillery on the Shanyu car, so that it can achieve the comprehensive strength of offense, defense, and mobility."

As an old general, Zhou Yafu did not have many hobbies. He just wanted his weapons to have stronger firepower, stronger defense, and greater mobility. Chenjun was already developing a new type of armored personnel carrier according to Zhou Yafu's requirements, and drove it directly to the battlefield to attack the enemy.

Xu Aimin smiled and said, "This is also the perfect weapon in my mind. My dear, please prepare well during this period. I really hope that the Mechanical Battalion will be seen by the princes of the Han Dynasty in its most powerful state."

On October 60, the 10rd year of the Han calendar, in Chang'an City, the Assembly of Sages.

Prime Minister Chen Lei retired amid warm applause from all the wise men for his outstanding performance in increasing fiscal revenue fourfold in ten years.

Zhang Pijiang became the new prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Although Chen Mai made great contributions in persuading the Baiyue and Nanyue to relocate, Xu Aimin believed that the Han Dynasty would continue to promote globalization in the next ten years and provide more commodity markets and raw material production areas for the industrialization of the Han Dynasty. Zhang Pijiang was familiar with overseas affairs and was more in line with the strategy of the Han Dynasty. Chen Mai became a false image of the Han Dynasty.

Another false prime minister of the Han Dynasty was Yuan Ang. Although Xu Aimin preferred Liu Heng more, as Yuan Ang expected, the prime ministers of the Han Dynasty could not all be the second generation of princes. Sending such a signal was extremely politically incorrect.

Not to mention, as the Han Dynasty deepened its globalization, the navy became more and more important. In the future, the Han Dynasty would focus on developing the navy and controlling the world's oceans and sea routes. In this way, a general who joined the army from the navy became extremely important. In the end, Xu Aimin chose Liu Bi as the general who joined the army and Xu Lu as the general who supervised the army. If Liu Bi became the first person in the Han Dynasty's military, it would be difficult for Liu Heng to become one of the Three Dukes.

Chao Cuo was promoted to Imperial Censor, and the four of them formed the new Three Dukes of the Han Dynasty.

Later, Liu Heng was transferred to be the Minister of Internal Affairs, Feng Tang was transferred to be the Minister of the Imperial Household, Chen She was promoted to be the Minister of Agriculture, Zhang Shizhi was appointed as the Minister of Justice, Zhi Du was appointed as the Minister of Taxation, Guan Hecheng was appointed as the Minister of Water Conservancy, Hu Banwu was appointed as the Minister of Accounts, and the Minister of the Chancellery Li Qiang was promoted to be the Minister of Railways.

Some of the nine ministers in the court followed the prime minister to abdicate, and some new people took office. The top leaders of the Han Dynasty became younger and more vigorous, and Liu Ruyi became the new Shangshu Ling of the Global Alliance.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

But the completion of the change of leadership only marks the end of the first half of this year's conference.

At the subsequent meeting of princes, the emperor proposed that the princes and their envoys watch a drill first, and then hold the meeting of princes.

The princes also understood that the emperor wanted to show them a big stick, and they also wanted to see the strength of the Han army. Although the Han Dynasty and the Huns had fought a great war a few years ago, the Han army only sent 10,000 soldiers in that war, and the main force was still soldiers from other countries. Tactically, it only used the Han Dynasty's powerful industrial strength to overwhelm the Huns. This war was not too shocking to the princes. In their view, it was the kind of war that they could do it too, and Zhou Yafu just got a bargain.

Jiuyuan County, suburbs.

The princes took a train to the border of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Han Dynasty to watch the military exercises of the Mobei Governor's Office and the Zhenjun General's Office. The battlefield was extremely vast, a grassland with a radius of 300 miles, which was enough for the two sides to fight each other.

Because Mei Xuan had an airship, he could watch the situation on the battlefield from high altitude. More than a dozen princes who were familiar with him boarded his airship and watched the battle from high altitude.

"5000 cavalry versus mechanized battalions, who do you think will win?" Zhao Tuo asked.

Although he was a general in the North, he had spent most of his life in the South. He no longer knew how cavalry fought, let alone mechanized battalions.

Mei Xuan shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. The Mobei Army has always been brave and fierce. They are the best soldiers of our Han Dynasty. They have the bravery of the Xiongnu people and the strict organization of our Han Dynasty. The combat effectiveness of the Mobei Army has always been very strong, not to mention that cavalry is the most powerful among many arms. The combat effectiveness of 10 cavalry is not inferior to that of infantry.

As for the Mechanical Battalion, I have never heard of it and I don't know how strong it is. But the Emperor brought me and other lords to watch this exercise. Obviously, he is not here to let us watch a cavalry charge. There must be something new for us to see."

Soon they saw three airships of the Mechanical Battalion take off and then maneuver in three directions.

It didn't take long to find the main force position of the Mobei Cavalry, and the scouts on the airship reported the enemy's position by radio.

The three hot air balloons of the Mobei Army also took off to try to drive away the enemy's airships, but the airships occupied high positions and the exercise department soon notified that the Mobei Army's hot air balloons had been shot down. At this point, the Mobei Army lost its reconnaissance advantage and the mechanized battalion opened up the entire map.

Mei Xuan shook his head and said, "The Mobei Army has become blind."

Under the guidance of the reconnaissance airship, the mechanized battalion quickly ran towards the direction of the Mobei Army. Heavy trucks pulled heavy artillery to the firing position and quickly deployed artillery positions.

"Boom boom boom!" The sound of artillery fire rang out.

The directorate immediately announced that the artillery battalion of the Mobei Army had been severely damaged and fell into chaos. At this time, the Mobei Army wanted to deploy its troops, but it was too late.

The assault jeeps and armored transport vehicles of the mechanized battalion were divided into several groups and fiercely penetrated into the Mobei Army to divide them. The Mobei Army would only be in complete chaos and the entire army would be divided into several groups.

This was the first time that the Mobei Army encountered such a situation. They behaved very bravely, drawing their sabers and riding their horses towards the armored vehicles and assault vehicles.

Then the most classic scene of World War II appeared. The cavalry of Mobei used their sabers to slash at the armored personnel carrier, the 20mm armor, but they got nothing except sparks. Instead, they were shot and killed by machine guns.

The soldiers of the mechanized battalion used armored vehicles as cover and continued to shoot at the cavalry that were charging towards them.

The heavy machine guns on the assault vehicles did not even stop firing. Circles of cavalry, under the orders of the directorate, lay down on the battlefield.

Zhao Tuo shook his head and said, "It's over. This is an unprecedented massacre."

Although there seemed to be only some smoke on the battlefield, Zhao Tuo and his men had experienced war and knew clearly that on a real battlefield, there would be rivers of blood.

The other princes were also terrified. Was this still the battlefield they knew? One side hadn't even deployed its troops yet, and they were divided and surrounded.

The hero asked, "If we dig trenches in advance and fight a positional war, we can greatly reduce the excitement of these locomotives."

Mei Xuan shook his head and said, "You can't surround your country with trenches. And if you really fight a war of attrition, who can beat the Han people? I forgot the data. This year, the Han people produced more than 3000 million tons of pig iron and more than 2000 million tons of steel, accounting for % of the world's total. The steel of all countries in the world combined cannot outstrip the Han people."

The princes present were silent, and could only wail in their hearts. The iron rod of the imperial court was getting thicker and thicker. If it really hit them, they would be crushed to pieces.

After the exercise, the princes of the Han Dynasty became more submissive. The subsequent princes' meeting went exceptionally smoothly and became a meeting of unity and victory.

(End of this chapter)