The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 245 The cutest person
At the National Day celebrations.

The leader personally announced that the troops would continue to be streamlined, and it would take a year and a half to complete the goal of streamlining the troops by one million before the Spring Festival of 1983, reducing the total number of troops from the current 530 million to 430 million.

This news caused a sensation both at home and abroad.

You know, after the news of the military exercise was broadcast not long ago, it attracted attention and sensation at home and abroad.

Even the polar bears seemed to be poured with a basin of cold water.

But no one expected that China would streamline its troops by another million after streamlining more than 700,000 troops in the past year.

This means that after two rounds of downsizing, the Chinese army will only have 430 million troops left.

430 million troops may seem like a lot, but they can only rank second.

Ranked first is the Soviet Union. The total strength of the Soviet Union's active troops is more than 53000 million, not to mention that the Soviet Union was the first in the world to achieve mechanization of the army. The Soviet Union has more than 63000 tanks, more than 48000 infantry fighting vehicles, more than 6000 army artillery, more than 4000 front-line aircraft, and the Army Aviation has more than helicopters.

相比之下，美国现役部队总兵力两百多万，拥有13000多辆坦克、20000多辆步兵战车、10000多门陆军火炮、4000多架一线飞机、陆军航空兵有8000多架直升机。

These are the two countries with the most powerful militaries in the world.

It is obvious that in addition to the advantages of the Navy's aircraft carrier battle groups and the Army Aviation's helicopter advantage, the Soviet Union has an absolute advantage over the United States in terms of the total strength of the Army, the total strength of active forces, and artillery, tanks, conventional combat aircraft and bombers of the Air Force.

In terms of the number of nuclear warheads and the advancement of nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union far surpassed the United States.

Comparing the two camps, the military strength of the Warsaw Pact led by the Soviet Union also exceeded that of NATO led by the United States.

In Europe, the US military has 35 troops, more than 5000 tanks, and 725 aircraft in the air force. The entire NATO camp has a total of 200 million active troops that can be deployed in Europe. The total number of tanks in the armies of NATO countries is only 22000 tanks, and there are more than 3700 front-line combat aircraft that can be deployed.

In Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union deployed more than 30 army divisions, more than 14000 tanks, and more than 2300 naval and air force aircraft in the "Western Theater" alone. If a war breaks out in Europe, the Soviet Union's Southwestern Theater will also support the Western Theater in the war. Together with the troops of the Soviet Union's Southwestern Theater, the Soviet army can deploy 70 divisions in the entire European direction, with more than one million army troops, 24000 tanks, and more than 4500 air force and naval aircraft, which exceeds the overall strength of NATO's air force.

If the entire Warsaw Pact's military strength is added, the Warsaw Pact can deploy more than 200 million troops, more than 5 tanks, and more than 6800 combat aircraft of various types.

This is just in terms of weapons and equipment. As for combat effectiveness, it far exceeds the NATO group.

Even the most optimistic experts, after watching the September military exercises, would sadly say that the Soviet army would take a week to penetrate Europe and reach the Atlantic coast. In just two weeks, the Soviet army could take over all of Europe.

It is conceivable that the Soviet Union at this time was absolutely at its peak and was absolutely the world's number one military power.

In fact, as early as ten years ago, the Soviet Union's military strength had surpassed that of the US military.

At this time, China is once again streamlining its troops by one million. What if its northern neighbor gets angry and unleashes the wrath of the polar bear again? What will China do?
Many people don’t understand what Hua Xia is doing and some even think that Hua Xia is crazy.

But there is no doubt that China's efforts for world peace and development have made many people feel good about China and give it high praise.

Liu Tao felt very unhappy. He knew that streamlining the troops was imperative, but the cost would also be huge.

This time, many military units were disbanded, including those that had been glorious for decades and had made great military achievements. Many outstanding soldiers chose to obey the disbandment in order to cooperate with the overall national situation. After being announced to be disbanded, many soldiers still led exercises and ran every morning until the trucks sent them away. They were still regular soldiers.

Before their disbandment, many troops were still urgently building roads and speeding up construction to complete unfinished projects. Many laid-off soldiers took brooms to sweep the streets, clean rooms, and fetch water for the people for the last time. Then, after making their final contribution to the people, they immediately obeyed the reorganization order and resolutely and neatly completed the last military action and disbandment.

Many people felt sad and aggrieved after losing their unit numbers, but everything was over and they were no longer soldiers from then on.

In Liu Tao's opinion, Chinese warriors are the best warriors in the world!

They are the cutest people!

They are the people's hope in difficult times, they are the first to rush to the front in earthquakes, floods and wars, they shed blood but not tears. But when they leave, they still sob softly, they are reluctant to leave and really want to be soldiers for life.

It’s an honor to be a soldier!

This is not just talk, it is real.

They sacrificed their own families for the sake of the country, and took up arms to defend their country. When the country needed to make sacrifices, they still obeyed the overall interests of the country.

Dedication and sacrifice!
They are the best practitioners of 'serving the people'!
They don't just say 'serve the people', they do it.

They have sacrificed so much for the country!

However, with China's current national strength, fiscal revenue and military expenditure, it is impossible to properly accommodate so many people. Cadres may be arranged, but more people will not.

Even as for subsidies, only veterans who have participated in two military service periods receive some subsidies.

The same is true this time.

Many soldiers left the army at a loss. When they returned to their hometowns and entered society, they could only learn from their parents because they were familiar with guns and machinery.

It was precisely because of this intention that Liu Tao decisively accepted the task of resettling 50,000 people, and he had also accepted a lot before.

This time, he will also keep some of them to serve as security forces for the various factories of Panshan Machinery Factory, train some of them to become workers, help them start their own businesses, such as raising chickens, ducks, pigs and growing vegetables to provide for Panshan Machinery Factory, and send some to Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East to serve as security guards.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to help more people, but this is his limit.

Although Panshan Machinery Factory is large, its capacity is limited. More jobs are provided for workers in the third-line factories of the weapons industry. It will take at least three years to absorb so many people.

Not to mention so many soldiers. These soldiers are good at fighting, but they are often lacking in other abilities.

Even if they can find business overseas, many soldiers are unwilling to go because it is difficult to leave their homeland.

(End of this chapter)