When Lin Shiping arrived, Zhou Yongtao had just finished a day's work and was about to rest.

It was already 2 o'clock in the morning, but for Zhou Yongtao, it was not too late, especially after the outbreak of the war, he did not finish his work before the early hours of the morning.

Luo Youbin didn't give Lin Shiping a good face, after all, it was too late.

It's less than 5 hours before dawn, no matter how important it is, can't wait until dawn to report?

For more than a month, Zhou Yongtao has only had four to five hours of rest every day.

If you encounter a major event, you have to stay up all night.

For example, after the fall of Astrakhan, several military meetings were held one after another, and Zhou Yongtao stayed up two all-nighters to deploy the relevant work. For another example, after the attack on the 51st Task Force, he also stayed up for several days and nights to arrange the aftermath.

Not to mention an old man in his seventies, even if he is young, he can't stand it like this.

During this period of time, most of the military and political dignitaries have mastered Zhou Yongtao's work and rest rules, and they will consciously avoid Shoufu's rest time.

Lin Shiping came at this time, there must be something very important.

This means that you have to stay up late again.

In fact, Zhou Yongtao did not complain. After meeting Lin Shiping, he also instructed Luo Youbin to prepare some snacks for supper.

After staying up late became a habit, Zhou Yongtao had the habit of eating supper.

However, it is mainly used to entertain guests, after all, the officials who come to him in the middle of the night and report to him are basically night owls.

"This is just received, you see."

Receiving the document handed by Lin Shiping, Zhou Yongtao only glanced at it and then tightened his brows, raised his head, and looked at Lin Shiping with a very puzzled look.

"The stakes are too high, so I sent it myself."

"Zhang Xiaotian asked you to come, right?"

Lin Shiping pursed his mouth and answered this question.

What he brought with him was the telegram sent back by Bai Huawei from the "Liu Changxun". Crucially, this telegram was not sent to the Military Intelligence Agency.

It was the command of the Navy who received the telegram!

Zhang Xiaotian, chief of staff of the Navy, did not come, but Lin Shiping came to the residence of the first assistant in a hurry, and the meaning of it naturally goes without saying.

It's just that, fundamentally speaking, it is related to Zhou Yongtao.

Among the army, navy, and air force, to be precise, the chief of staff of the three services has the least sense of existence, that is, Admiral Zhang Xiaotian, chief of staff of the navy.

For the same reason, Zhou Yongtao was originally the marshal of the imperial navy.

Although according to the relevant laws, Zhou Yongtao only became a candidate for the first assistant after taking off the rank of marshal, to be precise, after retiring from the navy, and after being elected, he became the first assistant of the empire, but what changed was only the title, and it did not have an impact on Zhou Yongtao's appeal in the navy.

As long as Zhou Yongtao is alive, the chief of staff of the Navy is an ornament.

After Zhou Yongtao became the first assistant of the empire, the impact on the navy was roughly divided into two extremes. First, the status of the navy has been consolidated and enhanced, and it has once again become the leader of the three armed services. Second, the functions of the Navy Command were weakened and it became an administrative body that conveyed the orders of the first assistant.

It is precisely because of this that the relationship between Zhou Yongtao and Zhang Xiaotian is not very harmonious.

In the eyes of others, Zhang Xiaotian is a little afraid of Zhou Yongtao, and it can also be said that he does not dare to face Zhou Yongtao.

Actually, this is related to the personal relationship between the two.

Zhang Xiaotian is Bai Zhizhan's nephew, that is, Zhang Xiaoqing's nephew, who only joined the army after the end of the last war, and entrusted Zhang Xiaoqing's relationship to enter the Fourth Fleet as a staff officer, and the commander of the Fourth Fleet at that time was Zhou Yongtao, that is, Zhou Yongtao was Zhang Xiaotian's direct leader.

If you want to say it, Zhou Yongtao is only 14 years older than Zhang Xiaotian.

Obviously, the gap between the two in terms of identity and authority is definitely not something that can be made up in 14 years.

It can be seen that it was this experience that made Zhang Xiaotian not have the courage to face Zhou Yongtao directly, especially in major decisions.

Here, including this combat operation.

It is not a question of the choice of the commander of the fleet.

Zhang Xiaotian is Bai Huawei's cousin, although the two are more than ten years apart, but the kinship relationship makes Zhang Xiaotian Bai Huawei's strongest backing.

To put it mildly, Bai Huawei's rise in the navy has a lot to do with Zhang Xiaotian.

The disagreement between Zhang Xiaotian and Zhou Yongtao is mainly over the command authority.

According to Zhang Xiaotian's intentions, the authority of the fleet commander should be appropriately limited to ensure that at all times, the fleet can be controlled as if he were in command.

The key point is that with the advancement of technology, the rear can no longer understand and grasp the situation on the battlefield, and there is no problem of being unable to accurately grasp the enemy's situation because it is far away from the battlefield. With advanced communication equipment, it can ensure that combat orders are issued to the front-line troops in a timely and accurate manner.

In fact, this is also one of the main directions of the third round of military reform.

It is envisaged that after the completion of the transformation of the communications system, the command system will become flatter, and in theory, the commander of the rear will be able to give orders directly to the front-line combat units, and even the smallest combat units, such as the ships of the Navy, will be able to obtain real-time battlefield information.

Although the third round of military reform has just begun and is far from being completed, there is not much technical difficulty in obtaining battlefield information from the fleet and issuing combat orders to the fleet. In the past few years, there have been drill subjects with relevant content in the fleet confrontation exercises.

However, Zhou Yongtao did not think that there was any need to make such adjustments and insisted on adopting the traditional command system.

Of course, fundamentally speaking, it is not that Zhang Xiaotian does not trust Bai Huawei, nor that Zhou Yongtao wants to delegate power, let alone for the control of the fleet.

Fundamentally, the differences between the two on this matter are actually at the strategic level.

As mentioned earlier, Zhou Yongtao is a supporter of the new military doctrine, and he has been cultivating Ding Zhennan so that he can get enough exercise.

Relatively speaking, Zhang Xiaotian is the other extreme.

If you want to say anything, in fact, the two people have different views because they stand at different heights.

Standing at the height of Zhang Xiaotian, that is, the position of chief of staff of the Navy, the first consideration is naturally the interests of the Navy, especially the direction of development.

In a sense, this is also the key reason why most admirals oppose the new military doctrine.

Don't forget that Bai Huawei also opposed the new military doctrine at the beginning, and regarded it as a heresy.

The point is that in the new military doctrine, the position of the navy has been weakened, and if it has not become insignificant, it is no longer an indispensable main combat force.

According to the discussion of the New Military Doctrine, in the era of predominantly small-scale warfare, the role of the Navy is closer to that of a forward-deployed force projection platform, as well as providing fire support to ground forces, and launching strategic strikes against hostile countries if necessary.

And, of course, the imposition of a strategic blockade and embargo on enemy countries.

It seems like a heavy task, but compared to the global war, it is not on the same level at all!

In a global war, the navy can determine the outcome of the war, and even the ultimate victory or defeat. The key point is that in a global war, the first thing to ensure is sea supremacy, and only after mastering sea supremacy can we launch a strategic offensive and hope for ultimate victory.

It can be seen that in a global war, a strong navy is a prerequisite for final victory.

This was the case with the previous two global wars.

In small-scale local wars, this is not the case.

If the opponent is too weak, there is no need to even mobilize the navy for battle.

It is not difficult to see from this that what Zhang Xiaotian did was actually defending the interests of the navy.

For the Chief of Staff of the Navy, there is nothing wrong with this.

If I have to say, my horizons are not broad enough.

From Zhou Yongtao's standpoint, he sees not only the interests of the navy, nor the role that the navy will play in future wars.

It's just that it can't be said that Zhou Yongtao ignored the interests of the navy after living in the residence of the first assistant.

Although the new military doctrine advocates weakening the enemy through small-scale wars and obtaining practical benefits that can be grasped, it does not negate the possibility of fighting a global war.

Strictly speaking, the new military doctrine only emphasizes the need to avoid a global war by various means, or containment.

If other superpowers start a war, the empire obviously cannot surrender just because it does not want to fight a global war.

The key lies in "avoidance" and "containment".

The former mainly relies on strategy and superb diplomatic skills.

As for the latter, it relies on military force.

To put it bluntly, only with the strongest military force in the world can we be qualified to talk about containment and make the enemy country give up the foolish idea of relying on war to gain benefits.

In foreign warfare, the most important thing is the navy!

It can be seen from this that in Zhou Yongtao's eyes, the new military doctrine not only does not deny the importance of the navy, but on the contrary, it is conducive to the development of the navy.

Only when the empire has the most powerful navy in the world and can crush all enemy countries can it be qualified to lead the international situation through the new military doctrine and launch a strategic confrontation in the way that is most beneficial to itself, and only then can it hope to achieve final victory in a few decades.

According to this trend, the status of the Navy will be improved!

Just maintaining the number one in the world is enough to make the Navy firmly sit on the throne of the first service.

Of course, Zhou Yongtao attaches more importance to the overall strategy.

This disagreement made Zhang Xiaotian resolutely oppose giving too much autonomy to the fleet commander and advocated strengthening the authority of the rear command structure.

It's a pity that Zhou Yongtao will definitely not adopt it.

As a result, after receiving Bai Huawei's telegram, Zhang Xiaotian did not come to Zhou Yongtao, but transferred it to Lin Shiping and asked Lin Shiping to come to Zhou Yongtao.

Of course, this matter is also related to the Military Intelligence Agency.

Don't forget, it was the Military Intelligence Agency that determined that the 51st Task Force of the Nuland Navy was in the East and the East, and Bai Huawei took the 41st Task Force to Joton Island. As a result, there were several converted freighters operating in the Guia Ocean, and there were no aircraft carriers at all.

After being questioned by Zhou Yongtao, Lin Shiping was also very embarrassed.

"Zhang Xiaotian's move is just to be in his position and seek his own government, and he has not done anything wrong. In the future, he will definitely understand the stakes. Zhou Yongtao let out a long breath and said, "But for you, you are still wavering in this matter, so you shouldn't be." ”

"No matter what, someone has to be the peacemaker."

"Before the outbreak of the Great War, there was a real need for peace. But by now, if you still can't tell the difference, it's not just stupid! ”

Lin Shiping smiled reluctantly, and his expression became even more embarrassed.

Of course, he knew that Zhou Yongtao's words didn't say anything about him.

Relatively speaking, compared with the third round of military reform promoted by the new military doctrine, the first two rounds of military reform can only be regarded as reform at best.

The key point is that the first two rounds of military reform were concentrated in the field of tactics, and there was no new military doctrine to guide them.

A bit of old wine in a new bottle.

In fact, this also determines that the third round of military reform will be very difficult.

In Lin Shiping's words, it is the cake that has moved too many people.

As early as six years ago, after Zhou Yongtao moved into the residence of the first assistant, Lin Shiping put forward a proposal to promote the third round of military reform in a gradual way.

It's just that after judging the situation, Zhou Yongtao did not adopt Lin Shiping's suggestion.

Judging from the situation at that time, Zhou Yongtao's approach was not wrong.

However, any major change involving the core theory will inevitably break the existing circle of interests, and will be attacked and opposed by vested interests.

Clearly, moderate and gradual reforms simply cannot cope with the onslaught of vested interests.

On the other hand, if a gradual approach works, it is not called change.

The only thing Zhou Yongtao didn't calculate was that the war would break out at this time.

In some more time, not 10 years, 5 years will be enough, and the impact of the third round of military reform will be shown and the international situation will be changed.

On the other hand, war is also a test of the third round of military reform.

After the outbreak of the Great War, at the first plenary meeting, Zhou Yongtao emphasized that the empire must work together to overcome the challenge from the enemy.

The implication is to put aside internal strife for a while.

It's a pity that not everyone listened to Zhou Yongtao's words.

Nowhere is this more evident than at the strategic level.

Even now, there are still many people who believe that they can win the global war, or to be precise, defeat all enemy countries through the global war. These people have been agitating for a full-scale war mobilization as soon as possible, and then launching a strategic counterattack on all fronts to seize the initiative in the war.

Not to mention the feasibility at the military level, it is ill-intentioned to launch a full-scale war mobilization after the start of the war.

The point is that there is a limit to the time that any country can sustain a state of mobilization.

As mentioned earlier, under normal circumstances, it has been maintained for a maximum of 5 years, and if the domestic situation is affected by the loss of the war, it would be good to maintain it for 4 years.

It is precisely for this reason that the mobilization for war is carried out in stages.

For example, in the Second World War, the empire only carried out the first and second phases of war mobilization, and the third stage, that is, the all-out war mobilization, was not initiated until the end of the war. The reason is simple: the impact of all-out war mobilization on people's daily lives is enormous. When the necessities of life are controlled and forced labor is necessary, the morale and enthusiasm of the people will quickly decrease. Even good news may not be able to counteract the resistance that arises when life becomes difficult.

It can be seen that those who trumpeted the mobilization for all-out war for the final victory after the start of the war must have other plans.

Crucially, there are many high-ranking military generals.

If I want to say, this is also the main reason why Zhou Yongtao feels angry.

Ordinary people don't know how to take it and can't see the overall situation clearly, and they can forgive it, after all, not everyone has a big picture, and they don't need everyone to have a big picture.

It would be completely unforgivable for the senior generals of the army to stand up and speak out against each other.

Thinking of this, Lin Shiping was also very emotional, and felt that it was boring to come to Zhou Yongtao tonight.