The axillary population is between 120 million and 40 million, of which about 110 million are in the northeastern hemisphere and 20 million in the occupied northwest hemisphere, while the population of the Central Plains is conservatively estimated at 300 million to 350 million, and it also occupies tens of millions of square kilometers of land.

Even with the addition of Xiban Sanyi and Jin Xuedi, the human race in the southern hemisphere is only 420 million or 300 million, and at most no more than 450 million, and the millions of people of the Nilkoc tribe are almost negligible.

At a three-to-one casualty rate, humanity cannot afford to withstand attrition, and even if axillary fertility is slow, it would take at least 1.2 billion people to barely sustain the population losses caused by casualties.

At its peak, the armpit forces of the southward invasion exceeded 1.5 million, of which about 500,000 were annihilated and captured by the coalition forces in the last three years, and the number of troops entrenched in the Changsun Peninsula was less than 1 million, and considering other casualties and attrition, it was more than 900,000, but they would have reinforcements, which is not reliable.

Regardless of the area of the south, only the land area of the central and northern parts of the peninsula exceeds three million square kilometers, if all the local human beings are killed, more than one million troops guard more than three million square kilometers of tropical rainforest, an average of three square kilometers of one armpit person, not to mention that there are still a large number of human beings trapped in several counties in the middle of the peninsula.

Taking into account their equipment, transportation capacity, range, and speed, it is conservatively estimated that the enemy troops on the Changsun Peninsula will recover to 1.1 million by the end of this year, and to 1.3 million in the first half of next year.

With a population of 12.3 billion, according to human society and a mobilization rate of 10 percent, under an all-out war, at least 12 million men can be conscripted into the war, and if the industrial scale and industrialization rate are high, a mobilization rate of 20 percent is also possible.

Of course, this is only theoretical, its population size of 1300 million is not enough to guarantee the combat consumption of 12 million people, and the southern hemisphere is too far away from the northeastern hemisphere of its homeland, and the supply of 15.6 million people in the southern expedition is already the limit of their current supply, but they still have troops on their own territory that can constantly replenish the losses in the south.

At present, there are three main obstacles restricting them from moving more troops southward: the first is that the transportation capacity is insufficient, and it is currently in the transition period between wooden warships and steel warships, and the transformation of shipyards and shipyards and the training of technicians need a cycle, and it also requires industrial resources to be diverted to produce and consume man-hours.

Therefore, even if all traditional shipyards produce ironclad ships, it will take a long period of accumulation. What's more, if a large number of wooden ships are sunk, their capacity will be drastically reduced, which will seriously affect the transportation and supply of the Southern Expedition.

Second, there are irreconcilable contradictions within them, and the front army groups of the southward expedition are all improvised formations, subordinate to the high command of the alliance, while their own territory is still very closely guarded, and each has its own evil intentions. Because of the constraints of communication, the expeditionary force was more influenced by the command headquarters and less affected by the home country.

Coupled with the fact that the Southern Expeditionary Army was unified by the alliance of different states to form corps, this contradiction was much smaller.

Finally, although their industrial scale and industrial manufacturing population are large, they are distributed in four unions of fifteen states, and their industrial production capacity is scattered, and they cannot unify and coordinate and integrate the distribution of production capacity, so the industrial efficiency does not match the industrial scale, which weakens its industrial integration capacity. [Note 1]

At present, Xianguo has concentrated all light and heavy industries and chemical industries, and the future expansion of production capacity is carried out locally, and capital is also gathered in a region, and the development of technology and ideas is one or even two generations ahead of it, which is very conducive to the overall coordination of industrial production capacity and capital rate, which is the biggest favorable factor at present.

The next day, Bai Liyan continued to interview Cross, and the conversation lasted for four days, and Cross's stubbornness reached the point of incorrigibility, and he could not be persuaded to cooperate with humans, so Bai Liyan had to continue to detain him in prison.

At the same time, the two battles of Jinye and Cuicheng did give the princes a false impression, and the huge casualties and heavy economic burden forced the princes to begin to consider the possibility of peace talks. The Son of Heaven personally proposed that a general meeting of the princes be held in the first month of the year to discuss the next step of the battle.

However, it is called discussing the battle, but it is actually a series of princes to set the tone for the future pattern, even if they want to fight, they are also fighting to promote talks.

Time came to the end of the year in a blink of an eye, the Xian army withdrew from the Liang State one after another, and the main force of the Yuke was repaired and replenished and moved to the Liang State, taking over the fortresses and fortifications built by the Xian army.

On December 17, Gongliang repaired the mansion, that is, the battle is and asked Bailiyan for the bottom.

"Although there are few casualties in our country in the two battles of Cuicheng and Jinye, the lessons of defending the country make the princes fearful, and my king is also worried that the war will last for a long time and increase the burden, now the princes' meeting is imminent, can you give me a clear background, how long will this battle be fought, and how many casualties will there be."

"If I say that it will take fifty years, my brother can be trusted."

Gongliang Xiu immediately became serious, and he said:

"Two years ago, you swore that you could break the enemy in five years, why do you say fifty years now."

"Five years is to expel the armpits from the Central Plains Continent, but now that the determination of the princes will be shaken, and if it drags on for a long time, they will build more ships and transport more reinforcements, so if they continue to be afraid like this, the consequences can only be more sinister."

"Then you give me a bottom, and it will take a few years to expel him from the eldest grandson."

"Three years, just three years. But there will be heavy casualties. The Battle of Rongcheng lasted one year, annihilating 300,000 of its small and allied forces with more than 600,000 casualties. In this way, the Northern Expedition had to fight at least four Rongcheng-scale battles, with 2.5 million casualties, and if we consider the hot water and soil in the north, the armpit continues to increase the number of people, and the conservative casualties will be more than 3 million, so it is necessary to prepare 7 million troops to achieve absolute victory. ”

"Seven million!" Gongliang Xiu was shocked, and he hurriedly said: "Now the princes and countries can't put together five million, you want seven million people to go on a northern expedition, why are there so many soldiers, won't the princes die after the war." ”

"That can't be helped, wait one more day, and their reinforcements will continue to land in the north, and if they can't be driven out of the land and blocked at sea, they won't be able to recuperate. And even if they are expelled from the Central Plains this time, they will only be driven away, and the threat cannot be eliminated fundamentally. For a long time to come, the Central Plains will face an unprecedented threat.

If it weren't for my inflated ambitions, now that the situation is pressing, the princes continue to be so divided and independent, and it is only a matter of time before the country is destroyed. ”

Gongliangxiu's face was ugly, and he was silent for a long time and said:

"What are you going to do if the princes don't send troops anymore?"

"Since the princes disregard the righteousness of the world and the safety of the Central Plains, from now on, our Xianguo will no longer provide guns and ammunition, and let the princes destroy themselves."

"You should be really ruthless and do it."

"My Xianguo is still difficult to protect itself, how can I take care of others. And the Son of Heaven is short-sighted and listens to slander, and in my opinion, there is no cure. ”

"But why don't you think about it for the princes, how can you bear the millions of casualties."

"As the saying goes, there are eggs under the nest, but now the country is extinct and the species are gone, how can there be any fate!"

Of course, Bai Liyan didn't want to suffer millions of casualties and fight a war that didn't solve the problem in the end, but now there are only so many conditions, and the options and leeway to choose from are extremely limited, except for human life, he has no better resources to solve the current dilemma.

Whether the princes can bear it or not, the loss now is for the long-term benefit of the future, but unfortunately, the princes are short-sighted, and this war is obviously no longer able to last.

"Having said so much, Brother Gongliang should tell me, what is King Zhi's plan, right?"

"I will not hide it from you, as long as the princes send troops, our country will continue to send troops, and if the princes no longer send troops, my king will not send troops."

"Then is my country a prince?"

"Although your Xianguo is strong and your troops are acceptable, it is not enough to go on a northern expedition with our country alone, and it is really difficult to win the northern expedition without the joint forces of the princes."

"Okay then...... Please send it to King Zhi, my country understands his choice, but I also hope that Zhiguo can remember the righteousness of the Central Plains and advance and retreat together with my country. ”

"I'll do my best."

Soon after Gongliangxiu left, Bailiyan entered the palace overnight to state the attitude of Zhiguo to King Xian in person, because the princes were separated from morality and expected peace talks, King Xian was very dissatisfied with Zhiguo's attitude.

"The king's mood is understandable, but now that the princes are affected by the domestic economy and casualties, they have no intention of continuing to fight. Moreover, the eldest grandson has now lost the will to continue to resist, and it is only a matter of time before the whole country collapses. The eldest grandson did not want to continue the war again, and it was in the interests of the majority of the princes to settle the current dispute through peace talks. ”

"Of course these widows know, but the widows know better that these beasts will not let our country go, not to mention that our country lives by the sea, and if there is a war in the future, our country will bear the brunt, so how can the widows feel at ease. Lord Si Nong, is there a way to get the princes to cooperate in the Northern Expedition again? ”

"With the current situation in our country, it is difficult to mobilize the enthusiasm of the princes unless we give a lot of money and industrial construction. However, if this happens, it will seriously weaken our current national strength. The dilemma at hand, therefore, was that the industrial and military resources were limited to satisfy the appetites of all the princes.

However, the princes blindly pinned their hopes on the consumption of our country's strength and armpit blood, and the containment of our country after the war, which would not only fail to solve the current predicament, but would also bring great disasters to the next 30 to 50 years.

The minister thought that if the princes pinned their hopes on peace talks in the future, what they could do at present was to talk while fighting as much as possible. And our country should unite with Zhiguo and other princes to go on a separate northern expedition on the eastern front, capture strategic points, open up the besieged Changsun County, obtain population and economic resources, and at the same time conduct a decisive battle at sea. ”

"At sea? How sure can a decisive battle at sea be. ”

"At present, China has nearly 500 warships of 10,000 and 20,000 stones, all of which are clad in iron, some of which are equipped with internal combustion engines and torpedo launchers, and more than 150 torpedo boats.

The minister did not seek to gain superiority at sea, but only to destroy more of his ships. ”

"Why, destroy its ship, it can be rebuilt, what's the use of that."

The king's words are good, but the king has never thought that in order to transport the troops of the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, he used two or three thousand warships and cargo ships, and these ships were not built in a day, but accumulated over the decades.

Taking a step back, in order to support the southward invasion, it has mobilized most of its ships for aggression, which has already had a significant impact on its own domestic transportation, sea and freight transportation, and if it can significantly reduce its maritime capacity, it can curb its continued military build-up.

At the same time, China will strike at it from the land, reduce its reinforcements at the same time, and reduce its troops on land, so that even if it talks peace, it can negotiate a relatively favorable result.

In order to gain more time in the future, step up domestic construction, and prepare for a wider war in the future. ”

"Si Nong means that you want a truce?"

"The minister also doesn't want to stop the war, but at present, the princes can no longer afford the huge expenses brought by the war, and the Liang State secretly pouts, the princes have no intention of fighting again, and our country insists on fighting, and the result can only be that the princes have their own ghosts and do not respect the order, in case of a major defeat, Liang Guoda can put the responsibility on our country."

"What does it mean that Si Nong is down?"

"The minister thought that after seven years of war, the vitality of the Central Plains was greatly damaged, and the armpits should not be able to hold on, so they proposed an armistice and peace talks at this time, and they should also have this will. But he will never give up and easily spit out the land of the eldest grandson.

Therefore, the minister believed that it was necessary to unite individual princes, launch several battles on land and sea on the eastern front, create a situation favorable to our country, and strive for a five-to-eight-year, or even ten-year armistice, and then continue the war. ”

"Wouldn't that be endless?"

"Yes, but it's the only way to do it right now. But don't worry, within ten years, there will be heavy weapons available in Xianguo. ”

"Listen to Lord Si Nong's meaning, it is possible that the key hot explosion bomb has been completed."

"That's not true, the minister is starting to develop newer combat vehicles, ships and machines that can fly in the sky, and the results can be seen in three to four years, and in five to seven years it can be mass-produced and equipped with our army, and then what awaits the axillary purpose will be the steel torrent of our country and the cannon in the sky."

[1] The more dispersed the resources of industrial production, the lower the efficiency, because the transportation distance between production enterprises increases, the political distrust between countries intensifies industrial integration, and at the same time, capital investment will be dispersed, and the efficiency of war mobilization will be lower.

It's like an assembly line, the larger the scale, the higher the efficiency. But if each worker in the assembly line completes all types of work alone, this efficiency is obviously low.

Of course, this analogy may not be appropriate.

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