By the time the ultimatum of the Eastern and Western Song envoys was delivered to the palace of the head of state of the Great Zhou Republic, the Fourth Central Plains War was practically inevitable.

Because just one day ago, the Senate of the Great Zhou Republic passed a new version of the "Citizenship Law" and the "Military Service Law" by a large vote.

Now the 180 million people of the Great Zhou Republic are equal citizens, all of whom are the masters of the republic - although only a small part of the masters have the right to vote, it is still a big step forward from the inequality of the previous 200 years.

Although for the sake of such progress, the proletariat of the Great Zhou Dynasty had to risk their lives to become a soldier carrying a gun. But when did the citizens of the Great Zhou ever fear war?

The Great Zhou Heavenly Soldiers are invincible in the world!

Just two songs, how can it be a blow?

Therefore, for the young and middle-aged men among the working people of Tianjin, who are not living well, joining the army and fighting as a glorious citizen still makes them yearn for it.

Their fate may be changed because of this war......

As for the senators of the Senate, they were even more rejoicing at the coming war.

Is there anything better for these senators, who represented the interests of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, than war?

As soon as the cannon sounds, there are ten thousand taels of gold!

Now there is overproduction everywhere, there is no demand everywhere, and the streets are full of young adults who can't find work. Not only did the aristocracy and the capitalists not make much money, but they also had to worry about chaos all the time.

But as long as the war is together, these problems are not a problem!

Due to the continuous inflow of gold and silver from the New World over the past 200 years, the Great Zhou Republic was not short of funds. Moreover, the Dazhou Bank has been in existence for more than 200 years, and the banknotes of the mixed gold and silver standard have also been issued for more than 200 years, and the value of the currency is well maintained - it is not that there is no inflation, but the price is very stable compared with silver and gold.

Therefore, the government of the Great Zhou Republic also had a way of issuing bonds for fiscal expansion. However, the government of this era has a misunderstanding about finance, thinking that borrowing money is to be repaid......

As a result, they do not issue bonds for projects that clearly do not generate income, so it is difficult to implement expansionary and stimulative fiscal policies.

The war to annex the Eastern Song Dynasty was obviously an expense that could generate a lot of revenue—the 50 states of the Eastern Song Dynasty were all very rich, and even if the current autonomous United States were maintained, hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes could be paid to the central government every year.

With this expected income, the treasury of the Great Zhou Republic will be able to find at least 1 billion taels of bonds!

1 billion taels of military spending, what a big demand!

Recruit troops, procure ordnance, build ships, build roads...... As long as the army of several million people is pulled up, how much domestic demand will be driven?

Are you still afraid that the proletariat will be unemployed and the bourgeoisie will go bankrupt?

Therefore, as soon as the patriarchs heard that the Eastern and Western Song Dynasty were now together and handed an ultimatum to the Great Zhou Republic, everyone was really happy!

This is you two stupid people going to war!

Our Great Zhou Republic is so good to you, Huaxia has been giving priority to it for more than a hundred years, so you changed this?

Why do the two unconscionable goods of the Eastern Song Dynasty and the Western Song Dynasty still remain? Just destroy it!

In the future, the Great Zhou Republic will dominate the world!

"Declare war! Declare war! Declaration of war ......"

As soon as Wu Yuanlong walked into the meeting hall of the Senate, the shouts of the elders sounded in his ears.

Wu Yuanlong strode onto the rostrum. The second patriarch of the Senate held a mallet in his hand, and a gong was a mallet.

"Bang ......"

With a piercing gong, the patriarchs immediately fell silent.

Only then did the second patriarch say loudly: "Please speak." ”

The so-called secondary senator is actually the speaker of the Senate, and the chief of the Senate is the head of the Senate, Wu Yuanlong himself.

However, the ruling government of the Great Zhou Republic was not "responsible", that is, only the head of state had the status of a senator, and the rest of the cabinet members were not senators.

Wu Yuanlong nodded at the second elder, then bowed slightly to the elders in the meeting hall, and said: "Patriarchs, the Ministry of Rites has just received an ultimatum from the envoys of the Eastern and Western Song Dynasty!" The ultimatum demanded that our country immediately open the export of American guano, and at the same time abandon the ten Aquaman-class battleships that were about to be completed.

Such a request is a serious affront to our Great Zhou Republic! Therefore the ultimatum has been rejected by this Führer! ”

After more than 200 years of juxtaposition in the Chinese world, the central dynastic system of the era of great unification no longer exists, and is replaced by an international system.

Although the land population owned by each of the three great powers in China far exceeded that of the previous Great Song Dynasty. But no one will see themselves as the unattainable kingdom of the Celestial Empire.

Therefore, a set of rules for the diplomacy of the nations was slowly established and perfected.

According to this set of rules, the rejection of an ultimatum is tantamount to choosing war!

The usual practice is that after 3 days of rejecting the ultimatum, the two countries will be in a state of full-scale hostility.

Therefore, at the same time that Wu Yuanlong refused the ultimatum, he had already issued an order to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy to enter a state of war in 36 hours.

Wu Yuanlong looked at the excited veterans in the hall with blazing eyes, took a deep breath and said: "Patriarchs, the republic does not like war, but it is never afraid of war, let alone surrender without a fight!"

Even if the East and the West are united, the 180 million citizens of the Republic will not give in!

As the Führer, I implore the senators to authorize the ruling government to declare wartime decrees. From now on, the republic enters into a wartime system until our enemies are completely defeated......

Long live the Republic! Victory for the Republic! ”

"Long live the Republic......

The patriarchs all cheered, as if they had not voted for war, but had already won.

Wu Yuanlong looked at the cheering elders, and his heart was indescribably happy.

He, the Führer, always made people scare when he gave a speech in the Senate, and there was always more heckling than cheering. The people's evaluation of him is not high, and they always say that his head of state is not doing a good job, which is the worst in history.

Scenes such as today's cheering can probably only be seen during the Kamakura election campaign.

The news that the country had entered a state of war spread throughout Tianjin at the first time. The first good place of the Great Zhou Republic suddenly fell into a frenzy.

The Great Zhou and Eastern Song dynasties, two countries that had already crossed the threshold of the industrial revolution, did not show much fear of the long war that was coming.

Because both countries, although after the advent of the era of machine industry, both suffered from economic excess. But productivity is really leaping forward! The wealth created by the working people of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Song Dynasty in this generation was unimaginable to their predecessors.

The leap in productivity has also given the people of the two countries the illusion that they are omnipotent! Nature can defeat all enemies!

The first to realize that there would be a long and brutal war to deal with were the "Huashan faction staffs" of the Western Song Dynasty, who had always shown themselves to be belligerent.

When the news of the Great Zhou Republic's rejection of the ultimatum and its entry into a state of war reached the Privy Council in Huaqing City (which was subordinate to Chang'an), the response was a solemn atmosphere.

"It's going to be a war......"

"Zhou Guo reacted so quickly this time!"

"Are they ready?"

"Alas, they have water heaters (steam engines), the New World, mountains of gold and silver, a population of 180 million, and a republican system ......"

"yes, they're growing fast......"

The Western Song Dynasty has now seen a significant class solidification, and it is difficult for Hanmen warriors to climb to high positions, and it is unlikely that they will enter the Privy Council.

Therefore, the opportunities in the Privy Council are all elite children of various wealthy families, and most of them have the experience of studying or serving in the Republic of the Great Zhou.

All of them are Zhizhou factions. Moreover, when they were in the Zhou Kingdom, they could also know a lot about the situation of the Eastern Song Dynasty. So we all know that the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Song Dynasty have been turning the world upside down in the past 20 years!

These two countries were already rich and powerful, and now it is another round of industrial revolution, which is really rich and powerful.

On the other hand, the Western Song Dynasty can only be described as lifeless. Haven't changed much in more than 200 years...... Oh, and there have been changes, and they have become worse than they were 200 years ago!

200 years ago, the society of the Western Song Dynasty was at least relatively fair, and you could use your ability to shoot targets and take soldiers, and you could also obtain land for meritorious service in the army.

But now, the Western Song Dynasty has become a country monopolized by wealthy military nobles. Not to mention that there is no hope for the middle and lower class people, even ordinary military households and gun doctors have no future.

And a small number of noble children of wealthy families born with golden keys also see no hope. It's not that he doesn't have hope for his future, but he can't see the hope of the country of the Western Song Dynasty.

The country is poor, backward, conservative, ignorant, full of suffocating stagnation, full of social injustice, and has no future in sight.

And I don't see any possibility of defeating the Great Zhou Republic?

The Great Zhou Republic has 160 million citizens, and there are at least more than 10 million young and middle-aged men of appropriate age!

Moreover, the developed industry of the Great Zhou was enough to provide them with weapons and equipment, and the agriculture of the Great Zhou was enough to feed 10 million soldiers, and it could also make them eat well.

But what about the Western Song Dynasty?

Although it also has a population of 60 million, most of them are tenants and are no longer in the scope of military mobilization. The maximum population of gun doctors and military households (including wealthy military nobles) within the mobilization range is five or six million. Among them, there are 1 million people who are suitable for being soldiers...... A million and ten million dozen?

It's suicide!

Moreover, the Western Song Dynasty did not have the ability to support an army of 1 million to carry out overseas offensive operations, and even if it could get support from the Eastern Song Dynasty, it would guarantee hundreds of thousands of people at most.

With this little force, there is no possibility of victory at all!

As for the Eastern Song Dynasty...... Their navy is not bad, and the army may be able to defend.

But can the Eastern Song Navy defeat the Great Zhou Navy?

Doesn't seem to be sure?

As for defense...... No one can wipe out a country by defense.

So now no one can tell Yue Xuan, the Privy Council, and Zong Wan, the Privy Council, how to defeat the Great Zhou Republic.

Yue Xuan and Zong Wan glanced at each other, both a little disappointed.

This year's timing is not good...... It seems that I have no choice but to throw bricks and lead the way.

Zong Wan coughed and said, "The Zhou State has 160 million people, and the new "Citizenship Law" and "Military Service Law" have recently been implemented to expand the conscription targets. Up to more than 10 million troops can be recruited! If the Zhou State is fully mobilized, I'm afraid that the Great Song Dynasty will be in danger of destroying the country, so we should strike first! ”

Do you want to start first?

A group of Jiyi people looked at each other, and they didn't think that the troops of the Western Song Dynasty could take the lead.

Yue Xuan also said: "Jiangnan will join forces with us...... The naval division of Jiangnan can be allowed to transport troops into the Han River and go ashore in Xiangyang. Join up with our army, and then attack Henan. Strive for a decisive battle with the enemy in Henan, and through several large army battles in the field, achieve decisive results, and force the Zhou State to sue for peace. ”

"Prime Minister, how many troops can the Eastern Song Dynasty dispatch at once?" Ask questions about the opportunity now.

"200,000!" Yue Xuan said, "They have tugboats, which can transport troops against the current, and it will not take much time to transport 200,000 troops to Xiangyang." ”

A tugboat is a steamboat! It is a ship that uses a steam engine to drive a water turbine.

Now there are no large steamers, but small ones do. The Yangtze River Fleet of the Eastern Song Dynasty was equipped with a lot, not for combat, but for towing other ships.

With these steam tugboats, the Yangtze River fleet of the Eastern Song Dynasty can be quickly dispatched against the current, and it can also tow army units around, which is very convenient.

Another Ji Yi whispered: "The Jing Chu army can dispatch 100,000 people at any time, and it can also mobilize another 100,000 people from Guanzhong...... If the Eastern Song Dynasty could dispatch 200,000, then 400,000 could be used for the Henan war. ”

Immediately, he added: "The armies of the Zhou State in Henan have more than 100,000 people, and they mainly rely on the fortress to guard the border. But the bastion is outdated and won't be able to hold us back for long. ”

"Let's just go around it! We don't have time to attack the fortress......" and humanity, "If we want to go to war, we must advance to Kaifeng Mansion as quickly as possible!" It is estimated that there will be a battle under the city of Kaifeng. If he can win, he may be able to force Zhou to sue for peace. ”

The whims of the Privy Council have finally begun to make plans...... Although they don't want to fight, they are all good professional soldiers after all, and they still know how to fight.

"But what about logistics?"

"You can raise it on the spot! The logistics of 400,000 people cannot be transported in the rear......"

"That's robbing...... I'm afraid it will inspire the Zhou people to fight to the death! ”

"What else? When they are mobilized, it will be our bad luck. ”

"That's right, now it's only fast and slow!"

"Yes, it has to be fast! Our soldiers may be elite, but they are too few to fight a war of attrition. ”

"You can't fight a war of attrition, or you're going to lose!"

After talking nonsense, he also came up with a way to fight. It was to take advantage of the fact that the Great Zhou had not completed the mobilization, bypassing the fortress defense line with a small but elite army, raiding the hinterland of Henan, striving to fight a few battles of annihilation on the battlefield in Henan, frustrating the determination of the Great Zhou, and forcing them to sue for peace. This kind of play is a bit of a blitzkrieg in later generations.

.。 m.