On the second day after the combat operation to attack Wake Island was confirmed, Tan Renhao received a message from Han Xiang that the overhaul work of the First Task Force had been completed, the damage to the battleships was not serious, and the repair work had been arranged, and that the First Task Force would be able to restore its combat effectiveness by about 18 July. In the afternoon of the same day, Yan Guozhong also called, and the maintenance work of the Second Task Force was about to be completed, and it would arrive at Apra Port before the end of the middle of the year. These are two pieces of good news, but there is more to come.

The 3rd Task Force has been in Kaohsiung for a few days, and the new distribution has been determined. The third batch of four "New Provincial Capital" class battleships, as well as some cruisers, destroyers will be assigned to the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet, replacing the six smaller aircraft carriers over there. For Yan Guozhong, this can be regarded as a good deal. These ships will not be active in the southwest Pacific for long, and after the capture of Melbourne and Adelaide, they will be transferred to the South Atlantic with Task Force 5. At that time, the Southwest Pacific Theater will have at most only some cruisers and destroyers to continue to ensure the blockade of the Australian mainland. To put it bluntly, Yan Guozhong wouldn't have many battles to fight at that time.

Australia also sent good news, and Gu Xunlei's assault speed once again made the US military suffer. After sweeping the area around Sydney, Gu Xunlei suddenly moved to the southern part of Brisbane, and according to the plan, he would take Brisbane by the end of August, or early September, and annihilate another large US-Australian coalition force. As long as this battle is fought well, then the US military in Australia will be almost finished.

It can be said that the situation is improving in all aspects, and even the army has sent good news. But the attack on the Hawaiian Islands is still not decided, and Gan Yongxing does not have the authority to make such a major decision, which must wait until Nie Renfeng returns. But the problem is. Nie Renfeng is still dealing with those tricky things in the capital, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to rush back in time. Outcome. This time, Tan Renhao was wrong. On July 15, just as Tan Renhao was discharged from the hospital with his son, preparing to rest at home for a day. The call came to his home.

"Okay, Headmaster, I'll come over now." Tan Renhao put down the phone and said to himself, "It's really early to not come back." I didn't come back late, but I came back today. ”

"You're going to work?"

Tan Renhao nodded at his father. "Xiaobao has to take his temperature in half an hour, you let Qinglian do it, I will try to come back early for dinner in the evening."

Tan Jingkang didn't say much, he also knew that it was already very good for his son to be able to stay at home with them for a few hours, as for whether Tan Renhao could rush back for dinner in the evening, Tan Jingkang didn't have much hope.

When Tan Renhao arrived at the headquarters, Gan Yongxing and Nie Renfeng were waiting for him. The headmaster was obviously much older than he was more than two months ago, and he had more gray hair. Tan Renhao didn't know if it was an illusion, every time he saw the principal. I always feel that the principal is a lot older. Perhaps, in Tan Renhao's heart, the principal will always be the same as 7 years ago, at the graduation ceremony of the 193rd batch of students. At that time, the principal was not yet 60 years old, and now the principal is a real old man, a vigorous one. A physically strong old man. Perhaps, this is also an illusion.

"The principal has just come back, and I'll go down to the cafeteria for lunch, and you haven't eaten lunch yet, have you?"

"No, I came when I got the call." Tan Renhao nodded at the principal, and then sat down.

"I've been busy in the capital for a few days, and everyone is about to fall apart." Nie Renfeng walked over, "There are too many troublesome things, and we have to submit the 27-year military budget in advance." ”

"Isn't it until November that the military budget will be submitted?" Tan Renhao looked at the principal in a little surprise.

"From this year. The budget will be submitted to the cabinet in advance, and the military budget will have to be submitted in June next year. New regulations. Nie Renfeng sat down, "Fortunately, I prepared a budget outline and temporarily revised it in the capital. I heard that the army's preparations are less adequate than ours, and now Yan Dingyu is still discussing the army's military expenses with the prime minister in the capital. ”

Tan Renhao did not ask again, in his opinion, the military budget is not the most important thing. The war was fought for several years, and the annual government budget was formulated around the military budget, which was also a major feature of the wartime. Although almost every year there is a competition between the navy and the army for the budget, the results have basically been resolved smoothly. Generally speaking, Prime Minister Xue Xiyue's yardstick in grasping the military budget is quite accurate, and he will not let the navy and army get all the budgets they want, but he will never make the navy and army feel wronged. This is probably the ability that a politician must have. By next year, '27, the war situation should be extremely favorable to the Empire, and the Prime Minister will have more flexibility in how he handles the military budget.

"The military budget for 27 years will not be too generous, and even very tight." Nie Renfeng's expression was not good-looking at all. "As the overall situation of the war improves, the empire will gradually shift its focus. Therefore, the Prime Minister will not give us much hope, and we should not get too much hope. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, he realized that he was too superficial. This is also the inadequacy of Tan Renhao in front of Nie Renfeng and others. Often, Tan Renhao looks at problems from the perspective of a general, while Nie Renfeng will look at problems from the perspective of the Minister of the Navy, and the Minister of the Navy is not a military position, but a cabinet position, that is to say, Nie Renfeng will look at the problem more from the perspective of a politician.

The military budget itself was a lever to restrain the army, and at the same time a compass for the development of the empire's domestic industry. From 22 to 26 years, 60% of the Imperial government's expenditure was military expenditure, and in these five years, the imperial government's fiscal revenue accounted for more than 60% of the total national income. In other words, the empire produced almost forty percent of the country's revenues to support the war. In peacetime, military spending will not exceed 40 percent of fiscal expenditures, and will generally be controlled between 10 percent and 10 percent of the country's total revenue. This was before the Great War, and apparently, during the war, military spending became the main expense of the state. But as the war situation improved, while the soldiers of the empire were still fighting. Politicians, on the other hand, must consider how to turn the fruits of victory into tangible benefits after winning the war.

Many of the problems are unimaginable to Tan Renhao. In particular, there are political aspects. For example, Tan Renhao doesn't understand that war is still far away. Why should the prime minister think about the aftermath of the war? If you can't win, then any post-battle plans are meaningless. This also proves that Tan Renhao is still only a general, not a politician.

"In the budget I submitted, next year's military spending is about 35 billion. But according to the attitude of the prime minister, it would be quite good if we could get 25 billion. ”

"Then we're going to have to cut back a lot of plans." Gan Yongxing's look told others that he was also very annoyed by the incident.

"yes, we're going to have to readjust the Navy's plans." Nie Renfeng patted the armrest of the sofa, "Don't think about the fourth batch of 'new provincial capital' class, this is the first thing to be cut down, we don't need to build more battleships, even if the US Navy is building more 'Iowa', and even started the construction plan of 'Montana', but in the foreseeable future." The American battleships will not pose much of a threat to us, we now have nine 'new provincial capitals,' and besides, Germany is about to acquire three battleships, and the first three battleships of the Persian Empire are nearing completion, so we can use the funds for more important purposes. ”

This. Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing did not object. Nine New Provincial Capital-class ships are enough to deal with next year's threat, and if you count the German and Persian navies, there are actually 15 battleships, which is enough to deal with most of the threats.

"The construction of the newly designed 'Island' class aircraft carrier will have to be delayed for at least half a year, which can save us about 200 million yuan." Nie Renfeng looked at the two students, "The focus of construction in the first half of next year will be on transport ships, as well as escort warships, especially destroyers. This is the battleship that we are most lacking right now. Other than that. The construction of landing ships will also have to be accelerated, as well as the support ships needed by the marines. The construction of escort aircraft carriers, including the work, should also be increased. At the very least, this can reduce our need for fleet carriers, as well as escort warships. Comparatively speaking, these support ships are cheaper. ”

At this time, Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing laughed helplessly. It is clear that in 27 years, the center of the Navy's mission will gradually shift from seizing sea supremacy to landing operations. If you want to hit the American continent, you need a strong landing fleet, a support fleet, and a transport fleet. On the contrary, the fleet, which has been singing the leading role on the battlefield until now, will become a supporting role. This is an objective fact that no one can change. Moreover, as long as the Imperial Legion once again landed on the American continent, then the end of the war would not be far off.

"The construction of the aviation force is very important, and the new bomber must be put into production as soon as possible, and the 'wolf dove' will certainly not be able to meet the requirements of future operations. Also, I heard that the US military has a lot of advanced fighters in service? ”

"Almost, the performance of the new fighters of the US military is good, not only advanced fighters, but also better tactical bombers, as well as heavy bombers."

"Then, we can consider reducing the order for the 'Golden Eagle' and getting the 'Peregrine Falcon' into production as soon as possible. In addition, the plan for the new tactical bomber developed by Hafei should be improved, and it can be modified according to actual combat needs. I have seen Hafei's design plan, and General Xu believes that there is no need for us to separate two different tactical bombers, and it is completely possible to replace the current two bombers with one bomber. If this method works, it will save us a lot of money and will allow us to organize our fleet aviation more flexibly. "Nie Renfeng's understanding of the navy is far beyond Tan Renhao's imagination." As for the rest, we have to re-plan to save as much as possible our limited budget. ”

"What about people?" Gan Yongxing proposed another major expense.

"The expansion has to continue, but the focus is on the Marine Corps, as well as the logistics support units. I've already seen the new recruitment plans submitted by several branch commands, so if you have time to take a closer look at them, and after you're sure that there are no problems, let's recruit them according to the new method. ”

Gan Yongxing nodded, personnel work is his biggest headache.

"Hey, if it weren't for the big shortage of personnel, we shouldn't have lowered the recruitment standards." Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "Unlike the Army, I have never advocated excessive expansion. For hundreds of years, the Navy has pursued a lean policy, and even in the last war, we did not overrecruit or lower the standards of recruitment. Expansion is necessary, but it should not be done at the cost of reducing the quality of naval officers and men. ”

"That can only be strengthened by training."

Nie Renfeng nodded slightly. "Then we have to say hello to the reserve command, and we have to ask the commands of all arms to raise the training standards."

Gan Yongxing noted this, in fact, he did not agree with lowering the recruitment standards, but now the navy's personnel gap is too great, and if more recruits are not recruited as soon as possible, it will not be able to expand the size of the navy, and it will not be able to undertake more tasks, and when the time comes, I am afraid that more tasks will have to be assigned to the army.

"The main thing is the issue of the military budget, we have to come up with at least 10 billion to support the army in 27 years." Nie Renfeng smiled bitterly, "The army's personnel expenses are even less than ours, I really don't know what methods the army uses to stabilize the morale of the army, or is our allowance too high?" ”

Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing both smiled bitterly, the Navy not only has several times the allowance of the army, but also the food standard far exceeds that of the army, and the sum of these expenses is naturally much higher than that of the army.

"Renhao, if you have time, help Yongxing." Nie Renfeng sighed, "In the past few days, I'll deal with the matter at hand first, and then I'll think about other issues after we're done with things." ”

"But ......"

Gan Yongxing kicked Tan Renhao, so that Tan Renhao didn't say the rest of the words.

"I'll think about attacking the Hawaiian Islands, but now is not the time."

Tan Renhao had already understood what Gan Yongxing meant, so he didn't say anything more.

Nie Renfeng looked tired, and he didn't say anything else. After saying goodbye and leaving the principal's office, Tan Renhao followed Gan Yongxing into the chief of staff's office. At first, Gan Yongxing's kick was quite heavy. Tan Renhao also knew that before he arrived, the chief of staff must have discussed the attack on the Hawaiian Islands with the principal, since the principal did not immediately put this operation on the agenda, obviously there were other reasons, and it was a very important reason, there was no need for Tan Renhao to bring up this matter again.