Nie Renfeng carefully read the reports submitted by Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing, and when he read it, Nie Renfeng's expression did not change much, only occasionally stopped, pondered for a while, and then continued to read. Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing sat quietly on the side, and when Gan Yongxing finished smoking the fifth cigarette and Tan Renhao filled his teacup with water for the third time, Nie Renfeng closed the document in his hand.

"The problem is clear and clear." Nie Renfeng habitually crossed his hands, "Actually, a few years ago, I mentioned this problem to the prime minister several times, but there has been no way to solve it. ”

Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing both sighed secretly, which made Tan Renhao realize that the navy has been purchasing weapons and ammunition materials at high prices, and this is not only the loss of national property, but also directly related to the combat operations of the army. If the price can be controlled, then the navy can have more warships, more marines, maybe the current war situation is not like this. If convicted of harmfulness, those businessmen who raise prices and make huge profits can be sentenced to death.

"It's not something we can solve." Nie Renfeng was trying to control the rhythm of his breathing, and obviously, he was also angry. "Last night, I called the prime minister and told me about the problems you were experiencing. But now, the prime minister has no way to solve this problem, mainly because without relevant bills, it is impossible to use administrative measures to control prices, and it is impossible to force those manufacturers to reduce prices, and we have no basis. ”

"When is this all going to be, and are you still going to be polite to those people?" Gan Yongxing was even more excited, "If you want me to see it, just arrest all of them, and then shoot them one by one, and you won't kill the wrong person." ”

"Is this the way?" Nie Renfeng smiled bitterly, "Yongxing, you are no longer a young man. Will this work? If the prime minister does this, the whole empire will be doomed. ”

Gan Yongxing was silent, looking indignant. Tan Renhao cast a sympathetic look, and he also agreed to arrest and shoot these people, but he knew that it was impossible.

"The fundamental duty of the Imperial Army is to uphold the Imperial Constitution, to which we swear an oath. All laws are based on the Constitution. If even we blatantly violate the law, how can we gain the support of the people and safeguard the interests of the empire? "Nie Renfeng is teaching two students." It is undeniable that there are many loopholes in our laws, but we must not openly undermine the laws and destroy the legal foundation of the empire, which Prime Minister Zhang Shaoting has spent his whole life building on. And the foundation of society has been perfected and maintained over hundreds of years by dozens of outstanding prime ministers. We can only try to improve the law, not overturn it. Neither the army, nor those who are doing things that endanger the Empire, cannot break the law, who breaks the law. Then who will be the real sinner! ”

"Headmaster, we all know these truths, but the question is, what else can we do now?"

Nie Renfeng looked at Tan Renhao. "There is a way, but we can't control it. Now the Prime Minister is already figuring out how to solve this problem. As for the method, you don't need to know, not even I know. However, we need to act to cooperate with the Prime Minister. ”

Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing glanced at each other, and finally had to take action.

"Is Liao Hanxiang still in Zhoushan?"

Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing nodded at the same time.

"He came to me the other day and mentioned the attack on the Hawaiian Islands. You know that, right? ”

……

The two of them nodded again, but they didn't understand what the principal was proposing to attack the Hawaiian Islands for at this time, could it be that he was going to do something about the attack on the Hawaiian Islands?

"I've been thinking about this before. In terms of timing, it would be better for us to start the campaign in September. Nie Renfeng sat up straight, "The U.S. military has only three aircraft carriers at most before September, which cannot pose a threat to us, and according to reliable intelligence, the other two aircraft carriers under maintenance in San Francisco will be able to return to service in September, and at that time, the Fifth Fleet will have two task forces, which will require us to transfer at least two aircraft carrier task forces to deal with the Fifth Fleet." Unable to concentrate on supporting the Marines. The question is, will Liao be ready to attack the Hawaiian Islands by September? ”

"This ......"

"It's hard. The main thing is that the troops are not deployed in place. Gan Yongxing said it in front of Tan Renhao.

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, this is not the case, if he can, Liao Hanxiang can organize a combat operation to attack the Hawaiian Islands now, maybe he will be able to launch a campaign at the end of the month, why did Gan Yongxing say this?

Nie Renfeng thought for a while. "Then, let Liao Hanxiang return to Guam as soon as possible to organize the relevant work and submit the battle plan, and we must strive to launch an attack on the Hawaiian Islands before the US military recovers."

The two of them didn't say anything more, and got up to say goodbye to the principal.

"Chief of Staff, why did you start saying that?"

"Why?" Gan Yongxing quickened his pace, and as soon as he entered his office, he immediately closed the door. "Because it's not the time to attack the Hawaiian Islands."

"Why?" Tan Renhao was a little puzzled.

"Because we can't easily take down the Hawaiian Islands."

"But ......"

"I know, don't worry." Gan Yongxing walked to the cupboard, "Are you still drinking tea?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded, hung his hat by the door, and then went to the sofa and sat down.

Gan Yongxing walked over with two cups of tea. "If you think about it carefully, the principal has been dragging his feet and not giving the order to attack the Hawaiian Islands, and now he proposes to let Liao Hanxiang attack the Hawaiian Islands, why is this?"

"You mean......" Tan Renhao hesitated, "the prime minister wants to use this campaign to make a fuss?" ”

"Yes, it must be." Gan Yongxing sat down and lit a cigarette, "Think about it again, if we take down the Hawaiian Islands in one go, how will it help the prime minister?" ”

Tan Renhao thought about it, obviously, this would not help in any way. This proves that the Imperial Navy is strong enough to defeat the enemy, so the Prime Minister has no reason to propose a reform of the industrial structure of the country, and he will not be able to get the Emperor to remove the justice, and he will not be able to deal with the oligarchic families in the country.

"Sooner or later, we'll be able to conquer the Hawaiian Islands. As things stand, even if we give the United States two years, the United States will not be able to reverse its defeat, the only difference is when we win the war and how much it will cost us. Perhaps, this is unfair to Liao Hanxiang, and it is also unfair to the officers and soldiers on the front line, we can now take down the Hawaiian Islands in one go, so why stop there? But in the long run. Sooner or later, we will have to fight on the American continent, and we will face greater challenges, and the battle in the future will not be as simple as attacking the Australian continent and the Hawaiian Islands. Long supply lines aside, fighting on American soil. It will be an unprecedented war. Therefore, we must gather up our strength and prepare as much as we can beforehand, and the first thing to do is to straighten out the affairs of the country, so that all the obstacles that hinder the victory of the empire and the victory over the enemy disappear, and those who make the fortune of war are also our enemies, our internal enemies! ”

Tan Renhao tried his best to control his emotions. He admits that Gan Yongxing's words are correct. From a long-term point of view, it is certainly correct to take advantage of the advantages that the empire has won on the battlefield to eradicate the pests in the country while the enemy is unable to threaten the empire, but it is also as Gan Yongxing said, Liao Hanxiang. And those officers and soldiers who are fighting on the front line, or who are about to fight on the front line, are innocent and have been treated most unfairly. In Liao Hanxiang's words, they are objects that can be sacrificed.

Gan Yongxing was also controlling the rhythm of his breathing, he saw the truth of the matter clearly, but he couldn't do anything about it, which was what made him feel the most sad and angry.

"Chief of Staff, we should find a way."

"How?" Gan Yongxing shook his head, "I'll think about it." You'd better talk to your father-in-law first, though. Don't just say it directly, just talk about it on the side. ”

Tan Renhao frowned, he didn't know how to talk to his father-in-law about this.

"What I said in front of the principal at the beginning was to leave a way back for Liao Hanxiang." Gan Yongxing lit another cigarette, "This battle will not be successful, but it will never be a fiasco, there is a very likely stalemate, and there may even be a partial defeat." When the time comes, someone needs to come out and take responsibility, I hope this person is not Liao Hanxiang, to be honest, we can't lose Liao Hanxiang, at least until now, no one can replace him, and you won't be willing to replace your father-in-law, right? ”

Tan Renhao nodded, he had already thought of the possible consequences.

"Therefore, it is best to let Liao Hanxiang be prepared to maintain the stalemate, so that the responsibility can be reduced to a minimum, so that I can intercede with the principal, and the principal can intercede with the prime minister. When the time comes, the most we can do is to level it out, and in a few months, we can go back to the front. If it fails, the prime minister will find someone to come out and carry the blame, and then it will be troublesome. ”

Although Gan Yongxing did not make his words clear, Tan Renhao knew that under the current system, if the campaign fails, then only the commander of the theater can afford to carry this black cauldron, and the commander of the theater himself must be responsible for the campaign operations in the theater.

"I'll try to deal with everything else. To be honest, if I had to decide, I wouldn't do that. ”

"Is this the principal's decision?" Tan Renhao felt a lot of pain in his heart, and he couldn't believe his guess.

Gan Yongxing hesitated for a moment and said, "No, this will not be the principal's decision. You've known the principal for 10 years, right? I have known the principal for almost 30 years, and the principal is not the kind of person who can take his subordinates out and carry the black pot, and in the past 30 years, the principal has not done anything to be sorry for his subordinates and students. I believe that this is not the principal's decision. ”

"But......" Tan Renhao was very uncomfortable, "If this is not the principal's decision, then the principal will at least acquiesce." ”

Gan Yongxing was silent, he couldn't refute this, if the principal didn't acquiesce, then the principal wouldn't have made such an arrangement.

"Chief of Staff, I'm not complaining about the principal, I just think it's very unfair." Tan Renhao felt that he was about to take it anymore, "I'm not complaining about my father-in-law, if General Liao Hanxiang knows what he is going to face, he will not let his subordinates come out to carry the black pot, he will take the initiative to take responsibility and sacrifice himself to protect others." However, with so many naval officers, do they have to make sacrifices? ”

Gan Yongxing kept smoking, he didn't dare to touch Tan Renhao's gaze, he was afraid that he would be weak.

"This is no longer a fight against the enemy. If they were sacrificed under the guns of the enemy, their sacrifice was great and glorious, but it was simply murder, it was naked murder, and they were not sacrificed by the guns of the enemy, but by their own countrymen, and in the hands of their compatriots who had once trusted them most, should these things have happened? Tan Renhao's body was trembling slightly, he didn't know why he was so excited, he only knew that he was also a soldier, if he knew that he was going to die on the battlefield, he would not have any fear, but he never wanted to be betrayed, betrayed, framed, and finally fall on the battlefield!

"I can't explain these things to you right now, and I don't need to explain them, maybe in ten years, or twenty years, or thirty years, you'll be able to understand why."

Tan Renhao controlled his emotions, he buried his head, because he felt tears in his eyes, and he didn't want Gan Yongxing to see what he was like now.

"You have to believe that any sacrifice is worthwhile, and that we are dealing not with external enemies, but with internal enemies, who are more terrible and more difficult to eliminate. If the prime minister fails, we all have to lose, so it's all the more important for us to win and make the sacrifice worthwhile. Gan Yongxing grabbed Tan Renhao's shoulder, "If you find it difficult to speak, then I will talk to Liao Hanxiang." ”

"No, no." Tan Renhao raised his head, "I'd better talk about it, it's better." ”

Gan Yongxing nodded, he found that Tan Renhao was changing, maybe it was a good change, maybe a bad change, and whether it was good or bad depended on Tan Renhao's heart.

In the evening of the same day, Tan Renhao didn't go home until after dinner, and when he walked through the hall, he didn't greet the others, but went directly to the study, he didn't know how to talk to his father-in-law about what was about to happen, he felt like he was isolated, so helpless, so small.