"The Soviet comrades also did not carry out a general mobilization." He Zudao, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in charge of military affairs, implicitly put forward the views of the troops at the Politburo meeting. He Zudao has always been considered the most loyal to Chen Ke in the army. Of course, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was all loyal to Chen Ke. Other comrades may have their own interest groups, the army is not involved in the economy, and factional struggles exist, but there is no such concept as interest groups. The most common problem of the military's only interest is to demand more military spending and more new equipment.

Lu Huitian knew very well that He Zudao's words could fully represent the army's point of view, that it was the army that undertook the war, and that it was the army that was most opposed to war in China. It is not that he did not think about convincing the comrades of the troops, the problem is that the army is a very seniority organization. Chen Ke, the founder of the people's army, is still alive, and as long as Chen Ke does not choose the way of reckless military force, he should not expect the army to stand up and negate Chen Ke. Even if Chen Ke chose to use all kinds of force, as long as the thousands of senior commanders loyal to Chen Ke were there, no one in the army would dare to come out and argue with Chen Ke.

In the matter of whether he is loyal to Chen Ke, Lu Huitian himself has no intention of replacing Chen Ke. Not only Lu Huitian alone, but there are not no people in the entire People's Party who have the impulse to replace Chen Ke, but there is no one who can insist on putting this idea into action after considering it from a materialist point of view.

What Lu Huitian hopes is to realize his ideas, and the development of the People's Party can be regarded as stepping on a juncture. As one of the early leaders of the People's Party, Lu Huitian only joined the revolution a few months later than He Zudao and earlier than Shang Yuan, who had already retired. Now he has only reached the position of vice chairman of the National People's Congress. Lu Huitian knew very well that the reason why he could not get a higher status was entirely because of the problem of the governing line.

Many people who are inclined to Lu Huitian believe that Chen Ke is a person who "takes officials", and Lu Huitian is a person who "takes officials". In addition to obeying the party committee, Chen Ke does not believe that any organization is irreplaceable. Lu Huitian believes that officials and authority are the existence that determines everything. In this regard, Lu Huitian actually agrees with the model of the Soviet comrades, that leaders can exist, and that the leaders directly command the officials, or the party organizations that the officials institutionalize. Therefore, one of the reasons why many comrades who had been full of contradictions in the past supported the general war this time was that they hoped to reverse the current situation in China through such a model.

When private enterprises continue to exist and some private enterprises that operate quite well earn quite high incomes, for example, when a restaurant owner with a good reputation can earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a year, a department-level cadre whose annual income does not exceed 10,000 yuan will certainly not be very happy. A system that is more planned, more powerful, and more distributive justice is also the sincere hope of many comrades. Since such a foundation exists, Lu Huitian has unknowingly become a banner figure.

He Zudao mentioned the Soviet Union, and Lu Huitian was a little unhappy in his heart. The Soviet army also had 3 million troops, which was only half of China's regular army and one-third of the total under China's military system, but on a per capita basis, the Soviet Union's military investment was much higher than China's. The average military spending of Chinese may be only a little higher than that of the United States. It has always been in the bottom ranks among the world powers. Even so, Lu Huitian could not question the fighting ability of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. If Lu Huitian dared to do this, it would immediately be equivalent to standing directly on the opposite side of the troops.

"Since the Soviet comrades did not mobilize, it is even less necessary for us to carry out a general mobilization. We are facing an enemy that is either weak or requires a strong navy and air force to be able to deal with. He Zudao explained.

In the Politburo, there are not only the comprehensive mobilization faction, but also some comrades who support Chen Ke, and some comrades who cannot judge the strategy of going south. He Zudao's speech was aimed at these comrades. As Chen Ke's most die-hard supporter, He Zudao knows very well what he wants to do. It is not to quarrel with comrades who have different lines and principles, still less to talk about the war plan, but to give a realistic account of the current situation. In order to reach a realistic conclusion in the Politburo.

"We have received a strengthened deployment of British troops on the Burmese-Siam border, and this is the only new problem we have encountered in recent times. Other Army movements focused on strengthening the Marine Corps' readiness for landing operations. ”

"Is it really impossible for Britain to carry out large-scale shipping in the direction of the Indian Ocean?" That part of the comrades who did not have a special position raised this question.

He Zudao smiled. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army used more than 40,000 troops in the battle to liberate the Dutch East Indies. These troops were transported from the mainland coast to Lan Fong Province, and from Lan Fong Province they were transported across the sea to the Dutch East Indies, including equipment, fuel for the navy and air force to fight. In terms of fuel alone, each commander and fighter consumes more than one ton of fuel. In 1938, China's crude oil production exceeded 30 million tons, and more than 40,000 tons of fuel oil may not seem worth mentioning, but the processing of crude oil into suitable fuel oil requires equipment and manpower, which are all great investments.

"With the strength of the British, the most cost-effective way for them to fight at this stage is to use the Indian army." He Zudao avoided exaggerating the evaluation of this part of the material allocation, "If Britain mobilizes hundreds of thousands of troops into the Asian theater, Europe will sing an empty city plan." According to the information we received, Germany was preparing an attack on Poland. Poland was an ally of Great Britain, which was tantamount to a declaration of war on Great Britain. At a time when British troops were pouring heavily into Asia, Britain would still have the strength to sustain the war in Asia if France on the European side could hold off Germany. If France had failed, then Britain itself would have been completely empty, and the Germans would have been able to do whatever they wanted. We must note one thing, "In World War I, Britain mobilized a large number of troops from its colonies and threw them into the European theater. India was an important source of British troops, and if Germany started a war in Europe, we can expect that Britain would not have enough strength to protect India. Once India had been lost, the losses suffered by the British were simply not something that the British could afford. ”

Britain is 10,000 kilometers away from China, and it is right for the Chinese comrades to open their eyes to the world, but everyone's eyes have only fallen on the western Pacific region, and this is already the limit of the vast majority of the comrades of the People's Party. If they are allowed to cast their eyes on the whole world, it is too difficult for strong people. Chen Ke's biggest advantage is that in his era, because of the existence of the United States, the hegemon, China has to turn its attention to the whole world. This is also the essence of the natural strategic outlook. Chen Ke stood on the shoulders of the giants.

The representative of the neutral faction, or the representative of the Politburo who "pretends to be neutral", is Ren Qiying, who is the youngest among the first generation of members of the People's Party. Now she is just 49 years old. As an excellent bureaucrat, Ren Qiying's way of standing is not to get involved in trouble. Since Ren Qiying has never tried to pursue her own line, she has no need to get involved in the dispute at all. Just follow Chen Ke and complete the work that needs to be done.

At this time, Ren Qiying, who is now the director of the statistics bureau of the SASAC, asked, "So when are we going to go south?" ”

Lu Huitian couldn't help frowning after hearing this, Ren Qiying's level of playing political skills is very interesting, if you ask when you will go south to Australia, He Zudao can immediately answer that the troops are heading south. As long as the troops do not complain, there is no need for general mobilization. And the result of Ren Qiying's doing this is tantamount to cashing in support of Chen Ke, unless Lu Huitian's comrades who call for a general war force the neutrals to choose a side, and this matter is basically over. Of course, no one in the BJP has ever dared to do that. Chen Ke never forced the party committee to make any decisions. At most, the comrades of the People's Party did not know whether to agree with Chen Ke's views or not, and agreed to Chen Ke's plan without any other better choice.

When there were no problems in the southbound plan, Lu Huitian did not have Chen Ke's appeal, and second, he had no reasonable excuse, no matter what he thought, he had to let the current plan continue.

With Ren Qiying's introduction, He Zudao immediately gave a brief introduction to the current plan. At this time, the navy was divided into two, one part entered the Indian Ocean with the cooperation of the air force, and the other began to move south. In fact, while fiercely pursuing the British, Australian, and Dutch fleets that were retreating towards Australia, the People's Navy had already captured the port of Darwin.

"Oh? Already in Australia? Most of the comrades in the Politburo who did not hear the news were surprised.

"Although Darwin Port is Australian land, the geography of Australia is very bad." Ho Foot Dao began to popularize Australia's geography.

Australia covers an area of nearly 8 million square kilometers, but the geographical conditions are not very good. The topography of this Commonwealth member is distinctive. Mountains in the east, plains in the middle, plateaus in the west. The highest peak in the country, Kosciuszko, is 2,230 meters above the sea, and at the sea is a narrow beach with a gentle slope, gently sloping to the west, gradually becoming a plain. The coastal area is full of wide sandy beaches and lush greenery, and the terrain is varied: the cliffs of the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, the tall, graceful and eroded volcanic necks of the Grathhouse Mountains to the north of Brisbane, and the flat fields of the south coast to the west of Adelaide.

Most of the country, about 70 per cent, is arid or semi-arid, and most of the central part is uninhabitable. Australia has 11 large deserts, and they make up about 20% of the entire continent. Due to the low rainfall, more than one-third of the continent is covered by desert. Australia is the flattest and driest continent in the world, with the central depression and the western plateau being dry deserts, and the central Loch Eyre is Australia's lowest point, with a surface 16 metres below sea level. Only 260,000 square kilometres of land can be used for livestock and farming. Coastal areas, especially the southeastern coastal zone, are habitable and cultivated. It is hilly, rich in water, and fertile in the land. With the exception of the south coast, the entire coastal strip forms a "green belt" that surrounds the continent, and it is this green belt that feeds the country.

This peculiar topography makes the port of Darwin, which has been occupied by the People's Navy, "interesting", because the best of Australia is in the southeast, and the port of Darwin, which is in the northwest, is a real port city. There are no rail roads to Sydney in southeastern Australia.

Not only that, the salinity of groundwater in Australia is higher than that of the human body, and people will not only not be able to "quench their thirst" after drinking, but will "get thirstier the more they drink". Therefore, it is also completely unrealistic to try to rely on a large number of manpower to open a railway or road through Australia to maintain transportation in a short period of time. Even a country like China, which has a lot of manpower and a lot of experience in mega-projects, can't do it. If you want to take out Australia, you can only rely on the navy.

"There is another issue to this, which is the post-occupation maintenance. Australia's own industrial level is very backward, although there are now some steel mills, and there are mining their own coal. Australia's high-quality iron ore has also reduced costs in Australia. But the core problem of Australia is that the domestic market is small, and the scale and production are very low. It is no longer possible to take control of Australia in a short-term war, and the whole time is likely to take two or even three years. He Zudao calmly expounded the views of the Military Commission, "Of course, we can establish a series of strongholds in uninhabited areas such as western Australia and northern Australia, which is very easy. Because it can basically be considered a no-man's land. Everything there needs to be built by ourselves. ”

Looking at the map, you can't see Australia's problems, such a large piece of land can't help but be enviable. The comrades' impression of Australia is that it is "rich in wool", and since it is a wool producer, it must be a country dominated by vast savannahs. The issue of groundwater not being used is covered in junior high school textbooks. However, everyone felt that these things should be able to be overcome, but after listening to He Zudao's introduction, the original enthusiasm was constantly decreasing.

"The biggest reason why we want to take Australia is that Australia is determined to fight China to the end. Even though the country has a population of only 7 million, the United States cannot be allowed to use Australia as a base for attacking China. If America's enormous industrial capacity were to be used to fight us, we would inevitably be in a long war. Only after the United States has completely cut off the idea of making a move against China can there be peace. He Zudao finally made a concluding speech.

Ren Qiying listened very carefully, and when He Zudao finished speaking, Ren Qiying asked: "If at this stage, it is only necessary to resolve the organized confrontation in Australia, instead of completely seizing Australia, how long will it take." Listening to Political Commissar He's introduction, Australia has only a population of 7 million, and we only need to solve some strongholds along the coast of Australia, instead of building Australia into a country that can resist a possible US attack, how long will it take? ”

"It will take about nine months." He Zudao answered this question.

The Politburo members, who had been a little worried about the two to three years proposed by He Zudao, breathed a sigh of relief. If it only takes nine months to resolve the organised resistance in Australia, there is no need for a general mobilization in China itself.

Ren Qiying waited for a while, as if she was thinking for a while, before she said, "If that's the case, I think it's good to go according to the current plan." And there are so many islands in the Pacific that it will certainly take some time to get rid of the British forces on these islands and turn them into bases from which China can resist foreign invasion. Everything has to be done step by step. ”

Ren Qiying's point of view was agreed by the majority of comrades, and in the subsequent vote, the comrades agreed to the plan to continue the south, and at the same time agreed to restrictions on the supply of gasoline and diesel for civilian use. However, it does not advocate the implementation of a system of total warfare. Once the war plan was decided, the direction of discussion at the meeting shifted to the scope and intensity of control within the specific country.

When the meeting reached this point, Lu Huitian understood that the general battle he hoped for seemed to be impossible to pass. However, Lu Huitian was not too disappointed, if Chen Ke said that the United States is likely to intervene, then the possibility of the United States interfering is very high. There are many opportunities in the future.

And some of Lu Huitian's most desirable contents, that is, the part that exercises control over the domestic economy, have been established. At this stage, since it is not felt that Chen Ke is being challenged, Lu Huitian has ample opportunity to mobilize more "allies" in a more moderate range. Since it is not to bring down Chen Ke, or even to overthrow Chen Ke, China's various interest groups may not reject some of Lu Huitian's plans.

As a temptation, Lu Huitian put forward the idea of "strict frugality" and suggested that certain restrictions should be imposed on the catering industry. The BJP has not nationalized the catering industry. Although the share of the state-run catering industry is not low, the purpose of this part of the state-run catering industry is to expand employment and to try to keep prices down. After all, there are state-owned enterprises that are stirring up the situation, and they can force some prices down.

The follow-up development was similar to what Lu Huitian imagined, and the vast majority of comrades agreed. Although Chen Ke did not directly come out to oppose it, he still felt a little uneasy in his heart.

The BJP is strict in its demands, and the control of the discipline supervision department is only forcefully exercised in some very core departments and departments that are very relevant to the people's lives. And most of these implementations are in cities, in big cities. At the grassroots level, it is not uncommon to eat some oil and water from the private catering industry. Chen Ke has little affection for capitalists, but that doesn't mean he thinks it's the right thing to do.

What Chen Ke can't see clearly now is which comrades in the Politburo really think that restricting the private catering industry can "save costs", which comrades simply think that "restricting it" can play a role in inspiring the people's spirits, and which comrades have other ideas.

It's just that Chen Ke knows that this is definitely not the time for him to speak, because it is impossible for human beings to make correct judgments about things that have not happened, and it is already a very remarkable thing to be able to correctly summarize what has happened. Since history is spiraling, there is no shortage of processes to follow. Although after each spiral is over, a lot of people are definitely eliminated.

It's ruthless. It's a must.