On September 4, after Xiao Zhenlei returned to the capital, he participated in the opening ceremony of the railway from the capital to Yili, which is the longest railway that has been completed in China at one time so far, and its opening will drive the economy of the provinces, cities and regions along the railway, and will also strengthen the control of the central government over the western Xinjiang region, and will also be conducive to the economic and cultural exchanges between the various ethnic groups in the northwest region and the interior.

After the opening ceremony, Xiao Zhenlei convened a working meeting of the railway department and the transportation department, these two departments are actually one department, and the railway department is also subordinate to the transportation department, but the power was not allowed to be too concentrated at the beginning, and the interests of building the railway were too huge, so the railway was separated from the traffic and formed another independent department.

There are not many people in the meeting, but they are all the leaders of the railway and transportation departments, among which Sun Wen's social status is the highest, but his official position is not the highest here except for Xiao Zhenlei, from the East China General Mansion at that time, he was responsible for presiding over the construction of the first railway, and then he continued to preside over the construction of a number of railways, his position as the general office of railway engineering has been still there, at that time there were too many railways that were started to be built at the same time throughout the country, and he was completely lacking in skills, with his energy, Only one railroad can be built for a certain period of time, while the railways being built in other places are under the responsibility of another person.

"How many railways are we building right now?" Xiao Zhenlei asked at the meeting.

The person in charge of the railway said: "President, we are now starting railway projects in four places, from Chengdu to Kunming, from Guiyang to Changsha, from Taiyuan to Baotou, and from Fengtian to Harbin."

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said, "Okay, not only can the construction of the railway not stop. It is also necessary to continue to increase investment, and railways must be built between the provincial capitals of neighboring provinces. But you can't repeat the rules, which requires you to check well. Duplicate construction is not only not beneficial, but also a waste of money, when building the railway, try to take into account the counties and cities along the way. For example, from Beijing to Taiyuan, the shortest distance is of course a straight line, but we can't build it like this, we have to let the railway pass through the counties, cities and districts along the way, which is very helpful for economic development along the way!

Now that we have added nine provinces in the northern and western regions, you should also start to think about building railways to the capitals of these provinces. After the railway is built, not only can the local economy be developed, the exchange between the interior and the above regions, but also the control of the central government over these provinces and regions, the resources of the northern and western Xinjiang regions are very rich, and after the railway, the resources of these provinces and regions have a way out, which can not only allow the local people to get benefits and make money, but also allow the resources of these regions to enter the interior and coastal areas. If the road is open, this game of chess will be alive, and if the road is not open, it will be a dead game of chess.

Other than that. The transport department should also continue to increase the construction of roads, and I have said before that roads will be built in the countryside within 20 years. It is necessary to realize the connection of villages and villages with highways. Of course, in some mountainous areas. The villages are scattered all over the mountains, and the roads that want to be built into them are not ordinarily large. We have to find a way to bring together the villagers scattered in the mountainous areas to form new villages, which is not only convenient for government management, but also conducive to transportation construction. How long does it take to get from east to west? How long does it take to transport beef and mutton, hides and sheepskins, wool, and various mineral resources from the north to the interior? Roads are like the blood meridians of the human body, only by opening up them, people will be healthy, energetic, and full of vitality, but if they are not connected, people will get sick and become weak. Therefore, railways and highways must be repaired, even if you grit your teeth and tighten your belt, you must build roads, and if you don't build them, you can't ??????."

Before World War II, Hitler presided over the large-scale construction of railways and highways and other transportation arteries in Germany, and after the completion of these railways and highways, in just a few years, Germany's economy came out of the shadow of World War I, and overtook other European powers such as Britain and France. There was also the reason why Britain eased sanctions against Germany after the end of World War I in order to contain France.

In the practice of developing the economy, Xiao Zhenlei has always been to build roads first and then carry out the construction of other infrastructure, and only when the roads are repaired can there be a foundation and premise for economic development; after the roads are repaired, it will be much more convenient and faster to carry out the construction of other infrastructure, and the construction of infrastructure facilities will also enable the economic development of various localities.

In the afternoon, Sa Zhenbing came to ask for a meeting and submitted a proposal to reorganize the naval fleet, Xiao Zhenlei was very surprised by this, and after taking the document, he asked, "You have made a plan so quickly?" ”

Sa Zhenbing said: "President, in fact, we have already had some rough plans, but you have not approved it some time ago, but our work in this area has not stopped, after your approval yesterday, we have improved the reorganization plan overnight, this is our preliminary plan, you see if there is anything wrong?" ”

"Good!" Xiao Zhenlei nodded and looked at it.

After a quick review of this preliminary plan, the defense zone of the entire naval fleet is divided into two major defense zones, the first is the Pacific defense zone, and the second is the Indian Ocean defense zone, and the navy is reorganized into seven fleets, of which there are four fleets in the Pacific region and three fleets in the Indian Ocean region. The First Fleet is deployed in the North Pacific with Vladivostok and Yokosuka as naval bases; The Second Fleet is deployed in the South Pacific region, with the Marshall Islands as a base; The Third Fleet is deployed in the Southwest Pacific region and is based in New Guinea; The Fourth Fleet is deployed in the South China Sea, based in Cam Ranh Bay, and has a number of ports in various parts of the Pacific that can be used for docking, replenishment, and maintenance by the naval fleet.

The Fifth Fleet is deployed in the Persian Gulf and is based in Dubai; The Sixth Fleet is deployed in the central Indian Ocean, based in the Maldives, and the Seventh Fleet is deployed in Yemen. This preliminary plan also made detailed plans for the warships and personnel of each fleet.

Xiao Zhenlei put down this plan and said to Sa Zhenbing: "This preliminary plan is still a little improper, at least many places have not been taken into account, you also know that we have now increased the northern and western Xinjiang regions, so will the Arctic Ocean region also deploy our fleet?" Should a small fleet also be deployed in the Caspian Sea to the west? Also, at present we also have a naval base in Cyprus, and we also have interests in the Middle East and the Asia Minor peninsula, should we also deploy a fleet there to protect our interests? In this preliminary plan, you have deployed too many forces in the defensive circle and weaker forces in the periphery of the defensive circle, which is inconsistent with the purpose of our army! ”

When Sa Zhenbing heard this, he immediately realized the existence of these problems, and immediately said: "It's a lowly level who has not thought about it, and we will present the plan to the president after we re-plan."

Xiao Zhenlei returned the draft plan to Sa Zhenbing, "Go, don't be in a hurry at this time, it's not too late to plan in detail after the military meeting is held tomorrow."

"Yes!"

On the morning of 5 September, the Navy Command held a military meeting of senior generals, and Xiao Zhenlei personally presided over the meeting this time, which was attended by the chief officers and senior generals of various departments of the headquarters.

The generals, dressed in admiral uniforms, sashes, and command sabers, sat with their waists straightened and sat on either side of the conference table without squinting.

"The President has arrived—all stand—"

"Uh-huh" The generals all stood up in order.

Xiao Zhenlei walked in wearing a short-sleeved military uniform, walked to the main seat and sat down, and then pressed his hand, "Sit down!" ”

The generals sat down together, Xiao Zhenlei looked left and right, and asked Sa Zhenbing: "Are they all here?" ”

"Yes, it's all coming"

"Alright, let's get started!"

Xiao Zhenlei looked at the generals on the left and right, and said: "Presumably all the generals have already made it clear that calling you here for a meeting today is for the reorganization of the naval fleet, according to the current situation, the naval fleet is also about to be reorganized, and the current establishment of our navy is no longer suitable for our huge maritime defense and foreign policy, if we don't make changes, there will be problems after a long time, and I don't need to talk about it, right?" When people are sick, they must see a doctor in time, and they must be treated in time to be healthy, and the reason is actually the same.

Of course, to make a change, it will touch the interests of some people, it will make people uncomfortable and unhappy, but as the saying goes, long pain is better than short pain, and now that we have found a problem, we can make changes in time, and we will endure less pain, and the longer it drags on, the more difficult it will be to make changes, because it will touch the interests of more people. Do you have any suggestions for this reorganization of the naval fleet? ”

Cheng Biguang, who was sitting first on the right hand, thought for a moment and hesitated, but still spoke: "President, I agree to the adaptation, but it is still a war period, and no one can say what the development of the war situation is, whether it is too early to make a reorganization now, and the adaptation is not an overnight thing, it may last for a long time, which will definitely affect the war."

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said: "General Cheng is not unreasonable, we are here today to discuss whether to reorganize the navy, and how to reorganize the issue, as for when it will start, of course, it will be carried out after the end of the war, and we will start to plan for the reorganization now, now everyone will talk about how to reorganize?" (To be continued......)