"I'm so burned!

Let's talk about it, what the hell is going on.

The whole Middle East is rotting into a pot of porridge, and the Kurds, Yazidis, Arabs are all making a fuss.

As far as the Persians are concerned, there are people in Tehran who have started to make trouble.

The king of Persia has already contacted us through the embassy, and we need the Ming to send troops to help suppress the place. ”

In the huge combat conference room, Li Xiao looked at the huge combat map on the wall and was a little worried.

At this time, the drawbacks of the Ming military system were revealed, and only the elite strength was maintained in peacetime.

And not a large standing army!

Now that the Middle East is on fire everywhere, there is something that cannot be opened in terms of troops.

The Marine Corps urgently requisitioned many retired soldiers and airlifted them to Hainan for a two-month training.

But these people can only be used as a combat readiness force to rush the people to the front line, which is extremely irresponsible for human life.

Now the problem arises, the oil fields in the Middle East must be maintained.

But if you want to maintain the oil field, you have to have soldiers, and the problem now is that there are not so many soldiers.

The General Staff had no choice but to start a plan for mass conscription.

Now, the entire Liaodong, Shandong, and Hebei are undergoing an unprecedented autumn conscription.

Conscription at a time when families need strong labor to harvest food is a bit anti-human in any case.

Not only that, but the Ming Dynasty also recruited troops in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu and even Qinghai for the first time.

This is something that has never happened before, and the Liao army needs to be conscripted outside of Liaodong.

At the same time, the Marine Corps recruited and transferred troops in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.

"Luzhu, you are engaged in intelligence, and you have spent a lot of money. It's been three months since the incident, and you tell us, what's going on in the Middle East? ”

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Xiao first clicked on the green beads.

Lu Zhu looked left and right, generally speaking, he reported to Li Xiao alone, and it was the first time to give a speech in such a public.

"I've been running the Middle East for nearly ten years, but our Ming focuses on making money with those high-level chiefs or aristocrats.

Those people at the bottom are living in great difficulty. and be oppressed and humiliated by the government again!

Take the self-immolating vendor in Tunisia, for example, who sold all his possessions to make a small stall.

But because he couldn't pay the protection fees collected by the officers, he was confiscated.

For this peddler, this stall is all he has.

So, after losing hope of living, he set himself on fire in the streets.

It was this self-immolation that caused the riots in Tunisia.

In recent years, successive droughts in the Middle East have bankrupted farmers who are not wealthy.

They didn't have any industry, and the peasants lived a miserable life after they moved to the city. ”

"We haven't helped with some projects, such as building roads, building bridges, and building hospitals."

Li Xiao is a little strange, Daming has also assisted some projects in the Middle East over the years.

Building roads and bridges is actually for the transportation of the Ming Dynasty in the Middle East.

The construction of the hospital was also for the Ming people to have a place to treat diseases in the Middle East.

When these projects are used by the Ming people, they will also benefit the local people.

"When you're doing engineering, you can really offer some job opportunities. But engineering this kind of thing, it can't exist for many years.

It's like building a road, it's done.

Moreover, our officials have done some good things.

The road was wide and straight, but there was no path to the village.

The Hebrews were very thoughtful, and they also helped the Arabs with many projects.

They built the paths, and they went straight to the big roads that we had built.

And the result!

Ask the local people who built the road. They all said that it was cultivated by the Hebrews, and we were busy in vain.

Most of the local magnates and chiefs associate with our people.

But the Hebrews, they set up alms everywhere.

A little food is given to the local people every day, and sometimes doctors are sent to see the local people for free and give medicines.

Therefore, the Hebrews had a very good impression in the eyes of the local people.

Even the local gangsters would not embarrass the Hebrews.

This is happening not only in Tunisia, but throughout the Middle East.

In particular, the Suez Canal zone, where we have the largest garrison, and the oil field area of Basra.

The Persians were a little worse off, and the Kurds were the ones they bought the hardest.

Not only did they provide the Kurds with weapons and ammunition, but they also sent Hebrew officers who had been on the battlefield to guide their training.

I suspect that the Hebrews are even directing the Kurds to fight. ”

"The Hebrews are directing them to battle? No wonder the Kurds are able to break through.

Not only did they capture Baghdad, but they could even threaten Basra. Li Xiao nodded.

Got Hebrew weapons, plus training and operational command.

It can be seen that the Hebrews did not make this move for a day or two.

Daming pays attention to the upper route, but people take the bottom line.

The Ming and the magnates conspired to share the spoils, and the Hebrews reigned at the bottom of the people.

This time and again, the Hebrews are considered to be the existence of thousands of Buddhas along the entire Mediterranean coast.

Today's results are not surprising at all.

"For now, we have no problem holding on to the oil fields in Basra.

Before the war, we had built reinforced concrete bunkers, fortifications, and trenches thirty kilometres from the Basra oil fields.

Now our infantry relies on these, plus naval artillery fire support. We have no problem holding on to the Basra oil field!

It's just that it is still difficult to recover Baghdad.

The lack of troops is an important reason, and another reason is the ......, the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps...... Somewhat insufficient. ”

With a stack of papers in his hand, Stilwell looked at it and reluctantly took off his glasses.

Li Xiao took a deep breath and did not speak.

This matter is not to blame on Zuo Liangyu's head, he has only been in office for half a year.

The Marine Corps, which is scattered over hundreds of thousands of garrisons and is extremely widely distributed, will absolutely not be able to make an improvement in half a year.

Li Xiu, the commander of the navy, cannot escape the blame!

"Ahem......!" Li Hao coughed.

"Now is not the time to hold accountable, but to think about how to get through the current crisis.

The oil fields in the Middle East cannot be lost, let alone have any production reduction or even shutdown.

Now one-third of the ships, four-fifths of the trains, and all the airships of the Ming Dynasty are all diesel.

Not to mention the troops, more than 2,000 tanks, more than 500 aircraft.

Plus warships, and more than 10 thousand cars.

Eight or nine thousand tons of fuel are used every day, and in the future, the number of cars, tanks, armored vehicles, airplanes, and ships will increase.

This is an astronomical amount of fuel used every day!

We have not discovered oil fields in the Ming Dynasty, and these oils can only be solved from the Middle East.

Once there is no oil to use, it is unimaginable for Daming. ”

Li Hao also held a piece of paper in his hand, which listed the classification and summary of the oil that Daming needed every day.

Li Hao put a few pieces of paper in front of Li Xiao!

"Yes! The Middle East cannot be chaotic, and oil cannot be cut off. Li Xiao looked at the paper in his hand and nodded.

"What we can do now is mass conscription.

First of all, the third and fourth divisions were expanded.

These two divisions owe a lot of debts in history, and the number of soldiers and equipment together is not more than that of one division.

Therefore, it is now necessary to fill in the posts of these two divisions.

In addition, the Second Division is also recruiting troops in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Guangxi.

The combat mission of the second division is very heavy, and they have to suppress those toasts in the southwest. Hunt down the remnants of the 100,000 bandits in the mountains, and according to the instructions of the commander, they will also prepare to march into Sichuan.

Sweep away those Sichuan-Tibetan toasts!

Therefore, the second, third, and fourth divisions should not be transferred for the time being.

The only ones that can be mobilized now are the first division and two regiments of the garrison in Gyeonggi. There is also a cavalry division that is conducting a big exercise! ”

Stilwell continued, and the number of troops that could be mobilized was very limited.

Li Xiao covered his forehead helplessly, because of military spending, the Ming army has been hovering around one million.

This is really not enough for a Ming empire with a population of 450 million, a vast land area, and many overseas interests.

However, over the years, there have been no large-scale wars in the Ming Dynasty, and it has been maintained in this way.

Now that the Middle East is suddenly in chaos, Li Xiao found that the Ming Dynasty had really reached the point where there were no troops to send for a while.

"Or, transfer the First Army of the Expeditionary Force back?"

Ao Ye is in Russia, with the First Army of the Expeditionary Force conducting exercises.

It is said that it is conducting exercises, but in fact it is spying on Poland. Once there is any defeat in Russia, the First Expeditionary Force led by Ao Ye will be killed in one fell swoop.

Although it was only the size of an expeditionary force, it was the armored force that Ao Ye led.

Including the two tank divisions that have just been formed, as well as the two regiments of the 1st Ao Ye Division, and the two regiments of the 3rd and 4th Divisions.

A mountain battalion under the command of the 2nd Division!

The fifty Stukas that support Ao Ye have also been transferred.

It was a violent force, a force sufficient to destroy Poland.

However, Li Xiao does not want to use it now, because Napoleon behind the Poles has not yet done it.

Napoleon's prestige was too great, and Li Xiao had to be afraid of the million-strong French army under his command.

"Nope! Ao Ye's expeditionary force cannot be used, let them continue to do adaptive training in Russia.

Moreover, continue to hoard all kinds of supplies. ”

Li Xiao categorically rejected Stilwell's suggestion.

"Then there really are no soldiers available now!" Stilwell spread his hands helplessly.

It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and he, the chief of the general staff, cannot succeed without soldiers.

"Then suspend the winter exercises of the 1st Cavalry Division and send them to the Middle East.

Man Ye has been practicing on the grassland for two years, and now it's time to go out and fight.

In addition, prepare dust nets for the 1st division.

There is a lot of sand and dust in Basra, so it is necessary to protect the machinery.

Two Sikh divisions and two Gurkha divisions were formed in India.

Recruit as soon as possible, and recruit within a month. ”

After Li Xiao's words were spoken, Stilwell understood what he meant by recruiting Sikhs and Gurkhas.

These people, like the previous Japanese masters, are guys who are specifically responsible for killing.

"Do you want to recruit the Japanese teachers again this time?"

"Don't!

From now on, the Japanese can only exist as merchants, and they must not be allowed to come into contact with the armed forces.

Finally, I quit the habit of holding a katana among the Japanese people.

Now they must not let their martial spirits resurrect again!

Not only the Wa country, but also the cochin.

The countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty now advocate making money. Folk martial arts are not prosperous! If you are like the North Koreans, it is not bad to farm with peace of mind. ”

Li Xiao categorically vetoed the proposal to send Japanese people to the Middle East, and even vetoed the Jiaozhi people.

The countries around the Ming Dynasty are to abandon martial arts and be a money-making merchant country one by one.

Now that the samurai of the Wa Kingdom have put down the katana and picked up the abacus.

Then let them be like this for the rest of their lives!

"Marshal, if the country is in trouble, I don't have a problem with you recruiting soldiers like this.

But this year's budget has been almost spent, and next year's budget has not yet come out.

If you want to recruit soldiers on the scale you said, there will be a big hole in the finances. For a while, where am I going to get so much money......! ”

Everyone had no opinions, and only Ai Husheng was left helpless.

"It's the end of the year, and it's the day when taxes are paid to the treasury in various places, so why is there no money?" Stilwell looked at Ai Husheng and asked.

"My Chief of the General Staff, that's not how this account is counted.

I'll give you a good idea of how this account came about!

The Jinling Yangtze River Bridge has been repaired, and the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge can be built.

In addition, we are also building a railway from Xi'an to Chengdu.

In Liaodong, Shandong, and Hebei, it is necessary to ensure that every village has a primary school.

In the city, all school-age children go to school.

It's a dead rule you've made, and it has to be enforced.

Do you know how much money is left in the imperial court's tax money for a year after these things are done?

Half! Half of the tax money was gone.

Listen, what I just said does not include the military expenses of our Liao army.

You are the Chief of the General Staff, you know how much military spending the troops need per month.

And those research institutes, one by one, are simply money-eating machines, bottomless pits.

No matter how much money you invest, the Xu brothers will swallow it clean like gluttony.

And they still count Pixiu, it's easy to get money in their mouths, and it's difficult to spit out a penny.

At present, the expenses of the various yamen of the imperial court account for less than 10% of the revenue of the national treasury.

There's no way, according to your method, you really don't have any money. ”

Li Xiao listened to Ai Husheng's words, and was a little speechless for a while.

How to spend money, Li Xiao is very good.

Researching weapons and equipment, purchasing weapons and equipment, and making supporting ...... for weapons and equipment are all gold-swallowing beasts.

But it's not so easy to make money!

Especially Li Xiao, it is not good to set the tax rate of Daming to the bottom. In the five northern provinces, agricultural taxes are being phased out.

This tax rate ensures that the state does not take money from the people.

At the same time, it also put Daming's finances in a dangerous situation.

"What to do? What to do? Where do you get the money......? Li Xiao reluctantly pulled out a cigar.