Just when the soldiers of the Ming army were fighting bloodily, Li Xiao suddenly received a message.

Between Kursk and Kyiv, troops are being deployed.

Could it be that ......, the French mobilized reserves?

If this is the case, the plan to attack Kyiv will undoubtedly be stillborn.

The French, unlike the Austro-Hungarian army, were well-trained and well-equipped, and even had some anti-tank capabilities.

It is believed that the success of the anti-tank in Svetloyar will allow them to put more anti-aircraft guns on the battlefield.

Until now, there was no way to effectively deal with eighty-eight-mm anti-aircraft guns.

Even the latest No. 4 tank, the front armor was not enough to withstand the bombardment of the 88 guns.

"The French don't seem to have so many reserves, and they have to deal with the defense of the south of France, and they have to deal with the Tsaritsyn battlefield.

Where did they get so many reserves, could it be the Prussian army? ”

Stilwell was a little puzzled, logically speaking, the French should not have so many troops.

"Back to the Chief of the General Staff, it's the Israeli army."

"Israeli army?"

Hearing the news, Li Xiao and Stilwell ate at the same time.

Although they had long guessed that the Israelis would not be watching the war, they did not expect that they would join the war at this time.

Li Xiao felt that the Israelis would take Tsaritsyn after the French suffered heavy casualties. When the battle situation is clear, you will participate in the war and get a piece of the pie.

But I didn't expect them to join the war so early.

"Damn the Israelis, we should have destroyed them completely."

"At that time, did we have so many soldiers now?" Steve Said coldly.

Li Xiao's face was a little unbearable, because he was the one who advocated letting the Israelis go.

If the Ming Dynasty had begun large-scale conscription a year earlier, the total number of the Ming army would have been expanded to more than three million.

There would not be a situation like today, where the army is overstretched and there is a shortage of people everywhere.

The troops in the rear, when they train a group to the front line, will suffer a group of casualties.

In fact, it has become a refueling tactic.

Since the Ming Dynasty began to participate in the war last year, the cumulative casualties of the Ming army have reached more than 200,000.

The Ming army had never fought such a tragic war in its previous battles.

From the Middle East to Russia, the Ming Dynasty's million-strong army was sprinkled in, but there was still a shortage of people everywhere.

There is no way, the territory to be controlled is too big.

The Middle East, which can gradually withdraw troops, can only draw 300,000 troops.

It is not easy for the remaining 200,000 people to control the vast territory from Egypt to Basra and ensure the security of the Suez Canal Zone.

These 300,000 people are still marines, and the landing operation is still successful, but they lack heavy weapons, and they are destined to not be able to conduct large-scale battles like the army.

Moreover, these 300,000 people cannot be withdrawn at one time, otherwise a power vacuum will be created in the Middle East.

This is also the reason why Li Xiu did not carry out the Corsica landing operation for a long time after he captured Sicily.

So now the question arises, will the marines drawn from the Middle East land in Israel or continue to invest in the French direction?

"Marshal, the information from the three departments of the General Staff." The intelligence officer ran over panting and handed Li Xiao a letter of encrypted information.

"Oh!" Li Xiao took the folder, opened it and took a look, and immediately frowned.

"What's wrong?" Stilwell rarely saw Li Xiao's expression, and he felt a little strange, what could make Dashuai become like this.

"The British developed the technology of coal-to-oil, and the first batch has already produced 100 tons.

Now both Prussia and France are building factories, and ...... Factories have already been built in Israel.

Last month, seventy tons of gasoline had been produced.

As the technology matures, production will increase.

That is, those ships in the port of Sevastopol have refueling and are ready to go again.

The coalition airship also refueled.

The airships can be operated at full load, and the more efficient their transportation will be.

With oil, their diesel locomotives can also run. The train can pull more wagons!

The transportation efficiency is greatly improved!

The battle is not good! ”

Li Xiao sighed.

Originally, I thought that as long as the European countries were cut off from the access to oil, they would be able to jam their necks.

Let their diesel, gasoline, and all sorts of machinery go back to the steam engine era.

But I didn't expect that the Europeans would find another way to make a coal-to-oil.

Li Xiao had heard of this technique, which was refined with coal with a high calorie count, and then obtained gasoline and diesel.

Industrially, this kind of refining is very uneconomical.

Although the refined gasoline and diesel are very close to the gasoline and diesel of petroleum products. But the cost is much higher.

But things have come to this point where no one thinks about cost anymore.

As long as there is oil, let the airship in the sky fly again, and let the diesel locomotive on the ground run again.

Let the warships in the harbor move again, and the monarchs of European countries are willing to bear the cost.

They were even willing to use gold to buy smuggled oil from the Ming Dynasty.

Although the cost of coal-to-oil is high, it is also more expensive than the conversion of gold for oil.

"Then we have to attack Sevastopol and destroy the industrial base of the Israelis.

So that they have no way to continue the war! ”

"It's not that simple, the current Sevastopol is not something you can fight if you want to.

The second fleet, far away in Sicily, was plotting to capture Napoleon's hometown of Corsica.

Then, using Corsica as a base, attack Marseille in the south of France, or Toulouse or Monaco.

Clamp down on a part of the French army, and cannot go far to the Russian battlefield.

If the second fleet's fleet is transferred back now, Sicily may not be able to keep it. The French were able to free up their hands and continue to increase their forces on the Eastern Front.

We're going to be under even more pressure! ”

"That's ......!" Stilwell had already heard what Li Xiao meant.

Li Xiao did not plan to transfer Li Xiu over and attack Sevastopol.

It is understandable that the Israeli fleet is still strong.

In the past, nothing was done because of the lack of fuel, and the fleet could not leave the port at all.

Now there is coal-fired oil, and it is likely that Israel received coal-fired oil technology from the British beforehand.

When factories were still being built in Europe, they were already able to produce refined oil.

With oil, the battlefield is different.

In addition to the armor advantage, the Ming Dynasty also has the advantage of aircraft, and the advantages in other places are slowly becoming smaller.

"Don't be discouraged, we just won.

The hundreds of thousands of coalition troops in the Kursk encirclement are being gradually wiped out. Now we have captured more than 300,000 prisoners alone!

The British, even more so surrendered without firing a single shot.

At this time, we should not be discouraged. ”

Glancing at the people in the headquarters, Li Xiao said again: "

Now the population of the whole of Europe is a little more than 500 million, and they are almost all in the war.

In other words, we have to fight with Europe with a population of 500 million.

On our side, there are only 23 million people in Russia.

But behind us, there are also 400 million Ming people. And a vassal state with a population of 200 million!

The total number of soldiers in our Ming army is less than 2 million.

In other words, 200 people of the Ming Dynasty supported a soldier.

But if you look at the Europeans, the little countries all over the place.

To the north, Denmark and Norway are small countries with a population of only a few million people.

200,000 troops were sent into battle!

How many of their people support a soldier?

Thirty to one, forty to one.

Think about it, will we be able to hold up, or will they be able to hold up? ”

Li Xiao's words caused whispers among the staff officers.

The marshal is right, although now in terms of front-line strength, the coalition forces have an advantage.

But this advantage was gained at the expense of rear production, and if this situation continues, the final result will definitely be economic collapse.

And because a soldier is supported by 200 people, even if the battle is fought again, it will not shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's national strength.

If it drags on, European countries will definitely not be the opponent of the Ming Dynasty.