The cabinet and the military department did not deal with each other in the first place, but it was good in the past, because the former prime minister Zou Zhuoyun behaved relatively mildly, and many times even if there was a verbal conflict, he laughed it off.

But the current Gao Qingkui is different, at least in such a matter related to the fortunes of the country, the phrase "the prime minister can support the boat in his belly" does not apply, so he refuses to compromise.

But after all, the emperor spoke, and the two people who confronted each other died down, otherwise it would be too faceless to look at the king.

Gao Qingkui glanced at everyone and said seriously: "In any case, it is not appropriate to rush forward. Although it is not extravagant to have full certainty, it must be at least nine out of ten, otherwise it is child's play. ”

Obviously, although this remark did not make accusations on the surface, it also secretly poked and prodded that the military department's idea was frivolous child's play.

So Wu Weihuan was annoyed again, the fire had not been extinguished before, and now it was even more vigorous.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the staff office and the acquaintance Cheng Han hurriedly tugged at the corner of his clothes, and then preemptively opened his mouth to play a round.

"Hey, stop, stop, you can't talk nonsense about national policy in front of the emperor." Cheng Han raised his hand and pushed his gold-rimmed glasses, and continued: "Wei Guogong didn't talk about it in detail before, so I'll add a few more words for him." ”

After a moment's thought, he recounted eloquently: "After the agreement signed that year expired, the United States began to strengthen the Bataan fortified area, and the local garrison was strengthened every ten months, especially the British and Dutch. It's not hard to weigh which is more important, right? Regardless of whether Britain and the United States are determined to defend each other or not, the later it drags on, the more tricky it will be for our DPRK. ”

After the signing of the "Washington Naval Treaty" that year, because the Ming Dynasty did not take advantage of the negotiations but suffered some losses, it attached a separate sub-treaty with the United States on its basis, which roughly reads:

The Philippines shall not station U.S. troops, the indigenous troops of the Philippine colonies shall not exceed 60,000, the caliber of artillery shall not be greater than 75mm, the number of tanks shall not exceed 120, and the permanent fortified area shall not be expanded or renewed.

The time limit is the same as that of the naval treaty, that is, it expires at the end of December of the 36th year of Zhichang.

Moreover, the Ming side wanted to go further, hoping to demand in the agreement that the large-caliber shore defense guns in the Bataan and Corregidor fortress areas be dismantled, but the United States resolutely refused, and bargaining ended in vain.

This is also a place that the Metropolitan Governor's Office hates very much, and the fortified areas and fortified areas are undoubtedly difficult to bite, which can contain a large number of troops on their own side and waste a lot of time.

If it is delayed for several months, or even half a year, the US military will have ample time for mobilization, training, and deployment, thus greatly increasing the uncertainty and variables of the war.

"Moreover, oil reserves must also be considered, according to statistics and estimates over the years, China now needs to consume 12 million tons of oil every year, but its own production is only more than 4 million tons, and the self-sufficiency rate is only 30%."

"Revenues are struggling to make ends meet, according to a deficit of eight million tons per year, while the strategic reserves of oil are about 13 million tons. Even if you save it, it will only take a year and a half to see the bottom, and I don't need to say more about the seriousness of the consequences, right? ”

After he finished speaking, Ma Mingli, vice president of the Advisory Yuan, asked with some doubts: "Can it only last for a year and a half if it is saved?" That's a lot quicker than I thought I had ever imagined. ”

Without waiting for Cheng Han to answer, Li Guangyuan, the minister of finance, said casually: "How could I prepare for war in the past? Now that the three armies are expanding, those flying in the sky, running on the ground, and swimming in the water, there will only be more and more big people who eat oil. ”

Historically, Japan's average annual oil consumption in the same period was about 5 million tons, and today's Ming Dynasty is much larger because of its size, and the total consumption is naturally much larger.

Moreover, due to the increase in automobile production year by year, the number of private cars is increasing; At the same time, the army, navy, and air force are all expanding their armaments, and the average oil consumption will jump rapidly next year.

The helplessness in this regard is similar to that of the Japanese - although the Ming Dynasty itself has several oil fields, but the land is large, there are many people, many cars, many soldiers, and many ships.

Although it is unlikely that the British would dare to directly cut off the oil trade with the Ming Dynasty, it is really ...... that the Anglo-Saxons have a soft underbelly in this regard It's hard to be safe.

Without oil, the Oriental Fleet and the South Ocean Fleet would face the same dilemma as the Combined Fleet.

"I remember that the navy consumes more than 2,000 tons a day." Zhu Lingjing suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty, that was last year's measurement, and now...... There are already 3,000 tons. Lin Xi corrected.

This is still a navy in a state of initial combat readiness, and it consumes about 1.1 million tons of oil every year, and if the intensity and frequency of training are increased, the consumption can be close to 2 million tons.

The Army's current average annual consumption is about 700,000 tons, but with the rapid expansion of its size, it will soon go straight to a million tons.

The Air Force's oil consumption, which is about 750,000 tons per year, will soon soar as it grows in size and training frequency, and the high-octane jet gasoline it uses is more expensive to produce.

As calculated in June of the 38th year of Chang, the average annual oil consumption of the Ming army was about 2.6 million tons, and the total consumption of civilian oil was as high as 10 million tons.

Several members of the military department had been emphasizing the necessity and merits of an earlier war, sparing no effort in the hope that the emperor would show an attitude of leaning towards his side.

However, at this time, even if you agree with its concept, it is not appropriate to express your position directly.

In such a militaristic matter, the emperor must be cautious in his words and deeds.

"A few years ago, I heard that there was a project for artificial oil, right? What have you been doing recently? As she spoke, Zhu Lingjing looked slightly to the right.

Zhou Changfeng, who understood it, immediately replied without thinking: "That's right, but there are many difficulties. ”

Well, all the materials prepared these days have finally come in handy!

He quickly took out one of the documents and read it aloud as he skimmed through it:

"China has been internationally recognized as an oil-poor country before the discovery of oil fields, so it attaches more importance to artificial oil, and has established a shale oil dry distillation plant in Shenyang in 25 years, hoping to use shale oil to obtain stable oil production."

"But with the discovery of oil fields, this aspect is no longer taken seriously. In 34 and 35 years, the National Oil and Gas Company built a coal refinery in Taiyuan, using the 'Fischer-Tropsch' method and the Liu method, respectively. ”

"However, considering that there are abundant oil fields in the Nanyang region, the military department believes that it is not cost-effective to invest in artificial oil technology, and under the influence of this argument, this technology has become tepid, the investment is not much, the technology has stopped, and the production capacity of the pilot plant is only 2,000 tons."

The so-called Fischer-Tropsch method refers to the synthesis method of hydrocarbon mixtures developed by two German chemists, using carbon monoxide under high temperature and high pressure with the assistance of metal catalysts such as nickel and cobalt, and then applying hydrogen to generate hydrocarbon mixtures.

In this move, coal can be used as a raw material to produce fuel oil based on alkanes and olefins.

It can be said that Zhu Lingjing and Zhou Changfeng cooperated very delicately, so as to make an invisible foreshadowing for the subsequent decision.

"That's how it should be." The Navy Department rightly said: "The oil fields in the south are in front of the mouth, and instead of spending a lot of money on this, why don't you use the money for military expenses?" Even if it's to build roads and bridges. ”

After a while, Zhu Lingjing, who looked indifferent, opened her mouth to ask: "Staff Office, under the existing offensive strategy, if Britain and the United States have colluded, how long will it take to pacify the Philippines and the Nanyang regions?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, if everything... No, generally smooth, about three months. ”

"What if it's not smooth?"

"Four-and-a-half to five months." Cheng Han thought for a while and groaned: "This is already a relatively disappointing progress, and it is unlikely. If it is worse, there will be more variables, and it is impossible to predict. ”

The longer the time drags on, the more variables there are, and it is indeed impossible to predict everything.

In fact, it is almost impossible to drag on for so long, and the British, Dutch, and American forces in the South Seas were swept away in three months.

Although they are a little stronger in this plane, the Ming army is not dry, and in terms of the number and quality of heavy weapons, the Ming army's family background is much richer.

Thanks to the principle of "chicken and dog ascending to heaven", Zhou Changfeng, who has the title of military aircraft waiting for the edict, only recently learned how much surprise the Ming army had prepared for the US army.

In order to conquer the imaginary fortress area of Bataan and the fortress area of Korogido, the Ministry of War secretly ordered two heavy mortars from the Tianjin Naval Arsenal.

Naturally, the Tianjin Arsenal, which was mainly responsible for manufacturing the main guns of cruisers and battleships, made two mortars, which were secretly delivered to service last year.

The caliber of the Te37 mortar gun is 416mm, the weight of the shell is 860kg, the maximum firing range is 12km, and the muzzle velocity is 410m/s.

Consistent with the smaller 320mm mortar guns equipped by the siege heavy artillery brigade, the shell shell of the new mortar is also nickel-vanadium-manganese alloy steel, and the warhead is tungsten-nickel-chromium alloy, which is an expensive material that matches the country's heavy equipment.

This thing can penetrate about three meters of reinforced concrete, and can effectively destroy all kinds of permanent fortifications built by the Americans in the Philippines.

"And the U.S. military will grow, not stay the same." Zhu Lingjing suddenly opened her mouth and made up for the key knife.

Zhou Changfeng took her words and enumerated:

"It is expected that next spring, the United States will have about 10 infantry divisions, two armored divisions, and two cavalry divisions, with a total strength of about 200,000 troops, and 130 aviation squadrons.

"But by the year after that, it will have at least five divisions and 40 aviation squadrons, bringing the total strength to more than 300,000 troops, and its equipment and training will also be significantly improved." And if there is an accident, the army will expand even faster, and if you go all out, it is entirely possible to surge to... Half a million or more. ”

At this point in the discussion of the Imperial Council, the final decision is already obvious.

"So, does the Cabinet have anything else to say?" Zhu Lingjing asked, and the pressure suddenly came to the prime minister and several ministers.

"But...... But," Lin Xi hesitated, "the situation in Europe is unknown, God knows when a big war will break out, and our country will not be able to prepare for preliminary war preparations until at least next year." ”

"Don't forget diplomacy." Cheng Han looked at Yu Shenhua, the foreign minister opposite, "There are many ways that can be taken in this regard, and Yu Ge Lao should have a lot of experience." ”

The latter replied in a deep voice: "It is indeed possible to obstruct and delay the decisions of the European countries, but the old man is not completely sure how much time he can buy, and it is impossible to predict. ”

"It's enough, there has never been a reason to be fully prepared for war in the past, and eighty percent of the preparation is enough." Wu Weihuan said.

The huge hall suddenly fell silent, except for the breathing of the people present and the whirring of the air conditioning vents.

"It is not advisable to be blindly optimistic, but... This is not a conservative reason, and it does need to be positive at the moment. Zhu Lingjing said lightly, and then spit out a few words, "Summarize it accordingly." ”

You can clearly feel that the atmosphere of the meeting site has changed suddenly, which is very subtle and metaphysical, but it can indeed be perceived.

Zhou Changfeng himself closed his eyes and took a deep breath, because of the air conditioning, the indoor temperature was quite cool, and the feeling of taking a deep breath was extraordinarily cold.

The fate of the Ming Dynasty, or China, was mostly decided at this moment.

The summarized strategy was quickly drafted, and the core implications were:

"The vast land and resources of the Ming Dynasty can ensure the adequate supply of most materials, but the oil problem is difficult to solve.

In the long run, defense (if there is a shortage of oil) will gradually weaken, and the power of the largest imaginary enemy will rapidly increase.

In the long run, the ability of the Ming Dynasty to take the initiative will be significantly reduced, and the strategic first-mover advantage will gradually decrease until it is lost.

To this end, the Ming Dynasty had to quickly occupy and consolidate the resource production areas in the Nanyang region at the beginning of the war, replenish itself, and weaken the enemy.

Until then, try to use all kinds of diplomatic means to contain, influence, and delay the start of the war in Europe, and buy time for the Ming Dynasty's war preparations."

In this way, the dust settled on the core topic of this imperial meeting.

The representatives of the military department could see that they were in a good mood, while several members of the cabinet were obviously a little unpleasant and had mixed feelings.

But the meeting had to go on, and the topic was to increase productivity, and it was focused on the productivity of the military industry.

After joint discussions, there was no controversy about the productivity expansion plan, and a consensus was quickly reached.

It is planned that next year's output of 16 kinds of ordinary military steel will increase to 2.7 million tons, 550,000 tons of special alloy steel, 60,000 tons of aluminum, 800,000 tons of total tonnage of ships, and 140,000 trucks.

In addition, Li Guangyuan proposed that a complete, comprehensive, and standardized general mobilization bill should be promulgated, so as to facilitate the unified coordination of all enterprises and government at all levels, so that they can give full play to their full strength in a possible general war as soon as possible.

The book "Total Warfare" and its concept have been quite popular in recent years, and several ministers have studied it, and Lee Kong Yuan has also written his own thoughts and evaluations.

As for the military department, it paid more attention, and the staff office of the Metropolitan Governor's Office organized a special team to evaluate it.

By the time it was almost noon, and the planned topics had been discussed, the curtain came down on this significant imperial meeting.

The group walked out of Wenyuan Pavilion all the way, Zhu Lingjing was thoughtful, and Zhou Changfeng was a little anxious.

Sister! It's noon, it's time to eat!

When she walked to the side of the car and was about to get into the car, Zhou Changfeng looked at the opportunity and said, "Your Majesty, I... Can I go back first? ”

"Where are you going?" Zhu Lingjing stopped and turned her head sideways, feeling that this guy was inexplicable again.

"Uh... Go home. ”

"Home? Did something fall? ”

"No ......," Zhou Changfeng said, "My wife... Wait for me to go back to dinner. ”

(End of chapter)