Chapter 3552
Chapter 3552
Chapter 3552
Li Yi's calculations were very good. He saw that the Kyushu coalition did not have enough strength to defeat the shogunate, and that if the civil war continued to the later stages, the Korean army would most likely be needed to help. Since the Kyushu coalition did not have the ability to take down the shogunate, it was reasonable for Korea to get a share of the pie after making its contribution.
If North Korea could use the Kanmon Strait as the boundary to divide Honshu Island, the largest island in the Japanese archipelago, with the Kyushu coalition forces, it would allow North Korea to enter an unprecedented stage of prosperity.
From the Kanmon Strait at the western end of Honshu Island to the Tsugaru Strait at the other end, the coastline is more than 3,000 miles long, almost the same length as the entire coastline of the Korean Peninsula. If North Korea could take over such a large area after the war, its national strength would undoubtedly be greatly enhanced.
By then, even if the Kyushu coalition defeated the shogunate, they might fall into a new round of civil war due to uneven distribution of interests.
In Li Yi's opinion, the strength of any of them is far inferior to that of North Korea, so there might be a chance to further annex Japan at that time.
Of course, Li Li didn't take the indigenous people of the north coast of Honshu Island seriously.
In his eyes, the tens of thousands of troops assembled by the shogunate from all over the country were just a mob, so how could he look down on these scattered troops that made up the shogunate army? After defeating the shogunate, these local forces would be scattered, and his army would surely be able to push them all the way wherever they went.
Li Li intended to use the Japanese archipelago as a chessboard to realize his ambitions, but he did not know that he was not the chess player, but just a chess piece on the board like the Kyushu feudal lords and the shogunate.
At this stage of the war, both sides have suffered heavy losses and have tacitly entered into a truce, no longer organizing large-scale attacks.
The Kyushu coalition forces are secretly seeking North Korea to send troops to assist in defense so that they can concentrate as many armed forces as possible on the front line.
The shogunate army was also taking the time to organize the troops to rest and regroup, while quietly receiving arms aid from Portugal and the Netherlands in preparation for the next round of offensive.
As the pace of the battle slowed down, the spectators in the inspection team gradually lost interest in watching the battle and left one after another.
There are still a few time travelers who choose to stay in Kitakyushu and patiently wait to watch the next round of confrontation. For them, watching this war is a kind of fun that cannot be obtained anywhere else, which is much more interesting than the boring life of walking the dog and fighting cocks after retirement.
The senior officials of the Executive Committee have returned home one after another, and only Shi Diwen stayed temporarily to ensure that the warring parties would not negotiate a ceasefire due to the stalemate. He spent a lot of effort to promote this civil war, and he would never allow the warring parties to give up halfway.
With Hai Han’s deliberate manipulation, the Japanese civil war successfully attracted widespread attention from the international community. However, within Hai Han, the related news did not cause much heat.
After all, Hai Han only organized a large inspection team to watch the war in the local area and did not directly send troops to participate in the war. Ordinary people have limited understanding of the root causes of the civil war in Japan, so few people can realize the far-reaching impact this war will have on the future of East Asia.
Of course, many people have also gained considerable benefits from Japan’s civil war. Hai Han’s military industry and shipbuilding industries have recently received a large number of orders from Japan.
Several shipyards in Fujian only held an exhibition during the Zhoushan Forum, and they received shipbuilding orders from both sides of the Japanese Civil War. Their production capacity for the next one or two years was almost fully occupied.
Many shipyards in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were in a similar situation. The orders they had received from Japan recently even exceeded those from the Hai Han military. Some large shipyards with military sources had already begun to expand their production capacity, build new slipways and docks, and recruit a large number of technicians, preparing to seize the great opportunity in the next few years to make more money from the Japanese civil war.
With the outbreak of the Japanese civil war, a new round of shipbuilding orders from abroad came in like snowflakes.
Politicians from various countries who went to Japan to observe the war found that the main battlefield of this civil war was not on land, but around the sea. In particular, the ability to deploy troops over long distances has become the key to determining the direction of the war.
Both sides are trying their best to launch attacks on the enemy's rear from the sea, and such attacks are often very effective. After all, it is much more difficult to build defenses on the vast ocean than on land.
Many countries have also realized the importance of building a strong maritime armed force.
As for the most advanced warships currently available, apart from Western sailing ships, the only options seem to be the standard warships sold by Hai Han.
Moreover, compared to Western-style sailing ships, which have extremely limited supply and are difficult to maintain and repair, Hai Han warships have a significantly larger supply and better follow-up supporting services. Buyers can carry out maintenance and repairs, as well as equipment upgrades, at any Hai Han shipyard.
Hai Han can even provide naval training services and build a combat-ready armed fleet for buyers. It is said that the naval forces of both sides in the Japanese Civil War were trained with the assistance of Hai Han.
Countries with slightly more sufficient budgets would of course immediately contact the Hai Han Executive Committee and negotiate contracts to purchase warships.
Although the shipyards in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have been flooded with orders, Hai Han also has many shipyards in various overseas regions that can also take on these orders from abroad.
As a result, Hai Han's shipbuilding industry welcomed an influx of capital and a surge in orders in a very short period of time, and also led to the simultaneous prosperity of related industries.
Students who have not yet graduated from shipbuilding and navigation-related majors in major vocational colleges in Danzhou, Hainan, have also been fully booked by major shipyards with generous benefits.
Even students majoring in shipbuilding at the Sanya Naval Academy were approached and asked if they were willing to give up their military service and work in the shipyard.
The home of shipbuilding expert Zhang Tiangui was frequented by lobbyists sent by major shipyards.
Zhang Tiangui has numerous disciples and the technical directors of major shipyards are almost all his disciples. Although Zhang Tiangui has retired and only retains the status of consultant of Shengli Port Shipyard, people in the industry know that his influence is not limited to the shipyard.
As long as Zhang Tiangui can speak to the Executive Committee and ask for more funding for a certain shipyard, or the allocation of more technical elites, there is a great chance of success.
With such a shortcut available, all the major shipyards would naturally rush to seek help from Zhang Tiangui's connections.
Another group of people who came to see Zhang Tiangui were merchants who provided supporting products to major shipyards, such as workshops of all sizes that produced cables, sails, nails, paints, anchor chains, etc. They also hoped that Zhang Tiangui would open his mouth and allow them to become suppliers to more shipyards.