Chapter 3591
Chapter 3591
Chapter 3591
Shi Chengwu captured two counties on the north bank of the Yangtze River without bloodshed. After the good news spread back to Hangzhou, it naturally dispelled many previous doubts about the action.
Before this, there were people who doubted Shi Chengwu's ability to command such a military operation alone, and some were worried that it would be easy to start a war but difficult to end it, and that Hai Han, whose military resources were currently running tight, would be dragged into a new round of war of attrition.
Some people even directed their criticism at Shi Diwen, believing that he was too eager to arrange for his own children to gain military merits, which might cause damage to the country's established policies.
But Shi Chengwu's near-perfect performance was the best response, and the relevant news report appeared on the front page of the Donghai Times, the local newspaper with the largest circulation, the next day after it was reported to the Executive Committee, and immediately became a new focus of public attention.
Compared to the civil war in Japan thousands of miles away and the development of the New World thousands of miles away, what attracted more public attention than these insignificant news were, of course, the major events in nearby areas. And the public's view on the relationship between Haihan and Ming was even more radical than the official one.
When will the Ming Dynasty be replaced to rule the world has been one of the hot topics among the Hai Han people in recent years. Every time military action is taken against the Ming Dynasty, similar topics will be brought up for discussion, and this time is no exception.
After reading the newspaper news, many people had similar views as Shi Chengwu who was far away in Nanjing. Since there was almost no resistance in the capture of these two counties, it meant that the opponent's will to fight was almost zero. Should they take advantage of this good opportunity, continue to pursue the victory and grab more territory from the Ming Dynasty?
The rich land of Jianghuai has a large population and abundant resources. Isn't it more valuable than the remote land thousands of miles away overseas?
However, discussions among the public are just for the sake of satisfying their own opinions, while the Executive Committee, as decision-makers, has a lot to consider.
The battle report sent back from Nanjing was certainly good news that was encouraging, but it did not mean that the Executive Committee would immediately increase the scale of its operations in the region.
For the Executive Committee, there are too many places where military resources need to be invested, and it is difficult to have the spare capacity to open up a new large-scale battlefield at this time. Limited by the existing military production capacity, if the war is launched in the direction of Nanjing, then it is inevitable that the equipment and materials that should have been shipped overseas will be reduced, delaying the expansion operations currently underway in multiple overseas regions.
Bai Kesi and Qiao Zhiya, who were in charge of military production, jointly submitted a plan to the Executive Committee at this time. The content and intention of this plan were very clear, which was to comprehensively expand the production capacity of the military system and related industrial chains to prepare for a large-scale military explosion.
"The reason why Lao Bai and I proposed this plan is very simple. At present, the traditional opponents are no longer the ones who can stop our external expansion. Whether it is the Ming Dynasty or European countries, it is difficult for them to confront us head-on militarily. What really limits us is the size of our own army and the production capacity of military industry!"
"We now have a huge population base and a large number of workers who have received basic education and vocational training. We are fully capable of pushing the country into a truly rapid expansion period. While our generation is still alive, we should try to reserve as much land as possible for future generations!"
"In addition, the development of the military industry will definitely promote the speed of our industrialization. In the future, the gradual transfer of military technology to the civilian field will also greatly improve the level of productivity. I think everyone should have a consensus on this point."
Qiao Zhiya's speech was powerful and confident. This was the most important item among the various proposals he had submitted since he was elected to the Executive Committee last year.
This is probably the most influential project he has led during his term. However, Qiao Zhiya is also very aware that his own power may not be enough to push this plan through the review alone, so he specifically persuaded Bai Kesi to join forces.
Bai Kesi has been one of the organizers since the time of the Time Travel Operation. He has been re-elected as a member of the Executive Committee for 30 years and is also the chief official of the military industry. With his help, the probability of success will be greatly increased.
There is not much controversy about the source of the restrictions that Hai Han is currently facing in its external expansion, but the expansion of the military industry in the proposal they put forward did shock everyone present a little.
This plan proposes to comprehensively upgrade the production capacity of the nine major shipyards currently operated by the government, including Sanya, Danzhou, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung, Zhoushan, Lushun, Cam Ranh, Sing Tao, and Manila, as well as more than 20 smaller shipyards at home and abroad, to ensure that each government-operated shipyard has the ability to build and maintain all combat ships currently in service.
After the upgrade, the number of ships the navy can receive each year will increase by more than four times compared to the current level, which should be able to meet the needs of overseas expansion in the future.
As for the establishment of weapons arsenals, the plan more boldly proposed to abandon the previous practice of concentrating them in Hainan Island, and to build more arsenals all over the country to achieve production capacity expansion and local resource allocation.
For example, in the past, all the places for producing firearms were concentrated in several workshops in Sanya Tiandu Industrial Zone, and there was almost no space for building new factories in that valley.
The plan suggested relocating some of the production lines of old weapons and building arsenals capable of producing firearms in each region. As for the manufacture of artillery, it could be placed in coal-iron composite industrial bases such as Changhua in Hainan and Shenyang in Liaodong.
The plan proposes to increase the number of additional arsenals from less than ten at present to more than thirty within the next five years. As for the production capacity of guns and artillery weapons, it will also be gradually improved, not only to meet the needs of Hai Han's own military expansion, but also to take into account orders from the international arms market.
Of course, for reasons of security and checks and balances, research institutes and manufacturing sites for various types of ammunition and advanced weapons still need to be placed in a safe area under the nose of the Executive Committee.
Some military research institutes that are still in Sanya will be relocated to the vicinity of Hangzhou in the next few years.
Of course, the funds that will be consumed by all these measures, such as expanding production sites, recruiting and training a large number of professional workers, and relocating and settling related institutions, are also a terrifying astronomical figure - this even far exceeds the current annual military budget of the Hai Han Army.
So the question has to go back to the most fundamental point: where does the money come from?
"The ordnance industry system will raise part of the funds itself, the national and local finances will provide part of the funds, and the rest will be covered by long-term bank loans."
Bai Kesi was well prepared for this and immediately stated his plan without hesitation.