Chapter 3595
Chapter 3595
Chapter 3595
In fact, this method did not need Zhu Zian's guidance, Yue Shizong had already done this. Based on past experience, newspapers were an indispensable channel for collecting intelligence information in Hai Han, and it was also the method with the lowest cost and the least risk.
Therefore, Yue Shizong would buy and read any publicly distributed newspaper on the market in Haihan, whether it was government-run or privately-run. When the content was important, he would buy a few more copies and send them back to the capital by express horse.
However, Hai Han's sudden military action near Nanjing came without any warning, and there was no usual briefing through newspapers to guide public opinion before any major action. Zhu Zi'an did not give any reasonable explanation for this.
Yue Shizong asked over and over again for a long time, but seeing that he could not get any more information from Zhu Zian, he could only leave in disappointment.
In Yue Shizong's opinion, although Zhu Zi'an had already obtained a position in Hai Han, the level of information he could access was obviously not high. In particular, regarding Hai Han's various plans for the Ming Dynasty, he was obviously excluded from the "insiders", and he might have come into contact with Hai Han's top brass less times than Yue Shizong himself.
In this case, instead of relying on Zhu Zian to provide valuable information, it would be better to study the newspaper that represents the official will of Hai Han.
This time, Yue Shizong did not have to wait too long, and he saw an article worth pondering in the Hai Han Times that was published later.
This article was not on the eye-catching front page, but was placed in an inconspicuous corner of the third page. It was not too long, but the content was closely related to Yue Shizong's recent concerns.
The title of this article is "It is an honor to join the army and serve the country. An overview of the new autumn conscription rules." The content introduces the autumn conscription activities that will begin this year.
Because Hai Han pays its soldiers extremely well, and the Hai Han army has a reputation for being invincible, the enthusiasm of young and strong men of appropriate age to join the army has always been very high.
In particular, the younger generation who grew up under the dual banner of Hai Han have a very strong sense of identification and belonging to Hai Han. Many young people regard joining the army as one of their life goals. As a result, there has been a great enthusiasm for signing up to join the army in recent years, and the number of people often far exceeds the needs of the troops.
The conscription activities scheduled for spring and autumn every year generally set clear quantity limits based on the registration situation in previous years, maintaining a pass rate of no more than 30%, so that the military can select the best candidates from the registered group and effectively control the overall size of the army.
The main reason for limiting the expansion of Hai Han's military recruitment was the burden of military budget. Hai Han pursued a path of elite troops, which placed more emphasis on the actual combat effectiveness of the troops rather than the size of the organization. Whether it was the treatment of soldiers or weapons and equipment, the investment was much greater than that of the armies of the same era.
According to such high standards, even with Hai Han's wealth, it is difficult to support an overly large army. Therefore, the expansion of the army in the past was often mainly to upgrade the garrison establishment in some areas, and it was rare to expand the army on a large scale during the twice-yearly conscription activities.
However, there seem to be some new changes in this year's autumn conscription activities.
The article clearly points out that the conscription activities carried out in various places this year will relax the restrictions on the final number of selectees, and after the training of new recruits is completed, the Ministry of National Defense will give new troop organization based on the actual situation of the garrisons in various places.
In short, this meant that the army was to be expanded, but the expression was rather euphemistic. With Yue Shizong's knowledge and insight, it was not difficult for him to discern Hai Han's true intentions.
However, it is difficult to get a glimpse of the scale of this military expansion from this article. Yue Shizong knew very little about the conscription data of previous years and had no way to make an inference. Yue Shizong continued to read on, and the article actually clearly pointed out the regions where the scale of conscription would be increased this year. The Northern Region, the East China Sea Region, and the Guangdong and Guangxi Regions bordering the Ming Dynasty were all among them.
The Luzon Region, Xingdao Region, and North America Region, which are located far overseas, are also on the list. Calculated in this way, they account for more than 80% of the areas currently under Hai Han’s actual control. Only Hainan, Taiwan, Fujian, and some overseas enclaves located in other countries are not included in this list.
Yue Shizong soon figured out the reasons for the regions that were not included. Hainan was the birthplace of Hai Han, and it also had Sanya, the old capital, so it had a very special status. The scale of conscription was determined based on the needs of the local garrison and was not affected by this.
The population size on Taiwan Island is not even comparable to any of the three prefectures of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Fuzhou across the strait. With such a small population, the number of soldiers it can provide is not large, so there is not much difference whether there is a limit or not.
As for Fujian, controlling the scale of conscription is obviously a form of restriction on the Xu family, and this has long been a tacit understanding reached between the Executive Committee and the Xu family.
Those overseas enclaves located in neighboring countries probably intend to restrict sensitive activities such as conscription in order to avoid affecting international relations. Otherwise, it would be difficult to avoid misunderstandings if they openly recruited soldiers on a large scale at the doorstep of others.
But even so, Yue Shizong had already begun to sweat. Such a large-scale expansion of the scale of conscription certainly could not be because Hai Han had too much military funds and had nowhere to spend them. The only reasonable explanation was that Hai Han was preparing to recruit troops for a big fight.
As for who the target was, Yue Shizong did not dare to think about it any further. Because no matter how he calculated, the Ming Dynasty, which had been competing with Hai Han for thirty years, could not be excluded.
Judging from Hai Han’s recent actions and the statements made by the top members of the Executive Committee, Ming Dynasty may even be ranked first among the targets.
Yue Shizong slowly put down the newspaper, stood up and looked out the window. The sky was covered with dark clouds, just as depressing as his mood at the moment.
As for how to resolve this crisis, Yue Shizong believes that it is not completely impossible to do so, but it is extremely difficult to implement.
If the anti-war sentiment among the Hai Han people could be aroused, perhaps the plan of large-scale conscription could be delayed, thereby delaying the outbreak of the war.
However, the Hai Han army was always victorious and had made outstanding military achievements. A large number of heroes emerged in the past thirty years, and its glorious image was as solid as the Executive Committee. Countless people in Hai Han saw joining the army and fighting as a shortcut to success, and war against foreign enemies was a common practice. Even the writers wished that the Hai Han army could conquer all directions and incorporate them into their own territory.
In such an environment, it would be very difficult to arouse anti-war sentiment, unless the Hai Han army suffered several heavy defeats on the battlefield.
However, if the Ming army has the strength to defeat the Hai Han army, then Yue Shizong doesn't have to worry about it.
This approach was obviously not feasible, so Yue Shizong quickly gave up the idea and began to think of another solution - if Hai Han could shift its target and move Ming Dynasty down a notch, could the crisis be delayed?
However, although the world is vast, where can Hai Han find a target to replace the Ming Dynasty?