Beiyang reactionaries

"Prime Minister, this is just a front-line force. We also have support troops behind. Behind Heilongjiang there is Northeast China, behind Outer Mongolia there is Inner Mongolia, and behind Xinjiang there is Gansu. Together with these provinces, we can deploy 150 million troops. As long as there is any problem in the north, Our military can quickly support."

"kindness."

What Xu Yongchang thought was indeed right.

Duan Xun was silent for a while, and carefully looked at the map.The border between China and the Soviet Union is too long. Once there is any conflict with the Soviet Union, the entire northern region will be involved.Don't say that Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, and Gansu will be involved, and even the army in North China must be ready to go north at any time.

However, with so many troops stationed in the border areas, the logistical pressure is enormous.

So Duan Xun turned his head and said to Li Jishen: "Ren Chao (Li Jishen), you have also heard the deployment of the field army. In the northern cities, we deployed a million troops. We deployed 40 troops in Xinjiang and 40 troops in Heilongjiang. Mongolia and Tannu Wulianghai deployed 20 troops. With such a troop size, it is not a problem to face some small countries. But facing a behemoth like the Soviet Union, there is no real deterrence. Tsarist Russia in the First World War , mobilized millions of troops. During the Russian Civil War, melee battles of hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of troops abounded. Compared with our country, we have never fought such a large-scale war. Therefore, our millions of troops , has no deterrent effect on the Soviet Union. But I can't continue to increase troops in the border areas. The traffic conditions in the border areas are not good, and it is not easy to raise millions of troops. You should know this."

"Yes."

"Then the rest is up to you to build the Corps."

Duan Xun asked Li Jishen to attend the military meeting today, which is a very clear signal.The Construction Corps and the Soviet Land Reclamation Corps are of the same nature.They cultivate the land when they are not fighting, and they have to become soldiers when they are fighting.

Duan Xun pointed to Inner Mongolia and said: "Inner Mongolia has sufficient arable land and abundant water sources. It is a very good place to develop the Construction Corps. With one hundred divisions, the size of the Construction Corps in Inner Mongolia must reach one hundred divisions within the next five years. The amount of cultivated land to be reclaimed must reach 5000 million mu. The grain grown by your construction corps must meet the food needs of the people in Outer Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Tangnu Wulianghai, as well as the food used by the army in the three provinces. And the Food Bureau will To build several large grain storage bases in Inner Mongolia, you must reserve at least 400 billion catties of grain for combat preparation. If the Inner Mongolia Construction Corps cannot store so much grain, then the Heilongjiang Construction Corps must support the Inner Mongolia Construction Corps.”

"Yes."

Thinking of the conflict with Stalin's Soviet Union, it is impossible for Duan Xun to ignore it.Because that was Stalin, and that was the Soviet Union of the "torrent of steel".Of course, Duan Xun is not afraid, but wants to ensure the highest benefit at the lowest cost.So the more you need to be calm at this time, the more you need to be fully prepared.

"You heard what Cichen (Xu Yongchang) said just now. If we compete with the Soviet Union for the outer northeast and outer northwest, Xinjiang is the most important battlefield. Whether Xinjiang can persist and whether Xinjiang can win or not is related to the success or failure of the entire war. Therefore Xinjiang will be the key development area of ​​the Construction Corps in the next five years. In the next five years, the Yili area will strengthen reclamation, the construction Corps will reach 150 divisions, and the amount of wasteland reclaimed will exceed 7000 million mu. In order to support the Xinjiang Construction Corps, China In the next five years, half of the production of large trucks and agricultural machinery will be sent to Xinjiang. The Heilongjiang Construction Corps must provide enough drivers for the Xinjiang Construction Corps so that the Xinjiang Construction Corps can quickly use trucks, tractors, and seeders for agricultural use. Machinery. The Xinjiang Construction Corps can build some technical schools on the spot for their own use and train enough drivers. Xinjiang’s logistics supply is difficult, so it must be solved on the spot. The Xinjiang Construction Corps is the best guarantee. Ren Chao, tell me, you guys Can the Construction Corps do what I say?"

"Prime Minister, the task must be completed."

Li Jishen immediately made a promise.

In fact, Li Jishen is under a lot of pressure now.Because the Construction Corps that Duan Xun wants is half army and half civilian, not a complete peasant.If only farmers are recruited, then the problem is not so complicated.

But what Duan Xun asked for was a half-military, half-civilian Construction Corps organized by the army.This requires a large number of officers, and those peasants must receive military training.

While receiving military training, they also need to learn cultural knowledge and farm.

And Duan Xun said too much.

The Inner Mongolia Construction Corps must have 100 divisions, and the Xinjiang Construction Corps must have 150 divisions.The Xinjiang Construction Corps already has about 40 divisions, which means it will expand to more than 100 divisions in the next five years.

In addition to them, other construction corps will also continue to develop.The Gansu Construction Corps, Northern Shaanxi Construction Corps, Petroleum Corps, and Infrastructure Corps are all expanding in scale.

Calculated in this way, the Construction Corps will increase forty to fifty divisions almost every year in the next five years.Such a task is not easy to complete.

But Li Jishen is a soldier.

From today's meeting, I already understood what Duan Xun meant.Duan Xun would rather go to war with the Soviet Union than take back the Outer Northeast and Outer Northwest.And if you want to go to war with a big country like the Soviet Union, you must be fully prepared.Developing and building the Corps will allow troops to be self-sufficient at the border.Greatly alleviate the logistical problems of the border forces.

Of course it's not just such a function.

Moreover, the Construction Corps is still an army, and as long as it is fighting, it is still the best source of soldiers.A little training is a fighting force.

"Prime Minister, if this is the case, the army must be expanded."

"Prime Minister, if there is a real war, the army must be expanded."

Xu Yongchang talked about his battle plan.

In fact, Xu Yongchang only talked about one aspect, that is how the north will compete with the Soviet Union.Because among the five opponents mentioned by Xu Yongchang, the Soviet Union is the most dangerous.

Britain, France, and Portugal are, after all, thousands of miles apart.Since China completed the unification of government orders and military orders, and the First World War broke out in Europe, old imperialism such as Britain and France have been powerless in the face of China.Because they no longer have the strength to send an expeditionary force.

On the three-acre land in the Far East, although Britain and France still have strong strength and strong influence.But that little strength and influence is already unable to shake a rising power like China.When a war really broke out in the southwest, Britain and France could no longer grasp the situation.

Because China is too big and has too many people.

Even if China suffers losses in some battles for a while, but with China's size, some losses can be made up soon.Compared with the strength of Britain and France in Southeast Asia, it cannot afford to consume more than China.So when Xu Yongchang said, Britain, France, and Portugal didn't take it very seriously.

As for Japan, it is China's traditional opponent.

However, judging from the current situation, although there will be conflicts between China and Japan, the conflicts are mainly at sea.Xu Yongchang and the others are not afraid of a conflict on the Korean peninsula.China attaches great importance to the Japanese navy.But for their army, the Chinese army has no fear.

So Xu Yongchang's plan is how to deal with the Soviet Union.

Seeing Duan Xun's appearance, Xiong Kewu should be very supportive of Xu Yongchang's plan.This is why the Construction Corps has expanded on such a large scale, especially the Xinjiang Construction Corps that has built 150 divisions in Xinjiang.The Construction Corps is said to be half army and half civilian, but in fact, the government directly controls the farmland and trains more soldiers.

In Xinjiang, there are 40 divisions of the field army and 150 divisions of the Construction Corps, which means that 190 divisions of troops are reserved in Xinjiang.Once there is a war, Xinjiang will be able to pull out nearly 300 million troops in an instant.In fact, there is only a small population in Xinjiang at present. The officers and soldiers of the field troops, the construction corps, and the families of the construction corps alone will account for half of Xinjiang's population.At that time, Xinjiang as a whole will be more like a military province.

Not only the Xinjiang Construction Corps, but also the Construction Corps and other provinces will add at least 200 divisions in the next five years.

That's how many people. With 200 divisions, there will be an increase of 300 million people, 300 million people receiving military training.Although not as well-trained as those of the field army, these people are also people who have received preliminary military training and military rules.These people put down their agricultural tools, that is soldiers.This will greatly increase China's war potential and military reserves.

Xiong Kewu already understood that Duan Xun must fight, there is no room for negotiation.In other words, as long as the world situation is unstable, Duan Xun will definitely fish in troubled waters.But if you want to fish in troubled waters, it is impossible without sufficient strength.Duan Xun is now expanding his army on such a scale, if there is no war, how can he digest so many soldiers.Including so many weapons and equipment produced after the expansion of the army, what if we don’t fight those weapons and equipment and ammunition?

So Xiong Kewu knew that Duan Xun was determined to fight.

Now that Duan Xun has decided.Moreover, with such a judgment and decision made by the prime minister's office meeting, this is not something that Xiong Kewu and the others can object to.Military expansion is already inevitable.When he heard that the cabinet had increased military spending, Xiong Kewu already had a hunch that the army would expand.Hearing Duan Xun's words today, Xiong Kewu knew that the military expansion this time was on a large scale, and it was not comparable to the previous military expansion.So Xiong Kewu immediately said: "Now our country's regular army forces, including artillery units and armored units, add up to an accurate figure of 157 million. Adding the navy and air forces, the number of our country's regular troops has reached more than 170 million. The current situation is of course There is no problem, but once a war is needed, these troops are completely insufficient. Because our country is too large, as long as it is scattered in various provinces, the number of troops will be reduced immediately. That is to say, our mobile power is not enough. If we really want to deal with war, The troops that can really be mobilized are limited. What's more, Chief of Staff Xu said just now that millions of troops will be deployed on the front line in the north. In addition to the following provinces, all our army troops will be deployed in the north. So what should we do in the south? What about the important cities along the coast? Therefore, we must expand our military.”

"How much do you think is appropriate."

"If it is really as the Prime Minister judged, the world will be in turmoil and a world war will break out. And if we want to recover our lost sovereignty, confront the Soviet Union in the north and even break out of conflict. Then from the army, we should expand the army by at least 300 million. In this way we have enough troops to deploy millions of troops on the front line in the north."

"300?"

Duan Xun nodded.

Xiong Kewu thought the same as himself.China is too big, and there is no problem maintaining the current situation with more than 100 million troops.But if you want to win in the chaos, a million troops are nothing at all and can't do anything.Because more than 100 million troops seem to be a lot, but in fact there is no mobile force at all.

During the Opium War, China also had millions of troops.But there are very few people who really went to war.In addition to traffic problems and transportation difficulties, the bigger problem was the limited mobile forces of the Qing Dynasty.

Based on the current border situation in China, the Army needs at least 300 million troops.Only in this way can they be stationed in some important places, protect the safety of the places, and mobilize troops to fight.It can also deploy millions of troops on the front line in the north as Xu Yongchang said.

And 300 million is just the troops before the war started.Once a war breaks out, China will definitely need to expand its military immediately.It is necessary to expand the army by 500 million or 600 million within a year.Moreover, with China's size, it is possible to expand the army by tens of millions.

"What about normal discharge?"

"It should go ahead."

The Chinese military currently has a four-year discharge system.As long as you have been in the army for four years and have not been promoted or become an officer, you have to choose to retire.Of course, the service time in some special industries will be extended.For example, gunners manipulating artillery, armored soldiers in armored forces, air force pilots, and people in naval forces, their retirement time is greatly extended.Because it is not easy to train people of these arms.

Therefore, the army's discharge system is the strictest.Now the Army has 15 to 20 veterans every year.In fact, China trains more than 30 new recruits every year, but only half of them can enter the army in the end.

"Prime Minister, you can choose to increase the number of new recruits for military expansion. Those veterans who have something to do will be the best source of soldiers in the future, and they can be called back. If nothing happens now, the pace of retirement will be terminated, and the impact will not be good. Will There were a lot of people wondering what was going on."

"kindness."

Duan Xun nodded.

Xiong Kewu was right.