afterglow

Chapter 494 Chapter America’s strategic intentions; all trump cards revealed
"I know, I'll go back right away."

"You have a conscience." Luo Fu on the other end of the phone sounded tired.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Changfeng turned around and asked his personal soldiers and the waiters at the Yin Hotel: "Get your car ready and go back to Beijing!"

Two off-road vehicles, one in front and one behind, guarding the Yuanhang sedan in the middle, drove away from the Yin Hotel and headed straight to the train station in Xicheng District.

Under the colorful neon lights, young men and women walked in twos and threes on the street.

At this moment, I don’t know how many people are joking and enjoying the comfortable nightlife in Shanghai, a city that never sleeps.

Under the prosperity, there are also poor people, but homeless people are rare. Since ancient times, the Ming Dynasty officials have had a set of methods to manage refugees. The most common one is forced immigration. This habit has been retained to this day.

The presence of homeless people under their own rule will have a great negative impact on political performance, which is something local officials do not want to encounter.

The patrol officers of the Inspection Department will take away homeless people without explanation, place them together, and then move them to places in need. In this process, homeless people have few options.

After taking control of Darwin, Moresby, and Rabaul, there were constant voices from both the government and the public that the ancient method should be followed. After capturing a city and a pond, the refugees would be resettled and cultivated, thereby reducing the cost of occupation.

After discussion, the imperial court decided to use Darwin as a pilot place to immigrate to enrich the local population.

The small city of Darwin didn't have many people before the war. After the war, the city was completely destroyed. Some people followed the defeated Australian army and evacuated, leaving only a few thousand people.

Such a dilapidated port city has almost lost its significance as a transfer station for material supplies - can a city without civilians still be called a city?

Since the beginning of this year, about 6,000 people have set foot on the Australian mainland by boat. They are bankrupts, desperate wanderers, and desperate wanderers from Ming Dynasty, Annan, North Korea, and Japan.

Some of them came alone, some came with their families, and new houses were constantly built in Darwin, which was in ruins.

The city was also named "Shengye", which was taken from Shengye Square among the 108 squares in Chang'an.

[Organization recovery speed +5%, loss -8%, port level +1]

As there happened to be a train leaving at midnight, Zhou Changfeng rushed back to Yingtianfu, the capital, overnight.

Washington chose to declare war just when Madrid was about to fall? This seems quite subtle, perhaps just to wait for Francisco to agree to certain terms when he is desperate?

Zhou Changfeng did not think deeply about this aspect, but what are the Americans planning? Now the war has begun, and the three-party melee situation has officially begun from now on.

The steel output of the United States last year, that is, in 6271, reached 2389 million tons; for comparison, Deshe's was 1301 million tons, and Daming's was million tons.

In terms of aluminum production, the United States was 25.7 tons last year; Deshe was 19 tons, and Daming was 6.2 tons.

As for oil production, the United States reached an astonishing 18814 million tons last year, surpassing the rest of the world, and the rest of the world combined could not catch up. After the Ming Dynasty took over the oil fields in Nanyang and Myanmar, it only produced 1230 million tons; Deshe spent a lot of effort to control the Baku oil field, and including coalified oil production, the total is only 2970 million tons.

With such strong industrial strength, Americans dare to fight on two fronts, hoping to challenge the throne of world hegemony in this war.

However, can the products gathered from industrial strength be effectively delivered across the ocean to their destination, and can they be gathered into a powerful force to defeat the enemy?
The final outcome is still unknown.

The only thing Zhou Changfeng can be 100% certain about is that the Americans will inevitably pay a high price in the early stages.

The Battle of Kesselring Pass proved that even if an army that has not been tempered by blood and fire has an advantage, it is very likely to turn victory into defeat. Only the war lessons gained by countless lives can make an army grow and progress.

This time, it was the Americans' turn to face the German troops on the Iberian Peninsula.

Americans with strong foundations can certainly afford the loss of thousands of tanks and aircraft, but what about the corresponding human losses?

How can the people tolerate millions of terrorist casualties - this is foreign interference, not defense of the country!

At 4:16 a.m. on April 10, the imperial meeting was held urgently in the Wenhua Hall.

The latest official broadcast of the German Society has been translated as soon as possible and echoed in the huge hall.

"...The American ruling class has been continuously building up its armaments over the past three years. Millions of troops are already on their way to intervene in Europe. They shamelessly send the sons of American workers and farmers to the battlefield and let them die in lies... …”

"...The working people of Europe should take control of their own destiny and defend their own interests. This is a national struggle! We must always know who our enemies are and ruthlessly destroy the ambitions of British and American capitalists..."

"Opening a book is like turning a new page. Now it depends on how much loss Roosevelt can bear." Gao Zhongnan, the Minister of Personnel Affairs, said in a relaxed tone.

Li Guangyuan stretched out his hand and gestured: "Two million, no more."

After speaking, he looked at Cheng Han who was diagonally opposite and asked: "Where is the estimated troop strength of the governor's office? Let's talk about it again."

The latter replied without thinking: "The current population of the United States is about 13 million, and the limit of the serviceable population can reach 20 million. However, a more appropriate mobilization number is probably just over 10 million. This is different from previous predictions. It’s estimated to be consistent.”

Lin Xi said lightly: "This is not the point. According to the current situation, the two peninsulas of Franji and Apennine are bound to have a big battle, but it is hard to say which place Britain and the United States will choose as a breakthrough."

"They are all mountainous and difficult to fight. Even if you win, you won't be able to advance. It's easy to repeat the long-term stalemate during the European War." Cheng Han pondered: "The news collected recently is quite interesting. The British seem to be sending troops there. Go to Russia."

"Everyone stirs up trouble, but a British person will always be a British person."

"But if this happens, the Germans will definitely have to formally intervene, and then it will be a three-front battle."

"The U.S. has the bottom line, and Britain and the U.S. will definitely be able to afford it if they join hands. It depends on how the two sides compete."

While others were discussing, Zhou Changfeng, who was standing next to Zhu Lingjing, suddenly thought of many scenes.

It was originally a pity that this plane would never see the armored cluster battles on the European plains again, but now there is a sudden change!

The upper echelons of the German society have a certain degree of contempt for Tsarist Russia. To be more precise, they look down on the blue and white forces of Tsarist Russia.

If the Red side can unify Tsarist Russia on its own, everyone will be happy. Even if the Red side encounters setbacks and takes the initiative to ask for help, Deshe can easily solve the problem by simply taking action at will.

Therefore, so far the German Society has only dispatched a small-scale, nominally volunteer force such as the Red Eagle Legion, and its main purpose is to control the Baku oil fields.

The melee in the vast land of Tsarist Russia continued. London saw this and officially launched the intervention plan that had been shelved before, and decided to intervene in the civil war. Previously, the British were still worried about the Germans forcing their way across the English Channel. However, as the war situation stabilized, the threat became smaller and smaller, and the British were immediately ready to cause trouble on other fronts.

Now that the Americans have officially come to an end, intervention in Tsarist Russia becomes more feasible.

A week ago, Winston arrived in Washington under high confidentiality to meet with President Franklin to discuss the matter.

The main content of the negotiation between the two was to exchange their respective intentions and then determine the strategic direction.

Britain's purpose is to maintain the integrity of the British Empire as much as possible, maintain the status of an empire on which the sun never sets, and the most important thing is to ensure the security of its colonies, especially Indu.

The United States hopes to establish its power throughout Europe as a base for future influence, and does not mind suppressing its ostensible ally, the United Kingdom, in the game.

Many years ago, British geographer Halford Mackinder pushed geopolitics to the global world. In his theory, Eurasia was called the "World Island" and he claimed to control the heart of the World Island - Eastern Europe. , which is equivalent to controlling the whole world.

From the Mediterranean to Central Asia, from India to Middle East Asia, rich resources and ancient civilizations are gathered here, and wars and conflicts in history were mainly fought here.

Halford-Mackinder's theory is often considered to be the theoretical basis for the Great War, and the accompanying land power theory also has important geopolitical significance.

Americans are now also reflecting on the fact that although isolationism in the past brought considerable benefits, it also fostered a culture of being content with America and narrowed the international perspective.

Some people of insight loudly shouted: Globalized international politics requires globalized political geography!
They strive to enable Americans to break stereotypes, view the world with new ideas, strive to gain global dominance, and act as operators of the offshore balance of the world island.

This directly affects the strategy of the upper echelons of the United States.

First, the United States should not go as deep into Eurasia as the United Kingdom did, lest it be trapped in it and unable to extricate itself.

Second, the United States can no longer follow the old path of isolationism. The days of peace and quiet are over.

Third, the United States should continue its strategy of focusing on Europe first and Asia second.

Fourth, the United States needs to seek forward positions with strategic value so that it can intervene in the affairs of the Eurasian continent at any time, and use clever and flexible diplomacy as a spear and a strong and powerful military as a shield to leverage the world!
In reality, there are dozens of goals listed in the draft received by President Franklin - we should strive to establish strongholds with military bases in Iceland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

The purpose of engaging in this war was to suppress the German society on the surface, but in fact it was dedicated to projecting influence.

The upper echelons of the United States generally believe that it is impossible to defeat the German Society, but there is still hope to control the Iberian Peninsula and the Apennine Peninsula. In this way, an encirclement network can be established to tightly bind these countries together.

In addition, Dongfang's strategy is quite sinister.

The Southeast Asian islands have been abandoned. The upper echelons of the United States feel that the huge cost of driving Ming Dynasty back to the mainland is not worth it, and the feasibility is low and of little significance.

Therefore, we only need to recapture the Mariana Islands and ensure the safety of Australia, and then we can make peace with the Ming Dynasty.

During this period, we should try to use various means to promote the independence of Australia, India, and Egypt, and try to win them over.

Can the British Empire still be called an empire after losing Australia, India, and the Suez Canal? The sun that never sets on the Empire will never rise again!

To achieve this goal, you can consider starting secret negotiations with Ming Dynasty.

Even under certain circumstances, a complete break with Britain can be considered.

President Franklin basically agreed with this series of strategic ideas.

Assuming all goes well, Britain will be reduced to a second-rate country and no longer a threat.

The German Society is destined to unite most of Western and Eastern Europe and become a terrifying behemoth; the Ming Dynasty, which is sitting in Nanyang, will also develop rapidly; and the United States, with its influence spread across Europe, will gain a lot.

At that time, it will become a three-legged trend. In view of the high probability that the ideological struggle will intensify, it seems very possible to unite with China to resist Germany.

"Mr. President, we estimate that it will cost approximately 200 million casualties and $3000 billion to accomplish all the objectives of this war" - this is the cost estimated in a report submitted to the president by the U.S. Department of War.

At the same time, the War Department began to coordinate and plan macro-resource allocation.

On the surface, a total of 2500 million men from young to middle-aged are suitable for military service. However, because the United States has to fight on both the Pacific and Atlantic fronts and assumes the important responsibility of being the arsenal of democracy, the top leaders of the United States must carefully consider how to allocate human resources.

Agriculture needs people, light industry needs people, heavy industry needs people, the navy needs people, the army needs people, the Army Air Force needs people...

Excessive expansion of military personnel will crowd out the population engaged in industrial and agricultural production, but will have a negative impact on industrial capacity.

Since Britain and the United States had reached a strategy of simultaneously defending Iberia and intervening in Tsarist Russia, further military expansion became a necessity.

On April 4, when the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty were having a relaxed and pleasant talk in the Wenhua Hall, the military expansion plan document proposed by the U.S. Department of War was sent to the president.

现在美军已经拥有62个步兵师、11个装甲师、1个空降师，下一步将扩军至100个步兵师、18个装甲师、4个空降师，总人数达到670万人。

This plan was quickly approved and the military expansion plan was quickly launched.

On April 4, after careful consideration by the Emperor, the Prime Minister, and the Grand Governor, the candidate to be the commander of the first echelon of landing troops in the "Shu Wen" attack on Hawaii fell on Zhou.

Even if we now have the advantage, Oahu, which has been run by the Americans for many years, is still a tough one. After thinking about it, sending this good general is the safest way.

"The imperial court is really going to have to ask you to go in the end..." Xia Xiaoshi complained about this. She hoped that Zhou could stay for a few more days.

"The portions are different. Hawaii is so important. It can be said that we have taken out all the good things this time." With her help, Zhou Changfeng dressed up, picked up his saber, pulled out half of it, and then Sheath the knife.

"It's obviously okay to go with someone else."

"Hey, I underestimated your 'husband'." Zhou Changfeng smiled and pinched her face, "I told you that this time I will use all my cards. No one knows how to log in better than me."

At noon that day, a Type 36 light bomber took him off from Gaoqiao Airport and flew to the distant Marshall Islands.

When the aircraft completed refueling in Dagu and took off again, the armored aircraft carrier Ziwei Youyuan, which had completed maintenance, also happened to leave the naval base and rush to Guam.

(End of this chapter)