In the end, Shi Dewei did not go to Chengxinjiapo, because a telegram abruptly dragged him back to the capital.

Some chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and southern Sichuan actually joined forces to rebel, and they assembled a large number of local soldiers.

Besieged Liuzhou, and even went north to attack Chengdu and Sichuan and Chongqing.

There are only some local security forces in Liuzhou, and their equipment is at most adequate to deal with some bandits and petty thieves.

After being besieged by the rebels for two days, it was actually captured.

The news came back that the rebels were killing people in Liuzhou and had the tendency to gather heavy troops and continue to move north.

On the other side, veteran general Kong Youde guards Chengdu. His troops are well equipped and have sufficient experience in suppressing bandits.

The bandits in Sichuan have already been wiped out!

There are veteran generals stationed in Chengdu and Chongqing, and the situation is relatively good. However, telegrams requesting reinforcements are sent to the General Staff Headquarters several times a day.

"Rebellion?" When Li Xiao saw this telegram, his brows immediately knitted into a knot.

In today's Ming Dynasty, it can be said that the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the country is prosperous day by day.

Moreover, the taxation of the imperial court can be said to be the lowest in all dynasties.

Li Xiao didn't expect that someone would rebel.

Moreover, once there is a rebellion, there are three provinces.

"The places in Yunnan and Guizhou in Guangxi are now basically managed by chieftains from all over the country. Even the county magistrates can't stay in the imperial court.

Not to mention ordinary Han people.

Some of these chieftains even ruled here during the Shuhan period of the Three Kingdoms.

Yunnan and Guizhou in Guangxi are mountainous and plagued with insect pests. Even if the imperial court sends troops to suppress it, the gains often outweigh the losses."

"The gain is not worth the loss?" Li Xiao looked at Shi Dewei.

Although the land of the Ming Dynasty is vast, not an inch is redundant. These words came from Shi Dewei's mouth. I didn't expect this guy to say this now.

"yes!

Because most of the officers and soldiers are from the north and are not familiar with the climate of the south. If they go to fight in the south, the battle losses will be worse.

The main enemies are various local poisonous insects, as well as malaria and other diseases.

The losses caused by epidemics are often greater than those caused by combat.

and!

Even if the imperial court was defeated, it would be impossible for them to station troops there for a long time.

The reason is that the officers and soldiers in the north are not adapted to the local climate. Diseases will still occur after they are stationed.

The main force of our army now is the Liao army, and 60% of Liaodong people are from Liaodong, and the rest, except for Shandong people, are from Hebei.

If the main force of our Liao army goes to quell this rebellion, we will probably suffer heavy losses.

Even if the rebellion is suppressed temporarily, in the long run, the local influence of each chieftain will be entangled and difficult to shake.

If the imperial court were to station troops, they would probably need at least 200,000 troops.

Nowadays, apart from the four main divisions, our Ming Dynasty's soldiers are left with overseas marines.

If we want to mobilize so many troops, we can only... expand the army."

Things have come back to a commonplace issue, military expansion!

Li Xiao also wanted to expand his army, but finances did not allow it.

In particular, the main divisions are all changing their equipment and mechanization. This silver coin is like a waste of money. Now that we are expanding the army, the imperial government's finances simply cannot bear it.

Sure enough, as soon as Shi Dewei finished speaking, money manager Ai Husheng jumped out!

"This year the imperial court's income is 99 million silver coins!

It sounds like a lot, but large-scale projects in various places, as well as education funds for building schools, etc., account for half of it.

The remaining 50%, almost 30%, has been turned into military expenses. The imperial court is really out of money!"

"Thirty percent is more than 30 million silver dollars. I don't think we spent that much money. There's something fishy in this!" Master Ao smoked a cigar and looked at Ai Husheng with an unfriendly expression.

"My Lord Ao, how many armored vehicles did you replace in the first division alone, and there are also those expensive tanks.

Not counting anything else, your tank shell costs one hundred and eighty silver coins. Howitzer shells are even more expensive!

Calculate how many rounds of artillery shells you fire in a year.

Nowadays, all the field divisions are changing their equipment. The imperial court has to build a new tank production base, which requires a lot of money.

Your tanks and armored vehicles are not the most expensive. Even more expensive than yours are airplanes.

The cost of one Stuka is equal to the price of three tanks.

There are also more expensive bombers, one of which can cost you eight tanks.

This is not the most expensive one. Do you know how much a flat-top boat built in Lushun costs?

Eight million silver coins a piece, which is more expensive than a battleship. This does not include the price of the aircraft that will fly on it in the future.

When fully equipped, if you don't have 12 to 3 million silver coins, don't even think about it.

The second master built three ships at a time.

You do the math! You do the math!

Do you think I was greedy and took all this money?

If that's the case, I, Ai Husheng, will be struck with thunder and lightning." Ai Husheng really had no choice but to swear.

"Okay, I know you are in trouble." Li Xiao waved his hand.

"Among the field divisions, the Second Division currently has the least changes in equipment. It has only changed one armored battalion and two armored infantry battalions.

First, the water network in the south is crisscrossed, which is not conducive to the deployment of armored forces.

Secondly, in the south, especially in places like Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi, road construction is far inferior to that in the mainland.

Bridges in many places simply cannot allow tanks and armored vehicles to pass through.

Therefore, the imperial court is also studying related equipment used in the south."

Stewie reluctantly took over the conversation!

"Small weapons are enough, and airships can quell the rebellion." Li Xiao ignored Shi Dewei's concerns.

In recent years, the Second Division of the Liao Army and other Liao Army units have embarked on different paths.

In order to cope with the war in the south, they recruited a large number of people from Fujian and Zhejiang to join the army.

Especially the Wenzhou area where Qi Jiguang recruited troops was the focus of the recruitment.

Li Xiao once went to inspect and found that the troops of Yuan Chonghuan's nephew, Lieutenant General Yuan Bao, were trained very well and were a strong mountain force that could stand a fight.

Due to the terrain in the south, Li Xiao equipped the Second Division with a large number of airships.

These airships can transport almost half a division at a time.

The weapon that airships fear most is anti-aircraft guns.

But Li Xiao didn't think that the rebels in Shiwandashan could even build anti-aircraft guns.

"To be on the safe side, you can order the Burmese soldiers of the Burmese king to be replaced by the Cochin soldiers of the Cochin king.

There were also Lao soldiers from the King of Laos who joined forces to suppress the enemy.

It would be better if the Second Master could send one or two divisions of Marines." Stewie suggested.

"Bullshit!

Do I want people from the feudal states to help me interfere with my Ming Dynasty affairs?

Do you want them to calm down the chaos, or do you want them to watch a joke?

We, the people of Ming Dynasty, can handle matters concerning the Ming Dynasty ourselves. If we really don’t have enough troops, I will just lead them.

The terrain in the south is not conducive to the deployment of tanks and armored vehicles. Our first division has never fought on foot?

joke!"

As soon as Shi Dewei's words came out, Mr. Ao became angry. If Li Xiao hadn't winked, he would have started scolding him long ago.

"Allowing people from feudal states to participate will indeed undermine the prestige of our Ming Dynasty.

It’s as if I, the Ming Dynasty, can’t quell this rebellion!

But I agree with bringing back the Marine Corps.

I want to see what the quality of these young soldiers is like.

Don't mess around overseas, you won't even know how to eat.

If that's the case, the Marine Corps may have to be torn down and rebuilt."

Li Xiao made up his mind to take a good look at the performance of the Marine Corps this time.
To be continued...