Wang Chuanchen muttered thoughtfully before he finished speaking. Several senior officers from other departments of the General Staff came in one after another. The old leader's attitude was the same as before, eliminating unnecessary red tape and allowing them to sit as soon as possible. Then he asked a soft question to the confidential secretary beside him:

"Have everyone arrived?"

The confidential secretary sitting behind the side heard the old leader’s question, immediately stood up and swept around the venue, and then replied with great affirmation:

"Everything is here!"

"Yeah!" The old leader nodded, and the confidential secretary behind him understood, and then signaled the guards standing at the door to close the door. At the same time, the old leader also straightened up, and his originally kind and peaceful eyes immediately became calm and sharp. Just like when he was fighting on the battlefield, he looked around the venue. The nearly twenty senior officers of the General Staff present felt the resolute and courageous gaze of the old leader, and they all sat upright.

Seeing this, the old leader did not change his expression on his wrinkled old face. Instead, he took the microphone next to him and put his arms on the table. In an instant, the old leader's slightly Xiangxi accent sounded in the entire venue:

"Our military expenditure this year is less than 20 billion yuan, but we have to maintain an armed force of more than 4 million people, supporting more than ten major and hundreds of small military R&D projects, plus the war expenses on the Sino-Vietnam border. I think even if we calculate this account by our toes, we can figure out whether it is enough. However, the current national finance is a clever man who can't cook without rice and can't afford to support us at all.

I originally thought that I could make up for it from foreign arms sales, but the results were not ideal in terms of the current reality. Now that this year is about to exceed half, our funds have been used up, and the rest is not enough to support the expenditure in the second half of the year. The senior management attaches great importance to this and specifically instructs us to come up with a set of practical solutions. So today we are recruiting everyone to brainstorm and hear if there is any good solution!"

As soon as the old leader finished speaking, rustling rumblings sounded in the venue. Although these senior officers at the center knew the insufficient military expenditure, even when such facts were spoken from the old leader, the senior cadres of these troops were still surprised. However, the whispers in the venue were endless, and no one dared to stand up and speak first.

After all, the senior officers present were very clear in their hearts that it was easy to solve the military expenditure gap, but it involved all aspects. Even if it took several years of effort, it might not be possible to achieve results. However, it is impossible to solve this problem in a short period of time by listening to the old leader's tone. Because of this, after a wave of detailed discussion, everyone looked at each other and the venue immediately fell into a dead silence.

Seeing that no one was speaking for a long time, the expressionless face immediately sank. A pair of white eyebrows frowned slightly, and a sharp gaze swept back and forth in the venue like a knife for a long time. The venue was even more suppressed to the extreme. Everyone seemed to have done something wrong, no one dared to look at the old leader's gaze, and they all lowered their heads and chose silence. However, at this moment, the old leader's stern and unquestionable words sounded in everyone's ears again:

"Why don't you say too much? Didn't you just say a lot? Why do you choose to escape when you encounter sharp problems? Want to be a deserter?" When the word "deserter" was spoken from the old leader, a hint of shame flashed on the faces of more than ten senior officers present. However, the old leader's words did not pause at all, but raised the voice high, and with the help of the microphone, the entire venue was buzzing:

"You guys who are sitting are looking at the military uniforms on your body. Touch the red collar seal on your collar. Ask yourself if you are worthy of wearing this outfit. I didn't frown when I climbed the snow-capped mountains and crossed the grass, didn't blink my eyes for eight years of war of resistance, and rolled up my arms after three years of Liberation. Why are you so afraid of these few taels of silver now that you don't even dare to say a word? Could it be that you have to learn from Li Zicheng for too long in peace and be a disciple of the Eight Banners? Think about it yourself, what kind of way is this to defend your country, and whether you are worthy of calling the People's Army!"

The old leader's words were deafening, and every word was like a sharp sword stabbing everyone present, so that while everyone present was in pain, their faces were even red, especially the sentence "If you want to learn from Li Zicheng, you must be a disciple of the Eight Banners" made these war-baptized generals unable to stand it.

You should know that when Mao Zedong was about to go to Beijing from Xibaipo to prepare for the preparations for the New China, he once said that going to Beijing this time is like going to Beijing to take the exam. Li Zicheng also took the exam once, but unfortunately he failed the test. He emphasized: "We will never be Li Zicheng, we all hope to get good results." The "Eight Banners Children" is basically synonymous with the corruption of the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, the senior officers present felt more uncomfortable when they heard these two words than being scolded by the old leader pointing at the nose. Then a sense of shame and courage was instantly aroused. Everyone who had originally lowered their heads raised their heads and their sword-brows were involuntarily standing upside down. Some irritable officers were even more gasping for breath with dissatisfaction, so that several people looked at the old leader sitting in the middle at the same time, and began to express their opinions in a lingering manner. The entire venue became lively in an instant.

However, the atmosphere in the venue was mobilized, but there were too many senior officers fighting to speak, which made the venue seem a little confused. So the old leader raised his arm and the people present calmed down a little when they saw this. At this moment, the old leader said to Qiu Yang, who is now the director of the General Staff Office,:

"Qiu Yang, let me talk about it first, what are your good ideas!"

"Yes." After hearing the old leader's words, Qiu Yang responded quickly, then thought for a moment and put down the notebook in his hand, raised his head and said loudly:

"If you want to make up for the problem of insufficient funds at this stage, I think it is nothing more than two paths: increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Judging from the current reality, the path of increasing revenue is more difficult, because I think we should work harder on reducing expenditure!"

"What are the specific solutions?" The old leader nodded slightly, then signaled to the confidential secretary behind him to make relevant records, while Qiu Yang paused and continued:

"I think I can only continue to reduce the expenditure of the troops, so I suggest that the annual exercises in the second half of the year be further compressed, and several targeted key exercises are retained, and other exercises are reduced or cancelled, and training for key troops with high combat readiness are retained. Other troops retain basic training. At the same time, large-scale production movements similar to those during the War of Resistance Against Japan can allow each unit to self-reliance in producing vegetables, meat and other non-staple foods needed to improve basic life..."

"I object to Director Qiu's point of view!" Before Qiu Yang finished speaking, he interrupted his words. The people present immediately looked in the voice and realized that it was not someone else who said this, Cui Mingjun, the Minister of the General Staff Training Department. Seeing this, the old leader also turned his eyes:

"Xiao Cui, then tell me what you think!"

"Yes!" Cui Mingjun, Minister of the General Staff Training Department, responded, then looked around the people present, and finally turned his eyes to Qiu Yang:

"Now the military expenditure is tight, the troops' training and annual exercises have been compressed to a minimum. If Director Qiu said, the troops will basically have no training. In this way, whether it is facing the armored clusters of the Soviet army in the north or attacking the People's Army with rich practical experience in Vietnam in the south, they will be even more unable to do so, so no matter what, the training funds cannot be reduced!"

"I agree with Lao Cui's point of view!" As soon as Cui Mingjun finished speaking, Zhang Ruhai, director of the General Staff Operations Department, took the conversation: "From the current practical experience in Vietnam, most of the reasons for our casualties is that our troops are not well-trained. If relevant exercises and training are compressed, it will be difficult to perform combat tasks assigned by senior management in the future. Therefore, I also think Director Qiu's view is undesirable!"

"Yeah!" After hearing what Cui Mingjun and Zhang Ruhai said, the old leader nodded gently, then looked at Zhang Ruhai who was sitting not far away and asked:

"You are the Minister of Operations, have a good overall view and a broad vision. What do you think is there any good way?"

"This..." After hearing the old leader's words, Zhang Ruhai, as the Minister of the General Staff Operations Department, was a little troubled and couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, but after a moment of silence, he raised his head and replied word by word:

"I don't think the current situation of the existing troops should be changed. Can you start with the several military projects that are developing? Choose some troops that are not urgently needed to suspend a few, and save the funds..."

"No! Absolutely not!" Zhang Ruhai said halfway, and Tan Bin, the General Staff Equipment Department director who was sitting opposite him, immediately stared at him and spoke loudly:

"The existing equipment projects cannot be compressed anymore. If they continue to compress, they will inevitably suffer great losses in the future military construction and development of the troops. Such behavior of drinking poison to quench thirst is absolutely not good!"

"Why can't it be compressed?" As soon as Tan Bin finished speaking, Cui Mingjun, the Minister of the General Staff Training Department, who was sitting next to Zhang Ruhai, asked loudly:

"Old Tan, do you dare to pat your chest and say that the existing equipment projects are urgently needed by the troops?" As soon as Cui Mingjun finished speaking, Tan Bin stepped on his eyebrows and replied without hesitation: "I can guarantee it!"
Chapter completed!