In the palace of the Song Dynasty, Song King Zhan Tie and the Grand Governor Lu Tingfang were conducting a war game in front of the sand table.
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai watched from the sidelines.
King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty represents the Song Dynasty. He has conducted three consecutive war games, all of which ended in disastrous defeats.
He lost the war game again and directly pushed aside the army flags and service models.
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai saw Song Wang Zhantie looking a little angry.
He comforted him by saying, "Your Majesty, the reason why the Commander-in-Chief of the Mainland was able to win was because he knew all the choices our country had made.
Even so, as long as we lead the enemy troops to the three northern prefectures or attack our country's main island.
Rely on the severe cold in Beisanfu, or fully utilize the advantages of our navy on the ocean.
The probability of our army winning the war is still very high."
Song Wang Zhantie waved his hand: "We cannot base our victory on the enemy's stupidity.
Shu's army is not strong, and its national strength is not strong either.
But the Kingdom of Shu was not on the right path when it was founded.
When the monarchs and ministers of Shu experienced the war with Rui, they immediately understood that this was the age of industry.
Even if you don't like industry, if you don't develop it, you will only be able to be slaughtered by others.
From this we can see that the kings and ministers of Shu are definitely not stupid people."
When King Zhantie of the Song Dynasty said this, he sighed deeply, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, lit it with a lighter, and took a deep puff.
Of course he thought that the kings and ministers of Shu were fools, but he could not deceive himself or others when doing things.
Song Wang Zhantie flicked the cigarette ashes in his hand and said again: "Shu did not develop industry at first, but it established a strong mobilization system.
Because Shu has no industrial base, he can mobilize the people who are most loyal to the country at will without worrying about affecting the industrial system.
After a few months of training as new recruits, and then a period of hard work on the battlefield, Han Chinese farmers will be tempered into an elite soldier.
Our country has encountered this elite army in the Shu Kingdom, and the war is now progressing very hard.
One of the main reasons for this is that our country has tried its best to develop its navy.
Our country's navy, even in its development stage, has encountered some setbacks.
But after these years of development, it is still a maritime power second only to the Imperial Royal Navy.
Our country's army has hardly developed much at this stage.
We have underestimated Shu and used our own weak army to touch Shu's powerful army.
Now that we are in a head-on collision, it is because we made a mistake in our judgment."
King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty was a little depressed, but he did not blame the mistake on Prime Minister Jin Kuohai or Governor Lu Tingfang.
As a monarch, he must bear the responsibilities that should be borne by him.
Jin Kuohai and Lu Tingfang simply do not have the ability to bear this responsibility.
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai and Governor Lu Tingfang looked much more relaxed when they heard Song Wang Zhantie say this.
It is truly a blessing in life to meet a monarch who has the courage to take responsibility.
King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty pointed to the sand table and said: "Don't place your hopes on the enemy's stupidity. The Shu Kingdom will drive us into the sea and will never attack the three northern prefectures. The Shu Kingdom has almost no navy, and they will not attack the island across the sea.
The choice made by the Shu Kingdom can only be to recuperate and recuperate.
They finally won the war and knew that without the support of the empire, Shu would have been gone.
This time, with the support of the empire, Shu can survive the crisis. Without the support of the empire next time, Shu will have to rely on itself.
As long as the monarchs and ministers of Shu think of this, they will not start a war again."
Song King Zhan Tie did not say that after the armistice between Shu and Rui, the support from certain forces in the empire would definitely disappear.
All smart people know this, but they won’t say it out loud.
He also saw this, that in the war between Song and Shu, the empire would not be partial, so he chose to attack Shu.
I thought that Shu's army was not strong, but who knew that Song's army was even weaker.
He behaved very well in bullying the local indigenous people in the colony.
Once it fights a country with comparable national strength, the army cannot stand up at all.
Without the support of the navy, the army would have collapsed long ago.
King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty thought of the colony, and he sighed again: "We chose to attack Shu after the news spread.
The Liao Kingdom secretly attacked our colonies in Africa.
We must end the war with Shu as soon as possible and devote our troops to the war to maintain the colonies.
Our country is a country dominated by islands and peninsulas, and domestic resources are generally somewhat scarce.
We must rely on African colonies to ensure the development of domestic industry.
Our country is making a choice between attacking Shu and seizing colonies.
This king will not hesitate to seize the colony.
This behavior of the Liao Kingdom will never be forgiven, and our colonies will never be allowed to be lost."
The Grand Governor Lu Tingfang knew that Song King Zhan Tie said this, and he was just looking for an excuse for Song to evacuate from Shu.
Even if the excuse is lame, as long as it can convince yourself, it is a viable excuse.
What's more, the importance of the colonies to the Song Dynasty was obvious to all the people.
The current vigorous development of industry in the Song Dynasty cannot be separated from the support of colonial materials.
The Song Dynasty was a country with less arable land. Just food from the colonies could solve a lot of problems.
"The king is right, the colony is too important to our country and must not be lost.
Going to the colonies in Africa, the navy could show its great strength.
This time, we will not use our shortcomings to attack the enemy's strong points.
The strength of our navy is still enough for us to trust."
The Grand Governor, Lu Tingfang, first supported the idea of King Zhan Tie of the Song Dynasty.
He then changed the topic and said with some concern: "Our army is entangled with the Shu army in the territory of Shu.
Now if we want to evacuate them all, we can't do it easily.
What's more, we now spend a huge price to attack Shu and retreat in despair.
It will be very difficult to raise funds for the war next."
In order to build ships, the Song Dynasty needed to raise a large amount of funds, which led to the Song Dynasty's financial industry being very developed.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Song Dynasty court was accustomed to borrowing money to do important things. After path dependence, even if it wanted to change, it could not be done.
This war failed, and the people were very disappointed with the performance of the Song army.
Once you lose confidence, it becomes very difficult to raise funds.
With only the government's funding, it was not even enough to pay for the fuel for the warships.
Song King Zhan Tie also knew that this situation was a thorny problem. If this problem was not solved, the Song State would not have enough resources to implement any strategy planned next.
He turned his attention to Prime Minister Jin Kuohai. The cabinet has always been responsible for raising money.
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai saw Song Wang Zhan Tie's eyes sweeping over.
He knew he had to come up with a workable plan.
Extensive details are not required, but feasible ideas must be provided.
Song King Zhan Tie has made a choice and wants to evacuate from the battlefield of Shu.
Because it could not raise funds for Song's strategic change, Song could only grit its teeth and maintain its current strategy.
Once a major failure occurs, someone must take responsibility.
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai cannot escape no matter what.
"Your Majesty, please appease the grievances of the people in the country and minimize our country's losses.
I can't think of a good solution for now, but I can think of a bad solution that will harm Tianhe."
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai was very hesitant and did not want to reveal this strategy.
Once the Song Dynasty implements this strategy, the Song Dynasty will be burdened with long-term infamy. The person who proposed this strategy will have a very bad reputation even a hundred years later.
Song Wang Zhan Tie's eyes lit up and he urged: "In this situation, there is no time to choose the best strategy. If there is a strategy to solve the problem, then it is a good strategy."
When Prime Minister Jin Kuohai heard Song Wang Zhantie say this, he stumbled and expressed the strategy he had in mind.
“Resources for the war have been invested, and if you want to take them back by force, they cannot be taken back.
But think about it, if we can occupy Shu, how many resources will we get to make up for the consumption of the war."
Song Wang Zhantie blurted out: "Of course it is the territory of Shu, especially the resources on the territory.
There is also the industrial chain that Shu has worked so hard to establish.
The population on the territory of Shu is also very important.
The population that has been completely Sinicized can greatly increase the proportion of Han people in our country.
Han Chinese account for more than 80% of the total population, so we no longer have to worry about indigenous rebellions."
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai immediately applauded and said loudly: "The king is right, this is the resource that our country can obtain by occupying Shu.
We choose to evacuate. Except that the land of Shu cannot be taken away, we will transfer as much of the resources on the land as we can.
Especially the population in the areas under our control has all been transferred to our country.
With this group of people, our country's industrial development will accelerate.
Businessmen with large amounts of capital will receive many benefits and will continue to support the court.
Ordinary people also have a sense of pride and will not be disappointed with the imperial court."
Song Wang Zhantie was thinking about the pros and cons of this strategy.
Grand Governor Lu Tingfang asked with some concern: "If we do this, will it lead to imperial intervention?"
Prime Minister Jin Kuohai did not hesitate at all on this issue and said firmly: "The empire will never interfere.
If we massacre civilians, the empire will definitely send troops to sanction our country on the grounds that we have violated the Jianye Convention.
But we are only transferring the people in the occupied areas, giving them good food, drink and hospitality.
It did not violate the "Jianye Convention" signed by all countries.
The empire has no reason to interfere in this matter.
It's just that our country's early management of these people required a lot of manpower and material resources.
This approach is too hateful and will lead to a bad reputation for our country."
Song Wang Zhantie slammed the table hard and said loudly: "We have done this.
It's just reputation, it's not important at all.
If you want to save face, you have to lose your inner self.
We have invested a lot of resources, and if we can recover some, we must recover some."
Song Wang Zhantie directly agreed with the strategy proposed by Prime Minister Jin Kuohai.
This strategy will attract people's hatred and lead to the Song Dynasty's reputation becoming worse.
But he did allow Song to make up for the resources consumed by the war.
Some machines from Shu are not very valuable.
But that population will be extremely valuable.
Now the Song Dynasty provides a salary of one hundred taels of silver coins per person, but it is unable to recruit Han people.
Most of the immigrants currently recruited are wild and untamable natives, and the empire transports them to other vassal states half-sold and half-delivered.
The Song Dynasty needed to spend a lot of money to educate these people.
If we can get tens of thousands of people, including some skilled workers, to attack Shu this time, it will not be a loss at all.
If you acquire one Han young man now, after a hundred years, he will have become more than a dozen Han people. For a country, it is extremely cost-effective.
The problems Song State is encountering now have solutions.
King Zhantie of the Song Dynasty began to discuss with the two ministers the strategic change of the Song Dynasty.
The war between Song and Shu did require choices to be made.
The Song Dynasty must not fall into the quagmire of this war and cannot get out of it.
The three of them reached a consensus and then handed it over to the people below to fill in the details, which turned into a specific implementation plan.
When it comes to governing the country, small meetings are held to handle big things, and big meetings are held for half an hour.
The three of them decided which direction the Song Dynasty should move in, and they could do so very efficiently.
And there will be no situation where the monarch is willful and willful, causing the country to go astray.
…
Fengyu Port in Wanfang Prefecture of Shu Kingdom was the garrison of the Song Dynasty navy and the location of the army command camp.
Guo Xu, commander-in-chief of the Song Army, boarded the battleship Lange in a small boat.
On the deck, he saw Gu Ling, the deputy chief of staff of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, this time the commander-in-chief of the navy.
Gu Ling also held a telegram in his hand and was frowning in thought.
Guo Xu said directly: "Chief of Staff Gu, what do you think the imperial court means?"
When Gu Ling saw Guo Xu's embarrassed expression, he knew Guo Xu's intention of boarding the ship to find him.
"General Guo, the imperial court has made up its mind to adjust its strategic direction.
All we can do is continue to execute.
Since the imperial court chose to do this, it has already made preparations for all emergencies.
It is extremely difficult for General Guo to convince the court."
Gu Ling guessed that Gu Xu found him because he wanted to jointly submit a letter asking the court to withdraw his order.
After all, the army is ready for battle.
The imperial court ordered the troops to withdraw directly.
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and evacuation may turn into a rout.
Once a defeat occurs, no one can guarantee how much these tens of thousands of troops will be able to detect.
But the Navy did not want to get involved in this matter. Such a change in the situation has a deep relationship with the Army's incompetence.
Now that the Song Dynasty's strategy has changed, it is a better choice for the navy.
Let the powerful navy act as a nanny for the weak army, and everyone in the navy will complain.
Guo Xu heard Gu Ling's more direct polite refusal, which was similar to what he had expected before coming.
He waved his hand and said, "I have no intention of disobeying orders.
I came here to discuss with Chief of Staff Gu how the army can withdraw from the battlefield in an orderly manner.
The navy controls the transport ships and must have the cooperation of the navy in order to better complete the evacuation work.
After all, the imperial court requires that in addition to the evacuation of the troops, some local specialties from Shu should also be taken away."
When Guo Xu talked about local specialties, his pronunciation suddenly became worse.
Gu Ling heard that Guo Xu was not here to disobey him.
A smile immediately appeared on his face. As long as he didn't disobey orders, everything was easy to discuss.
The King of Song also issued a strict order that the navy must cooperate with the army to complete the evacuation.
The performance of this task is related to whether he can command the navy and continue to complete the next strategy of the Song Dynasty.
Gu Ling immediately invited Guo Xu to the captain's room to plan the evacuation of the army.