Empire Conquest
Chapter 300 - 296: The President’s Concerns

Chapter 300: Chapter 296: The President’s Concerns

Nizi and Fox left as dawn was breaking, the sky already lighting up.

Hale also felt amazed; he often thought that ninety-nine point nine nine nine nine percent of men in this world were not as good as a handicapped man.

Of course, that included himself.

"How do you feel about it?"

"General Nizi? He should be pretty confident, after all..."

"Not him."

Hale was slightly taken aback, then he understood Rofuss’s point.

This wasn’t an ordinary war; it was total war, and strictly speaking, it was the Newland Federation’s first real full participation in a global war.

The last global war?

The Newland Federation only sent troops in the later stages of the war, fought a few battles, then it was over, and they did not fully mobilize for the war.

Before that, whether it was dealing with the Sban Empire or plundering neighboring countries to the south, those were just localized conflicts.

As for the civil war caused by slavery and its abolition, and the two previous wars of independence, those were fought on home soil and not comparable.

Thus, after its establishment, the Newland Federation never truly mobilized for war.

In contrast, the Liangxia Empire had much more experience in war mobilization.

From the founding battles of the nation, to competing with the Luosha Empire for dominance over the Giant Continent, to fighting with the Bulan Kingdom in the Fan Flame Ocean, and even the last global war; the Liangxia Empire had fought four large-scale wars with full national mobilization, and each time they had fought with all their might.

When it came to mobilization experience, the Newland Federation was far behind.

Clearly, this was what Rofuss was worried about.

Total war was all about mobilization capacity, a country’s ability to withstand internal and external pressures and unleash its war potential under extreme circumstances.

Besides, there was the time it took to complete the mobilization.

In Rofuss’s words, if the Newland Federation could smoothly complete its war mobilization and fully unleash its war potential, then even if they suffered defeats in the early stages, or lost strategic initiative, they could still set up defenses layer by layer on the vast East Ocean, using space for time. Even if they had to pay a huge price and spend more time, they wouldn’t quickly lose the war.

If they couldn’t successfully complete the war mobilization, even early victories would just be fleeting.

Nizi had already mentioned that the Liangxia Empire had entered a state of war a year in advance, and would be able to unleash its war potential by the next year. Therefore, even if the Newland Federation’s mobilization went smoothly, it would not be until the year after that they would be ready. Whether they could close the one-year gap would determine victory or defeat.

That was also the key reason for delaying the decision to go to war until now.

The wedding of that Navy Major General?

Nothing but an excuse!

Although Rofuss never denied Bai Zhizhan’s talent, especially after Nizi gave him a deep understanding of the early naval battles of the year, Rofuss once mentioned that Bai Zhizhan was the finest Navy General of today and the most formidable opponent for the Newland Navy; his value as an individual was equivalent to an entire Fleet. But in modern warfare, a General’s impact is incredibly limited. This wasn’t to deny the value of a General but to prove it—namely, the greater the General, the more he needs a strong military as support.

The previously highly-praised "First of the Navy" by many Western countries was a typical example.

Takano was also impressive, definitely not lacking in personal capability, but in the end, he was sabotaged by mediocre individuals and died for the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

How does a strong military come about?

Without a strong nation as a foundation, how can there be a formidable military?

The most representative are modern naval battles primarily involving carriers and the Air Force.

In battles decided by carriers, it’s the combat aircraft that play a decisive role, and it’s the pilots who realize the value of combat aircraft.

It goes without saying, a pilot’s ability directly determines the combat power of the Air Force.

Despite suffering such heavy losses, the Liangxia Navy was able to turn defeat into victory and regain the initiative because they had a large number of pilots.

Before the outbreak of the great war, the Liangxia Empire already had hundreds of thousands of civilian pilots.

Without a strong, robust industrial system, where would a developed aviation industry come from, and with what would they cultivate pilots?

Rofuss delayed for months, but still forcefully pushed the "Aid Bill" through Congress, hoping to use it to advance his country’s industry into a state of war readiness.

Whether for themselves or for the Allies, as long as it was the production of munitions, what difference did it make?

Of course, what Rofuss did was evidently not as simple as just getting a bill passed in Congress.

Pushing for new policies immediately after his first election as president was all about preparing for war!

What was at the core of the new policies?

Deficit spending by the federal government to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction.

Construct what?

Roads and railways stretching from the East Coast to the West Coast across Newland and a transportation network that connected several cities along the West Coast from north to south.

Why do all this?

It was to shift the focus westward.

Years before, Rofuss had approved a special appropriation for the federal government to fund the construction of a larger-sized lock on the Wangxi Canal, to allow larger tonnage battleships to pass through in wartime, lifting the size restrictions on main battle ships like battleships.

Moving the East Ocean Fleet Headquarter to Honu Island was also related to this.

Moreover, investing in the construction of shipyards, steel mills, chemical plants, and aircraft factories in cities like Luo City, Shenghu, Xitu City, and Saint Gobain along the West Coast was likewise aimed at strengthening the military industrial strength of the western region, which faced East Ocean, in order to reduce the domestic transportation burden.

The saved transportation costs could produce even more munitions!

The thing is, there wasn’t enough time.

It was only eight years, strictly speaking not even eight years, since it was in Rofuss’s third year after moving into the Grey Palace that he began to fully implement the new policies.

That makes it six years.

Putting aside what could be accomplished in six years, the population distribution, which was almost unaffected by policies, simply could not undergo significant changes within such a short span of six years.

What they lacked on the West Coast was people!

Due to the lack of workers, many businesses simply couldn’t start operations, and many companies even gave up on investing in the West Coast because of the soaring labor costs.

But looking at the population distribution, without decades, the West Coast region simply couldn’t develop.

Sadly, there would never be decades!

Even now, the East Coast remains the core region of the Newland Federation.

This was also the key reason for investing in the expansion of the Wangxi Canal.

If factories couldn’t be built on the West Coast, then maritime transport capabilities had to be enhanced, to shorten sea transit times and reduce costs during war as much as possible.

The key was ensuring that the Two Ocean Fleet could easily mobilize back and forth.

If the main battle ships, massive in tonnage and size, couldn’t move back and forth due to canal restrictions, the Two Ocean Fleet wouldn’t be an advantage but a huge burden!

In fact, the canal lock size restrictions had become a nightmare for Newland’s navy designers.

The latest designed fast battleships and the post-Treaty Type fleet carriers were victims, with the beam of the ships having to be less than 34 meters to fit through the canal locks!

"In a few days, I’ll go take a look, perhaps it can be completed ahead of schedule."

"I’m going back to Huacheng tomorrow, you don’t need to wait a few days; set out early tomorrow morning. No matter how big the problem, make sure the lock is completed on time."

"Okay, I’ll make arrangements right now."

Hale didn’t say much else, after all, Rofuss had given his orders. Besides, if Rofuss was worried, the first person to be troubled would be him.