Empire Conquest
Chapter 52 - 48 Decisive Strike

Chapter 52: Chapter 48 Decisive Strike

It was just a bowl of millet porridge, yet Tang Zude took a full fifteen minutes to savor it slowly.

Dragging it out this long was also to let everyone cool down.

The meeting had been raging since the early morning, with the Navy and Army, as well as the ministers split into two factions, almost coming to blows.

What they were contesting was not the scale of arms reduction but the time limit for restricting armaments.

In the words of Tang Zude, without the need for the Empire to say a word, the Great Powers of the Alliance Group would not agree to the disarmament plan proposed by the Newland President.

Without military strength, how could one defend the war dividends that were just acquired?

Let’s not forget that the enemies of the Great Powers are not just other Great Powers but also the rebellious forces in the colonies and even the exploited classes within their own countries. Even if the contradictions among the Great Powers ceased to exist, a sufficiently strong military force had to be maintained to protect core global interests.

After all, without enough military power, what gives one the right to be called a Great Power?

For hundreds of years, whether it was the old empires or the newly industrialized countries, not a single Great Power was created from the mouths of idealists!

The Newland Federation was no exception.

Thus, the time limit for arms limitation became the key topic of debate.

In this regard, the Army insisted on a ten-year term, while the Navy believed it should be extended to twenty years.

Ten years versus twenty years—the difference was not just a period of time, it was not just numbers in the text, but the overall strategy of the Empire!

If ten years were chosen, the focus would have to be on the Army, implementing northward and westward strategies; ensuring that in the next great war, the entire Giant Continent could be swept away at lightning speed; defeating the opponents on the Giant Continent before other Great Powers could mobilize for war, and pushing the front to the West Continent and the Xuan Continent. After consolidating the ground combat situation, the focus would shift to the sea, contending for maritime control with the Great Powers.

Undoubtedly, the core of this strategy was land power.

The twenty-year plan was the exact opposite.

With a twenty-year term, there would be sufficient time to rebuild the Navy, enabling the adoption of an overall strategy of moving southward to the Fan Flame Ocean and eastward to East Ocean; ensuring control of surrounding areas after the outbreak of war, securing main resource production areas, and establishing defense perimeters around the Empire’s homeland. After securing the foundation, progress would be made slowly and steadily based on maritime power, defeating each encountered opponent one by one.

The core of this strategy was sea power.

Rationally speaking, the latter is certainly safer.

The Army’s strategy was actually a desperate gamble, placing all bets on the initial surprise attack phase of the war.

Although the Army Commander explicitly mentioned during the presentation that, with the help of new technology, the Army hoped to create miracles in the next war, Marshal Ma Zhongyi clearly forgot an issue—in the years before, the Army also believed it could defeat the Luosha Empire within a few months.

Even towards the end of the war, the Army was still emphasizing that they could defeat the Luosha Empire within a few months.

Initially, it was because they had failed to defeat the Luosha Empire as planned, getting stuck in the quagmire of attrition warfare, which led to a complete loss of control over the war situation.

On the other hand, if the Army had achieved a great victory after the war began, the great war could have ended within two years.

In fact, the Navy’s plan had a similar problem.

Because the construction cycle of the Navy was longer, twenty years was not considered ample at all.

Interestingly, Principal Zhu also emphasized new technology.

As a result, Ma Zhongyi seized on this issue, suggesting that the Navy’s plan was also a desperate gamble, and it was uncertain whether they could defeat the Great Powers after twenty years.

However, Principal Zhu did not emphasize a quick victory.

With the Navy’s plan, even if a significant victory was achieved in the early phase of the war and strategic initiative was seized, it would take a steady approach, ample time, a considerable cost, and even repeated fierce battles, before all the Great Powers could be defeated and the final victory secured.

Moreover, the Navy’s plan didn’t rely too heavily on allies.

There was one more thing that Principal Zhu didn’t mention.

If we were to completely follow the Navy’s approach, the strategic planning period wouldn’t be twenty years—preferably thirty, but at the very least, twenty-five.

For the decision-makers, whether or not they can face and accept this harsh future is clearly a significant issue.

An entire day of arguing had left everyone exhausted.

After Tang Zude put down his cutlery, the conference room fell silent.

"Have you all had enough to eat? If so, let’s continue."

No one responded; everyone could tell that the Grand Secretary was getting impatient. Given Tang Zude’s personality, there was no telling when he might explode.

"Arguing and bickering all day long, and we haven’t reached any conclusions. In my opinion, continuing this argument will likely not produce any results either." Tang Zude’s gaze swept across the faces of the dozen or so wartime cabinet members. "I think we should all make compromises. Let’s settle it this way."

Make compromises!?

Now, the dozen or so cabinet members all showed expressions of surprise.

How could such critical matters be treated so lightly?

However, Tang Zude didn’t give anyone else a chance to speak.

"Fifteen years is the period. Both the Army and the Navy are to redraft their strategic development plans and submit them by the end of the month at the latest; everything else can be discussed later."

"Grand Secretary..."

"Marshal Ma Zhongyi, do you have an objection?"

Tang Zude suddenly adopted a stern face and spoke with an even lower tone, causing Ma Zhongyi’s heart to skip a beat; he closed his mouth and glanced over at the Navy Commander.

Ma Zhongyi wasn’t foolish; he could sense danger looming.

Don’t forget, Zhou Kuande is still lying in a bed at the Navy General Hospital.

That shot Zhou Kuande took not only freed himself but also pulled the Navy out of the muck.

What does this mean?

He’s hospitalized, and those warmongering admirals in the Navy still dare to strut? Once the subordinates fall in line, it will be much easier for Zhu Shijian.

But what about the Army?

If someone really needed to be the scapegoat for a defeat, it would undoubtedly be Ma Zhongyi.

"Principal Zhu, do you have any comments?" Tang Zude also looked over at Zhu Shijian.

Before he entered politics, Tang Zude was an officer in the Navy, precisely, a graduate of the Naval Academy who entered politics after retiring from the military.

Of course, he wasn’t Zhu Shijian’s student because he was several years older than Zhu Shijian.

"The Navy will submit as soon as possible."

"That’s good!" Tang Zude nodded slightly and said, "Let’s settle on this matter then. If there’s nothing else, that will be all for today."

Zhu Shijian secretly heaved a sigh of relief; it seemed Tang Zude was planning to take drastic action.

"In closing, I want to emphasize once again." Tang Zude tapped the table, drawing everyone’s attention. "Although the flames of this great war are about to be extinguished, we all know that the war will not end there. The same saying goes, where you fall, you must pick yourself up. Whether it is ten or twenty years from now, when the flames of war reignite, the Empire will face a trial of life and death. Whether we can triumph in the next great war, whether we can create a stable environment for our descendants, whether we can face our ancestors with a clear conscience when it is our turn to meet them—these all depend on whether we fulfill our duties diligently in the upcoming decade as imperial subjects. My colleagues and ministers, I have always believed that as long as we are united, we will surely overcome difficult times and indeed rebuild our former glory!"

"Rebuild our glory!"

Despite the cabinet members all being around sixty years old, when they shouted, each was full of vigor.

The Empire will indeed rebuild its glory!