Chapter 1658 We must take the initiative
As soon as these words came out, no one said anything for half a minute, and the conference room once again fell into an unspeakable heart-wrenching silence.
This is not because the cabinet ministers of the community want to give their boss some eye candy. They are still very loyal to President Nikita. The key problem is that the president's words were too abstract, and he couldn't react for a while.
"Do you know what you are talking about? Our national strength is inferior to others, our military strength is inferior to others, and our technology is inferior to others. We finally maintain a balanced situation by relying on the lives of the frontline soldiers and the three armies. Now, if we take the first step What's the difference between expressing an intention to negotiate peace with the empire and surrendering?" Mr. Bai, the grumpy Minister of Labor, almost uttered vulgar words, but he finally held back at the critical moment.
Mr. Bai Yantang looked at Mr. Nishita, who had lost a lot of weight, and looked at his obviously deeper eye sockets, clear-cut cheeks, and the color in his eyes. As a result, even a tough guy like him felt a little uncomfortable for a moment. I endured it.
No matter what, after all, he is the president and the head of state of the community, so he still needs to be given some face. And, considering Mr. Nishita’s recent experience, it’s even distressing.
President Nishita twitched his cheeks and smiled without embarrassment: "I understand what you mean. At this point in the war, both sides have tried their best. At this time, the competition is about will. We must not show our timidity first.”
Chairman Maxell exchanged glances with everyone and replied loudly: "Yes, the hymn of the people of the earth is the hymn of courage and will. Even in the face of powerful enemies, we will persevere to the end."
He was very particular about the way he spoke, but what he actually wanted to say was: Although the people on Earth must rely on the praise of courage to continue to persevere, the empire on the opposite side still has plenty of strength.
"Optimistically speaking, the current overall situation on all fronts is still very stable. We are also gradually arming ourselves and restoring our troops. The soldiers in the far coast theater can continue to win with a small number of troops. As we supply the front lines With more and more reinforcements and weapons, the balance of the war will be tilted towards us. No, the balance of the war has actually been tilted towards us. Since December, the empire has not launched an active attack again. "< br>
The old chairman of the National Defense Committee was obviously trying to comfort everyone, but it still made sense at first glance.
Afterwards, he patiently explained to everyone the current training plans for new recruits, as well as the supply of new warships.
Although the flames of war did not burn through Nantianmen, the armaments production plan formulated by the National Defense Commission was finally implemented with great success.
So far, Terra, Cantilever, New Atlantis and other local star regions have produced more than 400 large and small battleships, including eight Yinglong-class battlecruisers and eight Saratoga class aircraft carrier.
In this way, the Solar System Fleet's airs were barely put up again.
Of course, the vast majority are new recruits, and with a small number of recalled reservists and retired veterans, the combat effectiveness is indeed worrying. However, considering that the Solar System Fleet was not necessarily combat-effective when it was there, no one felt bad.
Generally speaking, what the local theater is currently doing is building fleets and training new recruits, which can still play the role of the general reserve force.
Later, Mr. Bai, the Minister of Labor, also carefully explained the signs and training of the new recruits. So far, the number of recruits recruited by the Blue Star Community has reached tens of millions, which of course requires the full cooperation of the Ministry of Labor. This work is progressing smoothly, and even the harsh Congressmen and the media, which are always willing to listen to the wind and rain, have not found any faults.
Of course, everyone present ignored an almost public piece of information. The opposite Galactic Empire had not even launched the first round of national mobilization, but it had already gathered 20 to 30 million returning veterans at Ten Thousand Kings Pass, including more than five One million people, with more than three years of experience in warship service or ten years of experience in interstellar freighters.
There is certainly a gap in size, but there must also be a gap in system.
But even so, you can't surrender, right? Surrendering now is no longer a small miracle, but a question of whether the community can survive. Minister Bai thought.
He originally thought that President Nishita should think so too, but look at him now. Although he was indeed listening to his instructions carefully, he still seemed to be recording, and from time to time he said solemnly "Hmm, huh." "nod.
It was obvious that he was a little distracted.
You know, the previous President Nikita was the most concerned about armaments and new warships. He asked very detailed questions every time, and he made sure to give a bunch of useful or useless explanations. He seemed obsessed with grand narratives and gold. The virtues of Ge Tiema's older middle school students.
It's actually not a problem for the older middle school students. Although they are stupid, at least they are strong-headed!
Mr. Bai looked at Mr. President calmly and pondered the current situation. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced the arms trade and assistance situation of the alliance and its friendly countries, the president suddenly said: "The alliance is unreliable."
Everyone found it very fresh. Several ministers of the Co-Prosperity Party could not even hide their narrow-minded expressions.
Who doesn’t know that you, Keith Nichta, are a die-hard Unionist! He almost became the Grozzo family's son-in-law, and now he's talking bad about the Alliance? It belongs to Tiangang, right? My little son-in-law is ready to rebel, right?
"Our last aid was in October last year. All subsequent arms shipments followed normal trade procedures. Although there was a discount, real money still had to be spent." The president added He sighed and looked at the finance minister who also had a grimace on his face: "Has all the money been spent?"
"Gold reserves and foreign exchange reserves have indeed bottomed out," the finance minister said helplessly.
Most well-known interstellar arms traders do not accept blue star coins, only letter stars, golden dragons and gold. Of course, saying this was really hurtful to someone's self-esteem. The Finance Minister felt that he didn't need to go into too much detail, so he just sighed silently.
President Nishita added: "Have prices gone up? Even the welfare of the Ministry of Women and Children can no longer be maintained, right?"
As the youngest minister present, Ms. Jessica Edward Young of the Ministry of Women and Children said: "Women can take charge of entering factories and farms. The national mobilization has vacated many jobs that can be filled. However, they are already In this day and age, we can’t just drive our children into factories, right?”
"Why not? The empire opposite has a lot of underage slaves." The Minister of Interstellar Commerce said.
"There are also many child laborers in the alliance's factory next door." said the director of the General Administration of Railway Industry Affairs.
"I'm talking about children under the age of twelve! The free lunch in public primary schools is a centenary plan formulated the year before last. However, it has only been implemented for less than a year, and it is only in a few local star districts, and the coverage is still low. Less than half. Now, is it going to be cancelled?”
"I'm sorry, Jessica. It's my incompetence. But we are really stretched!" The Finance Minister bowed his head and apologized.
However, Mrs. Yang did not feel that she had been comforted at all. The finance minister was an old man twice his age, and his apology tone sounded like he was coaxing a child.
"But..."
"It's a time of war, an emergency. Everyone needs to be patient. Mrs. Yang, you are not the only one who is patient." President Nishita interrupted the Minister of Women and Children.
His face was filled with unspeakable sadness, and he sighed heavily: "Please suffer the children some more. I will take the blame."
Can you afford it? Jessica Yang wanted to reprimand her like this, but she could only hold back her anger, and after all, she could not continue the argument. She actually knows very well that now all departments are short of money, people, equipment, and everything. During the war, the first priority is what is needed on the front line. Compared with the tens of thousands of dollars spent by the National Defense Commission, what is the free lunch for children in public primary schools?
At this time, Mr. President, who had already suffered a lot of infamy, said again: "... Gentlemen, how can we continue to fight if we have no money and no food? I know what I said today is hard to hear, but it is a legitimate argument. Please give me some advice. Please listen carefully.”
At this point, his sadness was beyond words: "You are all old friends, you should know my temperament and know me. I love my motherland, and no one loves our Blue Star homeland, our great community, more than me. But, because of this, I have to focus on the future!”
Edward Shoner, the Chairman of the House Committee, rubbed his temples and asked carefully: "So, what do you mean..."
President Nishita waved his hand: "How about we take the initiative? We must open up the empire! Let them endure another battle that is comparable to the Blood Gate, comparable to Cuiling, no, it must even be worse than the Battle of Sede. What a disgrace!”
Everyone's expressions were a bit blank, and they felt that Mr. President's thinking was a little out of touch. Just now we were talking about what we wanted to talk about, why did we now want to take the initiative?
However, Nishita said loudly as if no one was watching: "Fight a battle, fight a big battle! Do your best to beat the empire to pieces, show style, show courage, and show dignity! Fight like a tiger, fight like a tiger, fight like a hero! Brighten the world! Create a clear sky!”
His face shone with a not-so-healthy flush of excitement, pride, and even a bit of fanaticism.
Considering that Mr. President was almost embarrassed by the assassin, this emotion still contains some personal grudges, right?
But at this time, I have to admit that he did show a bit of high-spirited courage, and he really looked a bit like the president before the assassination.