Chapter 2494
Haihan's military strength has not been significantly affected by the departure of Wang Tom and others, at least it will not be obvious in the short term. In the more than 20 years since the establishment of the Haihan Army, it has trained batches of officers, many of whom have outstanding abilities. Although they may not be as knowledgeable as those who have mastered advanced technology, they have also honed rich combat experience during their years of military service, and their professional capabilities far exceed those of their competitors of the same era.
The military command system formed by these young officers allows the Haihan Army to maintain its inherent combat capabilities despite continuous expansion, and the overall military strength continues to rise.
For the young officers who have gradually taken over power and become the main force in the military, if they want to continue to climb up until they reach the top of the Ministry of National Defense, they must prove their abilities with real military achievements.
However, considering the current international situation, Haihan cannot actually find a suitable opponent in East Asia.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty retreated to the area north of Shenyang. The part of its ruling area bordering Haihan was almost entirely mountainous, which was not conducive to combat operations. Moreover, since the two countries signed the trade agreement, they have been in peace in recent years, and trade exchanges have become more frequent. As long as it is profitable, neither side has any intention of restarting the war. Under such circumstances, neither the Executive Committee nor the Liao-Shandong Colonial Region would be willing to initiate a war against the Manchus.
The Ming Dynasty knew that it was defeated by Haihan, so it placed all its important forces in the north and continued a long-term and unrelenting struggle with the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. On the one hand, Haihan wanted to digest the existing ruling area, and on the other hand, he did not want another war within the Ming Dynasty to affect his many trade activities in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he would not easily launch military operations against the Ming Dynasty.
As for competitors from Europe, represented by Portugal and the Netherlands, they have chosen to cooperate with Haihan and solve the problem through negotiation. Countries that are unwilling to cooperate with Haihan, such as Spain, are now hard to see in East Asia.
After Li Hao returns to the country, North Korea will slowly become a situation divided between north and south. It can be said that it is completely under the control of Haihan, and there will be no further chaos in the short term. The Japanese shogunate implemented a policy of isolation from the country, and it was an island country with scarce resources. It was neither very attractive nor a threat to Haihan. Therefore, neither North Korea nor Japan will become the targets of Haihan's use of force.
As the international situation on the East Asian continent stabilizes, the military can only shift its expansion direction to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Three months after Tom Wang left his job and went to the other side of the ocean, the Ministry of National Defense issued a new military plan, which roughly planned the direction of expansion in the next five to ten years.
According to this plan, the Haihan Army will launch a series of military operations in the Indian Ocean region west of the Strait of Malacca. First, it will establish colonies and transit ports on the coast of the Indian Peninsula on the west side of the Bay of Bengal, and then the next step will be across the Arabian Sea. Colonies were established at the two geographical strategic points of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, and maritime routes between East and West Asia were launched.
In order to realize this plan, armed forces, mainly naval forces, must be stationed in the above-mentioned colonial areas to ensure that Haihan's interests in the area are not infringed. Since the geographical span of these colonial areas is so large, at least a medium-sized naval fleet must be deployed in each colonial area.
The scale of this military expansion plan is indeed not small, but if we look at it over a time span of five to ten years, adding three medium-sized naval fleets is not too exaggerated. Haihan's existing shipbuilding capabilities can fully meet such needs.
Of course, the funds required to build these fleets are not a small amount. Just for shipbuilding, it is expected that the military expenditure required for each fleet will reach about two million yuan. Moreover, the further away from Haihan's traditional sphere of influence, the higher the cost of maintaining the daily operation of the fleet will be, and it will become astronomical over the years. The Ministry of National Defense only made some symbolic suggestions on how to make profits through the operation of these future colonial areas to offset related military expenditures. After all, this is not the responsibility of the military. The Ministry of Commerce and other departments must also join in. .
Opening military roads, building trade bridges, and focusing on colonization are basically Haihan's operating routines for foreign expansion. However, in the past twenty years, Haihan has been operating in East Asia and Southeast Asia, which he is relatively familiar with. The areas involved in this plan can be regarded as a blind spot for Haihan, and he will face relatively large operations. risk.
After the military plan was submitted to the Executive Committee for review, it aroused heated discussions. Some opinions believe that Haihan still needs to continue to adhere to the development strategy centered on the East Asian continent and should not disperse its efforts too early to expand overseas. This will greatly delay Haihan's time to conquer the mainland.
Others, represented by the military, insisted that Haihan should control some geographical points of strategic value as soon as possible. Its significance was far from being measurable by immediate gains and losses, but a feat that could benefit future generations. If a direct sea channel to the Middle East and East Africa can be established as soon as possible, it will play a great role in Haihan's future westward expansion.
After several meetings and discussions, both parties were unable to convince the other party to fully accept their views. In the end, the military's proposal could only be partially adopted in a compromise manner, that is, only the first phase of the plan would be implemented for the time being, with the construction of the colonial zone at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula as the primary goal. After achieving this goal, we will decide whether to implement the second phase of the plan based on the international situation at the time and Haihan's own development.
Although the military did not achieve the ideal result, it did not return empty-handed. With this first-stage plan, you can apply for a large military budget.
The person specifically responsible for implementing this plan is naturally the Star Island Colony in the south. Roger had organized a fleet to cross the Bay of Bengal and visit the Indian Peninsula a few years ago. Regarding the future establishment of a colonial area on the Indian peninsula, Roger has already been making corresponding plans.
In fact, Roger was one of the content makers of the westward expansion plan submitted by the Ministry of Defense to the Executive Committee for review.
There are two targets chosen by Roger. One is the Gulf of Galle at the southern end of Ceylon Island, which has a natural harbor with ideal hydrological conditions and is undeveloped. The other place is Tuticorin, located at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. Compared with the Gulf of Galle on the island of Ceylon, it has a larger basic population and can provide sufficient labor force and can achieve a faster speed in the early construction stage.
(End of chapter)