Chapter 3003
At the same time, in Xingdao, five thousand miles southwest of Cebu Island, Qian Tiandun was also reading the same article in the same issue of Haihan Times.
Cebu Island and Xingdao belong to the east and west ends of the South China Sea, but the sailing distance from Sanya is almost the same, so the latest Haihan Times arrived in the two places in roughly the same time.
“All the limelight has been stolen by the Luzon Region!”
Roger, who was sitting opposite Qian Tiandun, put down the newspaper in his hand and said with some bitterness: "It occupies a few places in the Philippine Islands where there is no place for people to poop. See what this newspaper has become? I don't know. People thought that all the land they snatched from the Spaniards was a treasure trove of gold and silver! ”
Qian Tiandun smiled and said: "Although there are no gold and silver mountains, isn't it possible to find a large copper mine in Cebu Island? The Luzon region has invested so many resources to fight this war. With this copper mine, at least You will lose money.”
Roger said: "Speaking of which, the Luzon Region is really rich. I have never heard of them issuing war bonds or asking the Ministry of National Defense to apply for a special budget. They can actually last for so long. I made a rough estimate of how long this war will last. In the future, several million yuan will be spent.”
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "Even if you can hold on, it's probably going to be a struggle. You see, they took the initiative to cease the war after fighting Cebu, leaving Mindanao just around the corner. It's probably because military expenditures are tight, and they don't have the money to continue. Keep fighting.”
Roger muttered: "Even if there is still military spending, the Luzon Region's current military strength will not be able to absorb more territory in a while."
Although the two of them were thousands of miles away and could only learn about the war situation in the Philippine Islands through newspapers and internal reports, the conclusions they derived based on their own experience were basically consistent with the actual situation on the ground.
They have encountered almost all the problems that will arise in large-scale military operations in their many years of leading troops in wars, and they can naturally extrapolate to the difficulties encountered in the Luzon Region.
However, even if you know the problem, many times the situation is stronger than the person, and you can only choose a compromise solution. Xingdao has been unable to launch for a long time. In fact, it has encountered some problems that are not easy to solve.
The first problem is, of course, military spending.
The operation planned by Qian Tiandun is far larger than the size of the Philippine Islands, may last for several years, and requires astronomical military expenditures. Even with his savings over the years, the support of the Northern Region, and the joint funding from the Annan Garrison and the Singdao Region, there will still be a gap in the military budget.
Therefore, even before the operation began, Qian Tiandun had already tried to persuade the relevant departments to issue war bonds domestically to raise part of the military expenses required for the operation.
However, the process of raising funds through bond issuance is complicated, and the cycle from preparation, publicity to execution and settlement is very long. If Qian Tiandun and others want to get the money, they can only wait patiently for domestic progress.
The second issue is to properly handle the diplomatic issues on the west side of the South China Sea, including the areas around Singdao.
Heihan does not have as strong an opponent as Spain in this area, but this does not mean that he can do whatever he wants.
There are many countries in this region. Although all countries are in awe of Haihan, no country is willing to be occupied or annexed by Haihan. Neither Roger nor Tan Juren agree to deal with the countries in the region in the same way as Spain. The Sing Tao authorities believe that the ideal way is to first use diplomatic means to get all countries to accept the military asylum provided by Haihan by default. Only in this way can obstacles be cleared for Haihan to establish more garrison bases in key waterways in the South China Sea.
Of course, the rulers of various countries are not fools, and they will certainly not agree to let Haihan station troops in their territory for no reason. If they want to reach an agreement, they will inevitably involve various exchanges of interests.
To negotiate these conditions one by one requires not only the ability of diplomatic mediation, but also sufficient patience. Negotiations between countries have been commonplace for several years. There are many countries involved in this matter, and their interests and demands are different. It is not that Haihan can reach a consensus by calling together diplomats from various countries for a meeting.
The third problem is that the coordination and cooperation of the various forces participating in the operation are far from meeting the requirements.
The composition of the troops participating in the operation in the direction of Xingdao is far more complicated than that in the Luzon region. This includes the Eighth Army Division and the Second Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet stationed in Annan, the Ninth Army Division and the Third Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet stationed in Xingdao, the special operations division under Qian Tiandun, and the auxiliary troops sent by Annan and other countries to increase their presence. etc.
Although all parties had agreed before the operation that these troops would be unified under the command of the joint command located on Star Island, the actual situation was not that simple.
The training environments and projects of these troops are different, and their strengths are also uneven. In addition, there are few opportunities for joint training, so it takes a period of time to develop a tacit understanding. Qian Tiandun's special operations division had been conducting exercises in this area on their way south to Xingdao with the Annan garrison.
But after arriving at Star Island, a lot of problems were exposed after the various units trained together for a while. Qian Tiandun's special warfare division also suffered from a large number of patients because it was difficult to adapt to the tropical environment immediately.
Various problems were intertwined, forcing the Joint Command to postpone its original action plan.
The one who was most dissatisfied with this was of course Roger, who originally wanted to grab the jackpot. Now that the jackpot has been snatched away by the Luzon Region, Xingdao has yet to be able to start the campaign. This is really not the situation he wants, and it is inevitable that he will be a little displeased with the relevant reports in the "Haihan Times" .
In a hurry, Roger is actually very clear about the current problem. If he forcibly uses military means to promote the implementation of the plan, it will probably only achieve half the result with twice the result.
Qian Tiandun was very calm. At this time, he still had time to study other reports in the newspaper: "Look at the news on the third page. Haihan Bank will provide special loans to many important infrastructure projects in the Donghai Region. What do you think? ”
Roger glanced at it and said impatiently: "The Hangzhou-Nanjing Railway, Jiande Hydropower Station, and Canal New City are important projects, but they have nothing to do with the situation in the South China Sea!"
Qian Tiandun shook his head slightly and said: "Lao Luo, some things seem not to be directly related, but if you think about it carefully, these super projects will occupy a lot of treasury funds. I am afraid that the military budget for the South China Sea will not be increased in the short term."
"Also, in order to advance these projects, a large number of technical personnel will be transferred to the north. We will build more garrison bases overseas. We probably can't count on the Ministry of Construction to provide sufficient technical support."
(End of chapter)