Steel Dynasty - Chapter 1090

[Chapter 1080: Siege Strategies]

“Does the Emperor wish to transfer the industry that uses steam engines overseas?”

Yang Chengye suddenly had an idea flash in his mind, and something suddenly occurred to him.

Xiao Ming smiled and nodded, and said: “In fact, some businessmen in the empire have brought steam engine technology to the colonies. This is the mining field in the colony. Mining without steam engines is very inefficient.”

“That’s not true. “Yes, relatively speaking, thermal power plants must be built to use electricity. Steam engines only need coal and water wherever they go, which is very convenient,” Yang Chengye said.

Pang Yukun pondered for a while and said: “Factories based on steam engines will slowly withdraw from the empire’s market. These idle machines are indeed a waste, and compared with the cheap labor force in the colonies, the salaries of empire workers are much higher, and factory owners will also It is gradually unbearable, but if they are moved to the colonies, they can continue to make profits, which is also a waste for the empire.”

“That’s what I mean. The merchants of the empire are merchants of the empire wherever they go, and their output is nothing. It is the output of the empire. The steam engine industry is completely abandoned and causes huge waste. It is better to transfer it to various colonies to extract the remaining value.”

“Your Majesty!” Everyone was impressed when they heard this.

The empire has developed so fast in recent years that the people of the empire cannot keep up with the replacement of factory machinery.

After the emergence of electricity, this contradiction became more prominent. If you still use steam engines, you will face low efficiency and high labor costs. If you use electricity, the steam engines that have only been purchased for a few years will be idle.

After the empire successively occupied the colonies of Japan and Nanyang, some clever businessmen were ready to move steam engine factories to the colonies. This way, they could continue production in the colonies and have money to purchase electric machinery.

It’s just that the empire has extremely strict controls on technology. Except for the mining industry, it has always been extremely strict on other aspects.

Because of this, businessmen complained when they came into contact with officials. Now that the emperor has set the tone, there is no longer a problem in this matter.

The report on economy and science and technology basically ended here. Next, Xiao Ming listened to the situation of political reform and military reform in the past two days.

According to the reports provided by the cabinet and the General Staff, the restructuring of each province has been completed, and officials in each department are performing their duties.

The top-down job setting of the military region has also been basically completed.

These two reforms were successfully completed, and Xiao Ming breathed a sigh of relief, because this meant that the empire had now officially become a modern country in terms of industry and commerce, government, culture, and industry.

In the next hundreds of years, the order he created will not fall behind and is enough to ensure the stable operation of the empire. After all, these systems themselves are from contemporary times.

The year-end meeting lasted from morning to noon. After entertaining the ministers in the palace, the meeting continued in the afternoon, but the content of the afternoon meeting became the meeting to formulate specific plans for next year.

“If there is something to do, leave the court!”

In the evening, in Qian Dafu’s high-pitched voice, the court meeting came to an end. All the ministers shouted long live and left the hall. Tomorrow is the annual New Year’s Eve.

Standing up from the dragon throne, Xiao Ming and Qian Dafu exited the Zhengda Guangming Hall first.

When he came outside the palace, Xiao Ming looked up at the heavy snowflakes flying in the sky and asked, “It seems that the war in Nanyang will be postponed until next year.”

“I’m afraid so, but at least the Southeast Army took Jakarta. Now I don’t know if it’s Yue Yun’s The fleet is enough to control the maritime trade routes. “Qian Dafu is responsible for receiving telegrams and is naturally aware of these wars.

Xiao Ming’s eyes narrowed. In fact, he had already had a hunch that the war in Nanyang would not be as easy as that of Japan and Korea. After all, although the weapons of the West were backward, they were truly modern armies.

Moreover, soldiers in the era of queuing to be shot were the most disciplined era, because they had to face the enemy’s gun directly in every war.

Therefore, in Jakarta, Lei Ming’s offensive operation resulted in the casualties of two thousand soldiers, and there were more Western soldiers in India. If they had a head-on confrontation, they would also lose a lot of soldiers.

What he needs most now is oil, and the occupation of India is not the first priority, so he is also considering an attack plan for India.

Since the Imperial Navy can control the sea routes, the coalition soldiers besieging India are a good choice.

At the same time, let Luo Xin’s Southwest Army attack East Indochina from land, and British-controlled Burma encircle India from the east. This will make the Indian coalition forces even more uncomfortable.

Soon, his idea was verified on the tenth day of the new year, and a telegram from the Imperial Navy was delivered to him.

“In the Battle of the Ganges Estuary, the Imperial Navy sank ninety-six enemy warships, but suffered more than 3,000 casualties. This was the most serious battle damage suffered by the Imperial Navy so far. According to Liu Chen, the coalition forces were established in Calcutta, India In order to build stronger defenses, the Southeast Army alone may not be able to crack this hard nut.”

Cui Shangan analyzed the battle reports from Nanyang in the Imperial Study Room.

“How many people are there in the Southeast Army now?” Xiao Ming asked.

“Back to the Emperor, there are currently a total of 64,000 registered soldiers in the Southeast Army, of which 57,000 are combat soldiers, and the remaining 7,000 are logistics and civilian personnel.” Cui Shangan said.

Xiao Ming nodded when he heard this. Because of the modernization reform of the army, the logistics of the army are now his own business, because logistics soldiers account for a large proportion of the army.

“According to Liu Chen, if we want to capture Calcutta, we may have to pay 20,000 casualties. Is this equivalent to losing half of the combat personnel of the Southeast Army?”

“I’m afraid it is true, and the Southeast Army is now in the colonies in order to control the colonies. There are troops stationed there, and the actual number of soldiers involved in the attack may only be about 40,000.”

Xiao Ming frowned, “It’s not worth sacrificing the lives of 20,000 soldiers for one Calcutta. In this case, let’s spend it slowly. Anyway, the empire has plenty of time now. The longer we wait, the more advanced equipment we have, and they are separated from the country.” If it takes too long, you will eventually lose your will to fight. “

Xiaguan has the same idea. Taking advantage of this time, the empire can digest the colonies it has occupied, and at the same time let the southwest army go south to attack the city and seize the territory, so that the front and rear can’t care about each other.” Cui Shangan said.

Standing up and walking to the map, Xiao Ming placed India in a red circle. He said: “Let’s do it this way. In addition, expand the empire’s army to 600,000 people. I’m afraid we will have to deal with things in the future. It’s quite a lot.”

Cui Shangan was startled for a moment, then he chuckled and said, “Your Majesty, that’s no problem, but what about the military expenditure?”

PS: There will be two updates tonight, and one will be later, and the third update will be tomorrow. Chao is temporarily blocked. If anyone is watching, you can wait for a while, sorry.

(End of chapter)