After arriving in Beijing, Wu Peifu did not immediately rush to the presidential palace to attend the meeting, but took a temporary rest for a day. It's not an easy thing to do all the way.

While resting at home, Wu Peifu originally thought that many people would come to visit. After all, the matter of changing positions is not a secret to many people. As for the next chief of the General Staff, I believe that there will not be too many people who will be stingy with intimacy.

But what surprised Wu Peifu was that during his time at home, no one came to visit—————— if ordinary people encountered such a thing, I am afraid they would only feel lucky, after all, they would have time to rest.

But Wu Peifu is different, not only because of his ability, but also because of his identity and status. Whether you want to admit it or not, Wu Peifu is the object of many people's stammering. And now that such a large group of people has suddenly disappeared, Wu Peifu will definitely muttered a little in his heart.

After all, although he is now trusted and reused by Yan Shao, but at the same time, when he reaches his position, it can also be said that he is walking on thin ice, and if he is not careful, he may be doomed.

At the moment, so many people who should have come to the door suddenly disappeared, who knows if it was because they heard something unfavorable to Wu Peifu?

What's more, Wu Peifu also has many friends in Beijing, and now that he has returned from Iraq, he has not even come to visit him. This is a little strange—————— in his opinion, the biggest reason for this is because his friends know that he is about to lose power, so they choose to avoid him from afar...

Wu Peifu doesn't feel it. Since you are a friend, you will not be afraid of difficulties and the like, on the contrary, if you say that you are in trouble. Then the friend suddenly moved away from him. This is a very common thing in Wu Peifu's opinion.

It is precisely because of this that Wu Peifu muttered a little in his heart.

However, Wu Peifu later learned that the reason why this happened was because Yan Shao specially instructed others not to disturb Wu Peifu when he was resting at home.

After learning the truth of the matter, Wu Peifu couldn't help crying and laughing while being grateful in his heart.

After all, because of this, he was worried at home for a while.

That's right. He is indeed Yan Shao's most trusted general today, and his trust in Cheng Dù is even slightly higher than Cai Yi and Jiang Baili. If it weren't for this reason, Yan Shao wouldn't have let him be stationed in the Middle East. After all, it was one of the most important regions in the whole of China—————— others didn't know what the situation was there, Wu Peifu naturally knew it, if it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been so desperate to find a way to stabilize the situation in several provinces in the Middle East. But usually this location is also the most dangerous. After all, there will be people who don't know how many people are jealous of him. slander him in front of Yan Shao.

As for him, he is far away on the frontier, even if he knows that someone is slandering him in front of Yan Shao, I am afraid that he has no way to defend himself.

Don't look at the way it looks like it's being valued and trusted now, no one knows when they will be thrown into the cold palace.

At that time, perhaps because of his military exploits, Wu Peifu does not need to worry about his net worth, but it is impossible to get his current status.

So it's like I said earlier. Although Wu Peifu was very grateful for Yan Shao's care, at the same time, he couldn't help crying and laughing. After all, Yan Shao's care. But let him go up and down.

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Wu Peifu's arrival made it possible for the meeting to be held normally.

In fact, before Wu Peifu arrived, Yan Shao and the others had already reached a lot of consensus in private meetings. So now that Wu Peifu has arrived, it is just to let these consensuses be officially recognized, and as for Wu Peifu himself, he has no intention of vetoing it.

After all, these consensuses had been officially notified to him as early as when he was still on the cruise ship.

In the conference room, leaning back against the soft sofa, watching Duan Qirui solemnly read out the consensus reached after a while on the stage, Wu Peifu couldn't help but lick his lips.

According to the agreement reached in the past few days, the current army aviation unit will be completely separated from the army and become a separate and independent branch of the army.

Although this branch of the armed forces has only just been born, it will have the same status as the army and the air force, and will become one of the three major branches of the Wehrmacht.

At the same time, after this thing is achieved, China will also become one of the few countries with an air force after the United Kingdom—————— in this era, more of them are army aviation and the like, such as Japan or the United States, which puts the air force under the army. This is not surprising, after all, it is only a new branch of the army, and there are not many people who can see the potential of the Air Force. Even if it could, it was a question of whether it would have the courage to give the Air Force such a high status.

From this it can be seen that the British were able to become the number one power in the world for hundreds of years, and defeated the Spaniards, the French and the Germans many times, which is definitely a joke.

Perhaps Britain's own shortcomings are too great, but with many strategic visions, the world's largest power is no joke.

After all, whether it is the tanks used by the army, or the current mainstream dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts of the navy, as well as the air force, they are all pioneered by the British. It can be said that all three major arms of the armed forces are occupied, while other countries rarely have this ability or opportunity.

Even the appeasement policy of the Second World War ...

True, it is indeed evident that the British are constantly sacrificing the interests of other countries for their own sake. But it is not necessarily because the British have understood that if there is another world-class station, then Britain's already shaky international status will of course disappear, and the colonial empire it is trying to maintain will also completely collapse...

Perhaps it was because of this that the British kept making concessions to the Germans and the Japanese.

Of course. In the end, the British probably did not expect that the Germans would have such a great appetite that they would not be satisfied after recovering most of the German territory. Even occupying the whole of Czechoslovakia was not satisfied, and finally turned its attention to Poland, and completely divided the whole of Poland with the Soviet Russian wolf Bèi.

What they didn't expect the most was probably the strong force of the Germans.

After all, no one would have imagined that the French, who had held out for four years in the last world war, and the Maginot Line, which they had built, would be so fragile—————— well. In a way, it is true that the Maginot Line did not fall, and the Germans only lightly bypassed the line formed by the French.

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Anyway. After all, the British still live up to the name of the empire on which the sun never sets.

Despite the policy of appeasement that was once implemented, it has now become a laughing stock.

But at least then it successfully hooked up with the United States, and Britain not only became the most important ally of the United States in Europe, but also successfully maintained its own international status—————— although Britain's international status is now getting lower and lower. And it is simply used by the Americans as a-stirring stick.

It's not surprising, though. Whoever told the British to do the work of a-stirring stick can only do it.

I'm afraid the British can't do anything else besides this job.

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In addition to the independence of the Air Force, there is also a matter of expansion of the Wehrmacht.

"Today, the Wehrmacht is only about two million, and even in the past, it can be said that these forces are stretched thin when they still maintain their original territory. What's more, now, just because of financial and other problems, the government has not taken any effective measures, such as military expansion. But there is no doubt about it. With the current transportation capacity, if a large-scale war really breaks out. With the troops now available on the border, it would be difficult to engage the enemy. ”

Hearing Jiang Baili's words, the people below all nodded. Because this is the truth, and there is nothing to refute.

At this time, Jiang Baili was not the Minister of the Air Force, but the deputy chief of the General Staff, and Jiang Baili had always had the title of military strategist in the army, so it was too suitable to do this commentary.

Even a person as unruly as Wu Peifu frankly admitted that his knowledge of these military theories was indeed far inferior to Jiang Baili.

"At present, there are four main enemies of our country on the border, one is the army of the British and the French on the territory connecting Southeast Asia and the Indochina Peninsula, one is the direction of the Yalu River bordering the Japanese in the northeast, and the last one is the Soviet Russia adjacent to the Ural Mountains and the Astana region, and naturally, it also needs to include the Soviet Russia and the Turks in the north of several provinces in the Middle East."

"Among them, whether it is the Soviet Russia or the Japanese, they are very difficult enemies, and the strength of the British and French is not bad, but after all, the distance is long, and they cannot show all their strength."

"As for the Turks, although their strength is not bad, after all, there is still a certain gap, so they can be excluded for the time being, and there is no need to worry about the threat of the Turks..."

"It is precisely because of these very real threats that we need to have a large number of troops in the northeast, in Yekaterinburg, in Astana, in the southeast and in the Middle East."

"If these areas are small, they will probably have the strength of almost one army corps, and if they are more, they will be stationed at least the strength of an army group. When taken together, the number of directions is almost three-quarters of the total strength of the Wehrmacht. ”

"However, in addition to these directions, our country also needs to station a considerable number of troops in many areas, such as the Vladivostok Military Region in the outer northeast, although it is extremely desolate and there are hardly any enemies left, but it is precisely because of this relationship that if sufficient troops are not stationed, then in the case of a surprise attack by the enemy, it is very likely that it will not be able to form sufficient resistance, and considering the strength and geographical location of the two countries that may conflict with Japan and the United States in the future."

Speaking of which, Jiang Baili didn't say any more, there was no way. Although Vladivostok is really desolate, and the adjacent sea is basically the sea, there is no need to consider the threat of land at all. But the threat on land does not need to be considered. Threats at sea always need to be considered, right?

Wasn't it because the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty didn't pay attention to the threat from the sea that they let the Japanese and the great powers run rampant for so long?

Although the current navy is very strong, it cannot be compared with Britain and the United States in terms of numbers, especially the main force of the navy is mainly concentrated in the southern part of China and the northern region from Shandong to Dalian, which is used to target the British and Japanese. Although there are some naval fleets in Vladivostok, there is no way to compare them with these two regions.

And then. Here's the problem...

If one day in the future, the Japanese or the Americans land in the outer northeast, then in the case of insufficient naval strength. If the Wehrmacht had not stationed a considerable number of army forces there, would not have been able to make a long drive in as soon as the enemy had landed in the above-mentioned areas?

Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, it is necessary to station at least one legion in Vladivostok. The situation is similar in several other military districts. Although it is not necessary to garrison as many troops as a legion. But at least one corps always wants ...

But it is precisely because of this that it is troublesome.

As already said, although in Yekaterinburg and other directions, the Wehrmacht already has a considerable number of troops. However, these forces are still far inferior to the threats they need to face.

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For example, in the Yekaterinburg and Astana directions, the two main targets were Soviet Russia, and the British, although they also bordered these regions to the south, could pose little of a threat.

However, despite these two years, Soviet Russia has rarely had conflicts with other countries. However, the Russian army still has more than 5 million troops.

Even if a significant part of this needs to be allocated in other directions, especially to guard against aggression by the European powers. But even so. The Russian troops pressed in the direction of Yekaterinburg were still more than a million.

At the same time, the Wehrmacht in the Urals had the appearance of only one army group. And this part of the troops is also distributed in the surrounding area, and it is necessary to guard against those resistance elements in the area...

The standard configuration of an army group is three corps, but the army group under the original command of Cai Ye has three corps, but only two and a half can be used to fight against Soviet Russia...

The ratio of troops with Soviet Russia has almost reached the point of three to one.

If it weren't for the Wehrmacht's superiority in weapons and equipment, and at the same time the Ural Mountains as an antenna to rely on, I am afraid it would have been flattened by Soviet Russia a long time ago~

The same is true in the direction of Astana, and it is more threatening than in the direction of Yekaterinburg, where there is no such a natural barrier as the Ural Mountains.

It's just that because Soviet Russia still needs the Wehrmacht, and the Wehrmacht is very strong, some frictions before rarely occur. But as long as it happens, almost all of them will be won by the Wehrmacht, and if Soviet Russia dares to act rashly, it is really difficult to say who will win and who will lose.

However, one thing is certain, that is, with the recovery of Soviet and Russian industry, the Wehrmacht still has a certain advantage in equipment, but it is difficult to say how long this advantage can be maintained. After all, even though Russia had lost its territory in Siberia and Central Asia, the territory under its direct jurisdiction was still the largest in the whole of Europe, even larger than the territory of the rest of Europe combined.

At the same time, he also has the largest population in all of Europe, and only needs to restore his industry, which will become a troublesome enemy.

And for the Wehrmacht, to fend off such troubles, then in the direction of the Urals and Astana, the Wehrmacht needs at least three army groups of no less than the strength of ...

Only in this way, with strong fortifications, will it be possible for the Wehrmacht to resist the attack of Soviet Russia or—————— conversely, to attack on its own initiative ...

Although in many wars in the past, almost all of them were fought back passively, this does not mean that the Wehrmacht is not good at attacking. In fact, on the contrary, with superior air power, the Wehrmacht could have relied on the bombing power of the Air Force to inflict an extremely heavy blow on the enemy before attacking!

Then the powerful and mechanized army is advancing at full speed, which can definitely confuse the enemy in the shortest possible time.

Nature. It will take another two years for this to happen, at least the mechanized corps is a problem.

As for such a large number of troops, will the logistics be guaranteed? This is not what Yan Shao needs to worry about. After all, both Yekaterinburg and the Astana Military District. There is no shortage of bases for heavy industry, and both regions are doing so. With the recent efforts of these regions, it is no problem to meet at least half of the ammunition needs.

The remaining half can be guaranteed by the two railways behind Guò.

What's more, in order to prevent the railway transportation lines from being blown up, the government of the Kuomintang is constantly stockpiling ammunition and other materials in Xinjiang, Astana and the Urals.

Even if the railroad were to be destroyed, the aforementioned areas would be able to be resupplied with stockpiled supplies for a long time. It's like the Middle East. It's about to become an independent kingdom.

Of course, Yan Shao was not worried that the people there would rebel. Although in order to ensure the obedience of the locals, Yan Shao allowed the locals to participate in politics. Or even become a leader in some of the more important positions.

However, in terms of the army, the locals rarely got involved, and at most the locals formed an infantry brigade. The combat effectiveness is still very weak, so even the local administrative officials want to stand on their own. There is no way he will complete this task—————— even if he does not plan to return to China. The troops under his command can't do the same, their families are still in the country...

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In addition to the threat from Soviet Russia, the Japanese were also a threat, although the entire Korean War was fought by only a few hundred thousand troops. However, this does not mean that the Japanese have only this ability, but that neither side intends to expand the scale of the war and turn what was originally a local conflict into a full-scale war.

If a large-scale war were to be fought, the Japanese would be able to expand at least a large army with a total strength of between two million and three million troops.

And taking into account the combat effectiveness of the Japanese. In order to resist the attack of such an army, the northeast direction must also be at least one million troops.

Of course. In that case, it would be necessary to call up the reserves.

One thing is certain, however, that while equipment can bring advantages, it is not decisive.

After all, in the original history, although the British troops were much better equipped than the Japanese, but in the case of very poor fighting spirit, the British could be said to have fled.

It can be seen that many times morale and the like are more important than equipment...

"Therefore, according to the current domestic situation, our country needs to expand the army to at least about 3 million, and considering that the current domestic financial situation is relatively good, this should be possible."

"Will the distribution of forces change after that?" Looking at Jiang Baili, Wu Peifu asked his own question softly. Although he will soon become the chief of the General Staff, at least now he is still the commander of the Baghdad Military District, and since he is still in this position, he naturally needs to ask more about himself.

"But..."Jiang Baili shook his head. At least in addition to the Astana and Yekaterinburg directions, there will be no increase in troops, and the reason for this decision is that the government believes that there is a possibility of war in other directions, except for the two directions where there is a greater threat at present, but the probability is not as good as in these two areas. ”

"Of course, this is also because of our lack of troops, after all, even if we expand our troops to more than three million, it is still only a barely usable number for our territory and transportation and mobility capabilities..."

"The extra part of the troops, just increased to the above-mentioned areas?"

"Of course not." Jiang Baili shook his head and said. "This part of the force is mainly used to allocate to other areas where the force is weaker. I am sure that all of you here are well aware that in order to support the areas where armed conflict is most likely to occur, we have concentrated three-quarters of our army forces there, while some other military regions, despite their importance, have left very few troops, many of which have only about one army. ”

"According to our original plan, in the event of a large-scale war. Reserves are called up directly to replenish the force, but one thing is certain, and that is to do so, albeit to replenish the force. However, there is no way to guarantee combat effectiveness, and if the enemy really carries out a large-scale landing on the coastal area, it is difficult to confirm whether this part of the force can ensure the security of the coastal area..."

Saying this, Jiang Baili glanced at Sa Zhenbing. If the enemy is able to land on the coast of China, then the first thing is that the navy has already been defeated. Although Sa Zhenbing has always emphasized that the navy can protect China's coastline, no one dares to guarantee that the navy will be fine.

After all, with China's current ambitions, let alone the Japanese. Even the British and Americans will be China's biggest rivals in the future.

If you really don't get it right, it is not impossible for the above three countries to start competing with China together.

Unlike the Army, the Navy is a branch of the armed forces that rely heavily on the strength of the army, as well as the performance of warships and command capabilities—————— of course. Another is the luck value.

After all, the reason why the Japanese Yukikaze ship was called auspicious was because his luck value was too high.

But it is precisely because of this relationship that some people think that all the luck values of the other warships around the snow wind ship have been absorbed. That's why every naval battle is over. The Yukikaze was almost unscathed, and his allies were all badly damaged...

It was also because of this relationship that the Japanese Navy at that time hated Yukikaze so much, but the people who served in Yukikazeyama were lucky. After all, if you get on the Snow Wind Ship, your life is equivalent to being guaranteed.

Among the destroyers that the Nationalist government gave to the British Navy, there was such a snow wind ship. Although this Yukikaze did not have such a brilliant performance in history, it also harmed the British lightly.

You must know that in the original history, although the British suffered large losses in the Battle of Jutland. But it's only slightly bigger than the Germans. But in this Battle of Jutland, it may be because of the existence of the Yukikaze. As a result, the losses of the British Navy were almost a cut above the original history...

It can only be said that auspicious rui is auspicious...

However, this is also because of the proud record set by the Snow Wind Ship, so Yan Shao has always felt that after a while, he should give the British another Snow Wind Cruiser or a heavy cruiser or something like that.

Since it was just a search for destroyers, it had already exerted such power, so if it could be improved a little, wouldn't it be possible to increase the power even more? If one day in the future, the snow wind ship that Yan Shao gave to the British killed the entire British naval fleet, then...

Then, perhaps, there is no need to worry about the threat of the British Navy.

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After hearing Jiang Baili's explanation, I'm afraid no one will deny the necessity of expanding the size of the army, in fact, this kind of call has been there for a long time, and it is only because of the problem of military spending and financial problems that it has been ignored, but now that there are oil fields in Kuwait, then this problem can be brought out again.

From a certain point of view, if this is really done, then a considerable part of the profits from the oil fields will probably be invested in the expansion of the army.

After all, if the army is expanded this time, the army will have to increase its strength by at least 7 or 800,000 troops, and if it is not done well, it may even increase by almost 1 million. At present, the military salary of each soldier of the Wehrmacht is 12 yuan, and if this is calculated, then after the expansion of the army is completed, the salary of the entire Wehrmacht alone will be as high as more than 500 million yuan a year.

Coupled with the additional weapons and equipment required by some soldiers, as well as the daily expenses, it is conceivable what a huge amount of money this will be.

To be honest, if it weren't for the relationship between the oil fields, no matter how much Yan Shao wanted to expand the army, I am afraid he would not have done it...

After all, the extra soldiers spent all the money...

Finally, after a series of discussions by Yan Shao and others, the amount of the army expansion was finally confirmed. After the end of the conference, the existing 2 million or so National Defense Force will be expanded to 3.25 million.

Of these, 3 million are for the army, 150,000 for the navy, and 100,000 for the air force.

Add them all up, three million two hundred and fifty thousand.

During the entire process of military expansion. The largest expansion is naturally the army, which has expanded from less than 2 million to 3 million. Finally, it can be said that it is barely enough. The navy has also been slightly expanded, but not by much, which is not surprising, given that with the Washington Treaty already signed, the navy does not need much of a force.

In fact, 150,000 is already a large number, after all, the total strength of the Chinese Navy in later generations is only more than 200,000.

As for the Air Force?

Originally, the army aviation force was not very large, but now it has expanded to more than 100,000 people. It's a big boost. Although the original scale of the army aviation is not small, after all, it is a branch of the army that has just been established for a short time, and the number of troops cannot be too much. This is especially important. Even the air force of later generations is only 400,000 people, and with the air force that has just been established at present, if it wants to reach the level of 400,000 people, it will take at least a considerable period of development...

Even if you want to put these 100,000 people. All from freshly drafted recruits to standard air force combat power. I'm afraid it's going to take a while. So 100,000 people is enough, and even if something does change in the future, it will be enough to expand it when the time comes.

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In addition to the expansion of the army, there is also the matter of changing positions.

First of all, Jiang Baili will be transferred from his current position to the post of Minister of the Air Force, and at the same time, Cai Ye will also be transferred from the position of Chief of General Staff to the post of Minister of Army. As for Feng Guozhang, who was originally the Minister of the Army...

It is somewhat surprising that Feng Guozhang was not directly retired. And nothing else, but became the Chief of the General Staff of the General Staff. This was somewhat surprising to everyone's arrival. After all, everyone originally thought that the position of chief of staff would be left to Wu Peifu, after all, many people knew one thing, that is, Wu Peifu was Yan Shao's confidant. If this is not the case, no matter how capable Wu Peifu is, I am afraid that he will not be able to be promoted from an ordinary colonel to the current general in just a few years...

As for Wu Peifu himself, he was promoted to deputy chief of the general staff from his current position.

In fact, it is not surprising that although Yan Shao wants to replace Feng Guozhang, although Feng Guozhang is old, he has not yet reached the place where he wants to retire. And if he does not retire, there is nothing suitable for him in the Wehrmacht, so there is no way but to let him take the post of chief of the general staff first, and the rest will be said later.

Although Wu Peifu was a little dissatisfied with this, he didn't care much about it. One of the most important reasons is probably because Wu Peifu himself knows very well that with Feng Guozhang's current energy, even if he sits in the position of chief of the General Staff, in fact, the entire General Staff still wants him to be at the helm.

In other words, he was nothing more than a deputy chief of the General Staff without the title of Chief of the General Staff.

In that case, what else could he be dissatisfied with? After all, all he lacked was a name.

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The results of the meeting were soon announced, and although the countries were very interested in the personnel transfers, the most interesting thing for the general population was probably the expansion of the army.

After all, this time it was not a casual expansion of some troops, but a direct expansion of almost a million troops. Almost instantly, the Wehrmacht became the second largest armed group after Soviet Russia in terms of strength—————— of course, this will have to wait until the expansion is over.

But even so, with more than three million troops, it can be proud of most enemies.

What's more, the Wehrmacht is different from Soviet Russia, and the more than 5 million troops on the Soviet side of Russia already have rifles and other equipment. But the vast majority of the armies, except for some Russian-made rifles, only have weapons such as grenades, and many troops have not even unified their uniforms, and there is no need to think much about steel helmets or equipment and other things.

At the same time, the Wehrmacht has begun to consider motorization.

With the exception of at least a few mountain infantry divisions in the southeast, the vast majority of the Wehrmacht has begun to motorize, that is, to replace its own legs with car wheels.

Naturally, it was undoubtedly difficult to do so, but for the Wehrmacht, it was necessary to do so...

After all, compared to the original two legs, the speed of motorized propulsion is too fast. Naturally, the Wehrmacht did not give up on two-legged training, and things like the five-kilometre trail run of the past continued. After all, there are many areas that are not suitable for motorized troops to fight, and I am afraid that two legs will be needed at this time. (To be continued......)