It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 230 | They're rich, but they're not afraid to die in war.

The fact that the Great Unified Federation does not have a permanent overseas operations command or related support agencies is quite surprising when you think about it.

At least in Shang Ke's view, this was quite incredible. In any case, maintaining such an organization would not take up much human resources, so it was better to prepare in advance.

It has a somewhat makeshift, amateurish feel to it.

An unwritten rule is that when pointing out a problem, one should not simply point it out; when appropriate, it is best to add one's own perspective.

Therefore, Shang Ke also put forward his own ideas, which were to set up the Expeditionary Force Headquarters and the Expeditionary Force Logistics Department, but not to use the name 'Expeditionary Force' for the time being.

The Logistics Department comprises six departments: Transportation Department, Ordnance Department, Ammunition Department, Food and Supplies Department, Fuel Department, and Medical Department.

The headquarters comprises seven departments: the Staff Department, the Military Intelligence Department, the Secretariat, the Communications Department, the Military Affairs Department, the Administration Department, and the Military Law Department.

The staff office was the largest, directly managing the artillery command, the armored forces command, and the air force command.

There were no objections to Mr. Shang's proposal at the seminar.

This was bound to happen sooner or later; it would definitely need to be formed when we were about to enter the war. It's just that everyone assumed there was no rush and didn't expect it to be so far in advance. But since someone has proposed it first, let's do it sooner rather than later.

The minor incident caused little disturbance, and the seminar concluded smoothly.

At the current steady pace, the Grand Unified Federation will be basically ready for war by the end of the year, and the expected field force order will be:
| 54 standard infantry divisions (three-regiment motorized heavy divisions)

| 5 light and rapid infantry divisions (two-regiment motorized light divisions)

| 20 armored infantry divisions (three-regiment mechanized heavy divisions)

| 3 paratrooper divisions
| 9 engineer divisions
| 8 tank brigades
| 6 Marine Corps brigades
| 12 key air defense brigades
| 35 joint service support brigades
By then, the National Defense Forces will have 300 to 320 million well-trained field troops, 20 to 30 new divisions under training, and countless reserve personnel.

Looking back, it took about two years from the beginning of 1939 to the end of 1940, which was really difficult. Many people fell ill due to overwork.

Interestingly, the Federal Armed Forces are not keen on forming large-scale armored divisions. Despite the same theory of 'concentrated use of armored forces,' the Federal Armed Forces have their own ideas.

Simply put, instead of forming dedicated division-level armored units, tank brigades are temporarily assigned to armored infantry divisions as needed, and the two are combined to form a division-level armored combat group.

This model isn't necessarily wrong, but it's rather ahead of its time, perhaps even excessively so.

Shank initially objected, but considering the electronics industry and wireless equipment production of the Great Unified Federation, he kept quiet and thought it might be worth a try.
It can be said that the army has been expanding its military in waves over the past two years, while the navy, although it is also constantly building up its forces, has been quite low-key.

During peacetime, the National Defense Navy has consumed too much military spending, maintaining a relatively large blue-water fleet for a long time. With war looming, the National Defense Navy has found that while the number of capital ships is considerable, the number of small auxiliary ships cannot meet the demand.

Therefore, in the past two years, the national defense navy has been making up for the deficiencies in this area by building small ships such as minesweepers, anti-submarine ships, frigates, minesweepers, and anti-submarine ships in batches of hundreds.

Furthermore, specialized landing ships are a relatively recent concept. To facilitate overseas deployments, newly designed dock landing ships, infantry landing ships, large landing craft, and small landing craft must be built at an accelerated pace to meet demand. Work hard even in light rain! Work hard even in heavy rain! Work even in torrential rain! Work tirelessly even when there's no rain!
The military-related industries are booming. It is no exaggeration to say that the upstream and downstream industries are expanding almost every month, and recruitment advertisements from companies of all sizes are everywhere.

In some places, blue-collar skilled workers are earning far more than white-collar workers, and highly skilled veteran workers are in high demand by multiple companies.

The unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point in more than a decade, and the stock market is booming like never before. Companies in heavy industry and electronics are hitting new highs. Many people have put the economic recession behind them and are taking out their savings to plunge into the stock market...

This environment not only made Shang Ke grit his teeth, but to be honest, he felt a little crazy. He felt that the saying "the arrow is on the string and must be released" was extremely apt.

The sheer amount of effort the Great Unified Federation was putting into preparing for war was somewhat frightening to Shank, let alone to bystanders.

To the British, this was seen as a sign of impending doom, a prelude to a bloodbath. British India was 100% doomed, and Australia was in jeopardy as well.

So where is the Chinese people's final destination? Persia or the Suez Canal?
Following the meeting with Bolin, the Union Jack men of London were in a state of mixed frustration, regret, and anxiety, and were restless.

Veronica's sneer and rhetorical questions were still fresh in their minds, and the Union Jack men realized that this was truly a matter of life and death.

If the British Empire were to make just one more wrong move, it would be doomed!

For a bright future, the United Kingdom sent Foreign Minister Anthony Eden to West Virginia to explore the bottom line of the Great Unified Federation's war demands and negotiate a solution that would be acceptable to both sides in terms of face and substance.

Aiden adopted a humble stance, offering apologies and flattery before proposing a tentative plan: to voluntarily relinquish British India as a sign of sincerity, and then invite the Great Unified Federation to intervene in Europe, shattering the Ivan Rus's dream of dominating the continent.

The ruling government put on a good show of courtesy, but its attitude toward negotiations was rather perfunctory, showing little interest.

Only for India? Are you trying to fob off beggars?
In the world of martial arts, it's best to either not do anything at all, or to do it thoroughly. This principle applies to the dog-eat-dog world.

Not only colonies, but the ruling government also sought to dismantle the pound sterling system and even dump goods on the British Isles.

From the perspective of the ruling government, the colonies of the British Empire were like fish on a chopping board, to be killed at will. At most, they might accidentally cut their fingers and bleed a little. So why agree to only eat the tail of the fish?
Therefore, Aiden's trip to Xi'an was destined to be fruitless.

Of course, the President of the Federal Council also proposed a solution—a peaceful resolution of disputes without resorting to force is what everyone wants, and it is certainly possible, but the United Kingdom must relinquish British India, Oceania, Persia, the Suez Canal, and South Africa, and the British Isles must reduce tariffs on the Great Commonwealth.

What's the point of talking about this?!

Enraged, Aiden knew there was no hope. He suppressed his anger and said indignantly, "You are too arrogant. The British Empire has not fallen to the point of easily surrendering. The (Commonwealth) army and the Royal Navy are still inviolable forces. I don't think you nouveau riche are prepared for war."

The meeting fell into a few seconds of dead silence.

After a short while, the president flicked his cigarette ash and said calmly, "We have indeed been at peace for too long. We are rich, but we are not afraid to die in war."

(End of this chapter)