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

Chapter 27｜Blind Date in Progress
"One year?" Shang Yuxiu denied it directly. "It's unrealistic. It's too unrealistic. It's just a fantasy."

"It is actually possible." Shang Ke insisted.

The strategic depth of Ivan Ross and Varland is too different, which is quite disadvantageous to the latter.

The error tolerance rate is very low!

The straight-line distance from Warsaw to Moscow is over 1,100 kilometers, but the distance from Warsaw to Berlin is only about 500 kilometers.

In previous European wars, the breakthrough and expansion capabilities of large military groups were very limited. Even if the defending side failed, there was ample time to redeploy troops and stabilize the position.

Unfortunately, armored forces and aviation changed all that.

Armored forces have extremely strong breakthrough capabilities. Once they break through the enemy's defense lines, they can quickly advance tens or even hundreds of kilometers.

Air force can play a role in deep blocking, attack railways and roads, hinder the movement of enemy combat reserves, and prevent the enemy from regrouping its forces.

Referring to the same battlefield in the history of the original plane, if a situation similar to Bagration unfortunately occurs and the main field group of Valland collapses, it will be out of control.

If a war breaks out, they can only be defeated once at most in the initial stage, while Ivan Ross can withstand three consecutive defeats.

The situation envisioned by Shang Ke was actually very conservative. As long as Walland lost more than it won, it was entirely possible that they would be driven to the gates of Berlin within a year.

The most extreme case is a reverse replica of Barbarossa, in which case it might even be possible for Ivan Ross to speed through Valland in three weeks.

"...In the last European war, America wanted to intervene, but was stopped. If a war breaks out again in the future, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop them." Shang Yuxiu sighed.

Through his father's words, Shang Ke was able to gain a preliminary understanding of the attitudes and expectations of the upper echelons of the Grand Federation.

The country's basic pursuit is to completely set the already dim sun of the British Empire and seize the brightest jewel in the crown. First, it will push its actual sphere of influence westward to the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf, and second, it will extend its influence southward into the Australian continent.

A more ambitious strategy is to try to expand its influence in Europe and gradually disintegrate European countries economically.

Regarding this grand blueprint, the Grand Unification Federation has actually already taken experimental action, but the intensity is still very small and it can only be considered a casual move for the time being.

The target carefully selected by our country was the Kingdom of Hungary, which was eager to protect itself. The two sides hit it off immediately. In the past two years, exchanges have become increasingly close, and a large-scale military assistance program has been launched.

It can be said that Hungary is the bridgehead for the country's influence to penetrate into Europe!

After learning about these situations, Shang Ke wanted to calm down and think carefully about them and make long-term plans.

However, his parents did not give him a chance. Wei Shuhua called him to the living room and told him very seriously that he could no longer avoid marriage!
She said, "You usually have a job to do, but now that you're home, take a day off and go meet some girls. It's time for you to start a family."

Shang Kexin said that he had no time to deal with personal problems at all. Europe was like a powder keg and a war might break out at any time. If he didn't prepare now, his life would probably be a waste of time and waiting for death. He still wanted to be a general.

He used an excuse as a delaying tactic and said sternly, "The division commander recommended me to attend the tank school for further training. I'm going to change my career in the future, so I definitely won't have time next year."

This excuse didn't work on Wei Shuhua. Her eyebrows furrowed into an inverted 'e' shape as she urged, "That's next year! Aren't you on vacation now? Go take a walk and have a look!"

Realizing that he couldn't persuade his mother, Shang Ke reluctantly agreed and prepared to leave.

However, Wei Shuhua pressed the issue and listed to him several girls of marriageable age recommended by relatives and friends during this period.

Too tall, no! Too short, no! Too beautiful, no! Too ugly, no! Too lively, no! Too reserved, no!
Shang was deliberately nitpicking. He found dissatisfaction in all the six girls listed by Wei Shuhua and rejected them one by one.

Generally speaking, parents follow the basic principle of equal status when choosing blind date partners, so there are not many options.

Seeing him like this, Wei Shuhua was so angry that she laughed and said sarcastically: "You have become so arrogant and your standards are so high. I'm afraid I can only find a fairy for you in the sky." In short, this game lasted for two full days.

Mr. Shang insisted on taking a passive approach and refused to cooperate, refusing to agree.

In order to make his mother give up temporarily, on the third day he reluctantly went to meet with the youngest daughter of the Audit Bureau Director of Gusu Prefecture.

This is a dignified girl with good temperament and acceptable appearance.

Out of politeness and to avoid wasting time, Shang Ke stated his thoughts directly within three sentences as soon as they met.

After learning about this, Miss He Er also expressed her understanding, and instead listened to Mr. Shang's story with great interest.

"It's really dangerous." Miss He sighed, then smiled and said, "You and I are indeed not suitable. I hope to have someone to accompany me normally, and I don't want to always worry about my husband being away... Guns and cannons have no eyes... You know."

Despite their very different intentions, the two still talked for a long time.

Shang Ke came up with a key idea these two days, but putting it into action requires a considerable amount of start-up capital.

He hesitated and asked, "By the way, Miss He, do you know anything about bank loans?"

"I know a little." Miss He Er was puzzled. She felt that Mr. Shang should not be short of money.

"What if I want a loan? How much can I borrow?"

"I remember you had no brothers or sisters?"

"Yes."

"Given your family's situation, it must be at least a million." Miss He Er suddenly remembered something and said quickly, "Oh no, such a huge amount of money can only be a commercial loan. You are a soldier, so you can't apply for it."

This was a provision that the founding father specifically requested be written into the constitution when the country was founded, and it has been strictly enforced for more than a hundred years.

It seems that the loan route is not feasible.

After saying goodbye in a friendly manner, Shang Ke kept thinking about the issue of start-up capital on his way home.

How to realize the creativity and designs of future generations as soon as possible?

The workload of weapons and equipment design and military theory construction is extremely huge. It is obviously impossible to rely on his personal energy alone, and it is also difficult to convince the military top brass.

For this reason, he decided to establish a non-profit think tank - similar to the famous RAND Corporation, so that he could realize a variety of creative ideas quickly, efficiently and economically.

But this requires money, at least my own savings are not enough.

My parents' savings weren't great either. Members of the Grand Union could be described as "noble and aloof," with legal salaries low unless one was determined to make a killing. As long as one wanted to fill their pockets, the efficiency was far greater than "three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver coins."

Shang Ke couldn't blame Shang Yuxiu for this.

Shang Ke couldn't help but laugh at himself when he thought that he was facing a similar situation where a penny could only make a hero fall.

How could a time traveler be short of money?

This is ridiculous! Absolutely unacceptable!
(End of this chapter)