Blood-Red Front

Initially established in the local market.

Upon receiving Matsui's telegram, the newly promoted General Staff immediately reported to the newly promoted Empress and convened a General Headquarters meeting.

"What are your thoughts? Please share your opinions freely," the newly crowned empress, seated at the head of the table, gestured.

Deputy Chief of Staff Ishihara was the first to stand up and say, "The Foreign Minister has already contacted the ambassadors of the Western countries, and my suggestion is to have a third country mediate the peace."

"The reason is quite simple: our country's current economy is not yet sufficient to support a full-scale war."

"If we continue to implement the strategy outlined in the National Defense Policy, we can achieve final victory at a much lower cost."

According to the "National Defense Policy Outline", the current strategy of the newly established state should focus on consolidating the rule of the banner states outside the pass and planning for the autonomy of the Xia state in North China.

After blocking the southward route of the Rakshasa Kingdom, they will gradually infiltrate into Southeast Asia.

As for the other parts of Xia Kingdom, they will be occupied later.

The reason for doing so is very simple: the rising nation's military strength is not abundant, and the Xia nation lacks necessary strategic resources, namely oil and rubber.

Only by seizing the rubber and oil resources of Southeast Asia and securing the supply of strategic materials can the Rising Nation wage a final war against the Yusa Nation in the Pacific.

"Xia Kingdom will not cease hostilities!" Army Minister Tojo stood up.

"Although the conservatives in Xia State are inclined towards a ceasefire, Chen Zaizhi and the radicals are very hardline, and most importantly, we must not give Xia State time to develop!"

Looking around at the attendees, Tojo said, "Gentlemen, I would like to ask you to think about what the steel production and artillery production of Xia Kingdom were ten years ago."

"Then everyone think about it again, ten years from now, what will Xia Kingdom's steel production be, and what will its artillery production be?"

Everyone looked serious.

Ten years ago, when the Xia Kingdom had just completed its Northern Expedition, its steel production was only 3 tons and its pig iron production was 44 tons. However, in the latest report, the Xia Kingdom's steel production has reached 55 tons and its pig iron production has soared to 800 million tons.

As for artillery, Xia Kingdom used to only be able to produce mountain guns and field guns from the end of the last century, but according to the latest intelligence, Xia Kingdom has introduced advanced foreign technology and successfully developed new types of artillery.

Looking at the serious-looking people at the conference table, Tojo said, "If we give them another ten years to develop, will Xia's equipment level catch up? Will they still tolerate Qi's existence then?"

"Won't!"

"They will take the initiative to challenge and reclaim the lands beyond the pass, and at that time the empire will face a unified and powerful Xia Kingdom."

"My suggestion is to send reinforcements to Binxi to crush the Xia army in one fell swoop and disrupt their development pace."

"We cannot send troops to Hamanishi!" Ishihara immediately said.

"Even if we don't accept mediation, we should concentrate our forces in North China instead of Binxi. The terrain in North China is flat, which is conducive to the use of our army's firepower."

"North China is indeed advantageous for our firepower, but the western coast is where our naval advantage can be fully utilized!" Tojo said.

Tojo brought up the Navy, but the Navy personnel present remained silent, as if the meeting had nothing to do with them.

However, as Tojo and Ishihara argued, the heads and section chiefs of each operations department also got involved, and the whole meeting turned into a complete mess. If the Empress hadn't been there, everyone might have been cursing at each other.

The meeting ended without reaching a conclusion.

No one was surprised by this, since larger meetings are less likely to make decisions.

In the evening, the Queen summoned the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Minister of the Army, Minister of the Navy, Chief of the Army General Staff, and Chief of the Naval General Staff again.

"Gentlemen, you are all pillars of the empire. What are your thoughts on the meeting held during the day?"

Chief of the General Staff Yamamoto stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the current situation is no longer a choice we can make."

"The Hamasai Expeditionary Force is making slow progress and suffering staggering casualties. If the stalemate cannot be broken quickly, our country's fragile strategic balance will be completely shattered!"

"You mean to reinforce Binxi?" the newly crowned empress asked. "But where are we going to get troops from? The Rakshasa Kingdom has deployed 40 divisions in the Far East."

Yamamoto understood what the newly crowned empress meant. "Your Majesty, there is no need to mobilize troops from North China for the time being. I think that as long as we send two reserve divisions to reinforce Binxi, we should be able to defeat the Xia army."

"Yeah?"

"Make sure everything goes perfectly!" Yamamoto said solemnly.

"Let's do it that way then."

The newly crowned empress nodded, then looked at Nagano, the head of the Naval General Staff.

"The navy must provide full support for the Binxi operation. If necessary, battleships should be deployed to the mouth of the Yangtze River to conduct fire strikes on the Xia army's positions."

"Hi!" Nagano stood up at attention.

The newly established navy had 6 battleships and 4 aircraft carriers in the East China Sea of ​​Xia State. However, apart from the aircraft carriers participating in air combat, the battleships only provided fire support when the marines re-landed in the concession. They did not provide any support to the army with a single shell at other times.

However, now that the newly crowned Empress has spoken, the Navy must respond in any way.

With the strategic direction confirmed, the rising nation quickly issued a second wave of reinforcements, and tens of thousands of soldiers from two divisions began boarding transport ships.

……

Such a large-scale troop movement by the newly risen nation could not be kept secret, and the General Staff of the Xia Kingdom quickly received the relevant intelligence.

At the meeting, Political Minister Ren Huasheng said, "The strategic objective of the offensive against Binxi has been achieved, and it is time to withdraw from the battle."

The reason Xia Jun took the initiative to attack Binxi was to lure Chu Shengjun into changing his strategic offensive direction, thereby relieving the pressure on North China.

To the west of the main battlefield in Binxi, the Xia army has built three lines of defense in depth, and there are also several other defense lines between Binxi and Kyoto, such as the Wufu Line and the Xicheng Line.

The Xia army spent six years building these defense lines in order to buy time and wage a war of attrition against the newly promoted army.

However, just when Ren Huasheng thought that he only needed to follow the established strategy step by step, Chang Zhongshi, the Minister of Military Affairs, changed his mind.

"President, gentlemen, we underestimated the strength of the enemy and ourselves before, and thought that the two sides were far apart in strength. Therefore, we set changing the strategic offensive direction of the Rising Army as the main objective."

"But now, the progress of the Rising Army in Binxi is very slow, which shows that we are capable of fighting the Rising Army."

"If we can drive the Rising Army into the sea, the Xia Kingdom's influence in the international community will undergo a dramatic change."

Ren Huasheng was taken aback by Chang Zhongshi's words.

The newly formed navy had amassed more than 70 main warships in the open sea. With the support of such a large fleet, the three divisions of the newly formed navy could easily hold their positions.

"I disagree. Attacking now would be a losing proposition and would only be a waste of manpower."

"Our objective has been achieved. Now we should decisively abandon Binxi and retreat to the defense line."

Faced with Ren Huasheng's rebuttal, Chang Zhongshi remained as calm as an old dog.

"Minister Ren, Binxi is the most important economic and industrial center of Xia Kingdom. If we can take back Binxi, we can increase trade with Western countries and then confront the Chusheng Army in North China."

Binxi was the main concentration of foreign powers in Xia Kingdom, and naturally it also became the economic center of conglomerates and compradors.

If they couldn't hold on, the Jiangnan Consortium would have run away faster than anyone else. But now that they see a glimmer of hope for victory, they have a different idea.

"No matter how important Binxi is, it's not as important as those young soldiers. You're risking their lives!" Ren Hua said angrily, panting heavily.

"What war doesn't involve casualties? We will suffer casualties, and the newly promoted army will suffer casualties as well," Chang Zhongshi said calmly.

"The newly promoted army is reinforcing Binxi, and our army is also sending a large number of troops to the battlefield."

"Even if reinforcements from the newly promoted army arrive, the overall troop strength is still 70 to 18, the advantage is on our side!"

Chang Zhongshi stood up and looked at Chen Zaizhi, "President, I am willing to personally go to Binxi to command the battle and will definitely push the enemy into the sea!"

Upon hearing that Chang Zhongshi was going to the front lines, Chen Zaizhi, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "Zhongshi, Binxi is not like the rear. Guns and cannons have no eyes and are extremely dangerous."

"President, to serve the country is a sacrifice I can die for!"

Looking at everyone in the meeting room, Chen Zaizhi nodded. "Since you've made up your mind, I won't say anything more."

"However, Hua Sheng's words also make sense; the repaired defense line cannot be wasted."

"Here's what we'll do: the three main divisions of the 81st Army under the 18th Group Army will withdraw from the battlefield and establish defensive positions on the national defense line as originally planned. This will also serve as a safety net for you."

"Thank you, President!"

……