HCB Chapter 293: Dwarf Locust Reinforcement
Chapter 293: Dwarf Locust Reinforcement
Finance Minister Taro Watanabe said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, there is no problem in transporting five divisions to the new country."
"But once a conflict breaks out with the New Kingdom, the amount of weapons, ammunition, and supplies needed will be enormous, and the empire's finances simply cannot provide them."
It’s not that the country really has no money, but the economic development of the small locust country has encountered a bottleneck in recent years, and the investment in the navy is very large, and the annual budget has already been allocated.
If you want to reallocate now, you need to make a new budget.
Of course, if the Ministry of Finance has the final say in making the budget, it can change it in a minute. The key is that the departments will not easily agree to reduce the budget of other aspects.
Whether it is the navy, army, education, medical care, etc., there will be dissatisfaction in all departments.
After thinking for a moment, the dwarf locust said, "I will save all the budget allocated to the royal family this year to support the resolution of reinforcement."
"No, Your Majesty, how can we let you do this?" Prime Minister Okada Sukemi was shocked.
If this forces the little locusts to tighten their belts while they are still enjoying the feasts and fish here, how will they, the ministers, cope with the situation?
Thinking of this, Okada Keishi said: "I will cut the military expenditures for the army and navy this year, but you don't have to cut your Majesty's portion."
"Yo." The little locust was very satisfied with this.
The Minister of the Army, Makino Eikaki, suddenly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. In recent years, the army's military expenditure has been lower than that of the navy, and he was naturally unwilling to cut the army's military expenditure.
But this was the Prime Minister's decision, so he could only endure it, but his eyes were staring fiercely at Navy Minister Taro Toyoda.
"It's all because of these naval idiots. If they hadn't spent a huge amount of military money every year without any results, how could the national finances be so tight?"
Of course, Makino Rongxian only thought about this in his mind and did not say it out loud.
Navy Minister Taro Toyoda was also very unhappy. If naval spending was cut, it would seriously affect the navy's combat effectiveness.
Navy ships are fixed investments, but annual maintenance and fuel are also fixed expenses. Only through rigorous training can a strong navy be trained.
Every investment they make is a necessity. If they don't maintain their warships, won't they just watch them rust and age?
Without fuel, warships are just decorations. If they are not rigorously trained, are these warships bought just for decoration?
Taro Toyota was extremely unwilling in his heart, but he could only endure it silently. After all, both the dwarf locust and the prime minister had spoken, and he couldn't disobey the dwarf locust.
After calming down, Makino Eikai said, "Your Majesty, we are sending five more divisions into the new country. How should we arrange the insufficient domestic troops?"
Hearing this question, not only the dwarf grasshopper had a headache, but the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister were even more troubled.
It costs money to replenish troops, equip soldiers, and train them.
In order to have enough sense of security, the little locust gritted his teeth and said: "I saved some money in the past few years, and all of it was used to expand the army."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Muye Rongxian immediately became smiling.
Cutting military spending, right? Even if military spending is cut, the army still needs to be expanded and military spending increased. If we just keep a little bit of it in the new army, the part that was cut will come out, right?
After a moment of excitement, Muye Rongxian asked again: "Your Majesty, how many troops are you going to expand this time?"
"Ten divisions." The dwarf locust said in a firm tone.
Hearing this number, Makino Eikai was stunned. No, did he hear it right? They want to expand ten divisions?
The Little Locust has a total of eleven divisions, namely: Omoto, Tamura, Asada, Ando, Yamane, Yamauchi, Fujii, Oi, Kinoshita, Morioka, and Isomura, a total of eleven divisions.
Now that the Omoto Division has been destroyed and the Tamura Division is stationed in New Country, there are only nine divisions left in the country.
After being stunned, Makino Rongxian was suddenly overjoyed. The army was about to double in size. With the expansion of the standing army, the army's voice would naturally increase greatly.
Navy Minister Taro Toyota also said: "Your Majesty, if the army is expanding, shouldn't our navy also be expanded?"
"The navy will maintain the status quo for now." The dwarf locust shook his head.
When the Little Locust prepared to use military force against the new country, the navy had no other use except for transporting troops and supplies.
In the vast land of the new country, only a strong army can participate in the struggle for hegemony.
Of course, even if we want to use military force against the new country, we will have to make a long preparation, such as expanding the military, preparing weapons and ammunition, military uniforms, food, medicine and other logistical supplies.
On March 3, all the troops of the Second War Zone arrived in Kaiyuan. On the other hand, the Abe Brigade of the Little Locust also entered Dingcao County on the 10th.
"Commander Cai, Commander Zhao, Commander Wang, and Commander Li." Outside Kaiyuan City, Fang Guoxuan greeted Cai Yanwu and others.
Although Zhao Linyu and others will soon become military district commanders, Fang Guoxuan only calls them army commanders before the appointment is made.
As for the soldiers of the Second War Zone, Fang Guoxuan arranged them to be stationed around Kaiyuan for support. After arranging the troops, Cai Yanwu came to Kaiyuan City at the invitation of Fang Guoxuan.
Seeing Fang Guoxuan, Cai Yanwu and others also stepped forward and greeted him: "Commander Fang."
After several people came forward and shook hands with each other warmly, Fang Guoxuan took Cai Yanwu and others and went straight to the headquarters.
I sat down in the headquarters meeting room and an officer came in and served tea.
"Commander Fang, what's the current situation on the front line? Have they engaged in battle with the dwarf locust army?" Wang Zhixian asked impatiently after the officer went down.
Fang Guoxuan shook his head slightly: "At present, the front-line troops have arranged defenses, and the dwarf locust army has not been found yet."
"Moreover, there is only one small dwarf locust division in the entire Qiyuan. Even if a war breaks out, the troops on the front line can fully cope with it."
Li Weiling curled his lips and said, "How about we go directly to Qiyuan Province and drive all these little dwarf locusts out of the new country."
"After all, the Dwarf Locust Army is not a new country force. We still need to seek the commander's consent before going to war with them."
Cai Yanwu immediately changed the subject and asked, "Commander Fang, the troops of the Second Theater are all scattered in Kaiyuan. If we want to carry out training, it will be difficult to carry out the training. What do you think?"
The troops need training grounds and venues. There are more than 200,000 people in the Second War Zone, and it is indeed a bit crowded if they are all in Kaiyuan.
"We can deploy them in several surrounding cities." Fang Guoxuan said as he came to the map.
Then they selected some places, discussed some details, and Fang Guoxuan took everyone to have dinner at the headquarters.
As soon as he sat down, an officer came up with a telegram in his hand and reported: "Commander, urgent message from the front line."
After Fang Guoxuan took the telegram and read it, he didn't care. He waved his hand to let the officer go, and still smiled and asked everyone to continue eating.
Cai Yanwu asked, "What's wrong, Commander Fang? What happened?"
"A force of about 10,000 small locusts has entered Dingcao County," said Fang Guoxuan.
Cai Yanwu smiled and said, "These little dwarf locusts are a little slow to react."
"Yes, if we intended to seize Qiyuan, we would have taken down Mingze, Jinye, and Tengfeng before they could react and directly surrounded Qichang City." Zhao Linyu said.