1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2494
Haihan's military strength has not been significantly affected by the departure of Wang Tom and others, at least not in the short term.In the more than 20 years since the establishment of the Haihan Army, batch after batch of officers have been trained, many of whom are outstanding.Although they may not be as knowledgeable as those who have mastered advanced technology, they have also honed a wealth of combat experience during their years of military service, and their professional capabilities far surpass those of competitors of the same era.

The military command system formed by these young officers allowed the Haihan Army to maintain its inherent combat capabilities in the continuous expansion, and the overall military strength continued to rise.

As for the young officers who have gradually taken over power and become the main force in the army, if they want to continue to climb up to the top of the Ministry of Defense, they must prove their ability with actual military achievements.

However, considering the current international situation, Haihan can't find a more suitable opponent in East Asia.

The Manchu Qing retreated to the area north of Shenyang, and the part of its ruling area bordering Haihan was almost entirely mountainous, which was not conducive to combat operations.Moreover, since the signing of the trade agreement between the two countries, the past few years have been considered peaceful, and trade exchanges have become more frequent.As long as it is profitable, neither side has any intention of restarting the war.Under such circumstances, neither the Executive Committee nor the Liaolu Colonial Region would be willing to take the initiative to launch a war against the Qing Dynasty.

But Daming knew that he was defeated by Haihan, so he put all the main forces in the north, and continued to fight with the Manchus for a long time without end.On the one hand, Haihan wants to digest the existing ruling area, and on the other hand, he does not want to see another war in Ming Dynasty, which will affect his many trade activities in Ming Dynasty, so he will not easily launch military operations against Ming Dynasty.

As for the competitors from Europe, represented by Portugal and the Netherlands, they all chose to cooperate with Haihan to solve the problem through negotiation.And countries that are unwilling to cooperate with Haihan, such as Spain, are now hard to see in East Asia.

After Li Hao returns to China, North Korea will gradually become a situation where the north and the south are divided. It can be said that it has been completely under the control of Haihan, and there will be no more chaos in the short term.However, the Japanese shogunate implemented a policy of seclusion and isolation, and it was an island country with scarce resources, which was neither very attractive nor a threat to Hai Han.Therefore, neither the North Korea nor Japan will be the target of Haihan's use of force.

As the international situation in the East Asian continent tends to stabilize, the military can only shift the direction of expansion to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.Three months after Wang Tom resigned and went to the other side of the ocean, the Ministry of National Defense issued a new military plan, which roughly planned the direction of expansion in the next five to ten years.

According to this plan, the Haihan Army will launch a series of military operations in the Indian Ocean region west of the Strait of Malacca. The first is to establish colonies and transit ports on the coast of the Indian Peninsula on the west side of the Bay of Bengal, and then the next step is to cross the Arabian Sea. Set up colonies at the two geographical hubs of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, and launch sea routes between East and West Asia.

In order to realize this plan, armed forces mainly based on the navy must be stationed in the above-mentioned colonial areas to ensure that Haihan's interests in the area are not violated.Due to the large geographical span of these colonial areas, at least one medium-sized naval fleet must be deployed in each colonial area.

The scale of this military expansion plan is indeed not small, but if it is extended to a time span of five to ten years, the addition of three medium-sized naval fleets is not too exaggerated.Haihan's existing shipbuilding capabilities can fully meet such demands.

Of course, the cost of building these fleets is not small. Just for shipbuilding, it is estimated that the military expenditure required for each fleet will reach about 200 million yuan.Moreover, the farther away from Haihan's traditional sphere of influence, the higher the cost of maintaining the fleet's daily operations, which will be astronomical over the years.

How to use the operation of these future colonial areas to make profits to offset the relevant military expenditures? The Ministry of National Defense only put forward some suggestions symbolically. After all, this is not the responsibility of the military. It must be joined by the Ministry of Commerce and other departments. .

The military opens the way, trade builds bridges, and colonization is the foundation. These are basically the operating routines of Haihan's external expansion.However, in the past 20 years, Haihan has been operating in East Asia and Southeast Asia, which he is relatively familiar with, and the regions involved in this plan can be regarded as blind spots for Haihan, and will face relatively large operational risks.

After the military's plan was submitted to the Executive Committee for deliberation, it aroused intense discussions.Some opinions believe that Haihan still needs to continue to adhere to the development strategy centered on the East Asian continent, and should not disperse its forces prematurely for overseas expansion, which will greatly delay the time for Haihan to attack the mainland.

Another group of people, represented by the military, insisted that Haihan should control some geographical key points with strategic value as soon as possible.If the direct sea channel to the Middle East and East Africa can be established as soon as possible, it will play a great role in Haihan's future westward expansion.

After several meetings and discussions, neither side was able to persuade the other side to fully accept their point of view.In the end, the military's proposal could only be partially passed in a compromised manner, that is, only the first phase of the plan will be implemented for the time being, and the construction of the colonial area at the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula will be the primary goal.After achieving this goal, it will be decided whether to implement the second phase of the plan depending on the international situation at that time and Haihan's own development status.

Although the military did not achieve the most ideal result, it did not return empty-handed anyway.With this first-stage plan, you can apply for a large military budget.

The person responsible for implementing this plan is naturally the Xingdao colonial area in the south.Roger had already organized the fleet to cross the Bay of Bengal and visit the Indian peninsula several years ago.Regarding the establishment of a colonial area on the Indian Peninsula in the future, Roger has long been making corresponding plans.

In fact, in the westward expansion plan submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the Executive Committee for consideration, Roger is one of the content planners.

There are two targets selected by Roger. One is Galle Bay at the southern tip of Ceylon Island, which has a natural harbor with relatively ideal hydrological conditions and is undeveloped.The other is Tuticorin, which is located at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. Compared with Galle Bay on Ceylon Island, it has a larger basic population, which can provide enough labor force and can have a faster speed in the early stage of construction.

(End of this chapter)