I want to be emperor

The war between the Chu Empire and Russia began many years ago. However, in the early years, due to the vastness of Siberia and the extremely difficult supply and troop transportation, the Chu army's fight in the direction of Siberia was quite painful. of.

The main reason is that the Chu army has advantages in weapons and equipment when facing the Russian army, but it does not have much advantage in military strength and logistical supplies.

It's not that the empire doesn't have enough troops, ammunition and food, it's just that it can't be transported!

Therefore, the battles that year were mainly carried out around several major rivers in Siberia. The scale of the battles between the two sides was not large. Generally, there were hundreds or thousands of people, which can be considered a large-scale battle.

But despite the difficulties of one kind or another, the fight was relatively smooth.

The main reason is that the Russians on the opposite side also face the same problems, or even more problems, and they do not have equipment advantages. Therefore, although the Chu army advanced slowly in the Siberian War in the [-]s, this was mainly due to geographical restrictions. Rather than talking about how strong the Russians' military resistance is.

Also due to transportation problems, this was also the main reason why the Chu army did not continue westward across the Ural River after reaching the east of the Ural Mountains and the east coast of the Caspian Sea in the 20s.

The distance was too far, and supplies were seriously difficult. At that time, the Chu Empire spent a lot of resources to maintain the military garrison of Xihai City, which was on the northeastern edge of the Caspian Sea and at the mouth of the Ural River.

From time to time, a very large transport team would start from the Yining Valley and then slowly walk westward to transport weapons, ammunition, uniforms and other military supplies to the strategic location of Xihai City.

The supply line along this route is more than 2000 kilometers long. In the era before trains and ships, such a long supply line was still a very heavy burden for an empire as big as the Chu Empire.

This is because the Chu Empire built many arsenals in the Yining area, capable of producing artillery, muskets, ammunition, cold weapons, military uniforms and other military supplies.

Without the support of the Yining Valley, a strategic agricultural and industrial city where the Chu Empire controlled the Western Regions and even the entire Central Asia, the various military supplies needed by the Chu army in Central Asia and other directions would have to be obtained from the Shaanxi-Gansu region further back. Shipped from Lanzhou, Chang'an and other places.

The supply distance will be doubled to more than [-] kilometers!

That would be even more troublesome... The stretch from Chang'an to Yining covers deserts, Gobi deserts, grasslands, and various harsh terrains. The length is nearly three thousand kilometers. Such a long transportation distance is simply a long way for military logistics supplies. A complete disaster.

Such a long and difficult supply line was an important reason that restricted the Chu army from continuing to advance westward.

In order to solve the problem of the distance between the eighteen provinces in Guan Nei and the Central Asian territories in the west and the difficult roads, the Chu Empire had already drafted a strategic railway connecting the Central Plains and Central Asia when the railway was first built, that is, from Chang'an to Northwest Railway in Yining.

This railway was also the most difficult railway to build in the early huge construction plan of the Dachu Empire Railway. There were too many complicated terrains along the way, and many places along the way were deserted. The most important thing is that this railway was sparsely populated because of the sparse people and goods along the way. There are relatively few contacts.

This means that it is difficult for this railway to make money in commercial operations, let alone make money, it is not easy to maintain operations without losing money.

The Northwest Railway is a very pure war-ready railway. In order to allow the Railway Corporation to build this railway and to reduce the cost of building railways, the Army sent many engineering troops to help build roads and bridges for a long time.

Thanks to the joint efforts of many parties, the Northwest Railway finally took nine years to build and was finally completed in the 30th year of Chengshun. The trains of the Chu Empire were finally able to smoothly reach Yining, the provincial capital of Turpan Province, an important town in the Western Regions.

After passing Yining, there is an open and flat Kazakh prairie. At this time, it is easy to build the railway. It only took two years for the Railway Corporation to build the Central Asia Railway trunk line, from Yining to Lianghe. The province governs the Turkish city.

The empire's border provinces of Lianghe were also connected by railway.

In this way, the trains of the Chu Empire can go all the way west from Jinling and reach Lianghe Province through the Central Plains Railway Network, the Northwest Railway Network, and the Central Asia Railway Network. Through the trains, a large number of people and materials from the eighteen provinces in the Guanhai Pass can be transported The continuous export to the Mesopotamia Province of Central Asia has given this sparsely populated Central Asian province an opportunity to develop even though it has been occupied by the empire for many years.

Lianghe Province has also begun to develop industry relying on the rich local mineral resources. The light industry mainly develops the wool textile industry and the leather industry, while the heavy industry mainly develops the mining industry, steel and defense industries.

After all, Lianghe Province is a land with a large area of ​​abundant water and grass, and is a traditional livestock area. In terms of light industry, it has natural advantages to develop wool spinning, leather and other industries based on animal husbandry.

At the same time, there are a lot of minerals in the local area, which are quite good for mining. But before the opening of the railway, even if the minerals were dug out, they could not be sold. You couldn't use horse-drawn carriages to transport them thousands of kilometers eastward. The freight would be sky-high. .

Therefore, before the opening of the railway, the mining industry in Lianghe Province was actually very small, mainly providing raw materials for the local hardware and defense industries.

After the railway is opened, with the convenient transportation mode of the railway, large-scale mining can be carried out in Lianghe Province and the mineral products can be transported eastward by train.

At the same time, the opening of the railway also brought more immigrants to settle down in Lianghe Province, which caused the local population to grow rapidly. And more people also mean more local consumer markets and more companies looking to When opportunities arise, they will invest locally, which will increase demand for basic products such as coal and steel.

Since the completion of the Central Asia Railway in Chengshun 32, Lianghe Province has also ushered in a peak of development, and its economic output has increased significantly. Among dozens of provinces in the empire (including overseas directly administered territories), the ranking has risen by a full ten How many people are there?

At the same time, the development of local industry and the improvement of supporting facilities have also provided better conditions for the development of the local defense industry. Its provincial capital, Turcheng, has gradually replaced Yining as the most important defense industry of the Chu Empire in the western region. City.

The Turkish Arsenal invested and constructed by Shaanxi-Gansu Arms Company is a large-scale comprehensive arsenal that can produce various types of firearms, artillery, and ammunition to supply the military needs of Central Asia. It was built in Chengshun 38 and began to produce various military supplies. Products are supplied to the military.

It is worth noting that in the same year, the core railway line of the Central Asia Railway, the Tuxi Line, that is, the railway line from Tuer City to Xihai City was completed. This railway with a length of more than 700 kilometers is undoubtedly a A serious war-ready railway, its military use far exceeds its commercial use.

With the arrival of this railway, the supply problems in Xihai City and the surrounding areas, that is, in the middle and lower reaches of the Ural River and in the southern Ural Mountains, that had troubled the Army for more than [-] years, have been completely solved.

And this is the basis for the military...well, mainly the army to advocate continuing to advance westward to seize the Eastern European plains!
It is not impossible to march into the Eastern European plains without this railway, but it is too troublesome and expensive. At the same time, the more advanced the Chu army's weapons and equipment, the greater its reliance on logistics. Once there are difficulties in logistics supply, then the The impact on the military's combat effectiveness is also relatively large.

Although it is not impossible to fight with a bayonet... But if you have breech-loaded rifled guns and don't use them, it's not stupid to have to play with bayonets. Even if you can win, you will suffer a lot of casualties.

At the same time, the world is so big, there is no need for the Chu Empire to expand its territory in the Eastern European plains when supplies are not smooth... It can completely expand its territory in other places first.

After all, the Eastern European plains are there, and it won't run away...

At the same time, the Great Chu Empire expanded its territory and gained a lot of land. There are only a few people in such a large area of ​​​​Siberia. The newly acquired area of ​​​​the Americas is so large that the current population of Chu in America is only more than 1000 million.

Basically, for the contemporary Chu people, as long as you are willing to leave your hometown and the prosperous Central Plains area, you can get enough farmland for farming wherever you go, and there is no problem of insufficient land.

The so-called "more people but less land" only refers to the eighteen provinces within the pass, especially the Central Plains and Jiangnan... There are still large areas in the empire where there are not many people.

Therefore, for the entire Great Chu Empire, it can actually be said to be vast and sparsely populated, with a lot of land per capita.

It's just that... many people would rather crowd in the prosperous Central Plains of Guan Nei, Jiangnan and other areas, especially those big cities, than go to remote and sparsely populated border areas and overseas territories.It's not that there isn't enough land, it's that people don't want to go there...

This situation is also the reason why the Chu Empire began to reduce its focus on simple territorial expansion a few years ago, and gradually changed its focus to large-scale economic colonization.

Such many circumstances have also led to the empire's procrastination in handling issues in Eastern Europe. In the early years, the empire's senior officials believed that the Western Front still needed to be expanded, but only after the railway was completed.

After the railway was actually completed, the empire's senior officials still dilly-dallyed for several years...it was not until the spring of Chengshun 42 that the westward expansion plan was officially finalized.

The reason why it has been delayed for several years is because the empire's senior officials are no longer interested in simply expanding the territory... On the contrary, the Army has always advocated promoting westward expansion. The Army's advocacy of westward expansion is naturally for military merit.

In the end, the empire's top brass reluctantly reached a consensus: Just fight... But the cabinet still said the same thing: You can fight, but still don't expect any extra military spending.

Although the Army has objections to this, there is nothing they can do about it... Since the Jungar War, apart from the regular annual military expenditures, the cabinet has not given the military even a single copper in additional military expenditures!

No matter what the military said, whether it was flattering, crying, exaggerating the threat of indigenous people, or even using aliens as an excuse, the cabinet was determined not to pay!
The main thing is an iron cock, never plucking a dime!
This situation has lasted for more than [-] years, and the Army also knows that it is impossible to obtain additional military expenditures from the cabinet because of a war in Eastern Europe.

Fortunately, the Army has made great gains in India, Africa and Europe over the years. Especially in recent years, the Army has continuously attacked a number of countries in Europe, captured a lot of loot, and received a share of confiscation and compensation. Quite a few.

Coupled with the many princely states in India, the army will also cooperate with the cabinet to harvest in turns, and there will be a lot of surplus every year.

The combination of the two has allowed the Army to save some money in recent years, purchase more guns and ammunition, and leave 2000 million as temporary war expenses.

Therefore, even if the cabinet does not provide additional war funds, the army's financial resources can still sustain a larger-scale war.

Besides, the Chu Empire did not always lose money in its wars, sometimes it also made money!
This time when we attack Eastern Europe, there will definitely be a lot of local loot that can be confiscated. We can also ask for compensation from the Kingdom of Russia afterwards. Even if we split it with the cabinet, we won't make much money, but we are unlikely to lose too much.

The combination of these many circumstances contributed to the official launch of the Eastern European campaign of the Chu Empire.

In March of the 42nd year of Chengshun, Emperor Luo Zhixue of the Great Chu Empire formally approved the "Eastern European Grain Development Plan" submitted by the Council of Ministers, authorizing the army and navy to attack and expel local indigenous people and seize large areas of plains in southern Eastern Europe. To develop it into the new super granary of the Chu Empire!
The Eastern European Grain Development Plan is also the code name for the external expansion action plan of the Great Chu Empire in recent years that is full of contemporary characteristics.

Just like the previous European trade free plan... on the surface it has nothing to do with the war.

In fact, war is indeed not the purpose. The core goal of the European Trade Free Plan is to fully open the European market and make the entire Europe an economic colony of the Chu Empire.

The Eastern European Grain Development Plan, as its name suggests, has its core goal to develop arable land in Eastern Europe, grow more grain, and create a super granary!
As for the war...that's just incidental.

After the plan was approved, various departments of the empire once again took action for large-scale external expansion. In addition to the army, which was the main force in the plan, the navy would also participate on a large scale.

At the same time, the cabinet will also be deeply involved. For example, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will select officials in advance to provide enough officials for the subsequent establishment of provinces, prefectures, counties and other administrative regions after taking over Eastern Europe.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs must prepare an immigration plan in advance... There must be a population to win this place, otherwise a bare piece of land will be useless. The empire launched this war just to win this super large farmland and then farm it. , to provide citizens with a more sufficient amount of food, and ultimately serve goals such as per capita food level, meat consumption level, and Gini index.

Also based on this goal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, together with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Industry and other agencies, are preparing to develop large tracts of cultivated land on the Eastern European plains, and are preparing to form or attract large-scale agricultural companies to establish large-scale horse farming or mechanized planting farms there.

With such a large piece of cultivated land, it is unreliable to simply slowly immigrate to it and rely on the immigrant farmer model to develop and cultivate it... It is too slow, and the per capita farming efficiency is too low.

It is still necessary to attract investment and allow agricultural companies to carry out large-scale development and mechanized planting.

The China Merchants Agricultural Company went to vast and sparsely populated areas to develop large-scale cultivated land. The empire had already gained a lot from the development of areas such as Northeast China, Monan, Mobei, Central Asia, and overseas territories such as the Americas and India. good effect.

Now the empire's top brass is preparing to replicate this approach in Eastern Europe.

And before the formal military operations started in March, imperial officials had already begun to attract investment for large tracts of farmland in some areas of Eastern Europe... This place is still in the hands of the Russians, but imperial officials have already transferred a large amount of land to Rented out directly...

Even the contract deposit was collected a lot!

Not only renting land, the Chu Empire officially established provinces in Eastern Europe in advance, and set up several prefectures and counties. Even the governor and several prefects and magistrates have been appointed and went to Xihai City to start temporary offices...

In order to further improve its rule, the Great Chu Empire planned to establish two governors in Eastern Europe... The reason why there were two governors was mainly because the area of ​​Eastern Europe was too large.

For example, Ukraine in later generations seems quite small on the map, but in fact it has more than 60 square kilometers of land, and Ukraine is only a small part of the Eastern European plains.

The core target of the Dachu Empire is the entire Eastern European plains!
The two governors are one in the south and one in the north. Otherwise, the area would be too big and it would be difficult for only one governor to manage it.

Of course, although the whole of Eastern Europe will be captured, the core key development area is currently only planned for the southern part of the Eastern European Plain. As for the north, it is difficult to develop due to the cold weather. How to deal with the subsequent development is a matter for the future.

At least the Chu Empire has no plans to develop the frozen soil in the north in the near future... Siberia, which is so big in the Chu Empire, is still moldy there, so how can it have time to develop the northern part of Eastern Europe.

Land in frontiers or overseas territories...as long as it is not fertile farmland, Chu people generally don't bother to develop it!
Again, the world is so big and there are so many good places. Chu people don’t have to develop those places with poor natural conditions.

Of course, these are limited to areas such as frontiers and overseas territories where there are only a few people and are extremely far away from the Central Plains and require heavy investment in development. As for the hinterland of the mainland, especially the eighteen provinces in Guan Nei, it is different... even in mountainous areas. They will plant sweet potatoes, corn or other economic crops for you.

Two governors in Eastern Europe have been established, and many prefectural and county units have been established. After receiving the appointment, a large number of civil servants have taken trains to Xihai City to make the final preparations for establishing the administrative structure of the Chu Empire in Eastern Europe. Prepare.

At this time, the army and navy, mainly the army, had also completed their preparations and started a new round of westward expansion war... Then the Russians on the opposite side were dumbfounded. These barbaric Chu people didn't even have an excuse. I was too lazy to look for it, so I just called when I was ready!

There is not even a declaration of war procedure, ultimatum or the like.

You asked the people of Chu why they didn’t declare war?The Chu people would answer him seriously: This war has never stopped!

Previously it was in Siberia, now it’s in Eastern Europe!
The Chu Empire can't declare war twice for the same war!