The sun never sets in America

Chapter 380 The Consumption of War

War always appears at the most unlikely time and place. This is a passage from Liu Peng's "Theory of Land".

This sentence couldn't be more appropriate to describe this war that took place on the Black Sea. When the Russian army had to disrupt its plans and join the war because of a simple "taunting accident," the entire United States had already mobilized. .

According to Han's intelligence, the mobilization of this theory will be the largest military mobilization in the history of the United States. The entire US military will break through the three million mark from the current two million.

In the words of Han Army General Dong Ziqin, it is a "fight between trapped beasts." Although this sentence is a bit conceited, it is actually not easy to push the United States to this level.

According to the calculation of the 1.5 million people mobilized by the Han Dynasty, most of the entire Han army, excluding the 300,000 people who stayed at home, have actually appeared on the front line. Currently, there are about 1.2 million people.

At least 700,000 of the 1.2 million people are concentrated on the left. As for the center, which originally had the largest number of people, due to the delay of the war and the tacit understanding between the two sides, at least half of the troops have actually been mobilized, leaving only Three hundred thousand people.

So much so that many places had to use militias to maintain order, instead of the professional soldiers they had used more than two months ago.

For the Han State, supplying an army with millions of people fighting every moment was actually very expensive.

According to the latest statistics from the Han Dynasty's finances, in just two months since the war started, a total of 200 million Chinese yuan in war funds has been consumed, basically maintaining the level of 100 million yuan per month.

If Lieutenant Officer is the most basic entry level among officers, then the higher level of Colonel Officer is the real "treatment".

In addition to hot food, the rest is also cold food, and this part is mainly canned products.

According to the Han Dynasty's individual soldier supply report, an ordinary soldier can receive two bags of quick-brewed coffee or tea bags every day, which are the most basic drinks.

According to scientific estimates, the physical exertion of soldiers in war is at least double to 1.5 times that in peacetime.

After all, there are only so many generals who are promoted every year. Without support and outstanding achievements, who would choose you?

It is also a check and balance on the army. According to the earliest rules set by Liu Peng, the Han army is not allowed to get involved in business. Even internal activities like shops are prohibited from getting involved.

This amount of money could have been used to build a complete Atlantic fleet before the war, but now it was only consumed on the land battlefield where artillery fire continued every day.

"Since ancient times, if you are in charge of the army and do not do business, if you do business with a gun, big trouble will happen!!"

According to Han army standards, lieutenants alone can get three mid-range cigarettes every month, not counting other food standards that are higher than those of soldiers.

The reason for this is because of science. The food standards of the Han army were completely different from those of other countries at the same time. They were basically prepared in a scientific way.

Giving control of the general store to industry and commerce is essentially a check and balance.

Because the lessons from ancient times told him that running an army has always been a difficult task. If it is not done well, the disaster of the feudal town and the danger of the garrison will be around the corner.

But even with such treatment, a group of soldiers who were addicted to smoking still complained that they didn't have enough cigarettes. At this time, the military camp store stepped forward.

According to the standards of the Han Army, a soldier can get a pack of cigarettes priced at no less than four Chinese yuan per month. According to the special standards of the Han Army, when the cigarette factory supplies them, they are all enlarged versions, basically containing a pack of cigarettes. There are at least fifteen packs, almost half a pack a day.

The most real reason is that the "canned luncheon meat" of the US military is so unpalatable that some US military generals even said in an extremely angry tone when they saw it inspecting the cannery:
"If you were my soldiers, every one of you should be court-martialed and every one of you should be shot!!"

It is divided into four levels in total. The lowest level is the big-head soldiers, followed by lieutenant-level officers. This group of people is considered to be the middle reaches of the entire supply. The next level is the backbone of the army, the school level. The consumption of this level, although the number of people Not as many as lieutenants, but still a considerable expense.

The rest is another big consumer, food and medicine. This part of consumption is mainly reflected in waste.

The simplest way for people to obtain energy is actually to eat, to be precise, eating meat and sugar.

In addition to canned meat, the Han army's largest supply was canned fruit. Among them, canned pineapple produced in Penglai was the soldiers' favorite.

The highest level is actually those generals. These people are at the top of the supply chain, and any good thing must go to them first.

For most people, becoming a colonel is actually the most glorious moment in their lives. As for the more senior generals, for most people, it is simply a "dream."

This is an instinctive reaction that stays deep in human genes and is the most primitive need.

Just as Liu Peng once said to Prince Liu Yu:
"The most important thing in controlling an army is to control its financial resources. Without financial resources, generals will have no way to win over people's hearts and exchange benefits!!"

The most obvious one is the Han army's military ration standards, which are based on the war supply standards established before the war.

The fundamental reason is still the role of an army's system, or the traditional inertia.

The most obvious place for ammunition consumption is in the Montana battlefield. The daily consumption of artillery shells in the entire Montana battlefield is basically equivalent to three to four times that of the first Sino-American War more than ten years ago. If the even more terrifying bullet consumption is included, , that is an astronomical figure.

If soldiers are given the most basic standards, then for officers going up higher, it becomes more and more difficult.

The food standard for this part is one meal with two dishes, the main one being stew, which is the easiest to make. Most of them are meat dishes, and only a few are vegetarian dishes.

In addition, there is food. According to the food standards of the Han army, it is divided into hot food and cold food during wartime. Hot food actually refers to the big pot rice cooked on the battlefield.

As a unit directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the purpose of establishing this kind of store is not only to satisfy soldiers' desire for consumption, but also to meet their spiritual and even physical needs during their boring military career.

Otherwise, how could an officer like Dong Ziqin, who had just turned forty, be promoted to general in an exceptional manner recently?

At this point, the US military has the most say. Among the Han army supplies captured by the US military, cans are second only to weapons, and sometimes they even prefer cans to weapons.

For the vast number of grassroots officers, war is the best opportunity in their lives. After all, although the Han army is becoming more and more formal, when promotions are made, they are increasingly inclined towards officers who have performed well in the military academy, but Liu Peng The rule that "prime ministers must start from prefectures and counties, and strong generals must start from soldiers" is still there.

According to the Han Army's canning standards, canned meat must at least reach a higher level than the civilian level. The main tests are shelf life and sealing.

According to the standards, in addition to basic things such as cigarettes and food, a school officer can also enjoy longer vacations and more field allowances. According to these standards, a school officer's monthly income is enough to support seven people in a medium-sized city. A family of eight, maybe more.

If cans are a necessity, then cigarettes are the spiritual "food" for the soldiers.

In Liu Peng’s words:

What is even more distressing for the finances is that the waste in the entire war is also staggering, the most obvious of which are two major categories, one is ammunition consumption, and the other is food and medicine.

In the emperor Liu Peng's method of checks and balances, the army could maintain a certain degree of independence, but it could not be completely independent, not even half.

Not to mention the mental consumption involved, which is also huge.

As we all know, Han is currently the largest exporter of canned food in the world. It exports a wide variety of products that you can’t imagine, and there is nothing that Han canned goods manufacturers cannot do.

As the highest level of the Han army's supply standards, generals can actually be described not as simply eating and drinking, but as "priority".

What is priority? Priority is power. This is not something that can be compared with any allowance! !
In addition to the consumption of soldiers and officers, another major consumption in the entire war was medicine.

According to the Han army's field medical standards, each infantry team must be equipped with two military doctors. These two military doctors say they are doctors, but they are actually medical soldiers.

Mainly engaged in basic work such as injecting and bandaging, transporting the wounded, etc. In essence, he is not a doctor, just a nurse.

The reason for this is that qualified doctors have been assigned to regiment-level field hospitals. According to wartime standards, each regiment will be equipped with a hospital composed of about thirty medical personnel.

The standards of the hospitals are similar. They are basically allocated according to the number of people. Some regiments have a large number of people and the battles they are engaged in are very dangerous. Therefore, the staffing before the war is basically an additional allocation, or a temporary increase, which can be regarded as a patch in the war. Behavior.

In addition to medical care, the most important thing is drugs. According to the standards of the Han army, they are basically divided into two categories: anti-inflammatory drugs and trauma drugs.

Among these drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs are the most consumed. After all, in the age of firearms, the biggest risk after injury is actually infection.

The second is trauma medicine. If anti-inflammatory drugs are developed according to the standards of Western medicine, then window trauma medicine is a typical Chinese medicine.

In the Han Dynasty, although traditional Chinese medicine was not as popular as Western medicine, thanks to industrialization, the traditional Chinese medicine in the Han country was basically industrially produced.

Compared with the "old method" of dispensing medicines and consultations, industrialization is simply an epoch-making progress.

It can even be said that it once rewrote the fate of traditional Chinese medicine, allowing traditional Chinese medicine, which should have been dominated by Western medicine, to re-enter the world. Even the name of "Kampo medicine" is known by people in some remote areas.

The annual pharmaceutical export alone is as high as 20 million yuan. This shows that Han's current medical level has become one of the world's leading levels.

The Han army's medical consumption was huge. According to the latest statistics, at least 35 million yuan worth of medicines were consumed in just two months. Among these medicines, anti-inflammatory drugs were the highest.

You must know that the total consumption of the Han army has just exceeded 200 million Chinese yuan. What is the concept of 35 million Chinese yuan? Basically, nearly a quarter of the consumption comes from medicine.

The entire Sino-American War has basically been a huge "financial black hole" until now.

This is also the main reason why the Ministry of Finance recently issued another 300 million yuan in government bonds, because if we continue to fight for a few more months, we will really have no money.
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"I have long said that this war cannot be fought. If it is to be fought, it must be fought quickly. Well, now, we haven't even won Montana, and we have to fill in tens of millions more every month!!"

"This person often says that when a cannon goes off, there is ten thousand taels of gold. I didn't believe it before, but now it seems that I am still too conservative!!"

"This isn't a war, it's just throwing money away!!"

Du Shaoguang, the newly appointed Finance Minister, is like a "resentful woman" who has been let down by her husband, constantly expressing dissatisfaction with the current war consumption.

Opposite him were financial officials who were equally unhappy. For them, the two months since the beginning of the war were their most painful two months. The billion-dollar national debt in the previous two years has not been paid off. Recently, Another debt of 300 million yuan. If other countries' finances borrow new debts to repay old debts, then Han's new debts have not yet been repaid and new debts have been added.

Such an unhealthy financial system is actually very dangerous. Once it is not properly controlled, economic crisis and court crisis will explode in an instant.

But the benefits of continuing this war are also huge. Among other things, after the occupation of Oklahoma, Xijing's fortune surged instantly, and its apparent wealth increased by more than 200 million yuan in just one week. Although this It's just a market impulse.

But the market is often a reflection of reality. Assuming that the Han army did not fight well, how could there be such a good market response?

In fact, as Europe becomes increasingly chaotic, more and more safe haven funds are flowing to Han. What does this mean? It means that global funds are extremely optimistic about Han’s prospects and are even certain that Han will win this battle. A war for the fate of America.

Although this kind of behavior does not completely mean anything, the U.S. stock market did experience three "slides" in the first two months of the war.

The first time was on the day the war started, the second time was when the Han army occupied Oklahoma, and the third time was the recent dominance shown by the Han army in the Montana battlefield.

Some pessimists in the United States even believe that the defeat of the United States is inevitable. It is a wise choice to negotiate peace with Han as soon as possible and obtain a decent retreat.

It is true that this kind of almost surrendering speech was "punished" by the whole country, and President Lincoln even called those people "rats in the gutter."

But this is not important. What is important is that cracks have appeared in the United States. This is also the reason why the Han army has been attacking particularly fiercely during this period. The main reason is to "cooperate" with these so-called "rats".

But these fiscal officials cannot see that. They only see spending that is soaring every day and the so-called "deficit."

"Tell me, what are these army troops doing in Montana? They are consuming artillery shells every day. It is said that no one is dispatched anymore. They are just firing artillery every day. I really don't know what these guys think. Artillery shells are free of charge??"

"I think, sooner or later, all the wealth of the Han Kingdom will be wiped out by them!!"

Du Shaoguang's tone was full of complaints about the Montana frontline army. At least from now on, the army's consumption has made him a little "crazy".

"No, we have to hurry up and push these guys. If this continues, everyone will have to pay off their debts with their bare buttocks!!"

Although Du Shaoguang's words are rude, they are true. After all, no country's finances can tolerate such a situation of only getting in but not getting out for a long time.
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Liu Peng's study is not too big, basically about fifty square meters.

On the wall of the study room hangs a "Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Map". This map was a birthday gift from the prince on his birthday last year.

It is much smaller than the one Liu Peng wore when he first got married, mainly because of space considerations.

It is small, but it is indeed more sophisticated than the original one, and the area under its jurisdiction is several times larger. You can even see vassal states like Japan and Japan on it, even the Haidong Principality, a vassal state far away in Africa. can see.

Liu Peng is actually very satisfied with this picture, otherwise it would not be hanging in his study room, and it would be the most conspicuous place in the hall.

"Brush, brush," the fluctuating sound of the pen sounded on the memorial. This was Liu Peng's daily work as a powerful emperor.

Due to the outbreak of the war, eight out of ten memorials are about the war. Although there are two other memorials that do not belong to the war, they are inextricably linked to the war.

War is the national theme of the Han Dynasty during this period.

Liu Peng paused suddenly, then signed his name on a confidential naval document and stamped it with a jade seal symbolizing imperial power.

When the jade seal fell, there were large characters engraved on it: "If you live as long as the sky, you will receive eternal prosperity". This was imitated by the Han Empire based on the legendary jade seal passed down to the country. The fundamental reason was that they could not find the real one, so they carved a new one with good jade. .

Its essence is to replace the Qin Seal with the Han Seal.

After finishing writing, Liu Peng reached out and picked up an army document, which contained a plan related to success or failure. Liu Peng read it for a long time before giving instructions: "Plan carefully and make bold decisions."

Then he signed the same signature and stamped it with a jade seal, which was regarded as approval of the Army's plan.

After the military matter was settled, Liu Peng began to read the government affairs reported by the cabinet.

Originally, according to tradition, the cabinet's affairs should be put first, but after the war broke out, the cabinet gave way to the army.

After all, "national war is more important than anything else."

"Wow", he opened the cabinet's memorials, and the first one gave Liu Peng a headache. This was the "please fight quickly" memorial submitted by Du Shaoguang.

The sentence "I'm afraid I won't be able to repay it if I waste too much time" made Liu Peng frown for a long time, and then stepped on it to give instructions:

"Military information is important, and you cannot make money at a loss. This is the evaluation of the merchant's mentality."

"Although the war consumes a lot of money, it is not without end. When the victory comes, other countries can pay off their debts!!"

Liu Peng's words were quite explicit. When word spread, those who didn't know thought it was "domineering", and those who knew it said it was "robbery".

When everything was over, Liu Peng stood in front of this picture of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers and murmured to himself: "The mountains and rivers of America are thousands of miles tall, the sky is high and the sky is high, and everything is vast. With millions of troops to kill the foreign captives, the continents thousands of miles away are all mixed up."

(End of this chapter)