"We seem to have reached a bottleneck regarding alloys," said Maas, who was in charge of developing new alloys. "You asked us to develop several alloys that are lightweight, strong, tough, and ideally rust-resistant. They also need to be mass-produced and affordable. Honestly, you've requested almost all of these advantages, and we're struggling to deliver."
Lin Hai didn't directly answer Mas's question. Instead, he looked at everyone and asked, "If a war really breaks out, what situation will be most beneficial to us?"
"That means we don't have to participate in the war, and Xichuan and Xiangyun provinces won't be used as battlefields. We can focus on development and absorb refugees, which is in our best interest." This was actually said by Shi Zhen'er: "You just said that Wang Zuo and Zhang Jinnan fought over the chicken leg, and Wang Zhen ate it. So we can't go and fight over the chicken leg to eat it." After saying this, Shi Zhen'er gave Lin Hai a mischievous look, probably meaning that you don't have to be so blunt when talking to me, and it's not that I don't understand. Well, Lin Hai didn't expect Shi Zhen'er to make amends here, but he still agreed: "Zhen'er is right, but I have another question. How can we watch others fight over the chicken leg? You know, the two southwestern provinces are already one of the chicken legs. What's more, if the empire orders us to attack the Chen Dynasty or Cambodia, or even directly conscripts the Qinghe militia into the army and puts them under the jurisdiction of other leading generals, how can we refuse?"
"We want to let the Empire know that we are their most important source of pig iron and glass, and our presence can maintain such production."
"Then the Empire might increase its garrison in Qinghe, or send high-ranking officials to directly manage Qinghe, or even demand that we hand over methods to increase pig iron production. What then?"
"What else can I do? I won't give it to you. A few years ago, I was a member of the Tran Dynasty. Then the Tran Dynasty plundered us and ran away. The Khmers killed our people and burned our city. Then the Empire came again. Now, nothing these three families say can stop me. I just want to think about my own life."
"That being said, how can we guarantee that the Chen Dynasty or the Khmer will not attack us?"
"I've made a lot of money selling glass recently. Why don't I go out and give it a try by giving some gifts?"
"Then they knew we were rich and came faster."
......
There was a moment of silence, not because everyone didn't know how to solve the problem, but because everyone present knew that wealth alone could not guarantee one's own safety. If one wanted to stay out of this war, one had to have strong military force.
As the saying goes, if you have money you are tall, if you have a knife you are strong, if you have both money and a knife you are both tall and strong.
"To solve this problem, we simply need to improve the combat effectiveness of our militia. So far, our plans have all been interior defense, so if we want to improve our combat effectiveness, the most important thing is the quantity and quality of the army." Lin Hai took a sip of tea, sat up straight, and leaned forward slightly. Seeing this, all the students no longer surrounded him in a circle, but gathered in front of him.
"Let's talk about numbers first. Four battalions, totaling two thousand regular militiamen, are absolutely insufficient. To defend two provinces, we need at least twenty thousand regular militiamen, supported by reinforced concrete fortifications and fortifications in key locations. This is why Qitian Village must expand. Expanding our sphere of influence to Xiangyun is one thing, but gaining access to Xiangyun's population is even more crucial. Current intelligence suggests Xiangyun's population is still no less than one hundred thousand, if not more, though we haven't been able to quantify it. We still have the righteousness of the Empire, and we need to quickly gain the locals' recognition of us so that we can replenish our manpower quickly. You should understand that Xiangyun is nominally Imperial territory. Although the Empire has failed to establish effective rule there, this is also the reason why the Khmer have long coveted Xiangyun but have only dared to make minor moves. If a war truly breaks out, the Khmer will certainly attack Xiangyun. We must be able to stop the Khmer at the Mengyang frontier and draw their attention to the border with the Chen Dynasty."
After Lin Hai finished speaking, he looked at his twelve students, enjoying their shocked expressions. After all, in terms of strength, Qinghe was barely one of the strongest counties in the world, well, barely one of the top 100, even factoring in steel production. If one only considered population, which was the most important factor in the ancients' thinking, Qinghe was currently at best a lower-tier or mid-tier county. Yet, Lin Hai, whose official position within the county was merely the head of the third shift of yamen runners, had actually begun to seize land equivalent to an entire province, and was even prepared to oppose two countries to achieve this goal.
Well, many years later, Ding Lin, then commander of the First Battalion of the Qinghe Militia and later commander of the Group Army, said, "At the time, I didn't know whether the principal's display of ambition or courage was called it. It was something we didn't originally possess, something we wouldn't even consider. When everything settled and the world returned to normal, I realized that it was a vision that anticipated ours by countless years, and it was under the watchful eyes of that vision that we have walked step by step to where we are today."
Seeing the students' eyes gradually recover, Lin Hai felt that even if they couldn't understand, they would at least remember what he had just said, so he continued, "An army of 20,000, especially one that has never fought against regular armies of other countries, is actually not enough. 20,000 is just the maximum number I can come up with based on our population and under the condition of maximum mobilization. Therefore, we still need to improve the quality of our army. This requires starting with ideology, training, and equipment. However, since it was Maas who just asked, today I will focus on equipment."
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