Although it is just a volcanic island, the stench of sulfur is everywhere; although there is no drop of fresh water on the island, unless it rains, spring is spring after all. In the fishy sea breeze, unknown flowers and large patches of weeds are growing wildly everywhere in Iwo Jima, unrestrained.

This deserted island located in the Central Pacific Ocean is located between the Japanese Mariana Islands and Tokyo. In the view of the staff of China and Japan, after the war against the United States, the Mariana Islands will be the last line of defense between China and Japan. It is certain that once the US Navy occupy Mariana, the bombs thrown by the b29 bomber will arrive in Japan.

In China, the industrial layout is mainly the Liaodong Industrial Zone, the Shanxi-Wuhan Industrial Zone, the Nanjing Industrial Zone, the Baotou-Xi'an-Chengdu Industrial Zone and the Western Regions Beiting Industrial Zone; the oil fields are one north and one west, and the north is Daqing, and the west is Beiting. As for the Yumen Oilfield and the Shaanxi Oilfield, the Ministry of Industry believes that even if the expansion is made regardless of cost, the output of the two will be only 2.5 million tons, which is better than nothing.

If the Mariana Islands are just lost, then under normal circumstances (US aircraft do not refuel in aerial or carry out one-way bombing), the entire Chinese mainland will be safe in Shanghai, Fuzhou and other places are about 3,000 kilometers away from the Mariana Islands, far away from the B29 range. However, if even Iwo Jima is lost, then Nanjing Industrial Zone, Liaodong Industrial Zone, Wuhan, and even Daqing Oilfield are within the combat radius of US bombers.

Even though the Daqing Oilfield is mysterious and difficult to find, the consequence of losing the Nanjing Industrial Zone, Liaodong Industrial Zone and Wuhan is that all shipyards will stop under strategic bombing. In addition to building some small submarines to continue fighting, the sea will be calm. Because of this, the factories in the Baotou-Xi'an-Chengdu Industrial Zone and the Beiting Industrial Zone in the Western Regions are all as scattered, concealed, and fortified as much as possible, but what is the use of losing the coastal areas? Although they are not afraid of the landing of the US military, and although there is (and perhaps) the Persian Gulf and the Eurasian Canal, from a grand strategic perspective, the war has failed. Therefore, in the General Staff plan, like the Luzon Peninsula to the south, Iwo Jima will be China's last line of defense.

On the Zhebo Mountain with lush weeds, looking at this small island, General Xu Jingxi, the Chief of Staff, kept shaking his head. He stomped the black volcanic ash under his feet and cursed: "How can you defend this shitty place when you really fight?"

The former Chief of Staff, General Bei Shou, General Zhou Sixu, Minister of Logistics, General Lin Songjian, Commander of the Engineer General Lu Mengxiong, Commander of the Marine Corps. The other adjutants were honestly staying under this hill that was only 160 meters high. Xu Jingxi shook his head, and the other generals sighed, and began to sigh since they landed on the island. The map marked the island about eight kilometers long and ranging from one to three kilometers wide. Although they knew it was small, they didn't expect it to be so small. Moreover, there were almost no hills and valleys on the island, which was difficult to defend. There were many underground caves, but there were not even a drop of fresh water on the island.

"The best way is to make this island disappear." Beishou was also extremely disappointed with Iwo Jima under his feet, but he always had to think about it. "This is a volcanic island. If it can detonate the volcano, there will be no problem of not defending or not."

"Yeah." Xu Jingxi nodded. It is of course the best way to make the island disappear or not be used, so I don't know if it is possible.

"It's not that you can't guard it, the key is to depend on how the fortifications are repaired." The person who spoke was General Lin Songjian, who was a engineer. "As long as there is electricity, supplies are not a problem, and underground fortification maintenance and ammunition supply are not a problem."

"But where is the electricity? There is no coal and no oil. Even if smoke rises, American bombs will come." General Lu Mengxiong felt very dissatisfied that the future guarding the island must be his soldiers. Of course, it is best not to defend, but war must be prepared for any eventuality. What if.

"Isn't this electricity?" General Lin Songjian stepped under his feet, "With volcanoes, there is geothermal heat, and power can be generated with geothermal heat. Where can I need a chimney? More than 20 years ago, Italy was the one that the navy was about to smoke, so I boarded a 250-kilowatt generator set. I think there is no other island, but there is a lot of volcanoes, and there is also a lot of geothermal heat on this side. If you really want to spend your energy, you will definitely not have to worry about electricity. If you don't have enough electricity, you won't have to worry about water; if you don't have enough reserves, use the explosives back to Linshenhe, there is sulfur, and there is a lot of nitrogen in the feces and urine. If you pull some charcoal, just..."

Although Lin Songjian's geothermal power generation lit up the eyes of the generals, his indifferent tone made everyone laugh. However, his tone was like this, his thinking was serious, and the laughter of everyone did not affect him at all.

"...Fortifications, factories, warehouses, and these can be built underground. If Americans are just not allowed to build airports, it will not be a problem to guard for a few years. The key is food and ammunition." He thought, and finally repeated: "The most important thing is food. If two divisions have to provide supplies for a year, it will cost more than 30,000 tons per year. There is no port at all. Once surrounded, it will be a dead island and cannot be replenished."

"If there is electricity, food is not a problem." Zhou Sixu, the chief of staff of the Expeditionary Force in Europe, was transferred by Yang Rui to the General Logistics Department very early. He had an idea of ​​logistics. "As long as the environment is right, it is not a problem to store grain for three to five years. Meat, oil, salt, tea, tobacco and sugar can also be placed in cold storage, and space is not a problem. However, a large cold storage consumes zero point, zero second degree of electricity per ton of grain per hour, and 100,000 tons per hour; meat consumes zero point, zero eight degrees per hour, and 25,000 tons per year, plus pumping, ventilation, seawater desalination, lighting, machinery, logistics, and ammunition..." He looked up at Lin Songjian, "The total installed capacity must not be less than 5,000 kilowatts. Can it be done?"

Unexpectedly, Zhou Sixu was really there, Lin Songjian was stunned and said, "How do I know? But as long as it is a volcano, there is a lot of geothermal heat. If it is not enough, just use oil to hit the pipes to hundreds of meters of ground. If it is not enough, use a few more. Anyway, there are volcanoes on both ends of the island. As the installation capacity is enough. I also have one worry, what if the US military uses 10,000 tons of explosives to centrally blast? The island is condensed from volcanic rocks, and it is solid and strong, and I am afraid that someone will centrally blast it. This will cause the underground fortifications to form faults and cannot connect the north and south." Lin Songjian said the worst case, and then looked at Xu Jingxi: "Old Xu, it is better to guard the island in front than to guard the broken island. This place is really too narrow!"

"Of course, the islands ahead also need to be guarded. The geothermal power plants and large cold storages you mentioned need to be built. This thing is much better than thermal power generation, without chimneys. Grains, meat, oil, salt, tea, cigarettes and sugar are all... But what should I do with vegetables?" Xu Jingxi turned his mind as soon as he specifically thought about it, worried about vitamins.

"If the submarine cannot be replenished and cannot be planted on the island, then you can only eat bean sprouts. The General Secretary's Military Food Department has repeatedly tried it. Mung beans are best stored, followed by broad beans, and soybeans are the worst. Mung beans are stored in a low temperature vacuum for three years, with a germination rate of more than 50%. Five years 10%." Zhou Sixu said. After saying that, he looked at Xu Jingxi and blamed him: "Xingchu, you are.... If you really want to build a geothermal power plant and underground fortifications on this island, you may have to spend 200 million to 300 million. It is better to build more aircraft carriers than to have this money. What if Americans jumped to the island to attack? This money is not thrown in vain!"

Zhou Sixu's questioning also expressed the thoughts of others. The island was isolated overseas and there was not even a waterway for submarines. What is the value of building fortifications? Xu Jingxi smiled helplessly: "The Japanese care about the Mariana Islands. We care about two islands on the sea. One is here, and the other is Ogasawara Islands, and there are two islands on the other side. The other Philippines, Taiwan, and Okinawa are all under the army, and the islands are guarded by the Air Force.

The island hopping tactic is feasible because there are other islands to jump. To the west and north of Mariana, it can serve as a take-off and landing ground for large bombers and is hanging overseas and not within the protection area of ​​the air force. The only three islands, Iwo Jima and Ogasawara, have been said that we are poor, not as poor as the United States. They are tactical aircraft and strategic aircraft can be built. What about us? Our resources are limited. We can only build carrier-based aircraft and land-based fighter jets. If we spend only one billion yuan, we will eliminate the threat of US strategic bombing. It is completely worth it.

Moreover, the fortifications were built before the war, and it only began to build aircraft carriers on a large scale during the war. If you built aircraft carriers before the war, not to mention that the Americans would also build them, we would not be able to build them. What if the Americans had the same thinking as the Japanese and did not turn around, and the battleships were the main ones and aircraft carriers were the auxiliary ones, wouldn’t this mean reminding them?”

"Will Mariana and Guam repair fortifications?" Xu Jingxi said something that made sense, and Lu Mengxiong, who was concerned about the Marine Corps mission, asked again.

"Of course, it needs to be repaired. But how to repair it has not been determined yet." Xu Jingxi beat his head and said, "According to the size required for the take-off and landing of a large bomber, there are about five islands that need to be built on the other side, and there is no geothermal heat there. The only thing to rely on is the depth of the water there. As long as the design is properly, the supply submarine can be replenished at night."

"You won't throw all my soldiers on these broken islands, right?" Thinking that the large islands of Guam require submarine supply at night, and Xu Jingxi said with scheming, Lu Mengxiong was finally shocked. He turned to Bei Shoutong, "Where is the Navy? Where is the Fleet? Zhu Tiansen. Mom, I'm going to find a gentleman, how does the Navy fight!"

"Don't look for it!" Bei Shoutong patted his shoulder, "According to common sense, we cannot build aircraft carriers before the war starts, because we will lead the US military to the battleship. After the war starts, we will naturally beat more aircraft carriers than the US military, which is why many of our things are hidden, but with the US industrial strength, he will eventually catch up.

Last year's intelligence showed that some people in the United States had applied for a patent for submerged arc welding. That is to say, because they can get rid of traditional riveting, their shipbuilding speed will be faster than before. However, whether they can promote submerged arc welding and whether they have mastered the principle of matching welding technology with steel. However, based on the potential capabilities of the US shipbuilding industry, it is estimated that it has at least twenty docking stations to build the main aircraft carrier, and in extreme cases it can be launched 30 ships; the construction time of each ship, according to the Commercial Intelligence Bureau, was estimated to be about two years in the early stage, and in the later stage, according to the learning curve, it may be compressed to one and a half years or even less. This is only a main aircraft carrier of more than 20,000 tons, and the simple aircraft carrier converted by merchant ships has not been counted yet..."

Bei Shoutong thought that Yang Rui's judgment on the US simple aircraft carrier during the war was scattered, and his expression suddenly became ugly. "It was pessimistic to say that at the beginning of the third year of the war, no matter how much victory our army had achieved before, it would be gradually overtaken by the enemy. This is not only in quantity, but also in quality. Once the navy fails in the decisive battle, Trick, who has no danger to defend, will definitely give up, and Mariana becomes a must-fight. Whether it is attacking from the North Pacific or the Central Pacific, this is the best offensive axis; if the situation cannot be opened here, the US military can only advance along the South Pacific to the Philippines. The navy is a technical branch and ships are the premise for combat, but the army is not exactly, especially when we are waiting for it.

It can be said that as long as we can defend Mariana and Bataan Peninsula, domestic industries will not be at risk of being destroyed by US strategic bombers, and even if we lose, they will retreat one after another. And as long as the United States drags long enough during the attack, and dies enough, the country will always be in chaos." Bei Shoutong smiled and said, "Sir, the United States is a theocratic republic, but the last time I went to see it, I always felt that except for the southern states, Americans in other states were not so pious."

After resigning from office, Bei Shoutong deliberately stayed in the United States as a military officer in the United States for a while, while Xu Jingxi stayed longer. He went to the United States very early. Now he can have a direct conversation with Americans without any translation.

"We just retreated all the way, relying on defending one island and one place to kill the enemy in order to end the war?" Zhou Si, who had been the chief of staff for half his life, was a little unbelievable. The two most talented people in Nanyang Public School back then could only come up with such a combat plan?!

"Of course we will attack!" Xu Jingxi's eyes immediately became sharp, as if he could break through the oncoming sea breeze. "But it is just to eliminate the enemy's vitality. If a ship-based aviation force is used to fight against the land-based aviation force, it would be a very disadvantageous thing. In a war, it is not only necessary to kill the enemy, but also to settle the calculations for the sea-based air force that barely boarded the ship for 300 hours to change to the land-based air force that takes 150 hours. No matter how it is, it is not worth it, not to mention that they also have land-based anti-aircraft artillery to help.

And even if we seize the island, how much resources do we have to spend to defend? Once the Americans jump to the island, the resources invested are worthless, so only the relevant islands, Saipan, Tining Island, Rota, Pagan Island, Iwo Jima, Ogasawara's father and mother islands, are the eight islands on the offensive axis worthy of our huge resources to defend. In addition, the Philippines, with the focus on the Luzon Peninsula, these two directions are the place where the US military must fight for. If these places are defended, then the US military will suffer astonishing casualties every step forward. If it really forms a deadlock, the result will be peace talks; if it is not defended, the US strategic bomber will bomb our rear, and the entire country's industry will be shut down, so we can only retreat to Yanzhou and Liaodong to fight guerrillas."

"Americans launch thirty aircraft carriers a year, so what about us? How much can we launch? The Ministry of Works has been preparing for so many years. In the past few years, I bought machine tools with hundreds of millions and millions, and the money is always effective, right?" Zhou Sixu felt that Xu Jingxi's persistence through islands may not be wrong, but he was a little unwilling to accept it, and the most unwilling thing was that China and Japan did not provoke the United States. Why did they attack?

"The results of the Ministry of Industry's assessment last year were that at most ten ships were launched in a year, normally eight, and the construction period was slightly shorter than that of the United States. But you should not expect anything to be a simple aircraft carrier." Xu Jingxi said. "The output of destroyers and submarines will not be high, just twenty or thirty ships a year. It is basically enough; and standard merchant ships can basically make up for the losses during wartime. Tankers and cruisers will be very nervous, and it is estimated that tankers will be better." Xu Jingxi recalled a simple report provided by the Ministry of Industry's two years ago.

"Can't we build more docks?" Lin Songjian saw that the number gap was so big, so he had to interject. "There are many places where shipbuilding can be built along the coast and river. If more docks can be built, then the people who started the water... are there steel and not enough workers?"

"Not all, it's because of insufficient money!" said Beshou. "The most optimistic estimate is that the annual military expenditure after the war begins is only 30 billion yuan. This is the estimate before the depreciation of the Huayuan Yuan, but the depreciation is only for foreign exchange. How much things can be produced in China each year remains unchanged. 40% of the wealth created by the people of the country every year is used to invest in wars. This is the limit proportion verified by the European war. This is the proportion of wealthy industrial countries in Europe. If it were agricultural countries like Tsarist Russia, there would be even fewer.

The Americans' GDP was close to 100 billion US dollars before the war. Although it was depressed, the industry, miners, workers and technology were all there, and the Chinese people saved a lot. Therefore, the Bureau of Commerce believes that the average annual spending on wars in the United States will exceed 60 billion US dollars in the United States. It is clear that it is less than ten to three.

According to the General Staff's previous analysis, there are only two ways to win in naval battles: one is that our ship cost is only half that of the United States, so we can open more docks and start building. At that time, twenty to thirty ships, plus the early advantage, we can barely draw. Then, spend all the wealth accumulated over the past 20 or 30 years, and build them faster than the United States in the early stage of the war, and double faster. Then, relying on the early tactical advantages and numerical advantages, we will continue to fight annihilation wars, so that the enemy can form a tactic of adding fuel to the enemy.

But this is impossible!" Bei Shoutong immediately denied the second method, "Knowing that he was out of control, the US Navy would definitely hide in the military port and not come out, relying on the land-based air force to fight us, and we have no strategic air force to bomb the United States, so... As for the first method, although Mr. led the Ministry of Works to find a way to promote a major project, don't forget that we are a mainland country, and there is an increasingly powerful neighbor in the north, and the military expenditure will always be divided into part of the Northwest Army."

"...and then...we will... surrender in the end?!" After a long time, Zhou Sixu muttered in a daze, not knowing what he was talking about.

"There is no surrender." Xu Jingxi immediately denied it. "Even if the casualties of the maritime war were not enough to cause the United States to hold a ceasefire, he did not have the ability and courage to go deep into the inland to fight land wars with us, and there was no need. After occupying Japan, he could use the first island chain as a base and carry out daily bombing and blockade on us, which achieved his initial strategic goal to kill our threat to her in the bud. In the future, the world will be theirs, not ours."

The melancholy that Xu Jingxi said in the last sentence only made everyone feel cold. Everyone knows the historical position of the current era in the late Warring States Period. At this time, the United States that lived with two oceans and enjoyed America was Qin, the Soviet Union, which governed the country with empty theory, was Qi, Germany, which was poor but warlike, was Zhao, Britain, which was once the hegemony but was gradually weak, was Wei, France, which was seeking alliances everywhere to ensure peace, was Yan, Italy, which had no sense of existence but was always arrogant, was Han, and China, which had too thin foundations and still had shallow foundations, was only Chu, and Japan, which was annexed by Chu.

Qi was destined to disappear naturally and disintegrate itself. Wei could only drill a wall to steal light, foxes pretend to be powerful, France survived and Italy was not worth mentioning. Zhao State, which could compete with Qin, was defeated by the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Han and Qi 20 years ago. Zhao soldiers suffered millions of casualties, and Qin soldiers suffered only 100,000 casualties. The most important thing is that Zhao State was poor and deserted since then. His geographical location was really tragic. Not to mention his resources, he was also double-teamed by Qin, Wei, Yan and Qi. Although he was defeated twenty years ago, he was not convinced, but he was ultimately invincible.

Only Chu is the potential opponent of Qin. Although Chu is a large land and a large number of people, there are many mountain barbarians and the people are poor. It was better if the Chu State was not civilized before, but in recent years, the reforms of Chu State have become stronger and stronger. How could Qin State sit idly by? If you wait for Chu State to be rich and strong in time, don’t say it will hinder your own unification of the world (Qin Jun has not yet determined to unify the world, with the same writing and the same tracks, but Qin Prime Minister and Qin ministers have long been determined to conquer the world). Even if they do not govern the world, Qin State will have to worry about the rise of strong neighbors and the border is unstable.

‘Speak kindly but hold a big stick!’, the motto of the ancestors of Qin is straightforward and concise, and the focus is not ‘harmony’ but ‘big stick’, and domineering is better than the king’s way. It is a natural thing to destroy its reforms before the rise of Chu. The war between the two countries also conforms to the Qin principles. What’s more, the Qin State is not good for years. It has been a waste for several years. Slaves are on the verge of rebellion and do not scatter their resentment outward. The political situation of Qin State is afraid of being unstable. If this battle is won, the Qin State will be at peace on the border, and the Qin ministers will be devoted to the world, and both the king and the ministers will be won; if this battle is defeated, please stop the loss in time to seek future days. At the same time, the political situation will be safe.

History is always amazingly similar, because wise humans can only move forward according to their inherent thinking; and the fate of civilization is like sand in an hourglass, irreversible death. But men who keep fighting in fate always pull out their guns and rush to face powerful enemies. Since everything will disappear, why not just be happy before the death? Why not wash your military boots with the blood of the enemy?

The cloudless and the sea breeze was flying, the five former generals of the Revival Army stood on the top of Zhebo Mountain without saying a word. In the distance, Navy Lieutenant Colonel Chen Jiliang, who ran out of the exercise command center in the middle of the island, waved to the top of the mountain. After a while, the adjutant shouted the news:
Chapter completed!