Urban Sims

Another three years passed.

After completing the "five-year recuperation" plan, Wan Chengguo's strength has been fully restored.

The domestic economic situation has improved significantly, inflation has been effectively controlled, and industrial output has reached its peak.

In terms of military strength, the number of soldiers has been reduced to 300,000, but they are all elites with strong will and high cultivation.

The size of the fleet is still six, but due to the large number of Type 5 Lingyuan warships in service, the Type 5 Lingyuan is equipped with over-the-horizon radars, high-power engines, wireless Lingyuan wave communicators, a large number of automated control equipment, and new super Lingyuan cannons. The battleship has extremely high technological content and its comprehensive combat effectiveness is 3.8 times that of the Type 4 Lingyuan battleship.

And the improvement in automation has reduced the number of crew requirements for new warships from the original 6,700 to about 450.

In this way, the Wancheng National Defense Force was able to reduce the number of troops while ensuring that the total number of Lingyuan warships in service in the six fleets was maintained at around 800.

The comprehensive combat effectiveness does not fall but rises.

The other is the morale of the military. After these five years of rest, the morale of the military has gradually stabilized and morale has improved. After shooting several promotional films, the image in the eyes of the people has significantly improved. Although it did not trigger a craze for joining the army, it finally achieved the goal of joining the army and retiring. Balance of numbers.

Since the economy has improved significantly and the country has gradually stabilized, there have been more voices in the media discussing retaliation against Dongyuanzhou.

Especially for the hundreds of cities in the East that were plundered and became dilapidated and have not yet recovered, people go to the capital city to petition/visit almost every day, asking the country to make the decision for them and avenge them!

The pressure from public opinion was increasing, and extreme remarks saying that the new leader was cowarded were also published in the newspapers, putting great pressure on Cheng Zhiyuan.

Cheng Zhiyuan had to summon several senior military officials to discuss response plans.

Discuss how to deal with Dong Yuanzhou.

Cheng Zhiyuan asked Defense Minister Liang Qing: Can Dongyuanzhou be defeated in one fell swoop by dispatching half of the Lingyuan fleet?

"Not enough, far from enough."

Liang Qing shook his head and said: "According to intelligence, Dongyuanzhou has deployed more than two thousand Lingyuan battleships in its western border to deal with our country. If we want to defeat it, our country must go all out. In addition..."

He continued: "At present, the soldiers are still very resistant to participating in the war. If the four major sects stand aside and launch a full-scale war, it will arouse the opposition of the soldiers."

His voice weakened: "The military suggests that this matter is best resolved by the diplomatic department."

Liang Qing's words made the foreign minister sitting opposite smile bitterly, shook his head and said: "Diplomatic solution? It would be great if diplomacy could solve it."

In fact, during the five years of recuperation, Wan Chengguo had not taken any action to deal with Dong Yuan Continent.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Wan Chengguo sent many diplomats to Dongyuan Continent to make representations about the raid.

Three demands were made.

One is to apologize. Palace Master Xiaoyao and the Nine Great Yuans must apologize, admit their mistakes, and be sincere.

The second is compensation. Dongyuanzhou must pay more than 10 trillion spiritual coins in compensation to make up for the losses of Wancheng Kingdom.

The three are handovers. They must hand over the more than 100,000 technical talents who were kidnapped to Dongyuan Continent and return them all to Wancheng Kingdom. No one can be left behind.

Wan Chengguo's diplomats sounded extremely tough and demanded that these three demands must be agreed, otherwise a devastating war will come to Dongyuan Continent!

Naturally this was flatly rejected.

Wan Chengguo's diplomat was "invited" back by the other party.

Diplomats were sent twice more later, and the requirements were lowered.

Forget about the apology, the compensation was reduced to 1 trillion, but more than 100,000 technical talents must be sent back to Wancheng Country.

Still rejected.

For the last time, Wan Chengguo diplomats did not even discuss compensation. They only asked Dongyuanzhou to hand over people and send back the more than 100,000 technical talents!

Jiang Ruyue, the master of Xiaoyao Palace, still refused, saying that those technical talents were living happily and comfortably in Dongyuan Continent and none of them wanted to return to Wancheng Kingdom, and she had no choice.

In order to prove that what he said was true, Jiang Ruyue took him to visit several factories and saw the living conditions of several technical talents. He found that they were surrounded by charming wives, children around their knees, good homes and beautiful houses, and servants to serve them. Of course they were happy to live in Shu. , unwilling to return to China.

"You...shameless!"

The diplomat pointed at Jiang Ruyue and cursed, and finally had no choice but to return home.

In other words, Dongyuanzhou cannot be made to make any concessions only through diplomatic means.

Only in war, when the other side feels deep pain, will they obediently meet their own demands instead of perfunctory prevarications.

But Dongyuanzhou is not weak. If it launches a full-scale war, its own side will suffer heavy losses.

If you get stuck in the quagmire, it will be even more of a nightmare.

so what should I do now?

After thinking about it for a while, Cheng Zhiyuan had a plan in mind.

He said to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: "Send another senior diplomat to Dongyuanzhou to make three demands: apology, compensation, and surrender. The attitude should be tougher and they must agree!"

"If you dare to refuse again, Wancheng Kingdom will declare war on it and launch a disciplinary war!"

He said to Liang Qing: "The military should also prepare for mobilization and formulate a war plan. If negotiations fail, launch a war immediately!"

"In addition, we should do a good job in guiding domestic public opinion, and send a group of reporters there to follow up and report on the progress of this negotiation, so that the domestic military and civilians can see Dongyuanzhou's shameless face!"

"Our demands are reasonable and legitimate, and morality is on our side! Even if a war breaks out, it will be Dongyuanzhou's fault."

A military personnel below asked in confusion:

"First diplomatic negotiations, then military operations. Doesn't this tell Dongyuanzhou that we are preparing for war, giving them time to adjust their response? The head of the country, the fleet should attack suddenly and quickly, catching the other side by surprise. If you do this, it will increase the risk of Army losses.”

"Of course I know!"

Cheng Zhiyuan said seriously: "If we don't do this, who will support us in fighting this war? People know who is right and who is wrong?"

"Moral justice, moral justice! We must get the reasons and morality to launch the war. Without these, the soldiers will have no morale, the people will not support it, and the losses will only be more severe."

War is not just a simple fight on the battlefield, it is also a continuation of politics and must have moral support!

And things outside the battlefield are sometimes more important than battlefield strategies.

"I understand the head of state."

The military man nodded.

…

Half a month later.

A diplomatic delegation from Wancheng State, carrying hundreds of foreign journalists, came to Xiaoyao Palace and made diplomatic representations.

After meeting Jiang Ruyue, senior diplomat Wan Chengguo took a tough stance and put forward three demands: "apology, compensation, and surrender."

This diplomat was eloquent, well-prepared, and his words were very sharp. His reasoning made the hundreds of officials in Xiaoyao Hall speechless and difficult to deal with.

Jiang Ruyue, who was sitting at the top, responded tit for tat and refuted one by one. Her eloquence was amazing, her words were sharp, and she actually had some truth. The officials in the palace cheered continuously, with eyes full of admiration.

Your Highness, the Palace Master, is really amazing!

Two of Wan Chengguo's three points, "apology and compensation," were completely rejected.

But when it comes to "handing people over", Jiang Ruyue is a bit at a loss for words, or maybe she's wrong.

The reason why she didn't want to make friends was that Dongyuanzhou had good conditions and benefits, and a good working environment. It treated excellent craftsmen like national officials, and the excellent craftsmen naturally rewarded them as national officials and were unwilling to leave again.

What's more, people go to higher places and water flows to lower places. Dongyuanzhou is a high place. How can those talents return to their homeland?

But Jiang Ruyue's reasons were simply untenable.

Because those technical talents were forcibly abducted to Dongyuanzhou by the Dongyuanzhou fleet, they cannot be willing to do so. Facing Dongyuanzhou’s generous treatment, a small number of them may fall under the sugar-coated bullets, but most of them cannot help but miss their hometown. !

If more than 100,000 technical talents are called together and questioned one by one, there must be people among them who are homesick and want to return to their hometown!

Money can indeed buy off some people, but it cannot buy everyone.

What's more, Dongyuanzhou is the enemy who destroyed their hometown and killed their relatives!

Will those technical talents be willing to work for their enemies?

According to normal logic, even if it works, it is helpless and unwilling.

If you ask them if they want to return to China, they will definitely dream of returning!

Therefore, the diplomat of Wancheng Kingdom said: "No matter what tricks you play in Dongyuanzhou, these citizens of Wancheng Kingdom must be handed over, no less than one!"

this……

Jiang Ruyue frowned and felt embarrassed.

She is someone who doesn't want to be friends at heart. Each of these precious talents is of great use to Dongyuanzhou.

Especially in the past five years, with the help of these talents, Dongyuanzhou's overall technical level has improved by at least ten years!

It has broken many technical blockades and made many breakthroughs.

And there is still room for squeeze.

She was not willing to release them all.

But she also heard what Wan Chengguo's diplomat meant. If those talents were not handed over, a war would break out between the two sides.

Moreover, it is a war that is clearly justified by Wancheng Kingdom.

Because among the more than 100,000 technical talents who were captured, a considerable number were indeed very reluctant, did not work hard, had a perfunctory attitude, and did not show their unique skills. No matter how tempting they were, it would be useless.

Taking into account the powerful national and military power of Wancheng Kingdom, if the troops are directed at Dongyuan Continent, the consequences...

After all, it is not that the armies of the two sides have never fought against each other in Beiyuanzhou, Dongyuanzhou is always at a disadvantage. Even if it invests three or five times more troops, the battle loss ratio is ugly 3:1 or 5:1. If the strength of the troops is similar, Dongyuanzhou will be at a disadvantage. The Yuanzhou Legion will be crushed and even annihilated.

Facing the monster Wan Chengguo, Jiang Ruyue didn't dare to attack Lang at all.

"20,000, how about giving back 20,000?"

She took a step back and prepared to return the purely "soy sauce" technical talents to Wan Chengguo.

"No, they must all be sent back!"

"The first batch is 20,000, and another 30,000 will be returned within five years, totaling 50,000. How about this?" Jiang Ruyue thought of 'payment in installments'.

"No, send them all back within three months!"

"Okay, you can return them all, but some people have been naturalized and have families and children in our country. They really don't want to return to the country. They need to do ideological work for five to ten years before they can return to the country. Please give them some advice." How about waiting? Our continent will definitely release those talents." Jiang Ruyue still wanted to delay.

"No, three months. I'll give you three months, one must be enough!"

"Then there's really nothing I can do."

Jiang Ruyue spread her hands and said helplessly.

…

When the news came back to Wancheng Kingdom, Dongyuanzhou's attitude was infuriating.

More than 80% of the people support "teaching Iban Dongyuanzhou a lesson".

The National Defense Forces, which successfully completed the mobilization of soldiers, also began to prepare for war and entered high alert.

Two months later.

The four Lingyuan fleets, which were reviewed by high-level officials and swore to go on an expedition, gathered into a huge formation of 500 new Lingyuan battleships, heading straight towards Dongyuan Continent with murderous intent.