Empire Conquest-Chapter 730 - 38: The Fighter Escape_2
The upcoming ground warfare is surely going to be even more costly!
Following the combat plan submitted by the headquarter, the ground combat is expected to last from 7 to 10 days, with the direct expenses estimated to be within 40 to 60 billion Gold Yuan.
Even without overspending, it means that the total expenses of this war will reach 200 billion Gold Yuan.
What does that imply?
The Boi War, which lasted 14 years and during which the Empire had directly deployed troops for 8 years, burned through a total of only 500 billion Gold Yuan in warfare expenses.
Even accounting for inflation, the daily consumption was merely 1.7 billion. Importantly, at its peak, the Empire’s deployed troops exceeded 500,000, with more than 200,000 in ground forces alone, and many more combat weapons were involved, such as thousands of fighter jets.
This time, if calculated for 40 days, the daily consumption will be a staggering 5 billion Gold Yuan!
Is that a lot or a little?
Zhou Yongtao’s attitude best illustrates the problem.
Don’t forget, before moving into the Prime Minister Mansion, Zhou Yongtao had served in the financially abundant Navy for more than 40 years, and he always acted generously.
Now, even he feels it’s too much to handle!
Furthermore, the troop participation this time and the main battle equipment to be used will be much less.
Clearly, modern high-tech warfare is not only about the combat capability of the military, but also about the economic strength of a country.
It’s fair to say, that’s the biggest issue.
According to the results previously agreed upon with the Allies, or rather communicated, the war expenses were only 80 billion Gold Yuan.
To put it bluntly, the plan was made based on spending 80 billion, but the actual expenses might reach 200 billion.
How to explain this to the funding Allies?
Even if the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom is a defeated country, and Ao Country is essentially under the Empire’s protection, that doesn’t mean one can arbitrarily increase the price.
Before dinner, Zhou Yongtao personally called several supreme leaders of the Allies.
He didn’t mention the matter of war expenses, but he hinted that the expenses of this war would exceed expectations and that in the end, they would definitely have to settle based on actual expenditures rather than previous estimates. Frankly, he was preparing the leaders of the Allies mentally.
This was actually a minor issue.
Anyway, for countries like Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and Ao Country that have interests in Boss Bay and are unwilling to deploy troops, they can only pay more.
The real trouble is actually within the Empire.
The reasoning is simple: the Empire is the big loser.
According to the results negotiated before the war, the Empire was to bear 40% of the war expenses, while the other 60% was to be borne by the interested Allies.
However, after Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and Ao Country agreed to bear more war expenses, and oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia also agreed to share some costs, the share of war expenses borne by the Empire had been reduced to 30%, and following the current trend, it might even decrease to 25%.
Even so, that’s not a small amount of money.
25% of 200 billion is 50 billion Gold Yuan!
Based on the initial estimate, 40% of 80 billion was only 32 billion.
How to handle the difference of 18 billion?
In the prior approvals by both houses of Congress, only 32 billion was approved for war funding, and the maximum allowable fluctuation, or additional funding, was only 8 billion.
That is to say, Zhou Yongtao can only control 40 billion.
Then, the extra 10 billion can only be re-applied for from both houses of Congress.
Clearly, those grandees in Congress may not be willing to pay this 10 billion, and are more likely to bargain with Zhou Yongtao over this 100 billion.
Those grandees in the houses clearly won’t consider those fighting on the front lines; they only care about their immediate interests!
After dinner, Zhou Yongtao pondered this issue.
After thinking for several hours, until Lin Shiping arrived at the Prime Minister Mansion, he still hadn’t figured out a solution.
"I’ve already eaten dinner on the way, so no need to go to any trouble," Lin Shiping hurriedly instructed Luo Youbin as he entered, indicating that he wouldn’t stay long and would have to leave shortly. "The intelligence I just received has already been verified by the intelligence personnel."
Approaching the fire, he handed Zhou Yongtao a stack of photographs.
Captured by reconnaissance satellites, some of these were taken during the day, specifically in the afternoon, as evidenced by the direction of shadows.
They depicted some Air Force bases, or civilian airports, with the focus on some fighter jets that had just landed or were in the process of landing.
Zhou Yongtao flipped through the papers and looked at Lin Shiping, not quite understanding.
It was clear there were some fighter planes from the West Continent consortium, and judging by the surrounding buildings, they were perhaps in the Boss Bay area.
Were they just some Iraqi fighters? What was so surprising about that?
"These are three Boi Country airports, two of which are Air Force bases, and they’re all in the northwest of Boi Country, not too far from Iraq."
"Boi Country!?"
Lin Shiping nodded and said, "Inside these three airports, identifiable Iraqi fighters that match our records have already exceeded 100 in number, and the count is still increasing. According to our analysis, there will finally be 180 to 200 Iraqi fighters."
Hearing this, Zhou Yongtao immediately furrowed his brows. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"There are only a bit more than 200 Iraqi fighters that can still take off," Lin Shiping added, probably worried that Zhou Yongtao might not understand.
Zhou Yongtao let out a sigh and then shook his head with a bitter smile.
Obviously, he had not expected that the Iraqi Air Force, touted as the strongest in the Boss Bay, wouldn’t last even three days before being utterly defeated.
Otherwise, why would they send fighters to seek refuge in what was once an enemy territory?
As they had already been defeated, leaving the aircraft and bases within the country would surely lead to their destruction; thus, these Iraqi fighters had fled to Boi Country.
So, how long could the Iraqi troops hold on?
More importantly, would the Tiaoman Empire and the Newland Republic, which had been supporting Iraq from behind the scenes, continue to stand by and watch?
After completely defeating the Iraqi Air Force and securing absolute air superiority, they wouldn’t even need to wage a ground war; intense bombing alone could force Iraq to surrender.
Even if they had to launch a ground war to liberate Kuwait, it could significantly shorten the duration of the ground conflict.
Achieving a decisive victory in the aerial assault phase, the final ground attack would merely seem like reaping the fruits of their aerial victories.
In this scenario, Iraq’s army of one million was utterly useless!
As long as the Empire was willing to increase its investment, like deploying a few more divisions, and extending the aerial assault duration and expanding its range, they could be assured of declaring victory in Baghdad before the end of the war, thus overthrowing the Hussein Regime supported by the Tiaoman Empire.
In this greater context, would the Tiaoman Empire compromise?
While Zhou Yongtao pondered this question, Lin Shiping’s phone suddenly rang.
It was a cordless phone with security features, standard for Senior Intelligence Officers.
Lin Shiping did not answer the phone in front of Zhou Yongtao but went outside to the corridor.
It wasn’t that he needed to keep it a secret from the Grand Secretary, rather some sensitive issues couldn’t be directly communicated to the Grand Secretary, or rather, they couldn’t drag the Grand Secretary into it.
A few minutes later, Lin Shiping returned to the study.
"I just received news. Hussein has relieved the Air Force Commander of his duties, or rather, he has ordered the arrest of the Air Force Commander, appointing his own confidant, Admiral Aziz of the Republic Guard, to take over as the Air Force Commander. However, he hasn’t issued any orders for diplomats to negotiate with Boi Country."
"You mean?"
"The Air Force Commander is just a scapegoat, holding the bag for Hussein. This also indicates that Hussein definitely will not surrender."
Zhou Yongtao nodded slightly, showing he understood the implication of Lin Shiping’s words.
If Hussein were planning to surrender, he wouldn’t send the remaining fighters to Boi Country.
Only if he was preparing to resist to the end would he need to relocate in order to preserve his valuable forces for a possible resurgence.
It wasn’t going to be easy.
"This matter, surely isn’t that simple."
"Boi Country hasn’t intercepted these Iraqi fighters, indicating that they had prior knowledge and tacitly agreed to provide refuge," Lin Shiping paused slightly before continuing, "This indicates that the Newland Republic had definitely put some covert pressure on the Boi authorities."
"That must inevitably have something to do with the Tiaoman Empire."
"The key is to see whether the Tiaoman Empire will enter the fray for Iraq, given that in the current situation, Hussein cannot achieve a final victory no matter what."
Zhou Yongtao rubbed his forehead earnestly, as this was the issue he was currently considering.
If Hussein couldn’t hold on, would the Tiaoman Empire personally intervene?
Moreover, in what way would they participate in this war?
Additionally, the Newland Republic, which had always been supporting the Tiaoman Empire and Iraq from behind the scenes, how would they respond to the impending changes?
These were the questions that must be clarified!
