In the years after the Second Indian Ocean War, Mu Haoyang basically did not face severe tests except for becoming the Chief of Staff again in 2047.

At that time, Huang Hanlin and Li Pingkou almost started to fight against Mu Haoyang's re-elected as Chief of Staff.

Huang Hanlin means to change the system of the Chief of General Staff, and replace the Chief of General Staff with the collective decision-making system of the Chief of General Staff, that is, the Chief of Staff of the Land, Navy, Air and Marine Corps, and all serious military decisions must be reviewed by the Chief of General Staff. The Chief of General Staff is only a temporary title, awarded by the Chief of State or the Senior Leadership Conference during wartime, and during peacetime, four Chiefs of Staff will take turns to serve as the banker.

This proposal was immediately supported by the Army and the Air Force, and the Marine Corps did not express any objection.

In fact, this part of the military reform plan formulated by Huang Zhibo includes, that is, the Chief of Staff will be replaced by the Chief of Staff Council to avoid negative impacts in personal decision-making.

The problem is that neither Huang Zhibo nor Teng Yaohui was able to take this step during his tenure as Chiefs of Staff.

At the beginning, Mu Haoyang served as Chief of General Staff as the commander of the Marine Corps, but he held the rank of Navy General.

More importantly, the main reason why Mu Haoyang became the Chief of Staff was related to the Second Indian Ocean War, that is, no one is more suitable to command this war than him.

When the Second Indian Ocean War ended, Huang Hanlin had more choices.

In his opinion, at least Qi Kaiwei has the ability to replace Mu Haoyang.

It is precisely because of this that Huang Hanlin proposed to reform the General Staff system in 2047.

The problem is that Huang Hanlin's original intention was not to establish a more complete system, but to use it to weaken the General Staff and allow the Ministry of National Defense to take power. You should know that the Ministry of National Defense is a department of the State Council. Although Du Xiaolei is Premier of the State Council, Huang Hanlin has a greater influence.

To put it more indirectly, as long as the military power returns to the Ministry of National Defense, it is equivalent to falling into Huang Hanlin's hands.

It is also for this reason that Li Pingko, who served as military leader, firmly opposed the abolition of the Chief of Staff, and raised a question that Huang Hanlin could not avoid, that is, the Third World War was about to break out, and in terms of overall command ability, no one was able to replace Mu Haoyang.

Not to mention anything else, Qi Kaiwei is not familiar with naval warfare.

You should know that in World War III, the ocean was the most important battlefield.

Based on this reason, Li Pingko insisted that Mu Haoyang continue to serve as Chief of Staff and must maintain the status quo until at least the end of 2052.

At the end of the debate, Huang Hanlin and Li Pingko had to give in.

Mu Haoyang successfully obtained the opportunity to be re-election, but before the end of 2052, a conclusion must be made on the establishment of the Chiefs of Staff.

In other words, within the next five years, Mu Haoyang will gradually transfer power to the Ministry of National Defense.

According to this arrangement, after the establishment of the Chiefs of Staff Conference system, the General Staff only holds the wartime arrangements and command powers of the army, and other powers will return to the Ministry of National Defense.

For Mu Haoyang, this can be regarded as a relief.

In his words, only by becoming the Chief of Staff can we know what it feels like.

Obviously, it wouldn't be a good taste. You know, Huang Zhibo was only in his fifties when he left the General Staff, and Teng Yaohui was in his sixties when he left. At that time, both of them had enough energy to continue working and had enough influence to stay, but both of them chose to leave.

By 2047, Mu Haoyang felt the same.

If Li Pingko had not tried to keep him, he would have submitted his resignation to Huang Hanlin.

Of course, there is also a sense of responsibility that allows him to stay.

If World War III broke out before 2052, China's situation would be very difficult, and after 2052, the situation would change.

Mu Haoyang knew very well that if he resigned in 2047, even if he went back to serve as the naval commander, Qi Kaiwei and his mother Qi Tie would join forces to control the General Staff. In the upcoming war, neither Qi Kaiwei nor his mother Qi Tie would have enough ability to lead the team to win, and even lack the ability to lead the team to survive the most difficult early stage of the war. You should know that Qi Kaiwei and his mother Qi Tie were good at fighting smoothly, and they lacked the ability to turn defeat into victory in adversity, and even had no combat experience in this area.

After 2052, as China's military strength increased, Mu Haoyang was able to "retire" with confidence.

In the next five years, Mu Haoyang had to continue to persevere, spend every penny with a careful calculation, and devote all his own to the army and the country.

On New Year's Day in 2052, Mu Haoyang had a very relaxed life.

A few years ago, he reached an agreement with Qi Kaiwei, and took the initiative to submit a reform plan for the General Staff to Yuan in July, and appointed Zhang Yuting as the chief of staff.

Under the new system, all military branches will be abolished from their position as commander, and the Chief of Staff will be the supreme commander.

In return, Qi Kaiwei may not monopolize the General Staff, but will give Zhang Yuting and Pang Yuelong the corresponding position to ensure the interests of the Navy and Marine Corps.

More importantly, all equipment plans formulated by Mu Haoyang during his tenure will be retained.

According to Qi Kaiwei's promise, at least until the world war breaks out, he will not ban the severe equipment exhibition projects of the Navy and the Marine Corps.

The result was that after New Year's Day, Mu Haoyang re-examined the equipment plans of the Navy and Marines.

In fact, at this time, Mu Haoyang's most worried was not whether Qi Kaiwei would fulfill his promise, but whether the military expansion operation that had lasted for thirteen years could continue.

By the beginning of 2052, the total force of the team had exceeded 2.8 million.

You should know that during the Second Indian Ocean War, the total force of the team was only 2.2 million, and there was no war mobilization.

However, expanding the army is the trend of this era.

In early 2052, the total strength of the US military was more than 2.8 million. Including the National Guard, which had been in full combat readiness for a long time, it exceeded 3.6 million, while China's permanent reserve force was only 600,000, which was more than 200,000 less than the US military.

In addition, Russia's total troop strength is as high as 2.2 million, and EU countries are also close to 2 million.

As the total force grows, it is the military expenditure that rises year by year.

Since 2038, the military expenditure growth of China, the United States and Russia has exceeded the economic growth rate, and has been more than three times the economic growth rate for most years. In 2048, the military expenditure growth rate of China, the United States, Europe and Russia has even reached 80%.

Over the past decade, global military expenditure has increased by nearly thirty times

In these thirteen years, the global economy has only grown six times.

The result is obvious that huge military expenditure has become the biggest burden for various countries, especially China, the United States, Europe and Russia, and will sooner or later lead to economic collapse.

If this degree continues to grow, military expenditure will account for 80% of the total expenditure of the central governments of China, the United States, Europe and Russia by 2060 at the latest.

what does that mean?

No country can maintain military expenditures of 80% of the total fiscal expenditures in peacetime, because the remaining 20% ​​can only maintain the daily government expenditures, and expenditures in other areas such as public welfare, education, technology, etc. will be zeroed.

Obviously, this situation is impossible for normal society to occur.

The conclusion drawn from this is that World War III will surely break out, and it will be within these few years.

According to the estimate made by Mu Haoyang in early 2052, if the national defense budget for the next fiscal year is successfully passed, the proportion of military expenditure in the central government's finances will reach 47% and the proportion of GDP exceeds 16%. It only takes two years to break through the limit.

Of course, the situation in the United States is similar.

The conclusion is obvious, as long as the arms race continues, the war will burst around the end of 2054.

In fact, this is not much different from the prediction Mu Haoyang made after the Japanese War.

The problem is that the protracted arms race has exhausted China and the United States, and has also made the implicated EU and Russia haggard. Especially after the Second Indian Ocean War, the United States' advantage is shrinking, so the United States is likely to start a war ahead of schedule.

Of course, there is also an extremely unstable factor here: Russia.

According to the intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Agency, Russia's military budget for fiscal years 2051 to 2052 accounted for 60% of federal government expenditures, which had already exceeded the limit of leading to a world war. Russia's economic tolerance is obviously not as good as China and the United States. Not to mention, Russia's military industrial foundation is far less than that of China and the United States, so a large part of its defense expenditure did not remain in the domestic market and did not provide substantial assistance in promoting domestic employment. Instead, it flowed into the United States through arms trade.

The impact of this is that Russia is likely to become the ignitor of World War III.

If the United States can give up India, then the United States will never give up Russia.

You should know that if Russia is defeated by China and suffers a crushing defeat like India, the United States will not be able to overwhelm China strategically within the next ten years. Ten years later, the United States will be even more unlikely to surpass China in terms of comprehensive national strength, and can only watch China become the global hegemon.

It can be imagined that as long as Russia leads to war, the United States will join the war without any hesitation.

These factors made Mu Haoyang not dare to be careless at all. What he could do was to take advantage of the last opportunity to improve military power.

As for the team's performance in the war, it's not something Mu Haoyang can decide.

After the Spring Festival, Mu Haoyang put down his work and decided to go to the grassroots troops to investigate the achievements of equipment construction in the past few years.

According to his arrangement, when he returns to Beijing, it is almost time to resign.

Of course, visiting grassroots troops can also stabilize the morale of the army and allow officers and soldiers to accept the new command system.

However, before he could leave, a more important thing allowed him to stay in Beijing and the visit arrangements were cancelled.

This matter is related to Lu Wen.
Chapter completed!