When He Yongxing stood up to speak, Gui Boyong sitting beside him turned his head back and gave Bai Zhizhan a look, signaling him to get ready.
Because time was extremely tight, Bai Zhizhan had only skimmed through the materials that He Yongxing had given him before coming to the Navy headquarters. He had gained an understanding of the current situation—or more accurately, the topics discussed at this meeting—and had figured out why He Yongxing wanted him to attend.
The cause was a suggestion that Bai Zhizhan had initially made to He Yongxing through Gui Boyong.
During the ceasefire negotiations, the Alliance Group demanded that naval armament limitations be included as a condition for the ceasefire and written into the ceasefire agreement. The Empire, on the other hand, strongly opposed, emphasizing that these were ceasefire negotiations, not surrender talks. The Navy was the empiere's lifeblood—if a deal couldn't be struck, then they would fight until a deal could be reached.
In the end, both sides made concessions.
After the ceasefire agreement officially came into effect, they would negotiate separately on naval armament limitations. The Alliance Group agreed not to make additional demands on the Empire, while the Empire promised to abolish the dual superpower standard it had implemented for half a century and no longer sought to build or maintain a super-powerful navy capable of sweeping the Four Seas.
Essentially, the Empire had strategically conceded to preserve its Navy.
Lest we forget, what determines a nation's character—or rather, whether a nation is a powerful empire—is whether it has the capability to project military power overseas. In most cases, the only force capable of expanding overseas, seizing overseas territories, and defending overseas interests is the Navy.
For this very reason, the Empire's Navy had always pursued a basic strategy of the dual superpower standard throughout the past half-century. It boasted an overall strength that surpassed the combined might of its two strongest rivals and could win two large-scale wars simultaneously at any given time.
The Empire's Navy thus dominated the global seas for fifty years.
Abandoning the dual superpower standard was, in essence, giving up the strategy for dominance and handing over many overseas interests to the other Great Powers.
In some sense, this was precisely the purpose of the Western Powers launching a Global War.
Not to mention, some military scholars of the Western Powers have dubbed the First Global War the "Topple Liangxia War."
Without the allure of global interests, it would be impossible for all the Western Powers to unite and collaboratively confront the Consortium Group led by the Liangxia Empire.
But to just give up the dominance it had controlled and enjoyed for fifty years?
Negotiating separately did not mean avoiding limits on naval armaments.
Indeed, following the devastation of the great conflict, limiting naval armaments had become a consensus among all nations.
If naval armaments weren't limited, it wouldn't be long—perhaps only a decade—before the Great Powers, stimulated by an arms race or in pursuit of their interests or to cope with the threat from a formidable enemy, would tear up the hard-earned ceasefire agreement.
Would they then satiate the insatiable appetite of the war beast with tens of millions of living souls?
Herein lay the contradiction!
This was also why Zhu Shijian, upon taking office as Imperial Navy Commander, immediately convened this meeting, calling both major factions to discuss the issue together.
No matter what method was employed, this contradiction had to be resolved!
Under the premise of limiting armaments, the mission was to swiftly rejuvenate the Empire's Navy, to continue to maintain first-rate power, ensuring that when the flames of war were rekindled, it would still be capable of sweeping the Four Seas, defeating all formidable enemies, safeguarding the security of the Empire, and seizing the global interests meant for the Empire.
To put it bluntly, it was necessary to create boundless possibilities with limited resources!
Was this possible?
What's impossible!
The officers from Liu Changhe's side, who represented the Conservative Faction, had spoken mainly in the previous few hours, expounding and explaining why it was correct to stick to the existing path.
There was nothing new.
According to the Conservative Faction, by building a sufficiently large and advanced fleet of main battle ships, they would be able to crush the opponent in the next war.
Interestingly, the Conservative Faction deliberately ignored the crucial precondition: the limitations arising from the abolishment of the dual superpower standard.
As long as the agreement is signed and becomes a treaty, even if the Empire has ample resources, it won't be possible to build a fleet following the Conservative Faction's playbook.
Openly breaching the agreement would be tantamount to declaring war on the Great Powers.
Having tasted the sweetness of war, these Great Powers would never give the Liangxia Empire the chance to rise again. They would surely wage war before the Imperial Navy could regain its formidable presence.
Thus, it's clear that maneuvering around the scale of the fleet simply isn't feasible.
During these hours, Zhu Shijian had not spoken, only occasionally asking questions that required the officers of the South Sea Fleet to provide necessary answers.
Seeing the look Gui Boyong passed to him, Bai Zhizhan took a deep breath.
In the afternoon, Bai Zhizhan made some preparations, which, although not extensive, were sufficient for him to speak confidently at the meeting.
"We all know that a ceasefire cannot bring permanent peace; it only temporarily extinguishes the flames of war. As tensions build up, conflict will inevitably flare up again. We have reason to believe that the bitter lessons of a war that caused tens of millions of casualties will be remembered by the whole world for decades. When war breaks out anew, it won't be us old bones leading the Navy Fleet and writing the chapter of victory."
At this point, He Yongxing took a deliberate look over at Liu Changhe across from him.
That was rather blatant.
Even without explicitly saying so, everyone knew that He Yongxing was a decade younger than Liu Changhe.
"Since it will fall to the next generation, or even several generations of soldiers to charge into battle, why not listen to, why not inquire about their opinions?"
Having finished speaking, He Yongxing turned back to look at Bai Zhizhan.
Bai Zhizhan was first taken aback, then he realized that it was his turn to speak.
Although he was mentally prepared, Bai Zhizhan had obviously not expected He Yongxing to finish in a few sentences rather than launch into the kind of long-winded monologue Liu Changhe had at the start.
Bai Zhizhan felt overwhelmed, as he had not yet organized his thoughts for his speech.
But now, he could only bite the bullet and go forward.
When Bai Zhizhan stood up, Gui Boyong waved him over, moving aside to indicate that Bai Zhizhan should come forward to speak.
This was a main conference room that could accommodate hundreds of people; those at the front might not be able to clearly hear a speech from the back.
Sighing internally, Bai Zhizhan simply laid down the messy papers he held in his hand.
Just improvise!
Clearly, Bai Zhizhan wasn't just a little nervous, he was extremely so.
Although he walked steadily to the front row, when preparing to speak, he accidentally bumped the microphone, and a piercing noise echoed throughout the conference room.
"Captain Bai Zhizhan, if I'm not mistaken, you ranked among the top ten in last year's graduates, and it was I who recommended you to the Domestic Fleet."
"Principal... Commander-in-chief, you're not mistaken."
"Just think of me as your principal."
Hearing Zhu Shijian say this, Bai Zhizhan exhaled, and his emotions gradually calmed down.
Yes, it's like reporting to the principal.
At last year's graduation ceremony, Bai Zhizhan represented the graduating students of the aerial reconnaissance major and delivered a speech to the entire academy, including the principal.
Back then, he was not a bit nervous; on the contrary, he was excited.
So, he should treat this as another graduation ceremony on the great stage of life!