"What does this have to do with the military?"
Five minutes ago, the president was still looking forward to a new day, but five minutes later, he had signs of a headache. "I really don't understand what this has to do with the military."
He held back from swearing. Early in the morning, the military representative submitted a "Naval Expansion Plan" to the president's cabinet and the Ministry of National Defense. The president's head was buzzing.
Until now, he had only heard of the reduction of the military, but not the expansion.
Moreover, the Federation did not need to expand. There was no possibility of a war in the world in a short time. Even if there was a war, it had nothing to do with the Federation. The military's emergence at this time was obviously a bit inexplicable.
The Minister of National Defense stood in front of the president's desk. He looked at the report in his hand and spread out his hands. "Yesterday, a cargo ship from the Federation to Amelia disappeared …"
The president nodded impatiently. "I know, but what does this have to do with the military?"
The Minister of National Defense was a bit embarrassed. "The military …" He quickly changed his words. "The Navy thinks that this is likely to be a trick by some countries. They want to see us make a fool of ourselves. Our cargo ship will be lost at the Federation's doorstep. The whole world will think that our Navy is just so-so."
"Even if we can defeat Gefra's fleet!"
After saying these words, the Minister of National Defense's tone was slightly lower. He was not as passionate as before. "Moreover, the Navy's establishment is a defensive establishment from the escapist era. It's a bit difficult to expand."
When the president heard this, he flipped through the expansion plan on the table. The room fell into a brief silence.
The Navy's point of view was that it was currently the golden age of the Federation's Navy. In the past, in order to prevent misunderstandings from some countries, the Federation only had a semi-complete naval formation.
One was an official formation, while the other was a reserve formation. After the naval battle, in order to prevent other countries from treating the Federation as their main defensive enemy, the Federation did not expand the navy. This also meant that the size of the navy had been maintained during the escapist era.
The escapist era was a thing of the past. At that time, the military and soldiers were not valued by society. But now, the Navy was clearly very strong, and the Federation's policy had changed from conservative to radical. Some things had to be changed.
For example, expansion. After expansion, there would be more captains, more officers, and even more generals. This was the key!
In the end, it was all for power.
It was already a goddamn lot to have three to five generals in a full formation. With so many officers waiting to be promoted to general, how could they be promoted if they did not expand the formation?
Moreover, a Marine Commander-in-Chief with only one division and a Marine Commander-in-Chief with many divisions are different in every aspect.
So it's not surprising that the Marine proposed this expansion request.
Half an hour later, Mr. President was almost done reading. He closed the report, clenched his fists and put them under his chin, thinking seriously.
The military had indeed given him a lot of help to establish himself. Of course, Trumann had also contributed a lot. He was the bridge that connected the military.
The military had helped him, so he should reciprocate. This was the Federation President's way of being an official — those who helped him, he should reciprocate.
If someone didn't follow this rule, they wouldn't be chosen next time.
Mr. President still wants to be re-elected, so he can't give up on the military, but now the expansion seems a little … too radical.
This wasn't as simple as just approving it and sending it to Congress for discussion. It had to consider the attitude of the entire international community.
The expansion of the Marine meant that the military at sea would be strengthened. It meant that there would be more strike forces that could traverse the Great Eastern Ocean. This would form a terrible deterrent to all the countries along the Great Eastern Ocean.
What if these countries joined forces?
What if they went one step further and formed a military alliance?
These all needed to be f * cking thought. It wasn't that simple.
Mr. President looked up at the Minister of Defense. "What do you think?"
The Minister of Defense pursed his lips and didn't say anything. But at this time, his silence was the biggest statement, which meant that the position of the Ministry of Defense was biased towards the military.
"You're really giving me trouble!"
Mr. President complained impolitely. He couldn't refuse directly. After all, the support of the military was very important, and he couldn't directly agree. This might bring additional political risks.
After a moment of consideration, he said, "Report it to Congress for discussion!"
There was a smile on the Minister of Defense's face. The Federation's Ministry of Defense and the military were two institutions, but they overlapped. Approving the expansion of the Marine meant that the Federation would have more generals, and some of the former generals would also have the opportunity to go further.
The people in the Ministry of Defense could jump back to the military and be promoted again. The people in the military could also jump back to the Ministry of Defense to accumulate civilian work experience and lay a good foundation for the promotion of senior generals in the future. This was something that was beneficial to everyone.
After watching the Minister of Defense leave, Mr. President finished the coffee he had originally planned to slowly savor in one gulp. He needed something to wake him up a little, or to calm himself down.
It seemed a little stupid to agree but not push it, but this time was too sensitive.
Not only did he want to stabilize the support of the voters he had already received, but he also didn't want to lose the support of the conservative voters. Any blind decision before the results were out was stupid, and he had to be careful.
With Mr. President's approval, the expansion of the Marine was included in the process. At the same time, a large number of newspapers in the Federation began to promote a topic — Did the Federation need to show its strength to the world?
From the Daily Federation to the Entertainment Daily, whether it was a serious current affairs and political publication, or a tabloid that focused on gossip and gossip all day long, they all began to ask this question.
We're already so strong, so shouldn't we let the world know?
And one of the core events that promoted this matter was the disappearance of the cargo ship.
To be honest, without the push of public opinion, 99% of the people in the Federation didn't care that a cargo ship had disappeared because it had nothing to do with their lives, not at all.
Their families and belongings weren't on the cargo ship, so when they heard the news, they wouldn't be moved.
But when this matter was raised to the level of a country's dignity and whether a country should show its strength, which involved the dignity of the country and the self-esteem of the people, it brought a wave of public opinion.
It must be known that in the past few years, the escapists were already embarrassed enough, and it turned out that escapism was worthless, so revenge radicalism began to prevail, and people were more radical than ever before.
"63.1% of people think that we should stop the disarmament and expand the current Navy, and send more warships to protect the Federation's merchant ships from the harassment of pirates."
"22% of people think that we should maintain the current situation, and we shouldn't show off too much force and cause misunderstandings among our neighbors …"
Lynch read the results of the poll in the newspaper, and his face couldn't help but smile. "The Federation is showing its strength from the inside out, and the future will be better."
Sitting around him were high-ranking officials in navy uniforms, and there were even two generals among them.
Everyone's face was full of smiles, and they were obviously satisfied with the promotion of the whole thing.
Lynch's aircraft company was actually just a link, a node, and its value was to give the Navy and Congress more opportunities to contact each other.
What really made Lynch get the friendship of the Navy was his plan to promote the expansion of the Navy.
When he proposed this plan, Mr. Trumann knew that the Navy couldn't refuse.
In the middle of some low-ranking Navy officers was a Vice Admiral. He had been a Vice Admiral for almost twenty years, and he didn't have many years left.
He thought that in the end, he could only retire with the rank of Vice Admiral, and then leave the rest of his life with regrets, but he didn't expect that in the end, there would be such an opportunity!
Once the expansion, the Navy's internal generals would more or less have a certain change in position. Colonels would become Brigadier Generals, Brigadier Generals would become Rear Admirals, Rear Admirals would become Vice Admirals, Vice Admirals would become … Admirals!
Of course, in order to promote this matter, 60% of the members of the Congress's Military Committee must agree, and more than 50% of the members of Congress must vote in favor. It wasn't easy to do this.
Because of historical and political issues, in the past, the military was very unpopular. It was similar to the kind that "can't defend the country and can't make contributions". Under the distorted propaganda of politicians, people didn't like the military and didn't want their families to join the military.
So the Navy didn't consider this matter at first, until Lynch mentioned his ideas and plans, which had a high success rate, and the whole thing didn't require anyone to pay a penny. Lynch used his own money to lobby Congress to agree to the expansion of the Navy.
In the face of such a rich and influential friend who was willing to establish a relationship with the military, how could the Navy refuse him.
Not to mention that Mr. Trumann also played a key role in this. As the political spokesman of the Navy, his attitude can also affect the choice of the Navy to a large extent.
"Mr. Lynch, do you think we have a chance to succeed?"
The Vice Admiral didn't hide his desire, and the question he asked was a bit naked.
The Rear Admirals around him, as well as other officers, looked at Lynch with fiery eyes. This was the moment they had been looking forward to for more than ten years.
Lynch nodded without hesitation. "As long as we follow my script, the Navy can be expanded before the presidential election."
"Gentlemen, once we can get the opportunity to expand before the presidential election, this means that we can have a second expansion during the term of office of the President. At that time, the size of the Navy will be far greater than any time since the founding of the Federation."
"This will be the most glorious era of the Navy!"