Initially, the United States did not intend to enter Afghanistan fully, but wanted to deal with the Taliban through special forces and fierce bombing, and then support other armed forces in Afghanistan to seize political power.

However, Russia immediately expressed willingness to provide military bases in Central Asia for American use. China also expressed willingness to let Pakistan provide a land passage. Seeing such support from these two major powers, the thinking of the American decision-makers became active. Afghanistan had an excellent geographical location, and the Taliban were vulnerable. If the United States could build Afghanistan into one of its strongholds, it would drive a wedge in an excellent strategic location, threatening Russia's soft underbelly and China's northwest simultaneously.

Finally, the United States decided to go ahead and fully invade Afghanistan.

It must be said that in terms of instigating color revolutions in Central Asia and injecting extremist forces into China's northwest, the United States achieved things they couldn't do before. It indeed had good results.

But 20 years after invading Afghanistan, the US military withdrew in disgrace, and all previous layouts came to naught. In the subsequent strategic summary, the US military angrily stated, 'The United States was strategically misled by other major powers.'

He Rui felt the US military told the truth, but this kind of high-level deception is used this way, and it carries great risks. Because with the unrivaled strength of the United States in 2001, it was very likely to truly achieve its goals in Afghanistan. This required the upper echelon making the decision to bear immense pressure of judgment.

Obviously, both China and Russia made the same judgment and reaped fruitful results after a long period of 20 years. When He Rui decided to imitate this experience, the comrades of the Military Commission were very worried. Russia was so weak now; Japan might really swallow Vladivostok, and Vladivostok was Chinese territory that the comrades believed must be taken back.

He Rui could only announce his arrangement to the comrades: launch a military strike against Japan by early 1923 at the latest. Hearing such a request, even the erratic fellow Cheng Ruofan didn't dare to utter a word.

He Rui solemnly announced to this group of guys who were already breathless from heavy work, "By early 1923 at the latest, the strike against Japan must begin. The Japanese army will inevitably counterattack with full force. Comrades have seen the Japanese government's fiscal budget; they are very likely to maintain a standing army of 25 divisions, expanding to 50 divisions in wartime. Since we have no navy, we will face between 500,000 and 1 million Japanese troops at that time."

Seeing the comrades all silent, He Rui felt he didn't need to explain why he supported Japan's invasion of Vladivostok. Vladivostok between 1918 and 1923 was like Afghanistan in the early 21st century; the purpose was to attract Japan's strategic direction. No matter how arrogant the Japanese army was, it wouldn't challenge the strength and determination of both China and Russia simultaneously.

Based on the principle of 'I'll take the blame, you go die', let Russia bear the heavy burden of attracting Japan first. He Rui trusted the strategic judgment ability of Comrade Lenin and Comrade Stalin very much. Once China launched a military strike against Japan, presumably these two strategists would immediately understand the purpose of He Rui's previous actions.

Moreover, the more excellent the strategist, the more they possess the ability to judge the hour and size up the situation. If He Rui achieved his strategic goal, the two most excellent strategists in the history of the Communist Party would never choose to be enemies with the Northeast, and the friendship between China and Russia would have a solid foundation.

As for Mitsui Yasuki before him, He Rui didn't care at all. Mitsui Yasuki was just a merchant, just a capitalist. With Mitsui Yasuki's insight and foresight, he could probably judge that He Rui's purpose in supporting Japan's invasion of Vladivostok wasn't simply to make a profit, but to divert disaster northward.

Mitsui Yasuki should be able to understand that there must be a war between China and Japan. But so what if he knew? Mitsui Yasuki could do nothing except what a capitalist should do. Japan was a feudal country with industry, and it was still the old nobility holding power in Japan. He Rui was very clear, and Mitsui Yasuki was also very clear, that the Mitsui family could influence Japanese policy but could never decide Japan's fate.

Ending the meeting with such a relaxed mood, He Rui completely put Joffe's matter behind him. The Military Commission members had been in meetings for three days, and it was time for He Rui to attend the meeting again.

As soon as he saw the comrades, He Rui immediately regretted it. Xu Chengfeng had a handsome square face, but at this time he was unshaven, his eyes were red, and his square face had almost turned into a long face.

Every young comrade looked much more haggard. The most pitiful one was Cheng Ruofan. This guy had a delicate face rare among soldiers, so he looked particularly heartbreaking when haggard.

He Rui immediately advised, "Comrades, everyone go back and rest for a day first."

Cheng Ruofan was also unshaven and his eyes were swollen. He shook his head stubbornly. "No, please explain your arrangement to us clearly, Chairman."

Other young comrades had the same attitude. After racking their brains for a few days without achieving any results, the unwillingness in their hearts became even stronger.

He Rui asked for the plan produced by the young comrades and flipped through it. The pages rustled as He Rui flipped faster and faster. That speed made Cheng Ruofan, Xu Chengfeng, and others doubt whether He Rui was really reading!

Turning the last page, He Rui patted the table and asked everyone to stand up. "Silang, you are a military representative at the truck manufacturing plant. I ask you, after the war starts, how many military representatives do you think the truck factory needs to ensure the smooth production of trucks requisitioned by the army?"

Zheng Silang was stunned. He answered hesitantly, "Probably about..."

He Rui interrupted Zheng Silang. "Don't say 'probably'. How much do you yourself know about the truck production process?"

Zheng Silang hurriedly began to recall the truck production process. He was sure he had studied it seriously and memorized it. However, after not sleeping well for a few days, Zheng Silang only felt his brain had become like paste. If He Rui asked about arrangements for putting cavalry into battle, Zheng Silang still felt he could say something, but regarding truck production, he really couldn't give an answer.

He Rui let Zheng Silang sit down and turned to ask Cheng Ruofan, "Ruofan, we want to block the Japanese army from rescuing the Kwantung Leased Territory by the Yalu River. Have you determined where to build permanent fortifications? If building them, how to keep it secret in these few years?"

Cheng Ruofan was tongue-tied. He was indeed responsible for formulating defensive work. But what Cheng Ruofan considered was how to fight field battles with the Japanese army. He had also considered arrangements for building field fortifications, but he hadn't considered building permanent fortifications of reinforced concrete at all.

He Rui stepped forward and pressed Cheng Ruofan's shoulder, letting this guy who was preparing to hem and haw sit down too. Then he turned to Chief of Staff Zhong Yifu. "Yifu, you are responsible for staff work and have also studied the German General Staff system. So how many levels of mobilization does war require, and what standards need to be formulated for each level of mobilization? With changes in the war situation, under what circumstances should various standards be activated? Have you carefully studied the Statistics Bureau's Northeast population figures, gender ratio, and age structure ratio?"

Zhong Yifu was just stunned for a moment and answered decisively, "Report to the Chairman, I didn't start from this direction."

After speaking, without He Rui needing to act, Zhong Yifu obediently sat back in his seat.

He Rui smiled slightly and turned to Xu Chengfeng. "Your work direction should be to consider exactly how many troops to commit. I believe you have analyzed Japanese military intelligence. But have you studied the Japanese government's fiscal budget? We not only need to know how many Japanese troops we are fighting, but also how long we will fight the Japanese army, and to what extent the intensity of the war will reach. You even have to judge, from the beginning of the war to the closing stage, given Japan's munition inventory and production capacity, plus Japan's possible foreign arms purchases, how many shells they can fire. Although this number won't be accurate, it should always be calculated."

Xu Chengfeng originally had his brows tightly furrowed. Hearing this, he was suddenly relieved. He plumped down on the chair and said happily, "Thank you, Chairman, I understand the direction."

He Rui looked at Hu Xiushan. "Road planning, you did it. Personnel transportation and material transportation, you also did. But your time plan is a mess. Did you not do it seriously? Or do you have other considerations?"

Hu Xiushan smiled bitterly. "Chairman, I actually did the transportation needed for troop movements and didn't consider the possibility of grand mobilization."

He Rui pressed the shoulder of the exhausted Hu Xiushan and let him sit down. Only then did he turn to Zhou Yinshan. "Old Zhou, your staff work is relatively in place. But you didn't consider how to simulate actual combat. I mean you didn't organize exercise troops simulating Japanese division levels. Is it because you encountered problems?"

Zhou Yinshan also sat down. "I didn't consider it. If organizing troops simulating Japanese divisions, you have to preside over it personally."

"Don't worry, I'm familiar with this," He Rui laughed. After speaking, He Rui ordered, "Now I'll let everyone go back to rest. Who still has things they don't understand?"

"Understood!" the comrades said one after another, only Cheng Ruofan didn't speak. He Rui looked over and saw that Cheng Ruofan was already lying on the table, having fallen asleep in just this moment.

Zhou Yinshan sighed, "Ruofan hasn't slept for these past few days."

After sighing, Zhou Yinshan said again, "Perhaps I misjudged him; this child is much tougher than I thought."

He Rui nodded slightly but just called the guard to carry Cheng Ruofan to the lounge next door. Cheng Ruofan was a young soldier He Rui liked very much. This guy's weakness wasn't a lack of talent or intelligence, but because his knowledge system was incomplete, he was exceptionally stubborn.

Compared with the calmness and perseverance of other young soldiers of this era, Cheng Ruofan's personality was actually closer to young people of the 21st century, which was also the reason why He Rui particularly liked Cheng Ruofan.

Young people in the 21st century seemingly had difficulty concentrating, or often had whimsical ideas, or shouted about 'lying flat' after suffering setbacks. But these were not their essence. In He Rui's view, the biggest problem facing young people in the 21st century was not getting practical opportunities matched with their knowledge system.

From the perspective of knowledge, the content everyone learned was completely sufficient. But wanting to practice while learning required a large investment of resources. The demand for these resources far exceeded the limit schools could bear. So various universities and other schools had no other way except locking students in schools and preventing them from going out to cause trouble.

To cultivate students with moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor development, locking them up was absolutely not enough. This was the current situation facing China: wanting to promote the comprehensive progress of the people, but lacking sufficient resources.

He Rui firmly believed that as long as there were enough resources, Chinese youth could definitely be called one of the most excellent groups of people in the world. Just like this guy Cheng Ruofan.