The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 333 Work Summary (Part 2)

Zhang Guangsong: "By the way, I've already arranged for the corresponding contracting teams to start construction on the military bases we've acquired in Siam, including the airport and military port. The White Eagles have no objections and are even willing to cover some of the construction costs."

Zhang Chi sneered, "That's great. Once it's built, let them use it if they want. After all, the place is ours."

With the signing of the Bangkok Port Mutual Defense Treaty, the People's Army of Siam also obtained the right to build military bases in Siam. According to the agreement, the People's Army of Siam can use these military bases and surrounding land for 99 years and renew them when the agreement expires.

Of course, since Zhang Chi still has to pretend to be the White Eagle's docile little brother, these military bases must also be opened to the White Eagle army. Therefore, under the operation of General Stevenson, the White Eagle is even willing to pay to subsidize the construction costs.

This was also Zhang Chi's temporary compromise with the White Eagle. After all, he had already taken over Pegu, Siam and half of West Malaysia. Some astute White Eagle politicians had already noticed his ambition.

Although these people wanted to expel John and the Gauls from Southeast Asia for the benefit of the United States, they also did not want to see a strong local Chinese force.

The secret message sent back by the synthesizer Yegorov from across the ocean mentioned that some people in both houses had recently shown signs of pushing for a bill to alienate and suppress the People's Security Army.

However, since there are many tycoons and families who have benefited from Zhang Chi, this is just a sign.

But this also made Zhang Chi very vigilant, so he had to adopt some conciliatory policies to appease Bai Ying. After all, the size of the Anmin Army was still too small.

In addition to the military deployment against Siam, Zhang Chi naturally did not let go in the economic and cultural aspects.

Zhang Chi: "Is Luan Phibun still docile?"

The previous summary meeting for the first half of the year discussed the construction and development situation in Bago, so Zhang Chi could only discuss this issue with Zhang Guangsong privately.

Zhang Guangsong: "He's very docile. General Hao's purge has basically eliminated Phibun's influence in the Siamese military."

Zhang Chi nodded. Hao Yi and Jin Xican had both sent him detailed reports on this matter. Under the righteous banner of cracking down on and clearing out those who colluded with the Fuso fascists, everything went smoothly.

However, since Siam was theoretically considered to have "surrendered", those senior Siamese generals were basically ordered to retire, and the two men did not get involved in anything too bloody.

Of course, one always has to kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys, so a group of soldiers and thugs who took advantage of the chaos to loot Chinatown were shot.

In addition, Zhang Chi also let the Intelligence Department conduct "business" in Siam, secretly balancing the power of the king and the prime minister to ensure that the two sides could neither cooperate nor rely on the help of the Anmin Army.

However, Zhang Chi was personally responsible for all matters related to the intelligence line, so he naturally would not tell Zhang Guangsong.

"You should also pay attention to the affairs of the local Chinese community." Zhang Chi's eyes moved slightly, "We and the Siamese are not from the same country after all, but the local Chinese are naturally close to us, and they are the basis for us to strengthen our control.

Cultural penetration must be strengthened. Just make a simple budget and see how much it would cost to promote Mandarin education, encourage Chinese people to join the government and the military, and control key departments.

If you want to get things done, you have to spend money.

There is no reason in the world to expect a horse to run without giving it grass.

Therefore, when Zhang Chi and Baiying negotiated the loan, in addition to the reserves for issuing currency, they actually also took these investments into account. This is called spending Baiying's money to do their own business.

Zhang Guangsong nodded slightly, with a hint of emotion in his tone:

"You're absolutely right. The Siamese people's sense of national identity cannot be underestimated. If we forcefully annex them, I'm afraid the resistance will be extremely fierce, and the gains will outweigh the losses. It's better to follow your way and take things slowly."

He grew up in West Malaysia and is an old Nanyang person. Of course, he knows that people in Siam and Annan have a much stronger sense of their own identity than people in other places.

"In comparison, the natives in other colonial regions, especially those in the Spice Islands, are indeed much more disorganized. They only recognize the local chieftain and have no sense of nationhood at all." Zhang Guangsong paused and said tentatively, "That's why you keep saying that places like this are easier to 'manage'."

He was Zhang Chi's chief secretary, so he naturally knew that Zhang Chi had long coveted Mindanao and Borneo and was eager to recover the former territory of Lan Fang.

Zhang Chi chuckled, took a sip from his wine glass, and said meaningfully, "Even so, there are still people in the army and the local areas complaining behind my back, saying that I am too 'merciful' and won't let Siam cede territory or pay compensation."

His eyes were slightly cold, and his tone was filled with disdain:

"It's easy to say we're ceding territory and paying compensation. The border between Pegu and Siam is either mountainous or barren. Why would we cede it? Charity? As for the fertile coastal plains... well, the most valuable part of Siam is the plains around Bangkok. If we dare to take direct action, we'd be living too comfortably."

He tapped the table casually, a teasing smile appearing on the corner of his mouth:

"If we dare to bring it up, I'm afraid we'll have to physically 'fight' with the Siamese the next day, and be directly caught in the vast ocean of the 18-way coalition army against Zhang."

Zhang Guangsong immediately followed up:

"So your strategy, using Siam's internal conflicts as leverage to secretly contain the Prime Minister and the King, and focusing solely on economic benefits, is truly a brilliant move."

He leaned forward slightly, a look of admiration on his face: "How could those rough guys understand this?"

Seeing Zhang Chi's satisfied expression, he quickly talked about his recent achievements:

"Recent progress in this area has been very smooth. Nanhua Group has begun negotiating investments in tin mines and rubber plantations in Siam and has also applied for mining exploration rights."

"Great!" Zhang Chi clapped his hands and laughed. "Mineral resources are crucial to industrial development. Follow the map and take the most valuable spots first."

He was very confident about the exploration. He had the "World Resources Atlas (66 Edition)" that the system had rewarded him. He just needed to copy out a few copies about Siam and hand them over to the exploration team of the South China Group, and then they could follow the map.

By then, the Nanhua Group will be able to control part or even all of the shares of the mineral deposits it has explored.

"In addition, our investment in ports and railways is also progressing smoothly," Zhang Guangsong added, his tone somewhat proud. "Luan Phibun signs projects like this that require real money very quickly."

"Oh, that's what he wants." Zhang Chi chuckled. "If you want to get rich, build roads first. That's not just a saying."

According to Zhang Chi's plan, once Siam's transportation infrastructure is fully integrated with Pegu, the country's economic lifeline will be firmly in his hands.

Of course, controlling railways, ports, and building new infrastructure would not happen overnight. But in Zhang Chi's plan, digesting Siam was a "slow and steady process," so he was in no rush.

Zhang Chi gently shook the wine in the glass and said softly:

"Siam has a population of 15 million and a land area larger than Sichuan. As long as we can control this market, our factories will have no problem finding sales for at least the next ten years, no matter how much they expand their production capacity, and there will be no overproduction."