Beiyang 1917

The finalization of the first batch of U.S. munitions list is one thing, but in view of the insufficient production capacity of the U.S. military industry and the fact that artillery and aircraft are purchased from Britain and France, the delivery cycle on the entire list has been dragged into a long ten months , This is because the rifle Wang Geng chose was the m1903 Springfield instead of the m1917.

The Sino-US loan and arms purchase agreement was formally signed on April 1917, 4. According to the issuance of weapons purchase orders and the production cycle, under normal circumstances, the first batch of guns and ammunition will not arrive in China until at least two months. Production takes one month to ship across oceans.

Wait two months, the day lily is cold, and finally Wang Geng, through the influence of himself and the Morgan consortium in Washington, persuaded the U.S. Department of War to wipe out all the existing stocks of the U.S. arsenal producing m1903 Springfield rifles It was empty, and 5000 Springfield-style rifles and 7.62 million 30.06mm [-] rifle ammunition were collected and shipped immediately. It is expected to arrive at Tianjin Port by the end of May.

As the m1917bar Browning squad machine gun and the m1 Garland semi-automatic rifle have just been designed and finalized, and the U.S. Department of War has not officially announced that these two new guns will be selected as the U.S. standard rifles, Colt Arsenal, Marin Rockway The three largest small arms manufacturers in the United States, the Mill Company and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, refused to set up production lines for new guns.

This is also human nature. After all, the Ministry of Ordnance has placed more than 1917 million orders for m200 rifles to various arsenals, and the production lines of each company are already producing at full capacity. However, the purchase demand for m917bar squad machine guns in the Sino-US loan and ordnance procurement is not enough. It is 10 pieces. Although the price and profit are very good, it is equivalent to 1917 m[-] rifles based on the order value. It is normal for the factories to refuse to renovate the new production line when the follow-up order is not implemented.

Finally, the Manhattan Industrial Bank, under the operation of the Vivienne and Morgan consortium, cooperated with the Colt Company to build a joint venture new arsenal at another remote factory site in Meridian, Connecticut, mainly used to manufacture m1917bar Browning Squad machine guns and M1 Garland semi-automatic rifles, anyway, there is an order from China, and the factory's investment can be returned by more than half after the order is completed.

However, Colt Armory and Browning himself lacked confidence in when these two guns would be installed by the U.S. military. 500% of the investment in this new factory in Meridian came from the Manhattan Industrial Bank. Colt mainly used personnel and production lines to invest 90% of the shares, while Browning and Garland each took 5% of the shares with patents. factory.

Manhattan Industrial Bank has a pure-blooded but brand-new arsenal in the United States. The first production line is the m1903 Springfield rifle production line dismantled by Colt Company, and the second new production line produces m1917bar squad machine guns (although at this time There is no concept of a light machine gun, Americans are used to calling this gun an automatic rifle, but the squad rifle is the most appropriate name given to the light machine gun by Wang Geng).

默里迪恩兵工厂的第三条生产线用于生产m1伽蓝德半自动步枪，第四条生产线用来生产m1917a1水冷式勃朗宁重机枪，第五条生产线用来生产7.62mm的30.06步枪弹。第六条生产线用来生产柯尔特手枪，包括.45口径的柯尔特m1911自动手枪和柯尔特.38口径左轮手枪。

With the support of Jack Morgan, Vivienne, the partner and general manager of Manhattan Industrial Bank, has completely become a newly rising and powerful woman in American arms and medicine. Meridian Armory only took a short month of preparation and preparation. Trial production started after installation and commissioning. After running-in and personnel training, the five production lines have entered the stage of full-load operation since the third month. Of course, this is a later story.

A medium-sized new arsenal with an investment of only 500 million U.S. dollars, the value of sub-orders from the first batch of Chinese and U.S. firearms purchase lists reached 675 million U.S. dollars. This kind of confidence made the morale of the entire arsenal extremely high, and Jack Morgan finally also Satisfied, he got a share of the foreign arms transaction that has always been one of the Rockefeller family's private lands.

Going back and continuing to talk about the consultations with Japan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after learning that China’s consultations with the United States have finalized the loan from the United States and the purchase of arms to an astonishing 9885 million US dollars, the Japanese envoy rushed to the meeting with a beautiful secretary in the meeting room. Wang Geng, who came over like that, jumped up,

"Wang Sang! You are so uninteresting! Let Cao Rulin, an idiot, waste time with me, but you quietly signed such a large loan and purchase contract with Rui Enshi, which is as high as 9885 million U.S. dollars! Don't forget your boxer's compensation delay It’s good to pay 3.8 million for ten years, and 1.8 million was mortgaged to the Americans in a blink of an eye? Then how can the Sino-Japanese loan be 3.8 million, and there will be 2 million left at most!”

Japanese Minister Lin Quanzhu had been arguing with Cao Rulin, the president of the Bank of Communications, based on the 3.8 million scale. Now that the value of the collateral has been reduced by half, this guy feels that the domestic side is not easy to explain!

"Isn't the 2 million Sino-Japanese loan very good? I gave you all the oily head of the railway, industrial and mining, and Rui Enshi grinned over there, sucking in the air! Can't you be good?" Wang Geng laughed and sat on the chair in the middle of the conference room, while taking out a cigar and smelling it.

"Your Ministry of Finance issued a total of 3.8 million national bonds for participating in the war. Now the Americans' arms loans have been mortgaged by 1.8 million, so Japan can only lend you 2 million at most!" Lin Quanzhu gasped!The military department has always been worried about the fact that the Chinese troops participating in the war chose the standard equipment of the US military.

"Lin Sang, if you ask me, you Japanese are dead-minded. It's too short-sighted to just look at Boxer's indemnity. There are only so many railways in China's 22 provinces. I dare say that as long as you Japan dares to invest money, how much will I have?" If you dare to use it to build railways and roads, how much profit will it be in the future? 3.8 million is far from enough! Why should I ask the president of the Bank of Communications to talk to you about this?" Wang Geng smiled and enlightened Lin Quanzhu road.

"Wang Sang, I can't believe what you said now. Your Cao Rulin actually said that you plan to build the railway from Lanzhou to Xinjiang?" Lin Quanzhu blinked and stared at Wang Geng.

"The main line of the Middle East Road is only more than 1480 kilometers, and the South-Manchuria Railway is only more than 960 kilometers. Back then, you fought hard with Lao Maozi, why bother? Now that China has declared war on Germany, the sea transportation is far away and inefficient. I reckon it must Both sea and land will be developed, and the railway will be built on the land. The first step is to build the Jingsui Road to Suiyuantong to get on the train. The second part is to build the railway from Suiyuan to Kulun, which is about 900 kilometers, and then build it from Kulun to the north. After [-] kilometers, it will be connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway!"

Wang Geng smiled and continued to the Japanese Minister, "Lin Sang, the mileage of just building such a railway is equivalent to the main line of the Middle East Railway. I also want to build it from Suiyuan to Baotou. It is not a dream to go to Lanzhou and Xinjiang in the future! You Are you afraid that the investment of Japanese borrowing will not return?"

Nima, this is a big deal for me. That Dapao Sun went to Shanghai before the second revolution. When he was preparing for the railway supervision, the plan he drew up was to build a 3.8-mile railway!How much am I going to fix?Are you afraid that you have nowhere to spend your [-] million yen loan?

But under Wang Geng's coercion and lure and the flickering of running the train, Lin Quanzhu didn't dare to be fooled. In the end, the amount of the loan to Japan was shrunk and set at 2 million yen. The collateral was the newly issued by the Ministry of Finance. Of course, Japan, like the United States, has left a tail for the remaining part of the national debt that participated in the war, saying that this is the first batch of loans, and subsequent loans will be discussed separately depending on the progress.

With the disastrous defeat of the French army on the Western Front in April 1917, the pressure of public opinion to join the European battlefield as soon as possible after the declaration of war between China and the United States is increasing. The situation was not so smooth. In fact, the US military was short of everything from rifles and machine guns to tents and medicines.

Wang Geng's army in Nanyuan was not much better. The recruiting offices stationed in various provinces, counties, and cities were non-stop. Every day, about a thousand strong men continuously got off at Fengtai Station and were led by the seniors who were in charge of receiving troops. The Nanyuan Barracks became a member of the participating army. The number and establishment of the participating army continued to increase, but the arms and equipment in hand were only enough to equip a mixed brigade and a teaching regiment.

The area around Nanyuan and the banks of the Yongding River have become the purgatory of the recruits of the model army and the place where the phoenix is ​​nirvana. There are nearly [-] local civilians fighting on both sides of the Yongding River with the tens of thousands of recruits. More than half of the flood control budget of the Civil Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior Wang Geng directly asked Lu Ding's Ministry of Finance to transfer it to the logistics account of his war headquarters.

Soldiers, no small matter, what happens in the station of the participating troops and the surrounding area is a major event of the country!Wang Geng, the superintendent of participating in the war, did not know when another temporary errand was added to his shoulders, the Yongding River flood control supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs!