Iron Cross

While the British and Americans were busy with the Azores, the huge Japanese Combined Fleet was living a leisurely life, and they were simply enjoying themselves.

Hori Teikichi’s eight years as chairman were not in vain. He had a way of commanding the troops and adjusting the psychology of employees (officers and soldiers). After two life-and-death battles in the South Solomon Sea and the Indian Ocean, he let the fleet relax after arriving in Italy. With a large number of warships entering the port, the repairs that needed to be repaired, the maintenance that needed to be maintained, and the installation of new equipment that needed to be installed, the entire fleet became idle, so in addition to leaving enough supervisors, he organized the rest of the officers and soldiers to go ashore for vacation in batches.

Germany and Italy recognized and praised the achievements of the Combined Fleet, especially in the Indian Ocean and North African campaigns, Japan made great contributions to the Axis victory, so they were very polite to Japanese officers and soldiers. Italy provided a good rest environment and daily supplies, and Germany provided a variety of other conveniences, from torpedoes and heavy oil to radars, catapults and other facilities and equipment. Everything the Combined Fleet needed was fully met. As for the manpower and material resources for maintenance, the two countries also took care of it, which was equivalent to raising a whole fleet during this period. The generous actions of Germany and Italy also made the Japanese side quite satisfied. The Japanese Navy had a tradition of being pro-British, but most of it had disappeared after this war. After seeing the strength of the German army and the prosperity of European countries, the pro-British sentiment completely disappeared without a trace.

Hori Teikichi was a very humane officer. After discussing with his staff and obtaining domestic consent, he decided to take out 10 million marks from the 1 billion mark credit granted by Germany for the personal life of officers and soldiers. The amount was distributed to more than 60,000 people, and the least could be distributed to just over 100, and the colonel-level could be distributed to more than 1,000. General officers did not have many opportunities to spend money because they were entertained by senior military officials from Germany and Italy.

The total amount of money seemed to be large, and after distribution, it was equivalent to one month's salary for German officers and soldiers of the same rank. But in the eyes of Japanese soldiers, they were overjoyed to get such a large amount of pocket money under the premise that daily supplies were all contracted and the supply was above the standard. Although Italians were not very reliable in other aspects, they were famous for their exquisite food. Cheese, steak, and red wine were provided in large quantities, which looked astonishing. The Japanese Navy was also considered to have first-class supplies and had seen the world in the Japanese army, but compared with the Italian pomp, they were still ashamed. In addition, Mussolini could not demonstrate his strength in military terms, so he had to show it in these aspects.

When allocating pocket money, the fleet leaders explained that the money could be used for drinking, partying, shopping, or saving, and the soldiers were not allowed to use it. The only thing is that we are now on the land of the Allies, and we don’t speak the language and have different customs. All actions represent the image of the Imperial Army. Don’t make a mess, otherwise you will be severely punished. It is in the bones of the Japanese to bully the weak and fear the strong. When facing backward countries like China, Japanese soldiers are usually unreasonable and unreasonable. When facing developed countries like Germany and Italy that they need to look up to, they are polite and act like good people (Note: The quality of the Japanese navy is much better than that of the army). Although there are some jokes, there is no trouble.

Of course, there were Japanese officers and soldiers who went to buy sex. Italian girls were all very enthusiastic, but Japanese soldiers were generally short. Standing next to tall girls, they could not even reach their chins. It was difficult to kiss them. After taking off their clothes, the thing under their crotch looked as thin as a toothpick according to Western standards... In a word, it was not so easy to ride a big foreign horse. Japanese officers and soldiers who dared to "try it" often fled in embarrassment amid laughter.

Buying sex failed, and getting drunk was not something they were used to. Most soldiers finally chose to go to stores to buy things. After seeing the bleak business in Japanese cities, the Japanese army was generally shocked by the prosperity of Italian business and the rich products. Ordinary soldiers bought cigarettes, alcohol, clothes, snacks, and bags, while officers set their sights on foreign gadgets that were very rare in China - low-level officers bought radios and watches, and middle and senior officers bought cameras, phonographs, and records. In particular, Leica cameras made in Germany were in great demand. Due to the Axis' successive victories in the past six months, the value of the Mark has been very stable, and even slightly appreciated. Huge Japanese shopping groups are surging everywhere in the streets and alleys, making all the merchants very happy.

No one knows that this is all the credit of Hoffman's time travel. It is precisely because of the seizure of the Indian Ocean sea power and the capture of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean that the Axis' control over the Mediterranean has completely reached the point of monopoly. Agricultural products and mineral resources from the Middle East and Southeast European countries are continuously transported to Italy and then to Germany by sea, while Germany and Italy import their heavy industry and military products to various countries - arms during the war are very popular, especially German products. Owning a record is very convincing, and small countries are proud of a full set of German equipment.

When Britain had the upper hand in the Mediterranean, Germany and Italy also used the navy and air force to make trouble. Now the situation is reversed, especially after Malta was taken, the Mediterranean has completely become the Axis' inner lake, and all the threats around it have been strangled in advance, and the Allied forces cannot be deployed at all. There were once several daring British submarines that wanted to use Gibraltar as a base to disrupt commerce, but they were sunk one after another. Now Gibraltar is unable to take care of itself, and the so-called disruption of commerce is just empty talk.

While Japanese officers and soldiers are going shopping, official purchasing groups are also making large purchases. In addition to the 1 billion credit granted by Germany in advance, the two parties reached an agreement on the transaction of two lightning cruisers, with a total price of 35 million marks. Although it was much lower than the original cost, in Horikichi's view, these two cruisers The old ships are of no use in the army now. It is better to replace them with other better equipment.

But Redel's next suggestion made him prick up his ears.

"The Imperial Navy is currently engaged in a breaking battle in the Atlantic Ocean. We hope to put these two warships into service immediately. Let's go from Gibraltar..."

At first, Horikichi thought it was the Germans urging him to hand over as soon as possible, so he naturally agreed, but the next words stunned him: "We hope to recruit Japanese volunteers to pilot these two ships, preferably the officers and soldiers on the original ships - —We are willing to pay for this.”

Horikichi instinctively wanted to refuse at first, but later he heard that Germany was willing to pay 5 million marks and promised to return these officers and soldiers when the combined fleet returned home. If there were casualties during the battle, compensation would be based on German standards. The loss of warships had nothing to do with Japan, etc. When the conditions are sharp, I can't help but feel a little excited.

"Sir, 5 million is not a small amount. If you buy Tiger tanks, you can buy 8 of them..."

"Yes, the officers and soldiers are idle. Why not go to the sea to practice and experience what it feels like to break a friendship? The Imperial Navy has not broken a friendship yet..."

Under the advice of Ichigan's staff, Horikichi finally agreed to immediately dispatch two warships, Kitakami and Oi, to sea. However, he did not invest the 5 million marks in procurement like others, but distributed them as pocket money. The remaining officers and soldiers received additional payments according to the original standards. Half, the officers and soldiers of the two ships were given double the pay.

Senior naval admirals all think that Horikichi's skills are powerful. Will these tens of thousands of officers and soldiers be completely devoted to their commander in the future? A commander who can win battles and treat his officers and soldiers well is the most popular. Unless Horikichi himself doesn't want to take the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, it won't be easy for anyone to take it.

Horikichi's business skills were revealed during large-scale purchases. He did not just focus on weapons and equipment like ordinary generals, but also paid equal attention to other things.

Industrial machine tools, buy!

Precision equipment, buy it!

Optical instruments, buy!

Radar, radio, cipher machine, buy them!

French truck, buy it!

Swedish anti-aircraft gun, buy it!

Belgian special steel, buy it!

Coal-to-liquid technology, buy, buy, buy!

Chemical additives in fuel, buy, buy, buy!

"General, this is the latest anti-inflammatory drug successfully developed by the empire. It has miraculous effects on surgical infections..."

"Miracle effect?" Horikichi said thoughtfully, "How does it compare to sulfa?"

"It is much stronger than sulfa. The key is that many pathogens cannot be treated with sulfa, but this new drug - penicillin can."

"What's the price?"

"The market price is 125 marks per bottle, and you can charge 100 marks at the cost price. However, we can only sell you 100,000 bottles at most, not much more. This is the most scarce medicine."

Upon hearing the price and looking at the little bit of powder in front of them, the attendants behind took a breath. The price was almost more than gold, but it was really not cheap!

"Can you authorize us to produce it?" Horikichi narrowed his eyes and asked, "Or sell the patent to us?"

"Not for the time being, because Bayer, which develops the technology, is currently unwilling to sell or license it to domestic companies. Your quota was specially squeezed out from the National Defense Forces by the head of state, so..."

"I understand the deep friendship of the head of state, so we will buy 100,000 bottles if necessary in the future."

The characteristics of penicillin are actually no longer a secret after Fleming published the relevant paper. German chemists repeated the experiment five years ago and obtained exactly the same thing. The difficulty lies in large-scale extraction. At this point, Hoffmann resorted to The Hand of Time Travel gathered the best chemists in Germany and revealed the idea of ​​making it from corn to tackle the key problems. The result was a quick success, and the production speed was faster than that of the United States. The officer accompanying the purchase from the Supreme Command did not lie. The drug was difficult to obtain on the market except for the troops, which could be supplied in large quantities.

"Sir, no one knows whether this medicine is effective or not. Why did you buy so much of it at once?"

"Just ask Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima if it is effective and popular. The Germans will not lie to us."

"But such good technology cannot be brought back..."

"Forget it, aren't the domestic chaebols like this too?" Horikichi narrowed his eyes and asked Kusuka Renichi, "Are you good at making false accounts?"

"False accounts?" The latter's eyes widened and he shouted in surprise, "What are you doing?"

"As soon as I get this thing back home, I'm afraid that the bloody and injured officers and soldiers won't be able to use much of it, and most of it will be snatched away by the dignitaries..." Horikichi sighed, "I just said that I only bought 80,000 bottles, and the rest It’s stored in Musashi and cannot be touched without my permission.”