Mediterranean hegemon

During their stay in Japan, Italian naval representatives learned about the battleship Mutsu in depth and boarded the aircraft carrier Akagi for observation. They made a surprising discovery: Although the president's bathtub boat looked ugly, it was because of the mid-term transformation. In terms of technical details, it was still very similar to the Akagi, and of course many details were handled better by the Akagi.

The most distinctive feature of the Akagi is the layout of the flight deck, which has a total of three sections and three layers. The upper layer is a take-off and landing deck with a total length of 190 meters and a width of 30.5 meters. The middle and lower layers are connected to the double-layer hangar for aircraft to take off directly from the hangar. The middle deck is for small aircraft to take off, about 15 meters long, and the lower deck is longer for large aircraft to take off, 56.7 meters long and 23 meters wide. Some people think that this layout maximizes the utilization efficiency, while others think that it is not as neat as the president's bathtub boat, and this three-layer layout will only cause conflicts.

The Japanese themselves were also discussing this, and they were divided when they received the answer. The Italians understood: it seems that what Japan thought of when designing and what it encountered when using are not the same thing. This is also an inspiration for Italy's aircraft carrier construction. No wonder the president has no idea of ​​building an aircraft carrier, but only let people summarize around the bathtub boat every day, and come to Japan to learn from it.

Only Contini laughed secretly: Aida will soon complete the construction of the bottom cabin and enter the deep water area, and everyone will soon see the truth.

Hori Teikichi accompanied the visit to the Mutsu, while Yamamoto Isoroku, who had just returned from the United States, accompanied the Italian delegation to visit the Akagi, and also took everyone to see the Kaga, which was about to be completed and put into service. Although the two ships are of the same class, there are more or less some differences in details. Since Contini transferred the most practical carrier-based fighters and carrier-based torpedo aircraft in Italy, the Japanese side decided not to hide it and let them watch. At most, they can go to see the Caracciolo class built by the Italians in a few years.

Yamamoto Isoroku knew Contini much better than Hori Teikichi. During his tenure as a military attaché in the United States, he relied on limited public information and intelligence collected to draw a conclusion - the United Group was consciously and purposefully promoting the modernization of national armaments. Of course, Italy also has advantages. The cost of shipbuilding in Italy is probably cheaper than that of Japan, so it can sell scrap steel cheaply while Japan cannot sell it, but he believes that Contini's idea is right. The old warships that burn coal do not have much combat effectiveness and should be disposed of quickly.

In addition to communicating with Hori Teikichi, he did not report this conclusion to others, because Japan's eyes are mainly on the United States and China, the navy is mainly on the United States, and the army is mainly on China. It is good to occasionally have a little attention on Britain and France. Italy? It has nothing to do with Japan at all.

Yamamoto Isoroku also believed that Italy's sale of scrap steel was an important part of Italy's military reform. He even came to a conclusion that the United Group was not profitable at all. The reason why it was becoming more and more powerful was that the company had borrowed a large amount of money and issued huge debts. In order to boost market confidence, it needed to create this image. But he couldn't understand it. If this was a Ponzi scheme, why would the shrewd Wall Street not recognize it but instead encouraged it? Later, when the United Bank's shares were listed, he vaguely understood something: Even if Wall Street knew it was a scam, it would not take action before the other party revealed a flaw. Instead, it would add fuel to the fire and blow up the bubble, and get the huge profits they wanted from the expansion of this bubble.

Facts have proved that what he said was right. By 1928, the United Group had obtained more than 2.4 billion loans from the United States, and the annual interest exceeded 100 million US dollars. At least half of the $2.4 billion was converted into industrial orders from the United States and entered Italy. Although the remaining $1.2 billion became cash outflow, due to the huge interest repatriation, nearly $400 million of the $1.2 billion was actually returned. In other words, Wall Street obtained $2.4 billion in debt from the United Group with $1.2 billion in industrial equipment and $800 million in cash, and also had an annual income of more than $100 million - this deal is very profitable. In just a few years, the principal will be fully recovered, and the rest will be net profit. Even if the United Group cannot pay it back, it doesn't matter. Can't it be offset with oil fields and bank shares?

This incident explains from another aspect why the president always makes big purchases every time he goes to the United States, and every time he makes a big show to cause a sensation. It's not that the president himself likes to make big news, but his status and market confidence require him to maintain this. This is a rich man who relies on borrowing and capital means, not a rich man who is down-to-earth and operates in a down-to-earth manner - so he is so high-profile, while other rich people are very low-key.

Since the money was all borrowed, he could understand the slogans of the United Group, such as "Suffocate for dreams", "Create a better life", "Believe in yourself! We can!", "United House Integrated Ecology", and "A brand new bourgeois world". The president was trying to give himself courage! This is a blind and surging world, where the bold will die of starvation and the timid will die of starvation. The president is obviously the former. Of course, the president's luck is also very good, and his courage is even more amazing. The two large oil fields are at least real - without these two oil fields, Yamamoto Isoroku believed that the president's "scam" would not last more than 5 years. But with these two oil fields, plus the fearless posture of maintaining the Algerian oil fields even in a war and fulfilling the reserve obligations even if the lake is drained, it really scared everyone.

Experts who were originally very clear-headed have now been deceived. Instead, they have begun to advocate United Group's exceptionalism, United Group's innovation theory, the president is a management genius, etc. This is even worse in Italy, where the president is almost the object of much attention among young people. Apart from the leader, I only know the president.

So it's not surprising to him that Horikichi bet with Contini, and it's not surprising that Contini would openly accept such a bet - even if he loses, he can build momentum. To understand the operational nature of United Group, we must not measure it from the perspective of account balance, but we must understand it from the perspective of reputation, confidence, and influence. All stock price growth is not based on down-to-earth creation and work, but based on building momentum. I heard that the United Group has 14 strategic sectors, and it is said that there will soon be three major sectors: 15 (textile), 16 (logistics), and 17 (education). Isoroku Yamamoto understands logistics. The United Group has aviation, railways, and highways. , and now I heard that they are outsourcing shipbuilding on a large scale, and the logistics and transportation can be put online with a little integration. But textiles are not a mature competitive industry, so how can the United Group enter again? Is it possible to open up a new industry just for Japan’s raw silk production? As for education, it is even more puzzling. Why would an industrial group go to education after all? Have a full meal and nothing to do?

He believes that only when the scam of United Group collapses in the future can the United Group’s experience and original assumptions be fully analyzed. However, it seems that United Group will not fail in the short term - Italy has recently been so rich in building new warships and replacing them with new rifles and machine guns. , the replacement of new aircraft is not an increase in military expenditure at all, it is all based on the president's foundation. At this time, he can only envy: It is also a skill to defraud money to build armaments. Why doesn't Japan have such people?

Therefore, one of these two die-hards thinks that Contini is "a fool with too much money" and the other thinks that Contini is "a unique liar in the world", and they are both eager to bet. Before leaving by boat, Contini finally made a bet with Yamamoto Isoroku under the instigation of Horikichi, intentionally or unintentionally.

The bet time is still 12 years. Contini believes: "Within 12 years, aircraft will have the ability to sink any battleship. If the next war breaks out in 12 years, aircraft carriers will become the core warships!" Isoroku Yamamoto agreed with Contini He agrees with aircraft and aircraft carriers, but disagrees with the judgment of 2012. Even the best aircraft now have a speed of only more than 300 kilometers, a small load capacity, and more importantly, a very low hit rate, so he thinks this statement It won’t become a reality until 20 years later!

This bet was later called: the bet on the main aviation force!

As for the bet, if Contini loses, it will still be 1 cruiser + 100 aircraft. If he wins, Yamamoto Isoroku said: "Then I will be like Hori-kun..."

Contini shook his head: "This is not possible. I think you can be the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet. Let's change the conditions and allow me to introduce certain technical weapons or ship designs from your navy at the cost of 1 million US dollars, or allow me to choose 20 Officers below the rank of lieutenant general serve in the Italian Advisory Group.”

This bet stumped Yamamoto Isoroku, because Horikichi’s bet was his own decision. Contini’s bet had to be approved by his superiors, but Contini provoked him: “Just report it to your superiors...for example Kanji Kato and Prince Fushimi Miyahiro, aren't they battleship centrists? If Marshal Togo isn't too old to bother him, I would suggest that you communicate with him."

Yamamoto Isoroku was surprised by Contini's understanding of Japan's internal situation, so he actually reported it. As Contini expected, both Kanji Kato and Kyouo Fushimi Miyahiro agreed to make a bet with Contini!

Prince Fushimi Miyahiro also patted Yamamoto Isoroku on the shoulder: "Don't be afraid! Yamamoto-kun, you are famous for your ability to gamble. Everyone is optimistic about you. It's not a big deal if you lose. The technology introduction fee of 1 million US dollars is enough." It’s not like we’re here for nothing!”

When leaving, Horikichi and Yamamoto Isoroku diligently came to the dock to see them off. Contini waved goodbye to them in a happy mood: With these two bets, the naval consultant and the 93 oxygen torpedo were obtained, and there was no need to worry about the Japanese defaulting on their debts. Come on, as long as Japan wants to continue to import aviation equipment from Italy, it can’t get around this hurdle...