From to 1935 2020

On that list, those that Huang Ke took a fancy to were all ticked off in advance.

The first aircraft that Huang Ke took a fancy to was in Poland!

-------------------- Chapter 164 Streptomycin Diplomacy --------------------

Historically, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the main fighter of the Japanese Army Aviation was the Type 400 fighter (maximum speed of 850 km/h, 7.7 horsepower liquid-cooled engine, two [-] machine guns) and the HNA was the Type [-] warship. (The performance of the latter is better than that of the former, which is a characteristic of Japanese aircraft in World War II)

The performance of the Type 3 is better than that of the Hawker 3 fighter, and it has a speed advantage of [-] kilometers-even if the latter removes the bomb pylon, it can only barely compete with it (in history, Gao Zhihang and other air forces have done this) .However, if Hawke [-] encounters the better-performing Ninety-Six Ship Battle, it will be even more difficult in air combat.

This is why Huang Ke disdainfully called Hawke 3 rubbish in front of Chang Kaishen.

During this period, in the Chinese battlefield at that time, there were only a few aircrafts in the world that could compete with these two aircrafts, except for the Soviet I16.

The British Gladiator fighter (also translated as Gladiator), which belongs to the Guangdong Air Force Chen Jitang, can fight on par with the [-]th Ship Battle. The best ace of the Chinese Air Force is to fly the Gladiator fighter.Huang Ke brought Gao Zhihang to Europe this time because he wanted to buy from the British.

This aircraft is recognized as the pinnacle of the last generation of biplanes. Its quality is excellent, and its instrumentation can also be called the pinnacle of this era. The Guangdong Air Force used it to score an excellent 1:2 in air combat.The only problem is that the aircraft was developed last year and has only just begun to be equipped with the British Air Force this year. There will be political troubles and obstacles to buy it, and I am afraid it will not be so easy to get it.

As for better aircraft—such as the Hurricane, it has just been invented, and its mass production will not start until after September next year, let alone the flame-breathing or something.

The second aircraft is a Czech Avia B.534 biplane fighter, equipped with an 850 horsepower engine, a speed of 394 kilometers per hour, and four 4mm machine guns. The Avia B.7.92 entered service in 534, and a total of 1934 were produced.This is the easiest thing to buy, and the Czechs will sell it for money.But in terms of performance, the performance in all aspects is comparable to that of the Type 300, but its firepower is twice that of it - but the problem with this aircraft is that it is a liquid-cooled engine, and ground maintenance is a lot of trouble.

The third aircraft is the fighter jet P24 from Poland, which is why Huang Ke chose Poland as his first stop in Europe.

The P.24 fighter is an export version of the P.11. Since the United Kingdom does not allow Poland to freely export the Bristol engine (which happens to be used on the Gladiator) purchased from the United Kingdom, it restricts the export of a large number of P.11 , so the French G Rhne company suggested that PZL install their engines for the P.11, which led to the birth of the P.24 fighter.

The machine:

Engine: 930 horsepower PZL French G Rh?ne 14K IIc32 air-cooled engine

Maximum take-off weight: 2,000 kg

Maximum flight speed: 430 kilometers per hour

Maximum range: 550 kilometers

In terms of firepower, 20mm machine guns x 2; 7.7mm machine guns x 2.

(Note: Due to the special founding history of the Poles, the caliber of domestic firearms is very mixed, but the planes use British machine guns, the French 8mm machine guns for the fortress, and the main infantry and machine guns are 7.92)

Except for the need to replace the aviation machine gun with 7.92mm, the remaining parts of the aircraft fully meet the war needs of the Chinese battlefield in the next two years.Even if it is to compete with the Type [-], it still has an absolute advantage in firepower, and it is sold for money.

On the way to Europe, Huang Ke reported the performance data of the aircraft to Gao Zhihang, and at the same time reported the flight data and flight envelope of the main Japanese fighter jet in the future. After comparing the two, Gao Zhihang immediately understood.

Huang Ke told him clearly:

"The Ministry of Aviation is very corrupt. They only buy planes based on who gives the most bribes. So this time, I would rather have an extra 100 million yuan, but also take the initiative to purchase the plane! Precious pilots are worth three Airplanes, like the previous tragedies, I will never let them happen again."

The tragedy Huang Ke was talking about was the old story of two pilots in the Gao Zhihang flying team who were killed by an Italian plane.Back then, the Italians were able to sell their broken planes to China because the Italians understood China's national conditions very well and were very good at bribing people.Among the three armed forces of the corrupt Cannon Party, aviation is also rotten.

During the conversation on the plane, Huang Ke already felt that the current Gao Zhihang was extremely disappointed with the Nanjing government.In fact, Huang Guangrui, the leader of Chen Jitang's Air Force, another well-known defector, soon regretted it after fleeing to the bald seat, and his mood was similar to that of Gao Zhihang now.It's just that compared to the latter, Gao Zhihang is from the Northeast, and he only wants to go to the Northeast.In addition to the good flying skills of the Gaozhi Air Force, he also refused to accept bribes (the Italians once bribed him and was rejected), but he alone could not change the general situation at all.

After the Shanxi Incident, Zhang Xueliang publicly raised the banner of opposing Chiang Kai-shek and resisting Japan. Although the little six sons were clingy in doing things, the people around him became active at this time, and they began to stop talking about "martial ethics".

Zhang Xuesi secretly sent someone to secretly contact the pilots in the Kuomintang army, and prepared to bring them over with the plane at the right time.Before Huang Ke's trip, according to the replies from the underground staff, some pilots had already started to feel excited.

According to the chairman and Wu Hao, the current Chang Kaishen can barely maintain the shell of the "central government", but as long as there is another big defeat, it is almost predictable that the hearts of the subordinates will be scattered.That's why they planned to stab this decadent traitorous regime again before the end of the year.

After getting off the plane in the Polish capital, Polish Prime Minister Felician Swawoj Skwadkowski actually came to greet everyone in person—in fact, he came to greet Elena!

Before coming here, Elena communicated with the Polish government and told them that a course of streptomycin would be given free of charge here in Warsaw, and the amount would be [-] young children.

Here is something to say, the Polish government during this period was also subject to internal strife and internal strife. From May 1933 to the present, in just over three years, five prime ministers have been changed.The current prime minister, Felician, even though he is still enthusiastically receiving Elena and Huang Ke at the airport, in fact, he will step down by the end of next month!

The reason why Poland has changed from "Pingde town showing big waves" to a European wiper, and the country has been subjugated four times in 160 years is really a system problem-it is an aristocratic republic and democracy, and everyone's energy is used in it Fighting, wrangling each other.Finally, a strongman like Piłsudski came to power to rebuild Poland. Last year, this strongman died, and the country continued to move towards a new direction of death.

As one of the "Five Constants in Secondary School", although he has two minds, except for the talented mathematician, Chopin, and Madame Curie, there are really two good things in this country that make Huang Ke's heart beat.

One is the PZ24 fighter jet. At this point in time, it is the best monoplane fighter that can be bought in the world!The other is the 7TP tank.

Huang Ke came to Europe this time to represent the Nanjing National Government. For the sake of convenience, Chang Baldzi gave him an official title. Is his deputy.

Kong Song Ermaggot was directly kicked aside by Chang Tuo.It's not that the bald man doesn't know what these two guys are doing. It's just that he has no choice but to fight corruption and subjugate the party. If he doesn't fight corruption and subjugate the country, he will die if he fights these two maggots!None of the people under his command wanted to touch the whiskers of the second maggot. In history, he still had a son, Jiang Jingguo, who could use him, but now it is 1936, and this guy is still in the Soviet Union!Historically, he did not return to China until 1937, but now, it is definitely not as easy as in the original history.

He has already realized that if these two maggots continue to mess around in the aviation department, the air force will really become Chang Kaishen of the "air" army, and he can only ask Huang Ke to personally pick people to lead the team to Europe.From Chang Baldzi's point of view, at least half of the money to buy the plane this time was paid by someone else, so he can't be more greedy than these two maggots, right?

Elena also has a title, which is the consultant of the purchasing group. Her relationship with Huang Ke is well known in the world.After arriving in Poland, he spoke standard Polish, which surprised the Polish Prime Minister and a group of Polish reporters who received him on the spot.

It was still a show speech, and then it was announced that a month-long free treatment for tuberculosis children would be held in Warsaw, which immediately excited the whole Polish people.In fact, this is just the beginning. In order for the Poles to manufacture aircraft more efficiently and sell them cheaper without being restricted by policy conditions, the time for this free justice will be longer than planned.

That night, the Poles warmly received the purchasing group.On the second day, Elena went to Warsaw Hospital first to participate in the righteous treatment of the children who came over, while Huang Ke and Gao Zhihang were taken by the Poles to the local aircraft factory to see the aircraft.

In 1936, it was a watershed for the replacement of aircraft in various countries in the world, and the last twilight of biplanes.

"Single wing, retractable landing gear, closed hatch" is gradually becoming the mainstream of aircraft design in various countries-in this matter, the Soviet Union made a big mistake, that is, at the dusk of the end of the biplane, unexpectedly Guided by some erroneous experiences of the Spanish Civil War, it took a lot of effort to develop a new biplane.

Knowing that the Chinese want to buy planes, the Poles are naturally very happy.Gao Zhihang went up first and flew the P24 around.As a pilot with thousands of flying hours, he picked it up quickly.Then Huang Ke also flew around.The Poles inherited the Austro-Hungarian heritage and rebuilt it. In fact, their industrial strength is not bad.In terms of the workmanship, details, and maneuverability of the aircraft, Huang Ke commented: It is not worse than the Americans, and it is much better than Maozihuo!

"How about it?"

"It's really fast, but its maneuverability is much worse than that of a biplane!"

"Times have changed, and dogfighting is a thing of the past. Air combat now focuses on scouting out enemies, surprise attacks, and one-shot escape, that is, BZ tactics! No matter how many aircraft we have, it is impossible to have more aircraft than the Japanese. Dogfighting is even more important. You are looking for a dead end. Before returning to China, I will take you to Spain, interview the pilots of the National Army there, and ask them about their feelings."

On the same day, the two flew the P24 several times.In his heart, Huang Ke compared his feeling when he was secretly driving the Type 24 in Yan'an. Because the engine power was insufficient, the current Type [-] had no performance at all. Compared with the P[-], the hovering performance was probably slightly better.But it doesn't matter, Huang Ke's trip to Europe this time is to go to the Bristol company in the UK to directly purchase its "original" engine and install it for testing.

The next day after Elena completed the "charity" righteousness, she also came back to test the plane, and several people were very satisfied with Da Bobo's plane.But the two of them, who knew that doing business was just a matter of time, were not in a hurry to express their views.The publicity effect of Elena's free medical treatment for Polish children soon won the favor of Poland.All political obstacles that might stand in the way of export sales have been eliminated in advance in this wave of "streptomycin diplomacy".

On the third day, Huang Ke went to the tank factory in Warsaw.

Before World War II, Poland was actually one of the small powers in Europe, but unfortunately it was born in the middle of the "European Monster House".Its military industry is not bad. It can produce its own aircraft (engines must be imported) and its own tanks.It currently has two tanks, one is the TKS tank, which is the same as the CV33, a Polish authorized version of the British Carden Lloyd armored personnel carrier.

Another one that can be called a classic before 1936 is the 7TP tank. This tank is also of British origin. It bought the product of the Polishing of Vick Tank technology. It is the same source as the T26 tank that Stalin assisted China. The bald-headed Viktank captured by the Red Army is even more of a cousin relationship.

However, during this period, Poland's 7TP tanks were still outdated and backward with double turrets.When Huang Ke came here, he didn’t really fancy this tank, but his power system and improved transmission structure design—this tank didn’t directly use the bad air-cooled engine of the British, but was very avant-garde The Saurel VBLDd diesel engine (80KW, about 108 horsepower) made in Switzerland is used.Its complete body, the single-cannon 7TP, is slightly stronger than the T26 in all aspects except that its armor-piercing ability is weaker than that of the T26. It can be called the strongest improved version of the Vik Tank.

After seeing the tank, Huang Ke asked the Poles on the spot if they could sell it.According to him, it is to buy one and bring it back, try it out and then buy it in large quantities.The Poles hesitated for a moment and did not immediately agree.

That day, the tank was parked directly in the test base. The seven-ton iron guy was not a high-tech thing. The Poles simply put the tank under the open-air shed on the test site and did not put it in the warehouse immediately. .

When I got up early the next morning, the tank was still there, but it couldn’t start. After careful inspection, I found that the tank’s engine, gearbox, and transmission, a lot of parts, and a lot of instruments were missing. ....

Of course Huang Ke did it.The reason why he didn't remove the entire tank was that it wasn't worth stealing. If large-mass objects were lost wherever he went, it would be easy for people to think of him.Now, just lost a small item such as an engine, the Poles would at most think that they had encountered a thief, and deal with it as a spy case.

Huang Ke took so much trouble to remove these parts, but it was to save himself the time to think about it—he was planning to replace the six Chang Kaishen Vik tanks captured by the Red Army with Saurel diesel engines made in Switzerland Bad factory air cooled engine.Diesel and gasoline engines are slightly different though, and replacements may require adjustments in the transmission.The Poles have studied this point for a long time, so just copy it directly.

In fact, after the tanks were seized as early as June, Tianma had already placed an order with the Swiss.The customized quantity is not ten, but a full thirty.This batch of diesel engines is not only suitable for use in the maintenance of Viktank, but also suitable for modifying the batch of T26s.Will buy again if satisfied. (Note: Chang Kaishen has a total of 20 Vickers 6-ton tanks in his hands)

Huang Ke and Elena spent a few days leisurely in Poland.Chang Baldzi was waiting desperately for the plane and the tank, but Huang Ke was not in a hurry.During this period, local high-ranking Polish officials quietly came to the door and secretly discussed business with the two, not the arms business, but the streptomycin business.

It was Prime Minister Felician who came to the door. He said, "I need the support of you two. I need streptomycin, cheap streptomycin."

Huang Ke, who knew the history, understood what was going on in an instant.

In fact, what he needs are votes!

Free Yizhi can help him harvest a lot of popular support. He is not sitting still now, but in the end, Huang Ke declined him.

Then the next day, Huang Ke took Elena to visit his rival, Wladyslaw Sikorski, the new prime minister who will take office in a month, and said enthusiastically, Willing to provide him with streptomycin at a very favorable price—and on credit.

At that time, Huang Ke said: "Streptomycin, the price will be greatly reduced after October! And the streptomycin we provide to you will be settled at half of the market price at that time! In addition, we will give you [-] children a month's course of treatment for free." streptomycin for your campaign use."

Huang Ke explained to Elena: Why do we bother to support a loser, wouldn't it be better to directly support the winner who will win next month?

In private, Huang Ke also made a secret agreement with the future Prime Minister of Poland to replace the plane with streptomycin.Specifically, 24% of the money paid for the purchase of the plane was paid in cash, and 100% was paid in streptomycin.On the surface, Huang Ke only bought [-] P[-] aircraft, but in fact the real number of purchases was [-] or even more.Poland will make more money by selling medicine, and Huang Ke will save the money to buy the plane.However, at the production speed of the Poles, it would take about four or five months to complete this transaction in peacetime.

As for who lost?Of course it is DuPont who is really making money by selling drugs!But Huang Ke didn't dare to do too much of this kind of thing.Fortunately, Poland is just a "small country", so it's not a big problem, and it can only scrape some oil. If the game is too big, it will affect the stock price, and the old Dupont will be so angry that he will kill him with explosives.

The future prime minister who got the medicine soon joined Elena's "Yizhi" in a high-profile way, announcing that he would use all his savings to pay for a whole course of treatment for two hundred children, and use beautiful charity performances to cheer for himself. to more tickets.

According to the special request of the other party, the Polish aircraft factory has received the first advance payment for the large order of [-] aircraft, but the relevant contract will not come back to "sign" until after he takes office. It is regarded as his "political achievement" rather than reserved for the incumbent.

This kind of behavior reminded Huang Ke of those countries in the later generations that voted for elections every four years.Each term of government only wants to monopolize the credit of its own term. Before resigning from office, it has to dig a hole for the successor. The first thing the next term will do after taking office is to overthrow the policies of the previous term. No continuity.

Afterwards, after he explained the mystery behind these things to Elena, Elena sighed:

"Is this the limit of human beings?"

Huang Ke nodded and said:

"The body is bound by gravity, life is bound by cells, emotions are bound by endocrine, and world outlook, values ​​and outlook on life are bound by their respective "asses"! So many constraints make human beings unable to go further, and are ugly trapped in On this small planet, they kill each other."

Elena remained silent.

Huang Ke and Elena inspected Poland for seven days, got everything they wanted, and left Poland satisfied.The scenery in Poland at this time is pleasant, and it is very different from the dilapidated China, but when they think that in three years, this place will also be turned into a ruin of war, the two are also deeply moved.

The next stop for the duo is Czechoslovakia.

Elena's behavior in the Czech Republic was similar to that in Poland. She continued to do charity work for young children, and gained the favor of the local government and people.When she comes to Europe this time, every country will come like this.

Here everyone test-flyed the Avia B.534 biplane fighter one after another. In terms of habit and feel, Gao Zhihang actually prefers this Czech aircraft.But the situation was just as Huang Ke predicted, the complicated maintenance of the liquid-cooled engine made him shake his head directly.

In the end, this national government procurement group only placed an order for up to two hundred 7.92mm aviation machine guns in the Czech Republic, which will be installed on Polish aircraft in the future.As far as aviation machine guns are concerned, in fact, the Czech goods in this period are the best 7.92 in the world, and the purchase of aviation machine guns in the Czech Republic is the most qualified.

San Dezi's similar products are also a pit at this time, with short barrels and poor ballistics.But Ah Er, don't laugh at Ah San, Mao Zi's situation is the same, even worse.In history, the flying team aided by the Soviet Union to China discovered very early on that the bullets fired by their own I16 were "pissing" seriously, and they fell crazily from 50 meters away. Afterwards, after investigation, it turned out to be the pit of an old-fashioned aviation machine gun.

At this time, according to Huang Ke's instructions, Zhang Xueliang also sent another batch of procurement groups to Italy during this period, and ordered a batch of Bailu 1935-type 47mm anti-tank guns/infantry guns (33 diameters) on his behalf. ), according to Huang Ke's instructions, Zhang Xueliang placed an order for ten guns and three thousand rounds of shells.

This gun is a generation of classics, and Italy obtained its authorization. In history, China imported nearly a hundred guns from Italy, which performed extremely well on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War.

The gun has a total weight of 277 kg and a maximum range of 7000 meters.The biggest feature of the gun is that it can shoot both flat and curved. It can provide curved support firepower for the troops in the rear at critical times, and the Japanese tanks that appeared on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War can maintain effective penetration. When the 47 artillery fires high-explosive shells, the range is as high as 7 kilometers, which is higher than Japan's 92 infantry artillery and 41-type mountain artillery.

The most important thing about this artillery is that it can be broken down into several parts, and each part can be carried away by soldiers.It is completely suitable for an army without horses or mules, and it is very suitable for China's national conditions.Disassembly and assembly can be completed within 10 minutes.Even better, the three Baltic countries are also important buyers of the gun.After the Soviet Union annexes these three countries in the future, they can ask Stalin directly or buy them at a low price.After Huang Ke got this gun, he also planned to let Taiyuan Arsenal try to imitate it.

The reason for using Zhang Xueliang's personal connections is because of the "friendly" relationship between Zhang Xueliang and Mussolini, and it will save a lot of political troubles if he places the order. (Note: There have been rumors that Zhang Xiaoliu had an affair with Mussolini's daughter)

Originally, Zhang Xueliang wanted to come to Italy in person, but in this extraordinary period, without him in Hebei, no one in the Northeast Army would obey anyone, and accidents might happen.In addition, as the largest user of CV33 in China, Zhang Xueliang also sent his special envoy to help the Red Army order a batch of wearable parts of the tank from the Italians. Before Huang Ke left China, the production of CV33 tanks The manufacturer, after hearing about the "miraculous performance" of its own tanks in China, and seeing its modified appearance from the newspapers, specially came to the door.

The unscrupulous thing about these Italians is that after they figured out the role of the anti-infantry S-mine on the CV33, they have already considered whether to copy it and use it on their own tanks in the past.

Ten Bailu 1935-style 47mm anti-tank guns/infantry guns, ten guns added up, are actually not as expensive as a P24 aircraft, but are consumables such as shells, and the price of a single shot is scary.Fortunately, the shell production process of this gun does not require high requirements. In addition to armor-piercing shells, Yan Laoxi's Taiyuan Arsenal still has a way to produce grenades.After buying the cannon from the Italians, Huang Ke already planned to let the Taiyuan Arsenal directly imitate it in the future.

(I can't find out the exact price, so I have to give a vague number, but considering that it is an infantry gun, I actually estimate that the cost of the gun is around a few hundred dollars, which is as large as a heavy machine gun.)

According to Huang Ke's idea, the imitation will use 45mm caliber, which is compatible with Soviet 45mm gun shells, and the barrels will be ordered directly from the Soviet Union for 45mm barrels.The barrel production line of the 45mm gun already in the Soviet Union can be directly manufactured without opening a separate production line.Moreover, the barrel of the infantry gun is made 33 times, which is less difficult to produce, and the rest can be made by yourself.

Guns are not expensive, but shells are extremely expensive. Even a 47mm grenade costs nearly ten dollars to make.Buying Italian shells, they have to make at least double or even two or three times the huge profits.In contrast, those who bought the Soviet Union, at least in terms of supporting the socialist camp, Stalin's integrity can still be guaranteed.Although the imitation 45 cannon is a little less powerful, its cost performance is much higher than that of similar products.

It's not that Huang Ke is stingy, war is really a terrible money-burning machine.

For example: firearms, a Mark core machine gun, the domestic production cost is about 1200 silver dollars, about 500 US dollars.Its price is about the same as an infantry gun.A pair of M2 old godmothers cost US$1200——Huang Ke bought the "junk goods" sold by the U.S. Army at the time and got a discount, and he paid a high price of US$300 for a single support.A Czech-made light machine gun, $[-]!Guns are expensive, and ammunition is even more expensive. According to the consumption data of various countries in World War II, it is normal that the cost of shells destroyed by a gun in a year during the World War is ten times, or even twenty or thirty times that of the gun itself.

During World War II, the truly expensive weapons were warships first, and aircraft second. A B17 costs 24 US dollars, a P51 Mustang costs 5.4 US dollars, a double-engined P38 costs 11 US dollars, and a nuclear bomb-throwing B29 costs as much as 62 US dollars!Even the cheapest P40 costs more than 3.Huang Ke's order in Poland this time, a P24, costs [-] at this time!Counting artillery, machine guns, and spare parts, the total cost of an aircraft is almost [-] US dollars!

The ticket that Huang Ke bought at HSBC for zero yuan, he estimated by himself, really started an all-out war, and it would burn out within a month or two.Historically, Japan’s financial resources were dozens of times that of the Red Army. When the war of aggression against China was fought, they plundered while fighting. After fighting like this for three years, they broke their own finances first.

This 47mm gun is indeed a good thing. Huang Ke has decided to go to Italy after his trip to Germany, where he pretended to have seen the gun, and then sent a telegram to Chang Kaishen to suggest him to buy it—he will definitely buy it .

Because in history, this cannon was just developed and sold globally, and it was sent to Chang Kaishen to show him. Chang Kaishen liked it so much that he agreed.But the seller didn’t understand the Chinese market and didn’t take bribes. In the end, Bofors, who knew the “Chinese market”, took the order by means of bribery—but the products of Bofors also lost the order because of the German intervention, and the final knock was Buy the flashy 37mm "knock ring" from the Germans.