Iron Sonata of World War II

However, Helena did not immediately respond to Colonel Gao Zhihang's most concerned question, but slowly talked about the Fiat CR.32 fighter that Gao Zhihang was more optimistic about during his stay in Italy: "I know that Fiat's CR.32 is for Mr. Colonel It is indeed a very elegant and high-performance biplane fighter." Then Helena changed the topic: "But Mr. Colonel, do you know what kind of fuel this aircraft uses? It is not an ordinary aviation aircraft. Gasoline, but a special blend of 55% aviation gasoline, 23% absolute ethanol, and 22% benzene!"

"I would like to ask Mr. Colonel: If one day war suddenly comes, where are you going to get this special fuel? China does not yet have a complete oil industry, and self-production is an impossible task in the short term. What's worse is This kind of aviation fuel is only used by a few models such as the Italian CR.32 in the world, and you may not even be able to find a way to buy it.” Seeing that many people in the Chinese delegation were on the spot Changing her face, Helena chased after the victory.

Here Helena is not scaremongering. In the last plane, China ordered a total of 24 Fiat CR.32 fighter jets.Although the flight performance of this aircraft is quite good among biplanes, due to fuel supply problems, only 9 aircraft were sold in the end, and it was difficult to guarantee high-intensity attendance for this part of the transaction, and it was completely lost before and after the fall of Nanjing.Therefore, the aircraft that the pilot likes may not be liked by the support staff as well, and Gao Zhihang, who was born as a pilot, only values ​​the flight performance of the CR.32. The difficulty of guaranteeing this kind of fighter that must use special fuel in a backward country like China is very difficult. Underestimated.

"As for Breda's Ba.27 fighter jet, Mr. Colonel should have test-driving experience in Italy." After pointing out the Achilles heel of Fiat's products to the Chinese delegation, Helena turned her attack to Breda's Ba. .27 "So what do you think, Mr. Colonel, about the driving experience of the Ba.27? The most important thing is how well it handles?"

"The speed and climb of the Ba.27 are faster than the Fiat CR.32 fighter, and there are indeed deficiencies in maneuverability, but I think these problems can still be overcome with flying skills." Colonel Gao Zhihang said honestly.Helena knew that, as an early all-metal low-wing fighter, the Breda Ba.27 inevitably had many technical problems while gaining faster speed.The maneuverability problem is only one of the problems. In fact, its fuel system also has frequent failures, causing too many crashes and fatal accidents during its service on the previous plane, but the problem has not been fully exposed yet.

"Mr. Colonel shouldn't use his own experience to judge ordinary pilots. Even if you search all over China now, I'm afraid you can't compare with Mr. Colonel in terms of flying skills?" Helena said: "You must know that for the Colonel The control difficulties that can be overcome with a little effort, sir, may be a hell for ordinary pilots!" Here, Helena still did not make up random things, after all, the 1935 Bredas purchased by China in the last plane in 12, arrived at a In 1936, five planes were lost due to various control errors and mechanical failures (mainly fuel failures), and four pilots were sacrificed.

"I just said that Italy has not considered the actual situation of the Chinese Air Force. Now, Chinese friends, you should believe that Helena is not exaggerating, right?" Helena, who was sure of victory, saw their wavering of Italian fighter jets from the eyes of the representatives of the Chinese delegation. A new round of price tags began: "Besides, even if you take a step back, you have perfectly solved the problem of supplying special fuel, and you can produce enough excellent pilots, you may still be unable to defeat your opponent. According to what I know According to the latest information, your neighbor across the sea to the east of your country has just recently tested a new fighter jet with a speed of over 400 kilometers per hour."

2 Forty chapters to experience the product

Helena made her words clear to this point in order to convey the following message to the Chinese delegation: Japan will soon have new fighters with greatly improved performance, whether it is Fiat's CR.32 or Breda's Ba. 27 can't compete.Looking at the colorful expressions on the faces of the members of the Chinese delegation, Helena knew that her goal had been achieved.

Here, Helena did not sell anxiety by fabricating facts out of thin air. The new type of fighter jet she mentioned that Japan was developing was the Type 96 carrier-based fighter jet that had just rolled off the assembly line.This monoplane fighter designed by the famous Japanese designer Horikoshi Jiro, who was later the chief designer of the Zero fighter, relied on the "Shou-600" engine with a power of only 5 horsepower in its first flight in February. It reached a level flight speed of 3200 kilometers at a high altitude.

Even if this speed is just bare metal data without weapons, it is amazing.In fact, in November 1936 on the last plane, after installing fixed machine guns, weapon pylons and landing equipment, the initial production type 11 No. 96 carrier-based fighter used the "Shou-1" with a power of 630 horsepower. The improved engine can still reach a level flight speed of 2 kilometers.As the Type 406 carrier-based fighter was later replaced with a more powerful engine, its speed gradually returned to the level of the prototype.

然而96式舰载战斗机的优势还不仅在于较快的速度，这款战机的低空盘旋和爬升能力同样非常强悍。其早期型号的自重竟然只有1081千克，轻盈的机身配合较大的机翼面积，使这种单翼战斗机拥有不亚于双翼战斗机的盘旋能力。后期型的96式4号舰战可以在3分35秒内爬到3000米的高度，这种机动性在30年代后期的东亚战场无疑是极具威胁性的。

而历史上的中国空军也确实被96式舰战打得很是憋屈，因为能和96式舰战比盘旋的双翼战机根本追不上它的脚步，而速度和96式舰战持平的单翼战机又在格斗中被它完全压制。比如1937年9月，中国方面的美制“霍克3”和“波音P-26”在拦截日军轰炸机时，就在负责护航的96式舰战的打击下损失惨重；同年12月的空战中，96式舰战甚至打出了击落10架苏制伊-16战机，而自身无一损失的惊人交换比。

It is worth mentioning that the influence of the Japanese aviation industry on the Type 96 carrier-based fighter is not all positive.The great success achieved in exchange for the good low-speed hovering performance of the aircraft with a lighter body weight and a larger wing area.This caused Japan to form a strong path dependence when developing the next generation of fighters. This path dependence not only created the invincible myth of the more well-known "Zero" fighters at the beginning of the Pacific War, but also created Japan's combined fleet in Mali. The fiasco at the Battle of Yana.

Of course, the "Zero" fighter is the equipment that will appear after 1940. At this stage, the most imminent threat to the Chinese Air Force is the Japanese Navy's Type 96 ship battle, and the Japanese Army's Type 97 fighter that appeared later.However, even with these two fighters, it is already difficult to compete with any of the two Italian fighters that the Chinese delegation valued this time.

And Helena just firmly grasped this pain point of the Chinese Air Force.The reason why the Chinese delegation felt that they had many options was because they knew nothing about the development progress of Japan's fighter jets.Now, after Colonel Gao Zhihang learned this information from Helena, he suddenly discovered that the only ones that can be bought in the international market and can suppress the new Japanese fighters described by Helena in terms of performance seem to be only in the hands of the Germans. This BF-108A2 is up.

"I think we need to visit and experience your country's aircraft first before we can make a final decision." Colonel Gao Zhihang said suddenly.In fact, the information provided by Helena has already shaken his heart, but to be on the safe side, he felt that he had to use the professional perspective of a pilot to see for himself whether the fighter that the Germans enthusiastically promoted was really as described by Helena. As cheap as it is.After all, when China purchases weapons from abroad these days, it is too many when it is taken advantage of.This is also the main reason why he insisted on leading the team in person this time.

"No problem, I can take all my friends to the airport to see the aircraft now." Helena replied, she was very sensitive to the vacillation of the Chinese delegation's position. It seems that the Bavarian Aircraft Factory has pocketed the business. It is already a sure thing: "But friends, you have traveled a long way, don't you need to go back to the hotel to rest first? The executives of the Bavarian Aircraft Factory have prepared a welcome dinner for you."

"Miss Seekert, please help me convey my thanks to the Bavarian factory, but I don't think the welcome dinner is necessary." Colonel Gao Zhihang turned to look at the accompanying people, and then said to Helena: "I want to visit your plane immediately, If Miss Sektor is convenient now." Helena smiled and nodded, and then summoned a special car to take everyone to the airport.She is quite satisfied with the working attitude of the inspection team led by Gao Zhihang.

As soon as he got out of the car, Gao Zhihang's eyes were attracted by the plane on the tarmac, not only because this fighter plane had a handsome appearance that was different from any plane he had come into contact with before, but also because this plane had been The logo of the Chinese Air Force with the pattern of "blue sky and white sun" is painted on it.Of course, this is Helena's idea borrowed from the arms transactions of later generations, and the bidding products are painted with the military emblem of the other country in advance, but it is a common method used by later generations of sellers to show their sincerity in bidding.

Led by Helena, the inspection team approached the brand-new BF-108A2 fighter jet, and the outline of the Silver Eagle gradually became clear to everyone.Gao Zhihang felt that his heartbeat seemed to speed up a bit. The fighter plane in front of him could barely see the criss-cross auxiliary support rods and tension cables that are common on contemporary aircraft. One: Although I don't understand why I did this, it feels like it's very powerful.

Here I have to say that appearance is also part of combat effectiveness.The appearance of the BF-108A2 fighter plane in this plane is very similar to the miniature version of the BF-109 in the previous plane. In the mid-30s, it could indeed be regarded as the pinnacle of fighter jet appearance.So just looking at it can make someone like Colonel Gao Zhihang, who loves flying, feel electrified all over his body, and this feeling makes him mesmerized.

"Mr. Colonel, do you want to try it yourself? This is the fastest fighter in the world." Helena's voice suddenly interrupted Gao Zhihang's thoughts, but Colonel Gao Zhihang didn't turn his head, but nodded subconsciously. At that time, his fanatical gaze could no longer leave the BF-108A2 fighter plane.

"Then please take off, we have filled up the aviation fuel for you." Helena said while pointing to another BF-108A2 fighter jet of the same model on the runway: "But for the safety of Mr. Colonel, we will Arrange another BF-108A2 to fly with you, and wish you a pleasant flight."

The author has something to say, Chapter 241 is locked, you can browse through the book friend group, the group number is 881428980.

Chapter 241 The transaction was successful

Gao Zhihang's impression of BF-108A2 was not all positive when he sat firmly in the cab and closed the hatch.Compared with the open cockpit used by the planes he flew in the past, the cockpit of the plane in front of him is narrow and closed, and the rearward vision of the plane also has some blind spots.However, this discomfort did not bother Gao Zhihang for too long, and the operation of the BF-108A2 was not much different from the fighters he had flown before.Through the radio microphone next to his ear, Gao Zhihang started the plane effortlessly after listening to the pilot in charge of accompanying the flight briefly explaining the essentials of the operation.

So amidst the raging roar of the engine, the speed of the three-bladed propeller in front of the cockpit continued to increase, and the afterimages of the blades gradually interweaved into a vague disc shape on the nose.Colonel Gao Zhihang released the landing gear brakes with satisfaction, and the BF-108A2 left the parking stand and slowly headed for the main runway of the airport, followed by the accompanying aircraft of the same type.After aligning the nose of the plane with the axis of the runway, the two planes started to accelerate almost simultaneously. The gradually increasing lift first lifted the tail wheel of the plane, and after sliding for a certain distance in this posture, followed by the pilot Gently pull the lever, and the fighter plane that reached the take-off speed took off into the air, and soon the roar of the engine dragged away into the clouds.

……

Unknowingly, four to ten minutes passed, and two planes that returned safely landed on the runway steadily.Although Colonel Gao Zhihang experienced the specific situation of the plane just now, Helena who stayed on the ground still has no way of knowing, but judging from the excitement on his face when he jumped off the plane, the performance of this fighter plane has been completely improved. Conquered this old pilot with nine years of driving experience.At least with Colonel Gao Zhihang, the Italian fighter planes had absolutely no chance.Although before coming to Europe, he was subjectively more inclined to buy Italian fighter jets, but now he has obviously changed his mind.

Although BF-108A2 has won the heart of the inspection team with its strong strength, Helena knows that this does not mean that Germany has won the bidding with certainty, because the final decision-making power is still in the hands of the decision-makers in the East.But as the saying goes, someone will give you a pillow as soon as you fall asleep. At this time, the Yankees in North America just rightly gave Helena an assist.

It turned out that in order to take care of the interests of the so-called "Southern Silver Group", Roosevelt passed the "Silver Act" in June 1934 to purchase silver from the international market at a high price.This bill immediately led to a sharp outflow of silver from Huaguo, which was still using the silver standard at that time. In the second half of 6 alone, the scale of silver outflow from Huaguo reached a staggering 1934 million yuan.After the time entered 2.57, the speed of Huaguo's silver outflow did not decrease at all, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was only a matter of time before Huaguo's silver standard became unsustainable.

The disintegration of the silver standard had a serious impact on the Hua country's economy at that time. It not only caused the real estate market in the Shanghai-Nanjing area to plummet and the financial run, but also severely hit Hua country's fragile national industrial capital.For example, the largest Yue Yuen Spinning Mill in North China at that time declared bankruptcy, and the Shenxin Spinning Mill in Shanghai was also forced to auction by HSBC due to a broken capital chain.

If Helena's estimate is correct, the current bald government is planning to abolish the silver standard and change the currency system to an exchange standard linked to the pound sterling, as in the previous plane, and use the paper money issued by the government as the legal currency in circulation .What needs to be pointed out is: In fact, the general direction of the bald government's currency reform is actually correct, and the currency reform has indeed prevented the economic situation from deteriorating, and at the same time it has improved the bald government's control over the national currency field.

However, the rapid expansion of bureaucratic capital represented by the four major families during this reform, and the skinhead party’s reliance on Anglo-American capital after the reform has greatly deepened, which to a considerable extent polluted this currency reform, which is of great significance to the modernization of the loyal country’s finance. fineness.Especially in May 1936, the United States passed the so-called "Sino-US Silver Agreement", which changed Huaguo's legal currency from a vassal of the pound to a dual vassal of the pound and the dollar, which greatly damaged Huaguo's financial independence. right.

Although Roosevelt's operations seriously impacted China's financial market, it was very helpful for Germany to further open up arms exports to China.The main reason is that the outflow of silver has shaken Huaguo's international payment ability, and Germany is precisely one of the very few countries willing to accept Huaguo's payment in materials instead of foreign exchange and precious metals.Therefore, Roosevelt's "Silver Purchase Act" combined with Schacht's barter trading policy, tantamount to virtually improving the competitiveness of German weapons in the Chinese market.

In this way, with Roosevelt's timely assistance, the BF-108A2 fighter jet relied on its competitive advantage of being able to accept the barter of mineral resources or agricultural products from Huaguo, and coupled with the strong recommendation of one telegram after another from the European delegation.The Germans finally won the order that should have belonged to the Italians. The first batch of purchases was 36, which happened to be the same as the total purchases of Fiat CR.32 and Breda Ba.27 in the previous plane.

Although generally speaking, this transaction is beneficial to both parties, but the average purchase price of BF-108A2 is 4.5 US dollars per machine, which is still not cheap. This price is equivalent to three BF with better performance in the previous plane. Purchase price of -109E.But there's nothing Helena can do about it. After all, skinheads have never been cheaper to buy weapons internationally.

For example, in the last plane, when Germany sold similar weapons and equipment to Spain, the price was much cheaper than when it was sold to Huaguo; and Sulian also sold the Yi-15, a biplane model that was on the verge of being eliminated, for 3.5 US dollars. Moreover, it also came with the implicit political condition that Hua Guo acquiesced in the expansion of its power in Outer Mongolia; the US arms sales were not only cheap, but also based on the comprehensive deepening of the control of Zhongguo in all fields after the war.

Skinheads have repeatedly suffered losses in the international arms trade, and sometimes even have to pay the price of damage to national sovereignty.The reason is also very simple: one is that Huaguo's own defense industry was too weak at that time, so Huaguo had almost no bargaining power in the procurement of high-tech weapons and equipment.The second is that corruption is ubiquitous in skinheads' arms procurement, and various leaks and kickbacks in arms procurement emerge in an endless stream, which will eventually translate into an increase in arms procurement costs.

As long as you understand why later generations of India buy the same weapons, it is always more expensive than other people buy the same weapons, and you can also understand why the bald government always suffers from military purchases.What's more, in terms of the autonomy of weapons, Huaguo under the rule of the bald head is not even as good as India in later generations, and the level of corruption may be even worse than India in later generations.Therefore, it is logical that the bald head will suffer a lot of loss of profit when purchasing foreign military.

Therefore, when the bald head on this plane bought military equipment from Germany, the price was still inflated. It wasn't that Helena wanted to cheat her former motherland's money, but that this matter was really beyond her ability.Can Helena allow Huaguo to have a complete defense industry immediately?Obviously not.Can Helena get skinheads to eliminate corruption in arms purchases?This is even more impossible.Can Helena demand that the military-industrial complex in Germany take the initiative to reduce profits?This is probably not realistic.

Therefore, Helena can't let Huaguo's military purchases in her own plane not suffer at all. She can only guarantee that the weapons Huaguo buys back are relatively suitable for her needs, and the BF-108A2 fighter jet is such a weapon.Although a small number of advanced fighters cannot help Hua Guo gain air supremacy in the War of Resistance, it can at least help the Hua Guo Air Force limit the air superiority that opponents use unscrupulously for a period of time.After all, for the small bomber formations commonly used in Japan, the BF-108A2, which can quickly dive to attack and accelerate to break away, is a very deadly threat.As long as this threat from the sky exists, Japan must think twice before organizing air strikes.

More importantly, since the main target of attack is still a cumbersome bomber rather than a flexible fighter, and the tactical essentials are relatively simple and easy to learn, so this tactic requires relatively low pilot skills.This is also good news for Chinese Air Force pilots who have a serious shortage of flying hours.After Helena revealed her series of ideas to the Chinese inspection team that is about to return to China, Gao Zhihang's satisfaction with this aircraft has obviously increased a lot, and he is even more looking forward to the BF-108A2's coming to China .

Chapter 242 Clearing Inventory Again

When the Chinese delegation was sent off by Helena and left Germany contentedly with the newly signed aircraft purchase agreement, the pointer of history had already pointed to June 1935.Since the signing of the "British-German Naval Agreement" has greatly disintegrated the binding force of the Versailles system, when German companies sell weapons to the outside world, they no longer need to rely on overseas branches to avoid the scrutiny of the Allied countries. This is undoubtedly for Germany. The export of military industry has brought great convenience.

In addition to the fighter jets mentioned above, Germany’s recent arms export list to China also includes as many as 12 triple-mounted 155mm fortress guns, which will be used to consolidate the defense fortifications being built in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.However, these artillery are not newly manufactured products, but refurbished from the old turrets removed during the refitting process of the "Konigsberg" class light cruiser. This is also Helena's reasonable use of inventory.

原来《英德海军协定》刚刚签署，德国海军就决定对现役的四艘“柯尼斯堡”级轻巡洋舰进行升级改造，改造内容就包括用三座双联装203毫米主炮代替原本的三座三联装155毫米主炮，从而把这款装备9门155毫米主炮的轻巡洋舰升格为装备6门203毫米主炮的重巡洋舰。

As a result, the dismantled batch of triple-mounted 155mm turrets became useless and a pity to discard. After all, this level of artillery is not powerful enough for coastal defense after losing its carrying platform.However, the so-called "chicken ribs" here are only for the German Navy. If these artillery are placed in the Far East as fortress artillery, they will still be very valuable.

Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in the last plane, the Chinese government built two fortifications in the area between Shanghai and Nanjing under the suggestion of General Seckert, the chief military adviser stationed in China. This is the famous Wufu Line of Defense and the Tin Cheng defense line.However, in the great defeat after the Battle of Songhu, these two costly fortifications failed to play the expected role.

Because of Helena's timely report to President Hindenburg in this plane, General Sektor was not forced to resign because of the strange operation of inviting the former crown prince to a military parade, so he was not as far away as the previous plane. Go to China to serve as a consultant to the bald head.Helena thought that this might be a good thing for her father in this life. After all, General Sektor fell ill while working in China in the last plane, and died less than a year after returning to China.Helena naturally hoped that her father would live a long and healthy life, so she didn't regret her snitching.

Although General Seekert in his own plane failed to visit China in person, after the former general adviser of the German Military Advisory Group in China, Georg Weiser, resigned, General Seekert sent his very trusted subordinate Alexander von Falken Howson succeeded him.Falkenhausen's military views are generally the same as those of Seekert, including the construction of defense facilities in the Jiangnan area. After General Seekert returned to China in the upper plane, Falkenhausen continued to preside over the Wu Fu line and Construction work on the Xicheng Line.

China in this plane also built defensive facilities in the Jiangnan area under Falkenhausen's suggestion, but the construction idea is slightly different from the previous plane.When designing the fortification system for China on the last plane, General Seekert connected the fortifications into multiple continuous lines of defense, so that he could rely on a large defense depth to continuously weaken the opponent's offensive capabilities.There is actually no problem with this line of defense design itself. After all, trench warfare was played in this way in the last World War.

The problem is that both Sekter and Falkenhausen may have overestimated the level of the bald head.Although in the eyes of many military fans, trench warfare does not seem to require much technical content, and it seems to be very suitable for a country with relatively weak military capabilities like China at that time. Seekert and Falkenhausen may have thought so when designing the defense line.However, even if the battle is based on the trench fortification system, the various troops need to coordinate with each other to ensure the continuity of the defense line, and reserve troops are required to be on standby at any time to prevent the opponent's breakthrough attempt in time. However, these seemingly basic things are actually The bald troops can't do it at all.

Therefore, in the Anti-Japanese War on the last plane, we will see such scenes countless times: Jiang Guangtou's troops sometimes only suffer partial defeats, but because the bald head can neither effectively coordinate the various participating troops, nor have a reserve force to deal with it. When needed from time to time, the war situation will often quickly evolve into a global collapse.In such an unmanageable situation, even the troops that were still capable of fighting could only be coerced and retreated together, and sometimes they even directly became the victims of "dead friends never die poor people" when friendly troops fled.

Although Helena felt that she probably could not count on the organization and coordination ability of the bald head. After all, although China is now unified in name, it is actually just a loose alliance composed of a group of semi-feudal warlords. It is so strong that it is regarded as the leader of the alliance by all the mountains.But with a serious and responsible attitude, before Falkenhausen went to China to take up his post, Helena expressed her concerns to him, and discussed with him about China's national defense construction route, how to make the construction of national defense fortifications more suitable for China The actual situation is naturally also one of the topics of discussion.

Helena's reminder made Falkenhausen pay attention to the organizational weaknesses of the bald army early on, and also made him understand that the experience of building defense lines in the European battlefield may not be applicable to China.So after discussing with Helena, Falkenhausen made an adjustment in the design of the defense line, which is to no longer emphasize the linear continuity of the defense line. Anyway, it is difficult for China to maintain the continuity of the front line, and instead pay more attention to regional The construction of main support points.These support points are mainly guarded on the land and water transportation lines. They are all composed of core fortification areas and peripheral fortifications, and the defense depth is about ten kilometers.

Although these support points cannot prevent the opponent from breaking through, they can at least prevent the opponent from developing the offensive in depth by controlling the railway and water transportation.Moreover, relying on strong fortifications to defend important areas within a limited range, compared with maintaining a continuous line of defense, the requirements for organizational coordination are reduced.As long as the defenders are relatively determined, even if they are unfortunately besieged as a lone army, the supply reserves in the support point can support them for a longer period of time.If the setting of support points maintains a certain degree of redundancy, it is not so easy for a point to be breached, which will immediately lead to the defeat of the whole line.

Falkenhausen's suggestion was appreciated by Bald Jiang. Among Germany's military advisers stationed in China, Falkenhausen was relatively good at communicating with Bald Jiang.However, if the support point is to be strong enough, it is necessary to have the support of the fortress artillery, which is why Helena was able to sell the batch of second-hand triple-mounted 155mm turrets that were originally installed on the "Konigsberg" class cruiser.These old guns still have the ability to shoot 60 kg projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 900/s, and still have armor protection that can withstand 203 mm naval gun attacks. With a rate of fire much higher than that of ordinary land-based artillery, they can indeed provide for the entire fortification group. Strong support.

Chapter 243 The Dark Clouds in East Africa

After the time entered 1935, as the recovery of Germany's economic strength became more and more obvious, France, which was still deeply mired in economic crisis, realized more and more clearly that it was difficult to deal with the potential threat of Germany with its own existing strength.After all, although the size of the German army is still small at this time, the industrial output value of Germany has reached about three times that of France. France knows that as long as the time is right, this industrial potential can be transformed into real military strength at any time, so its current military The advantage is actually not stable.

Driven by this deep sense of anxiety, following a series of treaties in the 20s to form an alliance network known as the "Little Entente" with Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania in Eastern Europe, France began to try again in the Germany expanded its circle of friends around Germany to achieve the goal of containing Germany, so after investigating all the countries with some strength in Europe, the French finally fell in love with Italy, which is located in southern Europe.

Although Italy's colonial expansion ambitions in Africa are well known to all, but at this time France must first suppress Germany, the main competitor at any cost, so after carefully weighing the pros and cons, France decided to hand over to Mussolini. Olive branch, and even made major concessions to Italy in terms of colonial interests in East Africa.So after some intense bargaining, French Foreign Minister Laval and Italian Prime Minister Mussolini finally signed the "French-Italian Rome Agreement" in Rome on January 1935, 1.

At this meeting, Laval made a promise to Mussolini to allow Italy to "act freely" in Ethiopia, and clearly stipulated in the treaty: "The French government declares to the Italian government that, except for cooperation with Djibouti to Addis Apart from the economic interests related to Ababa’s railway transportation, France does not seek other interests in Ethiopia.” After receiving the diplomatic assurance from the French, Mussolini, who had always been coveted by Ethiopia, was simply ecstatic, so since Since the beginning of 1935, the Italians have been sharpening their knives, preparing to attack the only independent country on the African continent.

The reason why Italy is eager to turn Ethiopia, an ancient country on the East African plateau, into its own colony has both economic and political reasons.

First of all, from the economic point of view, Ethiopia's natural endowment is quite good. It not only has the most abundant water resources in East Africa, so that it is called the "East African Water Tower", but also has more than 1000 million hectares of arable land and vast pastures. It is the largest in Africa, and there are also gold, platinum, niobium, tantalum and other types of mineral resources underground, which undoubtedly has an irresistible attraction to Italy, which is relatively poor in arable land and mineral resources.

Secondly, from a political perspective, if Italy can occupy Ethiopia, it will be able to communicate with the two isolated territories of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somalia, thereby linking Italy’s colonies in East Africa together and greatly improving Italy’s right to speak in African affairs .Moreover, in Mussolini's view, if he can achieve victory in foreign colonial expansion against the background of economic crisis, it will also help boost the morale of the people and consolidate his political prestige in the country.

In addition to these direct considerations of economic and political interests, there is actually another rather unspeakable reason for Italy's plan to attack Ethiopia, that is, they have been shamefully defeated by Ethiopia.At that time, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II announced that from 1894, Ethiopia would no longer fulfill the "Usiali Treaty" signed with Italy that year, so Italy used this as an excuse to send more than 17000 troops to attack Ethiopia.

As a result, this war, which Italy thought it would be easy to capture, ended up shattering the glasses of all European countries. Italy ended in a disastrous defeat with more than 11000 casualties and more than 4000 prisoners.In the end, Italy not only recognized Ethiopia's independence, but was also forced to pay Ethiopia 1000 million lire in war reparations.So far, Italy has been completely reduced to the laughing stock of the whole of Europe. After all, it was unprecedented for European countries to be beaten so badly by African countries at that time. Africa.

So far, Ethiopia has become a difficult knot for the Italians. The ridicule from other European countries, whether official or private, has been tormenting the fragile self-esteem of the Italians for many years.For Mussolini, who always talked about "restoring the glory of the Roman Empire", Ethiopia is more like a hurdle that must be overcome.It can be said that Ethiopia does not sweep, so why sweep the world?It is only logical that Mussolini regarded Ethiopia as a priority expansion target.

However, Ethiopia can always maintain its independence in the colonial frenzy of imperialism. In addition to benefiting from its geographical location just between the territories of Britain, France and Italy, the powers need to use it as a buffer zone for colonial interests. Ethiopia's own economic and military strength It's not as weak as most people think.

The reforms of the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II from 1867 started the modernization process of Ethiopia, which not only enabled banks, factories, railways and telegraphs to appear in this ancient country, but also allowed Ethiopia to have a total of more than 10 The modernized army of man.Therefore, it is not surprising that Italy, which was not strong in itself but underestimated the enemy, gnawed on this hard bone and lost a few teeth on the spot.

That heart-wrenching fiasco also gave the Italians a bit of memory. At least this time, Mussolini didn't dare to let those colonial troops with a high combat effectiveness act rashly. Instead, he spent more than half a year patiently. , to assemble troops and deliver materials to Italian Eritrea in the north of Ethiopia and Italian Somalia in the south, with the intention of fully preparing and then taking Ethiopia down in one fell swoop to avoid the shame of the defeat of the year.

Of course, Ethiopia was not unaware of the increase in Italian troops. In addition, at the end of 1934, the Italian army began to create a series of frictions on the border. Even a fool can see Italy's malicious intentions.The current emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I, is certainly not a fool. On the one hand, he hopes that Britain, which also has a lot of colonial interests in East Africa, can check and balance Italy. attack.

In the history of the previous plane, Ethiopia urgently purchased more than 1 Type 98 rifles, more than 60 artillery pieces, and three aircraft from Germany.Although the number of these German-made weapons is not very large, in the second Italian-Egyptian war that broke out later, the murderous Italians who were preparing to wipe out the Ethiopian army in one fell swoop were really pitted.Although Italy barely occupied the main towns of Ethiopia after paying huge casualties, Selassie I also went into exile overseas.But the elusive guerrillas still disturbed Italy like a nightmare, and Italy lost as many as 14 people throughout the Italian-Egyptian war.

Someone here may ask, wasn’t Italy in the previous plane an ally of Germany in World War II? Why did Germany sell Ethiopian weapons to harm Italy?

In fact, Germany and Italy approached each other in the last plane after 1936. In 1935, Italy was closer to France. The "French-Italian-Roman Agreement" signed by Italy and France was a treaty clearly aimed at Germany, which clearly stipulated that the two countries Austria's independence should be guaranteed jointly, and the two countries were required to "have an advantage over Germany on a mutually equitable basis".So in this case, although it is impossible for Germany to directly turn against Italy or even acquiesce in Italy's actions, it is not incomprehensible to beat Italy by selling weapons to Ethiopia.

So how should Germany deal with the Ethiopian incident on its own plane?

Chapter 244 Continental Balance of Power

As early as the beginning of 1935, when France and Italy signed the "French-Italian-Roman Agreement", Helena expressed her judgment on this matter with confidence: "The more France builds a network of encirclement around Germany, the more Germany will suffer internationally. The fewer restrictions there will be." The subsequent smooth progress of the naval negotiations between Britain and Germany seemed to fully confirm Helena's previous judgment.

In Helena's eyes, the biggest strategic mistake France made before World War II was not that it did not maintain enough vigilance against Germany, but that it stubbornly regarded the containment of Germany's rise as an overriding task.This caused France to mechanically dance to the rhythm of Germany in the process of formulating its foreign policy, losing both the international vision and strategic flexibility that a major country should have.To sum it up in a phrase that is more familiar to future generations, it is that France lacks sufficient strategic focus.

This time France sacrificed Ethiopia in exchange for joining Italy against Germany, which is hardly a rational choice.Originally, France's move to win over Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania in Eastern Europe to gradually become a "little entente" has already aroused Britain's high vigilance.However, France, which was determined to encircle Germany, not only did not realize that Britain, a former ally, was at odds with itself, but signed the "French-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty" with the Soviet Union in February 1935, preparing to renew the old relationship of the Sino-French-Russian alliance in World War I. , making the UK even more vulnerable.

We must know that Britain has long pursued the so-called "Continental Balance of Power" policy in diplomacy, that is, to unite with relatively weak countries on the European continent to suppress relatively strong countries, and to prevent the emergence of a dominant superpower on the European continent.In this way, the United Kingdom, which is located on the relatively safe outlying islands of the continental shelf, can play the role of "offshore balancer" and thus become the de facto arbiter of continental affairs in Europe.Previously, the United Kingdom united the German states and Russia to gang up against France under Napoleon, united France and the Ottoman Empire to block Russia in Crimea, and united France and Russia against Germany in the last world war were all specific applications of this strategy.

Driven by this kind of strategic thinking, after the end of the last world war, France, with the strongest army in the world on paper and the fourth largest navy in the world, became the number one object of Britain's secret vigilance.Since then, France has put aside the activities of the United Kingdom to form cliques on the European continent, and it has reminded the United Kingdom of the era when the Napoleonic Empire took most of the European continent as its vassal.This directly led to a change in the orientation of British foreign policy from mainly preventing the re-emergence of Germany to containing the expansion of French power.The direct manifestation is that it is always difficult for Britain and France to coordinate their attitudes towards Germany.

The French have never figured it out. Whether it is the three weak Eastern European countries, the half-hearted Italy, or the Soviet Union that is still developing, it is impossible to constrain Germany's actions in a real sense. The only thing that Hitler was really afraid of was Britain and France. An act of solidarity between the two countries.France spent more than ten years carefully weaving a seemingly gorgeous, but in fact useless encirclement network against Germany. For this reason, it even did not hesitate to make major compromises to Italy in terms of colonial interests. This most important ally is drifting away.

Shortly after the signing of the "French-Italian-Roman Agreement" in the last plane, the British Cabinet came to the conclusion without consulting the General Staff: maintaining the Rhineland Demilitarized Zone is not an important interest of the United Kingdom.At the beginning of 1936, when Germany's intention to return to the Rhineland became more and more obvious, the French Foreign Minister took the opportunity to attend the funeral of King George V of England to seek the opinions of the United Kingdom. Whether or not it is only a matter of France itself has nothing to do with the United Kingdom, which directly led to France's diplomatic isolation in the face of Germany's return to the Rhineland.

It was precisely because he clearly saw this stake, that when Hitler proposed to conduct limited arms sales to Ethiopia in private to beat Italy, which was getting closer to France, as in the previous plane, Helena Stirring a mustache on the side doesn't have to be too restrictive.Helena directly suggested to Hitler that not only the amount of arms sales to Ethiopia could be increased, but also that if Italy declared war on Ethiopia, Germany could openly support Ethiopia internationally, and even directly send a military advisory group to support Ethiopia’s anti-colonial struggle.

"If Italy can be dragged into the quagmire of East Africa, it will be very beneficial for us to return to the Rhineland." Helena said to Hitler confidently: "Italy has assembled hundreds of thousands of troops to Italian Eritrea and Italian Somalia. In terms of military strength, we will not be able to participate in the chess game of the European continent in a short period of time, so we only need to concentrate on dealing with France. As long as the British are not on the side of France, the French will never dare to fight us alone."

"But if our support for Ethiopia caused Italy to suffer heavy losses, wouldn't it be difficult to push Italy to the French side?" Hitler frowned and asked worriedly.Although the risky option of regaining the Rhineland made Moustache salivate, but he was not fully sure how much the international community would rebound. After all, Germany's military power has just begun to recover, and it is completely incapable of challenging the Allies. .

"Actually, I really hope that Italy can stand on the side of the French, Your Excellency the Head of State." Helena said with a smile: "If Italy stands with us, then the probability that Britain will stand with France on the Rhineland issue is 50.00% ;If Italy remains neutral, then the probability that Britain will side with France on the Rhineland issue is [-]%; but if Italy and France are on the same side, then the probability that Britain will side with France on the Rhineland issue is [-]% zero."

Helena went on to say: "At that time, Italy, which is deeply involved in the Ethiopian battlefield, will not have a say on the Rhineland issue, and Britain, which has a say, will not support France to take tough measures against us, even if France has 300 million troops and we arrive. There may only be 50 at that time, but our defense system with multiple anti-aircraft towers as support points on the border is taking shape. France must weigh whether it has enough manpower to fight a war of attrition with us alone. Their population loss ratio far exceeds ours, and the war weariness among their people is a direct reflection of this loss."

"So for the freedom of our next move, we must push Italy to our opposite this time." Helena finally concluded: "Your Excellency, you don't have to worry that Italy will become our long-term enemy. If one day France's situation It doesn't look good, and Italy, which now seems to be close to France, will be the first to jump up and stab the French, and make this betrayal a token of honor for us."

The author has something to say: Since the author is going to get married, I would like to ask everyone for a wedding leave here, and the update will resume in half a month.In addition, Chapter 241 of this book was locked because it had not passed the review, so I put this chapter in the book friend group, the group number is 881428980.

Chapter 245 Building Confidence

In the face of the upcoming Second Italian-Egyptian War, Helena’s opinion is actually very clear: Germany is to oppose Italy’s colonial expansion in Ethiopia, so that Italy will move closer to the French out of concerns about being isolated by the international community; however The closer Italy gets to the French, the bigger the hidden rift between the bedfellow allies, Britain and France, will grow.This is an inescapable curse for the French. The larger France's alliance system on the European continent, the more Britain has to balance France's influence overtly and covertly. challenge.

To put it more succinctly, it would be: the more satellite countries there are around France, the less France will be able to act internationally; the denser the encirclement network around Germany, the greater Germany's international freedom.On the surface, this conclusion is obviously counterintuitive, so that most contemporary politicians are in the clouds of Lushan Mountain, and it is difficult to make rational judgments; but the logic chain behind this conclusion is not complicated, so that Helena just made a little hint, and Hitler understood the mystery: "You mean that the Italian military adventure in East Africa will be a good opportunity for us to return to the Rhineland in the future?"

"It is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us." Helena nodded with a smile: "The poor French and Italians still think that they have taken the biggest advantage. The French feel that they have not paid any real benefits at all. In Ethiopia in the sky, Italy, a very important country, was coaxed onto the ship; and Italy felt that it was a good deal to get France to act freely in East Africa just by signing a non-binding agreement. Buy and sell. But I don't think it will be long before France and Italy will be surprised to find that Germany is the biggest beneficiary of the "French-Italian-Roman Agreement."

Helena's affirmative answer obviously made Hitler very satisfied.The "Treaty of Versailles" after the last World War stipulated that Germany was prohibited from stationing troops, maintaining military equipment and facilities, and conducting military exercises in the area 50 kilometers west and east of the Rhine River. This is the so-called "Rhine Demilitarized Zone". origin. The existence of the "Rhine Demilitarized Zone" prevented Germany from exercising complete sovereignty over the territory of the Rhine River Basin, which has always been regarded by many Germans as a great shame.

After successfully taking back the Saarland through a referendum earlier this year, Hitler gained a high reputation in the country, and it also strengthened Hitler's idea of ​​re-garrisoning troops in the Rhine Demilitarized Zone.However, many of Hitler's staff and some generals of the Wehrmacht did not support his idea, because the German army that had just begun to expand did not have the ability to compete with the Allied forces. In their opinion, Hitler's idea of ​​returning to the Rhineland was too risky. A strong reaction from the Allies would lead to unmanageable consequences.

These voices of opposition caused Hitler to hesitate. After all, he himself had no idea about this matter.However, at this moment Helena stepped forward. She not only firmly expressed her support for Hitler's plan to return to the Rhineland, but also pointed out the points that Germany could use in this matter. With a compass and a cardiotonic injection, Hitler regained confidence in returning to the Rhineland.At the same time, it also changed Hitler's attitude on the Ethiopian issue from the initial casualness to active use.

"Helping Ethiopia resist Italy will not only help Germany return to the Rhineland, the economic and political benefits are also very considerable." Helena continued: "Ethiopia is not a primitive tribe like many parts of Africa. On the contrary, Ethiopia carried out tax reforms in 1892, issued legal tender in 1893, and established modern banks in 1905. After these reforms, Ethiopia has certain financial resources to purchase advanced weapons.”

"Moreover, Ethiopia's domestic gold reserves are quite rich. Although the output is limited due to the primitive mining technology, Ethiopians have long relied on bare rocks in streams to pick up gold. However, the Ethiopian royal family has accumulated a lot of gold reserves over the years, so Ethiopia China's international payment capacity is still guaranteed, and may even be more reliable than China's bald regime that has just experienced a silver outflow. Moreover, more important than the economic benefits obtained by simply selling weapons, we can support Ethiopia in the new paradigm of international politics Get a unique ecological niche," Helena said.