At the Koanda aircraft factory outside Bucharest, a group of officers was visiting the aircraft produced by the plant. One of them, a yellow-skinned officer, dressed in a completely different uniform from the Romanian Air Force, became the focus of the conversation.

"High, this is our current equipment Albatross fighter, the aircraft uses a single-wing structure, a total length of 7.53 meters, a wingspan of 11.31 meters, a height of 3.10 meters, a total weight of 1317 kilograms, and a maximum take-off weight of 1942 kilograms. It is equipped with an air-cooled 10-cylinder radial piston engine with a maximum output of 840 horsepower, a maximum speed of 440 km/h, a maximum range of 950 km, and a maximum elevation of 11,200 meters. It is completely applicable to your country, and compared to the Hawker III fighters currently equipped in your country, there is no comparison at all. ”

Gao Zhihang listened to the chatter in his ear and introduced himself to the performance of the aircraft Romanian Air Force officer, looking at the albatross parked at the test flight site, his heart was hot.

"Can I drive it myself?"

As an ace pilot, there's nothing better to know its performance than flying it yourself.

And for the requirements of Gao Zhihang. The officer clearly understood the mood of a pilot, so he did not hesitate to ask. "Gao, do you know how to operate this plane?"

"No, you can't learn, and I'm sure it won't be too cumbersome to operate. As long as it's an airplane, I can fly it. ”

This is also Gao Zhihang's self-confidence as a pilot.

In fact, the current piston aircraft operation is not too complicated, as long as you can fly a fighter, then it is quite fast to learn the operation of other aircraft. Of course, this is limited to flying, and if you want to do all kinds of extreme maneuvers, then you have to be more familiar with this aircraft.

Of course, it will not be until the advent of the jet that the operational requirements of the pilots will be further strengthened. Otherwise, how to train tens of thousands of pilots from various countries will be able to fly for dozens or hundreds of hours, and then they can be out of the division.

Seeing Gao Zhihang's resolute attitude, the air force officer made a compromise. "Okay then, high. I'll have you taught you lest there be any accidents. ”

After getting permission, Gao Zhihang boarded the plane. In the explanation of one of the accompanying pilots, he had a lot of confidence in operating the albatross. Because there is not much difference from the Hawker III fighter that he pilots.

After starting the plane, Gao Zhihang clearly felt its surging power. Compared with the most advanced Hawker III in the Republic of China, its power is more powerful.

After slowly letting go of the handbrake, the plane began to accelerate. After taxiing for a while, Gao Zhihang felt that the speed was enough, and with a sharp pull, the plane immediately left the ground. The albatross is much shorter than the take-off distance of the Hawker III, and here he is making an evaluation of himself piloting the albatross.

Then the next thing is to test the performance of the aircraft, Gao Zhihang after the left and right hovering test, suddenly pulled, and the albatross immediately began to climb rapidly. It's a little faster than the Hawk Three's climb, he commented. When it climbed to an altitude of 7,000 meters, the nose of the plane descended and began to dive.

Then Gao Zhihang carried out a series of operations to fully show the performance of this albatross in front of him. And when Gao Zhihang was piloting the albatross to perform various extreme operations, the officers below all showed stunned expressions.

"Are you sure this is the first time this has touched this plane?"

"I'm a little skeptical of what you're saying. This high is not served in the Romanian Air Force. ”

Gao Zhihang, who didn't know that his operation had stunned the Romanian officer, was full of praise for the performance of this albatross. "It's a good plane, really good."

And just in the distance, a plane flew by at high speed in the sky, but it caught his attention. The reason is very simple, this plane that I have never seen before is too fast. He bet the plane was going at 600 kilometers per hour, which was lightning fast.

"What kind of plane is this?"

At this time, Gao Zhihang immediately focused on the newly emerged plane. "I heard that there was also a lightning-fast plane in the Spanish War, but I don't know if it has anything to do with it."

However, the plane only flew from a distance, and it was impossible for Gao Zhihang to catch up and ask.

When the next test was over, he was immediately surrounded by a group of officers as soon as he got off the plane.

"Gao, you've flown an albatross before."

"Gao, this can't be your first flight."

"High ......"

Facing the officers who surrounded him, Gao Zhihang had no choice but to speak truthfully. "It's really my first time flying, but the Hawker III I flew before was similar in operation to an albatross, so I was able to fly so proficiently."

After hearing Gao Zhihang's explanation, the officers who surrounded him did not continue to ask. In fact, the operation of the Hawker III is very different from that of the albatross, but because there are not many countries where this aircraft is purchased, they are fooled.

And it was here that Gao Zhihang expressed the doubts he encountered in the sky. "I saw an airplane that I had never seen before, and it could reach speeds of up to 600 kilometers per hour, do you know what's going on?"

His questioning immediately silenced the scene, and at this point an officer spoke. "That's the demonstrator we're testing, and there's only one advantage that it's fast."

And this officer's words immediately attracted the echo of the other officers. "Yes, yes, this is a verification machine, it's not a big deal."

Gao Zhihang didn't ask about the officers' explanations, because he thought it was a vain question, and if they wanted to tell him, they would have said it a long time ago.

And he suppressed the doubts in his heart and continued to negotiate the purchase of albatross fighters. He still recognizes the main combat effectiveness of this Romanian current equipment. But then Minister Kong needs to negotiate with Romania on the issue of borrowing. Otherwise, he would not have the money to buy this fighter jet that he values.

At the time of the procurement of ordnance by the officers of the regiment, negotiations were under way in Bucharest about the loan.

"Mr. Special Envoy, you know what your country intends to use as collateral for this loan."

As soon as the opening scene, Mihalakai, as the prime minister, was the first to ask. He couldn't help but open his mouth, because the loan amount requested by the Nanjing government this time was a bit high, which made him, the prime minister who had worked hard for Romania, feel a burst of anger. His request for a loan of up to 280 million lei does not have enough collateral to displease the Prime Minister.

Regarding the dissatisfaction expressed by Prime Minister Mihalakei, Kong Xiangxi and Weng Wenhao both flashed a trace of helplessness on their faces. Because there are so many things that need to be purchased in Romania this time, if you don't use a loan, then the Nanjing government can't buy it at all. As for the problem of insufficient collateral, it is also because the raw materials that Romania needed before have long been mortgaged by the Republic of China in exchange for weapons and equipment.

However, in the face of Prime Minister Mihalakai's questioning, Kong Xiangxi, as a special envoy, spoke. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, it is true that the loan this time is much more than in the past, and there is not enough collateral. In fact, this is very easy to solve, as long as China increases its export efforts, it will be able to repay the loan in time. Moreover, China's first loan is about to be repaid, and the collateral of the loan can be transferred to the name of the loan after the repayment is completed. ”

Kong Xiangxi's words caused a lot of discussion on the Romanian side, because this model is absolutely no problem in terms of operation. However, considering the current situation in the Far East, many people are a little worried.

In fact, Romania has also made an assessment of the current tension between China and Japan. This is the unanimous view that war between China and Japan is destined to break out in the future. However, there are differences in the timing of the outbreak.

Optimists believe that the war between the two countries should break out around 39 and no more than 40 years. And pessimists believe that war between the two countries could break out at any time. In particular, Japan's constant moves in China this year have made many people feel that the war will begin this year and next.

Romania's prediction of the outbreak of war between China and Japan also has a lot to do with Romania's current loans to China. Because if war comes, then it will be a heavy blow to its raw material exports, and its ability to repay will be questionable.

After all, Romania's money is not blowing in the wind, and the risk needs to be controlled.

Therefore, for Kong Xiangxi's words, Prime Minister Miharakai could not agree to it like this. "Mr. Special Envoy, even if this is the case, the amount of money borrowed this time is too large. The risks are too staggering for our country. ”

"We really can't deny the risks that Your Excellency Prime Minister said. But you also have to see that our loans are used to buy your country's products. This will help your country expand its market channels and get out of its current economic woes. Moreover, in terms of China's ability to repay, I believe that your country is also very clear in the previous cooperation. ”

Kong Xiangxi talked about the Nanjing government's repayment credit from economic issues. There is only one meaning expressed, you must trust the integrity of the Nanjing government and the ability to repay.

The prime minister was still hesitant to do so, but after many rounds of negotiations, and with the vigorous promotion of someone who was interested in it, the negotiations between Romania and Nanjing were finally settled. This time, Romania will provide a loan of 250 million lei, which the Nanjing government can use to buy various Romanian-produced goods, and then return the raw materials produced by it, such as tungsten sand, antimony sand, etc. The interest rate on the loan is 5% per annum, and no interest is paid on the unused amount, and no interest is paid on the amount that has been repaid.

Immediately after the terms of the loan were signed, the delegation procured a large amount of weapons and equipment. These include 180 Albatross fighters, 122 Jackal IV tanks, 84 wheeled armored vehicles, 118,000 rifles, 150 million machine-gun bullets. 248 75-mm mountain artillery, 38 105 howitzers, 8 150 cannon heavy guns, 10,000 tons of various shells. There are also anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, 37-mm anti-tank guns and a large number of other weapons. In addition, there are helmets, raincoats, rain boots, medicines, field telephones, radios, vehicles and a series of supplies.

It took more than 20 ships to transport these supplies to Romania alone, and of course many weapons were exchanged from the Romanian military. The military who are changing their outfits are very happy that someone has bought it, which means they can use new equipment again. It is also because of the existence of these second-hand equipment that it can purchase so many military materials.

And these weapons and materials effectively helped it fight after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, so that the Japanese government specially protested for this. Protest against Romania's violation of the terms of countries not to supply large-caliber artillery to the Republic of China, so that it suffered great losses.