"Führer, do you really think that the Italian leader will promise this?"

"I think he'll raise the asking price a little bit, but he'll say yes eventually." Hoffman said with confidence, "Mussolini would not have been so stupid as to fail to see the obvious fact that military unity of command and economic coordination were the key to our eventual victory in the North African campaign and even in the Great War as a whole." Militarily I have excluded the Italian Army, which saves him face - and in fact I am not prepared to use the wretched troops, and instead of augmenting them, I would rather devote the saved resources to the Italian Navy and Air Force, which are far superior to the Army; Economically, this move will help to increase the production capacity and technological level of Italy, change the idleness and intolerance of the Italians, and in the long run it will be beneficial to Italy, and they will thank us after the war in the future. ”

"The leaders may feel that they cannot control them, and they may think that Italy has become a German colony."

"That's his delusion." Hoffman smiled, "The people are Italians, the factories and troops are also on Italian soil, and the sovereign and administrative power of Italy is still in play, and we can at best send some experts and generals to act as advisers and make better use of them - lest they be ruined by Mussolini, and the performance of the Italian troops on the Eastern Front has proved that there are two different grades of combat effectiveness with or without German officers." This state is still hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the colony! As long as his pathetic pride is not troubled, he should agree to my terms. Besides, he doesn't want his big North African empire anymore? It's better to give it to us than to give it to Churchill, right? ”

"Do you really promise to give him all these territories?"

"The premise is that we can fight first, and we only need to be financially interested - after all, these places are close to Italy and far away from us. And who knows what will happen after the war? Hoffmann whispered into Speer's ear, "As long as we can thoroughly grasp the military and economic power of Italy, will it be difficult to change the leader?" Count Ziano, for example, you can hint at him slightly. ”

Speer was stunned. After figuring it out, he gave a thumbs up and said, "Führer, your idea is really worthy of being drawn from the bottom of the kettle." ”

While the two were talking, someone suddenly reported that the second adjutant Cole had returned to his life. Seeing Cole, who was dusty and tired, Hoffman hurriedly asked, "How is it, how is the trip to the Far East?" Did it go well along the way? ”

"All went well, and I contacted Ishihara and some other high-level officials as you explained, and expounded my views at the Japan National Policy Seminar. The Japanese top brass is very interested in your idea, there is no shortage of supporters, the only regret is that you did not speak to General Yamamoto. After returning from the Truk front, he had only one meeting before going out to visit others - he was supposedly agonizing over a candidate for the post of commander of the Combined Fleet. ”

Speer was extremely surprised when he heard the news of the collapse of the Tojo Cabinet and the major changes in the command group and top leadership of the army and navy: He thought that the Fuhrer's strategy would at most arouse the attention of the Japanese side, but he did not expect that it would cause such a big twist and turn, and the Fuhrer, who was more than 10,000 kilometers away, actually contributed to the collapse of the Japanese cabinet. I'm afraid no one will believe it.

At this time, Hoffman suddenly noticed that Cole was wearing a crumpled and dusty military uniform. Knowing that he got off the plane and went straight to his office, he was still very curious, the German soldiers paid great attention to grooming, even if it was more than 20 hours of flight, it would not become like this, so he asked: "What happened along the way, why did you become like this." ”

"Führer, if you lie on a ton of tungsten or molybdenum and fly for more than 20 hours without moving, you will also become like this."

"Sounds interesting. Let's talk about it. ”

"We had a limited flight range and could carry about 450 kilograms of goods back home. Considering what we have been asking for, the Japanese government decided to provide us with tungsten and molybdenum in addition to the technical drawings, and generously offered to give us as much as we could. I had only asked for 450 kilograms, but a Japanese aeronautical designer told me that he could help me figure it out if I wanted to bring a little more, and confidently said that there would be no difficulty in doubling that number - I later learned that he was Jiro Horikoshi, the designer who developed the Zero fighter, and that he had studied at Junkers and Curtis. Cole still had a look of disbelief on his face as he elaborated, "I was so surprised that I let him do it, I thought he had something to do, but I didn't expect him to have all the seats, floors, and equipment in the cabin removed, and then piled up a layer of boxes filled with metal and fixed to the bilge." Then I could only lie on these boxes, and despite the thick bedding, I could still clearly feel the gap between the planks under my buttocks. To make matters worse, because I had no way of fixing myself by removing the seats, they put up a device in the bilge to fix my hands and feet, and when the plane flew I was firmly tied to it, and they bragged to me that I wouldn't fall out even if the plane was upside down - I felt like I was being transported back as cargo, but other than that, there was no problem with safety, and we had fuel to fly another 300 kilometers when we landed in Odessa. ”

"This designer is amazing!" Speer exclaimed.

"Pediatrics, you have to know that he is the one who dares to punch holes in the main beam of the Zero fighter to reduce weight." Hoffman laughed, "If you give him time to toss slowly, maybe he can bring back 2 tons." ”

"Oh my God...... Cole looked palpitating, "that's terrible, that's how Japanese pilots fly this kind of plane?" I don't dare to sit down. ”

"800 kilograms of tungsten, 200 kilograms of molybdenum. Not to mention anything else, you will get back the capital with this batch of materials alone. "With them, our industrial sector can produce enough carbide steel for tens of thousands of machines or other equipment." ”

Hoffman patted Cole on the shoulder: "You've worked hard. Resources are important, but next time you have to pay attention to safety first, what other requirements do the Japanese have? ”

"The Japanese side has developed a strategic plan for the Indian Ocean -- of course I don't think that's their only option, and that can be inferred from their secrecy about it." "The situation in Japan is not ideal, and it is difficult for us to continue fighting for a long time by our standards, but the Japanese people have a very good spirit of patience, and they may be able to endure it for a longer period of time," Cole said. ”

"This is determined by Japan's national identity and economic structure." Hoffman asked, "They didn't raise any objections to the plan?" ”

"They held a national policy seminar to discuss the future strategic direction, and as a foreigner, I only expressed my opinion at the beginning, and I didn't have the opportunity to participate in the further discussion process, but I think there should be a heated debate. Later, the Japanese Foreign Minister did not mention the process of the discussions, but only formally submitted a note to us in the hope of receiving a response as soon as possible, and the contents of the document have been roughly translated into German. ”

Hoffman took it and saw that in addition to the necessary political slogans, the conditions mentioned by the Japanese lion were basically raised, mainly including:

1. After the end of the Indian Ocean Campaign, Germany will provide Japan with 2 million tons of steel, 1 million tons of ships and 3 million tons of oil, which will be delivered in installments within 2 years; In terms of equipment, Germany will provide Japan with 1,000 aircraft and 1,000 tanks, all of which require the latest models, and at the same time require sufficient corresponding accessories, which will also be delivered in phases within 2 years.

2. Germany guarantees the supply of crude oil to Japan during the war, and Japan guarantees the supply of rubber and other resources to Germany, and the difference is settled separately between the two parties;

3. The two sides exchange military intelligence and technical data;

4. Japan invests or purchases equipment including radar and new cipher machines in kind that Germany needs;

5. The two sides should send senior generals to form a liaison and coordination group to communicate on operational coordination matters, and Germany should provide general campaign objectives and plans;

6. It was suggested that Germany make peace with the Soviet Union, with Japan mediating and Germany mobilizing troops from the eastern front to attack India from the west; Japan agreed to make peace with China, suggested that Germany mediate, and that Japan transfer the main force of its army to attack India from the east, and that the two sides use the Line of Actual Control as the temporary dividing line between the two countries, and that the distribution method should be agreed upon in concrete terms after the war

…… A bunch of opinions were written.

"The Japanese have an obvious appetite that is bigger than we initially thought." Hearing the need for so many resources and equipment, Speer felt his head widen, "Even if we have so many materials, how can they transport them back?" ”

"It's inevitable!" Hoffman sneered, "It's just that at the moment we have a request from the Japanese, and we can only agree to their blackmail." The military and political aspects were answered by Cole at his discretion, and basically agreed, and the personnel were to be determined by Field Marshal Keitel of the High Command; With regard to resources and equipment, Speer, you should think carefully about the quantity and time, do not be full of promises, and agree to 70-80% of the conditions of the Japanese in a very difficult way - lest the Japanese think that we are too easy to talk and open their mouths further, but in the end we still have to give them these things - these things will eventually fall on the heads of the Americans. ”

"How about changing the delivery time to 3 years if the quantity remains the same?" Speer said after thinking for a moment.

"Yes." Hoffman advised, "Let the Italians help us with a little of the burden, but not tell them the whole truth, lest they leak the news." ”

"Yes!"

"As for the battle plan." Hoffman mused, "I think yodel can get busy." (To be continued.) )