"Comrades, the Kuomintang reactionaries are about to raise their butcher's knives against our party"

In the conference room of the West Flower Hall, Mao ZD's Hunan accent sounded again. After learning of the Kuomintang's request that China G allow all necessities of life such as food, medicine, fuel, and cloth to enter the Taiyuan siege to supply the citizens of Taiyuan, or to allow the citizens of Taiyuan to leave the war zone and take refuge in the Kuomintang area. Mao ZD saw through Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy at the first time, he stood up suddenly, waved his hand holding the cigarette gently, and the expression on his face was extremely solemn:

"The Kuomintang's demands seem to be righteous words, but in fact they are unreasonable, and they even cheer up the reactionary warlord clique of Yan Xishan in Taiyuan City, encourage them to resist to the end, create more obstacles for us to free the hundreds of thousands of oppressed and enslaved toiling masses in Taiyuan City, and even worse, they also try to use this as an excuse to incite the masses in the south who do not know the truth to rise up against us. We must prepare for the worst for them to carry out a general mobilization of the whole people and to unleash a full-scale civil war against the people. ”

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became tense, and all the committee members seemed to fall into shock all of a sudden, all of them were silent, and everyone's eyes were on Zhou Elai, the de facto core figure of Zhong G. Zhou Elai nodded slightly, as if he approved of Mao ZD's analysis. Although Mao ZD's analysis is a bit sensational, it still makes sense when you think about it. The Kuomintang took advantage of the siege of Taiyuan to make a brilliant move, and gave a huge problem to Zhongg, which was almost about to win the battle of Shanxi.

Mao ZD glanced at the people in the conference room, and finally turned his attention to Zhou Elai, Comrade Elai, the party's cause has reached the most dangerous moment, at this moment we must not retreat, because if we retreat an inch, the enemy will advance a foot, and our only way is to unite all patriotic and progressive forces, form a united front against the Kuomintang reactionaries, and smash the ambitions and conspiracies of the Kuomintang reactionaries."

Zhou Elai frowned slightly, thinking in his heart how many patriotic and progressive forces can be united in the country at the moment? At present, in addition to the Kuomintang and GCD, the various factions with armed forces are nothing more than the Northeast Army, the Youth Army, the Jin Army, and a fake GCD Wang Zhongyi...... Among them, it is naturally impossible for the Jin army to unite, the youth army is at most neutral, of course Wang Zhongyi can't unite, the only thing that can be united is that Zhang Xueliang in the northeast has a cold lip and teeth, this young marshal should also be clear, right? There are not many words, in addition, China G has to come up with benefits to win over Zhang Xueliang?

"Now we have reached the time to 'unite Wu to resist Cao'" Mao ZD's tone was heavier:

"Our party has more than 300,000 soldiers, and the Northeast Army also has more than 300,000 soldiers, and the two families together have 700,000 soldiers, which is 100,000 more than the Kuomintang's 600,000 and the Northeast Army has food and guns in its hands...... If we are willing to lend us some of it, we will be able to immediately expand our army to fight the Kuomintang reactionaries. Therefore, the joining of the Northeast Army is very important to us, and for this reason, we can only trouble Comrade E to go to Harbin. ”

"But can we use it to impress Zhang Xueliang?" Zhou Elai was very frank, glanced at Mao ZD, and said with a wry smile Zhang Xueliang is now the vice president, it is estimated that if the president is given to him, he will not come to Beijing to take office, right? There are not many words, and we still have what we can handle? ”

Mao ZD thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said Tianjin, let's give him Tianjin, it's really not good, plus the east of Zhili. Then he should be tempted, right? No less words"

With a snap, Xiang Ying slapped the table, also stood up, and said angrily No, there are hundreds of thousands of working class in Tianjin, and there are millions of poor middle peasants in the east of Zhili, and we, as a proletarian party, can sell the workers and peasants to the feudal warlords."

Zhou Elai frowned, and just wanted to refute, but Xiang Ying said to himself that among the millions of workers and peasants, there are more than 100,000 or 200,000 who can take up arms to defend the people's power, right? Without a lot of words, we gave them to Zhang Xueliang, and he could send 200,000 troops to help us fight? In my opinion, instead of ceding the territory to Zhang Xueliang, it is better to violently expand the armed Kuomintang and have a general mobilization. We can also mobilize, and with our party's mass base and local organizations, the efficiency of mobilization will certainly be much higher than that of the Kuomintang. We now have at least 30 or 40 million people in our jurisdiction, and according to the level of mobilization of countries during the world war, it is not a problem to organize an army of two million."

"Hahaha." Mao ZD laughed loudly, and after the laughter, he said with a serious face, Chairman Xiang, our Central Revolutionary Military Commission wants to arm these two million troops? Do we have so many rifles, machine guns, artillery, and ammunition? How much does our Baotou Arsenal produce in a month now? "Speaking of which, he waved his big hand, I don't think there is anything to cede the eastern part of Zhili and Tianjin to the Northeast Army, our party organization has not said that it will withdraw from there, the vast rural areas of Zhili, and the working class in Tianjin are still in our hands, and Zhang Xueliang only got a few cities."

A strange smile slipped across Mao ZD's face, and he glanced at Zhou Elai, what did Zhuge Liang say to Liu Bei before going to Jiangdong to lobby Sun Wu? If Sun Wu can't beat Cao Cao, where should Liu Bei go? ”

"You mean......" Zhou Elai immediately realized that Mao ZD was not only fighting the idea of the south, but also set his eyes on the vast and rich Northeast, he turned his mind slightly, and said with a smile, Okay, Comrade Runzhi said very reasonably, we must unite all the forces that can be united in this battle, especially Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army. However, the task of mobilizing and expanding the ** armed forces must also be grasped, as for weapons and equipment, Mifu advisers, do you have any opinions, do you skip the word.

A glimmer of light flashed in Miff's eyes, and he smiled and said Please don't worry about weapons and equipment, I will immediately apply to GC International, and the Soviet people will help the liberation of the Chinese people with the greatest enthusiasm."

Zhou Elai nodded with satisfaction, and we Chinese people will always remember the Soviet people's helping hand in China's most difficult time. Comrade Xiang Ying, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission should take full responsibility for the work of expanding the armed forces. I propose that the 18th and 19th Route Armies should be supplemented first, and then the new units should be expanded. Lobbying Zhang Xueliang's work...... I'll take a trip to Harbin myself. Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Mao ZD Runzhi again, our preparations are needed, so the negotiations with the Kuomintang must continue, and this task is only to invite you, the president, to come out. In any case, we have to delay the rupture for a few months, and we don't have much food reserves now, so it's best to delay it until after the autumn harvest, when we will have enough food and we won't be afraid."

……

Ye County is located in the central part of Henan Province, just at the junction of the Great Plain of Central Henan and the mountains of western Henan, bordering Shahe River in the north and Funiu Mountain in the south. However, since 1927, when it fell under the control of the Kuomintang right, Yexian's position has become increasingly important. This is because the Ministry of Armaments of the Nationalist Government has established a secret weapons test base here. Moreover, through the secret cooperation program with Germany, a large number of experts and extremely important equipment and instruments that originally belonged to the Swabian weapons test site in Germany were also secretly transported to the secret test site in the south of Yexian County, and after three years of construction, a weapons test base estimated to be the largest and most advanced in Asia has begun to take shape

On May 4, the 19th year of the Republic of China, it happened to be the 11th anniversary of the outbreak of the great May Fourth Patriotic Movement, and the atmosphere at the Mazhuang Experimental Base in Yexian County was a little strange. The number of guards around the base has increased at least threefold. In addition to barbed wire and fixed posts, there were also a number of Kuomintang military police patrols with wolf dogs. Inside the test site, at least a dozen people in general's uniforms and dozens of people in suits stood on a tall cement stand. In front of the concrete grandstand is an endless field of mud. High-ranking officials and German advisers of the War Department, the General Staff, the Armaments Department, and the Armored Forces Command of the Nationalist Government, as well as representatives and designers of several large factories in South China, all gathered here. Everyone automatically divided into circles, and people were talking about the "T" plan, which was the issue that was most important to them at the moment.

Back in 1927, after the Middle Road War, a number of large industrial enterprises in South China and Germany, including Mercedes? Mercedes-Benz, AN Heavy Equipment Company, Krupp Iron and Steel United, Rheinmetall Corporation, China Military Industry Corporation, China Iron and Steel Corporation, Sino-German Aircraft Manufacturing Company, China Shipbuilding Company, and even G China Company, which opened later, and Ford China Company have all received notices from the Ministry of Armaments and the Armored Forces Command of the Nationalist Government to produce a tracked combat vehicle or tank with a mark of about 10 tons, which is the first time that China is preparing to develop and manufacture a combat vehicle on land. It was also the first time that the large German companies bound by the Treaty of Versailles had the opportunity to participate in the development of combat vehicles, which was crucial for them to develop and produce more powerful and advanced combat vehicles for the revival of Germany, and for the Americans, it was an excellent business opportunity to knock on the fire market and obtain a large number of orders and banknotes. So all the big companies that received the notice were gearing up there, and they were ready to do a big job.

Therefore, now Luo Yaoguo, Chief of the General Staff of the National ** Army, Sun Ke, Minister of Armaments, and Huang Guyu, Director of the Armored Corps of the National ** Army, have become the targets of the businessmen present. These businessmen want to take advantage of the last opportunity to promote the company's products.

"Your Excellency Marshal, this '100' was jointly developed by our Krupp Steel Combine and AN Heavy Equipment Company, the body is designed by AN Company, the rotating turret is designed by our Krupp Company, and the engine is designed by Daimler. Mercedes-Benz Maybach gasoline engine. The '100' is borrowed from the British Carden. The Lloyd light tank was partially designed with 5 small-diameter load wheels and 4 carrier pulleys on each side, with a leaf spring balance suspension in groups of 2. The turret is equipped with a W30 20mm cannon with 180 rounds and a 7.62mm gun with ballistic plates with 1,425 rounds, and a Zeiss periscope with a wide field of view. The body was welded from steel sheets that had been heat-treated, and the armor at the front was on average about 30 mm thick, while the armor on the rear sides was 16 mm; The turret was also made of this, about 30 mm thick at the front edge and 16 mm at the back. ”

A tall, handsome-looking, and very young German in a black suit was standing opposite Luo Yaoguo, pointing to a small tank painted black in the distance, and proudly introduced. The man's name was Alfred. Krupp, is Gustav. Krupp, the heir of the Krupp family, has had several relationships with Luo Yaoguo, and this time he was sent to China by his father to open up the market.

"Oh" after listening to Alfred. Krupp's introduction, Luo Yaoguo smiled and nodded. This tank, jointly developed by Krupp and AN, is a bit like the second tank in history. However, in this time and space, I am afraid that it will become the No. 1 tank, because the request for the design of a 5-ton tank proposed by Guderian has been vetoed by Luo Yaoguo under the pretext of lack of funds, and at the same time as vetoing the 5-ton tank, Luo Yaoguo has proposed a plan to design 15-ton and 20-ton tanks, and the design requirements have also been released, but this time the major companies in China, the United States and Germany have not been able to come up with such a big guy.

"Krupp, if I give the order to Krupp and AN, can you cooperate with us to build several factories to produce tanks? In addition, you will start a technical school in China to help us train skilled workers. "Luo Yaoguo is obviously concerned about more than just the performance and quality of the tank. Because he knew very well that once war broke out, advanced weapons such as tanks, planes, and artillery, which in peacetime looked like durable goods, were nothing more than "several sex items" that were quickly consumed, so it was very important to achieve localization.

"Oh Your Excellency, that's no problem at all." Alfred. Krupp smiled slightly, but at the moment, the survival of the Great Depression company is the first priority, and the technology is kept secret...... It can only be pulled back. He paused, then said with a smile that we, Krupp, are very willing to share our most advanced technology with China, including steel, artillery casting and shipbuilding. ”

As soon as the words of "Brother Fuwen" Krupp were finished, the Minister of Armaments, Sun Ke, pulled a middle-aged man with blond hair, a slender body, and a little wilted. Sun Ke smiled and pointed to the blonde foreigner next to him, who was an American engineer who cooperated with Company G to develop tanks. Christie, if we can order the products he designed, he is willing to open a company in China in the future that specializes in the manufacture of tanks, helping us to localize the production of tanks. Then Sun Da pointed to a funny-looking Christie tank without a turret in the distance, which was Company G's Christie tank, uh, it doesn't look like it, right? No less words"

To be honest, when compared with the "100" tank of the Krupp company next to it, this strange "tank" that looks a bit like a mouse is really in response to the saying "goods have to be thrown away".

"Well, it seems that it's okay to ......" Luo Yaoguo was in the Air Force in his previous life, so he didn't know that the "mouse" in front of him was the famous Christie Tank, but he still saw a little bit of the doorway. He smiled at the American engineer Christie and nodded, its sloping armor design was novel and should have a good bulletproof shape. Speaking of which, Luo Yaoguo turned to Alfred again. Krupp laughed and said with a smile that the front of your 100 tank should also adopt this kind of inclined armor design, and the current battleships use this style of armor, and the tanks should also use it. ”

"Your Excellency, the most remarkable thing about my Christie tank is not the wedge-shaped nose, but its suspension." The man's name was Walter. Christie's American engineer smiled at Luo Yaoguo slightly, and then said:

"This tank uses four large-diameter load wheels, the driving wheels are rear-mounted, there are no carrier pulleys used for steering in the early tanks, the load wheels are connected to the body with large coil springs, and the last load wheel is in a horizontal spiral state, which improves the travel of the load wheels. While its second load wheel is in high compression, the remaining 3 load wheels are still extended. This allows it to reach a high speed of 44 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the Christie tank can still travel at normal speed after the track is damaged, and the speed is faster, reaching 75 kilometers per hour when the road surface is in good condition. ”

"It's really that fast" Luo Yaoguo shook his head suspiciously, of course he had seen the data of this Christie tank from the report provided by Company G. However, the reports of various companies he got blew the products like a flower, but they have not been tested in the field and close to actual combat, and the credibility of these data on paper is not very high. In peacetime, tests of such complex heavy weapons as tanks typically take several years, and the more advanced technologies are used, the longer the testing cycle becomes.

Today, Luo Yaoguo came to the Yexian Weapons Test Base to observe the off-road test of the new tank prototypes taken out by various large companies. A total of five tanks participated in this test, in addition to the "100" tank of Krupp and AN, and the Christie tank of G company, China's China Shipbuilding, China Steel, China Military and other three companies also jointly came up with a prototype car imitating the British Vickers tank, Ford and Daimler. Mercedes-Benz also came up with its own prototypes......

At this time, there were five prototypes taken out by major companies at home and abroad, each of which was three, and a total of 15 prototype cars were parked two kilometers away from the cement platform, like soldiers being reviewed. Since today's off-road test was carried out, in order to reduce weight and make the vehicle run faster, all fifteen prototypes were not equipped with armed turrets, but fifteen isolated turrets, and they did not look like tanks.

As a red signal flag waved, all five prototypes began to slowly start. However, unlike the F1 racing scene in another time and space, these tanks did not immediately go into motion, only to see a person behind each tank holding a joystick and shaking it desperately. It took ......a long time for fifteen tanks to be lit one by one, and white smoke came out of the exhaust pipe at the back. But many cars obviously didn't go through a good run-in, and they didn't drive far before there were two cars lying on their stomachs. The engineers who were originally standing behind rushed in a hurry, and quickly launched emergency repairs, and soon the two prototypes were repaired and rumbled away.

However, the nightmare of all the participating test vehicles has obviously just begun, and the terrain of the Yexian test site in front of them has been carefully modified. Covered with muddy ground and irregular large rocks, as well as wide trenches, the short five-kilometer test trail caused almost all the vehicles involved to stop for major repairs several times. Only one "100" tank jointly launched by Krupp and AN was slowly moving forward from beginning to end without any problems. In addition, there is also a Christie tank from Company G, which is indeed faster than other vehicles, and it takes the lead from the beginning and goes fast, but it has a problem with the track halfway through...... In the end, it took a long time to replace the tracks, and it was considered to have completed the whole race, and won a third place, and the first two were taken by German companies. The first place is the "100" with excellent quality, and the second place is Daimler. A prototype car from Mercedes-Benz.

As soon as the test was over, all the people in the stands walked down, especially the engineers of the Ministry of Armaments and the personnel of the Armored Forces Command, who would walk up to the vehicles, observe the condition of the vehicles with their professional eyes, and give the performance of the vehicles what they considered reasonable, and these scores will be an important basis for the Ministry of Armaments to purchase these vehicles.

Of course, the final decision must be in the hands of Luo Yaoguo, and unlike those merchants and experts, he is not very interested in these chariots. Although the Ministry of Armaments of the National Government has issued a large order for 1,000 units, Luo Yaoguo, the 10-ton tank does not have much room for development in the future World War II, and naturally it is impossible to become the backbone of the armored forces of the National ** Army in the future. Tanks of this class are just a bridge to the new 15-ton, 20-ton, and even 30-ton tanks of the future.

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