Chapter 478 Preparing an arms order for the Americans

The British have always exuded their pride, but how can the travelers be affected by such boredom?

Facing the hidden threat of the British, Meng Xiang, who was sitting on two golden fingers, could easily raise the middle fingers of his two hands and said disdainfully, "No!" ”

However, except for him, who has this confidence, others have not woken up from the humiliation of nearly a hundred years. The sunset of the British Empire is still dazzling.

"It seems too much for us to raise three battleships, and military spending can crush our economic system!" Zhou Bai spent some time in England, and the British Empire during World War I was a powerful nightmare that could become any enemy. He is worried about retaliation from Great Britain, even if it is not a war, only economic and political, just like the United States in later generations playing with the Western world, although it can survive, it is also a headache.

If a liberalized economy is interrupted, it can lead to regression. At this time, China's economy did not have the support of external forces, and it was too long to want to grow a little bit.

"The British's land forces need not worry, but naval forces can completely our ports." Fan Chong also felt Meng Xiang's anger, and just said lightly. He had studied in Germany and knew Britain well, and the naval power of the British was too impressive. And almost all of them thought that the weapons of the vanguard army were brought from outside, and if the British dismantled them in them, the transport route would be difficult.

In addition, if the Japanese and the British colluded, it would be extremely unfortunate for the vanguard army. Even if the vanguard army is not afraid, it is difficult to ensure that other strengths are mixed with it. In the past, the warlords were fighting, and the shadow of the British was instigating from behind.

"Although the British are now busy with themselves, it seems inappropriate for us to get closer to the Germans at an early date." Pharmacist Tang was trying to understand the international situation at this time, and many domestic hook fighting examples could be effective in the international arena. Although he did not understand, he also tended not to turn his face with the British for the time being. The vanguard was now too close to the Germans, and he feared that the British would take advantage of it.

Meng Xiang was taken aback in his heart, the vanguard army had only grown for more than 2 years at this time, although when facing the Japanese, it was full of self-confidence, but against an old empire like Britain, many people still lacked self-confidence in their hearts, even if the British were beaten by the Germans at this time, it was already twilight, but the Chinese people lost self-confidence for too long.

Even if these henchmen under him are a little unconfident, let alone others. They all agreed that there was no need to turn the other cheek with the British for the sake of such a thing.

The self-confidence of the people of a big country first came from the battlefield, and the Japanese were not so arrogant at the beginning, even after defeating China, many Japanese at that time still looked up to Britain and France, but later after they defeated Russia, the ambition to reach the top swelled into the pupils.

Although the Japanese are a little too arrogant, this kind of honor earned on the battlefield is undoubtedly the best way to improve the confidence of the people. Just as the vanguard army faced the Japanese at this time, the previous thing of seven or eight Japanese soldiers managing a county town could no longer arise in the land around the vanguard army. In that case, if the vanguard army does not take action, some people in the local people will jump out to kill devils and join the vanguard army.

Meng Xiang, who was originally worried about the arrogance of the vanguard army, suddenly discovered that his subordinates were still a little inferior when facing the hometowns of Mr. De and Mr. Sai.

"It seems that the next step is to step on Soviet Russia!" Meng Xiang said in his heart. It's not in line with the accolades he received from being told behind others and being the first warrior to rush out to challenge the dragon. Although the Germans retreated under Moscow, no one could deny the superiority of the Germans. In later generations, Huaxia was also a victorious country, but at that time it was picked up behind the buttocks of others.

The devil has always been unconvinced, and others have not taken it seriously. How can a victor still have his territory ceded by others? The consciousness of being a younger brother only kept part of the rights and interests. And the heavy mark in the history of war is mainly the exploits of others. Until later generations, Meng Xiang did not feel that the country's self-confidence took root in the hearts of the people, and it was the best reality for capable people to run out. If you are proud, why do you need a green card from another country?

"What's going on, guys? The British are here to negotiate with us, not to fight us. Meng Xiang said with a smile, but he didn't know that after sending off the British envoy, he was stimulated by the arrogance of the British, and his face was really ugly, which made the three of them think that he was almost tempted to turn his face with the British.

At this time, it is also possible that the strength of the vanguard army will turn around. Several people knew that the Vanguard and the Germans were too close to each other, and that the Germans had been co-opting the Vanguard as their allies. At this time, the Germans were in full swing in Europe, and Meng Xiang showed his good impression of the Germans everywhere, which made them worry about Meng Xiang's heart.

The strength of the vanguard army at this time is still somewhat insufficient, and it is the most suitable for Taoguang to cultivate obscurity.

Although the vanguard army seems to be very strong at this time, there is still some restlessness in the hearts of several people under him, Zhou Bai has been worried that the additional foundation will not be broken, in that case, the subsistence allowance and compulsory education cities will be overwhelmed in the face of huge military spending, without the support of these, the political and economic system that has only lasted for more than a year will also disintegrate.

And Fan Chong is also worried, he is worried about whether the source of those weapons and equipment will be suddenly isolated. So many modern weapons may seem powerful, but once the supply is cut off, they are not as useful as bayonets. He is always concerned about the military industrial system in the theater, but the results are not great. Although Meng Xiang had a reliable channel to provide, he was still a little uneasy in his heart. Even though he was no longer afraid of the Japanese attack at this time, he felt even more uneasy against a superpower such as Britain.

"The British are theirs, we do ours." Meng Xiang said indifferently, what is he owing, some things and some points of view cannot be reversed in a short time. Some things are also not suitable for coming out directly. He was just angry at the British envoy's nostril-looking attitude and his brainless words. It is hard to imagine that a diplomat would make such unsatisfactory statements. However, considering that China was also being invaded by the Japanese at this time, it is no wonder that the British would do so. In this era, the position of China is even more embarrassing. The British had a lot of dealings with the Chinese, and at this time the British took over the order, and at least they had to pay for part of the vanguard army, which was considered to be a rare advantage.

Originally, Meng Xiang booked two more places for Yamato-class super warships, just for such an opportunity. The status of the copycat company is a little embarrassing, and through the vanguard army, it can strive for some other interests for Huaxia. As a result, there is a big difference between the company and the state, and the state is not only concerned with money. Unexpectedly, these two orders attracted the prying eyes of the British, and an envoy who had not dealt with the vanguard army directly pressed to the door and tried to transfer those orders away in a tough tone. And even the Zhenyuan of the vanguard army at this time has the intention of acquiring.

was so troubled by the British, Meng Xiang had no intention of talking about business with the British. At this time, the Germans already had four ships, and they would not receive such orders in a short time, the French were defeated, and there was no such demand for the time being, and the Americans themselves had their own shipyards, and it was already the limit to buy one for research. Soviet Russia is already negotiating orders for two ships with copycat companies. As a result, the only people who have the most practical needs are the British.

Whether it was to balance the power of Europe or to make money for the British, these two battleships must have been sold to the British. Meng Xiang also didn't have the heart to spend a lot of money to maintain these two battleships.

"Even if you want it, you won't give it to you easily!" Meng Xiang snorted coldly in his heart, and then smiled at everyone: "We don't need to worry about this matter, we can just leave it to the professionals to take care of it." ”

"Professionals?" Zhou Bai and the others were confused for a while.

It didn't take long for them to understand. Meng Xiang directly handed over the two battleships to an auction company called Shabi to operate, and directly auctioned the loss.

"What? They even wanted to find an auction company to auction off the two lost super-class warships? When Barron heard this, his mouth was wide open and he did not close for a long time, completely losing his usual aristocratic demeanor.

"Those people in the vanguard army are not ordinary Chinese officials!" Carr, the British ambassador to China, repeated with some deep meaning what he had reminded the envoy before. Karl was in China, and he was very impressed by the Vanguard Army, and they were definitely already a weight that could easily cause the imbalance of the old world system. It's a pity that the country really didn't choose the right person, and it was so bad that this guy came to ruin this thing.

He had also heard about the Germans co-opting the Vanguard. He also did not control the movements of the Vanguard Army, but at least he knew any idea of using Chiang's central government to suppress the Vanguard Army. No matter how powerful the vanguard army is, if they do not enter the center, it is their mistake.

"How could they? How dare they? Barron whirled in annoyance.

Meng Xiang didn't care about Barron's opinion, he didn't even bother to see that arrogant guy. The rest of the matter was left to the Shabi auction house to take care of, and the Shabi auction house had already disseminated the news and sent it directly to the doors of various governments. The British wanted to get those battleship reliefs, and they could only get them through auctions, and whether it was the Germans or Meng Xiang himself, they didn't mind raising the price.

At this time, Meng Xiang has begun to pay attention to another matter, also at the end of June, there were a lot of actions from the Americans. The flames of World War II have already blown across the Atlantic. Although the American people are still immersed in the song and dance of economic recovery, the top leaders of the United States are ready to intervene in this feast of resources and markets.

After hitting a wall with the Americans, Meng Xiang already knew that it was difficult for foreign arms business to open the door to the Americans, and their policies were formulated to protect the industrial and commercial oligarchs in their country. If you can't break through from the outside, then becoming a member of the rules will naturally save you some trouble. Therefore, the power of many shadow companies has penetrated everywhere in the United States. Also ready to intervene in the dress up dinner of the Americans.

The Americans threw out the "Fleet Expansion Bill" and the "Two Ocean Fleet Act" in June, but before that, the United States had long begun to prepare for the renewal of new warships.

The Cleveland-class light cruiser, which began to be designed and finalized in 38 years, because Meng Xiang did not have excess money in the past and did not produce it. You must know that the price of a warship is almost necessary to get the relevant drawings, so this kind of risk is too big and Meng Xiang misses the opportunity.

And the Iowa-class battleships were also for the same reason, and were reluctantly abandoned by Meng Xiang. The price of these ships in the United States was very high, and half or even a quarter of the price was unaffordable for Meng Xiang at that time.

It wasn't until later, when the Vanguard Army's finances eased, and in the face of the expansion of the army behind the Americans, Meng Xiang gritted his teeth and came up with a drawing of a Fletcher destroyer and an Essex-class aircraft carrier to bid for the US Navy's order.

The U.S. Navy has shown little interest in the San Francisco-based shipbuilding company called Universal, which was cobbled together by acquiring five or six shipyards. The only thing that has some involvement with the Navy is that they are producing the kind of landing craft that has the Vanguard patent. Such a scale does not seem to be enough to meet the needs of the navy, but when they see the plan they propose, they are still a little tempted.

Although the US arms procurement is full of many behind-the-scenes transactions, in the end, no one can really cover the sky with one hand due to the constraints of many forces, so the Americans' arms purchases have to be passed. Both of these battleships are classics, and naturally they are excellent. It has won the affirmation of many naval figures. But in the end, the strength of this global shipping company is too much compared to those predators, so they are still hesitating.

Meng Xiang knew that the background of this shadow company was too shallow, so he began to find Morgan. Originally, Meng Xiang wanted to find a California consortium in the west, but this consortium that rose by arms in World War II obviously rejected the global shipyards that also made arms. Some of the Jews rescued by the vanguard army were unwilling to stay in China and planned to go to the United States, but Meng Xiang took the opportunity to place some people in the shadow company. With the help of such a relationship, several shadow companies also relied on the Morgan consortium that eats people and does not spit out bones.

The Morgan consortium also intends to increase its strength in the west, so they are still happy to take refuge in the global shipyard. It's just a bit of a price. However, compared to the huge arms purchase, Meng Xiang is also willing to pay. In the end, if your strength is still good, you still need to pay a care fee.

However, Meng Xiang has also formed his own shadow consortium in the United States. More than a dozen shadow companies in the United States began to gradually unite, forming two major groups that were about to separate and somewhat persistent. Grow up in the West and South, where the future of the United States is tilted. At this time, they already controlled 500 million US dollars, involving all walks of life, and had already initially formed a consortium. The economic and social growth of the United States is relatively mature, and there are more opportunities for such a situation. Meng Xiang has only invested more than 100 million US dollars, and in more than a year, it has grown three or four times.

The economic growth of Americans determines that they have a larger Chinese market than at this time, otherwise the original "Havoc in Heaven" would not have come here to make money.

Even if he climbs Morgan, the United States is not the Morgan consortium, and Roosevelt is interfering with those conglomerates everywhere. At this time, the order of warships had not yet been finalized.

In this regard, Meng Xiang is not very worried. Now that the drawings have come out, they are more detailed than others, and this also represents part of the future growth ideas of Americans, and the possibility of passing is still relatively large. As for their own poor strength, it is not a problem, the Americans always like to cut the cake and divide it evenly. For every high-volume warship, there are at least two large manufacturers.

Moreover, as long as the plan is determined, the US Navy will help expand the scale of production around the world. Some of the technologies and machines they can also help provide more advanced. In this way, you can also take care of the production of Huaxia.

At this time, in the joint theater, Meng Xiang had already planned Qingdao and Tianjin as bases for the shipbuilding industry, and was gathering the forces of various regions to form a scale in these two regions first, forming an intensive effect. A lot of equipment is still in short supply.

The equipment is actually easy to solve, just throw money. The Germans are happy to supply all kinds of machinery. In addition to the machinery they produce, some of the equipment in the territories they occupy can also be utilized. In addition to some of the machinery and equipment that the Pioneer Army took advantage of the war to take over at a low price, there are also some machines controlled by the Germans because they are somewhat outdated, and the Germans do not necessarily look at them.

In fact, it is not necessary to build new machines to engage in production. Huaxia is so big, the same price can be exchanged for more cheap old machines, which can quickly shape the scale. Especially those private enterprises, they are more concerned about the price of machines.

As the Chinese people slowly master the performance and specifications of these machines, they can be quickly updated in the future to catch up with the electrification trend after World War II.

Therefore, Meng Xiang's interest in picking up rags has not changed, and in addition, he often does a robber business.

Some time ago, Meng Xiang was another successful pirate. This time it was not a gold grab, but a target was taken at the Japanese. In order to produce superships, the Muroran plant of the Japanese steel plant had ordered a 14,000-ton free-casting hydraulic press from the Germans. Because of the war, they were worried that the ship would be hijacked by the British, so the Japanese used their own cargo ships to transport them.

They trembled through the beacon fire in the waters of Europe, and after crossing the Strait of Malacca, they were not only relieved, but as soon as they arrived near Taiwan, they encountered robbery. With the help of two spies, the special forces of the Vanguard Army touched the ship in the third watch, and only solved the loss of resistance, and took control of the merchant ship. The two destroyers escorting the escort were beaten by a group of four assassin submarines and sank to the bottom of the sea.

A cruiser of the Japanese Navy, which had been chased after the news, was accompanied by an anti-aircraft battleship converted from a German-class battleship and an aircraft carrier Ark Royal from Zhenyuan, and could not stop at the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Although the value of this 10,000-ton hydraulic press is not too high, because it creates trouble and takes time, the Japanese who are waiting for the hydraulic press to cast the battleship are so anxious that they jump to their feet. At this time, the vanguard army and the Japanese were still insisting, and if they robbed it, it was in vain. They swallowed their anger and tried to redeem the machine, but the vanguard still ignored it.

At present, the stolen 14,000-ton hydraulic press is temporarily installed in Tianjin, and with the help of German technicians, it is being commissioned. The Germans don't matter whose hands they have, the Japanese have already paid the money, and the two sides have also paid each other, so naturally they don't owe anything to the Japanese.

In the end, the Japanese had no choice but to reorder. Meng Xiang, who heard the news from the Germans, couldn't help but be overjoyed, and he couldn't wait for the Japanese to purchase a few more, even if they didn't grab them at sea, when the army landed on the Japanese archipelago in the future, they would have to have some tools to grab.

For the Fletcher destroyer to the Americans, Meng Xiang didn't care. Even if he intervenes in the matter, the Americans will be able to figure it out quickly. Although the Fletcher destroyer dominated World War II with a size of 175 ships in two years, in fact, Allen. The Sumner destroyer and the Keeling-class destroyer are a little better than it. In particular, the Keeling-class destroyers, summing up some experience in the war, had better performance, but only caught up with the end of World War II and played a soy sauce.

And since the vanguard navy is short of manpower, it can only work quality, so Meng Xiang is more interested in the Keeling-class destroyer.

Similarly, although the performance of the Essex-class aircraft carrier is excellent, with the Midway-class aircraft carrier, which also fought a soy sauce trip in World War II, the overall size of the vanguard navy is not as large as the Americans, and the Midway-class aircraft carrier with more outstanding performance can only be selected. It doesn't matter if the cost is a little higher, it is the main thing to ensure the safety of the soldiers.

Moreover, there are umbrella companies and copycat companies, which can also throw out copycat versions of Essex-class aircraft carriers at any time, which also makes the Americans feel suffocated.

Meng Xiang can only temporarily choose two kinds of warships as the signboard of the Universal Shipyard, and there are too many of them to attract some eye-catching.

However, other shadow companies are also promoting their new military products. Among them, Land Rover launched jeeps to bid for military vehicle orders from the US Army.