Neither Stalin nor Molotov came from the navy, or even from a military background, they were revolutionaries and not military strategists, so it was necessary to point out Molotov's mistakes and overwhelm his momentum.

“…… In the last war, the Battle of Jutland consumed less than 10,000 shells, of which 5,143 were fired by the British and 4,197 by the Germans. Even if each shell weighs a ton, it is only 10,000 tons. But how much will the battle on land cost? Yang Rui looked at Stalin and Molotov and smiled, and paused before saying: "A rough estimate is that the entire war consumed 1.2 billion rounds of shells, and Germany produced 520 million rounds of shells in the entire war. Specifically, even a small battle would consume millions of shells just before the attack, which was completely beyond the scale of a naval battle.

Shells are like this, so how much was consumed for the most expensive torpedo in naval battles? Yang Rui looked at them and asked again, and after a pause, he said: "According to the statistics of our country's staff department, about 15,000 torpedoes were consumed in the whole battle, and it will never exceed 16,000. What does this mean?! Although many people lament that a torpedo can be equipped with as many land forces as it costs, and how many divisions can be armed at the cost of a battleship, in fact, the consumption of naval warfare is much smaller than that of the army, and the construction of the navy seems to be expensive.

Therefore, for naval warfare, the number of machine tools is not important, the key is the quality of machine tools. Is it possible to forge barrels with a caliber of more than 16 inches? Is it possible to forge armor of more than six hundred millimeters? Is it possible to produce special steel for marine boilers with pressures of more than 40 kilograms and temperatures of more than 450 degrees? Is there a high-precision, high-efficiency machine tool that produces large reduction gears with excellent performance? These are the keys to naval warfare! The number of machines or something. It really doesn't matter. ”

A series of conclusive data spit out of Yang Rui's mouth to prove his point. This made Stalin, who had connived at the 'presumptuousness' of his subordinates, smell the same kind, and he was also a number addict. Believe that only numbers are real. In Yang Rui's disobedient writings, he only saw self-talk without evidence. I didn't see logical reasoning based on numbers, but I didn't expect that the first meeting would subvert his understanding of Yang Rui - this is a rigorous, practical ruler, not the kind of literati politician who can only write articles and make impromptu speeches.

"What do you think of Germany, and how likely is it that he will start a war?" Stalin asked after Yang Rui had refuted Molotov.

"There could be no revolution in Germany, and even a civil war was difficult, so he had to start a war." Yang Rui said categorically, "Although Germany's economy has improved now, this has been done under the refusal to pay compensation and increase domestic debt." In the event of a debt crisis, Germany had no choice but foreign war; And Britain is based on balancing French considerations. was helping him to free himself from the military shackles of the Treaty of Versailles against Germany. It's just ......"

"Just what?" Yang Rui was stunned again, and Stalin and Molotov immediately asked. Although the Chinese and Japanese armies were in the belly of the Soviet Union, they still stubbornly believed that the real threat to the Soviet Union was the West, not the East.

"The Nazi government was not a government that kept its promises at all, and if it had kept its promises, he would not have defaulted on the payment of reparations. It can be said that the Germans learned the lessons of the last war and began to become cunning and deceitful. Yang Rui said with a smile. The only result of the British unwinding of Germany. It was to stimulate Germany to reorganize its army and then start a war within five years. ”

"Five years?" The pipe that Stalin had been holding in his left hand finally took a bite into his mouth, and smoke began to rise. Although he muttered 'five years', there was no translation for the general matter. It's more like his own words. Instead, Molotov asked: "Is this your speculation or is it based on actual judgment?" ”

"Whether it is speculation or judgment, Germany is not far from war." Yang Rui said. "If you've ever been to Germany, you know that most Germans have a lot of hatred for some people. It is believed that the last big battle was finally defeated by them by stabbing them in the back. Subjectively, Germany, which was subjectively so, actually had no other direction of attack than to attack eastward. They could not have suffered from the blockade by making a hostile war with Britain as they had done in the previous war.

And Germany's debt is growing, and it has now reached the scale of 25 billion marks. Last year's military expenditure was only 5 billion marks, but once the shackles of the Versailles Peace Treaty are lifted, military spending will certainly exceed 10 billion marks, and the entire government expenditure will exceed 20 billion marks, close to or more than 30 billion. Will the Nazi government confiscate the property of the capitalists and Junker aristocrats? Apparently not! So if they want to not go bankrupt financially, they have no choice but to go to war. ”

The idea that Germany was vetoed by Yang Rui was used by him to intimidate Stalin at this time, which is equivalent to saying that although China has the threat of the United States, the Soviet Union also has the threat of Germany, China does not ask the Soviet Union for anything, and the diplomatic posture of the two sides will still be the same as before. If it really doesn't work, before the war starts in the Pacific, China and Germany will jointly destroy the Soviet Union, will the United States ally with a communist country and go to war to save the communist country? The answer is clearly impossible, the Democrats and Republicans will never let the American soldiers shed their blood for the Bolsheviks.

"Your Excellency, do you think that the financial bankruptcy of Germany will lead to more war, but is it possible?" I wanted to use the failed London negotiations to put pressure on Yang Rui, but I didn't want Yang Rui's counterattack to make Stalin look grim, and he felt that Molotov, who had done something stupid, had messed up.

"If you don't believe me, look at Italy." Yang Rui looked calm, "If Goering doesn't want to be killed as a substitute like Mussolini, he will do everything he can to promote foreign wars." Do not forget that Germany, like Italy, is a country full of lies, that the rule of those in power is based on numerous lies and fiscal deficits, and that external plunder is the only way out when there is no internal revolution.

Comparatively speaking, the situation is much better in the United States, which is itself an extremely wealthy country. The land resources are vast. If it weren't for the intervention of the agricultural syndicates, the more than 10 million unemployed workers would have been given a piece of land each. Let them become subsistence farmers. Comparatively speaking, the problem in the United States is whether there is meat to eat. The problem in Germany is whether there is bread or not, and it is conceivable who is more dangerous. ”

"I fully agree with Your Excellency's statement that 'maintaining the current world peace is the most important.'" Stalin took the pipe he was biting from his mouth again and spoke. "We should strengthen cooperation in the League of Nations to stop the aggressor countries that want to start a war......"

"Mr. General Secretary," Yang Rui interrupted politely, "although the League of Nations proved to be effective, Britain negotiated secretly with Germany in spite of the existing treaty. The invasion of Abyssinia could have been stopped before we could have sent our troops, but both England and France ignored it. Therefore, I have a suggestion that our two countries, including Japan, the DPRK, and even France, should sign an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty, so that we can effectively stop aggression. ”

"Anti-aggression mutual assistance?" Stalin stood up suddenly, and after walking a few steps in the reception room, he felt that something was so wrong, so he walked back to his place and sat down, and he said: "Your Excellency." What exactly does the Anti-Aggression Mutual Assistance Treaty contain? Will France also participate? ”

"Since it is anti-aggression mutual assistance, the content is, of course, to oppose aggression and to provide assistance to the States Parties when they are invaded. Taking into account the difficulties of each country, the treaty does not require much assistance from the States parties. You can do what you can. It can be the strength of a division, or a grant of 100,000 yuan, or a ...... of weapons drawings. And so on and so forth. The main purpose of the treaty is to contain countries that want to start wars and plunder their wealth to get their countries out of economic crisis," Yang said.

"And how long will the treaty be in force?" Stalin asked again. The pipe bites into his mouth again. Start thinking.

"In the current world situation, if the treaty is not more than ten years old. That would be pointless. Yang Rui smiled. For example, sign for five years, and then go to war right after five years. For the aggressor, who had premeditated it for a long time, the sudden start of the war would definitely be a surprise for the invaded country, and if the treaty was renewed at that time, there would always be people who would oppose it, so it would be better not to sign it for five years. Of course, if your country does not object, this treaty can be signed for a longer period of time, twenty, thirty or even fifty years. ”

"This is a good offer, but I will have to discuss it with my comrades in the ****** before I can reply to Your Excellency." Stalin had a rare laugh. "However, for the sake of discussion, I would like your country to provide a detailed draft treaty."

"Draft?" Yang Rui glanced at Yang Du and Wu Chaoshu, and said with a smile: "I think so, if Mr. General Secretary really wants to sign an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty, can he draft a draft after discussing with his comrades?" And we will also draft a draft in the next few days, so that we can see whether and how much of a difference there is. And if everyone is on the same page, then things will be easy to do, and then it can be handed over to the diplomats to follow up. ”

"I couldn't agree more." Thinking that Yang Rui was going to prepare the draft by himself, Stalin was still a little displeased, but when he heard that the two sides were going to prepare separately, and then bridge the differences and reach a consensus, his shrunken eyes relaxed.

The most important thing was over, and the meeting ended quickly. After sending the Chinese to Stalin and Molotov, they returned to the office, and when they saw the leader in the office smoking a pipe again, Molotov, who was standing on the side, said: "Comrade Stalin, we don't really want to sign a treaty with the Chinese, right?" Yang Jingcheng was obviously worried that the United States would be caught between us, so he ......"

"Aren't we afraid of flanking attacks? Comrade Molotov. Stalin looked at him strangely.

"But Germany ......" Molotov believed that Yang Rui said that Germany would inevitably start a war, but he did not believe that Germany would definitely attack the Soviet Union, and the two countries did not border. Although Poland was not friendly to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia was pro-Soviet, and they should attack France before they could be the Soviet Union.

"If China and Japan form an alliance with Germany and Poland, no country will come to our aid. And if we sign an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty with China and Japan, then war will only break out in the Pacific or Europe. In the last war, the Soviets were born from the mutual consumption of the capitalist countries, and if they fought another protracted war, the peoples who saw the ugliness of capitalism would seize power under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, and this would also give impetus to the cause of communism throughout the world. Stalin was stunned, considering the strategic trade-offs of the Soviet Union, and it was obvious. In his opinion, the threat comes from the West.

"Then Roosevelt's ......," Molotov prompted. A few months ago. Hopkins, the personal representative of US President Roosevelt, came to the USSR with a promise of a large loan and other conditions. The aim was to hope that in the event of a war between the United States and China and Japan, the Soviet Union would be able to flank China and Japan, thereby gaining lost land and regaining the important Caspian Sea coast and the Outer Northeast.

"Can the United States sign an anti-aggression mutual assistance treaty with us?" Stalin interrupted.

"Of course not." Molotov shook his head. In the international community, the Soviet Union was not popular, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States was also a matter of the past few years, more precisely, the United States would not have been able to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union without an economic crisis. Even now. It is also impossible to obtain an official U.S. commitment to mutual assistance.

"Roosevelt sent his personal representative to Moscow, not a government official, to show that his help to us was limited and paid. And if a treaty is signed with China and Japan, it will not only get help, but also put an end to two-front warfare. Stalin said, "I wonder why Yang would rather go to war with the United States than attack us with Germany and Poland at the instigation of the British." You know, there are quite a few Japanese who want to occupy the Caucasus. Germany also wants to form an alliance with China......"

Stalin had many puzzles, but the KGB could not answer them - Yang Rui had been in Tonghua all these years and did not have contact with outsiders, and Tonghua and even the entire Northeast did not welcome outsiders. Spies are hard to infiltrate. But no matter what Yang Rui thought, Stalin believed that it would be beneficial to sign an anti-aggression mutual assistance treaty with China and Japan, and that China needed time. The USSR also needed time.

Stalin kept calculating the weight of China and Japan and the United States, and then he considered that China and the United States would be caught between China and Japan. As well as the two scenarios of China and Japan and Poland attacking the Soviet Union, after calculation. In the end, he felt that he should abandon the United States and get closer to China and Japan in order to completely eliminate the risk of fighting on two fronts, the most worrying of which was the Baku oil field, which was too close to China. At this time, Yang Rui and his entourage, who had just returned to the hotel, seemed to be in a hurry, and after taking a seat in the house, Wu Chaoshu, the ambassador to the Soviet Union, who had been holding back his words, whispered: "My lord, do you really want to sign a contract with Soviet Russia?" ”

"China and the Soviet Union have always been good friends, why can't they sign a contract?" Yang Rui asked loudly. "Is it really necessary to reach an agreement with Germany, one east and one west, east and west, east and west to fight a war?"

Yang Rui's voice was loud, which made Wu Chaoshu wave his hand vigorously - the Soviet KGB is everywhere, this hotel may have been equipped with a bugger, it is good to speak quietly, and the loud voice is likely to be heard by the KGB eavesdropping next door, but Yang Rui didn't care about it, he continued: "Do you really think that attacking Soviet Russia is a very simple thing?" Even if we can capture it, how many places will belong to us? After all, we will work hard in vain, and it is the foreigners who will benefit. The only way to really benefit is to go south, because the South Seas are much more valuable than Siberia, and the South Seas are the fundamental ...... of strategy."

Hearing that Yang Rui was talking nonsense, Yang Du couldn't help laughing, but he didn't dare to laugh. At this time, Yang Rui said again: "Let's discuss it in the next few days, and see how this anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty should be written, and how to deal with the details." I will send him a telegram from the Prime Minister of the Lotus Root, and now everyone is worried about a war with the United States, and it is expected that everyone will not oppose the signing of an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty with Soviet Russia. ”

Wu Chaoshu was fully aware of Yang Rui's influence in domestic politics, and after Yang Rui finished his orders, he quickly left. As soon as he left, Yang Du held up a piece of paper and wrote: Stabilize the Western Front?

Yang Rui shook his head, took the paper and wrote with his pen: "With the attitude of the Bolsheviks, you will know if you can't stabilize the Buddha." The key is to create a momentum that will make Germany lose hope and make the United States a little more taboo when it goes to war. ”

"Didn't believe Stalin at all?" Yang Du wrote again. It can be seen that he has a good impression of Stalin.

"What's the use of believing in Stalin?" Yang Rui wrote: "All propertied people, all capitalist countries, and feudal countries are the enemies of the Soviets, and the reason why they are now friendly is nothing more than forced by the situation. No matter how powerful Stalin is, no matter how dictatorial he is, can he oppose Max Lienism? The writing was too slow, Yang Rui had to say: "You remember, in the ......" He wrote the word 'cloth' on the paper, and then said: "...... In this, there has never been any personal reputation, personal friendship, or personal commitment, and even if there is, it is coaxing, and when the situation changes, there is only one word in his mind: "Yang Rui wrote 'party' again, and added three exclamation marks after it." "Deception of the enemy is certainly not deception, your origin determines that you cannot be his comrade, even if you make him your best friend."

Originally, Yang Du was more in favor of signing an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty between China and the Soviet Union, but he didn't expect Yang Rui to take the treaty seriously at all. Having been in Europe for a long time, he naturally has some difficulty understanding this, but he really doesn't know much about Soviet Russia, so he believes most of what Yang Rui said. But is this really just to make Germany lose hope and make the United States more worried?

Thinking of this, when he was about to write again, Yang Wuming came over to inform the next door that he had checked and could go over and talk. So the two came to the next door again, and Yang Du said: "Then we will also sign such anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaties with France and Britain?" ”

"And France is not necessary. He did not have the strength to send troops to the Far East, as long as we promised not to subvert French Annam. As for the British ......" Yang Rui took a puff of cigarette and said: "The British have never made their attitude clear, and they don't want to be bound by any treaty, unless the treaty was initiated by him, so the British side can't sign it." ”

"The Germans will be annoyed." Thinking of China's geopolitical pattern and world situation, Yang Du had to admit that Yang Rui was right, and the only one who could really sign it was Soviet Russia, but once it signed an anti-aggression and mutual assistance treaty with Soviet Russia, Germany would be ......

"Even if we had joined forces with Germany to attack the Soviet Union and had won, we would have gained nothing but money and money. At that time, if we do not obey the British arrangement to restore the Tsar, the result will be that we and Germany will be hostile to Britain, the United States, France, and almost all the countries of the world; If we agree, then there will be an extremely pro-Anglo-American Tsarist Russia behind it, which is simply shooting itself in the foot.

Besides, judging from our current situation, it is far from the time to use force against the outside world, and we should not use force against the outside world for at least the next 20 years. Since the situation in the country is like this, we should choose to be on the defensive, and since it is on the defensive, we cannot form an alliance with Germany to flank the Soviet Union, and the Germans will not have food until they go to war, and we are not like this. ”

"And what about those orders we have in Germany?" Yang Du was silent for a while when he heard Yang Rui's explanation, and then asked about the order.

"In the past half a month, the contract has probably been negotiated." Yang Rui said, "What if you don't sign it after you finish talking?" Germany needs our soybeans and cotton, we need their machines and machine tools. By the way, that day Goering also mentioned tungsten and tin, as well as antimony, which we have abundant......"

When it comes to these strategic metals, Yang Rui thinks of Kazakhstan and France. The Japanese-occupied areas of Kazakhstan are extremely rich in non-ferrous metals, and in addition to oil, the Chinese area is uranium ore, which is cheaper for the Japanese, but also makes the scarcity of non-ferrous metals in the two countries have been greatly alleviated, at least copper, chromium (China), molybdenum, and manganese. The remaining metals can be replenished from France, such as nickel from New Caledonia and cobalt from the Congo. Because of this, semi-automatic rifles were installed.

“…… Germany don't care, five years ago we purchased a large-scale purchase, 10,000 tons of hydraulic presses, 30,000 tons of die forging machines or something we bought several units, it can be said that we have long been satisfied with the extreme manufacturing of big guys, and now ordering German goods is nothing more than a habit and less money, not that we can't make it ourselves. Besides, the world's machine tools, the characteristics of German machine tools are large, the characteristics of Swiss machine tools are precision, the characteristics of American machine tools are fast, since it is not bad for super-large machine tools, we really do not ask the Germans for anything. ”

"And what about the Germans at home?" Yang Du didn't know much about industry, and when he saw Yang Rui say that the order was not a problem, he didn't worry about the machine.

"Germans? They ......," Yang Rui smiled, "and we have not signed a treaty with Soviet Russia that is hostile to Germany, and there is no border between the Soviet Union and Germany." There is food, drink and money in China, why do they return to China? Even if they return home, the Jews will always stay. ”

The matter of the Jews had already been discussed on the way here. In the face of the threat of war, what could have been studied slowly can now be studied at an accelerated pace, and new researchers can be hired in Germany and Europe to get rid of unwanted Jews. Yang Du did not object to this, there are now more than 100,000 Jews in Shanghai, and Luo Jialing, the wife of Shanghai real estate tycoon Hartung, was a patron of patriotic students earlier.

Seeing that Yang Du bowed his head, Yang Rui said again: "Don't think about Germany, in addition to trying to let the isolationist forces in the United States prevent the United States from going to war, another important thing in diplomacy is to let Britain strictly maintain neutrality in the war, even if it is not neutral, we must find a way to keep him from ending." (To be continued.) )