Due to confidentiality reasons, the head of the meeting did not mention a word about the exchange between Wang Xuexin and Yingjiang. He said at the beginning of the meeting: "Comrades, let me tell you some good news. Yingjiang plans to provide us with loans to provide assistance. The first
One batch is worth ten million dollars!"
The meeting room exploded with excitement.
Cadres all know that the U.S. dollar is valuable in this era. You can buy two cows for 30 U.S. dollars, so this ten million U.S. dollars... is simply an astronomical figure for the Eighth Route Army.
Some cadres knew more currency information, such as the Minister of Logistics Zhang Wanhe. He made a calculation in his mind, Oh my God, the border currency issued so far is only more than 10 million yuan. If it is exchanged at a ratio of three to one, it will be 300 yuan.
More than 10,000 US dollars, Yingjiang's aid is 10 million US dollars, which is three times the total currency of the base!
(Note: The total issuance of border currency in 1941 was 23 million yuan)
Zhang Wanhe secretly glanced at Wang Xuexin and secretly said that there had been rumors recently that Xiao Dongbei was helping Yingjiang fight the Japanese. At first, Zhang Wanhe didn't believe it.
Who is this Yingjiang? Airplanes, cannons, warships, etc. are much more powerful than those given to the Japanese. To fight against the Japanese, you still need the Northeastern Cult?
Now it seems that there really is such a thing, otherwise why would Yingjiang suddenly give us such a large amount of aid!
Thinking of Zhang Wanhe's wrinkled face, a long-lost smile slowly appeared.
Good thing, good thing!
Helping Yingjiang fight the Japanese can not only encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, but also earn aid. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone. This small Northeast is not easy!
At this time, the chief of staff raised a question: "Comrades are invited to the meeting today to discuss what should be exchanged for these ten million dollars."
The chief joked: "This question seems simple, but in fact it is still difficult! I have discussed it with the chief of staff several times, but I just can't make up my mind. We are used to being poor, and suddenly such a large amount of money came.
I don’t even know how to spend it!”
The cadre was amused by the chief's words.
Then the cadres got into a heated debate:
"I think we should buy tanks. The example before us is that one tank battalion can capture Yuncheng. What if we form a tank regiment and a tank division? And we can't drive the Japanese out of North China?"
But this was quickly denied by the chief of staff.
"Currently, Yingjiang does not have any outstanding tanks!" said the chief of staff: "None of them can compare with Mao Xiong's T34. It is not cost-effective to buy a tank from Yingjiang!"
The chief of staff is Mao Xiongna who returned from studying abroad. He has a little knowledge of the equipment of Mao Xiong and Yingjiang. He knows that Yingjiang is still lagging behind in this area because of the low pressure of the war. (Note: The "Sherman" has not yet entered service at this time)
"I don't agree with buying tanks either!" Ding Wei stood up and said: "Judging from the use of tanks in the Battle of Yuncheng, Comrade Wang Xuexin took advantage of the opportunity when the Japanese transferred planes to the Northeast for exercises to attack Yuncheng. On the other hand, the Eighth Route Army has always
There were no tanks, and the sudden appearance of a tank unit caught the Japanese off guard. If the Japanese recovered, the tanks would be easily bombed by Japanese planes and would not be able to play their expected role!"
Ding Wei stood at a higher level than other commanders. While others were happily discussing the great victory of the tanks, Ding Wei was studying the reasons for this victory and the problems he might face in the future.
Wang Xuexin had to admit that Ding Wei's analysis was correct. What tanks fear most is the enemy's air power... There is a saying that "the most useful weapon against tanks is the tank."
There is actually a problem with this statement. Since World War II, it has been basically impossible to win a tank battle without completely losing air supremacy. In the middle and later stages, it has become seriously dependent on air power.
The most typical example is Eagle's Normandy landing. At that time, Hans had lost its air superiority, but its tanks were still more advanced than the Allies.
But then Hans began to be in a dilemma: Should the tanks be deployed on the coastline or in the rear?
Neither seems appropriate.
When deployed on the coastline, tanks are used to face the bombardment of enemy warships with large-caliber artillery... No matter how advanced the tank is, it cannot withstand the bombardment of warships.
Deployed on the second line, the purpose is to wait for the Allied forces to land and then launch an offensive counterattack to drive the enemy landing troops into the sea.
But losing air superiority means that these tanks were bombed by enemy aircraft all the way to the front line. When they arrived at the front line, they were only in single digits and had no ability to counterattack.
(Note: Rommel, who always advocated attack, uncharacteristically advocated the former. He believed that tanks could play a role in concealed deployment, but others advocated the latter.)
The Eighth Route Army was also facing a similar problem at this time, so the tanks in the hands of the Eighth Route Army were more suitable for sneak attacks and were not suitable for large-scale equipment.
Kong Jie was a little unconvinced when he heard this: "Old Ding, if you put it this way, the problem is simple. We don't have an airplane, so why don't we just buy one from Yingjiang?"
When other cadres heard this, they all agreed:
"You're right, it's better to buy a plane!"
"We've had enough of the Japanese planes' cowardice, and let the Japanese have a taste of the power of our planes!"
"Planes and tanks, let's have a good fight with the Japanese!"
…
The chief of staff poured cold water on everyone: "Comrades, the stubborn army is already buying a plane from Yingjiang. Do you know how much a plane costs?"
The soldiers couldn't help but look at each other. Listening to the tone of the chief of staff, ten million US dollars is not enough to buy an airplane?
Then the chief of staff gave the answer: "The aircraft purchased by Yijun from Yingjiang cost US$45,000 each. One hundred aircraft is more than US$400,000, but this is only part of it. The airport and replacement parts are still needed.
, fuel, logistics personnel, hired pilots, etc. Even so, the role that these one hundred aircraft can play is likely to be very limited..."
Wang Xuexin understands the truth behind this.
Buying an airplane is a big project. If all other equipment is complete, then it's okay. The cost may only be the airplane and parts.
But the Eighth Route Army was completely blank in this regard and had nothing.
For example, should there be air defense units around the airport? Otherwise, what will happen if enemy planes come to bomb?
Another example is whether we need several sets of land-to-air radars. Otherwise, we don’t know where the enemy aircraft are or when they will come, so how can we command operations?
If we buy all these things at once, ten million dollars will definitely not be enough.
Wang Xuexin believes that there must be airplanes, but the way to eat is to eat one bite at a time. This is one of the reasons why Wang Xuexin introduced anti-aircraft guns first and even asked Yingjiang to develop self-propelled anti-aircraft guns first.
Just when everyone was talking and arguing, Wang Xuexin stood up and said: "Chief, I think what we should buy is not weapons and equipment, but food!"