Hitler's Office Hitler was looking at documents when his secretary suddenly came in and said, "Mr. Hiroshi Oshima, the Japanese military attaché, would like to see you." Hitler took off his glasses and thought for a moment and said, "Let him in."
Hiroshi Oshima is the eldest son of Army Minister Kenichi Oshima. His ancestral home is Gifu Prefecture, but he was born in Nagoya. His father is a pure soldier. He studied in Germany when he was still a captain and had a deep impression of German training and education. Later, he
He visited Germany many times and absorbed many experiences of the German army. Because of his father, Hiro Oshima had to memorize 10 German words every day when he was a child and recite them before dinner. It is said that every Sunday and winter and summer holidays, Oshima Hiro
Hao was always sent to the home of a member of the German Embassy in Japan, and even the games were played in German style.
As a result, Hiroshi Oshima later became Japan's military attache in Germany. However, this military attache often went beyond his own responsibilities. In 1935, he discussed Japan-Germany joint defense cooperation with Huck without going through the embassy. This matter was known to the embassy.
, reported to Tokyo immediately, but Tokyo praised Oshima Hiroshi. Since then, Oshima Hiroshi has been working for the Japan-Germany alliance and became the real person in charge of the Japanese Embassy in Germany. It must be said that Japan is disgusted with this kind of inferiority.
The tangled psychology of admiration.
When Oshima entered the office, he first saluted Hitler with a Japanese military salute, and then said in extremely fluent German, "Dear Führer, thank you for taking the time to see me despite your busy schedule."
Hitler nodded and said, "I wonder if our Japanese friends have any important reasons for meeting me this time?"
Hiro Oshima nodded and said with serious eyes, "We heard that the German government is preparing to sell a large number of weapons to China. Is it true?"
Although what happened yesterday was kept secret, the news that Chinese people came to buy weapons gradually spread.
Hitler was a little unhappy and said, "There seems to be no need for our German government to notify Japan when we do this kind of thing."
Hiroshi Oshima shook his head and said, "As we all know, the Chinese government has shown signs of conciliation on red matters. At the same time, the Chinese government is vigorously promoting anti-Japanese sentiment. We are very worried that these weapons will become the basis for them to provoke war after they get into the hands of the Chinese.
Tools. We, the Empire of Japan, are very worried that the Chinese government will do bad things to us, or even launch a war of aggression against Manchukuo and our Empire of Japan."
It has to be said that most diplomats are indeed shameless beings.
Hitler seemed to be listening to a story. China actually wants to invade Japan? There must be a limit to shamelessness. But now the cooperation between Japan and Germany is getting closer, and Hitler admires Oshima Hiroshi very much, so he said, "We will consider it."
It depends on the Japanese government’s view, but our country has an agreement with China. We have an arms trade agreement of 20 million marks every year, so this is just a simple business behavior and not worth making a fuss about. I think this matter should not be
It’s worth the fuss.”
As soon as Oshima heard this, he understood that Hitler would not stop trading with China because of Japan. In fact, he had expected this. After all, Japan also protested during the 1934 procurement, but in the end they were ignored by Germany.
.
Hitler felt that he should give Japan a step back, and said, "The purpose of our transactions with the Chinese government is to obtain China's rare metals, raw materials, etc. If Japan can find a way to solve this problem, we will no longer engage in trade with China."
Trade. Moreover, most of the weapons we sell to China are light weapons. We can assure our Japanese friends that we will abide by international agreements in terms of heavy weapons and will not provide them to China casually."
This was Hitler's innermost thoughts. If China had no tungsten mines and no strategic materials, then China would not be of much help to him.
Knowing that this time he had returned in vain, Oshima stood up, said goodbye to Hitler, and quickly sent the information to Tokyo.
When Tokyo received news from Hiroshi Oshima that it was suspected that a Chinese envoy had gone to Germany to purchase a large amount of military weapons, they were a little confused. No important Chinese officials had gone to Germany recently. In the end, they had to send the news to the Japanese Ambassador to China, Shigeru Kawagata.
, and asked them to verify it, a charming woman next to Kawahara Shigeru immediately thought of Kong Xiangxi's mission when she read the telegram, and quickly launched an important undercover investigation. However, what the Japanese did not expect was that due to Jiang Cheng's interference,
Feet, most of Japan's spies in the Nationalist Government were secretly monitored.
On the other side, the negotiation between Kong Xiangxi and Bintrop continued. Kong Xiangxi looked at Bintrop opposite and said with a smile, "What we mean is that we hope that your country can lend us 80 million Reichsmarks, and then all the money will be transferred to us."
It is used to purchase industrial products from your country. In addition to the repayment issue, we hope to use ore raw materials to pay for it and repay it in installments over 10 years. At the same time, we hope to get further discounts on the price."
Bintrop looked at the information and said, "The head of state has already told me about the loan. There is no big problem in principle, but it must be repaid within five years. Why don't we talk about the price first? A 98K rifle plus 500 rounds of ammunition.
Our quote is $70, what do you think?"
Kong Xiangxi shook his head and said, "The price we hope is 50 US dollars. After all, our purchase quantity this time is extremely large and we have provided a lot of information. We think the price should be reflected."
Perhaps Hitler had told Bentrop about this matter before, but Bentrop didn't emphasize anything too much. It was just one sentence for you and one sentence for me. Although there were some quarrels, most of the discussion was settled well.
The final preliminary pricing is $60 for the 98K rifle plus 500 rounds of ammunition.
1,000 MG-08 machine guns plus 10,000 rounds of ammunition each are priced at US$750
500 MG-13 machine guns plus 10,000 rounds of ammunition each are priced at US$850
300 MG-34 machine guns plus 10,000 rounds of ammunition each are priced at US$1,000
30,000 pieces of 20-shot pistols plus 1,000 rounds of ammunition each are priced at US$45
200 PAK37 anti-tank guns plus 1,000 rounds of shells each are quoted at US$12,000
500 IG18 75MM infantry guns plus 1,000 rounds of shells each are quoted at US$35,000
The price for 100 Bofors M1930 75mm mountain guns plus 1,000 rounds of shells per gun is US$50,000.
The price for 24 SFH18 150mm howitzers plus 1,000 rounds of shells per gun is US$600,000.
The price for 50 Panzer II tanks equipped with 300 rounds of artillery shells and 5,000 rounds of ammunition is US$15,000.
In addition to German-style military uniforms, helmets and other sundries, plus shipping costs, the total price, excluding fractions, is 33 million U.S. dollars, approximately 82 million Reichsmarks and 110 million French currency.
This is only the price of weapons, plus the various industrial equipment and other materials provided as aid, the wages of technical personnel, etc. The total order is close to 160 million French currency. Looking at the price of this order, Kong Xiangxi is sweating profusely.
This is the friendly price paid by Germany because of the large amount of information provided by Jiang Cheng. You must know that in 1936, China's fiscal revenue was roughly 636 million yuan in tariffs, 131 million yuan in unified tax revenue, and 247 million yuan in salt tax revenue. The total is only one billion yuan.
Legal currency, these orders are only for army equipment. Jiang Cheng and Kong Xiangxi are also planning to go to several other countries to purchase light machine guns, tanks and other weapons. This calculation may exceed 200 million legal currency, which removes one-fifth of the national income.
According to modern calculations, China's fiscal revenue in 2014 was about 14 trillion, and now it spent nearly 3 trillion on weapons. It's strange that Kong Xiangxi didn't sweat.
Kong Xiangxi thought for a while and said, "This price is still too high. We hope that your country can offer more favorable prices."
Bentrop sighed and said, "Now that we have loaned you 80 million marks plus the previous 80 million marks, you don't really need to pay at all, and you can also buy our industrial products and pay back
What’s there to hesitate about?”
Kong Xiangxi actually knows a little about the prices of these weapons. He knows that the Germans actually charge normal prices for light weapons and severely increase the prices for heavy weapons. This is mainly because light weapons are sold in every European country. The asking price is really too high.
, the Chinese might not buy it, and heavy weapons are not something you can just buy if you want, especially sharp weapons like the 150-mm howitzer, which often come with political conditions, and Germany also guarantees delivery, which is very important to China.
People are so attractive.
Seeing Kong Xiangxi's hesitation, Bentrop said with a smile, "Well, how about adding one layer to the price of this military purchase and two points in return?"
Kong Xiangxi couldn't help but feel excited when he heard it. It was the loan money anyway, so he didn't care. Then he said viciously, "Add three points, and I will ask you to add one and a half layers."
Bentrop nodded and said, "Okay, then it will be a pleasure to cooperate."
Kong Xiangxi seemed to be about to collapse. In fact, he did not have the right to decide on such a large amount of orders, so he had to go back and discuss with the country before continuing. He said, "Whether the deal will be concluded depends on our Chairman Chiang's nod."
When Jiang Cheng saw this quotation, he was speechless to the Germans. A 150-meter gun that cost only 40,000 US dollars, even with shells, trucks, etc., would not exceed 130,000 US dollars. The Germans actually asked for nearly 700,000 US dollars.
These Hans are too friendly to China.
Kong Xiangxi sighed, "Not to mention seeing that we can't make such a cannon. After all, we can actually make other weapons ourselves, but the output is a bit lower. Naturally, we will suffer a loss if our skills are not as good as others. But it's okay, thanks to your information,
We don’t have to actually pay now, we can pay it back slowly in the future.”
Jiang Cheng asked, "Does Mr. Kong think the price can be lowered?"
Kong Xiangxi nodded and said, "It is certain that the price will be pushed down, but I don't think it can be reduced by much. With those factories, it is still too expensive."
Jiang Cheng sighed and said, "Let Chairman Chiang decide."
——Nanjing Agent Jiang looked at the telegram with joy and worry. After all, according to Kong Xiangxi’s report, it is possible to get a large amount of German weapons and equipment this time. Depending on the quantity, it may be able to equip dozens of divisions. These are real German weapons masters.
Rather than some German helmet divisions who only have German helmets, such a large amount of equipment is too expensive. More importantly, those factories and military equipment manufacturing technology are really important to China, which is about to go to war.
But does the Republic of China have the financial resources now?
Agent Jiang pressed the bell on the table, and Chen Brai came in and asked, "What is the order from the Chairman?"
Agent Jiang said, "Go and ask Ziwen to come see me."
After a while, Song Ziwen came to the office, and Agent Jiang asked, "How much money do we have in the treasury now?"
As soon as Song Ziwen heard this, he knew that Agent Jiang wanted to spend a lot of money again, so he asked, "I wonder if there are any additional expenses?"
Agent Jiang nodded and took out the telegram and showed it to Song Ziwen. When Song Ziwen saw it, a vein in his forehead jumped and he said, "It's okay if Gu Quan doesn't know the situation. Doesn't brother Yong know the situation in our country? To order such a large amount of equipment, we are completely
I don’t have the financial resources to pay for it, especially when I saw that there was no light machine gun on the list. I must be planning to go to the Czech Republic to buy it. This is another huge expense, and the number of tanks and armored vehicles is relatively small in comparison. Gu Quan must still pay for it.
If you have other plans, this is simply nonsense."
After hearing this, Agent Jiang sighed and said, "Yongzhi and Gu Quan both hope that our White Army soldiers can have more and better equipment, not for anything else, but just for the above point, no matter whether China is in a state of war or not, the order must be completed."
We can't give up on this order. Ziwen, Germany receives our ore and agricultural products, can you do some work in this regard?"
Song Ziwen thought for a while and shook his head and said, "It's difficult. In order to pay the previous debts and orders, we have already fully exploited. Moreover, we only have rare minerals, and many of them are not actually in the hands of our government, unless...
.”
Agent Jiang asked, "Unless what?"
Song Ziwen replied, "Unless we issue new national debt, and then buy ore at low prices domestically and give it to Germany, I'm afraid public opinion will spread. Or Germany is willing to extend our payment period in order to prepare for the upcoming war of resistance.
Our money is already very tight."
Agent Jiang shook his head and said, "We can't do this. When the war really starts, military expenditures will definitely increase greatly. Ziwen, you have to come up with a way to solve this problem quickly."
Song Ziwen nodded and said, "Yes, Chairman, don't worry. If China and Japan really go to war, Yongzhi and I will never let our soldiers lose their food and pay."
Agent Jiang nodded and said, "Then you send a telegram to Yongzhi and tell him that we must have a good negotiation with Germany. If successful, I will credit him with a great contribution."
——Kong Xiangxi of Berlin saw that Nanjing had made up its mind to win this order even if it was to sell iron. He couldn't help but let out a sigh and wanted to sell Jiang Cheng a benefit, so he went to Jiang Cheng and said, "Gu Quan, Nanjing
There is a letter from over there, and our purchase plan has been agreed to. I think we can talk again, push the price down a little bit, and then we can sign. I want you to sign on behalf of our country, how about it?"
Jiang Cheng asked strangely, "Minister Kong, you are the representative this time, so naturally you should sign the contract. Also, I think we can discuss the price again. If they are unwilling to refund the price, then let them
Give us some rifles as gifts."
Kong Xiangxi thought to himself, "No matter which one of us signs, the credit will not go to me as the person in charge of the mission." But he said, "This should be okay, that's what I think. Is it a signature anyway? It's the same for you. I
I’m going to the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Sweden to buy the other weapons you mentioned, as well as the American heavy machine guns you mentioned. I don’t have much time, so why don’t you sign it on my behalf.”
Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and nodded and said, "Our time is indeed tight. It makes sense for Minister Kong to think this way, but let's forget about this unofficial guy. Anyone else in the embassy is more suitable than me."
Kong Xiangxi thought Jiang Cheng was trying to be modest at first. Unexpectedly, Jiang Cheng refused a few times. Only then did he realize that he really didn't want to go, so he nodded and said, "Since Gu Quan thinks so, I understand, okay."
Well, that’s it. Then we’ll talk to the Germans about lowering prices.”
Before Jiang Cheng and Kong Xiangxi could find Hitler, Himmler found them first.
Kong Xiangxi and Jiang Cheng were not clear about Himmler's purpose, so Kong Xiangxi asked, "What is General Himmler's important business?"
Himmler pointed to the room and indicated that he wanted to talk privately. Kong Xiangxi nodded and said yes. Jiang Cheng waited outside alone. After a while, Kong Xiangxi and Himmler both walked out happily.
Jiang Cheng waited for Himmler to leave and quickly asked, "I wonder what the purpose of Himmler's visit this time is?"
Kong Xiangxi smiled and said, "He wants to cooperate with us in intelligence. It seems that you completely fooled them last time. Now he firmly believes that we still have a lot of intelligence in our hands. He said that in order to show his sincerity in cooperation, he would persuade them
The head of state extended our repayment period."
Jiang Cheng smiled and said, "This is great, but I wonder what kind of intelligence cooperation they want?"
Kong Xiangxi sighed and said, "It's not the British, American, French and Soviet Union. I said Gu Quan, this is because of your Wei Hua's great efforts. Mrs. Song can tell me that your Wei Hua's intelligence capabilities are bottomless."
Jiang Cheng touched his nose and didn't say anything. He just smiled bitterly, bottomless. This was not a good thing to say. It seemed that he had been blacklisted, that's all. Anyway, he could leave at any time.
Kong Xiangxi added, "Gu Quan, if Germany has taken care of it, it will be much easier to place orders with other small European countries. The Czech side will provide goods if they have the money, no matter who you are, but fortunately, we can already imitate the ZB-26 ourselves."
Yes, I came here mainly to buy some gun barrels. Our country's industry is too poor. There is still a big gap between gun barrels and other European countries. As for the anti-aircraft guns you mentioned, I also sent people to negotiate with Switzerland.
"Jiang Cheng, I have an idea, do you think it's suitable?"
After this cooperation, Jiang Cheng felt that Kong Xiangxi was quite concerned about this matter, so he asked, "Minister Kong, what do you say?"
Kong Xiangxi rolled his eyes and said, "That's what I think. Look, our military purchases are almost complete. The rest are just bits and pieces. But guns and cannons are not enough. We also need money."
, my other purpose of going to the UK this time is to issue government bonds, but I think it will only issue 30 to 40 million pounds at most. I hope you can go to the United States to seek loan support from the United States."
Jiang Cheng felt embarrassed and said, "I am just a junior military attaché now, and I am not an ambassador or anything like that. It's not appropriate for me to go."
Kong Xiangxi thought to himself, "If you had done well, I wouldn't have let you go. You have already made great contributions to the arms purchase case. I can give you some of the kickback. It is better not to go to attend the British coronation, in case you are robbed."
It’s not enough to gain political capital.” He said, “It’s okay, I will let the ambassador to the United States fully support you, so it’s settled.”
Jiang Cheng wanted to say something else, but Kong Xiangxi jumped in and said, "This is for the country. I hope you won't postpone it."
Seeing that Kong Xiangxi said nothing, Jiang Cheng nodded in agreement.
When the treaty was finally signed, Germany took a step back. The loan was allowed to be paid off within seven years. The total payment was 150 million marks, and Germany was willing to ensure that the goods reached China. Basically, all the loans were spent. This is also because
Jiang's agent had already begun to judge that the war would break out within one or two years, so he decided to spend all his money and lose it. Jiang Cheng looked at the agreement and thought, in this way, we should be able to entertain our upcoming guests.
Although the writing is not good, I still want to say something weakly - please vote for recommendations.