Beiyang reactionaries

When China and the Soviet Union signed the border treaty, the situation in Britain continued to deteriorate.

After France surrendered, Britain was the only country in Europe that stood against Germany.Fortunately, Britain has the barrier of the English Channel, which intercepted the German army.If it weren't for the English Channel, Britain would not be much better off than France in the face of menacing German army forces.Now the UK has slowed down, but there are still many problems in the UK.Not only in Europe, but also in Southeast Asia, Britain is now losing ground.

The British Far East Fleet was annihilated by the Japanese Navy, and the Japanese Army had already occupied Malaysia.Had it not been for the British troops stationed in India to resist the Japanese army in Burma, and the Japanese army would not have adapted to the climate of Southeast Asia and the mountainous combat in Burma, Japan would have even entered India.Moreover, Japan and Germany have recently reached an agreement that Vichy France will soon hand over French Indochina to Japan.

At that time, Japan's attack on Burma will be even more ferocious.Whether Britain can hold Burma is also a big question.Once Britain can't hold Burma and let the Japanese army enter India, the situation will be really dangerous.

Therefore, it can be said that the current situation in the UK is very difficult.

Although before World War II, there was great competition between Britain and the United States.In order to sanction American exports, Britain raised tariffs on British colonies to prevent American industrial products from entering its territory.But now the world situation is changing too fast, and Britain is starting to be at a disadvantage.

So the attitude of the United States began to change.

"What do you think?"

"Chairman, the industrial strength of the United States far surpasses that of our country. This conflict with the Soviet Union is at best a small test, and it is already a battle that can support 300 million troops in the border area. And once the United States is really ready to support the United Kingdom, then It is definitely the greatest support for the UK and will inject confidence into the UK."

The strength of the industrial country was fully felt by the top Chinese leaders in this war.

China can supply the weapons, ammunition and logistical materials needed by millions of troops.Front-line troops can advance quickly, relying on abundant logistical supply capabilities.The frontline army can even popularize canned meat on a large scale, which was completely unimaginable before.The industrial strength of the United States is far stronger than that of China.Not only is it far ahead of China in terms of industrial technology, the United States is also stronger than China in terms of industrial scale, which is several times the industrial scale of China.

Once the United States is out, it will bring a completely different situation to the current world situation.Britain is now isolated and helpless, and the situation is very dangerous.With the support of the United States, the United Kingdom can fully recover.

"Chairman, I think we should pay close attention to the situation in Japan."

"Tell me."

"Since Tanaka Yoshiichi was injured and admitted to the hospital, the Japanese political circle has slowly abandoned the steady pace of the Tanaka Yoshiichi era and has become more and more radical. Now that the United States has revised the original 'Neutrality Act' and began to clearly support the United Kingdom, I think it is very likely It will anger the fanatical Japanese army generals. Many people in the Japanese army and navy are dissatisfied with the United States, and many people are eyeing the Philippines. Now that the United States wants to support the United Kingdom, the Japanese navy must be very dissatisfied with the United States."

Yang Wei expressed his thoughts.

The United States originally had a "Neutrality Act", but this time the "Neutrality Act" was revised, and many of its contents are very beneficial to the United Kingdom, or it is to support the military bloc led by the United Kingdom.

Now Germany, Japan, and Italy are besieging Britain.

The United States supported Britain at this time, which could easily anger Japan.If Yoshiichi Tanaka, an old fox, is in charge, he must do everything possible to avoid conflict with the United States.But the current radicals in Japan are not necessarily the same.

Like Hideki Tojo, who has been reused by the base camp, that is a fanatical and somewhat excessive radical.He is a radical figure who publicly stated that he would drive the United States out of Asia.Now Hideki Tojo is being reused by the Japanese base camp, and he has also become the Minister of War in the new Cabinet of Konoe Fumimaro, which shows that the high-level Japanese army supports Tojo Hideki's point of view.

"I also think we should focus on the Japanese side."

Jiang Hongyu nodded, echoing Yang Wei's statement.Those high-level Chinese people never looked away from Japan during the Sino-Soviet war.Because for China, the biggest opponent in the past 20 years has always been Japan.

"Based on the current situation, I think there is a high possibility of conflict between Japan and the United States."

"U.S.-Japan conflict?"

Duan Xun nodded slightly.

The conflict between the United States and Japan in history was because the United States pinched Japan's lifeline.The materials needed for the Japanese war are all in the hands of the United States.Japan's ambitions are getting bigger and bigger, and the United States began to control these strategic materials, which led to Japan's last desperate attack on Pearl Harbor.

But in the current history, Japan has no shortage of strategic materials, let alone relying on the United States.On the contrary, Japan's current strategic material supply channel is smooth.Japan not only occupied Southeast Asia, but also had the support of China, a major raw material country, behind it.

In addition, China and Japan have cooperated a lot in recent years to manufacture various small ships for Japan.This includes destroyers, transport ships, torpedo boats, and even some light cruisers are handed over to China for manufacturing.

Japan's naval shipyards mainly build a large number of large ships such as aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers.The strength of the Japanese navy has grown rapidly, and it is becoming more and more tough in the face of the United States.

"Vice Chairman Wang (Wang Jingwei), dispatched a group of people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs to discuss with the think tank of the Supreme Council the possibility of the next Japan-US conflict. And the changes brought about by the Japan-US conflict, as well as our response measure."

A person's energy is limited.

Duan Xun is like this.

It is impossible to be responsible for everything.Many things require collective effort.With the rise of China, the world situation is completely different from history.At this time in history, the Sino-Japanese war was in full swing, and Japan had not yet fought Britain.But the current situation is that Japan and the United Kingdom have been at war for more than a year, and the situation in the United Kingdom is very dangerous.

As a result, the United States has a tendency to end early.

Duan Xun had to take such changes into consideration.

"Yes."

"Let's talk about foreign trade."

644

"Let's talk about foreign trade."

This is the first enlarged Supreme Council meeting of the new year.

First, the Military Commission made a report on the Sino-Soviet War, which included the course of the war, the Warring States Period, the casualties on the Chinese side, the funds consumed, and so on.Then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced the current situation of border demarcation with the Soviet Union.

Originally, I wanted to continue to listen to the work of various departments.

Because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed changes in the United States, the topic is temporarily off topic.Now the content of the meeting has returned to the 1939 summary.

"Yes."

Song Hanzhang, the former minister of the Ministry of Commerce and currently the deputy director of the Economic Development Commission, in charge of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Trade, said: "Since the outbreak of the European war, the amount of materials imported from my country by Germany and Italy has increased by 161%, and we have exported them to Europe. In 2.7, my country’s exports to Europe increased by more than 1939 times compared to 1938. If we repay the German and Italian loans in advance, then in 8, we can repay seven to seven times a year. Eighty-eight."

"How about the shipping channel?"

"It's still smooth. Most of our supplies go to Spain first, and then transfer from Spain to Italy and Germany. Spain is currently the largest trade transit point in Europe. The UK has not blocked this channel, it should be scruples about us and Spain."

The materials consumed in the war are many times that in normal times.

Not to mention anything else, after the outbreak of war, Germany's annual production of aircraft, tanks, warships, and artillery will be several times or ten times that of peacetime.Including after the fight, the ammunition consumed is also very amazing.

And in order to ensure logistics, a large number of trucks are produced.

Whether it is the production of weapons and equipment or the production of trucks, anyway, the production of this kind of mechanical products requires a lot of machine tools, not to mention raw materials.Just look at the production of machine tools in Germany. After the outbreak of the European War in 1939, the production of machine tools in Germany rose sharply. In 1939, Germany produced 26 machine tools, which was more than the combined production of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.Moreover, according to the current demand for machine tools in Germany and China's large-scale import of machine tools from Germany, the number of machine tools produced in Germany in 1940 will definitely exceed 40 units a year.

What kind of number is this.

In 1939, 26 machine tools were produced in one year, and the number of machine tools in most countries in the world is not as much as that produced in Germany in a year.

And the production of these things consumes countless materials.

At present, Germany and the Soviet Union have not yet gone to war, but the consumption of materials in Germany and Italy is already very severe.Germany and Italy are typical resource-poor countries, and a large amount of materials need to be imported.

China is precisely the largest material support country for Germany and Italy.In particular, the raw materials needed for their industrial development are provided in large quantities by China.As a result, after the outbreak of the European war, China's export volume rose sharply, and the prices of export products also rose rapidly. The result was an astonishing increase in export volume.China has borrowed a lot in Europe in recent years, but Germany has swept across the European continent, and many countries have disappeared.

There are many countries that have given loans to China, and banks in many countries have given loans to China.Among them, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, and France are all taken care of by Germany. At this stage, China can't find anyone to pay back the money.Although the loans from these countries to China are not as large as those of the United States and Germany, their combined loans to China are still [-] to [-] million U.S. dollars, which will not be repaid in a short time.

Many of China's loans from Germany are medium and long-term loans.

It seemed a lot at the time, but after the war broke out, the money was really not much.The export volume to Europe in 1939 alone was enough to repay those loans.

This is why Duan Xun chose large-scale loans in the first place.