Beiyang reactionaries

"The Ministry of Commerce's list of strategic materials is originally a list of military materials. The materials currently needed by the Soviet Union must serve the war."

This is normal.

The Soviet-German war broke out, and Germany needed a lot of materials, so it purchased a lot of strategic materials from China.The same is true for the Soviet Union, and now there is a fight.And it's a massive war.

Germany invaded the Soviet Union with more than 500 million troops, plus the troops of other allies, the total force was about 600 million.On the Soviet side, there are more than 300 million troops on the front line alone, and more and more reserve troops are supporting the front line as the war breaks out.

This is a major war in which the strength of both sides will reach 1000 million in a short period of time.

Even the Soviet Union needs more war materials.Regardless of the fact that the Soviet Union was a resource-rich country later, in fact, many resources in the Soviet Union have not been discovered now.Although the mining industry in the Soviet Union has made great progress, there are still many things missing.

In such a large-scale war, the Soviet Union also felt the lack of military supplies.This includes imports of tungsten placer, tin, antimony, zinc, mercury, and bismuth, plus natural rubber, tung oil, and pig bristles.

Of course, not all the materials on the list of the Ministry of Commerce.

The Soviet Union also needed things like wool, sheepskin, and raw silk, as well as tea and coffee for drinking, all of which needed to be imported.These things have always been provided by China in large quantities.After the Sino-Soviet war was interrupted for a period of time, after the signing of the "Border Treaty", the supply of these materials resumed again.Obviously, what the Soviet Union needs is not only to restore supplies, but also to provide a large amount of these materials from China.

"In addition to these materials, Marshal Blucher of the Soviet Union also proposed another purchase list. Including 1 motorcycles and 1 trucks."

"Trucks and motorcycles?"

"Yes. But I think this is just a trial. According to our information, the Soviet industry has been completely inclined to the military industry in recent years, mainly producing aircraft, tanks, and artillery in large quantities. As a result, other industries have developed slowly. Especially Soviet automobiles The industrial development is not very good, and the production of automobiles is limited. Facing the blitzkrieg of the German army, the Soviet Union is obviously very passive. To change this situation, the Soviet Union also needs to form a rapid force. But there is not enough logistic support capability, the so-called mechanized force It’s all in the water. If we agree and have the ability to support these things on a large scale, I think they will definitely increase more orders for trucks and motorcycles.”

"What will the Soviet Union pay for?"

652

"What did the USSR pay for?"

"gold."

Wang Jingwei replied.

Duan Xun immediately asked: "How much gold does the Soviet Union have? Do you have accurate data on the Soviet Union's gold reserves?"

"According to our estimates, the Soviet Union's gold reserves are at least 2500 tons, and may reach 3000 tons. The data of the Soviet Union has always been opaque, but the Soviet Union's gold reserves are high. Russia was once the largest gold mine in the world. As a producer, Russia produced half of the world’s gold 100 years ago. In 1914, Russia’s gold production was 60 tons, and the Soviet Union’s gold production was at its peak when it exceeded 100 tons a year. Although during the Soviet Civil War, their The consumption of gold reserves was serious, but it recovered a lot later. Also, during the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish government transported their gold reserves to the Soviet Union in order to get help from the Soviet Union. In order to obtain Soviet loans and weapons, this The number is about 600 tons."

Wang Jingwei gave Duan Xun a detailed introduction.

The Soviet Union has always been a country with high gold production, so it has always been a country with relatively high gold reserves.Before World War I, Russia's gold production exceeded 60 tons, and China's annual gold production has only exceeded 40 tons.In addition to the current mining of gold around Lake Baikal, the gold output is only 50 tons, which is not as much as before the First World War in Russia.Not to mention that the Soviet Union just made a fortune a few years ago.That was during the Spanish Civil War, when Spain's gold reserves were sent to the Soviet Union.

Of course, there were many rumors on the Internet that the Soviet Union swallowed the gold, which led to a falling out with Spain.In fact, this is one of many rumors on the Internet.During the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish Republican government was directly isolated in global diplomacy. No one wanted to play with them, and it was even more nonsense to want to buy arms.At that time, only the Soviet Union gave them a large number of weapons and equipment, including heavy weapons such as aircraft, tanks, and artillery.In addition to these weapons and equipment, there are also many logistical materials.An international column of 10 people was even formed through the Communist International.Even gave them a $[-] million loan.

The Spanish Civil War did not last for a day or two, nor for a month or two, but for more than two years.In addition to Franco's army, there are also German and Italian troops, come up together.

600 tons of gold, roughly $5 million.

Although there are many, in the face of modern warfare, the use of aircraft, tanks, and artillery will soon be spent.Therefore, it is just a rumor that the Soviet Union hid the gold from the Spanish government.

But that's not Duan Xun's concern.

Duan Xun only knows one thing, that is, the Soviet Union really has a lot of gold reserves.In the past two years, China has also rapidly increased its gold reserves, especially after entering 1940, the amount of gold in its hands has increased rapidly.But China's current gold reserves are less than 800 tons.However, the gold reserves of the Soviet Union exceeded 2000 tons. It is conceivable that the Soviet Union did not lack gold.

"That is to say, the Soviet Union has enough gold to pay for the redemption of the arms or the purchase of supplies."

"Yes. From the information we have obtained, the Soviet Union has a lot of gold reserves. The sum of all the gold reserves of the Soviet Union must be more than 20 billion US dollars. With such a large gold reserve, it is more than enough to buy materials from us. According to Molo Tove means that this time they are definitely willing to take out about 200 tons of gold to trade with us."

"That's good."

Duan Xun nodded.

China is different from America.

The industrial strength of the United States is very strong, and the Second World War is an important opportunity for the United States to become a world hegemon.But for Duan Xun, China was not expected to become a world hegemon after World War II.Because China is not yet so powerful, China's strength is not enough.

Duan Xun only wants to be the boss of Asia.

So Duan Xun does not want China to easily end up participating in the war.If Duan Xun wants to take advantage of the current war opportunity to earn enough funds, it is best to turn his gold reserves into about 4000 tons.Wait until the war is almost over, and then it will not be too late to end.So Duan Xun only wants to make money at this stage.

Since the Soviet Union has enough gold, it can do business with him.

"Looks like I'm going to meet Molotov."

Now that he knew Molotov's request, Duan Xun knew it was time to meet him.

Molotov is an old figure in the Soviet political arena. This time he came to China to negotiate with Duan Xun and to see Duan Xun's attitude.Duan Xun is China's political strongman, and can even be said to be China's "dictator".

Molotov worked under Stalin, and he understood the strength of a political strongman like Duan Xun better than anyone else.The will of these political strongmen can directly influence the will of the country.Even if I had a good talk with Wang Jingwei, as long as Duan Xun disagreed, everything would be useless.

So Molotov hoped to talk to Duan Xun in person.

Duan Xun is willing to satisfy Molotov's idea.

…………

"Commissioner Molotov, you are welcome to our country."

On June 1940, 6, Duan Xun and Molotov met.This is already the fifth day since Molotov came to Beijing.Molotov was very happy to meet Duan Xun in person.

Although the conversation with Wang Jingwei was very friendly before, Wang Jingwei was like a loach, and he didn't give Molotov an accurate word at all.Molotov also knew that without Duan Xun speaking, it would be impossible for Wang Jingwei to really talk about core issues.

Speaking of Molotov, it is not the case.

He had to report to Stalin by telegram every day. The real core issue did not have Stalin's consent, so he did not dare to sign.Stalin has been emphasizing that an agreement must be reached with China as soon as possible, which makes Molotov very anxious.

Now finally able to see Duan Xun himself, Molotov is very happy.So he held Duan Xun with both hands and said, "Chairman Duan, on behalf of Comrade Stalin, I would like to express my highest respect to you."

"Comrade Stalin is polite."

Duan Xun smiled slightly.

Bad news came from the Soviet-German war every day.

Just two days earlier, news of the Battle of Kiev had brought Molotov to great dismay.That is, the Sixth Army and No.12 Army of the Soviet Army in the Kiev Military Region were encircled and wiped out by the Germans, and the number of people captured by the Germans alone exceeded 10.Lieutenant General Muzichenko, commander of the 6th Army, and Major General Ponejielin, commander of the 12th Army, both became prisoners of the German army. It can be said that the Sixth Army and the No.12 Army completely collapsed.This was news that Molotov could not accept.

In a battle, all the battlefields are divided and integrated.

Although the Kiev Military Region has more than 80 troops, the Sixth Army and the No.12 Army were almost wiped out, directly affecting other positions in Kiev, and even exposing the flanks of other troops.

The German army was originally best at the tactics of frontal assault and flanking.Now that the side of the Soviet army is completely blown up, the German army can drive straight in and divide and encircle the Soviet army again.In the current situation, the troops of the Kiev Military Region have no chance to retreat.The 90 million troops are at an absolute disadvantage in Kiev.

The bad news on the Soviet-German battlefield made Molotov more and more anxious.It turned out that a stable person like Molotov, a big boss who has been on the diplomatic front for many years, couldn't hide his joy after seeing Duan Xun today.Because I can finally see Duan Xun and negotiate directly with Duan Xun.

"Chairman Duan, I came to Beijing this time to express my most sincere greetings to China on behalf of our government and Comrade Stalin. Our country hopes to reach a 'friendly agreement' with your country, so that the two countries can coexist peacefully. I This time, we are here for peace between the two countries."

Molotov was rather anxious.

When I met Duan Xun for the first time, I couldn't wait to express my reason for coming to China.From a diplomatic point of view, such a statement is problematic because it directly exposes one's true self.But Molotov really couldn't wait.