Having said this, Yang Zhen shook his head and said: "As for the Soviets, the most important military industrial base has been lost, and the remaining arsenals are busy moving westward. Coupled with the huge consumption on the Soviet-German battlefield, the demand for American equipment is even greater. And compared to the British, they not only need simple equipment, machinery and military raw materials, but also almost all of them."
"The Americans do have strong military production capabilities, but no matter how strong their production capabilities are, they cannot meet their own needs for military expansion. Once they are involved in the war, they will also face huge equipment consumption and unlimitedly meet the needs of all participating countries. equipment."
"The strategic focus of the Americans is destined to make them first take care of the needs of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union when assisting with equipment. Although the Germans lack an effective navy and are unable to attack the United States, the Americans cannot accept German occupation. The whole of Europe, and the Japanese, who are not even capable of eating up China at the moment, do pose a threat to the Americans, but they are nowhere near as big as the Germans."
"In this way, the aid that the Americans can give us will be difficult to meet the amount on paper. It is one thing for the Americans to agree, but it is another thing to actually do it. In addition, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, in order to satisfy themselves The huge war consumption will definitely make the United States think twice about aiding us in materials and equipment."
"An agreement is one thing, but actually implementing it is another. In the US strategic landscape, we are just a pawn used to contain the Japanese. When it comes to obtaining US aid supplies and equipment, we This is the weakest link. It can be said that there is a wolf in front and a tiger behind. The old leader, the white paper and the black characters are often just a piece of waste paper."
"The Soviets now want something from us. At least they don't dare to be too hands-on on the surface, but it's basically impossible not to do anything secretly. That's why I raised it with them openly in advance and directly signed an agreement to let them act. When I was there, I had some scruples.”
"Give them some benefits to ensure that most of the supplies we need can arrive smoothly. Even if it is the money we paid to buy the way, it is helpless to make concessions, but it is better than us quarreling with them every other day. The supplies are three It would be better to be detained at both ends of the day than to have all kinds of machinery and equipment, military raw materials, and weapons and equipment disappear halfway."
"The British may not openly plunder us, but if they say that during the entire war, they did not play any tricks, I would not believe it even if they were killed, because their own production and upgrading capabilities are simply not as good as ours. The huge consumption during the last war still created a huge demand for assistance from the United States."
"They are dismissive of U.S.-made light weapons. The performance of their own Bren light machine guns and Vickers heavy machine guns is no worse than that of U.S.-made machine guns. Even the performance of Bren light machine guns is even worse than that of Browning light machine guns. Besides machine guns, what they lack are heavy weapons such as tanks and tactical aircraft."
"But I think the difference between them in aircraft will not be too big. Even if there is a shortage, the Americans can completely satisfy them. But tanks are different. Faced with the German army's advantages in tactics and tank performance, the number of consumption It’s going to be incredibly huge.”
"The performance and production capacity of British tanks are just that. Although they are much better than our bare tanks, they are far behind compared with the three countries of Sumeria and Germany. They are also better than Italy and Japan. To deal with German tanks, their own production capacity and tank performance are difficult to meet the needs."
"The production and design, complexity and consumption of raw materials of heavy weapons are far from comparable to that of light weapons. Under the circumstances that the performance and production quantity of British tanks cannot meet the demand, the British want to To fill this gap, we can only focus on American products that can at least temporarily compete with German tanks in terms of firepower."
"The huge consumption on the battlefield made it unbearable for the British to find ways to fill their own gaps. After the Soviet-German war broke out, the British provided tanks and aircraft equipment to the British as soon as possible, even at a speed far faster than Judging from the reaction of the United States, it is basically impossible for them to steal food from the Soviet Union."
"Old chief, the British will provide us with a batch of tanks and aircraft, but the aircraft and tanks they provide are probably second-hand goods that they have eliminated themselves and are no longer capable on the European battlefield. They are doing this not only for It shows the Americans that it is determined to stand on the same line as its allies and that it is based on its own strategic interests."
"What's more important is that they want to use these second-hand goods to replace the new equipment that the Americans gave us to make up for the gaps and deficiencies in their own hands. Old chiefs and political commissars, just watch it. Don't sign the agreement now, but next year we can The number of American tanks received will definitely not meet the standards in the agreement, and the British, who clearly have insufficient production capacity, will definitely provide us with a considerable number of tanks."
"The reason why this happens is very simple. As new tanks of the German army continue to appear, their so-called Matilda II tanks and Crusader cruise tanks have become increasingly unsatisfactory, even in the face of When fighting the German Panzer IV tanks, their latest Churchill infantry tanks and Valentine infantry tanks could not meet the needs."
"As for the American tanks, they have to supply the Soviet Union and us. It is impossible to attack them first. The British also have to face the threat of the new German tanks. The British will not use their brains because the Soviets are on the battlefield. The more German troops that are held back, the more advantageous it is for the British."
"Under such circumstances, how can the British meet their own needs when their new tanks are insufficient in quantity and performance? There is only one way to solve the problem, and that is to obtain as many American-made tanks as possible. The Soviet Union They can't attack people there, so we become their best target."
"Although there is a performance gap between American tanks and German tanks, American tanks have one advantage, that is, they are thicker, and the 75mm howitzer on the American M-3 medium tank is also more powerful than the British one. The 40mm two-pounder gun on a human tank is much larger."
"Old chief, political commissar, just watch. At least in the next two years, we may not get too many American-made tanks. The Americans will give us tanks regardless of the number, but I am afraid that most of the tanks that will end up in our hands will eventually be lost. It's a British tank, and for strategic reasons, the Americans will not be too opposed to the British approach."
"Anyway, for them, as long as the quantity roughly meets the requirements of the agreement, they won't care too much whether they give us British tanks or American tanks. Therefore, we must be mentally prepared in advance. In the next two years, the amount of equipment we receive may not be enough, and the performance may not satisfy us.”
After Yang Zhen's explanation was very clear, the old commander pondered for a long time before saying: "Judging from your words, you are very dissatisfied with the performance of those British tanks and tactical aircraft, so you still want the equipment they provided. In other words, can you accept those British alternatives?"
Yang Zhen smiled at the old commander's doubts and said: "Old chief, why not? The British tanks are indeed unable to deal with the Germans in Europe, but against the thin-skinned Japanese, even most of them can only be regarded as Armored vehicles and tanks have been sufficient within the past two years."
"Although the British Matilda II tank is slower at 24 kilometers on flat ground and 13 kilometers off-road, and its 40mm two-pounder gun is also less powerful, it has a maximum armor of 78mm. It has a thick bottom and a fairly solid structure. The 40mm two-pounder gun has difficulty in dealing with the German Panzer IV tanks, but it is still enough to deal with the Japanese Type 97 tanks."
"As for the Crusader cruise tank, it is fast, has strong cross-country capabilities, and the so-called thin armor is for German tanks. Against Japanese tanks, their armor can barely cope with it. As for the engine failure, That was in the harsh terrain of the desert in North Africa, but here we have beautiful mountains and clear water, and there is no yellow sand all over the sky, so we should not have such problems again."
"As the number of U.S. tank production increases and the U.S. military completes its expansion, the number of U.S. tanks will gradually increase. Coupled with our own production, I think we will get enough new equipment before the new tanks developed by the Japanese appear. Yes, after all, the focus of Japanese resource investment is still in the navy, and the production speed of army equipment is relatively slow."
"The reason why I asked the Soviet Union and the United States and Britain to provide them with captured German tanks is because before we can obtain a sufficient amount of American-made equipment and our own tank production can meet our needs, once the Japanese army develops new and more powerful tanks, we will There can be a stable alternative.
"The quality of Japanese tanks is average now, but they have their own design and production capabilities. Who can guarantee that they will not develop a new tank within time, and the German Panzer IV tank has better armor and firepower than even the U.S. The latest M-4 medium tank that has just been developed is not comparable to it. As long as these German tanks are in place, even if the Japanese army develops a new tank, we have nothing to worry about."
"It's just that the structure of German tanks is a bit complicated, and the requirements for our technical conditions are higher. They are not as strong and durable as American tanks, and the sources of parts are more difficult. In terms of firepower, German tanks are far behind American tanks. It's not as tall as an American tank, so it's a living target on the battlefield."
"Also, old chief, you should not be talking about you but us. The equipment and materials provided by the United States and Britain are not just for us, but for our entire army, including all our brother troops. We are just borrowing The geographical convenience is just a recipient."
"Without the central and internal forces, and the large number of talents mobilized for us under our own very difficult circumstances, we would not be where we are today. These equipments were obtained by our entire army together, not by any one company alone. We have no reason to come, let alone swallow them all."
"Old chief, we are a family, so why should we always distinguish between distance and distance? These things we have made are prepared for our entire army. Otherwise, we ourselves have such a good appetite and can digest such a large batch of equipment. , the first batch of tanks assisted by the United States and Britain, in addition to supplementing the expansion of our own armored forces, we have decided to form two tank regiments for the advancing army."
"The reason why I haven't told you before is because the results of the negotiations have not been finalized, and we are not sure how much we can get. Now that it has been decided, I can tell you clearly. However, considering the advancing army and the customs With the current situation of the troops, we still consider that the armored troops for the advancing army should not be too large, and should focus on flexible and mobile formations."