Obviously, the Soviets could make this request after receiving a request from the United States, and even obtained a list of this batch of machinery and equipment provided by the United States. Otherwise, they would not have made this request. It may seem fair, but it actually harms the interests of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. requirements.
You know, if the United States really sells a batch of advanced machinery and equipment, it will definitely be prepared if it knows that it will pass through the Soviet Union. Once the Americans know that the machinery and equipment they provide will pass through their own hands, If it fell into the hands of the Soviets, I'm afraid that the next time I want to get new American machinery and equipment, the Americans won't be so generous.
What makes Yang Zhen even more disgusted is that he doesn't even have a detailed list of these so-called equipment provided to him. The Soviets knew first that it was the United States that had the most to do with this batch of materials. They negotiated with the Soviet Union as soon as they arrived and leaked it consciously. Or did the Soviet Union's powerful intelligence personnel obtain similar information from the Americans?
Although I know that at this time, the United States has not yet organized the so-called "Paris Coordination Organization" that specializes in technological blockades against socialist countries. As long as someone buys general equipment, it will basically be allowed to be exported. Just like the basis for the Soviet Union's comprehensive industrialization, it was It's like coming from the United States. But no matter what, Yang Zhen always felt that he was being used, which made Yang Zhen very disgusted.
In his heart, Yang Zhen believed that this information was probably disclosed to the Soviets by the Americans in advance. Because of the Soviet-Finnish War last winter, the Americans temporarily suspended trade with the Soviet Union. Especially in terms of exports of advanced machinery and equipment, they even conducted Severe sanctions.
The level of sanctions on some advanced machinery and equipment that can be used in the military industry is even higher than the export sanctions on military supplies. But times have changed, and now that most of the European allies have fallen under the iron heel of the Nazis, the Americans They will not try their best to win over the Soviet Union, which has huge military strength.
Although last year's Winter War left a country whose military strength was only a drop in the bucket compared to that of the Soviet Union, the Soviet army had almost become a laughing stock. The Soviet army had millions of troops, tens of thousands of aircraft, and more than 10,000 aircraft. The military strength of a tank is a considerable force for any country. Especially when the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union are still negotiating secretly, as a staunch ally of the British, the Americans will not fail to help.
This time, the machinery and equipment were exported to ourselves, and then re-exported to the Soviet Union through ourselves. For Americans, they could effectively avoid the long and delaying process of the United States. The key was that there were many people talking, and even though many parts were in their place, they were always President Roosevelt disrupted Congress and won over the Soviets in exchange for the support of the shrewd Stalin.
It's just that Yang Zhen doesn't want his judgment to be confirmed. Because if this is the original intention of the Americans, although it is for a reason, it is related to the so-called interests of the United States, and even more related to the pattern of World War II. But for Yang Zhen, there is always a The feeling of being used and betrayed.
In fact, Yang Zhen has always been extremely dissatisfied with the so-called sanctions imposed by the United States on the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union invaded Poland and Finland, two small countries, they suffered extremely severe sanctions from the Americans. However, it has been two years since the Japanese invaded China, and the United States People did not take any action. Instead, they issued a decree prohibiting American ships from transporting weapons, equipment, and military supplies to China and Japan.
And this is the biggest blow to the Chinese who lost all their ports in a short period of time. There is almost no restriction on the Japanese aggression. As an island nation, the Japanese have the third largest ranking in the world. Asia's largest navy has a huge transport fleet. All military supplies purchased in the United States can naturally be transported.
Soon after the war started, the Chinese lost all their navy and almost all their merchant fleet. They could only hire foreign ships at high prices and pay high transit fees to go to British colonies or French Indochina. And this This lifeline was not the closure of the British and French colonial governments forced by the Japanese army.
Compared with Japan, China's military-industrial capabilities are almost too weak to be mentioned. In order to maintain the ability to continue the war, China paid an almost unbearable price compared with its national strength. During the war of aggression against China, the Americans He played a very disgraceful role in the early days.
In Yang Zhen's view, the so-called sanctions clause of the Americans is just that they want to be a gangster but also want to erect a memorial arch. The Soviets, with their vast land and extremely rich resources, naturally will not use their oil and rare metals. And the military industry Basically all the Soviets can take care of themselves, let alone import American equipment in large quantities. The Americans actually don't make much money from the Soviets.
The Japanese are different. For an island country with poor resources and no basis for developing modern industry, almost all raw materials must be imported. Although they occupy Northeast China, which has rich iron ore resources, they are limited by their own production capacity. If it is not enough, we still need to import large amounts of scrap steel from the United States.
Compared with the Soviets, who have a high level of self-sufficiency, the Japanese, who rely heavily on the Americans for resources to continue the war, are the ones who can make a lot of money for them. And this is also true. After the July 7th Incident, Most of the Japanese's foreign exchange reserves were spent on purchasing American machinery and equipment, oil and products, and scrap steel. The Americans made a lot of money during the Sino-Japanese War.
Moreover, in Yang Zhen's view, the American sanctions are extremely unreliable. In the spring of this year, when he entrusted the Soviet Union with the import of fighter jets, in order to get rid of those who were willing to sell them to foreign countries and were rich and unwilling to buy them, those who had no money could not buy them even if they wanted to. For Americans, the P-39 fighter jets have become a burden. Didn’t the United States export a large number of fighter jets in one go, regardless of the so-called sanctions?
In Yang Zhen's view, American standards have always been two-pronged. As long as it is good for itself, it is the interest of the United States. What is not good for itself is endangering the stability and security of the world. Although Americans have not yet kept their mouths open and shut up. Human rights, but the supremacy of interests has not changed at all.
Although he was 70% angry and 30% dissatisfied, Yang Zhen finally partially agreed to Major General Grigorenko’s request after thinking about it. However, although he nodded, he only partially agreed to the Soviet request. .Yang Zhen fully accepted the Soviet experts’ participation in the research.
However, Yang Zhen only accepted half of the Soviet Union's request to transfer some of the machinery and equipment provided by the Americans that the Soviet Union also lacked. Yang Zhen agreed to provide some samples according to the Soviet Union's requirements, but all of them would be transferred to the Soviet Union. People, however, disagree.
Compared with the current industrial capabilities of itself and the Soviet Union, most of these machines and equipment are urgently needed by itself first. Even a lot of equipment may seem insignificant at first sight, but it is crucial for future development. Transferring it to the Soviets will be very important to them. My future plans are very unfavorable.
At the very least, I had no idea what kind of equipment the Americans had provided that made the Soviets try so hard to get it from me. I didn’t even know what kind of equipment the Soviets were interested in, so I rashly agreed. It can only make you passive in the future.
However, in order to silence the Soviets, Yang Zhen also proposed a compromise plan. After the American machinery and equipment arrived, the Anti-Japanese Alliance could provide some samples according to the Soviet Union's requirements. He also agreed that the Soviet Union would send experts to study , in order to imitate or redesign according to their own national conditions and technical strength. However, this kind of participation must be secret and must not be known to the Americans.
Faced with Grigorenko's objections, Yang Zhen blocked his mouth with a few words. Yang Zhen's words were simple: "If the Americans knew that they were transferring equipment that they had embargoed to the Soviet Union, in the future, When providing machinery and equipment, we will no longer provide any of the latest machinery and equipment.”
"If the Americans no longer provide new equipment, then the losses to the Soviet Union will be greater. If the Americans no longer provide new equipment, then the Soviets will have even less possibility of obtaining technical information in this area. Keep the cooperation you said. Through this method, the Soviets can continuously obtain the latest technical data from American industry."
"But if the Americans no longer provide the latest machinery and equipment because they transfer the new machinery and equipment provided by the Americans to the Soviet Union, the Soviets will also lose the latest industrial intelligence from the West that they need. This will have a great impact on the future of the Soviet Union. It is quite unfavorable to the industrial development of China.”
When Yang Zhen said these words, he felt very confident. He knew very well that the Soviet industry at this time could be called an industrial power. However, compared with the United States and Germany, it was far from being called an industrial power. . Its working machines still rely on imports from the United States and the United States. Without the latest sources of science and technology from the United States, the Soviet Union's industrial progress and industrial expansion capabilities will be extremely slow.
The Soviets had a huge industry, but they relied heavily on Western imports for machine tools, especially all kinds of new machinery and equipment. What truly established the Soviet Union's status as an industrial power was the hundreds of thousands of times the latest technology provided by the United States during World War II. of machinery and equipment, and the plunder of German talent and industry after the war.
It was the hundreds of thousands of the latest Western machine tools provided by the Americans during the war, as well as the dismantling of the industrial base of the Soviet theater that concentrated a considerable part of Germany's industrial sector, that allowed the Soviet Union to recover quickly after World War II. And it has made great progress in a short period of time, truly establishing its status as an industrial power.
For Yang Zhen, although the Soviets' looting behavior made him angry, he knew that this was his last chance to join forces before the Soviet-German war broke out. After the outbreak of World War II, in order to allow the Soviets to maintain To maintain the war and contain the Germans as much as possible, the Americans would provide a large amount of advanced machinery to the Soviet military industry during the implementation of their Lend-Lease Act.
Hundreds of thousands of the latest American military equipment, while fully industrializing the Soviet Union, also prevented the Soviets from asking anything more of themselves in this regard. And they could no longer extort anything from the Soviets.
Unless the Americans transfer to themselves certain military technology that makes the Soviets jealous.