Fang Minghao met Cheng Hui at the Chinese Consulate in Vienna, an expert in military industry who had just arrived from Prague.
"What have you been busy with since you went to the Czech Republic, Colonel?" Fang Minghao asked.
"I went to coordinate the production of the Czech arsenal. The Czechs' machining skills are really good, but the tanks they designed are too light and can only deal with light infantry holding rifles." Cheng Hui said, "We use the Type 28
The tank exchanged their CA armor steel production technology from the Czechs, and the overall feeling is that the improved imitation of the Type 28 tank by the Czechs is much better in performance than the Type 28 we currently equip."
"Since the Germans took over the Czech Republic, their military industrial strength has increased a lot." Fang Minghao said.
"Well, there is no doubt about this. During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this region concentrated 80% of that empire's military production. Before it was merged with Germany, it was the second largest military exporter in Europe. There are many in the Balkans.
Countries are using the weapons they manufacture." Cheng Hui said, "The entire Czech region can increase the production of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles for the German army every year. But now I find a big problem."
"What's going on?" Fang Minghao said.
"Hitler, Roosevelt, and Churchill were both fanatical racists in nature. From the heart, he regarded the British as his own and had no intention of becoming enemies with them." Cheng Hui said: "Now Hitler has always hoped to fight with them.
The British reached a settlement. I have always suspected that if the Germans joined forces with the British, wouldn't we always help them?
Create a strong enemy of your own? You see, in his books or remarks, Hitler deliberately classified the Nordics and the British as his own people. After all, from a linguistic point of view, they are all Germanic.
Language family. Anyway, I think the gap between English and German is smaller than the gap between our northern dialect and Hokkien or Cantonese."
"It is possible. In fact, I have mentioned this matter to the country in previous memos, but there is no conclusion." Fang Minghao said, "What is the preparedness of the German Navy?"
"It's very bad. Hitler has no intention of challenging the British hegemony at sea. His goal is to control the land in the East and then gain hegemony in Europe. On the other hand, he wants to cooperate with the British and hopes to restore the colonies of the past German Empire."
Cheng Hui said, "The German navy has received extremely little attention in terms of construction."
"Hitler will soon swallow the bitter fruit of his self-righteousness. He fancifully believes that the British will sit back and watch him realize his ambition to dominate Europe and remain indifferent." Fang Minghao said: "This is impossible, and the British will never do anything.
It will not tolerate the emergence of a powerful country in Europe that threatens its status."
"Of course the British hope that the Germans and the French will fight to the death and fight to the end, exhausted on the battlefield, and finally they will appear as saviors and redefine the pattern of Europe according to their intentions." Cheng Hui said, "Now Churchill is
To force Hitler to take action, they sent troops to Norway, saying they wanted to 'protect' this land from Nazi invasion. As far as I know, this has touched Hitler's nerves, and the Germans are now preparing to take action in Northern Europe."
After Germany invaded Poland, Hitler kept talking about peace, but the British ignored it. After Churchill came to power, he stepped up the naval blockade of Germany in the North Sea. This angered Hitler, and he ordered the General Staff to step up plans for the German army to attack Denmark.
and Norway’s “Exercise Weser” invasion plan, in the hope of controlling access to the North Sea.
Different from the last world war, due to the emergence of aircraft, it was difficult for the British navy to control the coastal areas close to land. This gave the German navy a lot of room for activity, although the German naval power was not as strong as the three-thirds during the last war.
one.
In order to deal with the Republic Navy, the British accelerated the construction of new battleships. Five George V-class battleships were about to enter service in early 1940. When these new ships were launched, the Royal Navy also realized the insufficient firepower of this class of battleships.
So in early 1939, construction of four more Lion-class battleships was started. Such a huge construction
The ship plan has been difficult for the British to cope with. Britain's metallurgical industry has lagged behind the world. Before the war, its ship armor steel mainly came from the Czech Republic. Since the beginning of the war, the supply of armor plates originally purchased by the British from the Czech Republic has been interrupted.
, had no choice but to turn to the Americans for help, which greatly slowed down the construction speed of Britain's new warships.
In terms of industrial capabilities, the British Empire was simply unable to adapt to a modern war. This huge colonial empire only knew how to plunder wealth and resources from various colonies and dump its inferior industrial products. It did not bring civilization and prosperity to these areas.
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The British never had the desire to build up their colony.
Except for Canada, almost all the British Crown territories lack heavy industry. Australia, with a population of nine million, is basically an agricultural country and lacks industrial capabilities. Australia as a whole cannot even equip its only 100,000 Royal Australian Army Corps with rifles.
In South Africa, except for the mining and metallurgy industries, its machining capabilities are even worse than Luxembourg.
In India, with a total population of nearly 300 million, apart from plundering wealth, it is impossible to see what the British have done during their nearly two hundred years of rule.
This is the real reason for the decline of the British Empire. They controlled the world but lacked the desire and ability to build it well.
This is one of the reasons why the Republican Army was able to march smoothly in Southeast Asia and West Asia like a whirlwind. In these areas, there was no ability to resist at all.
While the two were chatting, He Jiujing, the Consul General of the Republic in Naina, led a middle-aged Austrian to the reception room.
"I'm sorry, General Fang, to keep you waiting." Consul General He said: "This is Mr. Weltz from the Jewish Mutual Aid Association. He is now your assistant and Polish translator. The current situation of Jews in Poland is very serious.
It is difficult, the domestic order is to help these Jewish refugees as much as possible, and you are responsible for this work."
"How to help them?" Fang Minghao asked.
"The main purpose is to help them leave the German-controlled areas. We will temporarily agree to accept these refugees. The subsequent arrangements have not yet been decided." Consul General He said, "As for the financial issues, Mr. Weltz will take charge of solving them, and we will be responsible for the immigration.
Visas and contacting shipping companies, etc. In addition, many Jewish scholars and Polish scholars were imprisoned in concentration camps, and we need to negotiate with the German side to rescue them."
"Okay, when should I leave?" Fang Minghao asked.
"The sooner the better, go to Berlin first. Ambassador Yang will discuss the specific matters with you in detail," He Jiujing said.
After 1932, the Republic accepted approximately 1.5 million Jewish refugees, as well as some influential Jewish scientists in the country. In this period of anti-Semitism throughout the world, only Republican China agreed to accept large-scale refugees.
Jewish refugees extended a helping hand to the Jews.
The conflict between Christianity and Judaism caused the entire Christian world to hate Jews. In fact, not only the Germans, but also the French, Russians, Poles and Americans had committed bloody massacres against the Jews.
In 1935, Germany passed the Anti-Jewish Act. The survival of the Jews throughout the German-controlled areas was particularly difficult. A large number of Jews fled, and even more people were imprisoned in concentration camps by the Germans because no country was willing to accept them.