There is always no shortage of hot events in the world. Perhaps last month, the conflict between the Ming Dynasty and Britain in India and India made headlines in newspapers around the world. However, as time came to August, the border war between the two seemed to have become an insignificant matter. .
In the past ten days, except for Ming Dynasty, the headlines of newspapers in almost all countries have been occupied by the war in Spain.
On July 14, the plane carrying rebel leader Jose crashed due to overloading. The plane was overweight because he insisted on carrying a full set of formal attire; some claimed that this was a plot to assassinate Francisco.
On July 17, after realizing that the rebellion could not succeed in a short time, the rebel generals decided to take a long-term approach. They announced the establishment of a military government in Burgos and sent envoys to Portugal, Italy, Britain, and France on the same day.
On July 19, Italy dispatched its air force to Morocco, and more than a dozen transport planes were used to transport Spanish rebels. Therefore, the rebels quickly sent their troops in Morocco back to Spain to join the war.
"So, what is the current situation in Spain? Are there any new changes?"
In the Wenhua Hall, the current Prime Minister Zou Zhuoyun asked as soon as he came in.
Compared to a decision-maker skilled in strategizing and strategy, Zou Zhuoyun is actually more like a housekeeper who is good at internal affairs. It is a good thing to have such a prime minister in peacetime, but it may not be appropriate in wartime.
Yu Shenhua, the academician in charge of diplomacy, did not think much and replied succinctly: "Your Excellency, most of the Spanish navy is still loyal to the officialdom. The sailors on many ships organized autonomous committees, captured officers who intended to rebel, and took control of the ships. , about 70% of the warships are under official control, but due to the lack of officers, they will not be able to operate in a short period of time."
"As for the Air Force, the vast majority of Air Force officers scorned the rebellion. They were basically loyal to the official government. However, the Ministry of War believed that they had no combat effectiveness because the fighter planes were old and lacked sufficient spare parts."
In ancient times, the three Dukes had the power to open offices and build mansions, which was called Kai Ge, hence the honorific title "Your Excellency".
Of course, with the passage of time, this word gradually became more widely used. For example, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when "adult" was not often abused, the title "Your Excellency" often appeared.
Zou Zhuoyun thought for a moment and asked, "Did Italy send its air force to join the war?"
Yu Shenhua said "Yeah", "On the evening of local time, Spain's exiled King Alfonso convinced the Italian side that the Italian Air Force would directly participate in the war."
"Has there been any change in the secret negotiations between Britain and France?"
"No, it is estimated that an agreement will be reached and an agreement will be signed in the next two days."
"But there are other changes? What about Germany?"
"Similar to previous days, they said they are paying close attention to the situation, but according to the embassy, they are deciding whether to formally send troops to assist. Maybe the results will be announced in the next few days."
After summarizing the known information and ensuring that there were no omissions, Zou Zhuoyun said calmly: "The water is getting muddier, which is fine. In this way, all the attention will go to Taixi, and our place will become secondary."
He stared at the tea leaves floating in the delicate little porcelain cup in front of him, and then said: "Don't worry, this is a good thing."
Seeing Li Guangyuan, the academician of Huagaidian, about to speak, Lin Xi said first: "When is the best time for our country to express its stance? I have already drafted the candidates for the military observation team."
Zou Zhuoyun, who looked relaxed, said with a smile: "Don't worry about this. Don't forget about Batavia. Wait for a few days."
"Batavia? What's the matter?" Li Guangyuan frowned slightly and asked.
He is the Minister of Finance and has nothing to do with this matter, so there is no need to inform him.
"To put it briefly, the Intelligence Department was ordered to organize a team to go to Batavia to kill the traitors, but they made a bit of a noise." Lin Xi spoke a bit too fast, almost too fast for people to understand. .
Anyway, they were not in a hurry to take a stand on the Spanish matter. The Dutch East Indies incident happened to come up again, so Zou Zhuoyun and Lin Xi planned to naturally fine-tune their decision-making.
If the Dutch protest publicly, they will be perfunctory and then express Ming's position on the Spanish Civil War, diverting the attention of other countries and leaving the Dutch unable to speak out about their suffering.
This is a casual trick, not a clever strategy.
"Oh." Li Guangyuan didn't care about this. He turned to ask: "All countries use the area in Folangji as a testing ground for their own weapons. Does the military have similar plans?"
Lin Xi joked: "Yes, as long as Mr. Li holds your hand and agrees to allocate the money, tomorrow... no, today I will sign for the transportation of tanks and aircraft for shipment when I get back."
"Come on, you don't have money, and you still expect us to help you in vain?" Li Guangyuan, who was interested, stretched out his index finger and shook it. "You want arms? You have to spend money."
"The situation in Spain has been chaotic for so many years, and foreign exchange has already bottomed out."
"Then exchange it for real gold and silver. Don't they still have hundreds of thousands of kilograms of gold reserves? If they are really anxious, they will naturally take it out."
The two of them exchanged a few words with each other. Lin Xi finally nodded and said, "It depends on the situation. I think it is indeed possible. Instead of returning the old tanks to the factory for dismantling, it is better to sell them."
What he calls old tanks are actually Type 26 guerrilla tanks and Type 31 guerrilla tanks. The former has become outdated and is being gradually retired, while the latter is the light tank currently mainly equipped by the Ming army.
After seeing the secret weapon used by the British and French armies to break the deadlock in trench warfare, the Ming Dynasty Military Observation Group was not very surprised - isn't this a modern version of a shield car?
Hundreds of years ago, the Hou Jin army was very good at using shield vehicles and heavy infantry to advance in coordination, and it was difficult to deal with them in field situations.
The British Mark and the French Saint-Montcha, these bulky and inflexible iron coffins failed to catch the eyes of the Ming army generals. What really touched them was the later classic - the Renault FT-17 light tank.
Like most countries in the world, Daming's tank development history also originated from the FT-17. The cockpit is in the front, the combat compartment is in the middle, and the power compartment is at the rear. This laid the structural layout of future tanks.
At the same time, for the first time, it used a 360° rotatable turret and leaf spring suspension, and the combination of the 37mm cannon and the 8mm machine gun was also very good. This weapon made the Ming army generals aware of the importance of armored cavalry that had disappeared on the battlefield for many years. Returning to the battlefield in a brand new way.
The Ming Dynasty naturally attached great importance to it. Shortly after the end of the European War, it purchased hundreds of Renault FT-17s one after another, and eagerly began to try to develop its own tanks even though its own automobile industry was not yet developed.
The earliest model is the Type 26 guerrilla fighting vehicle. It has a total combat weight of 8.2 tons, a frontal armor of 16mm, and is equipped with a 38.4mm short-barreled artillery and two machine guns. The maximum road speed can reach 32km/h.
This is a fairly standard light tank at the same time, and the style and characteristics of the Daming tank also start from it - the engine must be air-cooled, the interior space must be as spacious as possible to improve comfort, and the reliability and service must be ensured at the expense of performance. sex.
For example, the Type 26 tank did not use a 100-horsepower water-cooled gasoline engine at that time, but was changed to an 85-horsepower air-cooled gasoline engine.
(End of chapter)
