afterglow

Chapter 99

There will always be international hotspots. Perhaps last month, the conflict between Ming and Britain in India and Dublin could make the headlines of newspapers in various countries. However, as time comes to August, the border war between the two seems to have become an insignificant matter. .

In the past ten days, except for Daming, the headlines of newspapers in almost all countries have been dominated by the war in Spain.

On July [-], the plane of the rebel leader José crashed due to overloading, because he insisted on carrying a full suit with him, which caused the plane to be overweight; some people claimed that this was an assassination conspiracy by Francisco.

On July [-], after realizing that the rebellion could not succeed in a short period of time, the rebel generals decided to take a long-term view. 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 [-], Italy sent its air force to Morocco, and a dozen transport planes were used to transfer Spanish rebels.As a result, the rebels quickly sent their troops in Morocco back to fight in mainland Spain.

"So, what is the current situation in Spain? Are there any new changes?"

In the Wenhua Palace, the current prime minister, Zou Zhuoyun, asked the question as soon as he entered.

Compared with a strategizing and strategic decision-maker, Zou Zhuoyun is actually more like a big 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, a scholar in charge of diplomacy at Hua Gai Dian University, did not think too much, and replied concisely: "Your Excellency, most of the Spanish navy is still loyal to the official, and the sailors on many ships have organized self-government committees, arrested officers who intend to rebel, and controlled the ships. , About [-]% of the warships are under the official control, but due to the lack of officers, they cannot fight in a short time."

"As for the Air Force, the vast majority of Air Force officers sneered at the rebellion. They are basically loyal to the official, but the Ministry of War believes that they have little combat power at all because the fighter planes are old and lack sufficient spare parts."

In ancient times, the Sangong had the right to open yamen and build mansions, which was called Kaige, so it was honored as "Your Excellency".

Of course, with the passage of time, this word has gradually become widely used. For example, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when "adult" was not often abused, the title "Your Excellency" often appeared.

Zou Zhuoyun thought for a while and asked, "Is Italy sending the air force to join the war?"

Yu Shenhua said "Yes", "On the night of local time, the exiled king of Spain, Alfonso, convinced the Italian side that the Italian Air Force would directly participate in the war."

"Is there 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 the German side?"

"As in the past few days, they expressed that they are closely monitoring the situation, but according to the embassy, ​​they are deciding whether to formally send troops to aid, and perhaps the results will come out in the next few days."

After summarizing the known information and making sure that there were no omissions, Zou Zhuoyun calmly said: "The water is getting muddier, that's okay, so all the attention will go to Taixi, and our place will become secondary."

He stared at the tea leaves floating in the delicate porcelain cup in front of him, and then said, "Don't worry, it's a good thing."

Seeing Li Guangyuan, a scholar of the Huagaidian University, who was about to speak, Lin Xi said first, "When is the best time for our country to express its position? I have already drafted the candidates for the military observation team."

Zou Zhuoyun with a relaxed expression said with a smile: "Don't worry about this, don't forget about Batavia, just wait for a few days."

"Batavia? What's the matter?" Li Guangyuan asked with a slight frown.

He is the Minister of Finance and has nothing to do with this matter, so naturally there is no need to inform him.

"To put it simply, the intelligence department was ordered to organize a team to go to Batavia to kill the traitors, but they made a lot of noise." Lin Xi's speech was a bit fast, approaching the limit of incomprehensibility .

Anyway, they were not in a hurry to express their opinion on the Spanish matter, and just happened to have this matter of the Dutch East Indies, so Zou Zhuoyun and Lin Xi planned to fine-tune their decision-making naturally.

If the Dutch protested publicly, they would be perfunctory, and then immediately stated Ming's position on the Spanish Civil War, diverting the attention of all countries, and making the Dutch unable to express their suffering.

This is a handy trick, not a brilliant strategy.

"Oh." Li Guangyuan didn't care about this, he turned to ask: "Every country regards the area of ​​Frangji as a testing ground for their own weapons, does the military have similar plans?"

Lin Xi joked: "Yes, as long as you, Mr. Li, agree to allocate the money, tomorrow...no, I will sign the transfer of tanks and planes when I go back today."

"Come on, why don't you expect us to help you for nothing?" Interested Li Guangyuan waved his index finger, "Want weapons? It will cost money."

"The situation in Spain has been chaotic for so many years, and foreign exchange has already bottomed out."

"Then exchange it with real gold and silver. Don't they still have a gold reserve of hundreds of thousands of catties? I'm really impatient, and I will naturally take it out obediently."

The two of you 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."

The so-called old tanks are actually Type [-] guerrilla tanks and Type [-] guerrilla tanks. The former is outdated and is being gradually retired, while the latter is currently the main light tank 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 Daming Military Observer Group was not very surprised—isn’t this the modern version of the shield car?
Hundreds of years ago, the Houjin army was very good at advancing with shielded vehicles and heavy infantry, and it was difficult to deal with them in field situations.

Mark of the British, St. Moncha of the French, these bulky and inflexible iron coffins failed to catch the eyes of the generals of the Ming army. It was the later classic Renault FT-17 light tank that really touched them.

Like most countries in the world, Ming’s tank development history also originated from the FT-17, with the cockpit at the front, the fighting compartment at the center, and the power compartment at the rear, which laid the foundation for the structural layout of future tanks.

At the same time, it applied the 360°rotatable turret and leaf spring suspension for the first time, and the match between the 37mm artillery and the 8mm machine gun is also very good. This weapon made the generals of the Ming army realize that the armored cavalry that had disappeared on the battlefield for many years must be Returning to the battlefield in a brand new way.

Daming naturally attached great importance to it. Soon after the end of the European War, he bought hundreds of Renault FT-17s one after another, and couldn't wait to start trying to develop tanks by himself when his own auto industry was not yet developed.

The earliest model is the 8.2-type guerrilla chariot, with a total combat weight of 16 tons, a frontal armor of 38.4mm, and a 32mm short-barreled artillery and two machine guns. The maximum speed on the road can reach [-]㎞/h.

This is a moderate light tank at the same time, and the style and characteristics of the Ming tank also start from it - the engine must be air-cooled, the interior space of the vehicle must be as large as possible to improve comfort, and the performance must be sacrificed to ensure reliability and service. sex.

For example, the Type 26 tank did not use a 100-horsepower water-cooled gasoline engine at that time, but an 85-horsepower air-cooled gasoline engine.

(End of this chapter)