87 Looking South (7)

European historians, when studying the history of the thirties of the twentieth century, consider 1935 to be the first peak of British appeasement. The first was the treaty signed on June 18, 1935 on the armament forces of the navies of the two countries. The total tonnage of ships of the German Navy does not exceed 35% of the total tonnage of naval vessels of the Commonwealth countries as stipulated in the Washington Naval Treaties and the London Naval Treaties. In the case of submarines, Germany has pledged that the tonnage of submarines it retains does not exceed 45 per cent of the total tonnage of submarines of the Commonwealth navies.

The other is the Sino-Dutch Armistice Agreement signed on December 12, 1935, and the Sino-British Friendship Treaty signed on December 24.

China and the Netherlands declared an armistice, the Netherlands ceded Borneo, Sulawesi, the Natuna Islands, and the Maluku Islands to China, and the Netherlands and China agreed that each other's banks would carry out comprehensive financial operations in the two countries, including personal deposits.

China and Britain have established a security system in the Western Pacific on the basis of the UK's assurance of shipping route control. A series of financial measures, including currency exchange between the two sides, have strengthened trade between China and the United Kingdom.

In 1936, China and Britain signed an investment agreement in the financial sector, allowing Britain to invest and issue bonds in China's soon-to-be-built Shanghai and Guangzhou financial markets.

In the entry into force of the Sino-British Friendship Treaty, it was stipulated that after the entry into force of the Sino-British Friendship Treaty, Sino-German military cooperation must be suspended. The Chinese side complied with the agreement and sent a large number of German military exchange delegations in China back to Germany. However, the agreement does not stipulate that China must not honor the agreement it reached with Germany before the signing of the Sino-British Treaty of Amity.

The mustache was very smart, and in addition to not thinking about the war potential of the Soviet Union, the strategic and tactical considerations that were historically displayed before 1942 had reached the level of genius. It is impossible for him not to understand what a diesel-electric hybrid submarine with an underwater displacement of 2200 tons means. The result of the efforts of the Chinese and German navies and engineers, the 13,000-nautical-mile surface endurance is a result of a rotating sonar array that allows these killers to silently monitor any ship moving on the surface.

When asked by China if Germany still wanted to carry out the deal, the mustache asked the question in turn how China was going to send the ships to Germany. The easiest way to do this is to take Malacca, cross the Suez Canal, cross the Strait of Gibraltar and the English Channel through the Mediterranean Sea and reach a German port. It is impossible for a submarine to dive all of it, and the conventional action of a submarine is to be exposed. After such a route, Britain and France along the way were afraid that they would dare to send their navies to intercept this submarine fleet at once.

The other route is simpler, starting from China and heading north through the Bering Sea via the Arctic Ocean route. The route was too affected by the climate, but it was possible to return to Germany from the North Sea only after passing through the Soviet Union. The bad thing is that the Soviet Union must have known that China and Germany were jointly developing submarine technology, and they would ask China to import this technology.

Of course, there is another solution that is easier to get rid of dependence on the Strait of Malacca, and after the election of a new Politburo Standing Committee, the new Politburo Standing Committee agreed to the solution proposed by Chen Ke.

In January 1936, a Chinese envoy visited the Siamese government.

In 1936, there were only five Asian-founded countries in Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Siam, and Iran. The others were colonized or fostered by Europeans. Although Siam remained independent, it was tightly controlled by the British. King Rama VII of Siam abdicated in the United Kingdom in 1935 and passed the throne to King Rama VIII. The seventh king lived in England, while the eighth king studied in Switzerland. The power of Siam was headed by three rulers.

The Chinese side decided to adopt a very unorthodox approach to the Siam problem. The envoy made a request to the Siamese government to lease land. Thousands of square kilometres, including the Kra Isthmus, were leased for a period of 25 years. The area is mountainous and across the sea from Chinese-controlled Cambodia. To the east, there is a large plain, which is suitable for growing coconut and oil palm. Many cash crops can also be produced in mountainous areas. The Chinese envoy expressed his willingness to develop the land in the area.

The ruling parties did not understand what China was trying to do, and then the Chinese envoy "softly" raised the issue of the division of land between China's Lao province and Siam. When Britain and France were settling the colonial conflict, France suffered a little loss in land division. Much of the ancient land of the Chinese province of Laos is now within the Siam border. The Chinese envoy believes that it is necessary for Siam to make some friendly gestures. For example, China is allowed to develop this land and build factories such as oil refineries. Without this minimum gesture of friendship, China would have had to consider the territorial issue that has existed since ancient times.

The three Siamese rulers were aware of China's construction of oil refineries in Cambodia, and if the ships carrying oil did not bypass Malacca and instead built an oil pipeline on the Kra Isthmus, they could save a lot of capacity. China's oil fleet is only used to transport goods between the western end of the pipeline in the Kra Isthmus region and the Middle East, and the eastern end of the pipeline can travel a very short distance between the refinery and the oil station.

The benefits that China has promised to Siam are significant, including helping Siam build its domestic railway network and helping Siam build its inland river network. After the construction of the railway is completed, Siam itself will be in charge, and China will only provide technical assistance, and China will not participate in operating income. The Siamese had to pay for the boats themselves.

The Siamese side knew that China had signed a friendship agreement with Britain and also had an army force that overwhelmed Britain. Siam can't afford to mess with Britain and can't afford to mess with China. Under the combined soft and hard tactics of the Chinese envoys, the Siamese government first communicated with the British, and then signed the agreement with China. The agreement allows China to "wholly own the construction of projects related to oil transportation".

On March 1, 1936, the agreement was signed. On March 4, a convoy of transport ships set sail from Cambodia to the vicinity of the Kra Isthmus to begin unloading engineering equipment and engineering personnel, and by June, when the steamer of the Chinese members of the Berlin Summer Olympics passed through the Strait of Malacca, the exploration of Chinese engineers through this area was basically completed, and the test excavation work was in full swing. On August 1, 1936, the day of the official opening of the Berlin Olympic Games, China also officially determined the excavation route of the Kra Canal and began construction.

The excavation of the Kra Canal is a repeat of the same old story for Siam. During the reign of King V of the Bangkok Dynasty, King Chulalongkorn was a champion of innovation who traveled extensively across Europe to introduce advanced Western technology to Thailand. At that time, the international maritime industry was already quite large, so the idea of opening the Kra Canal to facilitate the sea passage between the Pacific and Indian Oceans was born. However, at that time, it was not fashionable for international cooperation to build mega projects, and Thailand alone could not be able to do it. A war ensued, and the major powers were so blood-and-blood that they could not afford to carry out such a huge project.

Once the Kra Canal opens, the distance between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean will be shortened by at least about 1,200 kilometers, saving two to five days for large ships, which is undoubtedly a good thing for countries that rely heavily on the Strait of Malacca for shipping.

China's case is indeed very good, and now the cost of transporting tens of millions of tons of oil from the Middle East every year can be reduced immediately after the Kra Canal. China sells goods to the Indian Ocean region every year and is also able to reduce transportation costs through the Clark Canal. This is a huge benefit for China, but it is also a huge loss for Britain. From the perspective of China's geographical location, after the Kra Canal, China did not need to go through the Strait of Malacca, and the British would not receive any money for tolls. In the event of war, the Chinese fleet would be able to go directly through the Kra Canal and completely bypass the blockade of the Strait of Malacca. This is tantamount to the destruction of hundreds of years of British business in Malacca.

The Chinese side knew very well that Britain would not be able to agree to the excavation of such a canal, even if Britain was brought in as a shareholder. In this case, certain small measures have to be put on the table.

The established route of the Kra Canal, with a total length of 81 km, 400 m wide and a water depth of 25 m, is a two-way channel canal that traverses the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Although the project has to pass through Luang Mountain, the construction is difficult. Fortunately, the mountainous areas are sparsely populated, and China can delay time by blocking the leased land.

It is absolutely impossible to talk to the British, and the British never eat that set. Since the British belong to the type of regression that does not go away, China's attitude is very clear, that is, to create a fait accompli, and then implement the future around the fait accompli. In order to build this project, the Chinese side mobilized six corps units at the military level, with a total of 180,000 engineers.

Chen Ke is well aware of how much the Kra Canal will be profitable if it is completed, and in the 21st century, large ships passing through the Kra Canal can save two to five days, and each voyage is expected to save nearly $300,000. According to China's demand for oil in the 21st century, there must be at least 1,000 large oil tankers passing through the Kra Canal every year. More than $300 million a year can be saved on oil transportation alone. And that's not to mention the transportation of other ships in China. The cost savings over decades will be a huge number.

For this purpose, China is willing to coax and deceive the Kra Canal project. Moreover, the means used by the United States to obtain the Panama Canal are absolutely disgraceful, but this canal, which has a huge role in promoting world shipping, has not become the object of admiration of later generations. The world is very practical.

China was determined to dig the Kra Canal, and Germany's 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were also very lively. The torch relay is the mustache's way of doing it. From the perspective of a conservative artist, this is a good approach. Chen Ke once thought that he was a racist, but many historical sources do not support this view.

First of all, there is the question of the Jews, in the German army, navy and air force, there are more than 150,000 Jews, half-Jews, and a quarter of people of Jewish descent in service, including one at the rank of marshal and dozens at the rank of general!

Air Marshal Goering also protected famous scientists of Jewish descent. At one time, he told Hitler that Arthur 61 Emhausen, the famous chemist and entrepreneur, was half-Jewish, and asked for Hitler's help. Hitler said that if he had made such great discoveries in the field of science, we should declare him Aryan. The next day, Göring informed Emhausen that Hitler had declared him an Aryan because of his outstanding contributions to science.

A large number of officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force were protecting their men and friends of Jewish descent, if this was only a move of the Wehrmacht. Then Heydrich of the Nazi Party had a nose peculiar to Jews, and at a glance it was of Jewish origin. However, historical sources show that if the favored Heydrich had not been killed by Czechoslovak paratroopers, he would have probably become Hitler's designated successor.

Heydrich, the deputy commander-in-chief of the German SS and a police general, was a thorn in Himmler's side. If there was Jewish blood in the Third Reich to decide the fate, Heydrich would have been doomed long ago.

As for the members of the German SS, who existed from Cossack furs to Turkish buns, it is not clear how insistent they were in their bloodlines. In the midst of the good times in Germany, the SS chief Himmler also believed that the next SS supreme commander was likely not to be German, or even Aryan.

This is the current situation in Germany, where all kinds of demands from all sides are gathered, and finally unified under the banner of external expansion, and a bizarre live drama is exhibited. The core point of this force led by Mustache is that the strong man is king, so Mustache wants to make peace with Britain when he has the advantage, and at the same time he is very afraid of the United States intervening in the war. There was great hatred of the Slavs, whom they regarded as an inferior people. Overall, there is a lack of a long-term strategy.

In addition, the mustache is a civilian after all, and the Nazi Party represents the populist grassroots, and is constantly in a state of struggle with the Wehrmacht, an organization that is inextricably linked to the Junckers. In this case, which side China will stand on will require a very delicate skill. China will definitely not ally with the mustaches, and likewise will not support the Wehrmacht bunch of fools.

Since the mustache is a smart person, the envoy sent to Germany is Wu Xiangyu, who is definitely not under the mustache. Before leaving, Chen Ke told Wu Xiangyu that he should never pour mustache wine. During the Republic of China, the SB diplomats of the Kuomintang met with the mustache, and the mustache of course looked down on the kind of bastard who was flattering, and his words were naturally not polite enough.

The second goods felt that he had lost face, and knew that the mustache had a bad amount of alcohol, so he had to clink glasses with the mustache. It was impossible for the mustache to deliberately show timidity, so he had to drink it all down. In the end, the mustache was not lightly damp. This is also considered a "success" of the diplomacy of the Republic of China. Chen Ke was sure that Wu Xiangyu would never do such a stupid thing, but Comrade Wu Xiangyu drank too much, in case he wanted to show politeness, he would have a glass of stomach in his hand, and the mustache could only sacrifice his life to accompany the gentleman. Things don't turn out to be pretty.

Of course, Wu Xiangyu can understand what Chen Ke meant, one of the disciplines of the People's Party is that it is absolutely forbidden to drink alcohol. First, Chen Ke particularly hates this vice, and second, the people have become rich in recent years, and they can really afford to drink. So Chen Ke promulgated this ban early.

As Chen Ke expected, the mustache warmly entertained Wu Xiangyu, the Chinese envoy and head of the sports delegation. The talks between the two sides went straight to the point, the future strategic relationship between China and Germany.