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On June 1, 1928, Hersmann flew to Rome, Italy, aboard a slender Junkers J.28 with four 750 hp star-engined air-cooled engines. He was accompanied by Mussolini's old friend Val T. Rathenau and Karl Haushofer of the Industrial Promotion Council, as well as several members of his entourage.

"Ludwig, this plane is amazing, when will our Fiat company build such a big guy."

Greeted at the airport by the new Italian Minister of Aviation, Itano. Balbo has been in charge of "German-Italian cooperation" for the past few years and is familiar with Hersmann. As soon as they met, they unabashedly looked at the plane that would send Hersman to Rome.

Germany lagged behind Italy in terms of liquid-cooled aero engines and "light high-speed aircraft" (fast planes used for racing). However, the advantages of both air-cooled engines and large transport aircraft (passenger aircraft) are very clear. Not to mention Italy, even the British, American and French companies that produce air-cooled engines and large aircraft together have less market share than half of the major German companies such as Fokker, Juncker, Dornier (a seaplane company founded in 1922), Focker-Wolff, Albatross, Siemens (Siemens is now also in the air-cooled aero engine market) and BMW.

The reason for this was due to Hersmann's efforts to promote Soviet-German cooperation, because most of the products of Fokker, Juncker, Dornier, Focke-Wolff, Albatross, Siemens, and BMW were developed in cooperation with the Soviet Union, which covered more than half of the development costs. And for every engine and aircraft, a large number of orders were received from the Soviet and German governments (for reparations). While aircraft factories in the UK, France and Italy are battling over orders for one or two, Fokker and Junkers can easily secure orders for hundreds.

For example, Hersmann has already won 128 orders for the Junkers J.28 passenger plane that Hersmann flew this time before it was finalized. Of these, 75 were "modified aircraft" ordered by the Red Air Force of the USSR. In fact, the bomber J.28 was exported as a passenger aircraft as a spare part and assembled into a TB-2 heavy bomber in the Soviet Union.

And the assembly of parts was only the beginning of the localization of the J.28 in the USSR. After assembling all 75 parts of the aircraft, Soviet engineers were able to get the J.28 to the letter, and then they would produce it themselves with the help of German engineers - the engines would need to be imported for some time before they could be copied, and the on-board electronics and navigation equipment would only be exported without transferring technology.

Through this collaborative approach. Not only Germany can maintain a considerable lead in the field of air-cooled engines and large aircraft. Even the Soviet Union was second only to Germany in these two aspects, and was a head ahead of Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and other countries, not to mention the Japanese Empire in the Far East.

"Itano, we can work together, didn't Mr. Junkers come to Italy in April?" Hersman and Balbo hugged very warmly, smiling and mentioning the cooperation in aviation.

"I know that in that negotiation, Fiat was reluctant to transfer the technology of liquid-cooled engines, and we were leading the world in that regard!" Itano. Balbo said proudly.

It is true that Italy has a leading position in the field of liquid-cooled aero engines, but the Italian market is too small. It can't support a large and comprehensive aviation industry. So Italy's lead did not last long, and by the time the Second World War broke out, it was already behind Britain, the United States and Germany.

In Hersmann's view, the sustainable development model of the Italian aviation industry should be to specialize in one route - either the liquid cooling route or the air cooling route. It would also be better to work with Germany, Italy's future close ally.

Considering that Germany has taken the lead in the field of air-cooled engines, the Italians can completely hand over the development route of air-cooled engines to Germany, and at the same time cooperate with Germany to engage in liquid cooling.

However, such an ideal would most likely not come to fruition, because the Italian leader did not yet know the sad fate of his defeat.

Balbo used several Fiat luxury cars to transport Hersmann, Rärtnau, and Haushofer to Rärtnow on the banks of the Tiber River. Inside the luxurious residence facing Castel Sant'Angelo (the Castle of the Pope).

It is a Renaissance-style house with a swimming pool with a large garden, which belonged to the Bonaparte family before Rathenau took over. It may be that there is no confidence in the security of Germany at home. Rathenau now spends most of his time in this house - in Italy. It is absolutely safe for a billionaire like him to be a good friend of the leader. In fact, the law and order in Italy is now the best in the world, and the mafia is honestly in prison. Murders, robberies, kidnappings, and other evil acts rarely occur several times a year in the country. In Rome, anyone can walk around with a bundle of cash in their hands.

And the Italian economy also grew steadily under fascist management. The Fascist Party, like the Bolsheviks, was to some extent enthusiastic about the development of industrial production. They also like to use the power of the state to support industry, although they also like the Bolsheviks to have a large and comprehensive industrial structure. Often, some "big and weak" industries will develop.

But on the whole, fascism is still a relatively reliable choice for late-developing economies -- many successful late-developing economies in history have been called "fascists" and white terror for a while.

"But it's a different story now." Italy's Minister of Aviation took a glass of soda from the servant of the Rathenau family, took a sip and said with a smile. "I wasn't the Minister of Aviation in April, but now I am."

Haushofer laughed, "That's great, Mr. Junkers will be very happy." Because his competitor Fokker has already acquired BMW's liquid-cooled engine business, and is also working with Mercedes-Benz to make a big splash in the liquid-cooled engine field. ”

Hersmann plans to have two air-cooled engine (aero) and two liquid-cooled engine (aero) producers in Germany in order to create a degree of competition.

Now there are two giants on the air-cooled line, Siemens and BMW, and on the liquid-cooled line, Fokker-Benz and Junker-Jumo. Considering Germany's temporary lag in the field of liquid cooling, it would be advantageous for the two liquid-cooled engine companies to cooperate with their counterparts in Britain and Italy, respectively - and it would be easier for Hersmann's agents to steal the technology.

"But I have one more condition." Balbo grinned, "I know that you provided the Soviet Union with the technology to build aircraft carriers and gave them carrier-based aircraft. ”

"Yes," Hersman did not deny, "Karl. The Marx class was designed by us, and there is a complete set of drawings in the headquarters of Julius Caesar the Great in Riga. The carrier-based aircraft on this aircraft carrier were all designed by German aircraft manufacturers such as Fokker, Junker, Focke-Wolff and Dornier, and manufactured by the company FK-BF. Among them, Fokker made a carrier-based fighter, Juncker made a bomber, Focke-Wolf made a torpedo attack aircraft, and the reconnaissance aircraft was designed by Dornier. We can sell you all the blueprints for these aircraft, but if Italy were to design and build an aircraft carrier, the engineers of Julius Caesar's shipyard would have to be involved in the whole process. ”

All carrier-based aircraft were air-cooled, and the German companies such as Fokker, Junker Folk-Wolf, and Dornier, which were designed for the Soviet Union, also took the air-cooled route, so the German companies had quite high technology in this area and did not need to cooperate with Italian companies at all.

However, the level of design and construction of aircraft carriers must be improved through cooperation with foreign countries. Through previous cooperation with the Soviet Union, Germany mastered the construction of medium aircraft carriers for use in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Indian Oceans. But the aircraft carrier used in the Atlantic has not yet landed.

Balbo didn't seem to expect the Germans to put forward such conditions, so he was stunned for a moment, and then asked rhetorically: "Ludwig, what do you Germans want to do?" You are a defeated country...... the Treaty of Versailles has not been annulled, have you? I think you should know this place in Italy, after all, not the USSR! ”

The Soviet Union was an Iron Curtain country, and although Britain and France could guess that there were a large number of violations of the Treaty of Versailles in the cooperation between Germany and the Soviet Union, the evidence was absolutely unavailable. But Italy is not so airtight, even if Mussolini agrees to keep it secret, it is difficult to say how the people below will implement it.

"It doesn't matter, we don't have high requirements for confidentiality." Hersman shrugged his shoulders, then glanced at Rathenau. The Jewish billionaire laughed and said, "Mr. Minister, a new era, an era of European solidarity, may soon come...... The difficulties facing Britain and the problems facing Europe can only be solved through solidarity and cooperation. I think the Versailles Treaty will soon be removed from Germany. So instead of opposing our cooperation with Italy, Britain may even participate directly. ”

"What? Will the UK work with you on aircraft carriers? ”

"We hope so," said Val T. Rathenau, nodding affirmatively, "and that is the purpose of my coming to Rome, and we would like to ask the leaders to convene a conference to discuss the economic problems of Europe." You know, Europe's economy is facing a huge catastrophe. ”

"And what are you going to propose at the meeting?" Balbo asked immediately. He knew that the Italian leaders would agree to such a meeting, because it would enhance Italy's international standing, and the leaders liked to talk in front of a bunch of foreign leaders.

"A Euromonetary Union!" "We want to create such an alliance that will allow all the countries of Europe to use a currency that is beyond sovereignty, that will be issued by an ECB, that will never depreciate, that will be a hard currency that can be relied upon...... It was not ours, but the British, and we decided to give it our full support, but it was inconvenient for the conference to be held on German soil. That's why I would like to ask the leaders of Italy to come forward. ”

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