Qin Lang was reading a book. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A magazine, McClure's.

Yi Shui walked into his office at this time, and immediately noticed this move that surprised him: in his memory, this was the first time he saw Qin Lang reading a magazine.

That's not his style. What Yi Shui means is that, according to his observations over the years, Qin Lang is not a person who likes leisure and entertainment, he is always working, studying his plans that have been made public, those that have not yet been made public, and those that will never be made public, and anyone who walks into his office at any time, if they see what he is looking at, it must be documents, telegrams, letters, professional publications, or a few serious newspapers that are considered to be reporting news that are not so sensational......

McClure, however, was merely a popular magazine for entertainment.

"It's really strange," Yi Shui chose a chair and sat down, "I thought you would never be interested in this kind of publication." ”

"I'm still not interested in these kinds of publications." Qin Lang shook his head—as a time-traveler, how could he be interested in those humble entertainment magazines of this era?

He closed the magazine, threw it casually on his desk, and continued to explain to Yi Shui: "Before I came back, Duncan sent me a telegram telling me that this issue of McClure had a very interesting short story on it, and that I should look for it anyway. ”

"So you did what he suggested?"

"That's right."

That sounds a little unreal...... No, it's very untrue: no matter how interesting it is, is a novel published in a popular journal worthy of Duncan's telegram to inform Qin Lang? And Qin Lang really followed his advice.

"Are you sure you're not kidding?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Well, what kind of novel?" Yi Shui stared at Qin Lang, trying to find any clues on his face that he was playing tricks on himself, but without success.

Only Qin Lang's reply made him think that he might have caught something: "Science fiction...... Let's take it a long way. ”

The sense of unreality in Yi Shui's mind became even stronger—science fiction itself was an almost impossible answer, even without taking into account the uncertain addendum of "let's take it as a matter" -- first of all, Duncan himself had no interest in science fiction.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to recommend a science fiction novel to Qin Lang.

It must be a joke.

Yi Shui's thoughts were unmistakably expressed on his face. Qin Lang smiled and pushed the magazine closer to him. "If you don't believe it, then you can judge for yourself."

Yi Shui grabbed the magazine. "Which one?"

"TheUnparalleledInvasion."

He quickly found the novel and saw the name of its author.

"Jack? London? "The name is somewhat familiar, as if I've heard or seen it somewhere. Yi Shui thought for a while, and finally remembered that in the past year or two, when Duncan was in San Diego, he would occasionally mention this gentleman, John? Griffith?" London, a writer, journalist, activist, and member of the Socialist Party of America, who ran for mayor in Auckland and seems to have recently traveled to the Far East to cover the war between Japan and Russia.

There was no doubt that he should be a famous man, but at Umbrella, no one but Duncan would mention him, Qin Lang and Rachel must have known him, and O'Connor probably did, but they wouldn't like him - he was considered a left-wing writer and a pro-worker - Elizabeth wouldn't care about a fiction writer at all, and neither would he himself.

Yi Shui remembered why he remembered this gentleman: if Rachel was present when Duncan mentioned him, she would make a scathing sarcasm and criticism, and then get into a brief argument with Duncan.

All the quarrels always ended in Duncan's defeat because no one was on his side......

Yi Shui suddenly realized that he had discovered a new problem: Duncan knew Qin Lang's attitude, why did he recommend that Mr. London's novel to Qin Lang?

And Qin Lang really did what he suggested.

It's weird.

Yi Shui speculated that there might be a deeper inside story about this matter. He thought about it for a few seconds and felt that he shouldn't rush into it, so he put the magazine back in its original position and confessed his opinion to Qin Lang: "Frankly, I don't think Duncan will recommend a Jack to you?" London novels, and don't think you'll read it. ”

Qin Lang laughed. "Maybe it's just because it's really really fun?"

"How much fun is it?"

"As I said, it can be considered a science fiction novel," Qin Lang said in the tone of a professional fiction critic, "Mr. London, using novel ideas, subtle language, and concise passages, to depict a future world in which China successfully revives and defeats Japan, then floods the Asian colonies of the United States and European countries with a flood of immigrants, and finally destroys the entire race by the combined use of biological weapons by all countries." ”

Yi Shui glared at him. "You and Duncan really think it's very funny?"

"It's just that I think it's very interesting." Qin Lang replied - in fact, Duncan didn't like that novel at all, he was only surprised that a writer he was still very concerned about would write a work that promoted **** theory and genocide, so he would tell him about it.

So of course there is no word "very interesting" in his telegram, which he added himself, and the purpose is self-evident.

"I should have known......" Yi Shui rubbed his forehead, deeply frustrated that Qin Lang's old trick had succeeded again.

And Qin Lang's conclusion, although he was not surprised.

Qin Lang was serious: "But it's really very interesting!" ”

"I don't think it's any interesting!" Yi Shui couldn't help but retort, "It's just another manifestation of the **** theory." And I'm surprised, like Jack? A writer like London would make up such a novel. ”

"So, that's the most interesting part of it." Qin Lang said happily, "Look, like Jack? A writer like London would write a novel. ”

"You don't seem surprised at all."

"Should I?" Qin Lang asked rhetorically. He certainly wouldn't be surprised, after all, before he even came into the world, he had a fair understanding of the words and actions of those white leftists.

And he thinks that the London gentleman wrote the novel with obvious pertinence: as far as his eyes can see, there is a mixture of evil capitalists and terrible yellow people, and there is support for the government and other capitalists to suppress the workers' movement in arms, and thousands of heavily armed yellow soldiers, all of which combine to make "An Unprecedented Invasion" born.

However, this time Qin Lang slightly overestimated his influence, because in the original timeline, just a few years later, in 1910, Jack? The novel was still written in London, and it was also published in McClure magazine.

He just brought it out of time.

But Qin Lang didn't know this, he didn't care about Jack? London and his novel, and Yi Shui didn't know that the novel was the inevitable result of history - though even if he did, his attitude wouldn't change much - so he thought it was unacceptable.

No, there is nothing unacceptable about the novel itself. Yi Shui thought. Although he didn't like it, he had seen many white supremacists who preached or believed in **** theory, regardless of whether or not they would openly show their political leanings in front of him. This kind of thinking cannot be eradicated, at least not now, so he can only endure it, within acceptable limits.

A fictional novel, it is certainly still within the scope of his acceptance.

But Jack? London is just a writer with little background, and even if he has a little fame, he is only an insignificant little person after all. Yi Shui thought he should be taught a lesson—few people had the guts to bring up the word "yellow monkey" in front of him, or show even the slightest dislike for the yellow race—he was a member of the board of directors of the Umbrella company, an honorary colonel in the Union Army, and a phone call that could call dozens of truckloads of armed soldiers, and anyone who wasn't high enough or didn't have a deep enough background to consider what would happen if he was offended.

Even if that's not his subjective will.

And......

Yi Shui's thinking couldn't continue, Qin Lang had already seen his thoughts. "I think you're thinking about how to teach that London gentleman."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't make any real sense." Qin Lang spread his hands, "Do you know that **** theory has a fairly wide market, and those publishers and commercial authors who have no discipline at all will not give up their immediate interests, even if there is no Jack?" In London, there will be other people, and you can't kill them all. ”

"I didn't say ......"

"Of course we're not going to do that." Qin Lang interrupted Yi Shui's defense, "Actually, Mr. London's novel gave me a new idea......

"Don't tell me." Yi Shui shouted eagerly. No matter what new ideas Qin Lang had, he was sure that he wouldn't like it if there was no accident.

"Okay." Seeing that his attitude was so resolute, Qin Lang had no choice but to keep the new idea in his heart—of course, he could bring it up again at another time—and put the magazine that had created the topic into the drawer. "Now let's get down to business."

"Of course." Yi Shui breathed a sigh of relief, and was obviously worried that Qin Lang would bring up his new idea again, so he took the initiative to start a new topic: "You called me to your office less than an hour after you returned to San Diego, why?" ”

"I need you to go to the Far East to deal with something, and then St. Petersburg." Qin Lang told him, "The mercenaries we sent to the Russians sent back an urgent telegram, and the Russians have made some new demands. ”

"Our people are in trouble?" Yi Shui first grabbed his previous sentence. The word "urgent" keeps him highly concerned because anything, once associated with the word, will end up with bad consequences.

That's usually the case.

"Don't worry, it's just a little trouble." Qin Lang waved his hand, indicating that it was just an insignificant matter, "The few armored vehicles destroyed by the Japanese in the last battle caused us a slight loss of personnel. ”

"That's it?"

"And if new parts and repair tools are not available as soon as possible, then in no more than a week, the entire armored vehicle unit will lose its combat capability."

"The damage is so severe?"

"Some of the losses are due to mechanical failures, including design flaws, improper maintenance and maintenance not in accordance with regulations, but also accident losses due to terrain and human error, collisions, overturns, bogging in the mud, water ingress of vehicles and even overboard, as well as friendly fire from the Russian army, and those gray animals are still stealing our parts, repair tools and gasoline." After a pause, Qin Lang made a brief addition: "There is also antifreeze." ”

Parts, repair tools, and gasoline can be exchanged for vodka on the black market, and antifreeze is used instead of vodka. This is the Russians.

Yi Shui's eyebrows furrowed. "It's not a small hassle."

"If we want the Russians to win the war, it's really not a small trouble, but that's not our goal." Qin Lang singled out the results of his talks with friends in the east, "Our partners have expressed their worries and dissatisfaction with the course of the war, and they want to hear bad news from the Russians, rather than make investors feel that their money has been wasted. ”

"So the loss of combat capability of armored vehicle units is exactly what you would like to see?"

"At the very least, it can make our partners feel that we have taken a positive response." Qin Lang said, "Although I think that the crushing defeat of the Russian Navy has been able to meet their requirements. ”

Yes, the crushing defeat of the Russian Navy. The Pentagon had already received the results of the Battle of Tsushima six hours earlier, and the Imperial Russian Navy had lost almost every battleship that had taken part in the battle - almost, not all, but one cruiser had escaped - including Rear Admiral Wizofutte, thousands of officers and sailors were killed, and less than one survivor was less than one, because more than one battleship had been killed, and the Japanese continued to fire from artillery and machine guns at close range during the sinking of the Russian battleship, and finally, after the battle, The Combined Fleet withdrew from the battlefield in less than twenty minutes, leaving most of the Russians who had fallen overboard.

I have to admit that as students of the Royal Navy, the Japanese learned very well, because in the original timeline, many years later, the Royal Navy would have used the same methods to treat the "Bismarck" and her entire crew - given that she was neither martyred nor capsized, and the order to abandon the ship was given, but only about 400 of the 2,200 crew successfully jumped into the sea, and only 114 survived. The Super Dome battleship was able to play a floating target at sea for up to 1 hour, not because of how well protected it was or how bad the British's hit rate was.

Of course, both the British and the Japanese always found a reason to justify their actions: the British resented that the Bismarck had sunk the Hood, and the Japanese, according to reports, had commanded the fleet with the unusually bold command of the fleet to approach the Japanese warships and engage in a face-to-face battle, thus successfully inflicting heavy damage on the Mikasa, killing several high-ranking Japanese officers and causing Heihachiro Togo to be seriously injured and falling into a coma.

Add to this the losses inflicted on the Japanese by his fleet in the previous battle, and the Japanese, of course, will retaliate by the most ferocious means.

After all, they are inherently fierce.

In addition to this, there was another factor, which Qin Lang did not want to see, the Mr. Cox he sent to Heihachiro Togo seemed to be overperforming his acting skills, and as a result, although most of the high-ranking Japanese officers present hated him more than in the past, his poor performance on the "Mikasa" succeeded in stimulating the junior officers and ordinary sailors of the Combined Fleet......

If the report is true, it would be terrible. The Japanese could have pushed this fool out to attract firepower, regardless of whether the Western world believed the Japanese justifications or not, for Qin Lang, his problem was that once Cox stood under the spotlight, his little secret would be immediately exposed.

In other words, in order to prevent something bad from happening, Cox must be dealt with properly.

Qin Lang pondered, but after a while, he remembered that Yi Shui was still waiting, so he put Cox's question aside for the time being.

"In conclusion, the situation in the armored vehicle units is favorable to us, but it is also impossible for us to directly announce the cessation of the supply of parts and repair equipment." He went on to tell Yi Shui, "So I merged it with the demands made by the Russians, and we will only solve it if you solve them." ”

"What are the demands of the Russians?"

"Part of the requirements is related to the loss of armored vehicles." Qin Lang shrugged his shoulders, "The Russians and our people have a disagreement about which of the lost armored vehicles should be held accountable by us and which should be held accountable by them. ”

"What do the Russians mean?"

"To put it simply, they want us to take most of the blame, and then use that to lose some of the money and rent, and at the same time ask us to provide more armored vehicles as compensation."

Yi Shui was not surprised by the demands of the Russians. Qin Lang and Rachel had already spoken more than once about the risks of doing business with the Russians, and the Jewish businessmen close to Umbrella had warned of them, despite the fact that they were mixed with personal Jewish vendetta against Russia.

And he himself did not have much affection for the Russians.

"It's like the Russians can do it." "So, our job is to put most of the responsibility on the Russians?" he quipped. ”

"No, it's your job to make them take full responsibility."

"All?" Yi Shui felt that this request could not be fulfilled, unless the Russians' brains had been frozen by the cold Siberian air.

"Don't worry, those Russians won't send you to feed the polar bears, or cut you into pieces and stuff you into gasoline drums, fill them with cement and throw them into the Pacific Ocean, as our guys used to do." Qin Lang seemed to say a joke, but it was not a joke, and he was not trying to comfort Yi Shui, because the problem was actually easy to solve, not complicated at all, "Our technicians will prove that all the problems are the responsibility of the Russians, what you have to do is very simple, use vodka to get all the Russians who negotiate with you, and send a little little gift, they will agree with your investigation conclusion, and sign the documents you take out." ”

"What if someone investigates?"

"Drag him into the water too."

Yi Shui was stunned for a while, and finally shook his head. "I don't think that's the problem, even if we bribe the Russians who are in charge of dealing with the problem, I'm afraid it won't do anything, if they plan to pay the bill and let us provide more armored vehicles, then this must be the meaning of some big man in St. Petersburg, maybe it's the tsar himself, and settling the people below won't make any difference."

"Then it's time to use the other demands of the Russians as bargaining chips."

"What else could they ask for?"

After being silent for a few seconds, Qin Lang pretended to lower his voice and said, "St. Petersburg wants us to develop a tracked armored combat vehicle equipped with a 4.7-inch naval gun or a 6-inch howitzer for the Russian Army. ”

This was really unexpectedly shocking news, so much so that at the very beginning, Yi Shui didn't know what he should say.

A tracked armored combat vehicle armed with a 4.7-inch naval gun or a 6-inch howitzer! How obsessed with large-caliber artillery are those crazy Ivans? Anyone who has ever seen a Caterpillar tracked bulldozer would not think that it can fit weapons with a caliber of more than 1 inch, and even if such a machine can be improved over time, God knows how many years it will take to develop enough to fit that large caliber gun - ten, twenty, or thirty years?

Finally, he came up with a comment: "Do they know what they're asking for?" ”

"I don't think they know, but I do."

"You know?"

Qin Lang nodded, and replied in a tone that was definitely not a joke: "A walking thatched house." ”

Yi Shui felt that this was the funniest joke he had heard today, although he didn't understand what it meant at all.

He originally thought that Qin Lang would explain his joke a little, but Qin Lang didn't—he had already continued. "I decided to tell the Russians that we are not yet able to develop such a huge war machine, but we can develop an armored combat vehicle with an installed cannon of no more than 3 inches in caliber, if the Russian government is willing to bear the expense......"

"Do we have artillery like that?" Yi Shui asked, but he didn't need Qin Lang to answer, because it was unmistakable, no.

But Qin Lang had already thought of it, and he had a solution. "So I'm going to ask the Russians to provide artillery for development work, or to finance the development of a new type of artillery that can fit into combat vehicles."

"So, if St. Petersburg agrees, we will still need to develop a new artillery?" Yi Shui thought of George?" Claude, whose department has taken on so many development and improvement tasks that everyone is a little out of breath, is quite skeptical that they still have the technical strength, the time and the energy to complete a new job.

He was deeply sympathetic to what had happened to these people. "I can already imagine the look on poor old Claude's face when he heard the news."

"If you had come earlier, you wouldn't have to imagine his expression."

"You've already told him?"

The answer is still yes. "I asked him to set about improving the Army's M1902-type 3-inch field gun, converting it to 1897 mm caliber ammunition using the French's M75 field guns, and I would build a new factory to produce such shells."

It was not without reason that he chose to transform the US Army's field guns into 75 mm caliber and use the ammunition of the M1897 field guns: in the future, when the US government decided to enter the world war, the US Army would replace its own 75-inch field guns with Miss 3, and transform the imitation and upgraded version of the British 18-pounder field gun to use the ammunition of Miss 75, with the aim of directly using a large number of artillery and ammunition made by the French, saving transportation capacity and simplifying logistics supply; A little further afield, in World War II, Miss 75 and her juniors — mounted as the main guns on General Lee, Sherman, Xia Fei, and the Mitchell bombers of the G and H series — would still play an important role in every campaign in which the U.S. military participated.

It's good business. Even if the Allied Ministry insisted on making artillery from its own arsenal, Umbrella could still get orders for ammunition from the army, and even from the French army - you know, because of their tactical theory, at the very beginning of the First World War, the French 75 Miss did not even have grenades.

The two world wars consumed hundreds of millions of 75-mm artillery shells, and even a small part of them was enough to make every arms dealer tempted.

If only they could see as far as he did.

But only if.

So far, he is still the only traverser in this world, an unlucky person in some sense, so no one can see as far as he can, so they will doubt his plans and raise objections.

Just like Yi Shui is doing: "That means we still have to find a way to get an M1902 field gun, and the French 75mm shells, and maybe their drawings." They are the newest weapons of the American and French armies. ”

"I'll solve the problem of shells. Field artillery can be handed over to our military advisers. ”

"But the Russians may reject your offer. Maybe they insisted that we provide ......," Yi Shui paused and recalled the words Qin Lang had used just now, "...... A walking thatched hut. ”

"That's what you're trying to solve, convince the Russians to accept our proposal." Qin Lang thought about it, and finally decided to reveal his bottom line to Yi Shui, "In fact, the crux of the whole problem is that we need to prepare a 75 mm caliber gun for the future tracked armored combat vehicle to destroy field fortifications, which is the conclusion based on the combat report provided by our people." However, because the development of new weapons requires significant investment, we also need someone to share the cost. ”

"And the Russians just delivered to the door?"

"That's it."

"So, my task is to hold the Russians accountable for the loss of armored vehicles, to convince them to abandon the crazy idea of developing a walking hut, and finally to make them share the cost of development for our new weapons?" Yi Shui felt that none of these tasks could be completed by him, "Hell, that's a Russian, not a fool." ”

"You have to use your professionalism as a true international arms dealer and use a little bit of conventional negotiation skills......"

Qin Lang's persuasion had no effect. Yi Shui has done many things, including leading an army into military operations, but has never played the role of an international arms dealer, let alone a real international arms dealer. This is Qin Lang's role, and occasionally Rachel will play this role, and even Duncan is more qualified than him for this role. No matter what Qin Lang said, Yi Shui always firmly believed that he should re-select a better candidate than him.

In the end, Qin Lang could only show his hole cards: "I've already decided, and when you came over, I had already spoken on the phone with Rachel and O'Connor, and they agreed to my arrangement." ”

"What? You can't ......."

Yi Shui tried to protest, but a rapid phone ringing blocked all he had to say. Qin Lang motioned for him to be quiet, and then picked up the earpiece.

The call came in from the Pentagon's radio communications department, which was responsible for sending and receiving encrypted messages from within Umbrella, and the supervisor on duty reported to Qin Lang in a hurried tone an unexpected update from the Far East.

"Two hours ago, a Russian fleet shelled Tokyo."

※※※※※※※※※※

1. This chapter commemorates the 1,628th day of the discontinuation of this article.

2. Finally remembered the author's account number and password - in fact, I kept reversing them.

3. There is no outline, no information, and no saved manuscript for this article, so if there are no accidents, don't expect continuous updates.

4. I've forgotten what I wrote before, and if there is a conflict or repetition, that's the only way to do it. (To be continued.) )