Co-opting and persuading the marginal forces everywhere and pooling and borrowing their manpower and material resources to jointly fight against the Axis Alliance was Li Kongrong's general strategy. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info With his ability, he can only play with these marginal forces, and the behemoths of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union are simply not something he can manipulate. It was only for the rescue of the Jews, although he had a big brain, and offered the strategy of submarine smuggling, but the American Jews were still not interested, and when the future was uncertain, they were most afraid of being excluded in the United States like Germany.

But the release of kindness was not without reward, and the next day, Weiss informed Li Kongrong of an address and asked him to find a gentleman named Seligman. Seligman, Lehman, Schiff ......, these names are well-known in later generations, Li Kongrong, who feels that things are going on with drama, is full of hope to go to Seligman, and sure enough, the conversation after the meeting is extremely smooth.

"Mister Lee, I can accept gold as collateral and lend ten million dollars in cash as you ask." In a European-style manor, Seligman, who is in his fifties, is extremely committed and speaks English, but he can still hear some German accents, and he is a German Jew.

"And what's the interest?" Li Kongrong nodded in thanks, and he was also very rigorous in asking for details.

"The annual interest rate is 7 percent, and 98% off is delivered." Mr. Seligman replied, looking at Li Kongrong with an inquiry.

"No problem!" Li Kongrong readily agreed, this is based on the market interest, although the market interest is the highest is 6 percent. "Sir, I still have a batch of jewelry and ornaments that I hope to mortgage on, pls ......"

"Is that the seven hundred emeralds?" The butler standing beside Seligman whispered a few words in his ear.

"Yes, but not only emeralds, but also other gemstones and Spanish jewelry from 300 years ago, and I hope they will also borrow 10 million dollars." Li Kongrong said bluntly. "It doesn't matter if the interest rate is a little higher. Hope to get your help. ”

"Mister Lee, this needs to be valued beforehand." Seligman had a refusal in his eyes, but when he heard Li Kongrong ask him for help, he finally spit out such a sentence.

"Of course, you can estimate it now, and these jewels are on Fifth Avenue in New York." Li Kongrong said. "My homeland is suffering from Japanese aggression, and I need to buy a large number of planes and ships in the United States, and most of this money will be used in the United States."

"I have deep sympathy for that." Seligman spoke of sympathy, but his tone was still indifferent to people thousands of miles away.

"Sir, I still have more than 50,000 pieces of porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, and I hope these can also borrow some cash." At this point, Li Kongrong doesn't care whether the other party is happy or not, all he wants is money.

Glancing at Li Kongrong again, Seligman still said indifferently: "Mister Li, this requires an appraisal of those porcelain, and then we can determine the amount and conditions of the loan." ”

"Of course." Li Kongrong laughed dryly, and then he emphasized: "Sir, please believe that you will be fully rewarded for these loans, and my fleet will eventually defeat the Japanese, because I have very reliable sources of intelligence and more advanced naval tactics, and all I lack now is weapons." ”

"Mister Lee, it's business." Seligman was unmoved. "But we want you to win the Japanese Navy, though no one is optimistic about you."

"For example, no one believes that France will be defeated in forty days? Nor do you believe that Hitler will start a war within three years, and that the Jews will be imprisoned in concentration camps and eventually sent to gas chambers? "Lee Kong-young hopes to make a good impression in front of this banker to start a sexual conversation." I deeply regret that Mr. Weiss had previously suggested that Mr. Wess raise funds to buy one or two submarines and then transport them out of Germany before they were put into concentration camps, and that our leader, Mr. Chang Kaishen, was willing to accept them, but Mr. Wess rejected this proposal. ”

"Mister Lee, I only know business, and I want to help my compatriots, but buying submarines is not a good idea, at least we can't buy submarines in three years, and the U.S. Navy shipyard is already full of orders." Seligman's words were unexpected by Li Kongrong, who really didn't expect them to inquire about the purchase of submarines.

"Okay." Li Kongrong saw that this matter was really not very funny, so he no longer insisted, he said: "May I ask where the gold should be handed over, doesn't the United States prohibit private ownership of gold?" ”

"Where are they now?" Seligman said that the submarine was unnatural, and that the gold had returned to the banker's demeanor.

"It's in New York Harbor." Li Kongrong said. "Are they going to be handed over to Switzerland?"

"No, I don't." Seligman shook his head, "I'll send ships tomorrow to receive them." ”

"It couldn't be better." Li Kongrong breathed a sigh of relief, the Fuqing was a small boat, and he was also worried about whether she would encounter a storm when she crossed the Atlantic. He pulled out a business card and smiled, "I'll be waiting for your good news, Mr. Seligman." ”

The business involving 20 million US dollars came to an end, Li Kongrong returned to Xinzhong Defense, Lin Xianxi and several people were surprised, and Zhou Yingcong said: "Why did you come back so soon?" ”

"I'll be there for an hour." Li Kongrong immediately laughed when he saw everyone staring at him. "The matter is done, the gold mortgage, the jewelry and antiques, and the shipload of porcelain can all be mortgaged. Guys, we've got money! ”

"How much can I borrow?" Lin Xianxi's face was full of light, and he, the director of the Ordnance Department, finally got rich once.

"About 20 million dollars." Li Kongrong smiled and said seriously, "Although there are a lot, it is still not enough to form a fleet, I recalculated the cost, we need at least 60 million US dollars to rebuild a fleet with only three aircraft carriers, which is a gap of 40 million US dollars."

In addition, I have been thinking about the strategy of the navy recently, if we really want to go to the South Seas, then there will be a fierce battle with the Japanese, and our pilots will not be enough, and it is very likely that we will have to expand the scale of pilot training in the South Seas, and even establish a shore-based aviation unit. ”

"Shore-based aviation units?" Lin Xianxin was thoughtful, he didn't understand what it was for.

"Hansheng, aren't you afraid of the navy being lighted?" Zhou Yingcong reminded that although he had $20 million in hand, he knew that it was extremely difficult to rebuild the navy.

"It won't be light, we only have three aircraft carriers in the early stage, and it is estimated that there are one or two more aircraft carriers in the dock." Li Kongrong said. "Let's not forget that as long as the bonds are sold, we can build aircraft carriers directly in the United States. The Americans are expected not to oppose it, as long as our offensive direction is in line with theirs. ”

"Is Nanyang really that important?" Lin Xianxin asked.

"Yes, Nanyang is very important!" Li Kongrong was extremely solemn: "According to the news, the Japanese economy will reach its peak this year, and after next year until 1940, she will be in a state of bankruptcy, that is, Japan's foreign exchange and gold have been spent, and there is no money to buy oil, rice, minerals and other raw materials from abroad." If we can prevent the Japanese from successfully occupying the South Seas, then their strategic reserves will be drastically reduced, whether it is planes or ships, they will all have to eat oil, and when the time comes, the Japanese will not be able to fight, and those troops in our inland will all become dead pieces.

The Japanese would surrender sooner because of their lack of supplies, and the army would receive ample outside arms aid because the Burma roads were not cut off. Country. The army is capable of fighting, although the craftsmanship is very rough, but as long as there is ammunition, such as Shanghai and Taierzhuang, it can achieve some results. Therefore, Nanyang is extremely crucial, and the longer we hold it, the faster the Japanese will be defeated in the future. ”

How to use an aircraft carrier fleet in the Pacific War, Li Kongrong thought about it and became more and more sure that he should not go to Kuah Island, Midway, Mariana and the like, except for Pearl Harbor to brush up on prestige and sell bonds, Nanyang is the battlefield he thinks is the most worthy of investment. This was the lifeline of the Sino-Japanese War, and the Japanese occupied the South Seas to obtain strategic materials to temporarily survive, and then fell into a state of death due to the destruction of American submarines.

And China's lifeline is the Yunnan-Burma Highway, and as for the Hump route, it will not take until 44 years to increase the volume, and half of this traffic is used by the US Air Force or the Flying Tigers. Even if all these volumes are used for the army, it will be difficult to greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the army, and at the very least, the tanks cannot be dismantled and transported, and even if they are dismantled, Chongqing will not be able to install them back.

Li Kongrong became more and more convinced that the battlefield of the fleet was in the South Seas, at least before the loss of Burma, but Lin Xianxi, Zhou Yingcong and others did not immediately agree, and both of them were worried that in that multi-island sea area, the navy and the Japanese would fight hard and lose everything. However, Li Kongrong was not worried that the admirals would not agree with his plan. The heaviest resource, that is, the funding, is in his hands - the New China Defense is responsible for the Navy's procurement in the United States, and he is the ultimate controller of the New China Defense.

"Let's wait for Shiying to come over and discuss this matter." Lin Xianxin was silent for a while before he said. "He's the commander of the fleet, so it's better to talk to him about this matter."

"When will Chief Chen arrive?" Li Kongrong asked.

"In a week." Zhou Yingcong took out a telegram, "I just received it, and he has to go to Washington again." ”

"What about the airline guys? When will it arrive? Li Kongrong asked again, he hoped to do these two things before leaving the United States, and the rest could only be controlled remotely in Germany.

"It's already two today." Zhou Yingcong said, "It's Mr. Grumman of Grumman, and the other is Mr. Northrop, who used to be an engineer at Douglas and has now resigned from Douglas. ”

"Norththrop?" Li Kongrong read this name and was very familiar.

"Hansheng is right, New York is indeed more convenient than San Francisco, and there will be a lot of airline people coming to New York in the next few days, and these two are the fastest." Zhou Yingcong said. "Who do you want to see first?"

"Meet Grumman." Li Kongrong said, "Let's talk about fighter jets with him." ”

Born in New York, Rilloy Grumman served in the Naval Reserve before being sent from the Navy to study aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began his entrepreneurial journey as a naval resident representative, first being hired as the general manager of the Navy aircraft supplier Lorning Aircraft Company, and in 1929 the Lorning Company moved out of New York, Grumman was reluctant to leave New York, and the following year he founded the Grumman Company on Long Island, and began to repair the seaplanes of the Lorning Aircraft Company, and then began to design and produce aircraft.

It can be said that in 1938, Grumman was only a small company, and the famous F4F Wildcat fighter was eventually replaced by the F2A Buffalo fighter due to continuous problems. Grumman first wanted to make a simple modification of the F4F and change the number, and then sell it to the Chinese Navy, but Li Kongrong asked for the use of R-2800 engines, and the different engine diameters made the plan unfeasible, so Grumman had to re-weigh whether to participate in the competition, and today, Rilöy Grumman finally made up his mind to give it a try.

In the reception room of the New China Defense, Li Kongrong and others met Rylloy Grumman, who was not alone, and his partner Juke Swoble. As soon as the two arrived, they submitted a blueprint - the F5F fighter. This made Li Kongrong laugh a little, the F5F is completely an enlarged version of the F4F fighter.

Grumman and Swoble were a little surprised to see Li Kongrong smiling, but after a while, Li Kongrong smiled and said, "Mr. Grumman, I am very satisfied with this design. ”

The design of the F5F is an enlarged version of the F4F, except for the size, the only difference is that the six 12.7mm machine guns have been replaced by four 20mm cannons. Hearing Li Kongrong's praise, Grumman said: "Mister Lee, please believe in Grumman, we will be able to produce the best naval carrier-based fighter!" ”

Li Kongrong put down the drawings, and he also smiled: "Mr. Grumman, I hope that our contract will not be affected by the US Navy." I know you're bidding for a naval fighter. ”

"You don't have to worry at all, the F5F is the F5F, and it is produced exclusively for the Chinese Navy." Grumman responded with a smile, but he was a little surprised in his heart, he didn't know where Li Kongrong got the news from.

"Then we must indicate this in the contract, the 5F fighter is a fighter that the Chinese Navy is investing in and developing, and it can be sold to the US Navy, but it must not be sold to the Chinese Navy." Li Kongrong emphasized.

"Of course, that can't happen." Grumman readily agreed.

"Any questions?" Li Kongrong asked Chen Wenlin to the side, he was still looking at the drawings.

"I don't see anything wrong." Chen Wenlin said truthfully, although he had studied aviation, it was a biplane.

"Then let's be sure." Lee Kong-young doesn't want to let Grumman go, and now that he has money in his hands, he is ready to be shortlisted for the bidding of three companies.

"I'm fine." Chen Wenlin put down the drawings, he didn't expect Li Kongrong to fall in love with Grumman at a glance.

"Mr. Grumman, I am honored to inform you that your company's design has been shortlisted, and we will allocate $100,000 to verify the development and manufacturing of the machine after the contract is signed." Li Kongrong said, and Grumman, who was on the other side of the table, was stunned.

"This ...... Not kidding, sir? Grumman stood up confused, "It will take at least three months for the U.S. Naval Aviation Agency......"

"We are the Chinese Navy!" Li Kongrong interrupted him, "Please remember this. (To be continued.) )