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Chapter 1158 The largest military purchase

September 30, Nanchang, Office of Chairman Chiang. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Chiang Kai-shek sat straight on the sofa with a glass of water, listening very attentively to the report of Lieutenant General Xu Tingyao, the head of education of the Jiao Ji School, and his eyes were full of concern at the moment.

Song Ziwen, who was beside Chiang Kai-shek, did not have the ease and indifference of the past, after all, everything Xu Tingyao said involved tens of millions of yuan in equipment procurement, which was the largest special military expenditure of the Nationalist Government in the past four years.

For nearly half an hour, Xu Tingyao had been standing and reporting, Xu Tingyao, who had been appointed as the commander of the army's armored forces, knew that today's opportunity was not easy to come by. After returning from an inspection trip to Europe and the United States last year, Xu Tingyao's book "On Mechanized Armaments" had a great impact, and Chiang Kai-shek and the high-ranking generals of the army clearly saw how big the gap between their army and the great powers was, and knew that the establishment of a mechanized army had reached an urgent time, so on the day of the official opening of the Jiao Tie School last year, the first formal plan for the development of China's mechanized troops was formulated.

However, the embarrassing financial situation has seriously hampered the implementation of the plan, and the mechanized regiment of the Jiao Tie School, which was formed by patchwork from all sides, has so far only had three companies, of which the first and second companies were equipped with 28 old British Vickers MK light combat vehicles transferred by Song Ziwen from the tax police regiment, and the third company of more than 10 light tanks produced by the French Renault company in the 20s that Zhang Xueliang had given to Chiang Kai-shek two years earlier.

After more than a year of tossing, more than half of the tanks are now unusable.

In the past two years, the anxious Xu Tingyao has been running up and down, constantly appealing, and finally when the financial pressure of the central government tends to ease, he has received a reply from Chairman Jiang that he has spent money to order new tanks.

Xu Tingyao said at the end, paused, moistened her dry throat, and said cautiously:

“…… At present, the plan is progressing smoothly, and the tank suppliers of Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, and Poland have arrived at the Fangshan training ground in Nanjing with prototypes to compete with each other for our army's procurement.

"Now, just waiting for the commission's words, the special group of the Central Military Commission and the chief officers of various departments stationed in Beijing will go to the training ground to observe the on-site demonstration of various tanks, compare as many as seven models, and finally select a model that suits the situation of our army and is suitable for our army's use, and then submit it to the Central Financial and Economic Commission for examination and approval. The subordinates were willing to ask the commission to move to Nanjing in their busy schedules, and this was also the unanimous request of colleagues in various departments of the Central Military Commission. ”

Chiang Kai-shek finally leaned back on the sofa, waved his hand kindly, motioned for Xu Tingyao to sit down, and then turned to Song Ziwen and asked in a low voice, "Ziwen, what do you mean?" ”

Song Ziwen nodded solemnly: "It is necessary to go there in person." This matter has not yet been unanimously agreed upon by the central government, and there are great differences of opinion, and in addition to the sudden acceleration of the resigned army consolidation work, the military expenditure has already greatly exceeded the budget for this year. Although the country's financial situation has improved slightly after the fiat currency reform, it is still not enough to cover the government's huge fiscal deficit.

"The commission, the central finances are already unable to make ends meet, and the pressure has increased again, if there is no commission, I am afraid that there will be many constraints within the central government, and the opportunity that Brother Yuexiang finally won will have to be lost again."

Chiang Kai-shek nodded, did not express his position directly, pondered for a moment, and turned to Xu Tingyao, who was full of worry:

"Yuexiang, I heard that your army building plan has always received strong support from An Yi, and at the beginning of the establishment of the Jiao Yi School, didn't he donate two wheeled armored vehicles produced in southern Sichuan to you? At the end of last month's confrontation exercise in northern Henan, you and An Yi had another private chat, right? Didn't you get the support of this old subordinate? ”

"No, no! General An was very supportive of his subordinates' work, and on the day of the exercise, his subordinates asked him to help generously, and he readily agreed, offering to give ten of the twelve Renault 33/35 tanks he had purchased from the French to his subordinates to form a tank company, leaving only two as research samples, General An ......"

"Ah...... This guy is good! Send ten tanks in one go, it seems that he still has a lot of respect for you, the old commander. Song Ziwen was surprised by An Yi's generosity and couldn't help but admire.

Xu Tingyao said with a smile: "General An is the best general in our army, he has the party and the country in mind, takes into account the overall situation, and never cares about personal gains and losses. ”

Chiang Kai-shek looked at Song Ziwen with a smile, saw Song Ziwen nodded knowingly, turned to Xu Tingyao again, and said gently:

"Yuexiang, the army knows that for more than two years, An Yi and his subordinates have been constantly exploring the formation and training of mechanized troops, and the armored surprise soldiers in this confrontation exercise are a concentrated display of their efforts in the past two years, and the effect is very obvious, refreshing, and full of expectations. In private, did you ask An Yi to help you form an armored corps? ”

Xu Tingyao nodded: "I mentioned it, but General An was very cautious, he said that there is a big difference between armored vehicles and tanks, and said that he could support the construction of armored troops, but he was not capable of tank troops, and he could give ten of the latest Renault tanks to his subordinates, and his subordinates were already grateful, and they didn't dare to expect anything else." ”

Song Ziwen laughed, and then shook his head frequently: "Brother Yuexiang is too real, the principal arranged for you to talk to An Yi that day, the potential meaning is to let you complain to An Yi and extort a sum of money from him, so that you don't have to look at the faces of the central government and others, you are good, ten tanks will send you, alas...... Brother Yuexiang, you are too honest! ”

"This ......"

Xu Tingyao suddenly understood, and her face turned red.

Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand and said with a smile: "The past is over, and it is not without a chance of redemption." I suggested that an immediate telegram be sent to An Yi and asked him to participate in the on-site observation on October 2nd. ”

Xu Tingyao said with some embarrassment: "The subordinates have also thought about it, but the situation in North China is getting worse and worse, and the crisis is everywhere, General An is sitting in North China, and there are many opportunities every day, I don't know if I can find time." Even if you can spare time, with the status of a subordinate, you can't call General An to request, you need to be summoned by the Military Commission and the commission! ”

Chiang Kai-shek nodded with satisfaction: "Well, it's a matter of the safety of North China, and An Yi is indeed inseparable, but the formation of an armored tank unit is extremely special and very important to the party-state, so I'll send him a telegram." As a matter of fact, in the construction of mechanized troops, An Yi's troops are far ahead of our Central Army, but his troops are rigorous and pragmatic, have appropriate secrecy measures, and never publicize them to the outside world, so that the outside world cannot know the specific situation.

"Here, I can tell you a secret: Beginning at the beginning of this year, after completing six months of intensive training in basic military skills, Xia Jian's 26th Army stationed in southern Yunnan began to conduct the second phase of intense training, which not only included the training and confrontation of armored units and tank units, but also the participation of the first Zhouqiao unit of the whole army in the coordinated exercise, which was unknown to outsiders.

"I privately estimated that the scale of training and internal confrontation of the various units under An Yi was probably not under the confrontation exercise in northern Henan on the 17th, but his army did a good job of secrecy, and southern Yunnan is a relatively remote border area, and few people in the whole army know about it.

"Yuexiang, if you have time in the future, you have to communicate with An Yi more, it is better to get his consent to go to southern Yunnan to observe and investigate, I believe that An Yi will not refuse you, the old chief, you and Ci Xiu, Mo San, and Ming San are the old instructors of Huangpu that An Yi respects very much, and they should make good use of the good relationship between each other, and it is not a pity to let it go."

Song Ziwen also persuaded: "That's right! Brother Yuexiang, the establishment of the capital's air defense force is the result of An Yi's full support, not only a regiment of elite air defense units and two logistics battalions, but also Qu Muchen, who returned from studying in Germany, to serve as deputy commander of the air defense force. Tu Zhirong, a meritorious general who studied air defense in Germany, also concurrently served as chief of staff of the air defense command of the whole army in the capacity of commander of the capital air defense command.

"When An Yi arrives in Nanjing, you directly ask him for equipment, I don't dare to say anything else, it's still very promising to get back the equipment of an armored battalion from him."

"This ...... General An has already done everything for the sake of national defense construction, if I ask for it again, is it appropriate? ”

Xu Tingyao is Xu Tingyao after all, mellow-hearted, kind and upright.

Song Ziwen pointed at Xu Tingyao and smiled: "Don't worry about these Yuexiang brothers, even Finance Minister Kong is now ready to borrow 50 million from An Yi to tide over the difficulties, what is it if you ask him for millions of equipment?" It's best to start quickly, after more than a year of development, the tax police regiment reorganized by the younger brother will also be expanded, but the equipment requirements are not as high as Brother Yuexiang's mechanized troops, if Brother Yuexiang is one step slower, the younger brother will take the lead and speak to An Yi first. ”

Xu Tingyao smiled embarrassedly, and immediately made up her mind, she must seize this rare opportunity, put down her old face and open her mouth to An Yi, otherwise she didn't know that she would have to wait until the Year of the Monkey to form the mechanized troops in her mind.

Chiang Kai-shek took in Xu Tingyao's reaction, thought about it, and asked with concern:

"Yuexiang, isn't Du Yuming the captain of your place? There are also those students in the first and second phases of Huangpu, all under your command, after you go back, gather them to talk, let them go to meet An Yi together, with Du Yuming and a few out of the horse, you don't have to be too embarrassed. An Yi is still very nostalgic, in the face of the requests of his senior brothers and elders, he can never bear to refuse, you must seize the opportunity! ”

"Got it!"

Xu Tingyao was very happy, this move ordered by Chiang Kai-shek could not only save Xu Tingyao from the embarrassment of opening his mouth to ask for An Yi, but also make Du Yuming and others under his command show their faces, which is equivalent to Chiang Kai-shek's recognition and praise for his own employment.

Chiang Kai-shek stood up: "Okay, let's talk about it today, after dealing with the matter in Nanchang, I will rush to Nanjing the day after tomorrow, and then I will take a look at the tanks and armored vehicles of European and American countries with you, and determine the matter of equipment procurement as soon as possible, I will not wait!" ”

"Thank you for the cultivation!"

Xu Tingyao stood up and thanked him, and mustered up the courage to make another request: "Commission, my subordinates heard that the four people sent by General An to study at the German Armored Forces School have just returned to Shanghai, among which Colonel Li Yuewu, who was praised by the German advisers, was originally the deputy of the cavalry regiment of the first division, and for more than three years, he has achieved excellent results among the armored cadets of various countries in the German Academy, and he has been among the best in almost every assessment, and according to the report of the cadets sent by the military commission to the German armored forces school for further study, Li Yuewu is both civil and military, and this person has studied abroad. Proficient in Japanese, Russian and German, such talents are rare! Can you talk to General An Yi and give Li Yuewu to his subordinates? ”

Chiang Kai-shek was stunned: "Don't you say that I forgot about it...... In this way, I mentioned it in the telegram to An Yi, and asked An Yi to call Li Yuewu and the four of them to go to the Fangshan training ground to observe together, and after we meet, you and I will talk to An Yi together. But if he doesn't agree, I can't help it! ”

Xu Tingyao was overjoyed, saluted, walked out of the study excitedly, walked a few steps and turned back again, and when Song Ziwen followed, he immediately smiled, and whispered as he walked:

"Brother Ziwen and General An have an extraordinary relationship, please tell Brother Ziwen about how to get generous support from Brother An......"