"Mr. Dulles, although the Northwest is still only a local government of the Republic of China, it cannot be denied that the Northwest has now assumed the main responsibility for the war against Japan in Asia. In view of the fact that the Japanese army has inflicted a large number of casualties on our military and civilians, your country also knows that Japan is an island country with extremely poor resources. Their coal, steel, oil and other resources are not sufficient. Especially when it comes to oil, there is a huge shortage. The Japanese army's dependence on oil has even reached the point where it cannot maintain the normal operation of the war without oil. Now, as your country's largest oil exporter to Japan, we hope that your country will take into account the feelings of hundreds of millions of Japanese people and stop exporting oil to Japan. Mr. Zhou sat opposite Dulles with a serious face.

"I'm sorry, but the export of steel, oil, and other materials is just a normal business relationship between Japan and Japan. Just as Japan is still importing a large amount of machinery to the northwest, Japan cannot interfere either. The Diet is now discussing the cessation of the sale of these strategic materials to Japan. But as an ordinary diplomat, in the Republic of China, he is not yet an ambassador to China, and I cannot give you any answer on this point. Dulles shrugged.

"Really? As an aggressor, the Japanese army had committed serious violations of the Geneva Conventions, whether it was the massacre of civilians or the large-scale use of poison gas. As one of the most powerful countries in the world, your country should stand up for the fairness and legitimacy of the Convention, and it is not a wise move to choose to back down at this time. The Northwest does have a large demand for machinery produced in the United States, but these are not necessary for the Northwest, and the Northwest has also purchased a large number of machinery from Britain and Germany, and the Soviet Union. These machines are not directly used in warfare, but the oil used by the Japanese army is directly supplied by your country, and it can be said that the Japanese army can now maintain such an efficient expansion, which is not without the support of your country. If your country adheres to this policy, the emotional damage to our people will be extremely serious. And with the rise of the Japanese army, the current vested interests cannot meet the needs of the Japanese army. Sooner or later, there will be a day when we will be in opposition to your country. Your country should not offend a long-term reliable ally for the sake of immediate gains. ”

After Mr. Zhou resigned solemnly and had an in-depth understanding of the Northwest, Mr. Zhou also began to exert his outstanding ability at the negotiation table at this time.

"I'm sorry, but this is not up to me, as you should know, the termination of oil supplies to Japan means that our country will directly withstand a possible attack by the Japanese army. Our sympathy for your country cannot put the United States at a disadvantage. Dulles, who insisted that the interests of the United States were above all else, shrugged his shoulders.

Nanjing, Pingjin, Shijiazhuang, Xuzhou, and Shanghai all fell under the onslaught of the Japanese army in a period of months and half a year, and the slightly longer Wuhan lasted nearly a year. It was evacuated to Hunan, and now even Changsha has been reduced to a front-line theater. Since the fall of Wuhan, the Japanese army has fought for so long in northern Henan, eastern Henan, and southern Henan, and has repeatedly won and captured some cities. Although the Central Plains Theater where Jiang Li is personally seated has always stood now. But in the eyes of the Americans, they are not very qualified to bargain, at least the United States can clearly realize that once the oil embargo on Japan is implemented, it will mean a declaration of war on Japan. The rabbit is anxious and bites, not to mention the arrogant Japanese army.

"In that case, there's not much to say. Although our side is the weak side, I still want to solemnly remind your country that after your country suffers the loss of the Japanese army, the northwest will also make the most beneficial choice for itself, even if it is at the expense of your country's interests! ”

Mr. Zhou got up and smiled indifferently, and ended the conversation in Dulles's surprised gaze. Perhaps it is the first time that Americans have suffered such treatment in the diplomacy of the Republic of China. At this time, the strength of the northwest has given Mr. Zhou a certain amount of confidence in his heart, and this feeling of starting to talk about conditions in front of foreigners for the first time also makes Mr. Zhou feel secretly refreshed, no wonder those foreigners usually look arrogant, and this feeling of having strength behind them is really good. It's a pity that the strength of the Northwest is still not strong now. That kind of confidence and confidence when negotiating with foreigners is not only the art of a personal diplomat, but also the pride in the strength of the government behind it.

"The United States has always been our powerful foreign aid before, and this will not be very good for the United States, and if the United States cuts off its help to us later, won't the gains outweigh the losses?" Soon after the conversation, others asked questions.

"The United States is not only the foreign aid of the Republic of China, but also the energy pillar of the Japanese army to wage war. They supported the Republic of China only for fear that the situation in Asia would be out of balance and beyond their control. Besides, now the Yunnan-Burma Highway and the Yunnan-Burma Railway have been closed. The equipment from the United States cannot be shipped in for the time being, so if you don't ask them for conditions at this time, when will you mention it? ”

Mr. Zhou explained, but he was a little worried in his heart, he had already done what he had agreed with Jiang Li. During the short period when the two roads were closed, the traffic in the Soviet Union was heavy, and because of the rapidly changing situation in Europe, the time in the northwest could not be taken into account for the time being, and the Americans were forced to do so during this time when the United States was least needed.

Although Dulles didn't take Mr. Zhou's words to heart, after all, although the Northwest regime at this time had a certain strength, it looked much worse than Japan when the Northwest was deliberately taoguang and obscure, let alone a behemoth like the United States. When it comes to conditions, you have to be qualified.

However, the attitude of the Northwest was obviously a little beyond Dulles's expectations, and the next day, the conversation between Mr. Zhou and Dulles was reported in the Northwest. When Jiang Li also saw the relevant report in the newspaper in Luoyang, he smiled knowingly. I believe that the Japanese at this time also saw such newspapers, as well as some citizens and students marching through the streets. News of the Northwest's discord with the United States would soon spread.

In this way, the Japanese navy was further relieved of its worries, because the northwest did not merge with the United States, and the aviation units of the Northwest Army would not get involved with the United States. The reason why the Japanese Navy dared to argue with the United States in the early stage was that the strength of the Pacific Fleet was somewhat inferior to that of the Combined Fleet, and the most important reason was that the strength of the US naval aviation at this time was relatively low. At this time, the various aircraft in service with the United States were simply not enough to see in the face of the Zero World War in which the Japanese army had already been born.

Even though Japan at this time was because of the big war with the Northwest Army, whether it was the greatly expanded armored forces or the fuel consumption of the aviation units. Because of the fuel consumption to meet the needs of transportation in the middle of the war, Japan was even more short of fuel than it was in history. But even if he knew this, Jiang Li wanted to dispel the concerns of the Japanese as much as possible. Let them embark on the road of no return to the south as soon as possible. At the same time, it is also necessary to let the United States and Japan gnaw at each other in Southeast Asia for a period of time.

"So far, all water-cooled heavy machine guns in the Northwest arsenals have been discontinued. It is mainly used for the production of the Fire Snake general-purpose machine gun and the imitation Czech light machine gun. Due to the simple process and short manufacturing cycle of the Fire Snake, the monthly output of the Fire Snake general-purpose machine gun has risen to more than 2,330 units, becoming the machine gun with the highest output now. Imitation Czech machine guns are the second, with a current monthly output of more than 1,760 units. However, considering that in the future operations in the south, the Fire Snake general-purpose machine gun may not be suitable for the high-temperature south due to its air-cooled special operations, so the staff suggested that another machine gun be produced for the Northwest Army's future conquest of the south and even Southeast Asia. ”

Feng Zhanhai made such a suggestion.

"Well, the south is hot and humid, and the fire snake general-purpose machine gun has too fast a rate of fire, and the upper heat is too fast. It's really not too suitable in Southeast Asia. Jiang Li nodded and said, "You have to improve on this." It was allowed to reduce a certain rate of fire of the machine gun, achieving the purpose of its long-term fire output. Jiang Li nodded and said, until now, Jiang Li is not going to come up with some weapon designs that have crossed this era in the future. After all, a country's military industry cannot rely on one person alone, and the military industry in the northwest has grown to a certain scale, and those technicians, technicians, or soldiers in the army should be given a certain amount of room to play. As it turns out, until now, these researchers have not let him down.

"IN ADDITION TO THE FIRE SNAKE AND THE IMITATION CZECH, THE 12.7MM LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS PRODUCED IN THE NORTHWEST, THE 7.92MM AVIATION MACHINE GUNS, AND THE MACHINE GUNS USED IN THE XIANGJIANG SERIES OF HELICOPTERS, ADD UP TO ABOUT 1,210 IN A MONTH. In total, the Northwest produces more than 60,000 machine guns of various types every year. ”

"In terms of rifles, the Northwest has gradually reduced the production of Mauser 79 rifles, and now produces more than 58,100 Feng Type 918 semi-automatic rifles per month. It can fully meet the current operational needs of various departments, and can regularly carry out a certain number of rifle inputs to the Central Army. Since 37 years, to the present, the guns of various combat units have been initially unified, the original Han Chunlin rifle in the Northeast Army, the 79 rifle in the Northwest Army, as well as the 29th Army, the 41st Army of all kinds of miscellaneous rifles have been fully reloaded, and the current Jin Army, also under the funding of the Northwest, has been equipped with a part of the Feng 918 semi-automatic rifle. Some of the weapons that were originally reequipped were resold to the Central Army, and some were used for second-line garrisons and armed police. ”

"In addition, it is the production of submachine guns, and now the production capacity of submachine guns in the northwest has also increased a lot, and it can produce more than 82,300 submachine guns a year."

"To sum up, the northwest has now formed a relatively complete infantry light firepower output system. Use the Fire Snake general machine gun to suppress the Japanese light and heavy machine guns, with a part of the grenadier canister. Then use light machine guns to suppress the individual firepower of the Japanese army. Submachine guns were used in trenches and positional warfare, playing a role in killing and injuring a large number of Japanese infantry, and trying to narrow the gap between the two sides in white-knuckle warfare. Up to now, with the continuous improvement of the equipment of machine guns and submachine guns, the casualty ratio between our army and the Japanese army has gradually developed for the better since last year. ”

"In terms of artillery, especially in the last year or two, with the significant increase in steel production, the increase in artillery is particularly obvious. AT PRESENT, THE NORTHWEST HAS AN ANNUAL OUTPUT OF 760 37MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS AND 1030 47MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS. IMPROVED 75MM MOUNTAIN GUNS 910 GUNS, 75MM FIELD GUNS 770 GUNS. 137 105MM howitzers, 101 105MM Canon guns, 87 150MM howitzers. IN ADDITION, DUE TO THE PERMISSION OF THE CONDITIONS, CONSIDERING THE NEED TO COUNTERATTACK THE JAPANESE ARMY IN THE FUTURE, IN ORDER TO CONQUER THE POSITIONS OF THE JAPANESE ARMY, THE ARTILLERY FACTORY HAS PLANNED TO PRODUCE 6 210MM AND 4 280MM TRAIN GUNS. ”

"Compared with these main battle artillery, the increase in the production capacity of mortars is also relatively large. THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF 60MM MORTARS AND 82MM MORTARS, WHICH ARE INDISPENSABLE FOR GRASSROOTS INFANTRY, HAS NOW REACHED 8,000 AND 6,000 RESPECTIVELY. 120MM MOTARS 2160 PIECES. According to the data provided by the Tibetan governor, in the next two to three years, the northwest's iron and steel output will gradually increase to five to six million tons, and with a sufficient supply of raw materials, the northwest's artillery output can at least double or triple. In particular, after the shackles on large-caliber artillery are lifted, the production speed can even reach four to five times. ”

"What is the production of our tanks and armored vehicles now? How come there is no movement after expanding a few armored mixed brigades? Yang Hucheng was obviously very concerned about this topic, at this time on the battlefield of the Central Plains, since the Battle of Wuhan and the retreat of the Central Army to Hunan, now even Changsha has fallen.

The pressure on the Central Plains Theater is several times higher than before. And the two armored mixed brigades have been acting as firefighting teams. In the case of artillery fire, air firepower was still inferior to the Japanese. The field corps relied on a denser light firepower output to fight a tough defensive battle with the scattered tank forces. Fortunately, with the powerful attack power of the Tomahawk series tanks and the sword assault gun, the Japanese tanks were always pressed, which was able to barely maintain the battle line. For the Northwest Armored Forces, which had established immortal feats on all fronts, Yang Hucheng naturally looked up to it.

"In view of the needs of the southern war in the future, the Avenger 6 is still in small batch production, but so far, the monthly production has remained around 4 units. It did not continue to be cast on the battlefield in the north, but in the rear as an armored corps, and a study vehicle for armored schools. Various exercises used to simulate the operation of future mechanized large corps. After several years of hard fighting. The Avenger tanks of the three armored mixed brigades have been almost eliminated, and now they are mainly based on Tomahawk series tanks, as well as sword series assault guns. ”

"So far, Sun Liren and Zhang Chujiu have been mixed into armored brigades, and the artillery has not changed for the time being, but in terms of armored strength, it has been greatly strengthened, and a tank regiment originally established has jurisdiction over the establishment of 2 battalions. Now expanded a battalion of sword assault guns, with a battalion of snow leopard chariots. At present, a mixed armored brigade has a total of 237 Tomahawk tanks, sword assault guns, and 72 Snow Leopard armored vehicles. Although the Japanese army has been reorganized several times, in terms of the armored force in the Central Plains Theater, compared with the Japanese army, the Northwest Army has always had the upper hand. ”

"At present, the northwest produces 26 Tomahawk tanks, 35 sword assault guns, and 33 Snow Leopard armored vehicles."

"Regardless of armored vehicles, tanks and assault guns alone are close to 1,000 a year. According to the speed of last year's war losses of all kinds of tanks and more than 370 assault guns, even if last year's output was not as high as this year's, a large number of tanks and armored vehicles have been saved in the past two years. Even larger than the size of an armored mixed brigade. Did the commander form some troops in the rear again? Ma Zhanshan couldn't help but ask. (To be continued.) )