The band played the national anthem of the Republic of China, the salute rumbled, and in the fresh breeze filled with the smell of green grass and gunpowder smoke on the hills, Hu Hanmin and Luo Yiqun, wearing robes and horse coats, held the "Constitution of the Republic of China" in their hands, and officially swore in as the president and vice president of the Republic of China under the witness of Yu Youren, the president of the Supervision Department.

In the auditorium of the imposing National Assembly Building of the Republic of China, Luo Yaoguo could also feel the uneasy atmosphere that enveloped the entire building, and this election was called "a key step in war preparations" by the opposition GCD and the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee of the National Assembly: although this statement was flatly denied by the Nationalist Government, those who were able to enter this auditorium to attend the presidential inauguration ceremony knew that what the GCD and the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee said was the truth. Most of these people are the elites of China's political, military, and economic circles, and although they all have the most cheerful smiles on their faces, and although they all tell themselves again and again in their hearts that China will win the war, the fear of the Western powers since the Opium War seems to have soaked their bone marrow. They also did not believe that such a behemoth as the Soviet Union would be easily defeated by their own country! In fact, as the culprit of this war, Marshal Luo Yaoguo, chief of the General Staff of the National Defense Forces, was not 100 percent sure in his heart, after all, in the Second World War in history, the Soviet Union was one of the two victorious countries that made the most profits, and the Republic of China and the Kuomintang were in fact the biggest losers, and there was no one! Now he wants to turn the whole history upside down, and the first step is to integrate China's heavy industry to the greatest extent so that it can better serve the war.

After the ceremony, Luo Yaoguo returned to his office in the General Staff Headquarters of the Kuomintang Army, with a large pile of materials related to industrial production in front of him, and carefully flipped through the pages one by one.

He has long known that a world war cannot be won by the wonderful performances of a few talented generals, but by the comprehensive national strength of a country to win the war! Steel, electricity, coal, petroleum,

There are all kinds of metals, automobiles, aircraft, shipbuilding, chemical industry, military industry, electronics, scientific research capabilities, as well as atomic bomb engineering, etc., of course, population and land are also an important part of comprehensive national strength.

While looking at the documents, he made a record in his notebook: China now has great advantages in terms of population and land area: coal, oil, and electricity are not much of a problem as long as they work harder, and the three major parts of the metal are not scarce, and the few that are lacking have also been purchased from the international strategic reserves through the China National Reserve Company: the steel production capacity will reach 12 million tons in 1938, This should be sufficient: the scale of production of weapons and ammunition is also very large, and with some appropriate increase in production capacity, it should be able to cope with a world war: automobiles, aircraft, shipbuilding, chemical industry, electronics, and scientific and technological research and development are obviously the weakness of China, although it is enough to deal with opponents like the Soviet Union and Japan, but it is not possible to deal with those truly advanced powers. Finally, there is a very special project, the atomic bomb project, which is now progressing quite smoothly, and while the nuclear fission theory has not yet been discovered, China can now import everything it wants from the United States and German precision equipment manufacturing companies, and has almost completely accepted German Jewish scientists and many Belarusian scientists, and it seems that it is now absolutely leading in this regard! Well, of course, only that no country would blindly throw a lot of money into a project to isotope separation without discovering nuclear fission!

At this time, Natalie suddenly pushed the door in, rested a pair of jade hands on Luo Yaoguo's shoulders and rubbed them a few times. He said softly: "Chiang Kai-shek wants to invite you to the Ministry of National Defense, and he, the Minister of Defense, wants to give orders to the General Staff again." ”

Chiang Kai-shek seemed to have studied the subordinate relationship between the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the "People's" constitutional state, so he took it for granted that he, the Minister of National Defense, was the superior of Luo Yaoguo, the chief of the General Staff, and often gave Luo Yaoguo's General Staff some inconsequential orders.

The Ministry of Defense building was next door to the General Staff building, and Luo Yaoguo and Natalie soon arrived at the door of Chiang Kai-shek's office. Jiang Xiaoxian was already waiting there, and when he saw them coming, he opened the door and invited Luo Yaoguo in.

Chiang Kai-shek, dressed in a gray robe and a horse coat over it, as he had done when President Hu Da was sworn in in the morning, hunched over and eyelids down, was carefully looking at a map of the Soviet Union that occupied one wall. On the opposite wall hangs a map of China. Several young officers were standing behind Chiang Kai-shek, holding a pile of arrowheads, pins, flags, and symbols representing the troops and the defensive line.

"There" Chiang Kai-shek pointed to the map of the Soviet Union and said to Luo Yaoguo, who walked in: "The Soviet Red Army is building the Amur Line, which is known as the Maginot Line in the East, with a total length of nearly 2,000 kilometers. ”

On the north bank of the Heilongjiang River, on the red sè border, a dotted line representing the defensive line appeared, and a large pile of pieces of paper symbolizing the fortifications, fortified areas, and trench defense zones had been pasted up. Chiang Kai-shek sighed softly and looked at Luo Yaoguo: "This is the information transferred by your General Staff, you should have seen it earlier than me, right?" It seems that the Soviets are not all stupid, they are starting to prepare for war now, but we will not be ready for war until the 27th year of the Republic of China, and then there will be an impregnable defense line waiting for us!

Chiang Kai-shek turned around and paced slowly in his office, his spirit seemed not to be very good, and he was a little emaciated, and he seemed to be worried about the war.

"There should be the same line of defense for Central Asia, right? There should have been a stronger one in the western part of the USSR, and it looks like Stalin's second five-year plan was ready to build the Great Wall. Luo Yaoguo said in a somewhat mocking tone: "Let Stalin repair the city wall, this is good news for us, he will pay for his stupidity." ”

"Stupid? Fuwen, do you really think so? But when the time comes, what will we use to break through these two lines of defense? ”

"With industry! Now it is an industrial war, and a 2,000-kilometer-long defense line cannot stop an army armed with tanks, planes, and artillery. Our first five-year development plan... Now that it seems to have been relatively successful, it is time for a second five-year plan. ”

"Ah, yes. The second five-year plan, I think we should put it forward to President Hu, right?

Now it's a presidential system. Chiang Kai-shek's tone sounded a little sour.

"I have such an idea, why don't we put it forward to Zhan Gong together."

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Okay, let's talk about your thoughts first, what projects do you plan to do in the second five-year plan?" After that, heavy industry will probably surpass the Soviet Union, right? ”

"It's about overtaking the Soviet Union." Luo Yaoguo grinned, took out a document from the leather bag he brought, and handed it to Chiang Kai-shek with both hands. "This is just some preliminary ideas, in the past nearly ten years, our industrial development has taken an extensive route, doing everything possible to increase production capacity, and now the production capacity that has been built and under construction is added together, and our heavy industry output can surpass the Soviet Union in one habitual year. However, most of these heavy industry projects are invested by foreign capital, Nanyang capital and private capital, and the degree of concentration is relatively low, and there is no large-scale trust, which is not conducive to maximizing the production potential of these heavy industry factories. Therefore, in the second five-year plan... I want to use the power of the government to consolidate these industries and strive to form two large companies in each of the important heavy industries, so as to enhance the competitiveness of China's heavy industries and better serve the war effort. ”

"Oh, are those big new companies going to be nationalized?" Chiang Kai-shek frowned and asked.

"Nope! Of course not. The government only supports and guides, and of course it can directly contribute if necessary, but it must not infringe on the property rights of individuals. And I've convinced some of my friends in the banking industry that I can get them to fund these integrations. ”

"But what about the foreign companies? Will they agree to let our China commission in? ”

"It's easier for foreign companies." Luo Yaoguo smiled and said, "Has Jiegong forgotten the China Investment Company?" We set up five years ago to acquire shares in foreign heavy industry companies that were struggling during the Great Depression. At present, a large number of large foreign companies, including Krupp, Bethlehem Steel, Ford Motor, GM Motors, Yerson Shipyard, Blomfors Shipyard, Igfa Company, Siemens AG, Carl Zeiss Company, Westinghouse Electric Company, General Electric Company, PSMAN Company, American Pot Industry Company, etc., have our shares, of which there are as little as 40 percent, and as many as 70 percent. It's just that we didn't participate in the management in the past, and now we want to take out this part of the equity and form a joint holding company with some local enterprises, so as to integrate these important industries and support a number of large local companies. ”

Chiang Kai-shek laughed loudly: "Hehe, don't you remind me that I have almost forgotten, remembering that those foreign companies have also made loss-making transactions, and in the years before the old years of the Republic of China, they flocked in to invest, and later encountered the Great Depression and sold the factory at a discount, but let us pick up a big bargain." Well, I'll come up with you this second five-year plan. With me, you, Luo Fuwen, and Luo Yichen bringing it up together, there must be no problem in passing it in the [Lord] group, right? ”

This time, Chiang Kai-shek was not wrong, and the proposal to formulate the second five-year plan was smoothly passed without encountering the slightest resistance at the meeting of the Kuomintang [Lord" delegation. The next few months became Luo Yaoguo's busiest time. Participating in the development of economic plans and promoting the integration of major industries is very onerous. In particular, each heavy industry enterprise has its own interests and backstage behind it, and the difficulty of integrating them into several large trusts can be imagined.

China's aviation industry is now two companies, one Sino-German aviation industry company is a model enterprise of Sino-German cooperation, and the other is the Republic Aircraft Company controlled by Luo Yaoguo. This asset consolidation had little to do with the Sino-German company, and the Ministry of Armaments only ordered the Sino-German company to expand its production capacity from 200 to 400 aircraft per month by January 1938, including more than 100 large aircraft with two twin engines.

The Republic Company took the opportunity to acquire Ford's aircraft factory in China, as well as an engine manufacturer called Xinzhong Engineering Co., Ltd. This engine company has existed since history, and was opened by Mr. Zhi Bingyuan, a pioneer in China's machinery industry, but it has always been half-dead.

In this time and space, it has been blessed by the high-flavor development of China's economy, and it has been operating very well. In the 19th year of the Republic of China, he bought the design drawings and production authorization of Pratt & Whitney's R-130O Wasp engine from the United States! I got some second-hand equipment, rented a factory on the banks of the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, and began assembling a 450 hp star aircraft engine! And these aircraft engines were sold to the Red Star Aircraft Factory in Baotou, Suiyuan! It is said that the quality is not bad, and it is well received by the central government...... Of course, this transaction did not violate any laws promulgated by the national government, and Xinzhong could still continue to sell engines to Zhongg after being acquired by Gonghe! After the completion of the integration, Republic Aircraft Company was instructed to expand its aircraft production capacity to 300 aircraft per month (including more than 50 large aircraft with twin engines) by January 1938.

China's iron and steel industry has been integrated into two large iron and steel enterprises, China Iron and Steel and China United Iron and Steel. The former is a merger of the former China Iron and Steel and Krupp China Company, with a total production capacity of more than 6 million tons (including capacity under construction)! The latter is the integration of Bethlehem China and some other smaller local iron and steel enterprises, with a total production capacity (including capacity under construction) of more than 3 million tons! However, the Ministry of Armaments is still not satisfied with such a huge production capacity, and has issued requirements for the expansion of production of 7.5 million tons and 4.5 million tons respectively for these two companies! Among them, the output of special steel is required to reach 400,000 tons and 200,000 tons, and various plates are required to reach 800,000 tons and 400,000 tons,.........,

China's automobile industry is integrated into Sino-German Aviation Automotive Co., Ltd. and Sino-US United Automobile Company, the former is a joint venture between German capital and Chinese companies, and the latter is a joint venture between American capital and Chinese companies. The two major automotive groups have a combined annual production capacity of 30,000 vehicles of various types, as well as six large tractor factories capable of producing tanks, capable of producing 5,000 tanks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery per year...... And according to the directives of the Ministry of Armaments, the two automobile groups were required to double their respective car production capacity in 1938! And the annual production of tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled guns is more than eight thousand!

The shipbuilding industry in China is divided into two shipbuilding complexes in Southeast China and South China according to geography, and the Southeast Shipbuilding Consortium is formed by the integration of Bethlehem Shipbuilding China Company, Yesson Shipyard and Jiangnan Shipyard: South China Shipbuilding Consortium is composed of Germania China Company and Blomfors China Company controlled by Krupp. The two shipbuilding consortia are also joint ventures in which China Investment Corporation holds a significant stake.

In addition, there are a number of large industrial enterprises in important industries such as China National Pot Industry, China State-owned Sè, China Mining, China Coal, China Coal, China Electric, China Optics, China Chemical, China Petroleum, China Rubber and a number of other important industries have either been established or expanded by capital injection under the intervention of the government. And all these enterprises have made ambitious plans to expand their production, and all of these plans have set the date of production in January 1938 without exception! It was clear that 1938 would be the year when China would complete its preparations for war.

Japan, Tokyo, Setagaya-ku. This is one of Tokyo's most upscale residential areas, dotted with Western-style cottages and traditional Japanese-style houses. The senior admirals of the Japanese army and navy also often made their own residences in Tokyo here. Among them are Admiral Eisuke Yamamoto, one of the leading figures of the Himoto Navy, and Vice Admiral Nagata Tetsuyama, a Reimun figure of the Himoto Army. Due to the bad relationship between the Japanese army and navy, although the two families are not far apart, they rarely communicate with each other.

However, one day at the end of May 1934, Captain Kengoro Hetofu, who was staying in the house of his father-in-law, Eisuke Yamamoto, and was preparing to take the Naval University examination in June, accompanied his wife back from a trip, and as soon as he stepped into the door of Yamamoto's house, he heard the sound of singing and laughing coming from inside the house. If you distinguish it carefully, you can hear that one of them is your old Taishan Hidesuke Yamamoto! Obviously, there was some great guest in the house, and His Excellency was eating and drinking there together. Liver Fu hurriedly walked into the Japanese-style room with his wife, and as soon as the two entered, they saw Eisuke Yamamoto holding a wooden barrel and vomiting twice. A taste of raw seafood. Next to him was a thin lieutenant general! Liver Fu recognized this person as the boss of the army control faction, Lieutenant General Nagata Tetsuyama, deputy chief of the army staff headquarters.

Nagata Tetsuyama was also a little drunk, and he didn't seem to see Kengoro Fu, but was talking to himself alone: "...... Compared to Marshal Luo Yaoguo in China, I am really a complete loser! I can't do anything but drink now, I can't do anything...... If you want to reduce the size of the army, you can't do it, you can't increase the military spending of the navy, you can't build a few more aircraft carriers, and you still don't have the money to expand the army aviation...... It's been three years! The army of idiots has only Manchuria in their eyes, only Taiwan, and only revenge! No! They only have fantasies, fantasizing that one day they will be able to set foot on the land of China again...... What is available? In a few years, they will have an annual output of 12 million tons of steel, 8,000 tanks, and more than 8,000 aircraft, and what will the empire take to fight them? What a bunch of idiots! How did I go to the army academy back then? I should have been in the Navy! ”！。