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August 1926. Stand on top of the Sant'Angelo Bridge, which connects the new town of Taranto to the old town, and look out over the city. The blue sky, the blue sea, the beautiful Mediterranean scenery, and the carefully preserved Taranto Castle are greeted by the blue sky, the blue sea, and the beautiful scenery of the Mediterranean Sea...... There are also lazy cats in the harbor of the world's fifth-largest naval fleet.

The first piece of European land that the Nationalist Axe Expedition set foot on was the ancient city of Taranto, which has a history of nearly 4,000 years. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, Benito Mussolini, showed unusual enthusiasm for this "pilgrimage" from distant China. It seems that most feel-good totalitarian rulers have this hobby, and they like "worshippers" from afar as a way to satisfy their vanity and to exalt their worth in front of the populace. Mussolini sent to Taranto to greet the guests was the unluckiest Italian marshal of World War II in history, Ilota. Balbo. As an air marshal, he was killed by Italian anti-aircraft artillery. Anyway, this Italian air defense system is really ...... Funny.

Now this handsome-looking "tragic marshal man" is standing next to Luo Yaoguo, and he is gracefully introducing the world's fourth largest navy to the Chinese guests! Well, in the eyes of the Italians, the French Navy could not defeat the Italian Navy. In fact, that might be the case, right? As if the French Navy in history was more tragic than the Italian Navy.

At this moment, there were four huge battleships lying in the port of Taranto, the Count of Cavour, and Julio. Caesar, Kao? Durio, Andrea? Doria. They are all old-fashioned battleships built during World War I, with a displacement of more than 23,000 tons, and they still look quite mighty. Both the old man and Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but admire the beauty of the navy, and they couldn't wait to buy it immediately......

It's just that the Minister of Armaments, Luo Yaoguo, did not accept this stubble at all, and even General Balbo (oh, not yet a marshal) repeatedly hinted that Italy could help China build aircraft factories and shipyards, and he was not moved at all. To be honest, Italy is not without good planes and good warships, such as the famous Italian engineer Celestino. Rosatelli's CR.32 was one of the best biplanes in history, and it performed so well in the Spanish Civil War that it earned the reputation of the Spanish Star. It's just that as a traveler from later generations, now Luo Yaoguo's mind has already drifted to Germany. Where can Italy's industrial products compare with Germany's? At this time, An Sihua and Lu Ming had secretly set off and took a train to Germany to meet with German industrial and military figures. Whether or not to cooperate with Italy depends entirely on whether Germany is willing to cooperate fully with the national government.

……

"Fuwen, the conditions of the Italians seem to be very favorable, don't you really think about it?" On the special train to Rome, Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but make suggestions to Luo Yaoguo, and listening to his tone, it seemed that he had already been moved. If it weren't for the fact that he was a little unworthy of the name of the chairman of the committee in this time and space, maybe he would have directly ordered cooperation by now, right?

Luo Yaoguo just smiled and shook his head: "Jiegong, as the saying goes, shop around, this Italy can barely get to the second-rate powers in the world, and their heavy industry has never been very developed." I am still inclined to cooperate with Germany, because they are the only ones who can help us catch up with the world's advanced level in the military industry and heavy industry. ”

"Germany? They are not...... Defeated? Sister Song, who was sitting opposite Luo Yaoguo, frowned and glanced at Luo Yaoguo, her face was faintly worried. Will cooperation with Germany cause dissatisfaction with Britain and France?

Luo Yaoguo said in a low voice: "It is precisely because they defeated that they will sincerely cooperate with us." Because they are not willing to lose! There is no doubt about that. There are now a group of adults in Germany who are holding their breath and want to gamble again. And Britain and France used the Treaty of Versailles to jam the neck of Germany's rise. Germany is now not able to research and manufacture military aircraft, build large warships, build submarines, and build tanks. The Wehrmacht was also unable to possess these advanced weapons, so they had to carry out research and training in this area only on the stealth or ...... Cooperation with friendly countries. ”

Chiang Kai-shek frowned, and seemed to be thinking hard: "If Germany wants to regroup, it must first pass the pass of Britain and France, relying on the current 100,000 German Wehrmacht, can it be their opponent?" We worked with them, and they dragged us into the water. Now after all, it is the United Kingdom, the United States, and France that are supporting us, and I think this cooperation is still carried out by the United Kingdom, right? ”

Luo Yaoguo smiled coldly: "Will Britain really cooperate with us?" Their colonies are next to us, and if China is strong, Britain will be the first to be unlucky, right? Moreover, if China and Britain carry out military-industrial cooperation, it will be China turning to Britain for help, and Britain is wary of China, and this cooperation will not be fruitful at all. Unlike Sino-German cooperation, which is mutually beneficial, China and Germany not only have no conflict of interest, but also have a common enemy! ”

Chiang Kai-shek just shook his head: "No insurance, still no insurance......"

Luo Yaoguo shook his head and said: "According to the information heard by the Military Intelligence Bureau, if we don't cooperate with Germany now, they will carry out similar cooperation with the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union will be even stronger at that time." ”

Of course, this matter was not investigated by the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the historical knowledge of the previous life was told to Luo Yaoguo. The Soviet Union and Germany maintained cooperative relations from the twenties until the outbreak of the Soviet-German war. Germany accelerated the pace of rearmament through cooperation with the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union received considerable technical assistance, which was a win-win situation.

Hearing that the Soviet Union would be stronger, Chiang Kai-shek's brow twisted, and he immediately returned to normal. His gaze turned to Sa Zhenbing again.

This old man of the Chinese Navy was in Britain, so he was naturally a little pro-British, and at the same time he knew the style of the British people better. He smiled deeply: "Kai-shek, this British Empire." To be honest, it's the most cunning. Far less than the Germans. It is simply impossible to engage in technical cooperation with them, and even if they want to purchase warships from Britain, they will certainly not be able to buy good things, just look at what happened to Turkey. ”

Before the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was frugal and relied on donations from the people to get some money. A British order was placed on the battleship Alkugin with seven batteries. As a result, World War I broke out, and the battleships were requisitioned by the British Navy...... It's a bit too much of a bully.

Chiang Kai-shek nodded, was silent for a while, and then said, "What about the United States?" Now that the industry in the United States has begun to be the most developed in the world, is it possible for us to cooperate with them? Their Pacific Fleet seems to be an imaginary enemy, right? ”

Luo Yaoguo smiled and shook his hand: "There is no problem for us to carry out military cooperation with the United States, but it is impossible to let American industrial enterprises help us build." The power of the American political axe is very small, and it has little influence over business. There is no cooperation with the Americans, only trading, as long as we can come up with money, we can buy anything, but the problem is that now is not the time. ”

The U.S. economy is doing well right now! Those big companies are not bad for money at all, and it must be expensive to buy technology from them. This deal will have to wait a few more years, and when their financial crisis breaks out, the good things will only be sold at the price of cabbage......