In order to trade with the Germans, Li Guang carried out eight months of material preparations.

For this trade, the efforts made by the Naval Resistance Force are actually far more than material preparations, and in the past three months, all navies have undergone rigorous training.

Beginning in July, Li Guang resigned on the grounds that the battleship needed to be repaired, and no longer worked for the British.

The main reason was that the British blackmailed Chairman Chiang in May and went so far as to cut two small pieces of territory on the border between China and Burma in an exchange of letters. Li Guang is no longer the angry youth he was at the beginning, he knows very well that the transactions between countries in this era are quite dark, and it is not uncommon for the weak to eat the strong. Chairman Chiang needed the Yunnan-Burma Highway, and the British took the opportunity to blackmail it, and it was as simple as that.

Although Li Guang was very uncomfortable in his heart, what could he do? can only secretly make up his mind in his heart and find an opportunity to take revenge back.

Since July, the Navy's military preparations for trade have been underway.

In May, the Japanese devils robbed an American material warehouse in Indochina, which was said to be worth tens of millions of dollars, and in June, the Japanese devils went one step further and completely occupied Indochina. In July, Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands imposed the harshest trade embargo on the Japanese devils.

At the beginning of the embargo, the submarine forces of the Maritime Resistance Army turned out to be unemployed. Japanese merchant ships in Southeast Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean were gone.

Li Guang knew very well that by taking such measures, the devils were definitely brewing a larger military action, and the Pacific War was already imminent.

Trade with the Germans is probably the last. In the context of a world war, the risk of trade is definitely not less than a battle.

First of all, the Germans are definitely prepared, don't look at Claude's many dealings with Li Guang, but for tens of millions of dollars in supplies, it is difficult to say whether the Germans will eat black, Li Guang has to guard against it. In fact, in Li Guang's dark heart, he also had plans to rob the Germans.

Second, the devil knows if the Germans leaked the news, and if the British or the Americans were targeted, the trade would no longer be trade, but a great war.

Third, if the Japanese devils get the information, will they intervene? You must know that the North Pacific, especially the Bering Strait, was nominally the territory of the Americans and the Soviets, but in fact the Japanese Navy was also very active there. It is difficult to predict whether the Germans will intend to do business with the Japanese at the same time.

For this trade, the Maritime Resistance Army organized four merchant ships of 8,000 to 10,000 tons and one merchant ship of 2,000 tons. Two of them are freewheels with increased power. Three of the other, two were robbed of Japan and one of them by France. These ships are the best ships in the Maritime Resistance Army, and their speeds can reach more than 19 knots. This was also the terms of trade demanded by the Germans, after all, it was impossible for the two sides to count the goods on the ocean, but to exchange the whole ship.

In order to raise these goods, Li Guangke poured all the money into it, so that by August he had not been able to order many much-needed supplies from the United States. And the military and many business activities are subject to severe financial constraints.

For this trade, Li Guang is determined to win, and there is absolutely no room for loss. To this end, Li Guang dispatched almost all the combat strength of the navy of the Naval Resistance Army.

The battleship Atlantic, two pickup destroyers, a Torpedo Boat (captured French), a seaplane carrier USS PJP. Eight submarines.

For this trade, Li Guang's attention is unprecedented. You must know that the 40,000 tons of materials of the Naval Resistance Army are worth about 60 million US dollars.

In addition to 30,000 tons of munitions, the Germans prepared goods for the Naval Resistance Army, as well as 80 diesel engines, including 40 high-power diesel engines with 6,800 horsepower and 40 diesel engines with 2,500 horsepower. These diesel engines alone are worth $20 million.

There was also a more special cargo, six half-finished torpedo boats. This is the Germans capturing the French - Fil-class torpedo boats.

This is a class 14 torpedo boats ordered by the French military only in 1939. When France surrendered in 1940, none of them were completed, and six of the seven that had begun construction were taken by the Germans, and the other seven never began.

Data (Design)

Full load displacement: 1376 tons;

Main scale: total length 95 meters, total width 9.4 meters, draft 3.25 meters;

Speed: 35 knots;

Main guns: 3 single-barreled 4-inch guns;

Torpedo: 2 twin 21.7-inch fish**;

Air defense weapons: 3 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, 6 20 mm anti-aircraft guns;

These ships had no armament, only hulls and power. The Germans couldn't look at it, but the Naval Resistance Army was eager to see through it. There was a fatal flaw in the character of the Germans, in fact the destroyers of the French were not bad, at least definitely not worse than the Germans. But the Germans, who thought themselves invincible in industrial technology, proudly ignored the French destroyers. Historically, the Germans captured these destroyers, and they did not invest manpower and material resources in their construction and modification, and they did not play a role at all throughout World War II. The reason for this is that the Germans did not look down on the equipment of the French.

This was an indispensable part of Li Guang's naval plan. The main ships of the Maritime Resistance Force, whether they are aircraft carrier formations or battleship formations, are seriously lacking in escort ships. Without the availability of cruisers and destroyers, these torpedo boats were an option that could not be refused by the naval resistance forces. Later, this torpedo boat was transformed into a subordinate-class anti-aircraft and anti-submarine destroyer by the Naval Resistance Force.

On 15 August, the two sides began trading in the waters of the northern Pacific Ocean. Looking at the formation of the Germans, Li Guang knew that his caution was definitely not meaningless. The Germans went so far as to send a pocket battleship and an icebreaker converted from an old cruiser, two destroyers. As for the submarines Li Guang, the exact number has not been obtained, and it is estimated that there will be no less than six.

Both sides are strong, although Li Guang wants to rob a lot, but he is worried that the Germans will carry explosives in the supplies, and he is not absolutely sure that he will kill the German submarines, and when the time comes, he will lose a lot of money. You must know that Li Guang almost squeezed out all the funds to scrape together so many supplies, and he can't afford to lose.

The Germans, of course, were not good birds, and in the process of exchanging goods, the distance between the two armies was a full two hundred kilometers. The two sides were exchanged one by one, and the submarines on both sides were not idle, and they were closely monitoring the opponent's movements.

In any case, the exchange of goods was smooth. Incidentally, the Germans provided Li Guang with a thousand Jewish women, whose origin was no longer Poland, but Denmark.

Later, Li Guang learned that the scale of German trade exceeded his expectations.

The Germans really dare to bet that this German adventure in the Arctic Ocean is not just a deal with the Naval Resistance Army. Argentines trade with Peruvians and Germans, and it is estimated that the trade volume far exceeds that of the Naval Resistance Army. In addition, it was difficult for German merchant ships overseas to return home due to the interception of British troops, and some armed merchant ships also needed to be replied. The Germans organized themselves at once, and in the North Pacific they organized a huge fleet of forty-five or six merchant ships. Li Guang estimated that the total displacement was about 250,000 tons.

These ships are all loaded with various supplies, and their value is immeasurable, conservatively estimated at around $300 million. This is an astronomical transaction, and 300 million US dollars in supplies can almost support China's war of resistance for two years. Even for a country like Germany, it was definitely a huge trade, and if it was captured by Britain and the United States, the blow would definitely be worse than the loss of one or two divisions of troops. But that's how the Germans gambled, and the trade process went quite smoothly.

To Li Guang's relief, the Germans did not trade with Japan, otherwise Li Guang would have fought a war anyway.

In mid-September, Li Guang got a message, and it was the news about this German fleet.

After the German assault on the Soviet Union in July 1941, both Britain and the Soviet Union found that they should form an alliance with each other to resist the German army. Therefore, Britain promised to supply the USSR with war supplies and raw materials with the help of escort convoys in the Arctic Ocean (although its greatest support came from the United States).

The route ended in northern Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, where the convoy had to venture through the German-occupied Norwegian coastline.

For safety, in August 1941, the British Navy organized a task force codenamed "Devon" to escort merchant ships, and the escort fleet consisted of 2 aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, and 6 destroyers.

The British Navy named the flotilla of cargo ships departing from Iceland "PQ" and the flotilla of empty ships returning from the Soviet Union "QP".

In the first merchant operation, the British did not escort the whole journey, and the British were unwilling to risk putting their fleet in danger. The flotilla from Iceland to Murmansk of the USSR was escorted by three Soviet cruisers.

It so happened that the Soviets and the British were using the Arctic Ocean route for the first time, and the Germans risked a huge trade. The Soviet fleet escaped German patrols in Norway and entered the Arctic Ocean without danger.

At this time, the German fleet passed through the Arctic Ocean shipping lanes under the noses of the Soviet Union.

As a result, two huge flotillas collided in the Arctic Ocean in northern Norway. On the narrow channel, both sides could not avoid it, and immediately fought fiercely.

In the naval battle, the main fleet of the German army was on par with the Soviet army, but the German fleet had six armed merchant ships with no weak firepower, which was slightly superior.

At the beginning of the battle, both sides suffered damage, and the Soviets, although crude in naval tactics, were extremely sacrificial, and when they found that the situation was not good, they launched a death attack. They abandoned the attack on the German warships and attacked the German merchant ships with all their might.

At the end of the battle, the Germans had only one pocket battleship relatively intact, and all four Soviet warships were sunk. A full twenty German merchant ships were sunk, while less than five of the more than thirty Soviet merchant ships escaped. In this naval battle of less than five hours, the total amount of supplies lost by both sides reached a staggering $300 million. Such a loss was unbearable for both the Germans and the Allies, and both sides were in pain, and war was really the fastest means of depleting the wealth of mankind.

Don't look at the number of ships lost on the Soviet side, but if you look at the value, the losses of the Germans are still higher than the Allies. After this war, the battlefield between the Germans and the Allies expanded again, and the Arctic Ocean became a paradise for German submarines.

Historically, the Germans did not pay much attention to merchant ships and convoys operating in the Arctic Ocean during this period. Seven Allied fleets slipped under the noses of the German occupation forces. For the first time, 800 Soviet fighter planes, 750 tanks, 1,400 trucks and 100,000 tons of munitions arrived, giving great support to the Soviet Red Army, which was fighting hard in Moscow and Leningrad. By the spring of 1942, only one of the 103 ships and ships sailed had been lost, and a total of 12 convoys had successfully passed through the waters. It was only after the spring of '42 that the Germans noticed the impact of the northern route.

In this naval battle of the Arctic Ocean, the Soviet side lost more ships, but in terms of value, the losses of the Germans were still higher than those of the Allies. Annoyed, the Germans immediately sent submarines to intercept the Arctic Ocean route. The naval theater between the Germans and the Allies expanded again, and the Arctic Ocean became a paradise for German submarines. It is impossible for the Allied fleet to transport supplies for half a year without any threat, as it has been in history.

On September 5, the fleet of the Maritime Resistance Army returned to Stone Statue Island. Tens of thousands of tons of materiel and munitions were sorted. Some of the arms were quickly sold to Peru and Bolivia for $20 million. The rest of the ammunition was more than 10,000 tons of mortar shells. and 10,000 French-made submachine guns and the corresponding ammunition.

The most important diesel engines and several French destroyers were sent to Uruguay, and the Navy's anti-Japanese forces had long been looking forward to these supplies.

The warship plans of the Maritime Resistance Army are waiting for these diesel engines.

In addition, the two Pixiu submarines that have been overhauled on Shixiang Island are also waiting for 6,800 horsepower high-power diesel engines. In Li Guang's plan, the Pixiu submarine was not only equipped with vertically launched torpedoes, but also had sufficient speed to undertake the task of fleet operations if necessary. After all, although the speed of the submarine of the Maritime Resistance Army is already good in the world, it is still difficult to keep up with surface ships.

After World War II, there was a summary of submarine operations. It is believed that the Germans and Americans used tactics to fight against the enemy's supply ships. Attacking warships is piggybacking. As for the participation of submarines in battles with surface ships, it is simply not advisable, for example, in the guiding ideology of the Japanese Navy, submarines are mainly used to attack warships.

Li Guang did not know any of this, but in his opinion, it was necessary to attack merchant ships. But the role of submarines is definitely not limited to attacking merchant ships. You must know that the submarine of the 21st century, that kind of performance is definitely not just designed to break the engagement. He believes that as long as the performance of submarines is improved, they should be able to fight against surface ships.

In addition, even if it is not engaged in fighting surface ships, if a submarine can increase its speed to 30 knots, it will greatly improve its survivability under the threat of destroyers.

In this refit, the Pixiu-class submarine will be equipped with two 6,800 hp engines and two 2,500 hp engines. With a staggering 18,000 horsepower, the surface speed will easily exceed 30 knots, and the underwater speed will reach 22 or even 24 knots. It will undoubtedly be the fastest submarine in the world.

The submarine will also be upgraded and upgraded, and its power will be upgraded to two 2,500-horsepower diesel engines and two 400-horsepower diesel engines. With the modification, the deck guns will no longer be equipped, and four vertical torpedo launchers will be deployed.

Of the above two types of submarines, eight will be built in the plan. These eight submarines will become the strategic submarines of the Maritime Resistance Force, undertaking the mission of ocean-going operations.

The three Tengu-class destroyers under construction will use four 6,800 hp diesel engines capable of reaching speeds of up to 36 knots. Since most of the structure has been completed, it is expected that the diesel engines will be put into service by the end of the year.

The eight Jairf torpedo boats planned to be built will also use four 2,500 diesel engines at speeds of 36 knots.

The Pacific under renovation and the standard aircraft carrier already under construction will use a hybrid of diesel engines and oil-fired boilers, of which the Pacific diesel engine uses eight.

Li Guang thought that he was generous enough, and spent a lot of money to buy a diesel engine of 20 million US dollars, but after a little planning, he found that more than 30 high-power diesel engines had been occupied. There was nothing left over from the 2,500 diesel engines, leaving only a few in reserve.

The construction of these ships, as well as the planned Yaklu-class submarines, will cost an additional $30 million. It's still money that costs money, and it's still money that is never enough.

It should be noted that the main trade of the Naval Resistance Force is the German government, but the incidental trade is a copy of Colonel Claude and a copy of Major Bickerbi.

In the interval of trade, Quan Yonghai met with his old friend, the captain of the German submarine, Major Bickerbi, and the two sides made a small deal. No one knows what happened, but a little more than a month later, Major Bickerbi's submarine appeared near Madagascar and was replenished in a small port in Madagascar.

This short-term supplement was taken care of by someone with a heart. Three British merchant ships were then sunk in the Mozambique Channel, west of Madagascar. Britain lost nearly 20,000 tons of merchant ships. A few months later, Major Bickerby was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel by the German Navy, but Bickerbi claimed that he was willing to continue fighting on the front lines for the Führer and still led his crew to fight on submarines.

The photographs taken by the interested people were mailed to the British and Americans respectively in November, which caused a stir in the British and the British began to consider whether to take Madagascar and avoid the threat of the French of Visy.

You must know that although the British merchant ships are reluctant to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, the war situation is changeable, and the British army that Rommel is now fighting on the African battlefield is screaming and crying, who can be sure that the Suez Canal will definitely be in the hands of the British army. Madagascar is the key to the African route, and controlling Madagascar can ensure the safety of merchant ships, so Madagascar is on the agenda.

In addition to the fact that the two sides already had a fairly basic drug transaction, Li Guang also specially prepared 500,000 sets of sheepskin coats and sheepskin hats for Claude. Some of these sheepskins were raised by Chinese in Uruguay and some were seized in Somalia. However, the workmanship of these clothes and hats is extremely poor, and even the smell of mutton has not been removed. But one thing is certain, long wool is absolutely good at keeping warm.

Claude was extremely dissatisfied with these deals, and protested loudly, Li Guang's behavior was too insulting to the civilized Germans, which was simply treating the Germans, especially the German soldiers, as barbaric and impolite people. He said that this kind of rag, the Germans would definitely not wear it.

Li Guang quietly pointed out a sales channel to Claude. Although Claude was dissatisfied, Li Guang allowed him to pay later, and if he couldn't sell it, he could not pay. Claude reluctantly accepted this batch of goods, but he still slandered Li Guang seriously in his heart, this kind of rag Li Guang actually asked for ten dollars, that is, forty marks a set, which is simply outrageous. You must know that the average German soldier's salary is only eighteen marks a month.

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