PS: This chapter is dedicated to weapon configuration, skip if you don't like it

In March 1939, the mustache did another thing that shocked the West - the complete annexation of Czechoslovakia. It is worth mentioning that the second son of Chang Kaishen's family participated in this operation as a second lieutenant in the German army. In parallel space, the Germans have at least 50 Chinese on record to participate in the war, and the actual number may be even higher. However, in this time and space, most of these officers, except for Chang Xiaoer, were asked back by Zheng Weiguo to serve as instructors or officers.

Another thing that is more funny is that Poland actually participated in the partition of the Czech Republic. As early as October 38, Da Bobo took advantage of the German occupation of the Sudetenland to send troops to thousands of square kilometers of Czech land. Poland, which at that time boasted of being the third largest army power in Europe, was not aware of the danger of its own situation, and instead set up enemies everywhere.

Like when the revolution broke out in Tsarist Russia, Da Bobo took advantage of the chaos and even carried out a brutal massacre of the newly occupied Ukrainian regions. As the saying goes, if you mix it up, you have to pay it back after all. When Lao Maozi freed his hands to carry out the Katyn Forest tragedy, I don't know if the big bobos regretted it.

What is even more ridiculous is the performance of Poland when Germany annexed the Czech Republic. For example, a group of robbers ran to the neighbor's house to kill people and set fire, but Da Bobo did not help, but took advantage of the fire to rob, and as a result, after Germany digested the Czech Republic, he opened his mouth and swallowed Da Bobo, and it took only 17 days before and after, and then slaughtered more than 5 million Poles, almost killed. Of course, at this time, Da Bobo was still immersed in the joy of robbing Jiexin City, not realizing that the country was in danger.

Zheng Huzi didn't remind Da Bobo either. Even if you warn it, it is estimated that the group of stupid politicians will not believe it. Moreover, after the Japanese army invaded and occupied Northeast China, all countries in the world opposed it, but Da Bobo actually fell into China at this time. This kind of garbage country let him die.

However, after the German occupation of the Czech Republic, the mustache did not last long. He soon found himself in no small trouble. Speaking of the same old problem - oil. This problem has plagued Germany for decades from before the First World War to the present, but it has not been resolved.

Originally, under the "guidance" of Zheng Huzi, the Germans found a lot of oil fields in their homeland, but then the adjustment of weapons and equipment such as tanks, tractors, and trucks (changing gasoline engines to diesel engines) and reducing coal refining made oil in short supply. The oil shortage is even worse than it was at the same time in parallel space.

The Hans were not without consideration of changing the engine back to it. But after seeing the benefits of using a diesel engine, who wants to use a tank with a gasoline engine? As a mechanical nation, product performance always comes first. And transport trucks are also not missing, with the grand strategy of blitzkrieg gradually occupying the mainstream of the Wehrmacht. Logistical demands are also increasing. With trucks. Who can still look at a horse-drawn cart?

Originally, there was coal refining, but the cost of this game was too high and the production capacity was insufficient. After the discovery of the oil field, they all stopped production, changed to steel, or built other equipment. In short, as soon as the industrial structure changes, it will be difficult to adjust it again, even if it is Hitler who is the leader.

What made the mustache even more depressed was that his good friend Romania once again dropped the chain at a critical time. Originally, after the defeat of the Czech Republic, Romania's oil would go to Germany, and Germany would exchange industrial products, food, and weapons. Unexpectedly, the British intervened again and used commercial means to control all the oil in Romania.

In fact, since the First World War, the Anglo-German oil offensive and defense in Romania has not stopped. In November 1916, the Germans invaded the Wallaqian Plain and seized all the oil facilities in Romania. Britain then sent agents to infiltrate the country and successfully destroyed more than 70 oil refining units and burned more than 800,000 tons of crude oil and petroleum products. Although it took five months for Germany to resume production, production never returned to its original level.

In the early days of World War II, the British tried to induce Romania to blow up their oil fields for a high price of $60 million (an astronomical amount at the time), but Romania did not agree. A fool would agree!

Of course, the British are not stupid, especially British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Now in history, Chamberlain has always appeared in the image of a big SB. In fact, this guy is not only not stupid, but also very powerful. In particular, it has done a very good job of controlling Romanian oil by economic means.

At that time, all of Romania's oil stocks were snapped up by the British, who also booked contracts for the second half of the year and the right to supply oil after the contract expired, and rented all the barges and train cars in Romania as much as possible so that they would not be used to sell oil to Germany. Soon, 148 tankers of different types in the Danube River basin were chartered by the British, who even had to set up a special Grande company to centralize the management of these steamers, which were of little use for the time being.

Watching the much-needed oil being dragged away one after another, the resentment in the mustache's heart can be imagined. What made the mustache even more depressed was that Germany's war machine had just been activated and was not ready for an all-out war with Britain and France. Therefore, it is not possible to turn the other face directly, and you have to think of other ways.

In parallel space, the mustache finally compromises Romania with a carrot and a stick, but the effort and cost in the middle are not small. Now that there is Zheng Huzi's way, Xiaobeard naturally wants to give it a try, after all, the strategic value of Germany's domestic oil is greater, and Zheng Huzi's appetite is much smaller.

On the other hand, Zheng Huzi didn't dare to dry the Germans for too long. It's really not enough equipment, and when the rice is put into the pot, it can't be hard! A week later, Zheng Weiguo met with the new German envoy Feng Weiguo. Richthofen. Barak finalized the exchange agreement. Zheng Huzi used the oil field data with reserves of more than 200 million tons (there is water, and the oil fields that are easier to exploit in Germany are almost what Zheng Huzi said, and the rest of the mining is more troublesome, but it is better than coal refining) to exchange a large number of weapons with Germany.

These weapons are both old and new, and more are mustache war dividends - products of Czech Bruno and Skoda, as well as equipment of the Czech Wehrmacht. Weapons and equipment are nothing more than aircraft, tanks, artillery, as well as all kinds of equipment and light equipment. After some difficult negotiations, the results are as follows:

Aircraft: Ten German-made FW61 helicopters. This was introduced by Focke-Ulf in 1936. It is also the first helicopter with practical functions in the world, with a total length of 7.3 meters, a height of 2.65 meters, a weight of 800 kilograms, and a maximum take-off weight of 950 kilograms (1024 kilograms). This kind of aircraft control system was well designed, but the German government at that time was opposed to it, and it was not allowed to enter industrial production.

This time, Zheng Huzi was determined to build some airplanes, although he could not engage in air combat, but reconnaissance and artillery effectiveness were also needed, especially in Suiyuan and northern Shaanxi. An airplane is better than a regiment. Feng. Richthofen. Barak was forced to desperation. I had to introduce this "latest product" to Zheng Huzi. Zheng Huzi saw that it was still a helicopter, so he should get off without saying a word, and said that he would come first with a hundred planes.

Feng. Richthofen. Barak couldn't laugh or cry. I had to tell him. Not so much at all. Up to ten, and delivery in three months, because Fokker had only built two prototypes in total. Fortunately, the structure of this game is very simple. Even if you build a few dozen, it won't be delayed for long.

Tanks: 100 LT35 light tanks from Czech Skoda.

As mentioned earlier, the Czech Republic has a very strong military industry and is known as the European arsenal. Long before World War II, the Czechs were able to produce tanks, called the LT35 light tank, and later produced an improved LT-38 light tank.

Regardless of the light tank, only the LT35 has a maximum armor thickness of 35mm, far exceeding the 25mm of the main tank of the Japanese army, the Type 97 medium tank. Not only the protection, firepower, but also the mobility are very good, and the Germans even believe that the performance of the LT-35 is equivalent to that of the No. 3 tank, which is a very good equipment in Asia.

Of course, the Germans also wanted such good equipment, and the Hans had equipped a lot of it in parallel space. Feng. Richthofen. Barak began to refuse, and found a lot of reasons, saying that this car is not easy to control, and the Czech Republic itself has not built a few, and the Japanese will oppose it, in short, they will refuse. In fact, there is no big problem with this car, that is, it adopts a pneumatic shift mechanism, which is relatively trendy at that time, and has high requirements for the driver's technical level. However, these tanks Zheng Huzi are intended to be placed in Suiyuan to protect the material channel, and they are not afraid of overturning when their skills are bad on the prairie.

And the number is not enough, it is also fake, at least two or three hundred can be taken out, historically the Czech Republic itself equipped 138 vehicles, gave Romania 126 vehicles, and built 219 vehicles for Germany (to build tanks for the enemy, I really don't know what to say). Therefore, Zheng Huzi did not intend to give in this time, and was determined to develop his armor strength.

Feng. Richthofen. In desperation, Barak had no choice but to promise to give Zheng Huzi a hundred cars, plus a full set of repair and maintenance equipment, as well as spare engines and other parts. But only the LT35 will be given, anyway, this tank will soon be eliminated in Europe. As for the LT38, Barak resolutely refused. Zheng Huzi didn't force it, anyway, in the Asian battlefield, the LT38 may not be as effective as the LT35.

Field heavy artillery: 50 Czech Skoda M1925 150mm howitzers

Heavy artillery was powerful and a sensitive weapon, so the Germans behaved very unpleasantly. Moreover, most of the heavy artillery in Europe at that time was too heavy to be suitable for the Asian theater. Slightly better guns tend to weigh six or seven tons. What is the concept of six or seven tons? At that time, most of China's load-bearing bridges were marked with a load limit of 1.5 tons (whether you have seen it in old movies), and before the 90s, it was only limited to 5 tons.

Therefore, during the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese army's pack horse division (mainly mountain artillery) made better progress than the horse pulling division (mainly field artillery), because the horse pulling division not only had to fight against the national army, but also had to build bridges and pave roads by itself. North China is better than the Yangtze River basin, but 5 tons is almost the limit. If it is heavier, it will be fatal to build a large number of guns of more than six or seven tons, and it can only be thrown into the grassland of Suiyuan.

Seeing that the conversation was delayed, Feng. Richthofen. Fearing that the stalemate would derail the deal, Barak offered Zheng Huzi a gun, the Czech Skoda M1925 150mm howitzer. This howitzer was developed in 1919 after the independence of Czechoslovakia, and production began only in 1924.

At that time, the Škoda Arsenal had great ambitions to replace the various howitzers of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire with this cannon. Therefore, the data of this gun is relatively balanced, which is in line with the trend of multi-purpose guns at that time. However, this gun did not draw on the experience of the development of World War I artillery, and still used a single-legged gun mount, resulting in a firing range that was too small, and it became an obsolete product as soon as it left the factory. Therefore, the Czechs did not have a lot of equipment, but they had a history of using it after the German capture.

When Zheng Weiguo heard that this game was discontinued in 1934, he muttered a little in his heart, and questioned: "It won't be like last time!" ”

The foolish goods refer to the kind of 135mm cannon, the kind of artillery that looks good on paper, but the accuracy, the strength of the large frame. There is a problem with recoil, etc. This is also an important reason for the defeat in the defense of Baotou.

But after looking at the details. Zheng Weiguo found that this M1925 150mm howitzer is really good, and the most attractive thing is that it is light enough. It is much lighter than the Type 96 150mm howitzer (4.14 tons), which is the best in the Japanese army now, at only 3.8 tons. Both have a similar range and are about the same power.

What's funnier is. In Europe. The Czech Skoda M1925 150-mm howitzer became obsolete as soon as it left the factory. Behind. But in Asia, the Type 96 150mm howitzer, which has similar performance to the Japanese army, is a cutting-edge artillery and is unmatched. It can be seen that there was really a big gap between the military level of Asia and Europe at that time. It's huge!

Because the production of this cannon was not much, Zheng Huzi only needed 50 guns after the last one, and almost all the guns equipped by the Czech Wehrmacht were brought in. In addition, Feng. Richthofen. Barak also promised to help Zheng Hu replace all of his beards with new gun mounts, which would be slightly heavier but more performant.

Suppression artillery (cannons): 12 FK16150-mm heavy cannons; 50 German-made M1917105-mm cannons; 50 Skoda 105 mm vz35 family cannons.

In the last Battle of Baotou, the Japanese Army's Type 92 105 cannon took advantage of its range advantage to inflict great losses on the Nationalist Army. Therefore, Zheng Weiguo urgently needs a weapon with an extremely long range to ensure the relative safety of the position, otherwise the enemy can hide outside the range of our army and attack unscrupulously.

The performance of the FK16150 mm heavy cannon is very good, with a maximum range of 22,400 meters, and the power is amazing, which can basically meet Zheng Weiguo's requirements. The only flaw is that it is too heavy, more than ten tons. Fortunately, the place in Suiyuan is relatively flat, and with a special tractor, you can basically maneuver the whole way.

In addition to this strategic heavy cannon, Zheng Weiguo also needed a batch of light cannons. The German-made M1917105-millimeter cannon introduced before was very good, only a little more than 3 tons, and it could suppress most of the Japanese artillery in terms of range. However, there were not many of them, and Zheng Weiguo also wanted to have a weapon with better performance, so he chose the Czech Skoda 105mm vz35 series cannon.

The latter is a new type of artillery from the Skoda Arsenal, with extremely good performance, the only regret is that there are not many of them, von . Richthofen. Barak said that up to 50 doors will be made, and parts may have to be produced separately. Because of the different battlefield environment in Europe, the 105-mm long-range cannon did not mean much to the Germans (they needed big guys of 150 mm or even more than 170 mm), so this gun could only be called from the original stock and from the Czech Wehrmacht, and it would not be produced in the future.

Field guns: 100 German-made FK16 75mm field guns; 100 Czech SkodaH2 series 105-mm howitzers.

The former was rebuilt from the 7.7 cm FK16nA field gun of the First World War era, that is, the breech was replaced, as well as some parts. Since the Germans left a lot of 7.7 cm FK16nA field guns before and after World War I, their performance was completely outdated, so after the Nazis came to power, the mustache was modified a lot, and a lot was sold to China.

What made the mustache feel very depressed was that this cannon had just been almost modified and was completely outdated. For the Germans, a small 75-mm barrel with a range of more than 12300 meters was really useless. So this cannon Feng. Richthofen. Barak behaved very cheerfully, and was not afraid that the Japanese would find out, so he promised to give a hundred doors on the spot.

The Skoda H2 series of 105 mm howitzers is an old Czech product, and they basically engaged in 100 mm caliber later, but there are still many 105 mm guns in the Czech army, most of which are H2 series. This weapon was also very weak for the Germans, and it was not afraid that the Japanese would find out if they gave it to China with Czech artillery.

Mountain artillery: 100 Skoda C6 series 75mm guns or equivalent. This artillery has always been the main mountain artillery of the 41st Group Army, so I won't introduce it much.

Mountain, wild, plus, heavy, high, five types of artillery. Now there are mountain artillery, field artillery, heavy artillery, and cannon, only anti-aircraft guns remain, and Zheng Huzi wants 12 more 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and 36 20-mm Surotong anti-aircraft guns. It's not that they don't want to ask for more, but it's that the Germans themselves are also in short supply, and they resolutely refuse to give more, but they are very generous with light weapons.

Like the horse four-ring rifle, he readily promised to give another 100,000 rifles, and each rifle was accompanied by 100 rounds of ammunition. Then the ZH29 semi-automatic rifle was also given five thousand, which basically wiped out the stocks of the Bruno arsenal.

Of course, it is impossible to pay for so many weapons at once. After consultation, it is still the old rule, while delivering the goods, while informing the oilfield information, handing over a batch, informing a batch.

Knowing that Zheng Weiguo had obtained such a large batch of equipment, Political Commissar Cheng and Chief of Staff Zhou were very happy. As long as Zheng Huzi is not happy, because this is actually the last deal, when the Germans find that most of the oil fields are not easy to exploit, they will definitely not be fooled again.

However, Zheng Weiguo did not leave a backhand, and when the transaction between the two sides was in full swing, Zheng Huzi proposed that the two sides jointly develop several weapons. At this time, the Ping'an County Arsenal has also developed a lot of new equipment, which is quite scientific and technological, such as armor-piercing grenades, armor-fragmenting shells, smoothbore recoilless guns, simple disposable recoilless guns (iron fists), bazookas, high-power rockets (loaded with cloud explosives) and so on.

These weapons quickly attracted the attention of the German military industry, and a group of specialists were specially sent to develop them. Originally, the arsenal was limited to technical capabilities, and most of the products were defective. The arrival of this group of German experts quickly made up for the shortcomings in this area and greatly increased the strength of the arsenal.

During the period when the Jicha Theater was in the last "love" with the Germans, the Nationalist Army launched an unprecedentedly fierce battle with the enemy's Central Front Army in Nanchang. (To be continued......)