Chapter 53: Aircraft Sales (First Update)

  At this time, the troops in Jiang's hands were just two troops: Northwest Defense Army and East China Defense Army. After the war against Russia, Zhejiang army also directly joined the East China Defense Army, under the direct jurisdiction of Jiang.

  The national defense army after the war has entered a state of reorganization, and the war came suddenly, so the formation is not very clear. The various divisions are not considered elite troops. The victory in the war against Russia was mainly achieved through fierce firepower and advanced weapons such as tanks and aircraft.

  Therefore, reorganization was necessary. Those slightly inferior soldiers were incorporated into the Production Troops and would be sent to the northwest for garrison and land reclamation one after another, while the elite soldiers were incorporated into Category A divisions.

  The plan to expand the scale of tank production began, with an estimated 6,000 T-34 tanks produced within three years. With a complement of 350 tanks per armored division, fifteen divisions would require 5,250 tanks, plus some for replacement, and thus the plan for 6,000 was born.

  The T-26S is a relatively early tank, but its performance is already quite good, at least it has very strong combat capabilities.

  This batch of tanks will definitely be replaced in the future.

  So these 6,000 tanks and their production capacity are mainly for export. When the national defense army does not need these tanks, they can be exported for sale.

  After these chariots are manufactured, China's large-scale manufacturing technology for chariots will have a preliminary accumulation of experience.

  After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Jiang Yu immediately inspected the tank factory. Although the tank factory was not a production line, the engine manufacturing plant had already achieved mass production on an assembly line, producing over 1,000 engines per day, with capacity still expanding.

  After the end of the Sino-Russian War, each factory in the Huadong Group seemed to be full of infinite vitality, which was related to the injection of large sums of money.

  At the same time, many of Huadong Group's industries are emerging industries. Although the global industrial capacity is currently in excess supply, the industrial products produced by Huadong Group still have a good sales channel.

  In just the first three quarters of Renzi year, the total export value of industrial products reached 500 million yuan, which is still under the premise that domestic demand has not been met.

  The bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, agricultural machinery and cars produced by the East China Group are in short supply, and shipbuilding also digests its own production capacity.

  The output of iron and steel smelting was also absorbed by these projects, so the rapidly expanding steel production did not lead to unsalable products, but rather a trend where steel production could not keep up.

  For example, in car production, assuming each car consumes 1 ton of steel, then one million cars will need one million tons of steel. The amount of steel used by tractors is not small either. Agricultural machinery also uses a lot of steel, and those large agricultural machines use even more steel.

  The steel required for shipbuilding is even more.

  Railway construction also requires steel, and military industry needs even more steel.

  The demand for civil steel is also large, and a lot of steel is needed for steel bars, small hardware and so on.

  So Huadong Group's steel production is not exported at all, but is used for its own processing into higher value-added products before being sold.

  The second phase of Wuhu Steel Plant has not been completed yet, and the third phase has already started construction.

  The first phase of Handan Iron and Steel Plant has also started construction.

  Heavy industry throughout China began to expand rapidly under the construction of the Huadong Group.

  The only thing lacking now is time.

  "General, a letter from Sir John Jordan, the British Ambassador to China, saying that the British government wants to purchase a batch of bombers from us." Sun Zhendong handed the letter to Jiang Yu, who had previously sent Sun to participate in negotiations and then returned to serve as his secretary-general.

  "Want to buy bombers? Alright! But we only sell reconnaissance planes, trainer planes and tactical bombers. Medium bombers are out of the question. Go ask Zhu De, how many planes does the British government want to purchase?" Jiang Yu said to Sun Zhendong.

  ……

  After the end of the Sino-Russian War, governments around the world quickly realized the importance of aircraft. Prior to this, countries had already attached great importance to it, and governments from various countries spent a lot of money hiring researchers in the field of aviation.

  China's aircraft manufacturing technology has already taken the lead in the world, and various countries want to buy some bombers back for research.

  After Zhu De proposed the requirement of purchasing aircraft, Germany also sent a letter of intent to purchase bombers. Then France and the United States, even Japan, all expressed their intention to purchase aircraft.

  Jiang Yu had long thought that this was an opportunity to fleece money from the governments of various countries, and immediately stipulated that only orders for more than 300 aircraft would be accepted in terms of aircraft procurement, and the price was set relatively high.

  For example, a tactical bomber would cost $30,000 or ￡6,000, equivalent to 60,000 silver dollars.

  Is it too expensive?

  The problem is unique to this family!

  A 155mm howitzer costs almost ￡5,000, but the power of a bomber is much greater. A single 300kg heavy bomb has an effect far beyond that of a shell. Moreover, bombers can hit targets at a much longer range and are new equipment, so selling them for ￡6,000 is already very reasonable.

  The British ordered 300 trainer aircraft, 300 reconnaissance planes and 300 tactical bombers in one breath.

  The total order value reached 360 million yuan, or ￡36 million, and with the purchase of aerial bombs, the order value exceeded 450 million yuan.

  The British Cabinet complained that the number was too large, and it would be enough to buy one or two for research purposes only. However, Zhū Dédiǎn said to the British Cabinet: "China's air force development has already taken the lead in the world, the Great Britain Empire should just follow up, and the Great Britain Empire will inevitably break out a war with Germany in the future, these planes are not a pile of scrap iron when brought back."

  The British Cabinet then formally placed this order.

  The Germans were not far behind either. Kaiser Wilhelm II also placed an order for 50 million silver yuan worth of aircraft with the China Eastern Group and demanded a technology exchange.

  Technology exchange was Jiang's preferred approach, as China's military industry had yet to master some cutting-edge technologies, so Jiang submitted a list of technology exchanges to Germany.

  Kaiser Wilhelm II directly approved this list of exchanges and immediately dispatched technical personnel to China.

  Jiang Yu also sent aircraft manufacturing technology personnel to Germany and handed over German orders to the German Far East Group for production.

  France saw Germany place an order, and not wanting to fall behind, placed a 300 million yuan aircraft order with the China Eastern Group. The US then saw that various countries had placed orders, and also placed a 30 million dollar order.

  The Japanese government was even more unwilling to see China surpass Japan in aircraft manufacturing and placed an order for 20 bombers worth 2 million yuan.

  For orders under Japan, Jiang Yu also accepted them.

  "Bombers without fighters are useless."

  Jiang Yu then came up with a sinister move, and soon after, German Emperor Wilhelm II got another copy of Jiang Yu's 'fighter' research materials.

  It is also suggested that Germany exchange fighter technology with the Far Eastern Group, so even if Britain and France have many tactical bombers and reconnaissance planes after the war starts, as long as Germany has enough fighters, those planes can become roasted chickens.

  "This young Far Easterner is truly astonishing." Wilhelm II exclaimed after reading the research materials, "However, he demands to exchange cutting-edge industrial technologies, such as tungsten tooling technology, which needs careful consideration."

  These cutting-edge industrial technologies are a core part of Germany's industrial competitiveness and are not easily interchangeable.

  However, Wilhelm II considered it important to support an ally in the Far East and that fighter aircraft had great military utility for Germany.

  German Emperor Wilhelm II also agreed to this request for technical exchange.

  In this way, Jiangsu and Hubei either exchanged or independently studied and quickly absorbed the industrial manufacturing technology of Westerners, and also obtained cutting-edge technologies such as heavy artillery manufacturing through exchanges with Germans.

  These technologies are not difficult to study independently, but it is obvious that they will cost a lot of money. After all, making heavy artillery experiments once will consume a lot of time and steel, and experience accumulation takes some time. If it's a direct exchange, it would be much simpler.

  The East Aircraft Factory had by then produced a single-wing fighter with a speed of 200 km/h, weighing only one ton, made of wood and fabric structure, at a very low cost. After installing the device that allowed the machine gun bullets to synchronize with the propeller, the world's first mature fighter appeared.

  The East China Aircraft Manufacturing Factory has begun research on larger bombers and faster fighter planes.

  The East China Vehicle Manufacturing Factory began researching self-propelled guns and infantry armored vehicles, with research projects that have left Westerners far behind.

  The Huadong Arsenal began to plan the indigenous manufacture of heavy artillery and continued research into lighter mortars, autocannons, and anti-aircraft guns necessitated by the advent of air power.

  The research project of East China Gun Factory is a new type of submachine gun and a new type of machine gun.

  ——————

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