Chapter Fifty-two Unexpected

  He Shaotang glanced at Ye Qingru through the rearview mirror, his curved eyebrows seemed to fly into her hair, a pair of phoenix eyes with some coldness, but the slightly raised corners of his mouth were telling you: Want my warmth? See if you can conquer me...

  If this woman wasn't Japanese, wasn't a spy, but rather an elegant noblewoman, she would be worthy of someone like me... Hei Shaotang thought to himself; driving on the mountain road with its alternating sunshine and tree shade was quite thrilling, especially with a beautiful woman by his side. For now, let's just forget that she's Japanese, it feels more romantic that way...

  The rugged mountain road was very bumpy, often bouncing people up and down. If the Japanese prostitute next to me were sitting on my lap... He Shaotang suddenly had some strange and absurd thoughts...

  "Be careful!" The nearby Ye Xiang suddenly shouted! On one side of the mountain road, a landslide had occurred, revealing a gaping hole like the open mouth of a monster, directly facing their car!

  He Shao-tang, who was daydreaming, suddenly realized something was wrong and hastily turned the steering wheel... too late! The front of the car tilted to the right, carrying mud, sand, gravel, and weeds, with a loud "whoosh-crash!" sound, and plunged into the ditch on the right side of the mountain.

  "The spring night is short, the sun rises high... from now on, the king will not rise early..." In school, Tan Xiao didn't learn classical Chinese and poetry very well, but he suddenly remembered this sentence. He really didn't want to get out of bed! The warmth in his arms gave him another surge of motivation... But no, this morning he had an appointment with Charles Rolls, the chairman of Rolls-Royce (since I couldn't find any information on who was the chairman of Rolls-Royce in 1935, I just made up a name by combining the surnames of the two founders, Rolls and Royce...).

  It would have been better if last night's meeting had ended earlier, it was all because of He Shao-tang, not waiting for him... Right, where did that guy go last night? Absent from an important meeting, he has never tried it before! Tan Xiao suddenly became worried about He Shao-tang: hopefully nothing unexpected happened to him, he is the main bridge between He Yingqin's side and theirs!

  Last night there was an important meeting, which was to decide on the personnel for the five overseas postings.

  The first set, also the easiest to resolve, is a group of spies sent to Nanyang. Wen Xiangting's team is a natural choice; however, this woman with ulterior motives cannot be allowed to lead, so Huang Xiaoxia will take charge instead. Another special warfare squad will also be dispatched. This lineup doesn't need much discussion and is the final proposal.

  The second team is going to Hong Kong, this batch of personnel consists of a group of Fuxing Society special agents and Military Intelligence Agency action group members; led by a man named Ding Lushan. Ding Lushan was an old acquaintance of Mo San, when Mo San was a bandit in Guilin, Ding Lushan was collecting protection money in Guangxi and eastern Guangdong, later he was also caught by the Guangxi army. It was Mo San who suggested to Tan Xiao that Chen Kui-zi release him, after his release he joined the Military Intelligence Agency action group; now that training is complete, he will go to Hong Kong to assist Ren Pingwei with his work. Because according to Ren Pingwei's feedback, Tofu-hara Kenji is about to arrive in Hong Kong and there aren't enough people on hand to capture him! As for sending Ding Lushan to lead the team, everyone had some differing opinions, because this man was a slippery character, very greedy; although he usually talked about righteousness, but ultimately didn't inspire confidence. Everyone's opinion was more inclined towards sending Lin Yaoguang instead, however, after weighing the situation in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Tan Xiao still decided to send Ding Lushan. Because when dealing with those gangs in Shanghai, someone like Lin Yaoguang was even more necessary.

  The third team will be sent to North China, specifically for the preparation of next year's military action in North China. The leader is Chen Ye Liu, which was decided by Tan Xiao after a long consideration. Chen Ye Liu is actually not competent as the head of the Military Intelligence Department, but he is relatively loyal. Sending him to North China is to use his loyalty and also to give him a chance to exercise. In the past, there was also Guan Lin's protection, so it should be safe. For this reason, Tan Xiao specially transferred Lai Yunsheng from the Blue Shirt Society's Special Affairs Department to the Military Intelligence Department as its head. After all, with so many years of experience in special affairs organizations, Lai Yunsheng's experience and level are far higher than Chen Ye Liu's. As for the Revival Society's Special Affairs Department, a man named Tao Zian was promoted. He is the brother-in-law of Wu Shengdai's son, which means he has some connection with Old Tan. Promoting him also means that Tan Xiao has fully controlled the Revival Society's Special Affairs Department. There is not much controversy in the selection of this team, but rather who will be the focus after some key people leave their positions.

  The fourth team's lineup was even more grand, heading to Shanghai, as Lin Yintang continued to hold the flag in Vietnam; Huang Xiaoxia went to Nanyang; Tan Xiao sent Yang Chengfu and Lin Yaoguang to Shanghai. In addition, Zhang Xiang led a team of six special warfare troops with the most experience, as the backbone force to thoroughly eliminate the Shanghai underworld. Meanwhile, Ji Ping led a group of old foxes from the Old Tan system's logistics personnel to wait for deployment. Rong Hui herself would also bring a group of people she had transferred from Europe, as well as her expanded bodyguard team, which had grown several times larger.

  As for the fifth set of personnel, it's just a matter of discussion because they haven't formed a team yet. They are the people sent to Qinzhou Bay for development work. The development work in Qinzhou Bay will be led by Tan Xiao, but after making decisions, Tan Xiao won't be able to follow up closely on specific tasks, so he needs to find some capable personnel to handle internal affairs. Wu Sheng is the top choice, anyway, he's been idle since his release, drinking tea and playing with birds every day, it would be a waste not to use him. As for the military construction in Qinzhou Bay, Tan Xiao still plans to take charge himself, although the group of returned overseas leaders from the Taxation Police Corps is actually very suitable, but decentralization cannot be excessive, especially when it comes to military power. Tan Xiao plans to use the original core members of the Wild One Division in all three major defense forces in Qinzhou Bay, and not just Peng Hanbai, who was trained by the Wild One Division. Originally, the specific composition work of this team was supposed to be completed by Wu Sheng and He Shaotang together. But He Shaotang didn't show up, and nobody knows where he went!

  Tan Xiao was worried about He Shao Tang, but this morning's work was to meet Charles Lays, so he only asked his deputy to follow He Shao Tang after arriving at the study, and then began to think about the negotiation points with Lays.

  In later years, Rolls-Royce is more known to the Chinese people for its cars, but it was actually a supplier of engines for almost all of the British Air Force's famous fighter jets. As for setting up a factory in China, Charles Rolls was not as enthusiastic as two aircraft manufacturers. So, credit also goes to these two aircraft manufacturers for making today's talks possible.

  "China has vast lands and countless people... but how many planes can China have? I think it's not a good idea to set up a factory here, how many engines can be sold each year? I'm not confident..." Lais was far from being as shrewd as the two airplane factory masters.

  For this kind of British arrogance, Tan Xiao had already experienced it from different British people and he did not plan to indulge in such arrogance.

  "I heard a story about two salesmen who went to an island to sell shoes. They saw that nobody on the island wore shoes, so one of them left and told his company that there was no market for shoes on the island. The other salesman stayed and taught the islanders how to wear shoes, achieving great success. His report back to the company was that all the people on the island were potential customers because they hadn't worn shoes yet..." Tan Xiao's speech started with this story.

  "You know, shipping an engine from Europe, the freight alone is enough to make one's head spin. I couldn't possibly build a batch of planes in China and leave their hearts in Europe!" Tan Xiao shrugged: "If Mr. Lays really doesn't want to set up a factory in China, then unfortunately, I'll have to produce some hybrids... putting Daimler engines on Hawker and Mitchell planes might be quite comical..."

  Yes, let the British plane be equipped with a German engine, I wonder what will happen? Tan Xiao hasn't considered it, but this must take some risks, although this heart transplant won't produce body rejection.

  "Daimler? You mean they're going to set up a factory in China too?" Lais maintained his arrogance: "The Germans will pay the price for their foolishness, right? Do they have regulations on your minimum trade volume or something? Like thirty engines per year or more?"

  "No, they didn't have any conditions... They just hoped that at least half of China's aircraft plans would use their engines." Tan Xiadong replied dryly, not in a hurry to come up with a big number.

  "Oh? Then, General, how many planes does China plan to produce each year? Can it be as many as 200?" Lais thought: If there are 200, it's probably worth investing in a small-scale factory... no, the Germans have already taken away half of the orders...

  "In fact, we don't even have a one-year plan. To know that just opening these factories takes half a year's time, how can we plan for a year?" Tan Xiao said: "In a year, we'll be lucky if we can use up to 100 units..."

  Lai is quite disappointed, but reasonable. The Chinese government can add more than 500 aircraft in a year, which is probably the limit. Excluding directly purchased aircraft, how many domestic ones can be used? For companies like Hawker, this is a worthwhile business, but for Rolls-Royce... maybe selling engines is more cost-effective.

  "Why is the general so keen on producing in China? Actually, as long as both sides cooperate well, it's not a problem to transport from Europe..." Lays didn't want to miss out on business but didn't want to set up a factory in China.

  "But, I have two aircraft manufacturers in your country that will be doing R&D... You know, the process of R&D, is it possible to make any changes without having to send the engine back to the UK for modification or buying a new one? Time does not permit...” Tan smiled and shrugged his shoulders: “So, unfortunately, I can only use the engines that are readily available… It seems like I have to convince the two aircraft masters and Daimler to cooperate."

  This is blackmail! Rees thought, Hawley and Mitchell could at most use Chinese companies' planes to threaten Daimler, but they couldn't threaten my market in the UK! Rees was still very confident.

  "I'm afraid so!" said Lays, very politely. "But Havilland's aircraft factory can be built for less than a million... Of course, Supermarine's aircraft factory is more expensive, but my engine factory cannot produce on a large scale without over five hundred million... So, if we calculate the shares at 20%, it won't be easy for me to earn back this one million. Of course, if we purely invest in technology, we don't have any economic risk, but perhaps by the time these technologies become outdated, we still haven't received our dividends!"

  It's time to bomb the British, Tan Xiao thought.

  "Is the engine technology that expensive? I heard from Germans that a bomber costs around 10,000 silver dollars...” Tan Xiao shrugged: “Maybe British goods are more expensive. If the price difference is so big, I really can't afford British goods. We have a Chinese proverb called 'small numbers fear long calculations'... even if the price difference is only one or two percentage points, but it involves tens of thousands of base numbers, it's huge... Sorry, Mr. Lees!" Tan Xiao seemed to want to end the conversation.

  Lai just wanted to stand up, what? Tens of thousands? He suddenly came back to his senses, wondering if Tan Xiao's words were a figure of speech or an exact term. He asked: "Can you reveal your country's aircraft procurement plan? … I mean, I want to know how big a deal my friends made when they came to China..."

  "The first year is mainly for infrastructure construction and R&D... Of course, we will also assemble some aircraft to train workers, about 100 units should be enough... In the second year, if R&D goes smoothly and those aircraft meet my requirements, then we'll keep producing them! But I estimate that it's impossible to produce more than 3,000 units in a year..."

  "Oh! God! Three thousand a year! This madman...!" Lays almost fainted!

  Hit him when he least expects it and he'll be knocked out! Tan Xiao has always believed this, including in negotiations.

  Lais, who had already stood up to shake hands and bid farewell, now felt very awkward! Everything was beyond concealment. If he stayed behind to continue the discussion, he would have to lower his voice and tone down, which would indicate that he was extremely concerned about this deal; he couldn't play any more tricks. However... he really wanted to close this deal! Alright, sit back down, let's keep talking...

  After signing a cooperation intention similar to the Nanjing Treaty with reversed sides, Rolls-Royce finally settled in China. Rolls-Royce got the market share ratio guarantee and the acceptable dividend ratio it needed; however, its technology and patents were all opened up, task-oriented opening: Rolls-Royce had to complete a large number of training for Chinese technicians and workers. Within one year, Chinese people could complete all production by themselves after British technical trainers returned home! Moreover, any new product of Rolls-Royce must be produced in the new factory!

  At this point, the Chinese Air Force finally had a complete equipment system: all spare parts were produced by itself, and the main fighter was originally the British "Spitfire" in history; but in this space-time, to commemorate his coming-of-age ceremony, Tan Xiao took a new name: "Spitfire Girl"; and that versatile machine DH98, which also served as a "reconnaissance plane", "bomber", "fighter-bomber", "night fighter", "bombing guide plane", "torpedo bomber", "anti-submarine aircraft", "day patrol plane", "minelayer", "trainer", and "special transport plane" had a new name: "Omnipotent". These two names later made the designers very satisfied, especially the former one. Mitchell even thought of calling his design "Shrew"! As for the ones responsible for precise strikes on ground or sea targets, they were, of course, the German Ju87 "Stuka" dive bombers, which had a new name in China: "Scare You to Death".

  Now, the biggest problem left for Tan Xiao to solve is still time. To build these three factories on a large scale at one go, and to use a large number of British technicians and workers as production and training backbone at the same time, it will take Tan Xiao 300 million in a year; and this does not include the cost of materials!

  After calculating, Tan smiled to himself and shrugged his shoulders. What's the point? The money will come back anyway...

  He Shaotang's last bit of consciousness after tumbling down the mountain valley was pain! It hurt so much! Then, he lost all sense.

  After the sun went down, Ye Xingyun slowly came to. The intense pain reminded her that her right arm was fractured. She calmed herself and gradually regained consciousness. She saw He Shaotang pinned between the steering wheel and seat, clearly with a rib fracture, and didn't know if he was dead or alive. She reached out to feel He Shaotang's nose, and there was still breathing, and the pulse on his neck wasn't weak...

  With great difficulty, Ye Qianyu finally managed to tie her fractured right arm with a few branches brought down by the car using her left hand and teeth, barely securing it in place. Enduring the intense pain all over her body, she finally laid He ShaoTang flat on the wheelchair. Then, she went outside the car and lit a bonfire for help, hoping to be discovered by patrolling soldiers.

  This was in a mountain valley, the bonfire wasn't big, and the possibility of being discovered wasn't great; moreover, although this place is considered part of the base, the military base was too large, even wild animals could live here. Thinking of this, Ye Qing hurriedly took down from He Shao's chair side that "Su Luo Tong" MP34 he liked very much and always carried with him.

  Under the firelight, He Shaotang's face was still very pale. Would his broken ribs pierce his lungs? That would be very dangerous! If He Shaotang died, it would undoubtedly be detrimental to her intelligence work! She couldn't just sit and wait for death! She had to find someone and get out of there! Ye Xingyun thought to herself. However, she was afraid that after she left, a certain animal would appear - the white-tailed dog! It was a kind of wild dog with white tail hair that specialized in eating dead bodies and injured small animals or rotten things, and could be found from the northern mountains of Guangdong to the southern part of Hunan. The base had also seen them before! (Before liberation, there were many, but after liberation, they were eradicated by a specially organized dog-killing team.) Fortunately, when they fainted, this animal did not appear.

  He Shaotang woke up, painfully. He found himself tied to Ye Qing's back, swaying and staggering on the mountain road.

  Before that, Ye Qing tore off her own clothes, carefully bandaged He Shao's external wounds, and then helped him fix his broken ribs with branches. Then, using tree bark, belts... all the tools she could find to bind things, she tied He Shao to herself. After doing all this, the sky was already getting light, and exhausted to the point of collapse, she still managed to drag He Shao up onto the road surface by sheer willpower. After a brief rest, she continued on, half-dragging and half-hugging He Shao.

  Because she wanted to avoid irritating He Shao's broken ribs as much as possible, she had tied him up in front of her. When He Shao came to, his first clear reaction was that the thing rubbing against his face was a woman's breast! Although it was separated by the military uniform, he could still clearly feel its texture and contours!

  After a moment of regaining his senses, He Shaotang thought clearly about what had happened between them. Then he did something that could obviously alleviate the pain in his injured area, which was somewhat indecent: with his mouth half open, he used his lips to take advantage of their swaying motion and sucked on a certain part of the baby's favorite thing through their military uniforms!

  The maple leaves felt this indecent movement right away, but she pretended not to know - could she throw him off in anger? Moreover, this not very annoying harassment was also a way for her to alleviate pain and distract herself; now she's even a little excited: this indecent brat can make such an indecent move, he won't die!

  They finally ran into a patrol at 10 am, just as Tan Xiao was ending his conversation with Charles Rice.

  Tan Xiao is currently reading a decoded telegram from Hong Kong while listening to Rong Hui's report on the situation in Shanghai. On the futures market in Shanghai, Sassoon's traders are enthusiastically playing a game of high-low price manipulation, constantly making small profits from the Song and Kong families, and slowly increasing their positions at both high and low prices. As the Song and Kong families' positions increase, their proportion of holdings also rises, and experienced traders on the scene have already sensed an increasingly intense battle in the rapidly expanding positions...

  "Sha Xun is leaving today, Song Kong's expansion speed has exceeded his expectations, he wants to go back and talk to those bankers in person..." Rong Hui said.

  "Alright, about this matter... Huihui, you take charge, I don't understand anything..."

  "Uh-huh! I'll be fine......" She gazed at him reluctantly: "I'm leaving tomorrow......"

  "By the way, there's something that might still need to be handed over to you." Tan Xiao said, handing over the Hong Kong telegram: "General Tan, I've found and booked all four sets of equipment you wanted. Now I'm in Hong Kong, being held by the 'Big Open' casino, hurry up and send money to save my life! Your loyal friend: Dai Ken Rogers."

  The western cowboy brought two surprises to Tan Xiao: one was that he actually found the old production line in the United States that belonged to the two companies during World War I, which helped Britain produce P14 rifles, and even paid a deposit to buy it; secondly, on his way to Lingling, he gambled in Hong Kong and lost all his money, and was detained!

  "I hope that cowboy really bought those production lines and isn't just tricking me into saving him!" Tan Xiao said: "If these four old production lines can be restored, then the logistics support of our national army will be much better... If he really gets his hands on the production lines, I think you should take over and trade with him. Oh, right, don't press the price too hard, I still want him to help me with cars! Let me get Ping Wei to bail him out first..."

  As for whether the cowboy did a good job, Tan Xiao didn't dare to fully believe it. After all, his impression of that western cowboy was just a guy who only knew how to carry a bottle of wine into casinos and brothels. Of course, being a thief and a fence was very professional.

  The phone rang at this time, it was a call from No. 1 Military Hospital.

  "What!? Is Shao Tang okay?!...... Alright, alright! That's good! I'll go right away!" Tan Xiao hung up the phone: "Today's unexpected events are really many..."

  Author: Ah, unexpectedly many mistakes, yesterday I turned Moses into Morgan... really sorry, ashamed of the support from book friends... Today I forgot to ask the editor if it can be changed, will try harder tomorrow... This week, with one chapter per day, by Thursday we can thoroughly defeat Little Japan... Finished writing this morning and felt very satisfied myself... Ranking dropped a lot, book friends please help push it up!!