Mediterranean hegemon

Rockefeller's so-called good days were of course exaggerated, but the Soviet Union has been quite well-off in the past five years. The United Group accepts all Soviet primary products. As long as the things are really needed, no matter how much, they will be accepted without restriction. This is especially welcomed by those who set indicators based on output. What market price and sales are too troublesome. We only care about production. It is better not to have such capitalist things as marketing.

After becoming rich, the Soviet Union's economy and national defense construction have undergone significant changes different from history. The most direct change is in the navy. It is not enough to build a new battleship. Comrade Stalin, who has always been obsessed with a large navy, approved the construction of the second Soviet-class ship of the same class, the Soviet Ukraine, this spring.

If the first Soviet ship was guided by Italian technical experts throughout the process and key parts (including gun barrels) were imported from Italy, then the second Soviet Ukraine was intended to strive to increase the localization rate, at least the boilers, armor belts, etc. were all prepared to be domestically produced, while the third Soviet Soviet Belarus was prepared to be fully domestically produced, and the fourth Soviet Russia was intended to be upgraded on the basis of thoroughly understanding the Italian drawings, such as increasing the tonnage to 40,000 tons and extending the endurance, etc. - Italy can tolerate short legs, but the great Soviet Union spans half the world, how can short legs be enough? At least it must have a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles.

According to the construction requirements, these four warships must be guaranteed to be fully commissioned before the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution, that is, before 1937 - this is a revolutionary task, and failure to complete it will be a death sentence. Fortunately, Comrade Stalin was quite tolerant and gave the subordinates a full 11 years. As for the Washington Naval Treaty, the Soviet Union did not sign it at all, so naturally it didn't care. The cost of these four warships, together with the technology transfer and guidance fees, is expected to cost 100 million accounting units - half of which can be produced by themselves, so only 50 million is needed.

In addition to battleships, the Soviet Union is also interested in other naval fields, such as the Trent-class heavy cruiser. The bathtub boat and special transport boat modified by Contini are being inspected by the Soviet Navy and are prepared to be copied together. The technical fee for the Trent-class heavy cruiser has also been negotiated, with a total of 5 million accounting units, including guidance and technical fees. Construction is expected to start next year.

In addition to the navy, the Soviet Union is also very interested in other military technologies. Not only did it copy the sidecar motorcycle of United Motor, it also obtained patents for several aircraft or engines, and also expressed its approval of the 1926 light machine gun and heavy machine gun - but it was not actually introduced in the end. The United Group cooperated with their visit requirements as much as possible, but there was only one department that was kept secret from the Soviets, that is, the tank factory.

The United Group only allowed the Soviets to visit the Fiat-3000B, but not the M1 tank, let alone export. Since Christie had been poached by Contini to Italy a long time ago, the Soviet Union could not go to the United States to poach Christie's suspension technology.

After visiting the Fiat 3000B, the Soviet side thought that the performance of this tank was not good, and turned to look at the British Vickers tank - it is said that the British Ministry of Defense did not include this tank in its equipment, so Vickers might agree to export it, and the Soviet Union was very interested in this - historically this vehicle was successfully introduced in 1931, and later became the famous T-26.

Contini did not think that the Christie suspension was so profound and mysterious. He thought it was too immature. How could an immature product be shown to Comrade Stalin? He was going to show his Soviet comrades something better - the L1 tank with torsion bar suspension and staggered overlapping road wheels. Such a complicated name sounds like it was made by the Germans, and it is not wrong to say so. To be precise, it was jointly researched by German engineers (from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) and Italian engineers. The idea was provided by the president himself, who even drew a sketch with great interest - it was a mess!

These works were deployed and implemented before Contini visited the Far East in 1928. After more than a year of investment regardless of cost, a prototype was built in August 1929.

The prototype only has the chassis for the time being, and the turret and tank gun on it need to wait for further development. During the test, it was achieved by simulating iron block counterweights. After the test, everyone shouted that it was amazing. The new creation opened up a new realm of tanks: not only can it support a body of up to 24 tons, but the car is stable and good to drive, and you don’t need to wear a helmet when sitting in it, which is particularly beneficial for shooting while moving.

If it is really equipped with German Zeiss optical sights and Ansaldo's newly developed 75mm tank gun as the president said, everyone expects that it will be able to hit the target within 500 meters. Although there are more failures, it is completely understandable as it is a new product after all. As for the difficulty in maintenance? That is not a problem, just training. Now everyone is making the final improvements to the prototype and preparing to present it to the president when he comes back. Someone has done experiments and found that as long as the engine is powerful enough, it doesn't matter if it is 32 tons, let alone 24 tons. This leaves a lot of room for development - the larger the tonnage, the thicker the armor, the thicker the gun barrel, and the stronger the combat effectiveness. Such good things are worthy of the status of the revival of the Roman Empire.

These enthusiastic engineers never dreamed that the president really wanted to develop the M2 tank in the next stage. It was based on the body and chassis of the M1, with a weight of 16-18 tons and equipped with a 57mm tank gun. This was what he was going to put into mass production in the next five years. The L1 prototype still had at least 10 years to go from research to maturity, but it was okay to show it to the Soviet comrades for learning. Good things can't be hidden...

In addition to military industry, the Soviet Union also introduced civilian industry, including the Fiat car factory and a series of Italian equipment that took root in the Soviet Union. Of course, Italian fashion brands including perfumes, handbags, coats and women's underwear had a good market in the Soviet Union. Without a certain level, they could not be obtained. Although Comrade Stalin continuously purged anti-party groups, he was generous to his own people. These Italian products were distributed and rewarded to the people below - isn't the revolution all about living a good life?

As Rockefeller said, this good life encountered trouble. The first round of bookkeeping currency was 5 years old on December 31, 1929, and the contract was renewed for another 5 years. However, the United Group proposed that due to changes in the international economic situation, a large number of goods were unsalable, and Italy also encountered a crisis. Therefore, the United Group could only make adjustments. There are two key points to the adjustment:

First, if it continues to purchase at market prices and withdraw cash at a 95% discount, then the United Group will limit the purchase quantity instead of open purchases - which is actually equivalent to refusing to purchase;

Second, if it continues to purchase at market prices, the bookkeeping currency cannot be withdrawn. If it must be withdrawn, it must be 20% off.

In the final analysis, the Soviet Union must either find export channels on its own or pay a 20% channel tax to the United Group.

The Soviet Union also noticed the trend of falling raw material prices in the international market. On the one hand, the price fell, and on the other hand, it was 20% off. The days in the next few years will be very difficult. If it does not give a 20% discount, the Soviet Union cannot find a country that can accept Soviet products for export in large quantities.

Germany agreed to barter with the Soviet Union, but Germany's demand for Soviet products was not great - not that it was not great, but that Germany's demand was blocked by the United Group. The United Group ordered a batch of industrial equipment from Germany, which stipulated that part of the payment would not be made in the form of materials, but would be offset by crude oil. Therefore, Baku crude oil could not be sold to the Germans, and Germany did not need coal and iron ore. The Junker class protested against the import of grain, so the economic trade between the Soviet Union and Germany was greatly restricted.

Wall Street also noticed the situation in the Soviet Union, but they had even less demand for Soviet products. Rockefeller finally made a suggestion: "Tell the Russians that if they agree to pay with gold, we will sell this batch of equipment to them at a 55% discount!"

He made a good calculation. The Soviet Union offered a 55% discount, and Contini received a deposit of more than 10%, which added up to more than 66%. Under the current market conditions, this group of consortiums would not only not lose money but also make a little money, and even get gold - they generally expected that the US dollar would eventually depreciate, and this deal would be a great deal.

But they did not think about it. If the Soviet Union was willing to pay so much gold, why not compete with Contini for old equipment?