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Leap, a stroke of genius that shakes the world Chapter 129 The Elegant Bastard

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    Chapter 129 Elegant Bastard "We can accept the principle of 'cash and carry', but there is one thing that the Prime Minister should be very clear about. If the safety of the Atlantic route cannot be guaranteed, it may be better to purchase supplies from Germany and have Germany build it on its behalf.  Whether it¡¯s a ship, it¡¯s all just talk!¡± Sitting in the spacious living room of the Reich Chancellery, U.S. Vice President Henry Agard Wallace spoke slowly, but this agricultural expert had a strong tone.  The beautiful English in the accent made Logan, who was sitting opposite, half-understandable. He had to use a translator to fully understand the other person's meaning, and then carefully figure out his true intention.  "The United States hopes that Germany will send ships and aircraft to maintain the security of the Atlantic shipping line?" Logan did not mean to be surprised when he said this. With Italy's participation in the war, the situation in the Pacific has quietly changed. Although the U.S. Navy has strong strength, it cannot  Without going all out, it is naturally impossible to spare more ships for escort in the Atlantic.  However, Germany is not the United Kingdom after all. The current strategic cooperative relationship with the United States is not very strong, and Germany, which controls most of Europe, has a potential competitiveness with the United States that is far greater than that of the United Kingdom.  The U.S. government also knew this very well. Wallace took advantage of the translator's break to think deeply, and then thought for a moment and said: "Given the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, it would be reasonable for the German Navy to fully assume the escort mission."  It¡¯s unrealistic. Our initial intention is to use 40 degrees west longitude as the boundary, with the German Navy responsible for the eastern Atlantic part and the U.S. Navy responsible for the western Atlantic part!¡± Logan couldn¡¯t help but smile: This longitude was roughly used when the two sides divided the Atlantic sphere of influence earlier!  It seems that the U.S. government is still trying its best to resist the westward expansion of German power when the situation is not bad enough. However, German capital has now penetrated into various American countries, including the United States, through the British  The radar stations and naval and air force bases set up by the Kingdom in Canada have also formed a military stepping stone. If the economic backing were not strong enough, the National Defense Force could make Americans sit on pins and needles every day!  "There's no problem!" Logan agreed readily without any intention of bargaining. In his opinion, when Americans are on fire, they will naturally take the initiative to let go of their boundaries!  Wallace breathed a sigh of relief and asked: "The preliminary shipbuilding order has been submitted to your country for review. What are the opinions of your president and your Excellency?" "Okay, very good!" Logan's answer was still the same.  Simply put, in fact, although the Vice President of the United States brought a letter of intent for shipbuilding orders this time, all the ships were built in multiple batches over a long decade, and there were not even escort aircraft carriers or merchant ships exceeding 20,000 tons.  Not to mention the main ships such as battleships and heavy cruisers.  For this answer, Wallace's reaction was a bit surprising. In the eyes of ordinary people, bilateral negotiations are like making a deal. The initial intention often needs to go through see-saw negotiations before the final contract is signed. The Germans agreed like this because they felt that they were giving up.  Are the orders enough to fill your stomach, or is there another intention?  Experience and knowledge tell this maverick American Vice President that the Germans today are not easy to deal with at all!  Logan said in a friendly manner: "If your government can accept it in time, we can unconditionally shorten the construction period and complete these ships in 5 years. I believe this will play a very positive role in the US military's operations in the Pacific.  "This is naturally very good, but we may have some problems with funds!" Wallace said warmly, "It is impossible to pay such a huge amount of cash in a short time!" "It's hard to believe that this is from an American deputy!"  The words that came out of the president¡¯s mouth!¡± Rogan said with a smile and motioned for the translator to translate the original words.  Wallace's face was indeed not very good-looking, but he had made such a decision and was responsible for communication. He shrugged and said with a wry smile: "The first batch of purchased arms and equipment is worth US$220 million, which is equivalent to more than 500 million marks.  Pay cash! At this scale, the U.S. government will have to save all expenses for later cash-and-carry shipments from now on! "The cash and gold you received from the British Empire in the first two years of the war was far more than this!  Logan secretly laughed in his heart, but the Americans were relatively sincere this time. As soon as the two sides signed a trade agreement, such astronomical amounts of cash would be transferred to the Reichsbank, Germany's central bank.  Considering that more than half of this equipment is "idle" after the reduction of the Wehrmacht, this transaction will directly bring direct income of approximately 300 million marks to the German government, thereby making up for the huge government deficit this fiscal year to a certain extent.  "Your Excellency, you are exaggerating. War is a competition of national strength, let alone when facing powerful enemies like Japan and Italy!" Logan's position is very clear. With the abundant treasury and strong private capital of the United States, in the short term, it will never be eliminated.  No concessions will be made on the "buy now" issue.    Wallace pretended to be aggrieved and said: "The economic depression throughout the 1930s has greatly damaged our vitality. Considering the current huge military expenditure, we really cannot spend the original ten years of shipbuilding funding in five years.  "Pay up!" "Since your government is indeed in trouble, we can't force it!" Logan's tolerance does not mean being close to the Americans. Uncle Sam is not afraid of going to war with Japan and Italy. The former relies on  The powerful navy is still an opponent, and the latter is one of the few jokes in the history of war - maybe the American naval officers and soldiers are looking forward to the great Italian fleet taking the initiative to send it for a beating!  As if he had a bad intuition that he would be cheated sooner or later, Wallace lowered his stance again, leaving a way out for himself: "Perhaps both parties can consider the actual method of 'cash payment', such as cash for goods, cash in exchange for goods, etc."  "I'm afraid there is only one understanding in the world about 'spot and carry'!" Logan replied unceremoniously, "Don't forget, dear Vice President, the Italian government enjoys the same benefits as you.  If you can redeem the policy benefits in another location, they can do the same. You must know that the right to use a Tunisian port for 99 years can be converted into billions of dollars!" After hearing the translation, Wallace's expression was a little gloomy, but after thinking about it, the other party  What he said makes sense. Combining intelligence from all parties, he also knew that the actual treatment enjoyed by the Germans in the United States was indeed much better than that of the Italians. Moreover, the Germans also helped a lot in the operation to block the Suez Canal, so  No more arguments.  "Okay, we have reached an agreement in principle. I think the next thing will be left to professionals! It is your first time to come to Europe as the Vice President of the United States. Please let me show you the friendship of a landlord.  Let¡¯s take a tour around, okay?¡± Logan invited in an oriental manner.  The country was still shrouded in the haze of war. Wallace was not in the mood to travel around, but the other party had already spoken. He was very helpless, so he replied with a low expression: "I will do it happily!" In the next week  During the time, Logan took his wife and took a special train with Wallace to travel around, traveling to Prague and Austria in the south, to the reconstructed Warsaw in the east, to the Baltic Sea in the north, and to the romantic capital Paris in the west, which was equivalent to giving himself a trip  After a big holiday, all the details of arms and shipbuilding transactions were left to the professionals led by Speer. Of course, diplomats were required to perform their own duties, but in the situation where the overall framework had been set,  There is not much room left for them to play.  On February 23, the special train returned to Berlin. Representatives from both sides had reached agreement on most of the detailed issues. The agreement only needs to be reviewed by the heads of both sides and submitted to their respective parliaments for a vote before they can sign an agreement with international validity.  Accordingly, 100 f]
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