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Leap, a stroke of genius that shakes the world Chapter 164 Brothers in distress

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    Leap, a stroke of genius that shakes the world Chapter 164 Brothers in distress (3146749).  (Please Remember Me) Thursday, April 29, 1943, rainy.  0m The delegation headed by Italian Foreign Minister Ciano arrived in K?nigsberg on a train arranged by Germany. In the impression of the world, Germans are famous for their rigor, rigidity and punctuality, but the whole trip took less than four days.  Hundreds of kilometers of railway lines were either caused by track failures or car collisions. Finally, a bridge collapsed, a rare occurrence in ten years. People can't help but speculate on the human factors involved.  However, the fake accident scene was there, and the Italians were full of complaints but had nothing to say.  After finally arriving in K?nigsberg, we were told that because of two consecutive days of rain, the road to the countryside was muddy and difficult to navigate. If the Italian representative insisted on going, the car would most likely get stuck in the muddy road midway - Ciano's attitude  Resolutely chose to move on.  This time, the roads in the German Chancellor¡¯s hometown were not in extremely bad conditions. Although some paths were muddy and slippery along the way, the convoy only took three hours to reach the racecourse by driving cautiously and slowly.  "Your Excellency, the distinguished Minister of Foreign Affairs, came in person, which really made this ancient house shine." Rogan used a few more appropriate words to describe "the shine". However, judging from Ciano's reaction, Italy  People do not understand its meaning.  ¡°I¡¯m really busy with some housework recently, I¡¯m really sorry,¡± Logan explained politely, and Ciano was a man who had seen the world. He gave a vague greeting, and then couldn¡¯t wait to get to the point: loans.  Since the invasion of Saudi Arabia, in order to maintain hundreds of thousands of army, air force and naval vessels, the Italian government's military expenditures have soared to a record high within three months, and unprecedented investment in mechanized troops, combat aircraft and naval  The ship was called an oil black hole, rapidly consuming the fuel that the Italian government had worked so hard to reserve. Starting from the end of February, Germany included oil and refined oil in the list of "spot and carry" items to restrict oil exports to Italy.  Lacking foreign exchange reserves and hard currency, Italy turned to its Japanese allies in the east for support. In March, in exchange for the participation of the Italian fleet in the war, Japan dispatched a group of oil ships from South Asia to Italy, but only 200,000 tons of oil  It can only solve Italy's temporary needs.  As fuel shortages reappeared, Italy began to restrict civilian fuel supplies, and only trams were still able to run on the streets.  If it were just a fuel issue, public dissatisfaction in Italy would not boil over quickly. In order to maintain the expeditionary force heading to Saudi Arabia, a large number of civilian ships were requisitioned by the Italian Navy. In addition, German and American capital jointly launched attacks in Europe and the Americas. Italy's overseas trade went from bad to worse, and domestic  The machinery, textiles and canned food manufactured were either unsaleable or were priced so low that they could not make ends meet. In just two or three months, they put huge pressure on the Italian domestic economy. The chain reaction was quickly reflected in the closure of factories and the unemployment of workers.  What's even more terrible is that Germany, the United States, France and the Kingdom of Britain signed the "Four-Country Economic and Trade Agreement" in London at the end of March, which reduced or exempted tariffs on goods circulating among the four countries and relaxed restrictions on capital circulation, thus making Britain and  France's foreign trade and domestic economy have experienced a strong recovery.  Italy's extreme passivity in the military, economic and political aspects finally triggered a wave of anti-war protests from the opposition parties and the public - although many of them firmly supported sending troops to Saudi Arabia more than three months ago, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  The unexpected strength of the "indigenous army" caused the Italian army to fall into the quagmire of overseas wars. Realistic interests made them quickly change their stance and strongly demanded that the Mussolini government withdraw from the war and seek a peaceful development environment.  Although the large-scale domestic protests have not directly threatened his position as prime minister, Mussolini hastily sent Ciano as an envoy to Japan in an attempt to gain more support from allies.  Since 1941, Japan has successively seized the Philippines, the East Indies and the South Asian colonies formerly owned by the British, but its family status has not reached the level of a "nouveau riche".  The war against the United States blocked the largest trade channel; before the Frick-Rogan regime came to power, although Japan and Germany maintained an alliance, the constraints of the Soviet-German war meant that Germany could only provide a small amount of support in terms of machinery and equipment.  Relying solely on Japan's limited domestic capital and industrial strength, the development of the occupied areas in Southeast Asia and South Asia is far from expected levels. Oil production has not even returned to 60% of pre-war levels, while the huge combined fleet is marching eastward and westward.  War and the needs of domestic industry, it was barely enough to maintain its own operations before the large-scale activities of U.S. submarines. The opening of the Saudi front gave the U.S. team an excellent reason to return to South Asia.  With the secret help of Germany, the U.S. Navy's submarine force obtained new supply and repair bases in the South Pacific and South Asia. In the first three months of 1943 alone, the number of Japanese merchant ships sunk in South Asia and Southeast Asia reached 130  There are more than ten ships with a registered tonnage of more than one million tons. Such losses are a huge blow to the company in its heyday.The British Empire may be able to bear it, but Japan, which is short of resources, is different. "Loan?" Logan pretended to be surprised, "Sorry, I think if I understand correctly, you are saying that the Italian government intends to use the warring countries'  Under the "spot and carry" neutrality policy, lending funds to belligerent countries is not allowed, but Germany and the United States use this hat as a cover to engage in secret transactions. The Italians  I also know something about it, but unless conclusive evidence is produced, these cannot be brought to the table.  Ciano was immediately speechless. After all the troubles, he met the "manager" of the German government, and this was the result.  After drinking half a cup of hot coffee, he began to describe the traditional friendship and deep roots between Germany and Italy, the policy and financial support Italy had given before the former head of state came to power, and he praised Rogen without hesitation.  Even so, Logan still said with embarrassment: "Even though I personally support your country's leaders and government infinitely, the loan issue cannot be passed in Congress - today is different from the past, we are now the real National Assembly." In this case  , Ciano began to talk in a roundabout way about various ways to circumvent the neutrality law and the "cash and carry" strategy, some of which were the "tricks" played by Germany and the United States.  Although Logan heard the implication of the other party's words, he had learned a lot about pretending to be stupid in the past few years. What's more, when it came to the economic level, he, who was born in a 21st century major, refuted the fact that he studied law and was good at picking up girls.  The Ciano is a piece of cake.  There was really no other way. Ciano simply said with a sad face: "Is it possible that Adolf Hitler, the heir to the ideology of the F¨¹hrer, an honorary citizen and a great friend of Italy, would rather choose to stand by and watch while Italy is plunged into many crises?" It would be better not to say this,  Logan was puzzled when he heard Italians calling themselves "heirs to the F¨¹hrer's ideology": one is a dictator, the other is the prime minister of a democratic government; one is a fanatical nationalist, the other is a person without faith; the other is trying to rule the world  , a person who fully understands the significance of balance among countries, cannot find the corresponding inheritance relationship no matter how hard he looks.  The only explanation is that the old head of state gave Logan a lot of personal care during his rise, that's all.  "Actually, the way to resolve the crisis is very simple" Logan said seriously.  "Withdraw from the war?" Ciano asked in frustration.  "Yes, withdraw from the war," Logan replied loudly, "As long as Italy withdraws from the war, withdraws its troops from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and withdraws its fleet to the Mediterranean, then I will persuade President Frick and jointly urge Congress to pass an aid plan for Italy.  , including low-interest or interest-free large loans, free support for civilian supplies, etc. In addition, many trade agreements and economic agreements originally signed can also be resumed. Isn¡¯t this a good way to get the best of both worlds? " "This  "Ciano, who had just returned to Europe from Japan two days ago, was speechless for a long time with his mouth open. Japan made an empty promise to compensate the losses of the Italian fleet in accordance with the agreement between the two sides after the war. What it can currently provide is only in accordance with the Japanese Navy  Standard pension for officers and soldiers killed in action.  On this issue, the Italian government is already suffering. In order to avoid protests from the families of the fallen, the military has to temporarily withhold notifications of the death of fleet officers and soldiers, and raise funds to prepare huge pensions for the families of the fallen.  If we withdraw from the war, not only will the oil problem not be solved, but we will also end up being defeated by the indigenous troops one after another.  Coincidentally, on the other side of the world, in Tokyo, a protest march was also held in the rain. The angry soldiers and people were not asking the government to withdraw from the war, but expressing strong dissatisfaction with the government's unfavorable diplomacy and the military's successive failures.  Frequent changes in cabinet governments have been a national characteristic of Japan since the Meiji Restoration. Facing domestic pressure, the Tojo cabinet cooperated very cooperatively and chose to resign. After a short and quick imperial meeting, the Koiso cabinet hurriedly came to power, and the Japan United Cabinet  Fleet Commander Yamamoto Isoroku was dismissed from his post due to the defeat in the Western Pacific Naval Battle. Admiral Koga Mineichi, who was highly valued by the imperial family, took up his post. Senior naval admirals such as Nagumo Tadayuki, commander of the Japanese Navy Mobile Force, were able to remain in their posts unharmed.  Since the main force of the Combined Fleet's aviation fleet suffered a devastating blow, after the Battle of the Western Pacific, the Japanese Navy's strategy in the Pacific temporarily shifted to defense.  However, the good times did not last long. Two months later, with the arrival of the ultra-long-range bomber JU-490B sold by Germany to the United States, the US military began to use Saipan as an aviation base to bomb the Japanese archipelago. From the moment the bombs fell in Tokyo  , the tragic fate of the Japanese combined fleet has been doomed
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