Chapter 782 Meeting in half
In the era of "Sun King" Louis XIV, the French army was indeed the best in the world, and its army and navy were invincible, so much so that Europe had to form an anti-French alliance in order to compete with France confrontation.
The Napoleonic era was the last glory of the French Army. Since then, the French Army has been deteriorating. After the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army's position in Europe was officially replaced by the German Army.
After the World War, although the French army once again shouted "No. 1 in the world", this time even the French themselves no longer believed it.
In terms of the number of armored fighting vehicles alone, France is indeed number one in the world. During the World War, France produced nearly 3,200 Renault FT-17 tanks alone.
The total combat weight of the FT-17 is only 7 tons, and its armor protection is almost zero. It can only resist light weapons and shrapnel attacks. The 37mm combat anti-cannon equipped by Russia can easily penetrate the FT-17.
France also has a heavy-duty tank called fcm-2c. The weight of this tank reaches an astonishing 70 tons. Unfortunately, the number is too small, only 10.
The Type 22 armored fighting vehicle that Russia participated in has a total combat weight of only 32 tons and a gun caliber of 75 mm. Although it only uses one engine, its top speed reaches an astonishing 30 kilometers per hour.
The maximum speed of the FT-17 is only 11 kilometers per hour.
fcm-2c uses two gasoline engines with a power of 250 horsepower, and the maximum speed is also only 12 kilometers per hour.
The Type 22 uses a diesel engine.
De Gaulle was very interested in the Russian Type 22 armored fighting vehicle. Unfortunately, De Gaulle did not get the opportunity to get close to the Type 22 armored fighting vehicle, which made De Gaulle itchy.
Russia’s pursuit of performance also confused de Gaulle.
At present, the use of armored fighting vehicles in Europe is still at the stage of cooperating with infantry combat.
On this basis, 30 kilometers per hour is meaningless at all. Normal people generally run at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. Soldiers have to carry weapons and equipment when fighting, so the speed will only be slower.
Therefore, the maximum speed of armored combat vehicles in Britain and France currently does not exceed 15 kilometers per hour.
The French fcm-2c is a trench-crossing machine with a length of an astonishing 10 meters and requires 12 people to operate.
The Russian Type 22 has only 5 crew members and is only 6 meters in length, which will cause the Type 22 tank to be helpless when facing slightly wider trenches.
De Gaulle did not raise this issue.
Even he can notice this flaw, there is no reason for the Russians to not think of it.
Adrian is also very concerned about the Type 22 tank.
Adrian had already been exposed to the Type 22 armored fighting vehicle during his exchange at the Amur Army Academy.
Compared with the armored fighting vehicles of that time, the current Type 22 has been improved again, with improvements in power, firepower, and protection.
“Tilted armor can effectively improve the protection of tanks. Amur Military Industrial Group is researching new armor-piercing projectiles. All existing tanks in Europe can be easily penetrated by Type 22.”
Long Mei I am very sad. Compared with technology, Russia's self-confidence makes Rommel even more powerless.
The attitude of all countries towards cutting-edge military equipment is to strictly block it, especially for opponents, to guard against it.
Russia has almost nothing to hide from Rommel and the German officers with whom they communicated. This attitude can be interpreted as Russia's frankness, or it can also be interpreted as contempt.
This means that I clearly ask you to copy the homework. I am not afraid that you will not copy it, but I am afraid that you will not understand it if you copy it.
“Any news about George Siemens?”
Guderian knew what the real cutting edge was.
Armored fighting vehicles are essentially the same as battleships. You can build them if you want. The key is performance and scale.
Russia has been developing new technologies and constantly improving its armored combat vehicles. If other countries do not keep up, the technological gap will become wider and wider.
Even if there is no technological gap, Russia can rely on its strong industrial capabilities to completely defeat its opponents in terms of scale.
The reason why France only has 10 fcm-2cs is the lack of raw materials and qualified technical workers.
After the end of the world war and the advent of peace, France has lost the motivation to continue improving the fcm-2c, and all subsequent orders have been cancelled.
The French originally ordered 300 vehicles, but later reduced the order to 180 vehicles, and then reduced it to 80 vehicles. In the end, only 10 vehicles were delivered.
“No——”
Rommel was even more sad. Russia was not completely defenseless against these exchange officers.
Perhaps only by becoming a Russian citizen and successfully passing the assessment period can one truly gain access to Russia’s core secrets.
“How many people are left in this period of yours?”
Guderian was equally bitter in his heart.
Rommel did not answer this question. Of the 40 officers who went to Russia for exchanges with Guderian, only 11 returned to Germany.
Of these 11 people, 6 returned to Russia after returning to Germany.
Compared with Russia's strength, Germany's current situation is even more disappointing.
People like Guderian really want to revive Germany and bring Germany back to its peak.
But some people who really control power don't seem to think so. They only care about their own interests and don't care about Germany's future at all.
To some extent, George even cares about Germany's future more than some Germans.
Gustav Stresemann was a very capable man, but he was unlucky. He only served as Chancellor of Germany for 15 weeks before he was mistaken for a beer hall riot. The cabinet he led was also called the Hundred Day Cabinet.
In the new cabinet, Stresemann was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. He not only strengthened ties with Russia, but also received support from the United States and obtained large amounts of loans from the United States, which strongly supported Germany's Economic recovery.
George is happy to hear this. Germany is becoming one of Russia's most important markets.
In 1925, Germany's total population reached 63 million, France's 40 million, and the United Kingdom's 45 million.
Compared with before the World War, the population gap between Britain, France and Germany has not only not narrowed, but has further widened.
This seems very unreasonable. How could Britain and France, as the victors of the World War, increase their population at a slower rate than Germany, the defeated country.
The reason is population loss.
The world war exposed many problems, the most important of which was security. The overseas colonies owned by the United Kingdom and France not only failed to bring new blood to Britain and France, but also caused a massive exodus of people from the United Kingdom and France. Continuous blood loss.
During the World War, Paris faced threats from the German army several times and almost raised the white flag 20 years early.
Many French people are not aware of this yet.
The smart French began to dispose of their assets in France after the end of the world war, and immigrated to French overseas colonies to stay away from the threat of war.
Compared with the French mainland, which is always facing German retaliation, the overseas colonies are simply a paradise. Not only is there no threat of war, but you can also enjoy the various privileges of being a colonist, with many benefits.
Germany lost all its overseas colonies in the Paris Peace Conference, and the Germans living there were driven back to Germany. This was also an important reason for the rapid recovery of the German population.
After Stresemann came to power, he refused to issue more currency, and inflation in Germany was effectively alleviated.
Since last year, Germany has imitated Russia and began to invest heavily in infrastructure, which has effectively reduced the unemployed population and allowed more Germans to find jobs and start earning income.
Only with income can one be able to consume. Germany's consumer market is gradually prospering, and the demand for Russian goods is increasing every month.
Felix was very happy and decided to continue investing in new factories to enhance Russia's industrial production capacity.
George reminds Felix to be wary of blind expansion.
An important reason leading to the outbreak of the economic crisis is blind expansion.
The reason why Russia has developed so fast in recent years has a lot to do with the investment led by the Russian government. The commissioning of a large number of new factories and the improvement of infrastructure have a key role in promoting economic development.
The improvement of productivity is not infinite. After the goods are produced, they must be sold.
Once society's demand for productivity begins to decline, factories will be forced to reduce production and workers will lose their jobs, resulting in continued decline in consumption and eventually an economic crisis.
“If we cannot provide enough goods to Germany, it will be equivalent to giving up part of the market to American companies, which will also cause damage to our interests.”
Felix felt more uncomfortable watching Americans making money than losing it himself.
“Then let part of the market be given to American companies——”
George dug a hole for the Americans.
In 1921, the population of the United States exceeded 100 million for the first time, mainly due to the large influx of new immigrants, which has also become the main reason for the economic development of the United States in recent years.
Russia can avoid blind expansion through government regulation. Capitalists in the United States do not have this awareness. They will only continue to increase investment under the stimulation of profits, and will eventually be overwhelmed by the market.
The same goes for Britain and France. As long as their governments have no adjustment capabilities, they will never be able to escape the cycle of economic crises that occur every ten years or so.
George feels that Russia’s current industrial capabilities are just right. Instead of investing energy in the construction of new factories, we should strive to improve the technical content of products and increase market competitiveness.
Of course, we still need to increase support for some new products and technologies, such as televisions, and refrigerators and air conditioners that do not seem to be of much significance to Russia.
Russia does not need refrigerators and air conditioners, but it does not mean that the Grand Duchy of Yuriev does not.
(End of this chapter)