Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

Eighth Route Army Headquarters, Taiyuan Arsenal.

In order to cooperate with the comrades on the hidden front, I staged a big drama of catching myself for the bald man.

Huang He, who had originally planned to return to the Weapons Testing and Research Bureau by plane at the end of May, had to stay at the headquarters temporarily to ensure that the entire performance process was foolproof.

Fortunately, his current project does not have any rigid requirements for instruments, related equipment and auxiliary teams, so staying in the arsenal will not delay any important work.

Just when Huang finished his work for the day, an "unconventional guest" suddenly broke into the office.

Seeing this, he said unhappily:

"Old Dai, you are such a 'big idler'. Why do you come to my office all day long when you have nothing to do? There is no gold or oil here."

"If it doesn't work, I'll write a letter of recommendation and ask Wang Dexing to take you to the training camp of the 1st Marine Brigade to practice parachuting. After all, both we and the other major participating countries have clearly designated paratrooper units."

"Whoever is missing will be embarrassed. You don't want to be criticized by future generations for not being as good as pasta in Free France."

Ever since the legendary French captain Philippe Auboyneau and his thirteen colleagues from the naval advisory group left for Shandong Province, Old Dai, who stayed alone in Shanxi Province, entered a selfless working state.

There is no way, their future opponents are the troops left over from the Japanese Type A Division.

Faced with a group of fierce enemies who can suppress Vichy and lead Britain and the U.S. to chase and attack, Lao Dai, as the commander-in-chief of the battle, must be on his guard and give it his all.

If those foreign troops with insufficient training and low fighting spirit were allowed to act freely, the first battle in Southeast Asia would most likely end in failure.

Fortunately, as the largest force in the world that has fought the Japanese army the most times and knows the Japanese the best, the Eighth Route Army has a huge amount of intelligence, which is enough to support him in formulating an ideal combat plan.

Of course, weapons and equipment also affect the combat effectiveness of the troops.

Adhering to the idea that the stronger the allies, the stronger I am, Lao Dai has been running to the production workshop of Taiyuan Arsenal quite often during this period, just to get more gold coins from his friends.

"Huang, I am working so hard for our great ideals. Why don't you reconsider and put the improvement of the Type 41 40mm rocket launcher on the agenda?"

"There are also self-propelled artillery. When will the Eighth Route Army be equipped with new equipment with larger calibers? The next one will be the 155mm."

"The above two weapons are very important to us. With the firepower bonus of massive cannons and large-caliber artillery, we can definitely open up the Southeast Asia-North Africa route at the lowest cost."

"Also, there are 50,000 old troops in the Viet-Central region whose positions are wavering. If I can win them over, I will be more confident in the future in the North African battlefield."

As soon as these words were spoken, Huang He couldn't help but roll his eyes in front of his friend.

What era and version is this? How can there still be people studying the begging style? They really think of themselves and TG as kind fathers, as inexhaustible treasure pots.

What's more, the research and development of new equipment is not easy, otherwise the Eighth Route Army would have abandoned the armor-plated shell confrontation and officially embarked on the road of integrated signals and fire.

After silently complaining for a while, Huang He replied with a serious face:
"I can't give you any clear guarantees about weapons. But your needs happen to overlap with ours, so there is a chance that the new rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery will jump in line."

"How about this. When I return to Suiyuan, I will ask all departments in the bureau to speed up as much as possible and strive to produce a finished product in the second half of the year."

After comforting his allies, Huang He turned his gaze to the military map beside him, and then asked in a low voice:

"The old troops you just mentioned are still under Vichy. It seems that you have already had secret contact with the governor, otherwise you would not be sure to win them over."

Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed across Lao Dai's face. He never expected that his friend, who never left his house, could see through his plan again.

But he soon felt relieved. After all, this was not the first time something like this had happened. It was not shameful to be seen through by the hexagonal warriors.

"Ah, as expected, nothing can be hidden from your eyes. I did have private contact with Cattru, and reached a certain degree of consensus with him, and even obtained the support of a reinforcement regiment."

"As long as I can kill the Japanese entrenched in the Indochina Peninsula, he is willing to lead all his armed forces, openly join the ranks of Free France, and become one of the main vanguards of the counterattack on the mainland."

"Now you know why I always come to your office. Those 50,000 people are so important to me!"

A year ago, in order to completely blockade the Republic of China and prevent Achou from giving Baldy a blood transfusion through the Sino-Vietnamese Railway, the Japanese Army decisively invaded the Vichy-controlled territory in the name of joint defense.

Of course, the so-called joint defense of the Japanese was just a polite remark, and it was only for the sake of the face of their ally Germany.

I am not good at fighting, so surrender is the first choice.

After several small-scale conflicts, the Japs successfully took over the local transportation hub and also controlled all military airports.

Even today, when the Pacific War is intensifying, there are still 8,000 troops stationed in the Indochina Peninsula for a long time.

New hatred and old grudges made the Vichy high-ranking officials represented by Catroux hate the Japanese. He quickly reached a consensus with Lao Dai, believing that it was better to unite with compatriots than to be oppressed by foreigners.

As for why they only gave 5,000 troops instead of joining forces to wipe out the Japanese at once?
We are French, so please understand.

If you don't make multi-line investments in everything you do, how can you still call yourself the authentic old Parisian Zhengbaiqi?
Seeing his friend speaking his mind, Huang He stroked his chin and encouraged him:

"If we lack quality, we can make up for it with quantity. With the experienced Director Xiao in charge, and two powerful generals, Ding Wei and Cheng Shifa, the Viet Minh troops will definitely be able to form combat effectiveness within half a year."

"With tens of thousands of second-rate troops and five thousand regular troops, it will be no problem to drive out the devils in Indochina."

"Once the route is completely opened, the total strength of your camp will exceed 130,000, and it will be a complete combination of infantry, artillery and air force. If everything goes well, the first stage of occupying Africa will be just around the corner!"

After the end of the Flash Sickle, Vichy sent a large number of key officers and weapons and equipment to the three overseas provinces of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, and secretly organized the armaments.

Not only did they establish a brand new military district agency, they also set up a local military academy to train grassroots military talents.

According to Huang He's previous life memories, before the start of the Allied Operation Torch, Vichy had a total of eight divisions and 12.5 troops in North Africa.

在装甲作战上吃过亏的法国人，甚至还用107辆夏尔B1、58辆哈奇开斯H35和雷诺R35，以及168辆各型号装甲车组建了数个骑兵团。

In addition, they also secretly developed their air force, emptying their savings to get more than 500 fighter planes of various types, including hundreds of D109s that could compete with the BF520.

Logically speaking, with Lao Dai's current strength, even with the addition of 5 new troops, it would be difficult to deal with his compatriots in North Africa.

After all, the French soldiers in Indochina couldn't even defeat the ragtag army of Guosu, let alone compete with Vichy which had a complete range of military services: navy, army and air force.

but!

Given the nature of the three North African provinces, as long as Liberty flexes its muscles a little and lets Vichy see that its compatriots have the support of financial forces other than Africa and Britain, the other side will naturally give up resistance.

This is the confidence that allows Huang He to pat his chest and tell his friends not to put too much pressure on themselves.

Sure enough, after hearing Huang's comfort and encouragement, Old Dai swept away his previous decadence and his fighting spirit was rekindled.

"Haha, Huang, you're right. Although I haven't seen Xiao yet, Ding and Cheng are both excellent army commanders. Now I'm not fighting alone, it feels good to have allies."

"Besides, Freedom is already at the bottom of the valley, and no matter which way we go, we can only climb upwards!"

"Wait for my good news. I will never let you down!"

Hearing this, Huang He nodded with satisfaction. This was the famous person who could change his fate in the original timeline. His spiritual will alone was incomparable to ordinary people.

After a moment, in order to liven up the heavy atmosphere in the room, he said mysteriously:

"Once we conquer North Africa, the Lend-Lease Act between us can be officially implemented. To be honest, I have even prepared the hull numbers for the aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers."

"I hope that Bar can come to Lu Province intact. I am really greedy for those four big roots."

"Hunting Yamato Plan! Start!"

Huang He's highly performative behavior made Lao Dai smack his lips involuntarily.

When he signed the Lend-Lease Act, he thought he was getting a great deal.

But who could have imagined that in just a few months, they would actually be able to launch a counterattack in North Africa on their own.

But if you calculate carefully, they still make a profit overall.

After all, having a ship is one thing, and being able to sail it out is another. No fuel, no dock, no air superiority, and even no matching ammunition, it is so humble.

After a moment of calculation in his mind, Lao Dai's thoughts returned to reality, and then he said in a curious and praiseful tone:

"I heard a saying in the Eighth Route Army that everyone said that you, Huang He, are a rare strategic genius who thinks three steps ahead when taking one step. Today, it seems that your reputation is well-deserved."

"Speaking of which hull number do you plan to use when the Bearn aircraft carrier enters service? Is it 1?"

Hearing this, Huang He looked towards the east. His eyes were filled with complex emotions, as if he had the ability to travel through time and space, and could directly see a large warship seventy years later.

After a moment, he sighed, but a smile soon appeared on his face again.

"If I were to decide the hull number for the first large ship after the Seven Towns and Eight Faraway Places, I would definitely use the number 16." (End of this chapter)