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Chapter 1236 Operation Rose (Second update, please subscribe)

A four-engine Boeing 407 of Hamburg Airlines was flying in the sky.

There was a person sitting by the window, who looked taciturn and difficult to approach.

A German businessman next to him tried to talk to him several times, but seeing that he was not interested, he read a travel magazine by himself. The businessman's neighbor was looking out the window: the plane was flying over India and heading towards Europe.

Sitting by the window, Stirlitz occasionally looked out the window, thinking about the next task,

In order to carry out this mission, he also carried other necessities: a passport in the breast pocket of his shirt, letters, business cards and a full set of documents that a citizen of a Western European country should have, as well as underwear, shoes, outerwear and the carry-on luggage of a German journalist.

From now on, he is a reporter.

As the plane climbed into the air above Europe, he began to think about his mission again.

"In other words, we need to ignite public opinion!"

Stirlitz thought over and over again about the task he was about to perform - launching a public opinion offensive in Germany.

"Although the Germans chose the F104 fighter, we have every reason to believe that Lockheed offered Germany a large amount of bribes during the procurement process. Defense Minister Franz Joseph Strauss played a key role in the purchase of the F-104, and we believe he must have accepted the bribes."

Looking at the clouds outside the window, Stirlitz thought of the German Air Force's "purchase of the century" - the West German Air Force was looking for a multi-purpose fighter to provide air defense. To this end, it issued a bidding notice to countries around the world.

The Nanyang Aviation Industry Corporation's F2 fighter also participated in the bidding at the end of 104, but a month and a half ago, the West German Air Force announced the winning result - the F2G fighter won the bid, and the F fighter, which was previously widely favored by the outside world, was eliminated.

What is the biggest impact of this incident?
"Yugoslavia."

In a hotel in Bonn, Li Fenglun said in a rather helpless tone.

“Although the German order is very large, almost 1000 aircraft, which can be said to be the largest military aircraft purchase since the war, we are very clear that they are far more likely to choose American aircraft than us - after all, these countries including Germany received their aircraft under the US government-funded military assistance program, or MAP.

This also means that we are destined to be runners-up, to be the prince's study companions."

In fact, after the German Air Force's public call for bids, several Western fighter manufacturers responded, and Lockheed redesigned the Starfighter from a day fighter to an all-weather ground attack, reconnaissance and interception aircraft and presented it as the F-104G. The redesigned aircraft defeated the British Electric Lightning, Grumman F11F-1F Super Tiger, Convite F-8U Crusader and Republic F-105 Thunderchief in the competition. Ten other aircraft, including the F-102, F-106, Sanders-Royce SR.177 and Saab 35 Dragon, were also considered, but were eliminated one after another in the early stages of the test aircraft process.

"Although the F2 fighter we provided was the last to participate in the test, except for its slightly inferior high-speed performance, its other performance far exceeds that of the F2 fighter. That thing is basically a flying rocket, and there is no maneuverability to speak of."

Besides being sarcastic, Li Fenglun added:
"For political reasons, we are not determined to win this order. We originally just hope to enter other markets, such as South America, Yugoslavia, Israel and other countries, by participating in the German Air Force's bidding. According to our estimates, Yugoslavia alone will purchase more than 100 aircraft. But..."

Although everyone knew that they were here to accompany the prince, they all hoped to show themselves through such public demonstrations and eventually win orders from other countries. This is also the reason why the F2 fighter jet has frequently appeared at aviation exhibitions in various European countries since , just for promotion.

"During the German military's bidding process, the F2 fighter, which was the prince's companion, was not only treated unfairly, but also deliberately distorted the test results. This result was deliberately leaked, which directly affected our negotiations with Yugoslavia..."

Looking at Stirlitz, Li Fenglun said:

"We had originally signed a letter of intent with Yugoslavia to purchase 66 F2 fighters three months ago, but because of the actions of the German Air Force, the Yugoslav side doubted whether our fighters could compete with the MiG-21 or F104, so they temporarily suspended the contract. According to the intelligence we have, the Soviet Union is now lobbying them to try to export the MiG-21 to them, so..."

After a brief pause, Li Fenglun said in a very serious tone:
"We conducted a targeted investigation and found that during the procurement period, not only did the Minister of Defense and other officials accept a large amount of bribes, but Lockheed also provided more than 1000 million US dollars in political donations to the Christian Democratic Union. Therefore, we need to make this scandal public now!"

"You want more than just an announcement!"

Stirlitz said:

"But a scandal that shook German politics and, if possible, could be used to force Germany to cancel the fighter jet procurement contract, right?"

This is why they need him to do this. If it is just announced, the company can disclose this information by itself, and then what?
And then nothing happened. It was just a few unlucky guys taking the responsibility. Such a result is definitely not what the company wants to see. The company does not just want revenge, but also wants to continue this business.

“That’s an order for thousands of aircraft!”

Li Fenglun said without denying:

"According to our estimates, the international market demand for F2 fighters is only about 1000 at most. If we can secure an order for 1000 in Europe, it will be a great help to the company."

Everything is like this. When it comes to interests, everyone will never give in. Taking the file bag from Li Fenglun and looking at the documents in it, Stirlitz asked:
"Is this true?" "It depends on the reader's perspective, but we believe it is relevant to Air Force procurement."

Nodding, Stirlitz said:

"Well, just in the last few days."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and left. Everything that followed was simple - he used the several newspapers and TV stations controlled by the Secret Intelligence Service to leak the scandal and then blow it up. This is what the Secret Intelligence Service has always been best at.

In the past decade or so, the Secret Intelligence Service has established its own "public opinion network" not only in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also in Western countries including France, West Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Although it can be said that it controls "public opinion", it can influence the direction of public opinion.

Just like that, as August arrived, a storm quietly hit.

The turmoil was initially caused by a news report in a newspaper. The content was simple - it revealed that the Ministry of Defense received bribes in the purchase of fighter jets.

One stone hits a thousand waves!

Such news naturally caused a sensation in Germany. In the following days, as more and more information was disclosed, everyone began to pay attention to this matter. At first, it was only the military, but soon there was news that Lockheed sent another $1000 million bribe to the German Christian Social Union!

It was also with the direct intervention of senior military and political officials that an extremely "backward" aircraft was purchased by the German Air Force.

In Bonn, the administrative capital of West Germany, both the political and military circles were unable to cope with such explosive news and doubts from all sides.

As for Defense Minister Franz Joseph Strauss, he became a rat crossing the street and everyone wanted to kill him.

And what was the more fatal blow?
It was forced to retire because some pilots pointed out that the F104 fighter jet was not up to the task!
Faced with such blatant retaliation, the people’s anger can be imagined. For a time, Bonn in August was like a frying pan, completely exploding.

Important figures in both the military and political circles all wanted to distance themselves from the aircraft procurement case.

Folding the newspaper and putting it on the chair, Liu Haodong often said:
"They can't deny their involvement! What a farce! How can we treat national defense as a joke?"

With a sneer, Liu Haodong took out a cigarette from the cigarette box. The cigarette was a Bactrian camel from Southeast Asia. In Germany, both American camels and Southeast Asian camels were very popular. However, they were no longer the "hard currency" they were in the early post-war period. They were just ordinary cigarettes. However, in East Germany, Camel cigarettes could still play some unexpected roles.

Therefore, whenever he met his subordinates, he would bring two packs of Camel cigarettes as a gift to them.

Just then, a woman in a floral dress came over and sat next to him, and then she just looked into the distance.

"There is one thing you need to promise me."

The woman suddenly said:
"I need to go to Nanyang immediately. My family and I need passports now."

Facing the woman's request, Liu Haodong felt a little strange, but he still nodded and said:
"No problem, but I need two days to prepare. You and your family can go to West Berlin today, and then I will arrange for you to leave by plane. Two days later, you can get your passport in Bonn and fly to Chang'an from there."

The woman finally breathed a sigh of relief. She looked around cautiously and then spoke.

"Yesterday, the Soviets issued an action order, which will be executed in two days."

"What kind of orders?"

Liu Haodong asked.

The woman next to him may look inconspicuous, but she is a very valuable subordinate. She is a typist in the East German Ministry of Defense. Her position is not high, but she has access to many confidential matters.

"Operation Rose, they will carry out a unified operation in the border area between East Germany and West Germany."

"What about the specific content?"

Facing Liu Haodong's question, the woman shook her head and said:

"I can't access this action plan, but now the action plan has been issued. I don't know what they are going to do, but... I have to leave here before the war breaks out!"

(End of this chapter)