I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 782 Meet and share half

During the era of "Sun King" Louis XIV, the French army was indeed the best in the world, and both the army and navy were invincible, so much so that Europe had to form an anti-French alliance to fight against France.

The Napoleonic era was the last glory of the French Army. After that, the French Army went from bad to worse. After the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army's position in Europe was officially replaced by the German Army.

After the end of World War II, although the French army once again claimed to be "the best in the world", this time even the French themselves no longer believed it.

In terms of the number of armored vehicles alone, France is indeed the world's number one. During the World War, France produced nearly 17 Renault FT-3200 tanks alone.

The FT-17 has a combat weight of only 7 tons and almost zero armor protection. It can only resist attacks from light weapons and shrapnel. The 37mm anti-tank gun equipped by Russia can easily penetrate the FT-17.

France also has a heavy tank called FCM-2C, which weighs an astonishing 70 tons. Unfortunately, there are only 10 of them.

The Type 22 armored fighting vehicle participating in the exercise by Russia has a combat weight of only 32 tons and a gun caliber of 75 mm. Although it only uses one engine, its maximum speed reaches an astonishing 30 kilometers per hour.

The maximum speed of the FT-17 is only 11 kilometers per hour.

The FCM-2C uses two 250-horsepower gasoline engines, and its maximum speed is also only 12 kilometers per hour.

The Type 22 uses a diesel engine.

Charles de Gaulle was very interested in Russia's Type 22 armored fighting vehicle. Unfortunately, he did not get the opportunity to get close to the Type 22 armored fighting vehicle, which made him itchy.

Russia's pursuit of performance also puzzled Charles de Gaulle.

Currently, the use of armored vehicles in Europe is still at the stage of coordinating infantry combat.

On this basis, 30 kilometers per hour is completely meaningless. A normal person generally runs at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. Soldiers also have to carry weapons and equipment during combat, so their speed will only be slower.

Therefore, the maximum speed of the armored vehicles of Britain and France nowadays does not exceed 15 kilometers per hour.

The French FCM-2C is designed to cross trenches and is an astonishing 10 meters long, requiring 12 people to operate.

Russia's Type 22 has only 5 crew members and is only 6 meters long, which will cause the Type 22 tank to be helpless when facing slightly wider trenches.

De Gaulle did not raise this issue.

If even he could notice this flaw, there was no reason why the Russians couldn't.

Adrian was also very interested in the Type 22 tank.

Adrian had come into contact with the Type 22 armored fighting vehicle when he was studying at the Amur Army Academy.

Compared with the armored vehicles of that time, the current Type 22 has been improved, with improvements in power, firepower, and protection.

"The sloped armor can effectively improve the protection of the tank. The Amur Military Industry Group is researching new armor-piercing shells. The existing tanks in Europe can be easily penetrated by the Type 22."

Rommel was very sad. Compared with technology, Russia's self-confidence made Rommel even more powerless.

All countries have a strict blockade of cutting-edge military equipment, especially for their opponents, and they guard against it with all their might.

Russia had almost nothing to hide from German officers like Rommel, and this attitude could be interpreted as Russia's honesty or as contempt.

What this means is that it is clear that you are asked to copy the homework. The company is not afraid that you will not copy it, but is afraid that you will not understand it even if you copy it.

"Any news about George Siemens?"

Guderian knew what was truly cutting-edge.

Armored vehicles are essentially the same as battleships. Anyone can build one if they want. The key lies in performance and scale.

Russia has been developing new technologies and constantly improving its armored vehicles. If other countries do not keep up, the technological gap will become larger and larger.

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 2 FCM-10Cs is that it lacks both raw materials and qualified technical workers.

After the end of World War II, peace came and France had lost the motivation to continue improving the FCM-2C, and all subsequent orders were cancelled.

The French originally ordered 300 vehicles, but later reduced the order to 180, then to 80, and finally only 10 were delivered.

"No--"

Rommel was even more upset because Russia was not completely defenseless against these exchange officers.

Perhaps only by becoming a Russian citizen and successfully passing the probation period can one truly access Russia's core secrets.

"How many people are left in this session?"

Guderian was equally bitter.

Rommel did not answer this question. Of the 40 officers who went to Russia with Guderian for exchange, only 11 returned to Germany.

Among 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 it back to its peak.

But some people who truly hold power don't seem to think so. They only care about their own interests and don't care about the future of Germany at all.

In a way, George cares about Germany's future even more than some Germans.

Gustav Stresemann was a very capable man, but he had bad luck. He served as German Chancellor for only 15 weeks before he was forced to step down because he was mistakenly identified as the behind-the-scenes supporter of the Beer Hall Putsch. The cabinet he led was also known as the Hundred Days Cabinet.

In the new cabinet, Stresemann was appointed Foreign Minister. He not only strengthened ties with Russia, but also gained support from the United States and obtained a large amount of loans from the United States, which strongly supported Germany's economic recovery.

George is pleased to hear this, as Germany is becoming one of Russia's most important markets.

In 1925, the total population of Germany reached 6300 million, France 4000 million, and Britain 4500 million.

Compared with before the World War, the population gap between Britain, France and Germany has not only not narrowed, but has widened further.

This seems unreasonable. How could the population growth rate of Britain and France, as the victorious countries in the world war, be slower than that of 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 Britain and France not only failed to bring fresh blood to Britain and France, but instead caused Britain and France to continue to lose blood due to large-scale population outflow.

During the World War, Paris faced threats from the German army several times and almost raised the white flag 20 years in advance.

Many French people have not yet realized this.

After the end of World War II, smart French people began to deal with their assets in France and immigrate to France's overseas colonies, away from the threat of war.

Compared with mainland France, which was always facing German retaliation, overseas colonies were simply a paradise. Not only was there no threat of war, but also colonists could enjoy various privileges and benefits.

Germany lost all its overseas colonies at 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 Germany's population.

After Stresemann came to power, he refused to issue more currency, and Germany's inflation was effectively alleviated.

Starting last year, Germany began to make large-scale investments in infrastructure, following Russia's example. This effectively reduced the number of unemployed people, allowing more Germans to find jobs and start earning income.

Only with income can people have the ability to consume. The German consumer market is gradually prospering, and the demand for Russian products is increasing every month.

Felix was very happy and decided to continue investing in new factories to enhance Russia's industrial production capacity.

George reminded Felix to be wary of blind expansion.

One of the important reasons leading to the outbreak of the economic crisis is blind expansion.

The reason why Russia has developed so rapidly 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 played a key role in promoting economic development.

The improvement of productivity is not unlimited, and goods must be sold after they are produced.

Once society's demand for productivity begins to decline, factories will be forced to reduce production, workers will lose their jobs, leading to a continuous decline in consumption and ultimately triggering an economic crisis.

"If we cannot provide enough goods to Germany, it means we will give up part of the market to American companies, which will also damage our interests."

Felix felt more uncomfortable watching Americans make money than losing money himself.

"Then let's give part of the market to American companies—"

George set a trap for the Americans.

In 1921, the U.S. population exceeded million for the first time, mainly due to the influx of new immigrants, which has also become the main reason for the U.S. economic development in recent years.

Russia can avoid blind expansion through government regulation, but American capitalists do not have this awareness. They will only increase their investment under the stimulation of profits and eventually be killed by the market.

The same is true for Britain and France. As long as their governments lack the ability to regulate, they will never be able to escape the vicious cycle of economic crisis erupting every ten years or so.

George feels that Russia’s current industrial capacity is just right, and that instead of investing energy into building new factories, it should work hard to improve the technological content of its products and increase its 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 have much meaning to Russia.

Just because Russia doesn't need refrigerators and air conditioners doesn't mean the Grand Principality of Yuriev doesn't need them either.

(End of this chapter)