Anti-Japanese War: The whole world is a base vehicle

Chapter 90: Money moves people’s hearts, the greed of Britain and France! (Please subscribe!)
Looking at Lu Yuhua's half-smile, Colonel William felt for the first time the horror of the man in front of him.

When he was in charge of tactical command at the beginning, he thought Lu Yuhua really didn't understand military affairs?
Now it seems that I was careless.

It's not that they don't understand. It's not that they are hiding their incompetence. They just want to watch his performance on purpose.

In terms of strategic vision and political skills, he is far superior to him.

"What benefits will the Triple Alliance bring to you?" Colonel William asked curiously.

It seems that the other party is more anxious than them about the Three Kingdoms Alliance.

"The benefits of war are enormous." Lu Yuhua replied in a ambiguous tone.

"Aren't you afraid that I will report these words intact?"

"and then?"

"Will your military choose not to form an alliance because of what I said? Or are you willing to be a watchdog for Britain and France? Wagging your tail and begging for mercy? Waiting for your master to give you a bone?"

"Or do you want to go back to the time when a loaf of bread cost 500,000 marks?"

"Don't fool yourself, ask yourself if you really want to?"

Lu Yuhua's words completely broke down Colonel William's defense.

indeed!

Even if he reported it, I'm afraid there wouldn't be any change.

Because there are really not many choices left for them.

Apart from Germany, Italy and Japan, there seems to be really no choice.

Choose the Soviet Army?

I'm afraid it will be difficult for this greedy bear to satisfy their appetite.

Thinking of this, Colonel William was silent for a long time, not knowing how to refute.

After thinking about it, I finally realized that I had no idea how to refute it.

Looking at Colonel William's expression, Lu Yuhua knew that he had touched his heart.

I simply stopped asking and asked about another thing.

"According to our investigation, there are still tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Qinzhou. What do you think? Are you confident? As long as we take Qinzhou, you can take the things away."

"If we have the help of heavy artillery, there should be no problem." Colonel William thought of the plan he discussed with Zhou Weiguo and felt that heavy artillery was still needed.

"Yes, Qinzhou is not too far from Nanning, so there is no need to move the heavy artillery too far forward. As long as the range is met, it will be fine." If the range is only a dozen kilometers, it may be a bit troublesome, but considering the range of 240mm, as long as we can find a way to transport it within the range, it will be enough.

"We think so too." Colonel William nodded. Lu Yuhua's idea coincided with theirs.

As long as we have heavy artillery, it will be easy to take Qinzhou.

Unless the Japanese army is willing to mobilize warships, facing the 240mm heavy artillery, except for battleships, even heavy cruisers will not feel good if they are hit by a shot.

And judging from Lu Yuhua's appearance, it is obvious that he has more than just these 240mm heavy artillery.

He suspected that he had really pushed Lu Yuhua into a corner.

I'm afraid even larger caliber heavy artillery can be brought out.

In fact, at this moment Lu Yuhua was thinking about where to build the shipyard.

After all, he had promised Colonel William that as long as Qinzhou was captured, warships would be available to transport all the goods out.

So he doesn't have much time left, so he has to find out the address of the shipyard as soon as possible.

After thinking for a long time, Lu Yuhua felt that it would be safer to place the shipyard in Annan.

Since we want to build a mysterious force, we naturally cannot put all our eggs in one basket.

The best thing is to have multiple identities so that the enemy cannot figure out your depth.

This way he will be safer.

It just so happens that there are almost tens of thousands of people in the branch base in Annan, and it’s time to let them move around.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuhua immediately issued instructions to the Annan branch base, asking them to send troops to capture Liangshan and Luping areas.

The slogans raised were naturally for freedom and peace, and the flag was also the flag of the International Brigade.

Plus, the soldiers were all using Soviet weapons.

Tsk tsk tsk!
You have to take the blame for this shit even if you don't want to.

.........

"Can oil fields really be discovered in this desert?" Before the appearance of the Libyan oil fields, Ciano and Mussolini agreed that it was impossible for there to be oil fields in the desert.

A few days later, good news came that oil had been discovered and the estimated output was no less than one billion barrels. It was not until this time that Ciano began to believe that there really was oil in the desert.

As good news continued to come in, Ziano completely believed what Li Si said, this was not a desert, it was a mountain of gold.

Ciano was very excited and reported it to Mussolini immediately.

Then the scene at the beginning appeared, and Mussolini also looked shocked.

"Yes, the reserves are very high, and the oil is of very high quality." Ciano said excitedly.

"Very good." Mussolini was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

"What do you think we should do next?" Mussolini was still in a very excited state and didn't know what to do for a moment, so he could only ask Ciano.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I think we should expand oil production so that we can save precious foreign exchange. But I have learned that our current refining equipment cannot meet the demand." Ciano took a deep breath and immediately expressed his thoughts.

"Then go buy it, buy it from Britain, France and other countries." Mussolini waved his hand and said proudly.

Now that he has such a large oil field, his tone is naturally different, and he speaks very proudly.

As a result, Ziano looked embarrassed.

"What's wrong?" Mussolini asked puzzledly.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, regarding such a huge oil field, will Britain and France have other ideas?" Ciano hesitated for a moment, but still expressed his concerns.

"Other ideas? What do you mean? Are they going to seize our oil fields? Are they crazy? Is our navy just a decoration? Is our army just there to do nothing?" Mussolini found this too incredible.

They are also a great power with a strong navy. Do they dare to steal their oil fields?

Do you really think their swords are not sharp enough?

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the main reason is that the output of this oil field is really too large. If it was just a small oil field, it might not be a big deal, but such a large oil field will definitely attract the covetousness of Britain and France." Ciano was still a little worried.

"Hmph, then prepare for war." Mussolini showed no fear at all.

How could we possibly give up such a large oil field?

Even if it means war.

"Mr. Prime Minister, perhaps we can try another approach." Ciano felt that there was no need to start a war and that diplomatic channels could be used.

"What method?" Mussolini asked in confusion.

"I'm sure Britain and France will have some concerns about forming an alliance with the Germans and relying on their power." Ciano expressed his thoughts.

In the past two years, the German power has grown very rapidly, which has aroused the fear of Britain and France.

If Germany and Italy form an alliance, Britain and France will definitely not dare to act rashly.

As a result, Mussolini's face suddenly became extremely ugly.

As for why this happened, it was because the guy from Germany was once his younger brother.

Now that his identity has changed, he naturally cannot accept it.

"Hmph, we in Italy can solve all problems. There is no need to form an alliance with Germany." Mussolini rejected his proposal.

He believed that the Italian navy was definitely capable of defending this huge oil field.

Seeing that Mussolini still seemed to have a trace of resentment, Ciano, who was familiar with everything, couldn't persuade him any further.

Before long, Italy purchased a large amount of refining equipment, which attracted the attention of Britain and France.

The main reason is that the number is too large, so it is naturally impossible to hide it from others.

There is no other way. Italy also wants to mine slowly, but they know that they cannot keep it secret for long, so they have to speed up.

The key issue is that Italy used to import oil, but now suddenly placed orders for so many refining equipment. The only answer is that they discovered an oil field.

So Britain and France were very curious about how big the oil field was.

If it is just a small piece, then they probably won't be interested in it, and may even be secretly happy that they can make a huge profit by selling the equipment.

Who knew that after some investigation, Britain and France were completely confused.

It is not a small oil field at all, but an oil field with reserves of more than 10 billion barrels or even higher.

This guy completely blew up Britain and France.

More than 10 billion barrels of oil at current prices.

A barrel of oil is about one dollar, while one pound can be exchanged for four dollars.

In other words, this is an oil field worth more than three billion pounds.

The key point is that with continuous investigation, Britain and France discovered that the final reserves of this oil field even exceeded 30 billion barrels. In other words, this is an oil field worth more than tens of billions of pounds.

Royal Dutch Shell and BP are now not happy with this.

The strength of these two companies is very strong. Of course, they really rose to prominence after the end of World War I.

With the help of the war, they controlled the Turkish Petroleum Company, and then used the British Empire to control the richest oil resources in Persia.

Relying on the profits from oil, they made a fortune.

The results of it?
This also aroused the covetousness of America, which demanded that Britain transfer part of its shares to them.

The British Empire was certainly unwilling to do this and immediately put forward a series of additional conditions.

America disagreed again.

The reason why the United States was able to share oil profits from Britain and France was mainly because America's strength increased significantly after the end of World War I.

In terms of the strength of American oil companies alone, 80% of the total oil used by the Allies came from the country's oil companies. Among them, ExxonMobil alone provided 1/4 of the fuel for the Allies.

Therefore, the United States has taken an aggressive stance in the struggle to split up Turkish Petroleum's shares.

At the beginning, the British side expressed its willingness to transfer 12% of the shares of Turkish Petroleum Company to American oil companies, but the US side refused to accept it.

After several weeks of bargaining, the British side increased the US share to 20%, but was still rejected by the US side.

Later, the British side finally agreed to increase the US share to 24%, but required the US side to accept two conditions.

First, the United States must give BP 10% of the oil production in the leased blocks free of charge; second, the United States will no longer question the rights of the Turkish Petroleum Company.

The United States rejected both preconditions.

While the relevant negotiations are still continuing with difficulty, substantive cooperation between European and American oil companies has already begun.

Later, the daily output of Persia's oil fields reached 100,000 barrels, which made several other oil companies completely uneasy.

The output is high and the market absorption is low, so the price will not be very high, and the profit will be low.

So after a series of negotiations, the so-called "Red Line Agreement" was finally signed.

As for the impact of the agreement, it was actually an important step for the United States to break through the British and French defense lines and get involved in Persian oil resources.

Now Italy has discovered an oil field with reserves of tens of billions of barrels, which is tantamount to snatching food from the tiger's mouth, so the big oil companies can't sit still.

"No, we will never allow Italian oil companies to share our profits." Royal Shell was the first to jump out and object.

"I agree. The Soviets used oil to wage a price war with us, causing our profits to drop a lot. Now with one more, I'm afraid our profits will drop even more. We must exert pressure." British Petroleum also echoed.

The other five companies, known as the Seven Sisters of Oil, thought for a moment and agreed with their views.

The Russian bear is not easy to deal with, so they can only accept it.

But now Italy also wants to share in their profits?
Are you kidding me?
Previously, the world's oil prices were controlled by them, and they could manipulate the oil prices at will.

In other words, when they run out of money, they cut production, raise oil prices, and increase profits.

The results of it?
The Russian bear used the oil from the Baku oil field to wage a price war with them, causing their profits to be damaged.

Fortunately, the outbreak of war in the Far East allowed them to make a lot of profits.

result?

Now there is another troublemaker. If Italian oil enters the market in large quantities, the price will definitely plummet.

At that time they will have nothing to do but starve, and this situation is absolutely intolerable.

So now the Seven Oil Sisters have decided to jointly exert pressure.

Force Italy to stop exploiting oil fields.

In other words, allow them to buy shares at a low price.

Chamberlain was also stunned when he received the news.

A 30 billion barrel oil field?
Isn't this too scary?
If this belonged to the British Empire, wouldn't it be rich?
If we replace it with the British Empire's most advanced battleships, we might be able to build one or two hundred of them?
No wonder Chamberlain almost couldn't hold his pen when he heard the news.

"Are you sure it's true?" Chamberlain took a deep breath and asked, suppressing his inner shock.

"It's true. It's more, not less." The secretary's words made Chamberlain completely unable to calm down.

Everyone knows that once Italy owns such a large oil field, its strength will probably be further enhanced.

It may even completely become the overlord of the Mediterranean.

Britain doesn't need to be afraid, France will be the first one to disagree.

"So much oil can be found in the desert? How lucky did Mussolini have?" After a long time, Chamberlain calmed down and said with some jealousy.

In fact, Italy has indeed been proud of this wave.

You know, when the Red Line Agreement was signed, Italy was directly left out.

The natural consequence is that Italy is very angry.

Otherwise, this time it wouldn’t be related to Germany.

After all, Italy has always considered itself the orthodox of the Roman Empire and believed that they are the overlord of the Mediterranean.

Persia was also within their sphere of influence.

The results of it?
You signed an oil agreement without even saying hello to them, and didn't even give them a sip of soup.

Naturally, Italy was very annoyed, and the situation on both sides was very unpleasant.

You are using cheap oil, but I have to buy it with real money.

Over time, conflicts naturally accumulate.

Now that Italy has discovered oil fields, there is a high possibility that they will take revenge.

Pulling down oil prices hurts their profits.

Chamberlain didn't know whether Italy had this idea, but he had to be vigilant.

More importantly, the power of the Seven Sisters of Oil is still huge.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, several oil companies including Shell have demanded that we come up with a solution. This is damaging the interests of the British Empire." The secretary said at the right time.

Hearing this, Chamberlain sighed. He knew that this was just the beginning. If he didn't deal with it, more people would come to him tomorrow.

After all, behind the Seven Oil Sisters, there are complicated interest groups. Even he has to back down in the face of these people.

Unless he quits.

"I understand." Chamberlain could only respond.

“What are their demands?”

Chamberlain thought it would be better to first find out what these people’s demands were and see if they could be accomplished.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, their demands are very simple, that is, Italy should transfer at least 51% of its shares, and they even promised to add one seat to the other party." The secretary said quickly.

"Of course, if Italy refuses, they hope that the Royal Fleet can be dispatched. They will persuade France to also dispatch the navy to let Italy know who is the real overlord of the sea."

"At the same time, they are willing to donate 50 million pounds to help the Empire build more advanced warships."

It has to be said that even Chamberlain, who was originally a little dissatisfied, fell silent at this moment.

He knew that if he didn't agree, more people would come to persuade him.

Even His Majesty the King would summon him and force him to agree to this plan.

There's nothing I can do about it. The other party gave too much.

Compared with the huge profits from the oil fields, 50 million pounds seems too little.

"Fifty million pounds is not enough. They need at least one hundred million pounds." Before Chamberlain finished speaking, someone else came in and said that His Majesty the King wanted to see him.

This time Chamberlain could no longer sit still.

These guys really have a lot of power.

I'm afraid I can't refuse even if I want to.

"Tell them that I will help them solve this problem for 100 million pounds. Also, please help me summon the Italian ambassador." Chamberlain stood up and said to his secretary, then walked towards the palace.

On the other side, Mussolini received the news and his face turned pale.

Ciano's guess turned out to be correct; Britain and France really were coveting their oil fields.

He thought it would cause quite a stir, but he didn't expect it to be so shameless.

Handing over 51% of the shares of an oil field, doesn't that mean the oil field belongs to someone else?
"What a bunch of bandits." Mussolini slammed the table angrily.

Only Ciano seemed calm, as if he had guessed it long ago.

If he were Yingfa, he would definitely be jealous.

More than 30 billion barrels of oil reserves, at today's prices, would be worth 10 billion pounds.

A truly rich and adversary country.

Who can not be moved?
"Your Excellency Prime Minister, German Ambassador Ribbentrop requests to see you." At this time, the secretary came in and reported.

(End of this chapter)