Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 173: What’s the point of the Battle of Nomonhan? Do you dare to expand the scale?
The technology exchange between Zheng Yi and the Soviet Union was truly comprehensive. The Soviet side directly brought the entire backbone team of the Second Central Design Bureau and even brought some special production equipment.

We directly cleared out a new factory building at Taiyou Machinery, and started trial production while making improvements in less than half a month.

Just like Zheng Yi will help improve the radar, since it is a technology exchange, the Soviet Union also wants to see if it can upgrade the rocket technology from Zheng Yi.

Seeing that the Soviet Union was so generous, Zheng Yi naturally couldn't be stingy.

He personally flew to the Soviet Union and took Wu Wenhao and the design team in Penang to conduct an actual inspection of the Soviet Union's oil refining situation, and tailored a new refining model suitable for them.

Most of the Soviet Union's oil refineries are small-scale refineries that use American technology. The gap between them and the Seven Sisters of Oil and the large-scale refineries in Penang is particularly large. Moreover, it also seriously lacks the ability to manufacture large-scale petrochemical equipment.

The key components of the Penang refinery were purchased directly from the Seven Sisters of Oil. The Seven Sisters of Oil are also direct shareholders of the Penang refinery, so whatever technology Zheng Yi needs can be obtained directly from the Seven Sisters.

The Soviet Union's oil refining was sanctioned by the Seven Sisters. Rich people would not sell many things to you. There were small refineries everywhere, and the production efficiency was really not very high. It even relied entirely on the natural resources of the oil itself.

Therefore, Zheng Yi spent more than two months in the Soviet Union. He led his team to develop a detailed, tailor-made medium-to-large refinery for the Soviet Union. When there was a technological breakthrough, he would build a larger one.

However, Zheng Yi did not hide the designs of plastic production and chemical fiber production at all. He even asked Wu Wenhao to stay in the Soviet Union with a group of about 20 experts, and to come back after the project was completed and trial production was operated for a period of time.

As for the Russians, seeing how meticulous Zheng Yi was in his work, they naturally couldn't let him down. They had already gone to war with Japan, and no one had any foresight, so no one knew how the future would develop. Therefore, in the eyes of the Soviet high-level officials, Zheng Yi's Penang was originally a potential ally of theirs.

Therefore, when Zheng Yi was working tirelessly to draw technical drawings for the Soviet Union, he was quite surprised to meet the commander-in-chief, Marshal Zhu, who had just been transferred back from the Baie Military Region.

"Marshal Zhu, are you here to command the war in the Far East?" Zheng Yi couldn't help but ask.

Marshal Zhu nodded and said, "Yes, I just received the letter of appointment. I heard that Mr. Zheng happened to be in Moscow, so I came here specially to meet you. Professor Zheng has been persuading European and American countries to be vigilant against Japanese militarism since three years ago. I think he has a certain understanding of the Japanese army."

Zheng Yi: "I wouldn't say I understand. After all, I'm not a soldier, so I don't really understand military matters. It's just that as a Chinese, I've been more involved in analyzing Japanese politics."

Marshal Zhu nodded and said, "Military affairs are a continuation of politics. If Mr. Zheng doesn't mind, would it be convenient for us to have a chat?"

"Of course, it's a great honor."

Zheng Yi had just been busy drawing blueprints for many days, so he found a place to have a few drinks with Marshal Zhu.

"I heard that Mr. Zheng was willing to exchange his valuable oil refining technology for our rocket technology. May I ask, Mr. Zheng, since you value this military technology so highly, do you intend to use these rockets to defend against the Japanese?"

Zheng Yi nodded. "Indeed, Penang is an island, without its own navy. The British army is unreliable. If the Japanese invade, and I want to control the sea from land, it seems rockets would be more effective."

"Mr. Zheng, are you so sure that the Japanese will move south to attack Southeast Asia?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "That depends on whether you, Marshal Zhu, can win this battle and whether your victory is beautiful enough. Unless you lose this battle or fail to subdue the Japanese, in my opinion, the Japanese are bound to invade Southeast Asia."

Marshal Zhu was stunned when he heard this, but then he immediately burst into laughter.

"So, doesn't that mean that I lost the battle, but Mr. Zheng and Nanyang are safe?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi said bluntly, "Of course, if you were to engage in a national war, Southeast Asia would almost be at peace."

Marshal Zhu's expression grew serious upon hearing what Zheng Yi said. He asked, "Mr. Zheng, do you think that the Japanese army's previous defeat won't dispel their delusional plans against us, the Soviet Union? Will there be another battle in the Far East, or at Nomonhan?"

"of course."

Zheng Yi said without hesitation, "Since the Showa era, Japan has implemented militarist policies. The entire country has become increasingly insane and crazy, and that nation has always had this kind of national character."

"They are stubborn and won't turn back until they hit the wall. If you want to fight this kind of people, you have to break their spines with a stick. Beat them so hard that they won't even dare to provoke you again. Only then can you have peace."

"But this people has another advantage. Once you truly defeat them, they'll be completely submissive. You can ask them to do anything you want, even ride on their necks and shit on them. In other words, they're just servile."

Marshal Zhu burst into laughter upon hearing this, then nodded seriously and said, "Your perspective is the same as my father's. He also believes that although this battle is a small victory, it should not be enough to completely defeat the Japanese army."

"The Japanese will definitely try to make a comeback and regain their position. My father believes that the strategic situation in Europe is extremely tense. To avoid fighting on two fronts, I am determined to strike a heavy blow against Japan this time. I will not be afraid of a large one, but will continue to do so until they dare not covet our territory again."

"Mr. Zheng, you are now our ally, and we also know that you have a lot of things to do in Southeast Asia, and you are even in the midst of a firefight with the Japanese army in Pattani.

We are deeply touched that you took the time out of your busy schedule to come and spend so much time and energy drawing technical drawings for us. Thank you."

Zheng Yi: "No, we are allies. This is a technology exchange. You have sent quite a few engineering teams to Penang. When doing business, we must be honest."

Marshal Zhu: "Mr. Zheng, we Slavs value friendship the most. Since you are generous, we cannot be stingy. I wonder if Mr. Zheng is interested in flamethrower weapons?"

"Hmm? A flamethrower?"

Marshal Zhu: "When we fought the Japanese, we found that Japanese infantry particularly liked to fight at relatively close range and seemed to lack mechanized weapons. Our OT-130 flamethrower tanks achieved very good results in this battle."

"There's also this one. This is our latest Soviet flamethrower, the ROKS2. In my opinion, this thing should be very useful for burning the Japanese."

"However, based on past war experience, flamethrowers are very willing to be subjected to concentrated enemy fire. Their survival rate is much lower than that of ordinary gun-wielding soldiers. This equipment is only used by true warriors."

"Oh?"

Zheng Yi couldn't help but become curious: "Does Marshal Zhu mean that he can directly transfer the technology to me?"

"Yes, we are friends."

Zheng Yi was naturally very interested in this. Flamethrowers had already been used during World War I, and most major industrial nations also had their own flamethrower weapons. However, the Soviet Union was the best at this and applied it the most. After all, they had so much oil.

This technology is both simple and complex. Even if they don't transfer this technology, Zheng Yi can develop it himself if given some time.

But this would waste time, as Penang did not have the relevant technical reserves. In Zheng Yi's view, the Pacific War was already imminent.

Secondly, even if he did figure it out, it would most likely not be as good as the Soviet Union's existing technology.

"Is this thing really useful against the devils?"

"Of course, it's very useful. Our army achieved a great victory in the Battle of Nomonhan thanks to the OT-130. If you're interested, we can give you this technology and build a factory on your land that can produce flamethrowers. Of course, we can also sell you some ready-made units."

"This is really... pretty good. I want some. What's the maximum you can sell it to me? I want them all."

The biggest drawback of this thing is that it consumes a lot of fuel, but Zheng Yi has no shortage of fuel. After thinking about it, he thought that if the Japanese landed, during the street fighting in Penang, or when attacking Alor Setar, this thing should still be quite useful.

The terrain in Malaya is actually not very suitable for tanks to operate, and things like flamethrower tanks may not be as useful as those in Outer Mongolia.

However, it would probably be very useful as a fixed musket to consolidate the defense line of the position, especially in Alor Setar.

Marshal Zhu was also very generous. They agreed to sell Zheng Yi almost anything he wanted. They could trade in US dollars or rubber. Zheng Yi even bought three steel furnaces from him, and Marshal Zhu generously agreed to sell them.

The Soviet Union's current steel production is more than 1700 million tons. The reason why it no longer increases is purely because it is already completely sufficient. It is not a big deal to give Zheng Yi million tons. They are even very willing to sell finished steel to him at an ultra-low price.

The meaning of flattery is very obvious.

In fact, the Soviet Union had a relatively detailed understanding of Zheng Yi. They knew very well that although Zheng Yi himself was a big capitalist, he at least had a certain degree of recognition of them in terms of political inclinations.

In the middle of this year, Zheng Yi was invited to visit China, but he declined due to some inconveniences. Just like in history, Mr. Tan Kah Kee, as the representative of the anti-Japanese overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, traveled around China.

Later, Mr. Chen published an article entitled "China's Hope Lies in Yan'an", which can be said to be full of insight and foresight.

Zheng Yi didn't even know about this.

This directly made the originally relaxed relationship between Penang and Chongqing even more tense, but it actually won the favor of the Soviet Union.

In addition, Li Jiazhi personally handled the labor bureau affairs on Zheng Yi's side, and strictly implemented the 50-hour work week system, overtime pay, five insurances and one fund, and various systems of minimum hourly wage protection.

However, it made people on the Soviet side believe that although Zheng Yi was also a capitalist, he was completely different from those imperialist capitalists in the Western world. In the future, the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation would most likely have a place in the world under the leadership of Zheng Yi.

Perhaps he is someone they can win over.

It is difficult to judge whether the deal of refining oil for rockets is a profit or a loss. In fact, the Soviet Union's rocket technology is relatively advanced in the world and is enough to change the form of war.

Since even something as confidential as the rocket has been replaced, it naturally doesn't matter whether other technologies and products are kept confidential or not.

Zheng Yi was naturally not polite. He wanted whatever was given to him. At most, he would just spend money to buy it. In addition to rubber, the Soviet Union was also very interested in Toyota Textile's textile machines.

Zheng Yi was also particularly interested in Soviet-made rolling mills and welding machines. For a time, he even reached a lot of economic and trade cooperation with the military general Zhu Dashuai.

After exchanging pleasantries, Marshal Zhu suddenly asked, "I've heard that Mr. Zheng has a deep understanding of the Japanese army. Do you have any advice for me on this battle?"

Zheng Yi thought about it and suggested seriously, "As I just said, the Japanese people's national character can be summed up in one word: cheap. Your country doesn't want to fight a war on two fronts. You should take this opportunity to fight the Japanese army as hard as possible and hurt them in one blow."

Marshal Zhu: "That's true, but Mr. Zheng, how do you think we can make the Japanese army upgrade its scale faster, rather than drag it out for a long time, and defeat them in a short time?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "This matter is difficult, but it is also easy."

"What does it mean?"

Zheng Yi said, "If I could go to the Far East with Marshal Zhu, given the Japanese army's hatred for me, perhaps I could get them to deploy a larger force."

"what?"

Marshal Zhu was stunned.

"Mr. Zheng, do you mean to make the bait yourself? But is that possible...? Besides, Nomonhan is already beyond the transportation capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The nearest railway station, Borgia, is a full 750 kilometers away. It's a desert without a railway."

"On the other hand, the distance from Hailar to Nomonhan is less than 200 kilometers. Logistically, we're at a huge disadvantage. If the president's guild is too large, this might also be a problem."

Zheng Yi said, "Marshal Zhu, what do you think I am going to do if I really go to the Far East with you? How can the Japanese army fight wherever they want?"

Marshal Zhu: "You mean..."

Zheng Yi: "I'm actually a geological exploration expert. I discovered the Ghawar oilfield. If I show up in the Far East under the guise of oil exploration, what do you think, Marshal?"

"Oil exploration? This... Mr. Zheng, do you mean real exploration or fake exploration?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "It could be true. There should be oil in the East Gobi Province of Outer Mongolia. If I were to explore, I would definitely be able to find an oil field in no more than two months.
And the reserves should be quite high, but I wonder if your country would dare to exploit the oil fields if I help you find them."

(End of this chapter)