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The elite troops of the Kwantung Army were once transferred to North China and Southeast Asia in the Tang Dynasty. Although the Kwantung Army now has a million troops, except that its equipment is still fully staffed, the quality of the troops has been greatly reduced and its combat effectiveness is far less than before.

Japan was helpless as the millions of elite troops in North China could not be transferred away.

In the end, all plans in central and southern China had to be suspended, and the expeditionary force's last 10 elite troops, thousands of tanks, hundreds of artillery pieces, and thousands of aircraft were transferred to the Kwantung Army.

In this way, except for North China, the Japanese troops in other parts of the Tang Dynasty returned to the time when they confronted the Tang Dynasty, and neither side could do anything to the other.

However, with Xu's army tying down most of Japan's main forces in Myanmar and North China, the Kwantung Army only strengthened its defense and did not dare to take the initiative to go to war with the Soviet Union.

At this time, the Soviet Far Eastern Army had 150 million troops, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, more than 3000 tanks, more than 400 aircraft, and more than 90 ships.

The equipment was almost the same as that of the Kwantung Army, and the defense was also strengthened, with no signs of any attack.

Xu Le could naturally understand that he just wanted the Soviet Union to express its attitude.

He wanted to see whether Stalin had this awareness.

If Stalin did not agree to declare war on Japan, Xu Le would only sign an aid bill with him, and there would be no strategic cooperation treaty.

If Stalin agreed, he would increase his assistance to the Soviet Union and sell the Type 66 152mm howitzers that had been eliminated by the troops.

The Soviet Union is a major artillery producer, but when facing the current German army, its existing artillery, small-caliber ones are not very useful, and super-large-caliber ones are too heavy and extremely difficult to transport.

所以122和152口径的就成了其最爱，但是他们现在拥有的122炮远没有60式122毫米加农炮射程远，威力更是差了一大截。

According to what Wei Li said when he returned, the Soviet Red Army made great use of the first batch of 500 Type 60 122mm cannons.

The Red Army used armor-piercing shells to destroy dozens of Germany's newly equipped Type 6 tanks.

That was a heavy tank with a front diameter of 100 mm and a total diameter of 230 mm for the turret and gun shield. At the beginning of the Stalin Campaign, hundreds of Soviet Red Army tanks died at its hands and several defense points were breached by it.

This shows how much importance the Soviet Union attached to the Type 60 122mm cannon!

Then there are the 152mm cannons. The Soviet Union naturally had many types, but either their caliber was too small and their range was too short, or they were too heavy and difficult to transport.

The Type 6 22mm howitzer, which weighs less than 66 tons and has a range of 152 kilometers, was instantly recognized by Mikoyan.

After he contacted the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union immediately placed another order and bought all the existing 4 guns at a price of 10 rubles plus 220 tons of iron per gun.

When Xu Le said that there were more than 200 guns left, the Soviet Union took them without blinking an eye.

As for the air force, both sides have already decided on it.

苏联直接购买500架歼5和100架强5，后续的强5只能以租借的方式，战后需要归还。

This is also the result of the special treatment that Xu Le gave it before, turning it into a strategic partner now, which is quite legitimate.

Of course, with the strategic cooperation treaty in place, all the unguided ammunition provided by Xu's army to the Soviet Union was free of charge, so the cannons were accompanied by 50 matching base-bleed shells, which were just enough to render the barrels of the 220 guns useless after they were fired.

One benefit of the Soviet Union’s feedback is that the currency continues to be discounted by 20%, and the iron ore remains at the original price!

The Tang Dynasty is considered the second strategic partner, and it is a one-time equipment support. This was a temporary decision made by Xu Le after Zhu Xiaoping set off.

The reason is the same as mining iron ore, they don’t want to take away too many things from the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, he did not want to deviate from his original intention and did not want Datang to be too dependent on himself, thus affecting his own industrial research.

Therefore, Xu's army will provide the equipment of two armies of the National Guard at one time, plus 100 J-5s, and charge a symbolic % fee.

A one-time aid of 10 billion bullets and 200 million mortar and howitzer shells was provided, and military scientists from the armed forces were sent to teach the National Guard ammunition technology.

Don't underestimate the Armed Forces Department. It is a hodgepodge of people. There are scientists from the Soviet Union and the United States, but most of them are people from the Tang Dynasty who have returned from studying abroad.

For example, the Type 66 152mm howitzer was originally a copy of the Soviet D20 howitzer, and is compatible with the Soviet Union's existing 152mm artillery shells.

Therefore, Soviet military scientists in the Armed Forces already possessed the technology to manufacture this shell.

If the National Guard Army still cannot resist the Japanese attack after the support, Xu's army will still dispatch troops to fight in accordance with the strategic cooperation treaty.

......

In January of 43, the troops received both good news and bad news.

"Marshal, the equipment replacement of each unit has been successfully completed. They are very optimistic about the new artillery and trucks, and have asked their superiors to join the battle!"

Seeing Wei Li's excited expression, Xu Le couldn't help but twitch his lips.

How could this be bad? That is a cannon with a range of nearly 40 kilometers. Not to mention the same caliber, who in the world has a cannon less than 400 mm with such a long range?

"Seeing how happy you are, there must be other happy news. Let's talk about it together!"

Wei Li smiled slightly: "The matters concerning the Phakant Iron Mine have been settled with Surat Thay. We will take 30% of the output, and they will take 70%. We are only responsible for dispatching engineers, and they will be responsible for the rest of the manpower and financial resources!"

"Only 30%, that's fine, we're almost getting it for free!" Xu Le nodded with satisfaction, thinking that Su Ruitai was not that stupid.

Wei Li continued, "Our foreign aid bill has received responses from some countries. Seven allies, led by Iraq and Turkey, have expressed their hope to receive our assistance!"

Seeing Wei Li's suspenseful look, Xu Le said coldly: "There must be more than these, who else?"

Wei Li gave a meaningful smile and said, "And Free France!"

Xu Le immediately stood up from his chair. This news was extremely serious.

France is the second largest colonial power in the world after England, with colonies covering an area of ​​1200 million square kilometers. The closest one is French Indochina, but it has been occupied by Japan!

If we can establish an aid relationship with France and get some benefits from it, it will play a huge role in the future development of Xu's army!

"What did they say?"

"Marshal, representatives from eight countries, including Free France, will arrive in Mandalay soon. Then we can discuss the details of the assistance!"

"Great!" Xu Le was overjoyed. "Advisor Wei, I'll leave this matter to you. There is only one goal: make them owe us the more the better. Whether it's currency, gold, or territory and garrison rights. In short, the more the better!"

Snapped...

Wei Li snapped his fingers and said, "Don't worry, Marshal, everything is under control, no one can escape from me!"

After saying that, Wei Li suddenly put away his smile and said with concern, "But Marshal, I found a clue here!

"What is it?" Xu Le asked curiously.

"I'm not sure either, but I feel uneasy. After Germany occupied France, Charles de Gaulle led a group of French people to flee to England and established Free France to continue to fight against Germany. Logically, Free France and England are now in the same boat and are in the same critical moment of war. France has asked us for help, but England has not responded at all."

Xu Le didn't think much about it: "Maybe it's not easy to live under someone else's roof. Free France also wants to get rid of England's control. Moreover, there has been a thousand-year-old feud between the two countries. If it weren't for the war, I'm afraid they wouldn't have come together!"

"What's more, the English mainland has not been invaded. Perhaps this is why Churchill is not in a hurry."

“Is it really that simple?”

Wei Li murmured softly, especially when he thought about the breaking of the lease treaty with England, he always felt that something was wrong.