The sun never sets

If the United States is willing to accept payment in RMB, the Alliance will be happy to buy all the agricultural products that the United States cannot sell. But unfortunately, the Americans are not stupid, and they are unwilling to exchange food for a pile of paper.

What can they do with the RMB? Buy industrial products from the Alliance? Wouldn't that turn the United States into an economic colony of the Alliance?

After the economic crisis broke out, the first thing the US government did was to raise tariffs in an attempt to protect domestic industry, commerce and agriculture, but this further worsened the situation. The alliance raised tariffs in return, and so did Germany.

The German-American alliance, which had not yet been established, broke up. No matter how good the previous speeches were, when the crisis came, each country could only take care of itself first.

Chapter 830 Great

As the economic crisis intensified, William III did not stay in Chang'an for long. He left the inspection of the alliance's military industry and shipyards to others and quickly returned to Berlin on a special train.

The United States lost $300 billion in one month, and there was a lot of wailing in the country. Germany was not much better. The products produced by German factories were piled up in large quantities, and the workers were unemployed. The unemployed workers had nothing to eat, and they could not even learn from the Americans to wander around, so they could only gather together to protest against the government.

The ragged, unkempt workers held banners and chanted "We want work, we want bread!" as they marched on the street in front of the city hall before being dispersed by the military and police.

The German government was very experienced in suppressing labor movements and quickly suppressed the German workers who were making trouble. But suppression can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Germany has a high degree of industrialization and a high urbanization rate. This was an advantage when the economy was functioning normally, but it became a disadvantage after the economic crisis broke out.

What can a large number of idle and hungry workers do? Wait to starve to death?

There was a long queue in front of the Union's embassy, just like the scene in the United States. Those people in the queue all wanted to work in the Union. The German government had been smearing the Union for more than a decade, but no matter how bad the Union was, at least the people there could have enough food to eat.

This alone makes it ten times stronger than the Second German Empire.

The Union did not lack farmers and ordinary workers, but needed senior engineers and scientists. However, the German government was very strict with those senior talents and would not let them leave at will. It took Einstein and some Jewish scientists more than three years to leave Germany and go to America, and then they encountered the worst economic crisis in history.

On his way back to the palace from the train station, William III saw the bleakness of the streets. Many people were holding signs on the street to sell their belongings, such as silver tableware, candlesticks, etc. There were also people selling cars, but now they had no money to buy gas, so they might as well sell them in exchange for a few full meals.

This situation is not just one or two, but can be seen everywhere in Berlin. Berlin is the capital of Germany, and even Berlin is like this, how can other places be better?

William III returned to the palace worriedly, and read all the recent domestic newspapers that night. The newspapers said a lot of nonsense like "difficulties are only temporary, the future is bright", but the actual situation must be much more serious.

What is written in the newspaper is definitely not as true as the summary of the government departments. William III read the newspaper just to see the reaction of the people. The situation he saw was not optimistic. Even the government mouthpiece admitted that "there are difficulties now", which is true, and the subsequent "the future is bright" is nonsense.

A few days later, William III convened a meeting with German senior officials.

After listening to William III's explanation of the alliance's conditions, the government thought it was worth a try, but the military was firmly opposed. The military represented by the General Staff was the actual ruler of Germany, and the government was just doing odd jobs.

The military could not accept Germany's economic dependence on the People's Revolutionary League. "This is letting the League strangle us. Germany will have to depend on others in the future!"

However, the military only opposed it, but did not come up with a solution to the current problem. The meeting lasted a whole day, but nothing useful was achieved. After the meeting, people from all parties connected everywhere, hoping to get their faction's proposals passed.

As time went by, the situation became worse and worse. The economic crisis affected all aspects of the United States and Germany, and the national economy entered a serious recession. Lines began to form on the rooftops of Wall Street, and the American people could see news of people jumping off buildings every day.

With too much leverage, you can earn several times or even dozens of times the profit when you make money, but when you lose money, you lose it all in the blink of an eye. Many people borrow money from banks or relatives, friends, and acquaintances to leverage. After losing all the capital and being burdened with a lot of debts, won’t they end up on the roof?

There were also people jumping off buildings in Germany, but the number was much smaller than in the U.S. The real ruling class in Germany was the Junker officers, or Junker landlords. The Junkers all had land, so even if they lost a lot of money, their farms and vineyards would still produce some output.

There weren't many people in the German Empire who jumped off buildings because of bankruptcy, but there were some voices in society saying that the economic crisis was caused by the Jews. It's true that some Jews got rich during the emergency, but ordinary Jews also became penniless during the economic crisis.

In Italy, Mussolini's fascist regime gained unprecedented support due to the economic crisis. Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was not a first-rate politician, but he did a lot of practical things.

He severely cracked down on the Mafia in Sicily, expanded the military industry and infrastructure, and linked school and social reforms with military expansion and preparations for war. Mussolini stepped up military expansion and preparations for war, and personally served as the chief of the army, navy, and air force. As the supreme commander of Italy, all troops in the country must obey his orders absolutely.

Italy also suffered an economic crisis, but through military expansion and infrastructure construction, it effectively reduced unemployment. Many people in Italy opposed Mussolini and his fascist regime, but those opponents also admitted that Mussolini did some practical things, "at least he made the trains on time."

The trains of the People's Revolutionary League and the Anglo-French Alliance were more punctual, but the German Empire could not praise the red regime, so many people began to agree with the fascist party's proposition. Mussolini's reputation was greatly improved, and he became complacent and arrogant, believing that only he could save Europe and even the whole world.

Seeing the performance of the Italian government during the economic crisis, the German government inevitably borrowed from the Italians' methods, building infrastructure, developing military industries, and expanding the number of troops, which were exactly what the Junker officers were familiar with and liked.

William III saw Chairman Lin's predictions come true one by one, but he could do nothing about it. Although he was the German emperor, he could not compete with the entire Junker class.

Germany, the German government, and the German ruling class, the interests of these three are not the same. William III's interests are related to these three, but not completely consistent. During the World War, the previous generation of German emperors was almost pushed out to take the blame, and William III remembered this very clearly.

He wanted to change this situation, but there was another voice in his heart saying: What if I win? Expanding the army and preparing for war is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as I can win, I may become the greatest emperor in history!

Chapter 831 The Roaring Twenties

In the second half of 1929, the US economy further deteriorated. People had no money to buy things, so the products produced by factories could not be sold; factories reduced their production capacity, which led to the dismissal and expulsion of a large number of workers, so people had less and less money in their hands and could not afford to buy things, which became a negative feedback cycle.

The U.S. market mainly relies on internal self-circulation. Once the domestic market collapsed, the U.S. economy fell into the abyss.

Hoover saw the problems in the development of the US economy, but he did not think it would be so serious. In fact, many people can see the problems in the development of the US economy, but they would not think it would be so serious.

Moreover, when the economies of Europe and the United States were developing, there would be an economic crisis every once in a while, and then the economy would slowly recover by relying on the market. The government was always watching from the sidelines and not intervening. This is also the reason why many countries did not intervene or interfere too much at first after the economic crisis broke out.

After the Wall Street stock market crash, some American capitalists began to rescue the market, but they were unsuccessful. It was then that President Hoover began to intervene in the market. Hoover did not initially think that there was anything wrong with the US economic development model. He thought that as long as factories, banks, and agriculture resumed normal work, people would have jobs and wages. Then they would buy things, and then the market would prosper again.

Not only Hoover, but many economists in the United States at that time thought so. So Hoover began to rescue large companies, large banks, large farmers, etc. Hoover hoped to rely on them to solve the problems of people's careers. And he reached an agreement with them that wages could not be reduced at will, so as to guarantee the income of workers.

In order to protect domestic enterprises, Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Act, raising tariffs on more than 2000 imported goods to the highest level in history. This act did protect American industry and commerce to a certain extent, but it also led many countries to take retaliatory tariff measures against the United States and impose high tariffs on American goods.

Mr. Hoover did take many measures. However, these measures did not fundamentally solve the economic crisis, but aggravated it. His position was to stand on the side of big companies, big banks and big farmers. It was like this before, it is like this now, and it will be like this in the future.

In addition to bailing out large companies and banks and raising tariffs, Hoover also increased public investment and infrastructure, but he refused to provide relief to the unemployed and publicly declared that "the government does not support lazy people." Mr. Hoover also used himself as an example, "When I first went to China, I had nothing, but through my own efforts, I finally realized the American dream. Now I am the president. If I can do this, so can others!"

What President Hoover did was not to betray the class he belonged to. Instead, while considering the interests of his own class, he thought of many ways to solve the economic crisis, but they were of little use, or of little use, and the situation continued to deteriorate.

Unlike the free world, which was wailing everywhere, the Anglo-French Alliance and the Human Revolutionary Alliance were both experiencing a period of rapid development. The Human Revolutionary Alliance was carrying out its third five-year plan and upgrading its industry. The Anglo-French Alliance was expanding the scale of heavy industry in preparation for the liberation of the world.

Some experts and scholars published articles in the media, saying that some practices of syndicalism in Britain and the French Commune were no different from militarism and fascism. They all vigorously reduced consumer goods, piled up resources to develop heavy industry, and prepared for war to make a big news.

On the political spectrum, syndicalists and fascists belong to the extreme left and the extreme right respectively, which are two poles that are incompatible with each other, but many of their policies seem to be the same. Fascists will inevitably promote aggressive wars, while syndicalists also want to liberate the world.

The Roaring Twenties ended in turmoil. In the 20s, the Red War changed the world, syndicalism succeeded in Britain and Central America, and finally failed in the Indian subcontinent, and then the Great Depression came.

After entering the 30s, not only the economy of the free world was affected, but the Anglo-French Alliance, the Central American Syndicalist Federation and the Human Innovation League also felt the impact, but this did not hinder the development of heavy industry in these countries.

The French Commune and Syndicalist Britain exported a lot of grain to Germany in exchange for machinery and equipment for the development of heavy industry. It is said that there were starvation deaths in both the French Commune and Syndicalist Britain, and not just one or two cases. But the official claim of the Anglo-French Alliance is that it is all slander by the enemy, shameless lies, and not worth believing.

The European powers were all expanding the scale of their military industries, and so was the People's Revolutionary League. The League not only developed its hard power, but also recruited more non-commissioned officers, officers, pilots, and sailors. In order to increase the number of pilots in peacetime, the League opened flying clubs across the country, and airlines also trained more captains and pilots.

The previous series of wars have brought global tension to a very high level, and the great powers can find any excuse to start a war. The reason why it has not started now is partly because of the economic crisis and partly because no one is ready for a full-scale war.

The Alliance Central Committee has long realized that there will be a more tragic war, so many projects in the [Three-Five Plan] are military industries. In order to cope with the possible outbreak of war, the Alliance is secretly accumulating strength.

On the surface, the People's Revolutionary League was enjoying peace. The increase in productivity and the quantity of consumer goods, the increase in wages and income had greatly improved people's living standards.

The shops were filled with a dazzling array of goods, cinemas, skating rinks, flying clubs, and all kinds of new things that suddenly emerged, making people dizzy. There were new movies shown in the cinema every week, storytelling and music on the radio, and more programs on the TV.

Chang'an has started filming "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Moscow has started "War and Peace", and some well-known classics may also be adapted into movies, such as "Journey to the West" and "Water Margin".

Because of the alliance's unique system, even in the most remote villages, there are projection teams to show movies. There are no movie theaters in the villages, so they just set up a white cloth on an open space and use a projector to project the pictures onto the white cloth.

The people of the Alliance can feel that life is getting better and better, and they believe that the future will be better, but most people feel that they have no money. There are too many good things, but they are not cheap.

The alliance also has a financial service called "installment payment". With the lessons learned from the US economic crisis, "installment payment" is still strictly controlled for the time being and is only open to military personnel, teachers, civil servants and other people with a stable source of income.

Chapter 832 China

Chang'an, Xishan Military Base.

Zhdanov once again came to the office of Wang Hu, vice chairman of the Suppression Committee, and said, "Vice chairman Wang, I'm back."

Wang Hu put down the newspaper and said, "I've been out for half a year. What have you found out?"

"The situation is not as good as it was in the People's Daily and the News Broadcast. There are many people who are hostile and hate the alliance."

Wang Hu said unhappily, "Isn't this nonsense? Is there any real information? If not, then go back to Poland!" A suspicious look appeared on his face, "You didn't really use public funds to travel?"

Zhdanov said: "There are indeed some discoveries, the report is in..."

The conversation between the two lasted for more than two hours. When it was dark, Zhdanov came out of the building. He looked around but did not see Lieutenant Huang Siqi.

The General Staff and the Anti-Counterrevolutionary Committee are two departments with different working styles, which is something Zhdanov has known for a long time. Lieutenant Huang Siqi has many strange things about him, and he wanted to treat him to a few drinks, but as soon as he returned to Chang'an, Lieutenant Huang disappeared. Zhdanov couldn't ask about Lieutenant Huang Siqi's whereabouts, so he had to give up for the time being.

Zhdanov walked a few steps outside, looked back towards the third floor, and saw nothing. What he didn't know was that when he looked back, someone was looking at him through the gap in the third-floor window.

Wang Hu watched Zhdanov get on the car and drive away, then returned to the office, picked up the phone and dialed, "Yes, he just left, it seems that there is nothing wrong... This is just my personal opinion, you guys should do what you want."

The situation on the intelligence front is very complicated. Exploitation, self-torture and double espionage often occur. Intelligence personnel who go out on field missions and work behind enemy lines are always objects of suspicion.

Near the confluence of the Western Bug River and the Mukhavets River

On the road near the airport, Felix Yusupov leaned against the car, smoking and looking at the bus stop not far away. Suddenly, he took a big puff, threw the cigarette on the ground, crushed it with his shoes, and then strode forward, "Oh, you are finally back."

A Russian man in his forties put down his suitcase and hugged Felix Yusupov. "Yes, I'm back."

"Sukhokin..."

"No, dear Felix, you have to call me Kaplan. I am a German now and I come to work for the Alliance."

Felix Yusupov was stunned for a moment, then said, "I understand, Kaplan, get in the car first, I'll take you to dinner."

Sukhokin was once a captain in the Russian army and participated in the World War. At that time, he was still a young man with high spirits. Because he participated in the Moscow Rebellion, he had to flee and leave the Union. More than ten years later, Sukhokin has become a middle-aged man, but his figure is still upright.

Felix Yusupov felt guilty towards Sukhotin. Not long after Russia joined the Union, Sukhotin was a young officer with a bright future, but because of a word from Felix, he resolutely raised his army and launched a rebellion, then was defeated and fled abroad in embarrassment.

Felix Yusupov soon returned to Moscow, but Sukhotin was on the list, and even if he returned to Russia again, he could not use his original name.

Su Huojin put the luggage in the trunk and sat in the passenger seat. "This car looks good. How much is it?"

Felix Yusupov's family was a Russian noble family. Although their land was confiscated, they still had a lot of wealth. After investing in industries, Felix's family made a lot of money by taking advantage of the economic boom of the union.

If you are in the right place, even a pig can fly. Felix Yusupov is an intellectual, and he has close ties with the upper class of the former Russia. He is related to the Romanov family by marriage. Doing business is not too simple, and he has already achieved financial freedom.

"This car sells for 2800 yuan in Belarus, so it's not a good car. I drove this Xiaguang to avoid being noticed. If you like cars, I'll give you a Hongqi, which is a real good car."

Su Huojin shook his head. "This Xiaguang is too ostentatious."

Felix Yusupov smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a few thousand dollars."

The average wage of the union workers is now 310 yuan per month, so a few thousand yuan is not a small amount. Of course, for rich people, a few thousand yuan is just pocket money, just a meal.

The car drove onto the bridge. Sukhokin looked up at Brest in the distance. It looked like a huge construction site with many construction machines busy at work. So he asked, "Is that a military base?"

Felix Yusupov glanced towards Brest. "Yes, that's the Brest Fortress."

"I heard that the Alliance and Germany have reached a reconciliation. Why do they still need to build a fortress? Even if they want to show off a fortress, it should be built on the border."

"The Alliance and Germany have reached a reconciliation, but that is only temporary. Who knows when the relationship will deteriorate again. Are you interested in the situation of the Brest Fortress? I can help you find out, but it will take a long time. You know, the Alliance's intelligence department is very strict."

"No, my mission has nothing to do with the fortress, and you shouldn't ask around. The Pakuka is not a pushover, so don't put yourself in danger."

"The intelligence department of the Alliance is not just the Purge Commission, but I don't care. As long as Su... Kaplan wants it, I will go and get intelligence on the Brest Fortress for you."

"Don't do unnecessary things."

Sukhokin shook his head again. "The Germans have sent countless intelligence officers here. We don't need to ask for information."

Felix Yusupov stepped on the accelerator and the car sped down the approach bridge. "I heard that the situation in Germany is very bad now?"

"It's a bit bad, but life is still bearable. It's much better than during the world war."

"Compared to the Alliance?"

Sukhokin was silent for a long time before he said, "Berlin is as prosperous as Moscow. As for Chang'an, I have never been there."

“I’ve been there several times.”

"Oh, is Chang'an really as bustling and prosperous as in the movies?"

Felix Yusupov said: "Although we don't like Chairman Lin, we have to admit that he does have some ability. But the stronger his ability is, the greater the harm to Russia. You should have seen on the way here that Poland is becoming China. If we don't think of a solution, Russia will also become China."

Chapter 833: Firefight

After entering the 1930s, the Great Depression intensified, and fascist ideas spread in Germany, as did syndicalism and Lin Yongchangism. The lower class people needed work and food, and if the government could not provide them with all of this, the people would rise up and cause trouble, and various extreme ideas would spread.

Inevitably, Germany began to expand its military and prepare for war. This was Germany's only choice. The Junker class could not choose the left wing, which would be a betrayal of their own class. Although they did not like fascism, and even hated Mussolini, the shameless Italian, what Germany did was

The situation is almost exactly the same as in Fascist Italy.

The German government has expanded its investment in infrastructure and military industry, which requires more people to be recruited, effectively reducing the unemployment rate. However, many people still remember the painful experience of the World War, and many people are pessimistic about another World War, including many military personnel.

Due to their pessimistic predictions about the future, some high-ranking German military officials chose to secretly communicate with the Alliance and actively passed a lot of intelligence to the People's Revolutionary League. The Alliance's General Staff and several other intelligence departments were able to grasp many situations in Germany, including the performance parameters, production speed and equipment quantity of Germany's "Panzer IV", as well as a group of spies sent by Germany to the Alliance.

The Purge Committee led by the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested some German spies, persuaded some of them to defect, and adopted the strategy of letting the long line catch the big fish for the rest.

Among the intelligence obtained from Germany, one piece of information attracted the attention of the Pakatan Harapan Committee.

"Are you sure the location is Sevastopol in the Crimea?"

"It has been confirmed. Local comrades have indeed recently detected a new radio signal, which is likely to be the work of German spies."

Zhdanov did not comment on this. After asking a few more questions, he began to look at the map hanging on the wall again. "Sevastopol... Do you want to know the situation of the fortress, or..."

The Crimean Peninsula is a large peninsula that protrudes from the Ukrainian Republic in the south of the Soviet Union to the Black Sea. It has been used as a holiday resort for successive czars due to its warm and comfortable Mediterranean climate. But this resort is built on such a huge fortress. At the same time, the Black Sea is a common inland sea of many countries such as Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria. It has a very important strategic value. Once the control of the Black Sea is mastered, political pressure can be exerted on the surrounding coastal countries. Sevastopol is the most suitable port in the area, and therefore it has become an extremely important strategic location.

Since the Crimean War broke out between Britain, France and Russia in 1854, Sevastopol has evolved into a fortress city in the era of endless fighting, with a large number of fortresses, trenches and deliberately created maze tunnels surrounding the urban area.

After Russia was incorporated into the People's Revolutionary Union, Sevastopol was the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, and the local fortress group was maintained and further strengthened. The Union installed a large number of 305mm twin-mounted heavy guns in the Sevastopol Fortress. These fortress guns were removed from dreadnoughts, with long range and great power.