Coal refining is to gasify coal under pressure, decompose carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and then use the effective gas to synthesize gasoline and diesel. There are two ways to convert coal into oil: one is direct refining of coal, and the other is indirect refining. There are two methods of converting coal into oil: direct liquefaction and indirect liquefaction. Direct liquefaction is more picky about coal types, but the conversion efficiency is high. Indirect liquefaction can utilize many types of coal, but the conversion efficiency is low. There is no doubt that Farben Chemical Company uses direct refining. Although these synthetic fuels cannot be used in the air force, they are still good fuel for armored clusters on the ground.
"What is the cost of synthetic fuel now?" Lin Wei knew as soon as he saw von Schnitzler's expression that the cost must be high. Sure enough, von Schnitzler said, "Synthetic fuels now cost much more than imported oil, and if it hadn't been for state support, maybe..."
Maybe… ? Lin Wei understood the meaning behind it. The price of oil in the world is far from that high now. According to calculations, only if the price of oil is 80 US dollars higher can this industry be valuable for development. According to the current oil production in the United States, Germany If this practice were carried out in peacetime, he would definitely sell his pants at a loss.
The reason why Farben Chemical Company dares to do this must be the result of the current heavy subsidies from the German government. If it weren't for such a flower, it would be hard to imagine someone willing to do such a thing. In business, Lin Wei himself would not do such a thing.
The huge machines in the factory roared. The workers were just slightly surprised when their boss and an officer came, but it was time to do something. They were all people who had worked here for several years, starting from the war. After that, I have seen many people come to inspect, and they are no longer surprised by this situation.
This situation made Lin Wei, who was just about to say something about the hard work of his comrades, a little embarrassed. He didn't think about what the workers should do, and he didn't bother himself as the national leader. This reminded Lin Wei of the words of a military enthusiast in his previous life, human beings There is equality only in times of war. If it were not a war period, maybe the National Socialist Party would have been corrupt to the core, right? Thinking of Golin's money-grubbing personality, Lin Wei secretly shook his head.
"Uncle von Schnitzler, let's stop here today!" Lin Wei already has a better understanding of the strength of Farben Chemical Company. In addition to Degussa and the DuPont family companies in the United States, Farben Chemical has a global presence. There are no opponents. If Germany had not been defeated later, Germany would have completely overwhelmed the United States in the chemical industry.
Farben Chemical Company's two important products, synthetic fuels and nerve agents, have entered Lin Wei's mind. Whether they will come in handy in the future depends on the progress of the war. In this case, Lin Wei has no need to stay. Here, there are still many places waiting for Lin Wei to inspect.
"Okay, Lampard, take me to say hello to your father!" Von Schnitzler said with a kind face, "If we didn't all have our own things to be busy with now, I really want to retire with your father. !" Von Schnitzler and Lin Wei walked outside the factory while chatting. The car prepared by the SS for Lin Wei had been waiting for a long time.
Lin Wei just smiled at Von Schnitzler's words and said, "Germany still needs you. Compared to you, we are still too young! Uncle Von Schnitzler, see you later!" After speaking, Lin Wei got into the car as a group of people watched, and several cars disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After Lin Wei and the others walked away, the assistant next to him asked in a low voice, "Mr. Schnitzler, is this a relative of yours? He joined the SS at such a young age. It seems that he is still a mid-level officer with a limitless future." ah!"
Von Schnitzler almost fell over when he heard this. Although Lin Wei was not wearing the military uniform of a general, judging from the fact that the people following him all had the rank of colonel, it was impossible for him to be a mid-level officer. Now Von Schnitzler Le was very suspicious of his assistant's eyesight, and mentally he was already thinking about where to send the person in front of him.
"Leader, where are we going next?" Crawford has already taken out a folder, which is filled with factories large and small in Europe. There are two places that he must visit. One is Renault in France. Company, one is the original Skoda Arsenal in Czechoslovakia. Among them, Renault is the second largest arsenal in France. They manufactured the B1 heavy tank that once caused the German army to suffer a lot. In addition, the huge number of FT-17 "Renault" light tanks are also good products. As for the Skoda arsenal, it was the largest arsenal in Central Europe during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and only Krupp could overwhelm it in the entire Europe. Both places are must-visit places.
"One is in France, and the other is in the Sudetenland! Am I traveling in Europe?" Lin Wei had a headache. A headache was a headache. Faced with this kind of geographical problem, Lin Wei couldn't solve it by complaining. , even if God comes out, he can only scratch his head. So after a simple complaint, Lin Wei could only continue to make a choice and try to choose the nearest factory to arrange the trip.
"If you go to Renault, you can also go back to Essen to visit France when you come back!" Lin Wei made a gesture on the map and ordered, "Arrange the itinerary along the way immediately and inform the arsenal along the way to make arrangements immediately!"
"No problem, leader!" Crawford's chest thumped loudly, as if you can rest assured that I will do the work. Lin Wei fell asleep very shamelessly.
During the time when Lin Wei began to inspect the cessed arsenal, apart from the British war that was in full swing, only Italy's offensive in Africa attracted attention. Due to the outstanding results of Germany, also an Axis power, the world now generally views the Axis powers. This kind of thing is quite eye-catching. Many countries have sent personnel to Africa either overtly or covertly, wanting to see the war between Italy and Britain.
Italy has 250,000 troops stationed in Libya, 1,800 machine guns, 350 light tanks and 8,000 trucks, as well as 150 aircraft. Its strength is not weak. The Italian ground forces are divided into two groups: the 10th Army, commanded by General Berti, is based in Silanega in eastern Libya, and has 3 infantry divisions and 1 Blackshirt Army. The 15th Army, commander General Garibaldi, is based in Tripoli, the capital of western Libya, and has 6 infantry divisions and two Blackshirt Army detachments. Now that France is also an Axis power, and Germany has ensured the integrity of French colonies, Italy's preparations for France now seem a bit inappropriate.
In view of this, the 10th Army was strengthened, first by 9 divisions, and later by 10 divisions. Judging from the number, Berti's 10th Army was enough to scare the British army in Africa.
Berti's 10th Army was enough to scare the British troops in Africa. Wavell's troops were at an extreme numerical disadvantage, but these two British divisions were not vegetarians. They were both steel troops with tenacious combat effectiveness: Pearson The 4th Division of the British-Indian Army commanded by Major General. Although this division is a mixed force composed of British and Asan, it has extremely rich desert combat experience and its strength cannot be underestimated. As for the other division, it is the famous "Desert Rats" British 7th Armored Division under Major General Clay. The division is the leader of the British armored forces. It was cultivated by General Percy Hubbard, the pioneer of British armored warfare, and is known as the best-trained force in the British army.
The small-scale friction between the Italian army and the British occupying force in Egypt had begun as early as August. However, the Italian army was not ready at the time, so the incident was still within control. However, as the German army had already established its footing, the British Heel, and tear apart the city chain in southern Britain bit by bit. After discussion, the task of continuing the blockade of the British and supporting the army will be handed over to the French Navy and the two German Scharnhorst-class battleships that have been repaired first. , the Italian Navy withdrew from participating in the attack on Britain, and instead returned to the Mediterranean, concentrating on escorting the transport fleet transporting supplies to Africa.
Here I have to talk about Egypt's attitude in this war. Four days after the friction between the British garrison and the Italian Army, that is, on August 21, the Egyptian House of Representatives unanimously decided that "if its territory is invaded or its troops are attacked," Egypt should defend itself immediately. This is because the Italian navy once fired at the British in Alexandria, killing a dozen Egyptians. Report claimed that Italian troops would find British and Egyptian troops fighting side by side, adding that the Egyptians were convinced that "their own and British defenses were impregnable."
Ahmed Maher, leader of the Sadr Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives, delivered an important speech in the Mansoura provincial capital, advocating that Egyptians should share the same hatred of the enemy, defend their independence, and drive the enemy out of the country.
Then, at a cabinet meeting on September 21, Ahmed Maher and his Sadad deputy Mahmoud Fahmi Noukrahi suggested declaring war on Italy. When this suggestion was rejected by all other members of the cabinet, four Sadrist ministers resigned. However, the cabinet decided to increase the number of Egyptian troops by 5,000 and declared comprehensive martial law throughout the country; when accepting the resignation of the Sadrist party, the prime minister announced that he was opposed to throwing the country into war without obvious benefits or necessity. This political The crisis finalized Egypt's policy of not participating in the war. Egypt's administrative agencies, social groups and individuals, and the Egyptian military continued to assist the Allies' cause, but politicians' attitude toward the war remained negative. Although they sometimes reluctantly took action due to the promotion of the British military authorities fighting on Egyptian soil, conscious activities in this regard were rare.
The Italian African Army, which received domestic support, became stronger and stronger, and finally began to tentatively cross the border between Libya and Egypt on September 17 for provocations. On September 20, Berti's 10th Army began to march towards Libya and Egypt. At the border, at 6 o'clock in the morning on September 21, ten divisions of the Italian Army launched a fierce attack on Egypt under the cover of 350 aircraft and 1,300 artillery pieces. The difference between this attack and history was that two squadrons of Stuka dive bombers appeared in the Italian Air Force, which was the first to launch an air attack.
The pilots of these two Stuka dive bomber squadrons were German pilots who had just participated in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. This was also the condition that William II wanted Mussolini to first guarantee Germany's attack on Britain. As time went by, As time goes by, more and more German soldiers will appear in Africa, but this is only a small number for Germany's seven million armed forces.
However, although Germany's armed forces in Africa are now limited to two squadrons of pilots, they appear to be very high-profile during this operation, which is not consistent with the German style at all. Propaganda Minister Goebbels smeared the flying rhetoric on the radio boasted, "Europe has no rivals for the Imperial Air Force. More than an air force has been secretly stationed in Africa. They will smash the British colonial system in Africa there until the British completely admit their defeat and prepare to sit down." Come down and talk to Germany!”
The German Air Force, which landed in Africa for the first time, immediately clearly demonstrated its strength in the first battle. It flew the Stuka dive bomber that had become famous over Britain and successfully killed the first line of the battle as soon as the war started. The British garrison stronghold successfully opened a good start for the Italian Army's operations.
The successful operation of the Air Force made General Berti of the Tenth Army more and more optimistic about this war. The shadow of the invasion of Ethiopia had been swept away. In the first day of the battle, the Italian Army did not encounter large-scale resistance, everything went smoothly. On the one hand, this was because the morale of the Italian army was indeed high in the first day of the battle. On the other hand, the British garrison was sparse in number, so it was necessary to shrink its forces and concentrate its forces, so General Wavell ordered Major General Pearson The British-Indian 4th Division under the command and the famous British 7th Armored Division under Major General Clay withdrew from the border areas of Egypt and Libya at the beginning.
On the first day, the Tenth Army made good progress and successfully broke into fifty kilometers into Egypt. Although it was not as eye-catching as the German armored forces in the Battle of France, General Berti was very excited. General Berti reported the situation to Mussolini was very happy to learn the news, and immediately ordered the troops stationed in Ethiopia to join the attack and attack Egypt from the east and west, striving to take Egypt into his hands as soon as possible. It was only because the Ethiopian garrison said they were not ready that they gave up.
At noon on September 23, the Italian Army arrived at the village of Sidi Barani, fifty miles east of the border. A platoon of Italian soldiers was stationed lazily. In their view, the British had already gone to nowhere. Now, I should give my body a rest after a tiring day.
Just when they relaxed their vigilance, a British team suddenly rushed out of the house in the village. After a while of ping -pong ping -pong, the Italian soldiers paid the price for their own light rivals. However, although casualties were increasing every moment, in the first few days, the Italian Army's offensive was indeed very smooth.
The Italian Army, which had an absolute superiority in numbers, was constantly being attacked by small groups of British soldiers, but it was still advancing to the designated location. Compared with the total number of Italian Army soldiers, those casualties could not stop the Italians. footsteps.
Both the Italian Army and the British garrison felt that the other side had fallen into their own trap. General Wavell believed that the Italian army had penetrated deep into Egyptian territory, and the cooperation between the various units had begun to lose touch. It was a good opportunity to counterattack. As for Italy, The combat effectiveness of the army has been best explained in the Battle of France, that is, the combat effectiveness is equal to zero. General Berti fully believed that the dominant Italian army would eventually annihilate the British power in Africa. Although he would not be able to win as spectacularly as the German army, the final victory must belong to the Italian army.
It is not General Wavell's style to always be passively defensive, and if he does so, the Italian Army, which has a numerical advantage, can only gradually reduce the scope of action of the British garrison. Therefore, General Wavell has been thinking about how to counterattack the Italian army, instead of defense.
Now General Wavell has set his sights on a city controlled by the Italian army, which is the important Libyan town of Benghazi. When the Italian army attacked, although General Wavell had been ordering his troops to retreat, in the north near Benghazi But it is an exception.
Benghazi is very important to Italy. It has a Mediterranean climate, with an average temperature of 22-29°C from July to August; mild winters, with an average temperature of 10-17°C from January to February. Benghazi is a port city on the coast of the Gulf of Sidra in the north. Villa's second city.
Benghazi's industry, as well as tanning, brewing and fishing, is second to none in Libya, and its strategic position is also very important. Controlling it will make the Italian army in Libya lose support from Italy, although the British army is now limited by its strength. , unable to hold on there, but as long as the Benghazi port is completely destroyed, the Italian army's offensive here will undoubtedly be brought to a standstill and relieve its current pressure.
Moreover, the Italian army, which is in an advantageous position, must not have thought of their own thoughts. They would not have thought that the British, who have been suppressed, would take the risk of attacking Benghazi, which is now heavily defended by Italy.
This battle was very important, so General Wavell secretly began to mobilize troops to strengthen the British army facing Benghazi. The main offensive force arranged was the famous British 7th Armored Division under Major General Clay. In the south, however, a large area close to the border was given up to allow the Italian army to attack. In this way, if Benghazi was attacked, at least Italy's attack from the south would not cause trouble to the British army.