Chapter 658： Visit (final)

At the Coanda Aircraft Factory outside Bucharest, a group of military officers are visiting the aircraft produced by the factory. One of them, wearing a yellow-skinned military uniform completely different from that of the Romanian Air Force, became the focus of this conversation.

"High, this is our current Albatross fighter jet. The aircraft adopts a single-wing structure, with a total length of 7.53 meters, a wingspan of 11.31 meters, a height of 3.10 meters, a total weight of 1,317 kg, and a maximum take-off weight of 1942 kg. It is equipped with air-cooled 10-cylinders. The star-shaped piston engine has a maximum output of 840 horsepower, a maximum speed of 440 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 950 kilometers, and a limit increase of 11,200 meters. It is completely suitable for your country and is compared with the current equipment in your country. The Hawke III fighters simply cannot be compared."

Gao Zhihang listened to his ear chattering to introduce himself to the performance of the Romanian Air Force officer, watching the albatross parked at the test flight field, his heart was hot.

"Can I drive it myself?"

As an ace pilot, there is no one who knows its performance better than driving himself.

And for Gao Zhihang's request. The officer clearly understood the mood of a pilot, so he asked without hesitation. "Gao, can you operate this aircraft?"

"I can't learn, and I believe this aircraft will not be too cumbersome to operate. As long as it is an aircraft, I can fly it."

This is also Gao Zhihang's self-confidence as a pilot.

In fact, the current piston aircraft operation is not very complicated. As long as you can drive a fighter, you can learn the operation of other aircraft quite quickly. Of course, this is only limited to flying. If you want to make various extreme operations, you must be more familiar with this aircraft.

Of course, after the advent of the jet, the pilot's operational requirements will be further strengthened. Otherwise, how to train tens of thousands of pilots in various countries, they can fly for dozens or hundreds of hours before they can leave the training.

Seeing Gao Zhihang's resolute attitude, the Air Force officer made a compromise. "All right, Gao. I'll let someone teach you to avoid possible accidents."

After getting permission, Gao Zhihang boarded the plane. In an accompanying pilot's explanation, he had great confidence in operating the albatross. Because there is not much difference from the Hawker III fighter that I piloted.

After starting the plane, Gao Zhihang clearly felt its surging power. Compared with the most advanced Hawker III in the Republic of China, its power is stronger.

After slowly releasing the handbrake, the plane began to accelerate. After taxiing for a while, Gao Zhihang felt that the speed was enough. With a sudden pull, the plane immediately left the ground. Compared to the Hawker III takeoff distance, the albatross is much shorter. He is here to evaluate his driving the albatross.

Then the next step is to test the performance of the aircraft. After Gao Zhihang hovered left and right, he pulled it sharply, and the albatross immediately began to climb rapidly. Compared to the Hawker III, it climbs faster, and he commented on it. When it climbed to an altitude of 7,000 meters, the nose went down and began to dive.

Then Gao Zhihang performed a series of operations to fully show the performance of this albatross. When Gao Zhihang drove the albatross to perform various extreme operations, the officers below all showed stunned expressions.

"Are you sure this Gao has touched this plane for the first time?"

"I'm a little skeptical about what you said. Does this Gao have served in the Romanian Air Force."

Gao Zhihang, who was completely unaware that his operation had stunned the Romanian officer, praised the performance of this albatross. "It's a good plane, it's really good."

And just here is a high-speed plane flying in the sky in the distance, but it caught his attention. The reason is very simple, this plane that I have never seen is too fast. He bet that the speed of this plane is definitely 600 kilometers per hour, which is as fast as lightning.

"What kind of plane is this?"

At this time, Gao Zhihang immediately focused his attention on the newly emerged aircraft. "I heard that a lightning-fast aircraft appeared in the Spanish War. I don't know if it has something to do with this."

But the plane only flew from a distance, and Gao Zhihang had no chance of catching up to ask.

When the next test was over, he was immediately surrounded by a group of officers as soon as he got off the plane.

"High, you flew the albatross before."

"High, this can't be the first time you fly."

"High..."

In the face of the officers who surrounded him, Gao Zhihang had no choice but to tell the truth. "This is really my first time flying, but the Hawker III I flew before is similar in operation to an albatross, so I can fly so proficiently."

After hearing Gao Zhihang's explanation, the officers gathered up and did not continue to ask. In fact, the Hawker III operation is very different from the Albatross, but because this aircraft is purchased in few countries, they are confused.

And right here, Gao Zhihang said the doubts he encountered in the sky. "I saw an aircraft that I had never seen before, and its speed could reach 600 kilometers per hour. Do you know what's going on?"

His question immediately silenced the scene, and at this time a famous military officer said. "That is the demonstrator we are testing, and it only has the advantage of flying faster."

And this officer's words immediately drew other officers' approval. "Yes, yes, this is a verification machine, it's no big deal."

Gao Zhihang stopped asking about the explanations of the officers, because he thought it was for nothing. If they wanted to inform him, they would have said it a long time ago.

And he suppressed his doubts and continued to discuss the purchase of the Albatross fighter. He still approves of the main combat effectiveness of this Romanian equipment. But then Minister Kong needs to negotiate with Romania on the issue of borrowing. Otherwise, the fighter he valued would have no money to buy.

While the regiment officers were procuring ordnance, talks about the loan were ongoing in Bucharest.

"Mr. Special Envoy, you know what your country intends to use as collateral for this loan."

As the prime minister, Mihalaki took the lead to ask. He couldn't help but not open his mouth, because the loan amount requested by the Nanjing government this time was a bit high, which made him, the prime minister who worked hard for Romania, feel angry. His loan request of up to 280 million lei does not have enough collateral to make the Prime Minister feel dissatisfied.

Regarding the dissatisfaction expressed by Prime Minister Mihalaki, a hint of helplessness flashed across the faces of both Kong Xiangxi and Weng Wenhao. Because there are too many things that need to be purchased in Romania this time, if the loan is not used, then the Nanjing government will not be able to buy it at all. As for the issue of insufficient collateral, it is also because the raw materials needed by Romania have long been mortgaged by the Republic of China in exchange for weapons and equipment.

However, in the face of Prime Minister Mihalaki’s question, Kong Xiangxi as the special envoy spoke. "Your Prime Minister, this time the loan is indeed a lot more than in the past. Regarding the problem of insufficient collateral. In fact, this is a good solution. As long as my country increases its export efforts, it will be able to repay the loan in time. Moreover, it is the first time that my country borrowed money. Already almost completed, the collateral of the loan can be transferred to the name of the loan after the payment is completed."

Kong Xiangxi's words caused a discussion on the Romanian side, because this mode is absolutely no problem in terms of operation. However, considering the current situation in the Far East, many people feel a little worried.

In fact, Romania has also made an assessment of the current tension between China and Japan. Regarding the destined war between China and Japan in the future, this is the consensus view of everyone. However, there are differences in the timing of the outbreak.

Optimistic people believe that the war between the two countries should break out in 39 years, not more than 40 years. And pessimists believe that war between the two countries may break out at any time. Especially this year, Japan's continuous actions in China have made many people feel that the war will begin in the next two years.

Romania’s prediction of the outbreak of a war between China and Japan is also closely related to Romania’s current loans to China. Because if a war comes, then the export of its raw materials will cause heavy losses, and its ability to repay the loan is questionable.

After all, Romania’s money is not windy, and risks need to be controlled.

Therefore, it is impossible for Prime Minister Mihalaki to agree to Kong Xiangxi's words. "Mr. Special Envoy, even if this is the case, the amount of this loan is too large. This is too risky for our country."

"We cannot deny the risks mentioned by your Prime Minister. But you must also see that our loans are used to purchase products from your country. This can help your country expand its sales channels and get rid of the current economic difficulties. In terms of our country’s ability to repay, I believe your country has been very clear about its previous cooperation."

Kong Xiangxi has been talking about the Nanjing government’s repayment credit from economic issues. There is only one meaning. You have to believe in the integrity and repayment ability of the Nanjing government.

The Prime Minister still hesitated for this, but after many discussions, with the vigorous promotion of someone (someone), the negotiation between Romania and Nanjing was finally settled. This time Romania will provide a loan of 250 million lei, which the Nanjing government can use to purchase various Romanian products and then return it with the raw materials produced, such as tungsten sand and antimony sand. The annual interest of the loan is 5%, the unused amount does not pay interest, and the returned amount does not pay interest.

After signing the loan terms, the delegation immediately purchased a large amount of weapons and equipment. Including 180 albatross fighters, 122 Jackal IV tanks, 84 wheeled armored vehicles, 118,000 rifles, and 150 million issued machine gun bullets. 248 75mm mountain field guns, 38 105 howitzers, 8 150 cannons, 10,000 tons of various artillery shells. There are also a large number of weapons such as anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, and 37 mm anti-tank guns. In addition, there are a series of materials such as helmets, raincoats, rain boots, medicines, field telephones, radio stations, and vehicles.

It took more than 20 ships to transport these supplies to Romania. Of course, many weapons were replaced by the Romanian military. The military that is in the process of changing up is very happy that someone bought it, which means they can use the new equipment again. It is also because of the existence of these second-hand equipment that it can purchase so many military materials.

And these weapons and materials helped it to fight after the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, so that the Japanese government specifically protested for this. Protest that Romania violated the clause that countries are not allowed to provide large-caliber artillery to the Republic of China, so that it suffered a great loss.