Chapter 1923 The Situation Is Stronger than People II
This is not an exaggeration. In 1917 in history, the French army mobilized 4 million people, of which 2.8 million were in the front-line army. Be considered a soldier. And the number of people engaged in industrial production is as high as 4.3 million, of which 57% of the industry serves the army! If the total amount of conscription is counted, then the French actually conscripted 7.9 million troops in World War I! The proportion is as high as 19.9%.
"And your country has produced artillery, tanks, and machine guns that are not much better than the original German army on the Western Front with a military industry that is not much better than Austria-Hungary. With your country's industrial level, your country's performance in military production is a miracle And on the battlefield, your country caused at least millions of casualties to us. And according to the average exchange ratio, your country has at least more than 3 million casualties, right? This war is so tragic, say It is not an exaggeration to kill a generation, right?" Wang Zi changed the subject.
"Too vicious!" Hearing this, General Xia Fei, who thought he had dealt with it well, felt a little bit in his heart. This seems to be praising the fighting power of the French army. In fact, it is reminding the French that your national strength has been squeezed to the limit. You are using the future to continue the current war, especially the last sentence, this war A generation of Frenchmen has been wiped out! What an apt metaphor this is!
"By the way, there are people here who think they are from the French government. I think you should have studied the economic consumption of this war. Let me talk about the Germans first. Every day the war lasts, the empire consumes 120 million marks (Historically, Germany spent 100 million marks on military expenditure during World War I, excluding related industrial expansion or other inputs.) France’s pressure is slightly less than ours, but it is estimated that there are hundreds of millions of marks, right? Of course, Your country is a famous usury country, and you are a creditor country in the world, so you can provide more financial funds, but our Germany is not bad. Up to now, the United States alone has provided us with 5 billion US dollars. Money, goods and loans. (A dollar was about 5 marks at the time)”
"I think, every day now, the French government is thinking about where to raise more funds to continue this war that is destroying France?" Ruprecht said with a smile.
The cost of war is staggering! From World War I to 1918, Germany needed to consume about 73 million rubles every day, which was about 5.4 million pounds if converted into pounds, and 108 million if converted into marks! And what about the French? It is also unambiguous, and it consumes nearly 90 million marks a day! As for this plane, because the equipment is better and the war is more intense, the consumption of all countries has increased! But obviously, the situation in Germany is much better now, because of the support of the Americans, 5 billion US dollars is equal to nearly 26 billion marks. This fund has greatly relieved the pressure on the Germans! And in this plane, the Americans will not give loans to the Allies, so between this increase and decrease, the economic situation has directly reversed!
"In addition, I got a piece of information about the French industry before. The steel production in your country is probably only about 50% of that before the war, right? (Historically, in 1918, France's steel production was only . 84.2%!) And there is also a huge gap in your country’s fuel supply. Before the war, your country’s grain production including lignite was only 41 million tons, and the annual import of coal alone was as high as 25 million tons! Now, your country uses The amount of coal and iron resources far below the empire and the United Kingdom to support such a brutal war, I personally feel that it is really hard to understand, to some extent, such a war is equivalent to suicide!"
Later generations of Charles de Gaulle once said that coal was needed for fighting in World War I, and oil was needed for fighting in World War II. However, France lacked these two vital things in both World War I and World War II! Do you really think this sentence is a joke? To know,
Historically, coal mining in the UK during the same period was as high as 292 million tons, a little higher than the 277 million tons of the Germans, while France only had 41 million tons including lignite. During the war, it needed to import 50 million tons of coal every year to ensure consumption. Do you really think that the 50 million tons of coal were given for nothing? !
Therefore, at this time, after Ruprecht said these things, neither Joffre nor Clemenceau could sit still. Clemenceau is not yet the prime minister, so he is not clear about the military's losses and the pressure on France, but what about Joffre? It is relatively clear about the military's losses, but it is a smear on the economy! Therefore, when Ruprecht told them about the situation that was originally kept secret from them, the two were surprised but also deeply panicked.
As for, did Joffre and Clemenceau believe what the prince said? At least Xia Fei believed most of them. After all, as the commander of the French army at the beginning, his combat career almost ran through the entire World War I, and he knew the army well. Prince's data is closer to his estimate. And after the prince's military data has been approved by Xiafei, the economic data is also very close, and it doesn't matter even if it is a little bit close. The Clemenceau next to him is not ignorant. Then you can draw the same conclusion as the prince!
This is also a way of exerting pressure. Playing war games at the negotiating table and predicting the future cannot win the approval of the other party at all. Because it's all guesswork. But with the current data, you can gain the resonance of the other party. What the prince means is that no matter what the situation in the future battlefield is, anyway, now, every moment, every minute, the French government will sacrifice hundreds of statements. During the time everyone chatted just now, in less than an hour, the French government has already paid 400,000 francs for the war! Are you shocked? Is it scary?
During the negotiations, the prince repeatedly emphasized the population gap between the two sides. Germany has more than 74 million people, while France has only 40 million people, and the loss of French personnel on the battlefield is much higher than that of Germany. And steel production, coal, economic pressures. This is tantamount to explaining from another aspect that Germany can afford it, and so can the British! But the French can't afford it!
The prince doesn't need the Frenchman on the opposite side to admit this personally, and in fact the other party can't say that he can't afford it. However, as long as they deeply agree with the prince's point of view, that's fine. In this way, Ruprecht established a huge psychological advantage in the early days of contact.
"Everyone is willing to engage in peaceful contact between the two countries, and I am willing to accept it. Do you know what this means?" Ruprecht leaned forward slightly, forming a sense of oppression.
"Is it because your country can't afford it? Want to end this war that has plunged the two countries into a quagmire?" Clemenceau paid great attention to his words. Appropriate toughness should not make the opponent too disgusted.
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