When Wolf Fairclough heard that Fang Lang wanted to combine the advantages of the United States and Germany to develop this new tank, his eyes couldn't help but shine even brighter.
But when he heard that most people in the Brazilian Army were unwilling to support domestic research and development and only wanted to purchase ready-made equipment from the United States and the Soviet Union, he could only sigh helplessly.
This situation is not just something Fang Lang said casually. This kind of argument does exist in the current Brazilian Army, and a large number of soldiers believe that Soviet tanks are better than American tanks.
Not satisfied with the American Sherman tanks currently equipped by the two armored divisions, the army has submitted applications many times to purchase T54 tanks that were just put into service in 1947.
Unfortunately, the Soviet Union at that time was not the impoverished country that it became later, so poor that it had to sell everything. Instead, it was a truly world-class country. Naturally, it was dissatisfied with Brazil, the younger brother of the United States that had severed diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. How could it be willing to sell its new tanks to Brazil?
Finally, Brazil had no choice but to apply to the Ministry of Defense to purchase the US military's Pershing tanks. However, in the eyes of the United States, Brazil is just a little brother and is far from being able to equip you with Pershing tanks.
So, in the end, the Army Department had no choice but to return home in disappointment and continue to use the current Sherman tanks.
But even so, while the Air Force and Navy were promoting the localization of equipment, none of the colleagues in the Army were willing to apply to the Ministry of National Defense to develop their own domestic equipment.
If it weren't for the Defense Minister Marshal Moraes and the Logistics Minister General Leta who were pushing for Fangyuan Arms Group's domestic artillery equipment, it is estimated that a number of army officers would not be willing to be equipped with Fangyuan Group's domestic artillery.
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But as an army officer, Wolfe Fairclough actually understood the performance of Fangyuan Group's domestically produced artillery. Because of the use of barrel self-tightening, electroslag remelting technology and barrel chrome plating technology, the performance of Fangyuan Group's domestically produced artillery has long surpassed the artillery that the US military is willing to sell to Brazil.
As for the reason behind this, whether it is related to the fact that Fangyuan Group is the property of the family of naval general Fang Lang, no one dares to say.
As far as Wolf Fairclaw knew, ever since Fang Lang led the Marines to swiftly eliminate the Eddie brothers' anti-government armed forces that had humiliated the Army, the Army seemed to have suddenly begun to have an inexplicable hostility towards the Fang Yuan Group.
Only after he understood these circumstances did Wolfe Fairclough understand what Fang Lang said. He looked at Fang Lang with a deep gaze and said slowly:
"However, given the xenophobic nature of the Army, it is not easy for you to gain control of the Army. With my status and influence, it is almost impossible to change this situation in the Army."
After saying this, the excitement and anticipation that had just been in my heart involuntarily became a dull feeling.
Seeing this, Fang Lang smiled slightly, patted his shoulder and said:
"Don't worry! If the two of us can't change this situation, we can find more friends! When we have enough partners in the army, it will be time for us to completely change the army."
Hearing this, Wolfe Fairclough pondered for a while before saying in a disappointed tone:
"Then the development of this tank will continue to be postponed?"
"Haha...don't worry! Although I can't influence the Army Department yet and ask them to take the initiative to develop new tanks. But it doesn't mean that I can't influence the Ministry of National Defense from the top and ask them to take the initiative to propose a plan to research domestic tanks.
By then, once the Ministry of National Defense agrees, it will be useless for the Army Department to object. If they don't like the new tank after it's developed, can't they just equip it to you directly?"
Fang Lang is certainly not a man who would sit and wait for death. When the way from the bottom to the top is blocked, won’t he open up the upper channels and go from the top to the bottom?
"Really? Haha...that's great."
Seeing Wolf Fairclough's childlike behavior, Fang Lang couldn't help but smile. He began to seriously think about how to push the Ministry of Defense to agree to his self-developed tank plan.
In fact, this is not a difficult thing for him. The real power of the Ministry of National Defense is in the hands of General Crook. Regardless of whether the officers in the Army Department are willing or not, if the Ministry of National Defense makes a decision to allocate part of the Army's military funds to develop such a domestic tank, their Army will have no legitimate reason to refuse.
If it really doesn't work, he can also propose it in the name of the navy. However, what their navy needs is not the current main battle tank that resembles the Leopard 1. They can only design and develop an excellent amphibious vehicle. However, this can also be regarded as an exploration of the development of the Tiger 1 tank. It will be much easier to develop the Tiger 1 at that time.
"Don't worry! I will not only push the Ministry of National Defense to launch a self-developed tank research and development plan, but also look for more knowledgeable people like you in the Army. When more people realize that only self-developed tanks are the right path and are willing to work with us to change the current situation of the Army, it will not be long before we have the right to speak in the Army."
Hearing this, Wolfe Fairclough seemed to have thought of something, and looked up at Fang Lang thoughtfully and said:
“I do know quite a few outstanding officers who, like me, have been wasting their time in the army because of their lack of background. However, there are some people whose abilities I have only heard of but have never really met.
If General Fang thinks it is useful, I can provide you with a list and you can go and inspect it in person."
He was very tactful and did not propose to directly recommend a few officers to Fang Lang, because he had just joined Fang Lang's camp. If he directly recommended people he was familiar with to Fang Lang at this time, it might cause Fang Lang to misunderstand.
"Really? That's great. I believe that those who can be recommended by Wolfe must be outstanding talents in the army. If they can all join us, our team will be even stronger.
The time is getting closer for us to gain control of the army."
Fang Lang knows that only people with similar interests can often play together. The circle formed by these people may not have a great influence, but the people within it have more or less something in common.
And Wolfe Fairclough's recommendation to him just saved him the time of searching slowly. As for whether these people would form their own small circle with Wolfe Fairclough, Fang Lang didn't care.
After all, there are no factions within the party, and there are all kinds of things!
Of course, Fang Lang did not tell Wolf Fairclough that he was infiltrating the army's grassroots through the group of military academy students. By then, the army from top to bottom would be his people.
With Wolfe's recommendation, Fang Lang naturally would not let it go, and immediately began to arrange for the Intelligence Bureau to conduct a detailed investigation of these people. After the specific investigation results were sent to Fang Lang, Fang Lang directly arranged for people to send invitations to these people individually.
In just one month, Fang Lang had won over more than 20 middle-level officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army, as well as two major generals. He could be considered to have initially gained influence in the army.
Time passed unknowingly, and these officers who joined Fang Lang's camp began to spread the news in the army, intentionally or unintentionally, that the Ministry of National Defense intended to promote the research and development of domestic tanks. Even the navy had submitted a new domestic amphibious tank research plan.
For a time, the army began to have a heated discussion on the respective advantages of Soviet, American, and domestic tanks. During the discussion, the army unconsciously began to split into three factions.
Then, as the Ministry of National Defense officially approved the independent research and development plan of the Navy's amphibious tanks and armored vehicles, especially when the design data of domestic tanks leaked out, more and more people in the army began to spontaneously support domestic tanks.
At this time, the top leaders of the Ministry of National Defense also noticed this situation, so the Chief of General Staff General Leta met with several key leaders of the Army Department and conveyed to them that the Ministry of National Defense was going to allocate part of the Army's military budget to entrust Fangyuan Group to carry out the research and development plan of an independent tank.
After feeling the dual pressure from the Ministry of National Defense and the Army, the Army officers who supported Soviet and American tanks had to wisely choose to give in. It was decided that the Army Department would take the initiative to submit an independent tank development plan to the Ministry of National Defense.
When the research and development information of the Tiger 1 tank that Fang Lang showed to Wolf and others appeared on the desks of everyone in the Army Department, it shocked these old-fashioned guys who looked down on the Fangyuan Group.
Naturally, everyone no longer had any objections to the research and development plan of the self-developed tank. This was undoubtedly great news for the officers in the army who had joined Fang Lang's camp and were the first to promote the development of the army's self-developed tanks.
It was equivalent to that these weak groups within the army defeated the big military leaders who had always held the dominant power in the army, which greatly boosted their self-confidence.
At the same time, they secretly rejoiced at their decision to join Fang Lang's camp, which made them more determined to believe that joining Fang Lang's camp was a way to completely change the current situation of the army.
This allowed Fang Lang's influence in the Army Department to begin to expand quietly.
Time passed unknowingly and it was the end of July 1954. The Korean War, which lasted for more than three years, finally came to an end, with the two sides signing a ceasefire agreement again.
Fang Lang, who was far away in Brazil, breathed a sigh of relief when he received the news. The outcome of this war was something that none of the Brazilian soldiers and civilians had expected. In their impression, the most powerful American army in the world was actually beaten to the negotiating table.
All of a sudden, everyone's perception of the Chinese began to change dramatically. And Fang Lang would definitely not miss this opportunity to enhance the national pride and identity of the Chinese in Brazil.
Soon, various Chinese organizations began to organize celebrations for the Chinese in Brazil. At first, there were only some small-scale Chinese gatherings, but later, as more and more Chinese joined in, they gradually turned into rallies and parades.
With the organization of Chinese groups, the rally and parade were well-ordered. In addition to the people celebrating wildly, there were also a large number of service personnel who provided food and logistical support to the crowds.
This made the Brazilian people who loved to join in the fun excitedly join in, and for a while the scale of the entire rally and parade began to expand continuously, and it felt like it was even bigger than the carnival.
Fang Lang was of course happy to see this happen. Originally, the Brazilian government wanted to restrict the scale of rallies and marches, but was stopped by the President.
In this way, Brazil, thousands of miles away, actually broke out the celebration of the victory of the Peninsula War second only to that in his hometown. This made the American ambassador to Brazil feel panicked, and he immediately reported the situation in Brazil to the United States.
Many American politicians were naturally embarrassed to see a parade celebrating their defeat in their own little brother's country, and they began to secretly be wary of Chinese groups in Brazil. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs even directly notified the Brazilian government, demanding restrictions on such anti-American parades.
But this time, President Scalia was surprisingly rational and gave a very clear reply to the U.S. government: "This rally and parade is a normal parade and celebration activity that has been registered with the government. The Brazilian government has no right to prevent such activities because it is the people's freedom of parade."
Originally, this matter was just a simple diplomatic communication, and President Scalia did not take it too seriously.
But the next day, the Brazilian Times reported the incident in detail, emphasizing the praise of President Scalia's dignified and selfless attitude and his glorious image of safeguarding the freedoms and rights of the Brazilian people.
But what happened next developed in a direction that people could not predict. First, an unknown tabloid in Brazil took a different approach and said that the US government's call to the Brazilian government was an act of serious interference in Brazil's internal affairs.
They think that Americans advocate freedom but want to restrict the Brazilian people's freedom of demonstration. This is a typical case of saying one thing and doing another, and then they start to criticize the US government.
After this report appeared, it unexpectedly resonated with many Brazilian people. Many people stood up to accuse the US government and support President Scalia's well-reasoned response.
In the following days, major newspapers and radio stations in Brazil launched heated discussions on the incident. As the discussion continued to deepen, more and more people stood up and published editorials in major newspapers, criticizing the actions of the US government.
At the same time, many people stood up and made clear their views, believing that the Brazilian government should not always follow the US government and even wrongly and arbitrarily cut off diplomatic relations with another powerful country in the world, the Soviet Union, causing the Brazilian government to lose its national independence in the international arena.
The raising of this topic immediately triggered reflection among many Brazilians, and everyone put forward their own opinions.
In fact, Fang Lang knew exactly what had happened. The Soviets were behind that tabloid that accused the United States. If Fang Lang wanted to stop it, the news would never have been published.
But he obviously would not do that. On the contrary, he instructed his intelligence agents to remain on the sidelines and not get involved, but to take the opportunity to observe which people in Brazil were pro-Soviet and which were pro-American.
As for the subsequent propaganda war between the United States and the Soviet Union in Brazil, Fang Lang just watched from the sidelines and waited for the situation to develop.
It has to be said that this time the Soviets did find a very good entry point. They used the topic of Americans interfering in Brazil's internal affairs to provoke many Brazilians to think about their country's independence and autonomy.
The final result of this propaganda war was that the Brazilian government took the initiative to resume diplomatic contacts with the Soviet Union.
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