Economic construction of German military advisers

Chiang Kai-shek hired German military advisers not only to cultivate a modern anti-Japanese national defense force, but also to rely on German talents and technology to establish a complete military industrial system and use the development of military industry to drive the whole economy to take off. In order to meet Chiang Kai-shek's needs, promote German arms and production equipment, and facilitate German monopoly capital to occupy the China market and plunder strategic raw materials, German military advisers, as a link between China and Germany, actively participated in China's economic construction. At that time, a French newspaper commented: "Their appearance in China was not only influenced by China's military organization and system, but also made its industrial development follow German guidance." The activities of German military advisers in China's economic field mainly include two aspects, one is military construction, and the other is Sino-German arms trade.

First of all, German military advisers provided a lot of suggestions on infrastructure construction in China, such as military industry and transportation, and participated in the formulation and implementation of relevant plans. Bauer once pointed out to Chiang Kai-shek: "China must first have complete arms industry, transportation, telecommunications, postal services, and even municipal and health facilities. No party, the national army that wants to build a modern country will be hindered by it. Therefore, it is suggested that "China must start from economic construction, whether it is willing or not, it should start from a distance and start from a nearby place! "In the" Proposal for Army Reform ",Sechett emphasized that China's arms industry cannot rely on foreign imports for a long time, and must establish enough arsenals with the assistance of European arms companies to maintain self-sufficiency in weapons and ammunition. Sechet warned Chiang Kai-shek that "it is imperative to establish China's own armed industry. "After his succession, Falkenhausen followed the principles formulated by Setcher and urged the National Government to develop a self-sufficient arms industry. Chiang Kai-shek greatly appreciated the suggestions of German military advisers and instructed them to assist China in developing modern industry. Bauer was ordered by Chiang Kai-shek to draw up a series of plans for the reconstruction of China, such as the development of German railways, financial and aviation systems, port construction, etc., and personally planned to build a factory near Shanghai to produce nitroglycerin and explosives. After taking over, Klebel "continued to complete his work, helped to participate in the construction of China, and promoted the friendly political and economic relations between China and Germany". When Sechet was the general consultant, he worked out a plan to develop the arms industry together with Yu Dawei, director of the Ordnance Department, and Weng, secretary general of the National Defense Design Committee, and listed in detail the monthly output of various arms needed by the 6 th and 12 and 18 divisions, as well as the timetable for establishing several arsenals, a steel plant, a machine factory and an automobile factory. During the Falkenhausen period, the Sino-Japanese war was on the verge. In order to achieve self-sufficiency in weapons production in a short time, Chinese and German military experts made a five-year weapons development plan in 1935. Accordingly, the Nanjing government imported a large number of arms production equipment from Germany, and German consultants were responsible for technical guidance. German weapons and equipment, such as Maxim machine guns, 82 mortars and Mao Se rifles, were all produced and developed in Nanjing, Gongxian and Hanyang Arsenal. The quality of these weapons is very good, and some of them have caught up with the level of similar products in the west, and partially meet the needs of combat readiness. 1936, German military advisers helped the National Government to draw up an ambitious "China Industrial Plan". The main goal of this plan is to establish new economic centers in Central and South China in a short time, so as to resist Japanese aggression and lay the foundation for China's future industrial development. The actual implementation of the plan was suspended due to the full-scale outbreak in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Although the implementation of the above plan failed to achieve the expected goal of modernization of national defense industry due to the interference of war, China's national defense industry has been improved to some extent under the guidance of German military consultants and the assistance of German technology. According to statistics, in 1935, half of the ammunition used by Kuomintang rifles needed to be imported, but by the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the production of light weapons and ammunition was basically self-sufficient, which was related to the assistance of the German military advisory group.

Secondly, German military advisers played an intermediary role in Sino-German arms trade. It is an important task for German military advisers to help German arms dealers sell arms. In their suggestions to Chiang Kai-shek, most of them mentioned that the army should increase new equipment and ammunition to improve its combat effectiveness. Vaizer pointed out, "The victory or defeat of the new war lies not in the number of troops, but in the well-trained troops making good use of new weapons." This just adapted to Chiang Kai-shek's requirement of strengthening his strength with the help of advanced German weapons and equipment. As a result, the Sino-German arms trade developed rapidly with the help of German military advisers, and German arms flooded the China market. On April 26th alone, 1934, Kong Xiangxi purchased 100000 rounds of 79 rifle bullets, 5,000 light machine guns, 5,000 short guns (with 5 million rounds of ammunition), 65,438,000,000 79 rifles, 32 cannons and 24 tanks (. Shortly after Sechet came to power, Chiang Kai-shek accepted his suggestion and decided to buy only German weapons. Sechet and Yu Dayou decided the types and quantities of weapons. 1On August 23rd, 934, the Sino-German Barter Agreement brokered by Secher pushed the Sino-German arms trade to a climax. The purpose of this agreement is to exchange China's raw materials and agricultural products for German industrial products. The conclusion of the agreement was not only due to the economic complementarity between the two sides, but also because Germany was extremely short of foreign exchange at that time and needed to buy a lot of raw materials from abroad to reorganize its armaments. The only remedy is to find someone who is willing to barter. The situation of China National Government is similar. At that time, China was in urgent need of funds and equipment for industrial and military development, and was rich in agricultural and mineral products. "We need a country that has no territorial ambitions for China, but can meet its needs anywhere, and it is also friendly and interdependent. As a result, the two sides hit it off and signed the Sino-German Barter Agreement. Chiang Kai-shek's government has high expectations for this, thinking that "the success of Sino-German cooperation will not only help our national defense greatly, but also make our national rejuvenation even greater in the future. "

On the eve and early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Sino-German trade increased sharply through the Sino-German Barter Agreement. From 1933 to 1937, China's import and export trade with Germany showed an increasing trend. (Germany ranks fourth in China's export trade, and has surpassed Britain in import trade, ranking third with 1936. In the same period, Germany's import and export trade with China is also in a state of sustained growth. Among the goods exported to China, mainly arms. As of June 1937 and 10, Germany has supplied 50 million marks of weapons to China according to the contract. According to the statistics of scholars in Taiwan Province Province, 80% of China's foreign arms and weapons imports came from Germany before the Anti-Japanese War. China has also become a major country for German arms exports. Ke Linwei, an American scholar, pointed out in the article "Chiang Kai-shek's Government and Nazi Germany" that the value of German military exports to China in 1935 accounted for 8. 1% of the total value of German arms exports in that year, increased to 28.8% in 1936 and reached 37% in 1937. China has jumped from the second place to the first place as a German arms exporter. German arms exports to China not only increased dramatically, but also varied, including chariots, 8.8cm and10.5cm heavy guns, anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, machine guns, helmets, mobile communication equipment, torpedoes and speedboats. As a result, the entire division of the China Army used a full set of German equipment. "Near Nanjing, you can see German-made 8.8 cm caliber anti-aircraft guns operated by China soldiers wearing German helmets. German weapons such as 7.5 cm guns, Krupp guns and Mercedes-Benz man tractors made in Germany marched on the streets of Nanjing. "

German military advisers participated in China's economic construction and promoted Sino-German arms trade, of course, not to truly realize China's modernization, but to help China completely defeat the Japanese allies in the Far East. Their purpose in China's economic field remains unchanged: to occupy the China market and seize strategic materials, and the purpose is obvious. In terms of seizing China's strategic materials, thanks to the efforts of the general consultants, Germany signed one barter trade agreement after another with Chiang Kai-shek's government through the "Hebulou" company, and was able to exchange arms for China's precious tungsten sand. The amount of tungsten ore exported from China to Germany is increasing day by day. However, the motivation of German military advisers to participate in China's economic activities is not equal to the role played by their activities. Their work did lay a partial foundation for the industrial development of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in China and China in the future, but their activities in the economic field also played a negative role.

German military advisers not only helped the national government to strengthen national defense, but also helped Chiang Kai-shek to launch a civil war and establish a dictatorship. 1930 in the Central Plains War, Chiang Kai-shek won more with fewer, which was the result of the participation of instructors who used German automatic weapons and equipment. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek not only cooperated with artillery, but also introduced German reconnaissance planes and set up aviation reconnaissance teams to monitor the enemy's situation. In the Red Army's "encirclement and suppression" campaign, Chiang Kai-shek was even more eager to use advanced German weapons. Falkenhausen telephoned the German Foreign Ministry to report the political situation in China, saying that "Jiangxi's campaign to suppress * * * is over" because of the "all-round attack" of modern weapons such as mortars and bombers.