The sky in Berlin in late autumn was gray, and this city, once the capital of a powerful European country, seemed to have lost its vitality. There were far fewer pedestrians on the street than before the war, and there were no smiles on the faces of these few pedestrians. Public hygiene management had also lost its vitality; garbage and dead leaves were all over the street. Instead, there were beggars rummaging slowly through the garbage, trying to find things that could continue to be used.

A car stopped in front of a very unremarkable small building, and several men got out of the car. Their Asian appearance was very rare on the streets of Berlin. Moreover, these people were wearing woolen trench coats with quite smooth fabric. These two things were rare elements in Berlin. As if knowing that they were easy to attract attention, several people walked quickly into the small building.

This small building didn't look like much from the outside, but once inside, it felt very different. The internal entrance was strictly guarded by soldiers wearing the military uniforms of the German Second Reich. Going further inside, one would encounter more German soldiers. The rank insignia on their shoulders proved their identity. Apart from those lieutenants who obviously belonged to doing odd jobs, the others were at least major-level soldiers. As for senior officers wearing general-level rank insignia, there were also quite a few.

The Chinese people not in military attire attracted everyone's attention in this small building, but from the expressions of these German soldiers, it was not difficult to find that this was definitely not the first time these Chinese had come here.

With a lieutenant leading the way in front, the Chinese arrived at a very small room. Judging from the arrangement of tables and chairs, this was used as a meeting room. Not long after the Chinese entered the room, a lieutenant general walked into the meeting room with a gentle and refined young captain. After shaking hands and sitting down, the talk began immediately.

This unremarkable small building was a committee of the German rearmament military commission. The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany could only retain an army of 100,000 people. The vast majority of German soldiers must retire. Choosing who to stay in Germany's new army was the task of this internal committee. It could be said that this committee held the heavy responsibility of rebuilding the future German army.

Lieutenant General Schneider and Captain Manstein were important persons in charge among them, while the Chinese opposite were envoys from the Chinese side, a group represented by Lieutenant General Pu Guanshui.

"The Marshal is relatively interested in your country's proposal. But these suggestions seem a bit too general." Lieutenant General Schneider said with a straight face. It wasn't because China was a member of the Entente Powers that the Lieutenant General had any hostility towards China in his heart. Rather, like other German generals, the Lieutenant General believed that a soldier keeping a straight face was the best expression during official duties.

No translation was needed; Pu Guanshui and his party could all speak German. Moreover, Lieutenant General Schneider was Pu Guanshui's "senior fellow student," so Pu Guanshui had no psychological estrangement from this negotiation opponent. looking at Captain Manstein sitting beside Lieutenant General Schneider, Pu Guanshui found it difficult to connect this young man, who looked gentle and refined with a temperament more like a scholar, with his uncle-in-law Field Marshal Hindenburg. You know, Hindenburg had a chubby round face with two neatly trimmed big mustaches, looking arrogant all over. That was the standard appearance of a Prussian warrior.

Withdrawing his gaze, Pu Guanshui said: "In terms of distance alone, there is no possibility of any actual conflict between your country and mine. Of course, this must exclude irrational behavior caused by malicious deliberate hostility. Then, at present without actual conflict, our country believes that cooperation is the best choice."

Captain Manstein noticed Pu Guanshui's gaze just now, but there was no surprised look on the captain's face. As Manstein coming from a famous military family, he actually cared about this Chinese lieutenant general opposite him very much. Based on age alone, Manstein was only five or six years younger than Pu Guanshui. Their ranks were worlds apart. But Manstein did not think Pu Guanshui was "lucky to advance."

German soldiers also reflected on the war, especially after some German troops defeated in Qingdao brought back assault tactics from China. Middle and high-ranking officers in the German army, especially senior officers, no longer dared to underestimate China's military level. In post-war reflections, officers of the old German General Staff regretted more than once that if they had conducted military cooperation with China earlier and introduced China's assault tactics before the war, the winner of this war would have been the Germans. And a more mainstream view was that even if the research on assault tactics was completed in 1916, but if the German army could be comprehensively transformed and implemented unswervingly, Germany could also have won.

Manstein believed that even with the merit of assault tactics alone, Pu Guanshui could become a lieutenant general in the German army. Envy existed, but Manstein did not have any idea of looking down on Pu Guanshui. On the contrary, he listened carefully to Pu Guanshui's speech, hoping to have the possibility of cooperation with China in future military aspects.

"...The Entente Powers will absolutely not give your country's military industry any chance. Even if there is a chance, it will be more than ten years later. Losing more than ten years in vain is a very fatal blow to any military industry. And our country has many deficiencies in the military industry. We believe that your country and mine have ample room for cooperation in these fields." Pu Guanshui seriously stated his attitude.

Germany's political situation was considered initially stabilized by 1920. Of course, this stability was only relative. The French looted wantonly in Germany, dismantling factories and moving machines everywhere. And the post-war economic crisis hit the German economy fiercely. The so-called stability was merely that Pu Guanshui knew who to look for.

However, China's diplomatic personnel in various countries still worked non-stop with hundredfold enthusiasm. The newborn Republic needed to quickly improve its military and industrial strength. Pu Guanshui knew very well that at this time, it was very, very far from the peace of putting weapons in the arsenal and grazing horses on the southern mountain. Everything the People's Party seized by seizing the opportunity of World War I, Britain, France, and other countries hoped to take back from China again after the war in Europe ended.

These had nothing to do with personal likes and dislikes, but if a country wants to survive, it must compete. Everything Britain and France promised to win over China in World War I ended with the end of the war. China can only rely on itself to defend everything it has obtained. Then the first thing needed is for China to possess sufficient military power.

After listening to Pu Guanshui's explanation of cooperation, Lieutenant General Schneider said slowly: "But the requirements proposed by your country far exceed the scope of military cooperation; this is already comprehensive industrial cooperation."

Pu Guanshui nodded, "We invite German industrial enterprises to set up research institutions in China, or work in Chinese laboratories. Including Germany selling various technologies to China, it is indeed industrial cooperation. However, modern warfare is no longer a simple competition between soldiers and military industries. The war that just ended not long ago has proved that war is already a competition between the overall strength of countries. These two aspects cannot be separated. And there is a close connection and intimate relationship between the German military and the industrial sector. So I hope your side can provide us with help in these fields."

A trace of unhappy expression appeared on Lieutenant General Schneider's face. As a senior soldier, His Excellency the Lieutenant General did not think the army should have any so-called intimate relationship with industrial zaibatsu. As a military empire, the status of industrial zaibatsu in the Prussian Empire should theoretically be below the military; this was a relatively popular view in the German army.

However, the new Weimar Republic obviously made the general feel very dissatisfied. Through the so-called parliamentary system, the independence of the German army had been greatly damaged. As for Pu Guanshui's proposal hoping that the military could help Chinese people cooperate with German enterprises, firstly, the military felt this was somewhat degrading their status, and secondly, reality also made this request difficult to realize.

"If so, why don't you directly seek negotiations with the government?" Lieutenant General Schneider asked.

"Your government is now full of thoughts about how to solve the debt repayment problem under the framework of the Treaty of Versailles, and there is no way to conduct long-term strategic exchanges and discussions with them. What we pursue is long-term cooperation; short-term benefits are not too many. Of course, I think your government has absolutely no intention of trying to liberate Germany from under the Treaty of Versailles." What Pu Guanshui said was certainly the truth, but the inflammatory flavor in it was very obvious.

Even knowing that Pu Guanshui meant to sow discord, this analysis hitting the main point still softened the expression on Lieutenant General Schneider's face a bit.

Pu Guanshui continued: "If your side conducts scientific and technological development alone, it requires investment of funds and personnel. This is cost. Turning developed military technology into military equipment also requires investment of funds and technology. Military research is a money-burning business. We provide the costs for experimental development. Although your side has no income, your side does not need to invest either. So I think cooperation is very beneficial to both parties."

Lieutenant General Schneider had fully understood Lieutenant General Pu Guanshui's thoughts, and Lieutenant General Schneider was also quite interested in Pu Guanshui's suggestion. After agreeing on the time for the next meeting, the German side saw the guests off.

"Commander Pu, will the Germans agree?" The accompanying staff officer asked after returning to the car.

"I'm not worried about them disagreeing; I'm worried about what these people can actually provide." Pu Guanshui replied.

And the German side also immediately convened a meeting, attended by the revanchist faction in the German army. Regarding the probability of a Sino-German outbreak, these guys who were at least familiar with the world map didn't think there was any problem. Even if China was strong enough to invade Germany, it would have to destroy one of the three countries: Britain, the United States, and Russia first, or even destroy all three countries. If China could really do it, the Germans would feel very happy.

Since the German revanchist faction didn't care about China becoming strong at all, the only remaining question was exactly how much benefit they could get from China.

There was never a lack of Junker capitalists and Junker officers in the banquets of German dignitaries. Contacting those guys whose recent situation was miserable was not a problem. The problem was that a more persuasive person was needed to make this decision now. So as the discussion deepened, everyone's eyes fell more and more on Captain Manstein.

Captain Manstein was certainly not a fool. If his uncle-in-law Field Marshal Hindenburg could come forward to lead, this matter could possibly be fully promoted. After all, this was the military bypassing the government to reach an agreement with a foreign country. Even if it was a private agreement, this was not a small matter. So Captain Manstein played deaf and dumb and didn't say a word. Finally, it was Lieutenant General Schneider who stated that he would visit Field Marshal Hindenburg in the near future.

After listening to General Schneider's report, the old Marshal remained silent for a moment and then gave instructions that this kind of thing was not worth considering. Since the German army had recognized the Weimar government, it could not do such a thing. Moreover, this kind of thing must be operated by a committee, and active servicemen could not participate in this kind of thing.

After saying these words, the old Marshal stated again that rebuilding the German army required efforts from all sides.

Lieutenant General Schneider quickly understood Field Marshal Hindenburg's meaning. He stated that a committee of retired generals would be formed to take over this matter.

Field Marshal Hindenburg was silent for a while again, as if admonishing: "Active servicemen must absolutely not participate in this matter."

With the guarantee of the old Marshal, Lieutenant General Schneider ordered all active servicemen, including himself and Captain Manstein, not to have private contacts with Pu Guanshui and others anymore. Then he arranged for retired personnel to meet with Pu Guanshui.

Soon, a secret committee jointly formed by retired generals of the former German General Staff and Junker industrial capitalists was established. Much to the committee's surprise, the first thing Pu Guanshui wanted to acquire was several railway machinery factories that had already gone bankrupt under the French torment. Including data, skilled workers, and engineers, the People's Party was willing to settle in pounds or francs.

Completing this deal took a month. Skilled workers and engineers refused to go to distant China. Pu Guanshui changed the cooperation method. Instead of hiring Germans to go to China, China sent people to Germany to study. During the learning and exchange process, the Chinese side provided the expenses.

These technologies couldn't be considered very advanced, but China had indeed accumulated a large number of problems in railway equipment production. Besides researching by themselves, learning directly from Germany was also the best way.

After receiving the check from the French bank provided by the People's Party, the German side immediately sent someone to cash the check. When the person in charge returned to the committee carrying a suitcase full of francs and opened the suitcase, although these people were not guys who hadn't seen money, in this crisis period, getting so much non-German mark cash indeed reassured them like a tranquilizer.

The first deal was used to determine the transaction method and transaction credit. Once this door was opened, the follow-up became easier.

Germany used submarines extensively in the war. After a lot of bargaining with this committee, the People's Party finally obtained the blueprints of German submarines and part of the production technology. The transaction was set at a Swiss bank again. This transaction amount was relatively large, and the Swiss bank didn't have that much cash, so it could only transfer China's money into Germany's secret account.

Now the Germans really had confidence. The committee and Pu Guanshui consulted on gun steel production. But the Germans asked for too high a price, and Pu Guanshui rejected it neatly. The People's Party didn't have that much money to waste on such things. Finally, the two sides discussed the intentional cooperation of civilian power stations, and the German side was willing to send people to China for power station technology exchange.

Pu Guanshui didn't want to stay in Germany for too long either. It was late summer when he came to Germany for the second time, and now it was almost New Year's Day of 1921. With fairly rich results, handing over other work to the secret representative remaining in Berlin to continue consulting with the German secret committee, Pu Guanshui prepared to board the passenger ship returning to China.

"Commander Pu, where is the main point of discussing shipbuilding technology transfer with Germany next?" The Chinese secret liaison officer asked for instructions before departure.

"Domestically, we are now desperately accumulating experience and will summarize the problems encountered in production. We will list a list of needed content. You visit Germany first now. Try to figure out the details of the Germans clearly, and we will notify you of specific needs." Pu Guanshui urged. In fact, he didn't have any particularly targeted demand indicators either. The People's Party's industrial construction idea was quite simple: blossoming everywhere. Taking steel as an example, for steel and alloy steel of various properties, in addition to building laboratories for research by the National Laboratory itself, laboratories were also established in several universities to produce one by one proportional formula. After the developed samples underwent various parameter experiments, if satisfied, they would be handed over to several other laboratories for experiments. Finally, they would be handed over to the National Laboratory for repeated experiments to ensure that the experimental data was correct.

This was an extremely time-consuming job. Even if satisfactory formulas were screened out in the laboratory, transforming from laboratory production to mass production also required considerable investment. It is at this stage that foreign advanced experience needs to be introduced. Introduction is necessary, and not introducing foolishly is even more necessary.

Not only in Germany, but China also dispatched similar technology collection teams in major industrial countries around the world. While Pu Guanshui tried hard to encourage comrades to have confidence in future work, his heart was not as confident as he appeared on the outside. As an expert who knew the ropes, Pu Guanshui had no blindly optimistic idea about how much effort military industrial construction required.

Just as Pu Guanshui was about to board the gangway, someone suddenly called out to him. The guard vigilantly blocked Pu Guanshui before he turned his head to look back. He saw that the person coming was a member of the German secret committee. The person seemed to have run quite anxiously, and the moisture brought out by his breath condensed into white mist slightly more obvious than others in the cold air.

Squeezing to Pu Guanshui's side with difficulty, the person whispered: "The committee wants to consult with you on one more thing."

"Which aspect is it?" Pu Guanshui actually wanted to return to China earlier in his heart. Without a more specific list of technical projects, negotiations were really twice the effort for half the result.

"I wonder how interested your country is in large warship construction?" the committee member asked.

"Are you willing to cooperate with us on welding technology?" Before this trip, a technology that the People's Party explicitly proposed needing great attention was welding technology. However, during the negotiation and cooperation process, Pu Guanshui judged that it was far from the level of such cooperation at present, so he simply didn't mention it.

The committee member frowned, paused for a moment and said: "If your side is indeed interested in this aspect, we can still discuss it."

Still very skeptical about these words in his heart, but after weighing for a moment, Pu Guanshui decided to stay in Germany for a few more days.