Chapter 24 Joint Defense

Sickert left quickly. Although the two parties did not sign a single word of the bilateral contract, Contini knew that the matter had been finalized and immediately recruited his subordinates to prepare for joint defense.

I heard that Contini wanted to launch the 98k in one breath, the Joint Model 1926 semi-automatic rifle (Garand Italian type), the Joint Model 1926 light machine gun (No. 2 Czech type), the Joint Model 1926 heavy machine gun (Browning heavy machine gun), etc. Antonio was also stunned. Shao Qingcai said: "Master, although we can recruit some technical and production engineers from Germany, we don't have any foundation ourselves. Do we need to be more cautious? If these weapons cannot be adopted by the Italian military , the Germans alone cannot digest so much, and more importantly, Germany itself can produce it, so there is no need to purchase it from here.”

"So we must take the path of win-win cooperation." Contini said confidently, "I plan to talk to people from Breda tomorrow. If it is suitable, I don't mind injecting some funds into them, but the condition is that they must obey the United Group. unified arrangement.”

Breda is a well-known Italian military industry company located in Milan. It mainly involves small and medium-caliber machine guns, cannons, and some aircraft manufacturing. Sadly, it was originally developed as a supporting company of Fiat. The business scope also overlaps a lot with Fiat, so it is often suppressed by Fiat - especially during peacetime.

Hearing that Antonio wanted to talk to him, Giovanni Breda, the boss of Breda Company, initially thought he was looking for him to purchase arms, and seemed very excited - the news of establishing an oil guard had spread in the circle, and everyone Everyone knew that the United Group was preparing to start a big war in Africa, but when he heard what he wanted to do, he seemed very unhappy. However, Antonio was senior to him in the circle, and Contini, the president, was notoriously difficult to deal with. So he patiently explained: "Our company has no plans to increase capital or expand shares or introduce strategic investors for the time being. We appreciate your kindness."

"You can have it now..." Antonio smiled and handed over several photos, "These are some new military products we have obtained and have complete patents. We hope to cooperate with your company in production."

Seeing the Czech model, Breda nodded: "It's a bit like our 1924 model..."

Seeing Browning, he nodded again: "This seems to be the American Browning heavy machine gun. Have you obtained the patent?"

"I bought it. The young master likes this heavy machine gun very much and thinks it is much easier to use than the Fiat heavy machine gun currently used by the Italian army."

"In fact, you don't have to spend this unjust money. Buy some and leave them to us. We can completely copy them - you can rest assured of our company's technical strength."

"I know, but time can't wait... North Africa is going to war soon, so this time not only did we purchase the patent, but we also purchased a batch of sample guns." Antonio smiled, "Do you think Breda Company needs these orders? "

"I..." Breda knew very well that in order to get these orders, he had to accept the United Group's requirement to become a shareholder, which made him feel very embarrassed.

"Also..." Antonio said with a smile, "We also plan to recommend these two light and heavy machine guns as official equipment of the army. I believe you also know that our words in the military are very important at present. If they are used in actual combat, Once verified, you will be more confident.”

"Well..." Breda was a little moved, but still gritted her teeth and said, "I have to take a look at the sample gun first, and then decide on cooperation."

"If we cooperate, we plan to order 1,000 light machine guns and 300 heavy machine guns."

Breda was shocked: "Can you place an order for the Army Department?"

"It's not the Army Department, it's the United Group itself that wants to use it."

"Crazy!" Breda exclaimed, "Do you know what 1,000 light machine guns and 300 heavy machine guns are? Enough to equip an army of 100,000 people. The United Group has 100,000 troops?"

"Don't worry, you'll understand after you take a look at this." Antonio calmly took out a photo of a light machine gun mounted on a United Forces sidecar motorcycle from his bag, "I believe you know very well that we signed a contract with the Army for 1,000 motorcycles. Vehicle supply contract, part of the order will be transformed into this. Do you think such a large quantity is needed? Of course, this order is not all yours, we will also take part of it ourselves, and the joint defense has started construction. "

"Is there such a company?"

"Yes! The 14th member sector of the United Group..."

Antonio is really not bragging. The 12th business segment of the United Group is United Financial, the 13th is United Energy, and the 14th is naturally United Defense (including the Roman Samurai Club). Going forward, there are United Power, United Airlines, United Vehicles (motorcycles, automobiles), United Construction, United Real Estate, United Electric (radio, household appliances), United Media (one-stop service for newspapers, movies, IBC, and printing, headed by Goebbels), United Chemical Industry, United Metallurgy (steel and steel) , aluminum, etc.), United Shipbuilding and United Services (Commercial Real Estate, United House, City Line)…

"Then, if appropriate, increase capital by US$12 million, 10% of the shares."

"USD 30 million, plus the patents for these products, require 25% of the shares!"

Breda smiled bitterly: "Our family only holds more than 30% of the shares. After dilution, it is almost 26-27%. You took 25% in one go. Do you intend to acquire us in the future?"

"I don't have this idea. The young master just hopes to run Breda Company better. Don't forget, in addition to firearms, we also want to enter the field of aircraft manufacturing, which will cost a lot of money." Antonio smiled, "After taking shares , you are still the head of Breda, we will not interfere with your management of the company..."

"You have to let me think it over."

"The young master also promised that if the shares are purchased according to this standard, Breda will become a core member of the United Group... The city dedicated line can be extended to your company, and the relevant workers can also enjoy relevant salaries, benefits and benefits. The application qualifications for the workers' new village will be opened at the same time. ." Antonio's smile was very tempting. "The extra costs will be recorded in our account. If you are worried about workers' objections, we will communicate with the union at the appropriate time to try to get their understanding."

"Don't, don't...we can discuss it easily!" Breda became anxious upon hearing this and quickly shook her head to stop it.

Are you kidding? Now the whole of Italy knows that the workers of the United Group are well treated. Everyone is sharpening their heads to dig into it. What is the purpose of communicating with the workers? This is clearly a signal to the workers - if you dare to refuse to take shares at that time, you will keep the workers. They scolded her like dogs!

Three days later, Breda's board of directors decided to accept United Group's cooperation proposal - the conditions were very favorable, and Breda's valuation was less than US$100 million.

Two weeks later, the United Group followed suit and spent US$25 million to take over the three arsenals that mainly produced M91 Carcano rifles: Terni, Brescia, and Torre Annunziata, and merged them to form United Firearms, directly taking over the Ministry of War. The Small Arms Committee's trump card has been exhausted - no one is messing with the 7.35mm Carcano rifle anymore, either the 98k or the 7.92 Italian Garand rifle. Of course, out of respect for history, Contini opened It’s a small opening. During the transitional period, we will first produce the 7.92mm Carcano rifle, and the 98k can be put aside. Anyway, Germany has a lot of products. Everyone still understands what the president means - the 1926 semi-automatic rifle is the direction of development, manual rifles are just fine.

The officers of the Small Arms Commission, who had limited options, angrily submitted the report, which turned into a piece of waste paper on the desk of Army Secretary General Diaz: Contini had already checked the source. In addition to the two oil interests in Libya, Mr. Diaz also received an additional 500 lire of original oil shares - the same thing as Mussolini's, and the current price has exceeded 16 million lire.

Any idiot knows which caliber to choose, and the 7.92mm caliber is not bad at all. At least the Austrians, Germans, and Czechs are using it. It is better than the 7.35mm that has never been confirmed, right? Anyway, the light machine gun mounted on the United Forces motorcycle is quite useful.

Thinking of this, he wrote a comment: "Order the committee to send observers to North Africa to inspect the use of new weapons and provide opinions for the next step of selection..."