American Comics Plane Trader

"Mr. Kahn, can't you have more?" In the living room of the presidential suite of the George V Hotel in Paris, de Gaulle looked at Josie Kahn in front of him and said unwillingly, "My people are starving!"

"Mr. de Gaulle, I am a businessman, not a philanthropist, let alone a Frenchman. A ton of canned meat is my respect for your personal qualities... In addition, I have to remind you that you are not French legal representative!" Josie put down the coffee cup in his hand and said indifferently.

The time has entered September, and the Allied forces are still clearing up the remaining German resistance forces in various parts of France on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are constantly making final preparations for the anti-Eagle's Nest plan.

But the last man in France standing in front of Josie has been busy with another matter recently.

That is the problem of food.

France is short of food, Paris is short of food.

As a veteran agricultural country in Europe, it is also the second largest colonial country in the world except Britain.

France has not experienced a shortage of food for one or two hundred years. Even during the First World War, France was actually very abundant in food and other industrial and agricultural products.

But with the rapid defeat of World War II, the situation changed completely.

In order for Germany to supply its huge military system, it is far from enough to rely solely on its own country's output.

Naturally, it will be plundered from those occupied countries.

If there are some German "own people" like Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, etc., Germany will naturally be lighter.

But for a feud like France, no one has any scruples when it starts.

From 1940 to 1944 when it was occupied, 72.5% of the wheat, 100% of the sugar, 87% of the butter, and 64.6% of the beef produced in the German-occupied areas of northern France were forcibly expropriated or bought at low prices by Germany.

Most of these agricultural products were either loaded on trains by Germany and transported back to Germany or were used to give priority to the German army occupying France.

The situation in the southern Vichy Free Zone was slightly better, but 27.5% of wheat, 13% of butter and 35.4% of beef were shipped by Germany.

This is just food, not to mention other materials.

So don't look at the surrender of the German army in Paris, so that this European pearl has not suffered the baptism of war, but the well-preserved city cannot be eaten as a meal. If you should be hungry, you must be hungry. If you should have no cigarettes, you should have no cigarettes. .

With a pack of cigarettes and a few pieces of chewing gum, the American soldiers outside can spend the spring evening with a beautiful French girl, which is cheaper than the British girl.

Not to mention a tycoon like Josie, the future world-famous George V Hotel where he lives now was directly bought with a batch of extremely cheap materials for him.

Linden Schneider, who was his white glove, was also very busy after he arrived in Paris. The supplies were directly borrowed from the US military's transport team, and they were transported into the city by convoy by convoy from somewhere outside the city every day.

All goods will not be charged in francs... Being occupied for so long, the French economy has long been on the verge of collapse, and the inflation is terrible, and this is just the beginning.

If the British economy could barely stabilize after the war, the French economy declined all the way after the war... Only after Charles de Gaulle came to power in the 1960s did it officially stabilize.

Yes, as a French hero, Charles de Gaulle, apart from being a temporary leader for a few months when Paris was just liberated, was soon swept away by the newly formed conquest, and he had to wait until the 1960s to come out again.

More importantly, the status of the current interim leader of de Gaulle is not recognized by the three countries of the United States and the United States... They only recognize de Gaulle's military position, not his government position.

This is why Josie said that de Gaulle was not the legal representative of France.

In this case, Josie would collect francs only when he was out of his wits.

If you want to buy his goods, bring us dollars or real money!

Fine jewelry? This is OK, but it has to be discounted by 30%.

Land deed? That's fine too, and at a fair price.

Factories, mines? So-so, 50% off.

GBP? All right, but if you don't want ten pounds or twenty pounds, you have to get a 20% discount.

In just over a month, Linden has earned more wealth and assets than in England.

Of course, such a lucrative business will definitely attract people's attention.

But this time, Josie directly asked the US military stationed in Paris to deliver goods and maintain order. The wages were cigarettes and alcohol, and there was nothing wrong with asking for US dollars.

Who dares to touch his business?

Even the last man in France in front of him had to condescend to visit a businessman like Josie just for alms.

But just like what Josie said, he is a businessman, not a philanthropist... If the experience is in the local area, he doesn't mind doing more charity for the sake of reputation, but in France? It's not necessary at all!

So no matter what De Gaulle said, in the end, Josie just used a ton of canned meat to get rid of it... To be honest, this is already Josie's face for the other party.

This ton of canned meat is now outside, and it can buy a street.

"Then I will buy from you on behalf of the French government, right?" Seeing that Josie had no intention of letting go, De Gaulle was full of helplessness. He thought that after the liberation of France, everything would go well, but only when After less than a month as a representative of the provisional government, he discovered that the situation was far more complicated than he had imagined.

A ton of canned meat sounds like a lot, but it's a drop in the bucket for the whole of Paris, which has millions of mouths.

"Your Excellency de Gaulle, it's not that I'm being mean, but that the current French provisional government... has money?" Josie spread his hands helplessly.

What is a provisional government? It's just a blame man who does dirty work.

Only true patriots like de Gaulle, or people with ulterior motives, would go here.

Want money but no money, want materials but no materials.

That is to say, there are still a few armies that can barely be seen...but these few armies were formed only after de Gaulle begged his grandpa and grandma in Africa.

"We can mortgage...!" However, before De Gaulle could finish speaking, Josie raised his hand and interrupted him.

"Your Excellency de Gaulle, don't write a bad check here, but if your interim government has a decent collateral, you should not show up with me now, but in our embassy!" Josie said a little Said impatiently.

What Josie said about going to the American embassy actually refers to the Lend-Lease Act proposed by the United States as the "leader" of the Allied Forces during World War II, and provided massive support to the United Kingdom, Mao Xiong and many other allies.

But among them, France received the least support.

The reason is simple, because France, as an occupied area, does not have a formal regime that can truly be recognized by the world.

And this also means that no one in France has the right to pledge any French national assets to the United States to obtain supplies.

The only material support France received from the United States was the two armored divisions of the Free France to which de Gaulle belonged. This is because de Gaulle promised independence to Algeria, so he got some donations, coupled with various empty promises, he got the equipment of two armored divisions from the United States, and the food crisis in time and space was finally solved by the United States Yes, but the war is not over yet, and the US should give priority to supplying the army with supplies.

After supplying the army, it is also the priority to supply the United Kingdom.

France will have to wait at least a month or two before receiving support from the United States.

The problem of how to exchange debts in France after the war also stemmed from the lack of formal political power.

After France was officially liberated in the original time and space and established its own government, de Gaulle was directly squeezed out to step down.

Almost none of the empty checks he had promised had been cashed.

Algeria, for example, gained independence through war.

Some loans from the United States were initially repaid by opening up the French film market, but within a few years they were overwhelmed by public opposition.

Look, in France like this, even the United States dares to blame it. If Josie believed de Gaulle and gave him supplies, he would really be a meat bun beating a dog.

Hearing Josie's refusal without hesitation, De Gaulle's expression darkened. He actually knew what he said, and he couldn't do it. It was just for the sake of this country that he had to sacrifice his face to make various promises. That's all.

The last man in France is actually quite pitiful to be honest, and has been bearing responsibilities for this country that he shouldn't have.

But it's pitiful, but Josie will not sacrifice her own interests to help the other party.

but……

"Actually, it's not like you don't have anything to pledge at all!" Josie knocked on the table and said.

"What do you want? As long as it is reasonable, you can consider it!" Hearing Josie's words, De Gaulle's eyes flashed.

"Hehe, you don't count French stuff, but German stuff is fine!" Josie said with a smile.

De Gaulle was able to push France from a victimized country to a victorious country by himself, so he was naturally a very smart person. Immediately understood the meaning of Josie's words.

That's right, France's national assets, he, the temporary leader, cannot be the master.

But for the division of Germany and its allies after the victory, as a representative figure of the French military, he has great autonomy.

What Josie meant was to use France's temporarily unknown post-war division of interests as a pledge in exchange for supplies.

"It's absolutely fine. All the war compensation obtained by France after the war can be selected by your Excellency first, but it cannot exceed the value of the materials you provided." Almost without much consideration, De Gaulle agreed to Josie's conditions.

De Gaulle also understood the truth of the right not to use it, and to invalidate it after the expiration date.

"Of course!" Josie readily agreed.

After World War II, although France was only the most insignificant of the four main countries of the Allied Forces, it also had a large occupied area. It occupied a total of four years from 1945 to 1949. What about the output above? It is also enough to pay back the supplies provided by Josie.

Originally, Austria and France would also have an occupied area, but as long as the operation to return to the Eagle's Nest is successful, I am afraid that Austria will change suddenly and become a member of the victorious country, and France will naturally not be able to share it.

"The whole of Paris needs at least 120,000 tons of grain to get out of the predicament. How much can you provide and what is the price?" De Gaulle asked impatiently.

The reason why France is short of food, apart from the plundering by Germany, is actually the lack of wheat harvest this year.

The wheat in France is mainly winter wheat, which is basically matured and harvested in June to July every year. The war was so fierce before, coupled with the rush to harvest in Germany, the wheat that France can actually harvest is less than one-fifth of the normal year. To feed so many people across the country, this amount of food is simply not enough.

As for the potatoes that were planted in August, they will not be harvested until at least November.

In fact, other places are okay, because farmers can store grain, but big cities like Paris can't do it.

There must be enough food for at least two million people for two months to be able to sustain it-this is still the case when Paris implements the rationing system.

"I'm sure I won't be able to get 120,000 tons of grain." Josie thought for a while and said.

You can take it out and you can't take it.

It is easy to say that he usually transports several tons and tens of tons of grain to Paris every day. After all, although there is a war, there are still all kinds of courageous people who transport materials to the war zone through various methods such as shipping and land transportation. It seemed too strange.

Neither does the military.

But it's impossible for the U.S. military logistics department to produce 120,000 tons at a time. If Josie really dares to do this, there's really no way to cover it up.

What's more, the business of selling supplies is not only done by Josie himself, but also by many American businessmen. It's just that their living things are not as good as Josie's, and they are not as sufficient.

Even the U.S. military itself is doing it.

Josie can eat meat, but she can't even give these people soup, and she can't even mess with it.

Otherwise, it will really kill people.

"However, 10,000 tons per month is still possible." After thinking for a while, Josie said a figure that would not be too exaggerated.

10,000 tons, that is, the load of the two Liberty ships, according to the distance from the United States to Paris and the speed of the Liberty ships, it is just right to "send" it once a month.

"But it's mainly canned meat, wheat and potatoes. I don't have much, so I won't supply them." Josie added.

"Enough! What about the price?" De Gaulle was not stupid, and naturally he knew that it was impossible for Josie to produce 120,000 tons of food at once.

But 10,000 tons of canned meat a month is already far beyond his expectations.

Is the price do not know how.

"Ten thousand dollars per ton, I think this is a very reasonable price!" Josie reported a number without thinking too much.

Hearing this price, De Gaulle's lips trembled.

Ten thousand dollars a ton.

That's $10 a kilo.

There is no doubt that this is an extremely high price in terms of the purchasing power of the dollar.

But for Paris now, the price is really not expensive.

The current official exchange rate between the franc and the US dollar is 5 francs to 1 US dollar.

But what are the prices in Paris now? A chicken about a kilo costs 100 francs, and even an egg costs 3 francs.

Converted into US dollars, a kilogram of chicken costs 20 US dollars, which is twice as expensive as the price of canned meat given by Josie.

And that's the price of a live chicken, and at least 20% of the loss of internal organs and bones must be deducted to turn it into meat.

As for the canned meat sold by Josie, De Gaulle had also eaten it. It was really full of meat, extremely rich in fat and almost free of starch.

In this comparison, the $10,000 per ton offered by Josie is really a very conscientious price. Before coming to Josie, de Gaulle also approached many other big businessmen in Paris, but they were either evading and unwilling to sell, or the price was skyrocketing.

None spoke better than Josie.

But De Gaulle was still heartbroken.

20,000 tons in two months, that's 200 million US dollars.

It's enough for him to form ten more armored divisions.

Taking the Second Armored Division of Free France as an example, its main force is 85 Stuart light tanks, 164 Sherman medium tanks, 36 M10 "Wolverine" tank destroyers, 64 armored vehicles, and 664 half-track vehicles And patrol cars, 27 m8 "Scott" 75mm self-propelled howitzers, 54 m7 "Priest" 105mm self-propelled howitzers.

And what about the price of these weapons? A Stuart is less than $40,000, and a Sherman is $50,000-60,000.

The m10 "Wolverine" tank destroyer is the most expensive, nearly 100,000.

The rest of Lin Lin always counted, in fact, it was only in the early 20 million.

Isn't 200 million US dollars equal to ten armored divisions?

"The price--very reasonable!" De Gaulle tremblingly took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it tremblingly and took a puff, exhaled a few smoke rings, and said in a deep voice, "So when will it arrive?"

"Your Majesty de Gaulle, don't worry. Although you have a lot of autonomy in carve-up after the war, you can't just say nothing, right? So the contract must be signed. In addition, I will invite the ambassador of our country and General Eisen Howell to act Witness... no problem, right?" Josie said in a leisurely manner.

"Huh...of course it's possible!" De Gaulle took a long breath and nodded.

"Then wish us a happy cooperation!" Josie showed a very bright smile on his face, and stretched out his hand to De Gaulle.

De Gaulle's mood was both relaxed and heavy, and he didn't speak, but just reached out and touched Josie.

"I asked someone to set up a banquet. Would you like to have a light meal with me?" Josie didn't mind, and instead invited her to dinner rather generously.

In the case of business talking about business and not talking about business, Josie doesn't mind making friends with this guy.

In any case, it is also the last man in France, and it is an endangered species.

De Gaulle did not refuse Josie's invitation. For this country and this city, he has shouldered so much, can't he still have a good meal?

The next day, under the special invitation of Josie, under the witness of the US ambassador to France, who had just been in Paris for less than half a month, and General Eisen Howell, in the conference hall of the George V Hotel, Josie and Charles de Gaulle A contract is signed.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Eisen Howell, as the commander of the Allied Forces, has a high position and authority, so he is not so easy to invite, and his relationship with Josie is not so close.

But this agreement is good for the United States... because the United States actually doubts whether de Gaulle or the French government will be able to pay back after the war, or whether they will be willing to pay back the debts of the two armored divisions .

But now that Josie and de Gaulle have signed this contract, as long as France dares to renege, the U.S. military can justifiably withhold France's post-war compensation!

So Eisen Howell is also happy to be a favor.

The day after the contract was signed, two Liberty ships full of canned meat appeared on the Seine.

These two free ships were second-hand goods that Josie bought from a shipping company at half price when he was in England.

It is specially for "transporting" bulk goods.

With the 1,000 tons of canned meat provided by Josie, coupled with the rationing system that has been implemented since the fall of France, the food shortage in Paris is barely so serious.

And even if so many canned meats were sold to the interim government at a "low price", it would not affect Josie and other businessmen's ability to continue to make money.

Food shortages still exist, but people will not starve to death.

Wealthy Paris citizens are still willing to spend a little more to make themselves more full.

Even if there is no money, beautiful French girls can make money from American soldiers.

Besides, even if Josie doesn't sell food anymore, she can still sell other things.

Since you can't die of hunger, the romantic French people are not allowed to smoke a little cigarette, drink a little wine or coffee, taste candy or something?

The provisional government will not distribute these things to the people.

In this way, Josie kept plucking the wool of the French people while quietly waiting for the launch of the "Return to the Eagle's Nest" plan.

……………………………

"I thought you wouldn't come back before the plan started!" A few days later, in the study room of the presidential suite, Josie said to the woman sitting opposite while gently wiping a bronze faucet on her hand.

"Don't I miss you so much, I can't see you, I can't eat, I can't sleep!" The woman fiddled with the collar on her neck and said with a smile.

Needless to say, this woman is none other than Ophelia.

"Really? I really didn't know I was so attractive!" Josie raised her eyebrows and carefully put the faucet into the box in front of her. miss him? I'm afraid I want him to die!

"Tsk tsk tsk, His Royal Highness Kahn is really too modest. Those young girls in Paris want to have a spring night with you, but it's a pity that our Highness Kahn seems to have a problem with his orientation." Ophelia sneered. road.

"...Hehe, are you provoking me?" Josie's face turned cold.

In fact, Vito and the others have responded to him recently, and there are rumors of this in Paris.

The reason for this rumor is also very simple, because during the period after Paris, although Josie often went to nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge and the Lido, it was never really rumored that he and that woman really had a relationship. What an affair.

This is actually an unbelievable thing in this era, especially in France, which is famous for its romance.

Coupled with Josie's excellent appearance.

From the outside, this is very abnormal.

So somehow, some rumors that he had a problem with his orientation began to appear.

It's just that Josie has always dismissed such outside rumors.

Whether we are men or not is up to you. In the final analysis, he is more picky. France is said to be the capital of romance, but to be honest, ordinary women really don't catch his eyes.

And after all, this is just a gossip, under normal circumstances, no one would dare to say it in front of him.

People in high positions would not be foolish enough to offend him, and if the Common people dared to say so, wait to feed the fish in the Seine.

But now that Ophelia mentioned this, it was purely provocative.

But I don't blame Ophelia for being provocative. In fact, she went back to Austria and found many ways, but she couldn't untie the collar.

The resentment towards Josie deepened.

It's just a pity that she seems to have forgotten the fundamental role of this circle.

"I'm sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have said that, but it's just... woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" With a single button, she fell directly on the sofa and twitched.

"Cut, that's all!" Josie shook his head, opened another box on the table, and took out the bronze snake head inside.

That's right, these two bronze heads are the heads of the Chinese zodiac in Yuanmingyuan.

Josie just bought it from a collector in France, and had also found rats and rabbits before.

He also picked up four when he was in the UK before.

In other words, he has collected eight of them now.

As for the remaining four, they are still missing.

But Josie was not in a hurry, she searched slowly, and she could always find it.

In addition, Josie also bought a lot of national treasures from these two countries.

Like Napoleon's golden crown with bay leaves... To be honest, that thing is ugly, because all the gold leaves on it have fallen off, and there are only three pieces left.

Just as Josie was playing with the copper head, the phone in the study rang.

Josie picked up the phone, and General McGinnis' angry voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Josie, go to the window! We're getting started!"

Hearing what McGinnis said, Josie was taken aback for a moment, and then there was a loud bang in his ears, and then he quickly put away the things in his hand and walked to the window quickly.

The sky was filled with darkness, and countless planes flew northeast from the sky above Paris.

Return to the Eagle's Nest, let's begin!

"It's really spectacular!" Ophelia, who didn't know when she recovered, also walked to the window and murmured while watching the spectacular scene in the sky beside Josie.

Josie glanced at her, then pressed the collar's shock switch again.

Then Ophelia fell to the ground and twitched again.

Only then did Josie turn around and watch this spectacular scene unprecedented in human history... The number of planes dispatched in this operation was much more than that of the Normandy landing.

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