Chapter 552 National Car

The Pacific Ocean is quite calm in summer. Even near the Aleutian Islands in the north, the frequency of strong winds and waves is only 20%. The frequency of strong winds and waves near the 30th parallel south of New Zealand in the south will not exceed 20%. The wind and waves will gradually increase from autumn to February in winter.

The hazy moonlight shines on the calm sea, sparkling. Several speedboats are speeding from a distance. Because of their high speed, after these speedboats fly over the crest of the waves, the front half of the boat body leaves the sea!

A huge black shadow appeared in front of them, coming towards them. It was a freighter.

Several speedboats approached the freighter silently with the minimum horsepower. Several people stood up on the speedboat, raised the rope throwing gun, aimed at the railing on the freighter and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The hook of the rope throwing gun hooked the railing accurately, and everyone climbed up the freighter along the rope swiftly.

The captain, who was pulled out of the bed, looked at these fierce and fully armed strong men tremblingly and asked in a trembling voice. "You, who are you? This is an American ship." This cargo ship set sail from the Philippines to the United States. It was not loaded with gold, silver or jewelry, but just coconut oil, which is abundant in the Philippines. He really couldn't figure out why these people hijacked this ship.

The leading strong man laughed. "We are looking for an American ship. I ask you, is this "San Francisco" going to New York Harbor?"

The captain nodded.

The strong man asked again. "Is it passing through the Panama Canal?"

The captain nodded again.

"That's it, we just want to take a ride on the wind. If you are obedient, I won't make things difficult for you. If you dare to play tricks and resist, I will throw you all into the sea to feed the sharks!" They are German special forces, coming to carry out a secret mission; then they drove all the crew members into the bottom cabin and imprisoned them.

The freighter slowly stopped, and a member came to the side of the ship, holding a flashlight, and signaled to the sea in the distance.

Soon, three submarines came from a distance. The members operated the crane on the freighter to lift the cargo on the submarine deck one by one, and then moved it into the bottom hold. After more than three hours of busy work, they continued to set sail and headed for the Panama Canal.

In the German Chancellery, Chancellor Speer was holding a routine meeting. At this time, the German Chancellor was a nominal position with no power, and he only gave speeches to the outside world. Therefore, Yannick planned to let his confidants take turns to have fun.

"Our unemployment rate has been below 1% for five consecutive years."

Before 1933 in the original time and space, the economic situation in Germany (then the Weimar Republic) was a mess, with an unemployed population of 6 million, accounting for half of the labor force. But after 1933, the new German government created an economic miracle-zero unemployment rate. By 1939, there were only 300,000 unemployed people in Germany, and the unemployment rate was close to zero.

The German government at that time took many measures to achieve the "economic miracle".

For example, women were excluded from unemployment statistics; Germans were given a very simple choice: either work or be defined as "work-shy" and sent to concentration camps; Jews were deprived of citizenship from 1935 and were therefore excluded from unemployment statistics; from 1935, Germany implemented a compulsory conscription system, and many young people were also excluded from unemployment statistics. As of 1939, the total number of German soldiers reached 1.4 million.

So the economic miracle of zero unemployment in Germany at that time was largely a "statistical game". But it is also undeniable that the German government at that time did create a lot of jobs through a large number of public works, such as digging trenches, building roads, and planting trees.

Although Germany had swept across Europe, the war did not end there. In order to prepare for a larger-scale war, steel mills, industrial areas, small businesses, and handicraft workshops throughout Europe were running at full capacity, producing all the materials that could be produced without wasting a minute or a second. The procurement contracts from the military have never been interrupted. Most companies have to work overtime, and workers produce day and night. Under this situation, the unemployment rate of Germans has dropped to an incredible level. Everyone has work to do, and there are few idle people wandering on the road.

"Today, Europe has the most developed highways in the world. The highways from Berlin go directly to Paris, Warsaw, and Rome. The railway network of the whole Europe is also connected together, and every city with a population of more than one million has an airport. It has greatly facilitated people's travel."

"Since we have such developed transportation, it would be a waste if we don't make good use of it. In the past five years, we have completed the work of popularizing radios and bicycles. In the next five years, we will focus on popularizing cars, and every family in the empire will use their own cars."

In the early 1930s, the main product of the German automobile industry was still luxury cars, and luxury cars were only toys for the rich at that time. Ordinary people had no financial ability to buy expensive luxury cars.

In 1936, the mustache proposed a concept to produce a cheap "Volkswagen". He said that every German, at least every German employee, should have his own car, just like the United States. At that time, there was one car for every five people in the United States and one car for every 50 people in Germany. Employees rode bicycles or took buses to and from work.

The mustache ordered the production of an economical car for ordinary people that would only cost 990 marks (equivalent to $396 at the time).

The ideal was very good, but it was almost impossible for private enterprises to produce such a cheap car. The mustache ordered the "Labor Front" to take charge. On March 28, 1937, the "Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH" company was established, followed by Volkswagenwerk GmbH" (Volkswagen) on September 1, 1938.

On May 26, 1938, Volkswagen began to build a new factory in Wolfsburg to produce the "national car" Beetle designed by Porsche. But the good times did not last long. Just one year later, World War II broke out. Volkswagen's factory in Wolfsburg stopped producing Beetles and turned to producing military vehicles. The more than 200 Beetles originally produced did not become popular among the people, but were equipped with the German army. The "people's car" of the mustache was temporarily suspended.

Now, Yannick has also launched the "national car" project, which is the first generation of Beetle, priced at 500 euros. At this time, the minimum monthly salary of ordinary employees in Germany was 50 euros. If you don't eat or drink, you can take the Beetle home in less than a year.