This meeting with Antoniscu was only the first step in Germany's blackmail against Romania. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As the proceeds of the arms dumping were to be paid entirely to the German Army in the form of military spending, the German central treasury did not benefit from it; And this is obviously something that W. Lt, who is in charge of the economy, absolutely does not want to accept. With Hitler's consent, Värter ordered the negotiators to slaughter the Romanians again in the payment process: if not to make Bucharest lose money, but to prevent it from taking advantage of Germany.

In accordance with this directive, the German ambassador Claude launched an all-out effort to reduce the price of Romanian primary products used in the exchange of arms in the following economic negotiations. The poor Romanians had hoped to win back a city at a discount on grain, poultry, sugar, and oil, but they did not expect that the Germans would be so unsurvivable: they had set themselves a discount of almost 20% below the normal market price, and there was almost no profit! Despite their best efforts, Bucharest managed to keep 90% of the market price of its own goods. Seeing the sheer volume of goods he was about to deliver to Germany, the Romanian finance minister couldn't help but feel dizzy in his head, and the government would not have to think of squeezing out any budget for anything else for the next two years.

On 26 October, Germany and Romania formally signed the secret trade agreement, which totals more than 610 million marks. In order to appease the Romanians who had been wounded in their hearts, the German Army, at the request of the Foreign Office, gave 20,000 Polish rifles and a batch of 46mm light mortars as color heads. As for the money that has already been earned, the army will not spit it out again under any circumstances. Walter was also very pleased with the result: the total value of the contract was four times the amount of the resource purchase agreement that Germany had just signed with the Soviet Union, and the total value of the materials received was at least six times more. The import of large quantities of Romanian agricultural products will greatly enrich the tables of the German people, and Värt will be able to save money that would otherwise be used for people's livelihood to do more things that would benefit the war effort.

Regarding this meaningful episode that happened in Romania, Fang Yan didn't pay too much attention to it. From 28 October, he ended his short sabbatical and rushed to the military port of Kiel in the north to report for service. Raeder has officially appointed Fang Yan as the overall head of the aircraft carrier renovation program, and has given him full authority to transfer personnel and materials. In the morning of the same day, Fang Yan arrived at the port headquarters of the Kiel military port. Looking at an officer and soldier in a well-dressed military uniform who was busy at his post, Fang Yan, who had shared a comfortable life with his wife, daughter, and family for ten days, finally regained the feeling of war that gathered his will and completed his mission.

After ten years of Raeder's withdrawal, the German Navy at this time has become an efficient and sophisticated organizational machine, Fang Yan did not spend any effort, completed his inauguration procedures, and asked from the Naval Shipbuilding Bureau for the design drawings of more than a dozen candidate merchant ships, as well as a group of technical members he wanted. These include ship designers, mechanics engineers, and technicians in various construction processes, who are able to provide core professional advice on all aspects of merchant ship modification. Seeing Fang Yan's meticulous preparatory work, the last concern in the heart of Major Admiral Simon, director of the shipbuilding bureau, disappeared without a trace: this is a professional quality that only an expert can show, and his distrust of this young man is too much to worry about.

After gathering the materials and personnel, Fang Yan immediately started his work non-stop. Now the navy's thirst for aircraft carriers is very strong, and it can no longer allow him to delay. Faced with 16 merchant ships waiting to become the mother of the navy, after a short period of thought, Fang Yan naturally set his eyes on the two most slender and largest high-speed cruise ships "Bremen" and "Europa".

These two ships are no stranger to Fang Yan: back in 1927, during the Weimar Republic, it was the Brom-Foss shipyard that built the most shining sister flower in the Atlantic Ocean for the Hamburg-America shipping company. With a registered displacement of 42,000 tonnes and a hull of more than 300 metres, they have an unrivalled advantage of high-speed drag reduction, and have reached an astonishing speed of 34 knots at a rated power of 150,000 hp during sea trials. Since they were built in 1930, the Blue Ribbon award for the fastest transatlantic merchant ship has not been awarded.

When the German-Polish war broke out on September 1, the "Bremen" was unloading passengers in New York, USA. In the face of the malicious tracking of the British cruiser, she left directly at a steady high speed of 32 knots; And the British cruiser could only watch the target disappear from the horizon, and he simply did not catch up.

With full expectations, Fang Yan immediately took the lead in organizing personnel to conduct a comprehensive review of the design drawings and actual conditions of the two high-speed cruise ships. In the process, Fang Yan walked into the ship like an ordinary staff member to confirm and implement their current situation. He was pleased to know that the two sisters, who were about to turn 10, were still in good spirits: a careful sampling of the load-bearing steel beams and the outer hull showed that the fatigue stress levels of the metals were far from what the standards allowed.

"However, honorable general, if these two ships are to be transformed into aircraft carriers in their current state, I am afraid that their stability will be greatly problematic." Horner, chief engineer at the Kiel-Brom shipyard, held a load-bearing map and reported to Fang Yan, "Their freeboard is too high, with three more cabins than a normal aircraft carrier; According to our calculations, if the upper cabin is directly converted into a hangar, and a command bridge and elevator are installed, then their stable height will suddenly drop to less than 0.5 meters. If they were hit by a torpedo again, they would have capsized, and there was almost no chance of being saved. ”

"Mr. Horner, how much better would the situation be if we put 100 mm of horizontal armor on the deck below her waterline?" Fang Yan pondered for a moment and asked.

Horner shook his head slightly and said, "We calculated for her the stability after installing a 75mm horizontal deck, and the result is still far from the anti-sinking index you gave. If we want her to be a good fleet carrier, the most effective way to improve its stability is to dismantle the redundant upper compartments on a large scale, at least three floors, and add protrusions underwater. Only in this way can they go from frivolous drunks to soldiers who stand upright, and will not stumble and fall even if they are kicked in the calf. Otherwise, they can only exist in the Baltic Sea, which is calm and absolutely safe, as a second-line auxiliary training aircraft carrier. ”

Fang Yan was silent, and his heart had already begun to weigh it quickly. Judging from the current situation in our possession, these two merchant ships cannot be able to achieve both between rapid refit and the formation of combat effectiveness. And no matter what they choose, they can fully contribute their light and heat to this war. If they are converted into training aircraft carriers, their 300-meter-long flight deck will greatly improve the error tolerance rate of rookie pilots; In addition, their speed of 33 knots can also fully simulate the maneuver of a regular aircraft carrier, which greatly accelerates the training of personnel. No matter from which point of view, they are the best breeding cradle for carrier-based aircraft pilots.

And if more effort is made to change them into regular carriers, they will become a valuable combat force of the German naval air fleet. Although they are unable to lay a heavy armored flight deck like a Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier, and their own structural strength and damage resistance are far inferior to that of regular warships, their extra-long flight deck is the greatest justice for an aircraft carrier. You know, even if aircraft carriers develop into the 21st century, how many aircraft carriers have a length of 300 meters? These two ships not only have a super single-wave engine capability, but also serve as perfect take-off and landing platforms for heavy twin-engine aircraft, and if used correctly, they have the potential to surpass the Zeppelin class!

"Using these two ships as training ships is too extravagant. If we can complete them in a year, it will still be a significant investment compared to spending three years building a new aircraft carrier. The hesitant look in Fang Yan's eyes became firm, and Zhengse spoke. He looked at the chief engineer in front of him with a solemn gaze, and said again: "Remove the redundant structure and reset the internal compartment; increase auxiliary machinery, lay cable pipelines; Strengthen the structural support and install horizontal armor; Underwater protrusions were added, hangars and lifting platforms were constructed...... We have to do all of this within a year. Within three days, I hope to see a detailed construction plan. This is a difficult mission and a supreme honor that belongs to us. For Germany, for the Führer! ”

"For the Führer!" Horner responded solemnly with fists clenched in both hands, and his heart was already burning with high fighting spirit and raging fire. Horner was well aware of the difficulty of completing the large-scale renovation of these two giant merchant ships in a year, but Fang Yan's last words turned all his worries into passion and motivation to move forward, and he wanted to bury himself in the drawings now and devote all his efforts to the final victory of this project. Yes, now the Führer is firmly guarding the dignity and survival of the German Fatherland, waging an arduous struggle against the British and French bandits; How could he, as a German people, not be part of this righteous cause of revenge? Even if there is a big difficulty, you must rise head-on and never back down because of any obstacles!

Seeing Horner's resolute eyes, Fang Yan couldn't help but feel a heavy feeling in his heart. The ordinary German soldiers and civilians of this era are so loyal and loyal: they can sacrifice everything for the rejuvenation and rise of the country and the nation! Suddenly, Fang Yan once again deeply understood what Hitler said to himself in prison 15 years ago: Only on the front battlefield, with comrades who are also willing to shed their blood for the country, can he calm down the disappointment and anger generated by the betrayal in the rear. (To be continued.) )