With the departure of the army's top generals, only Hitler and Raeder remained in the vast Chancellor's office. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Seeing the admiral in front of him, Hitler tried to put on a friendly and gentle smile on his face, but there was still a bit of resentment in his eyes, obviously angry at the leak of the yellow scheme just now. Soon after the two exchanged pleasantries, Hitler became dumbfounded, gritting his teeth and cursing Brauchitsch and others for their cowardice, deceit, and betrayal. Hitler even began to suspect that the army had orchestrated yesterday's intelligence leaks: because this would disrupt the Supreme Command's plans for an offensive on the Western Front, so that Germany would never meet the French in real arms.

Faced with Hitler's bad mood, Raeder could only sigh in his heart that he was unlucky, and he carefully reported to Hitler on the readiness of the naval fleet, lest the dictator spill the resentment of the army on himself. However, Hitler did not show any anger during the whole process, and only nodded calmly when he heard the news that the first fleet would depart in three days. This made Raeder feel less stressed, so much so that his original ambition for this year's budget became hot again.

"Honorable Führer, this is the type and number of warships that the Navy is preparing to build this year." Raeder handed over the document in his hand and said with a look of anticipation. For Raeder, one of the advantages of Hitler's rise to power was that he no longer had to go to great lengths to lobby the vast number of MPs when fighting for the budget, but only needed to get Hitler's approval alone. The latter basically met the requirements of the Navy, and even ranked the Navy's resource budget priority ahead of the Army.

It was for this reason that Raeder became more and more loyal to Hitler: not only did the leader restore the country and the traditional Prussian army, but he also did not disparage or reject the German navy, which had been so infamous for its many years.

Hitler looked at the plan handed over by Raeder in his hand, and his brows suddenly wrinkled slightly: "4 heavy battleships and 4 fleet aircraft carriers will be built this year?" My marshal, are you preparing to restart Plan Z at the beginning of last year? Being pierced by Hitler, Raeder was suddenly a little embarrassed. However, he was obviously prepared this time, and immediately explained: "Honorable Führer, this is the result of the Navy's analysis of the existing shipbuilding plans of the British Navy and the United States, a potential hypothetical enemy. ”

"Since 1937, Britain has built a total of 9 battleships and 3 aircraft carriers, of which in 1939 alone, 4 new battleships were pushed onto the slipway by the British. According to the information sent back by the 'Rhine', the British, after learning the real caliber of our Bismarck-class's guns, greatly modified the initial design of these four battleships: Vickers had begun to comprehensively attack the triple turrets of the 457 mm L45 giant guns, and was preparing to equip their new battleships with three. Considering that the British actually equipped their warships with 457mm L40 cannons in 1918, it was absolutely necessary for us to be vigilant. Raeder said solemnly.

"France has left the national club of the Navy with 18-inch (457 mm) guns ahead of schedule due to its financial and technological lag, but the United States is a potential adversary ten times more powerful than France. Twenty years ago, the country was able to build the world's largest navy with its industrial and technological might, but it didn't do so for the time being. Since the dismantling of the London naval system in 1937, Roosevelt, the war traitor, has agitated Congress to approve the construction of six new battleships and two aircraft carriers; After the real caliber of the Bismarck-class guns is revealed, the capital ships they will start next will definitely upgrade the caliber of the main guns to 18 inches. ”

Hitler was silent, and his mind had begun to calculate silently. Raeder's reasoning actually holds up: the arms race has always been about going forward or retreating. This is true both in terms of quantity and technology.

At that time, Germany was the first to use the 305 mm L50 cannon on the Helgoland-class battleships, and was complacent about it for 3 or 4 years, and only when the King class was built did it find that the 381 mm heavy guns of the British were on the ship? By the time the Battle of Jutland broke out,The German High Seas Fleet could only use 283 mm、305 mm small water pipe,Go to the front to slap the British343 mm、381 mm,Directly forced out of the big bomb。 If it weren't for the fact that the British had a problem with the fuse of the shells, the 21 capital ships of the German High Seas Fleet would have to explain half of it!

"Although the number of battleships and aircraft carriers is slightly higher than four each, in reality, the cost of this naval expansion plan is not as large as imagined. Because we completely eliminated the cruiser, which was a very expensive type of ship, and replaced it with a multifunctional armored destroyer. After diluting the cost of mass production, the unit price of the Z-type assembly and drive with a standard displacement of 3,050 tons is only 14 million marks, which is only one-fifth of that of 10,000 tons of heavy cruise. In total, the entire shipbuilding program will cost only 4 billion marks, accounting for less than 16 percent of last year's total revenue of 25.4 billion marks. Raeder added confidently.

Although this proportion is quite staggering in peacetime, it is a different story in the current war environment: You must know that at least 80% of the government's revenue in wartime will be invested in armaments, and the issuance of war government bonds to borrow money from the private sector is a trick that governments have tried and tested time and time again. It is not too simple to make use of all the wealth of the 110 million people currently controlled by the German government and to build a second high seas fleet!

"Although the Ministry of Finance can support this plan, it is difficult for the Ministry of Economy to do so." Hitler finally put the document back on the table, shook his head and denied, "The unit price of the battleships in this plan is as high as 250 million marks, and the standard displacement is at least 60,000 tons; this is too great for the consumption of steel, and it is bound to greatly affect the normal production of tanks, artillery, ammunition and other weapons." Even if steel can be satisfied, there will still be significant shortages of other metals such as copper, nickel, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, chromium, and aluminum. ”

Hitler had a look of amazement on his face and said, "My marshal, you must know that this is no longer a time of peace for free trade. A large part of our supply of rare metals depended on the Soviet Union, and the output of the southern Balkans did not meet all the needs of our country. If these battleships were halfway through and Stalin suddenly stuck our necks, it would be a very tricky thing. Unless the war ends and Germany's maritime trade resumes, it will be difficult to build up to eight large warships in terms of raw materials. (To be continued.) )