The music played by the band was elegant and joyful, like flowing clouds dancing leisurely in the sky; Fang Yan and his cheap brother Freya sat opposite each other, sharing their lives and experiences in a relaxed mood while talking and laughing.

Fang Yan sighed slightly and said, "In the past few years, brother, you have paid too much for your family. The fact that the branch of the shipyard was able to gain a foothold in Soviet Russia and present today is the result of your struggle alone in Leningrad. Speaking of which, I was the first to raise the troublesome matter of establishing a shipyard branch in Soviet Russia with my father, but I never took into account the difficulty of setting up a capital factory in a communist country. It was precisely because of my reckless remarks that my brother had spent so long in that evil country whose purpose was to destroy the capitalists, and every time I thought about it, I felt a deep sense of guilt. ”

Freya shook his head with a smile and said, "Jonas, I'm not as good as you say. Because these years in Leningrad have been an invaluable training experience for me. Whether it's liaising with Soviet and Russian officials or managing companies with thousands of employees, I've learned a lot; If I had stayed in China after graduation and remained under the protection of my father, I would not have been where I am today. What's more, today's Alliance Shipyard has already achieved the results you expected. We received orders from the Russians to rebuild almost all the major warships of the navy, which not only brought a lot of wealth gains, but also gave us an ideal training opportunity for our technical team, led by submarines. ”

At this point, Freya's face showed a strange look: "But Jonas, I really didn't expect your heart to be blacker than a husky's nose." Now Russia and Germany are quite close partners, but you are taking advantage of their rebuilding of the navy to earn their money in an almost predatory way! The Frunze battleship was supposed to meet the performance requirements of the Russians with 20,000 tons, but you forcibly expanded it to 30,000 tons; And the Kirov-class cruiser, which could have been achieved with 9,000 tons, has a standard displacement of up to 14,000 tons! Although I am not as proficient in warship design as you are, I do have a certain understanding of the concept in it, so would it be a little too much for you to be so ruthless with the Russians? ”

Fang Yan was stunned when he heard this, and immediately reacted, his cheap brother was referring to his intervention in the bidding plan of the Alliance Shipyard. In the early spring of last year, Soviet Russia, which aimed to rebuild its navy, issued a tender order to domestic shipyards for the program of battleships and cruisers; Although Fang Yan had written to Rudolf asking Freya, who was far away in Leningrad, not to adopt any advanced design techniques and subsystems, he was still a little uneasy. In order to completely lead Soviet Russia into the ditch, Fang Yan finally decided to intervene personally. Based on the battleships of the Third Reich in the historical plane, he worked tirelessly to develop a design plan; Compared to the designs he now offers to the German Navy, these two drafts of designs for the Russians can be described as extremely clumsy!

Although these two plans are so bad that even Fang Yan himself is a little difficult to look at directly, for the Soviet Russian Navy, which is struggling to build destroyers of more than 1,000 tons independently, it is already the best harvest in a state of hunger. The design of their large ships has been out of gear since 1917, and not only has no research to keep pace with the times has been carried out for ten years, but even the original materials and personnel have been lost due to the war. The new young designers did not have a deep understanding of many of the key concepts, and did not understand at all that naval warfare in the new era was fundamentally different from that of Jutland. At this moment, in the face of the configuration of these two typical World War I warships proposed by Fang Yan, they accepted it as a matter of course, and immediately put it into practice after a slight change.

Fang Yan smiled and said: "Brother, this is not my intention to make the Russians bleed, but the right choice I made in accordance with the current national conditions of Soviet Russia." This vast red empire is currently ruled by the son of the Georgian shoemaker, who is undoubtedly a dictator who loves big things and grandeur. Therefore, it is only when we design the warship to be bigger, more majestic, slender and handsome, the happier the dictator will be when he sees the drawings and models, and the more likely we will be to get the corresponding orders and funds. In the case of the Kirov-class cruiser, if I had designed it to be a low-freeboard civet with a length of only 170 meters and a deck width of only 17 meters, it would have been no more attractive to a dictator than the final 200-meter-long, 21.5-meter-wide proposal. ”

The corners of Fang Yan's mouth hooked up a playful smile, and he said: "After all, today's large warships of the Soviet Russian Navy are essentially just bright new clothes used by the dictator to show his exploits. And the plan I am proposing is to achieve this goal. And even more, if the Russians do not rely on us, then who else will want to build warships for them? The asking price of $100 million for three large warships excluding weapons systems is already the most conscientious price we have offered in the context of a comprehensive technological blockade imposed by Soviet Russia by the Western world. ”

Freya's eyes flickered, as if he had reacquainted himself with his young brother after a long absence. He looked at Fang Yan with a serious expression and said, "Jonas, I think you have a lot of potential to inherit the family business. If you struggle to get the promotion you want in the very small naval officer corps, you can choose to quit the military, and my father and I will fully support you in your business development. ”

In the face of his brother's kindness, Fang Yan also responded with a smile of relief and gratitude. It is impossible for him to give up the achievements he has made today, and the hard work of the past 10 years has already made Fang Yan's heart extremely firm. And for the coveted promotion, Fang Yan also faintly felt that it was not far from him. Under the focus of training by superior officers, Fang Yan's strength and performance performance are definitely the top among officers of the same level, even if the officer team is poor now, there is definitely a stage for him to shine!

"Although I may not be qualified to ask of your brother who has spent the best years in Soviet Russia, for the sake of the family, I still hope that you will pay the closest attention to the orders of the Russian Navy." Fang Yan's expression was slightly guilty, but it was more solemn and solemn, "Although Soviet Russia is still weak today, it has inherited almost all the land and population of the old Tsarist Russian Empire after all; As long as it is given enough time, the giant polar bear will eventually regain its strength. And in the meantime, its fleet will be rebuilt, and this is a great opportunity for us, who already have a shipyard in Leningrad. ”

Freya nodded, and said gently, "I understand." Although the future Soviet Russia will certainly not accept the situation of handing over all the main warships to us to undertake the construction as this time, they will definitely support their own domestic industry; But as long as you get some of these orders, it is enough to give the family's power a gratifying boost. I can use the ruble as a weapon to bribe the officials of Soviet Russia to make a final decision in favor of the Union shipyards. After several years of contact, I have fully understood the essence of those Soviet and Russian Bolshevik officials: they talk about glorious communism, but in their hearts they are all dirty and filthy business of accumulating money, and the real ruble is enough to make them abandon their utopian and empty beliefs. ”

A slight look of surprise appeared in Fang Yan's eyes, but then there was joy and joy. It is convenient to talk to smart people, and his cheap brother has already said everything he wants to say on this subject.

After that, Fang Yan also inquired about the current status of the two R&D teams for submarines and aircraft. The two technical divisions, originally owned by the Brom-Foss shipyard, were forced to cease their activities after the end of the war; From 1923 onwards, however, these men were brought to Leningrad under Rudolph's arrangement, and after a makeover, they continued to work on violations of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles as a subordinate branch of the Union shipyards. In order to pull out a tiger skin that was enough to be used as a banner, Fang Yan claimed to Freya that it was the top brass of the Navy who attached great importance to the use of these two weapons; Even if Germany is not allowed to possess these equipment at present, as Germany's strength is revived, the chains that are firmly wrapped around the country will eventually be broken.

"You don't have to worry about that at all. The shipyard has also received orders for submarines, and the kind of aircraft that you mentioned that can glide and take off and land on flat-topped warships has also begun to be developed. Freya was optimistic, as if he was extremely satisfied with his layout in Leningrad. At present, Soviet Russia is definitely the preferred stage for the research and development of sensitive technologies by a group of enterprises represented by Brom-Foss with the secret support of the German military; In addition to the airplanes and submarines that Fang Yan was most concerned about, the research and development of army weapons such as tanks, heavy artillery, machine guns, and poison gas bombs was also in full swing in the vast and sparsely populated fields of Eastern Europe.

Freya patted Fang Yan on the shoulder and said, "Now the relations between Germany and Soviet Russia are very good, and our warships often visit the port of Kronstadt, and I have seen them several times in Leningrad. If you have the opportunity to visit aboard a battleship, you can see a new atmosphere of the Alliance Shipyard. Trust me, you'll be amazed at what happens there. ”