"Your Majesty, the British have just announced in a high-profile manner that they will immediately start construction of 6 new battleships, and it is clear that the British are targeting our German-class battleships." Tirpitz frowned, and reported to Jochen with some concern: "It is clear that the British are anxious to close the gap in the number of new battleships between them and us in a short time. ”

"The British already have a Dreadnought, 3 have been started this year, and 6 more will be started next year, while we have 6 ships in the German class, and we are going to start construction of 4 ships this year, basically the British can have a total of 10 new battleships at the same time as us." Jochen lowered his head and said with some mockery: "It's really rich to start construction of 6 battleships at once." Didn't you do a lot of work before to save money, to eliminate old warships and lay off a large number of sailors? Now I can't see the lack of money. ”

"The British's naval shipbuilding budget for next year should have been set, and it must not be the original plan to start construction of six battleships at once, it must be that the Royal Navy has persuaded the parliament to increase the funds." Tirpitz guessed.

Tirpitz was right, and Fisher asked Parliament to approve the construction of three more battleships, citing the fact that the Germans now had a numerical advantage over the new battleships, posed a great threat to the Royal Navy, and forced Britain to back down on Morocco in order to avoid a conflict with Germany.

Although Fisher had hoped to allocate a portion of the cost of the construction of the three ships to build battlecruisers, the Admiralty also refused on the grounds that the Royal Navy now needed to make up the gap between the number of battleships and the Germans rather than the armored cruisers.

The reform of the Royal Navy allowed the navy's military spending to stop falling after just two years, and in one fell swoop exceeded 10 million pounds, which is the third budget in the history of the Royal Navy to exceed 10 million.

"The British are also being forced to be in a hurry, with the current economic situation of the British, the funding of 6 battleships is definitely not a figure that can be taken lightly. It is estimated that the funding gap will be enough for the British to have a headache. Jochen shook his head and said, "But I don't think the British will sit idly by and watch us maintain such an advantage even if they go bankrupt." ”

In fact, in 1907-1908, there was a funding gap of about 1 million pounds in the British Royal Navy's shipbuilding funds, and in order to make up for this gap, the officials of the Royal Navy's Admiralty began to tear down the east wall and make up for the west wall, and the stupidest thing they did was to embezzle the 100,000 pounds of the fire control system research grant signed between Pollon and the Royal Navy.

And in order not to pay, the Royal Navy also cheated in systematic tests in Slopen. to deliberately fail the experiment and use this as an excuse to refuse to fulfill the contract. Because in the eyes of the Admiralty officials, the value of the fire control system is far less than that of the battleship itself. Although the Admiralty continued to support Pollen's research, by this time the Royal Navy had begun to look for cheaper alternatives, which eventually led to the lack of widespread adoption of the Pollon system in the Royal Navy.

Now that the British are so crazy about starting construction of 6 battleships at once, I really don't know how big a funding gap will be and how much other research will be affected. It would be best if the fire control system could be cut down, let alone the Polen system. Even the Dreyer system has been canceled.

Of course, Jochen knows that this kind of thing can only be thought about, it is impossible, the fire control system is a technical research that Fisher attaches great importance to, and it will not be lost.

"Although we had anticipated that our numerical superiority would not be able to last long, we did not expect the British to react so violently and for such a short period of time." Tirpitz said with some frustration.

From the beginning, the German Navy was not built on an equal footing with the Royal Navy, and maintaining a 2:3 ratio of capital ships was expected for Tirpitz's "risk fleet", and it was difficult for the German Navy to build up to the size of the Royal Navy. Tirpitz, who had long been self-aware of this, was mentally prepared for the fact that sooner or later the number of new battleships of the British would catch up with the Germans.

It's just that I didn't expect the British to bridge this gap by starting construction of 6 battleships at once, which made Tirpitz a little difficult to accept.

"Don't think too much about it, Alfred. We are about to start construction of 4 battleships, and even if the British start construction of 6, it will only be the same in terms of the total number, and this kind of force is enough to deter the British. Jochen was reassured.

That being said, Jochen knew that things could not be so simple, and that the British would not be satisfied with simply catching up with the Germans. Not only was it unacceptable to the Royal Navy, but also to the British people, and the crazy slogan of "the Germans built one, we built two" was shouted when the Germans started construction of the Nassau class and decided to start construction of four battleships a year in the future.

And the British are really crazy. In 1909, a budget for up to 8 capital ships was approved, and the Anglo-German naval competition reached its climax.

So at the current pace, it is estimated that the British will soon be able to shout this slogan, even if Jochen knows that this crazy move of the British cannot last, but the pressure on Germany in a short period of time is enormous.

"Alfred, how is the issue of amendments to the Navy Act going? How many people can we get in Parliament? Yochen asked.

"Your Majesty, in addition to the parliamentarians who have always supported the navy, the previous British announcement of a blockade of the North Sea has also angered some people who were originally neutral, and these people should also be on our side. His Excellency Montecucori used his prestige and connections to bring together a considerable number of Austrian nobles, so I think it is very likely that the parliament will pass the amendment.

The Austrian parliamentarians who support us will then support the amendment with a request to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet, which the Austrians have been mentioning before, so now that His Excellency Montecucori has come forward to contact more people to make this request, the parliament should consider it carefully. Tirpitz said with some uncertainty, after all, the results of Machar's previous attempts in parliament were not optimistic, and although he has now won more supporters, Tirpitz is not 100% sure.

"It's a good idea to put His Excellency Montcucory in the General Staff, and to keep him in the position of commander of the Mediterranean Fleet is not going to be as good as it is now, Alfred." Jochen laughed and praised the fact that the Montecukori family had a long history and prominent position among the Austrian aristocracy, and that it was much better for the admiral, who was born into this family and had been the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet for a long time, to convince the Austrians than the others.

"We'll only know the outcome after the meeting." Jochen waved his hand, "Do your best again." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tirpitz bowed, then exited the room.

The naval competition has officially begun, if the German Navy is built at the current rate of 4-5 battleships per year, then it is estimated that by 1911, the previous quota stipulated in the "Navy Act" will be exhausted.

"Knock knock" Just as Jochen was guessing what the British would do next, a hurried knock on the door disrupted Jochen's thoughts: "Come in." ”

"陛xià! Good news! Masal pushed the door in with a happy face, walked quickly to Jochen's and bowed, then smiled and nodded to Tirpitz, and then said in an excited tone: "Your Majesty, the French have relented!" ”

"Did the French make concessions on the Moroccan issue?" Jochen was also happy, since the German level was exposed, Jochen found that the British had not changed their tone because of this, and they were still a German, if you dare to fight France, I will beat you.

Jochen was very uneasy about the toughness of the British, and was the British really so desperate to go to war for France and Germany? Is war really inevitable? And now that the French have backed in, it could not be better news for Jochen

"Yes, Your Majesty, that old stubborn de Carce, who was impeached and forced to resign, and the French Prime Minister Rovière, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs, has sent a request to our country for negotiations on the Moroccan question!" Marchar said excitedly.

"Why was De Carcey impeached? With the support of the British, he should have a considerable say in the French government, right? Jochen was puzzled.

"Because the French people believe that it is De Carce's hatred of us and the clumsiness of his diplomatic methods that have led to the current tension between Germany and France. And once the war broke out, France would pay huge losses, and the French people were unwilling to go to war with us for a piece of African land, so a wave of protests broke out against De Carce, so De Carce was impeached and forced to resign. Mashal replied.

"Hahahaha, that arrogant and clumsy old guy didn't expect this to happen, right? The French people have really helped us solve a big problem! For the first time, I thought the French were so cute. Jochen smiled heartily.

However, the real reason behind the turmoil in the French government and the driving force behind it Jochen is unknown, only that the French government has bent to the will of the people, and a war can be avoided.

"Your Majesty, since the French are interested in negotiating, how should we reply?" Mashal asked

"Then let Rovier come to Berlin, so that the sincerity of the French can be demonstrated." "If Rovière agrees to bilateral negotiations in Berlin, then the return of troops on the border to their stations shows that we sincerely want a peaceful solution to the Moroccan problem," Jochen said.

As for the terms of the negotiations, my demands are very simple: first, the agreements reached between France and Spain must be annulled, secondly, Morocco must remain independent, and thirdly, Germany must take part in the future when it comes to Morocco, and you can decide the rest. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." (To be continued......)