Although Jochen said that he wanted to meet the Russian side immediately, the German crown prince hurriedly ran to meet him, which showed that the German side was a little impatient with the Russians' intention to cooperate, so in order to take a stand, Jochen decided that the other party should speak first about military cooperation.

Therefore, although the German Navy warmly received the officers sent by the Russians, and also organized a ball, and invited the staff of the Russian Embassy in Germany to participate in it, and everyone enjoyed themselves, the Germans did not mention what kind of military cooperation the Russians wanted, as if they did not take the wishes revealed by the Russians as a matter at all.

So the next day, the impatient Russians asked to see Jochen instead of going directly to Tirpitz, the head of the naval office in charge of these matters, and Jochen received the Russian visitors in the palace.

"To convey to you the greetings of His Majesty Nicholas, His Highness Joachim." A Russian vice admiral with the same forked beard as Tirpitz saluted Jochen.

"Thank you very much for your concern, and I would like to ask you to convey my greetings to Nicholas, Your Excellency Lieutenant General Makarov." Jochen also responded very politely.

"I will definitely convey it on my behalf, please rest assured, I believe that Your Majesty will be very happy." Makarov saluted again.

"Please be seated, Vice Admiral, it is a pleasure to meet you, I have heard of your great name for a long time, and your books are books that I often read, and your attainments in the navy are admirable." Jochen greeted him warmly.

"Your Highness Xie, Your Highness has praised it falsely, Your Highness's talent in the navy is also amazing, and I dare not boast in front of Your Highness about my little achievements." Makarov said modestly.

Despite Makarov's words, Jochen knew that his accomplishments were not worth mentioning in front of him. Stepan? Osibovi? Makarov, the most dazzling general in the entire Tsarist Russian Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. In Jochen's opinion, he was one of the few brilliant men who were a bunch of wasted Russian admirals.

Makarov was studying the sinking resistance of ships before the 80s of the 19th century, and was called "the founder of the theoretical research on the unsinkability of ships" by the later Soviet and Russian naval circles, and in 1881 in the Russian-Turkish War, he created the first case of torpedo sinking of a warship in history.

Then, when he was the deputy commander of the Baltic Fleet, he invented the Makarov bullet cap, that is, the armor-piercing bullet by the cap, and in 1897, he summed up the experience of the Sino-Japanese War and wrote a huge work "On the Tactical Problems of the Navy", which comprehensively expounded the basic principles of the operation of the ships of the armored fleet. It has had a huge impact in the world naval community.

Therefore, Makarov was not only a naval hero, but also a technical officer, a master of strategy and tactics, and not only that, he was also an excellent oceanographer and polar scientist.

He first discovered the deep-water currents of the Bosphorus in 1881 and wrote "On the Exchange of Water in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean", then in 1886 he explored the vast areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during a three-year voyage around the world, writing "The Warrior" and the Pacific Ocean, and in 1899 he also carried out a large-scale polar expedition.

It is inconceivable that such an all-round talent can appear in that waste-filled place of the Russian Navy. However, it is precisely such outstanding talents who come to Germany that can see the importance that the Russians attach to this trip.

Makarov is not a central bureaucrat in the Russian Admiralty now, although he is indeed not far from St. Petersburg as the commander of the port of Kronstadt, but let him come instead of asking the Russian Admiralty to send a technocrat over, I guess Niki is also a little uneasy about his own waste.

As soon as Makarov sat down, he went straight to the point, without the slightest circle: "His Royal Highness Joachim, I have come to Germany this time at the behest of His Majesty Nikolai, mainly in the hope of exchanging naval technology with your country. Since the armored cruiser USS Grombowie of our Navy was recommended by your Highness. And it was built by a shipyard owned by you, Your Highness, so before a formal meeting with His Excellency Lieutenant General Tirpitz. I would like to ask you first, this is also the meaning of Nicholas Xià. ”

"Don't dare to ask for advice, just discuss together, if there is anything that Your Excellency Makarov needs me to tell, I will know everything and say everything."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for the Grombowie that your country built for our country. Our navy was so pleased with her performance that we built our own armored cruiser Bayan in accordance with the drawings provided by your country, and these two armored cruisers will become the backbone of our Pacific Fleet cruiser fleet.

Therefore, we are very grateful for your help, but because of our need to maintain peace in the Far East, we believe that it is necessary to strengthen the cruiser fleet of the Pacific Fleet. Therefore the first thought came to your country, and His Majesty Nikolai also thought of asking for your opinion first.

Therefore, I would like to ask Your Highness for advice on whether your country can build a new armored cruiser that is even more powerful than the Grombowie. Makarov asked bluntly.

As soon as Jochen heard Makarov's words, he roughly understood the reason why the Russians would come to Germany to ask for more powerful armored cruisers, which was also a change in Jochen's butterfly wings.

It is true that the size of the Japanese Navy did not exceed the level of the same period in history, and the 66th Fleet still had 6 battleships and 6 armored cruisers, not to mention the battleships, but the armored cruisers had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Although the Grom Bowie in the hands of the Russians is a 12,000-ton gadget, its basic design is still derived from the Elizabeth class, and the design of the Japanese Asama class is also derived from the Elizabeth class, so the Russians can roughly deduce the performance of the Japanese warship after getting the design drawings of the Grombowie.

Historically, the Russians did not react much to the Japanese armored cruisers, that is because the armored cruisers built by the British had a displacement of more than 9,700 tons, but the firepower was only 4 8-inch guns and 14 6-inch guns.

But now the armored cruisers built by the Germans are equipped with 4 240 mm naval guns and 12 150 mm naval guns, and the situation is very different, you must know that the 10-inch naval guns are already the main guns of the second class battleships, coupled with the frantic armor coverage area of the German armored cruisers, the Russians said that the pressure is great.

At this time, among the battleships of the Russian Pacific Fleet, the Crown Prince ordered from France and the Retvizan ordered from the United States were quite worthy of World War I, and the Petropavlovsk-class second-class battleships were simply scum with a combat effectiveness of only 5.

With a displacement of 9,000 tons, 4 254-mm main guns, 8 152-mm secondary guns, although the caliber of the main gun is a little larger, it is a retreat gun, and the rate of fire is not half a star and a half, so the firepower is not as good as the Asama class. The number of the waterline armor belt is very good, 406 mm, but if you actually look at the coverage area of the armor belt, the length is less than 50 meters, and the height is less than 2 meters. Look at yourself, and then look at the 152-mm armor belt of the German armored cruiser that covered almost the entire flank, and it was a tear.

In this way, not to mention the armored cruisers of the Russian Pacific Fleet, even the Petropavlovsk-class second-class battleships will not be able to please the armored cruisers of the Japanese Navy, so it will be a big trouble.

At this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet only had 5 battleships, 3 of which were of the Petropavlovsk class, and the only armored cruiser detachment could see was one Grombowie and Bayan.

In addition, Rurik (the first generation) and the Russians are even inferior to the Bayan's old armored cruisers, so that the original historical 5 battleships and 3 armored cruisers had a slight advantage over 6 battleships and 6 armored cruisers, and now it is equivalent to an overwhelming disadvantage of 12 battleships on the opposite side.

Even if Nicholas II approved a seven-year plan for the expansion of the Pacific Fleet this year, the plan is expected to cost 210 million rubles, equivalent to about 230 million yen, which is equivalent to building another Japanese 66th Fleet, but what is the use of money, and the armored cruisers that can match the Japanese cannot be made by the Russians.

In this case, the Russians could only look for the Germans. Of course, Yoheng will not refuse this kind of thing, on the one hand, Jochen does not want to see the Japanese family dominate, and it is of course best for both sides to fight and lose. On the other hand, a large order of 210 million rubles, more than 400 million marks, can gnaw a little bit is a little.

However, Jochen still pretended to be a master: "Germany and Russia have been friendly for generations, and the two countries have cooperated tacitly in the diplomatic, economic, and military fields over the years, and the two families of Romanov and Hohenzollern are even closer. We have always been happy to help your request.

However, in recent years, your country has ordered the battleship Crown Prince and the Trout-class fleet mine-strike ship from France, the battleship Retvizan from the United States, and even the catfish-class fleet mine-strike ship from Britain, but only our shipyards have been left aside.

This makes our country very disappointed, is it possible that the level of our Germany's capital ships is inferior to that of France and the United States? And the Type 1895 destroyers of our country are not stronger than the fleet mine-strike ships built by France and Great Britain in any respect?

It hurts your country to do this. (To be continued......)