"Arrogance!" When Wilson heard the news from Berlin, Wilson angrily yelled in front of Asquith: "These damn nouveau riche want to compare with the Royal Navy's 7:9 number on dreadnoughts?!" They have no sincerity in negotiating at all! ”

Asquith frowned, put up with Wilson's noise pollution and turned to McKenna, he didn't want to talk nonsense with that rude Wilson, so he said to his naval secretary: "The Germans are now only two ships different from us, and they are willing to accept a 7:9 ratio is already a big concession." ”

"Your Excellency Asquith, the Germans appear to have made concessions on the surface, but in fact they have laid a huge trap." McKenna explained: "First of all, we have four battleships with 13.5-inch guns, one armored cruiser, all of which have been started at the beginning of the year, and the Germans have not started a single new ship so far this year, so we are actually seven ships different from them, not two."

On the one hand, they just want to use their unstarted planning ships as bargaining chips to increase their own weight, if you don't count these 5 ships that have not started construction, in fact, the number ratio between the Germans and ours has reached 7:9, and they have not made any concessions at all!

On the other hand, use the planned battleships that have not yet started construction to exchange with us. If, according to their demands, the two countries stop building ships for 1 year, then it means that our super dreadnoughts with 13.5-inch guns must be stopped, and their new ships have not started at all, and they can crush our battleships on the slipway without paying any price! McKenna said that this was also a bit of a gnashing of teeth, and the German's hand was also an empty glove white wolf, and it was very beautiful.

"Although what you said McKenna does have a point, if we don't come to an agreement with the Germans, then the Germans will continue to build ships according to the existing plan. Therefore, the 7:9 ratio does not mean that the Germans have not made concessions. Asquith began: "Since the Germans are willing to exchange 45% of the total number of capital ships of the Royal Navy for an alliance with us, it means that they are still willing to negotiate with us." ”

"Your Excellency, it is impossible for us to accede to their demands, for an alliance with Germany would mean that we would withdraw from the alliance with France and Russia, and such an act would ruin our credibility." Gray on the side immediately dissuaded. Gray, who knew that his prime minister was about to be driven crazy by finances, was afraid that Asquith would have a hot brain and agreed to the Germans' request, if that would really cause a big mess. But the Germans will know this. Will definitely complain: "The British are also reputable?" ”

"I understand this, and of course we will not renounce the Entente with France and Russia. However, judging from Haldane's feedback, it is clear that the Germans are distrustful of our commitment to neutrality, and I think we can make some more concessions in this regard, and it is much less expensive to agree with the Germans in this regard than it would be for us to continue the endless competition with them. Asquith said, since one white strip can't frighten the Germans, then I will open two white strips, and I really can't give the Germans a little sweetness, and the good politicians are playing this hand perfectly.

"I don't see it that way. Excellency. McKenna shook his head, and from a political point of view, there might not be anything wrong with Asquith's idea, but from the point of view of the Royal Navy, it was clear that it would not be enough to immediately curb the momentum of German man-made ships: "The premise of the 45% size of the Germans is based on an alliance with our country, and if an alliance cannot be formed, then this condition will not be possible."

And we need a large number of ships to defend our rights and interests abroad, so we cannot massively dismantle those former dreadnoughts, which the Germans do not need. They can guarantee the speed of their new ship construction by dismantling the old ones. The Germans put forward such a condition, apparently aiming at the need for our country to maintain a huge overseas fleet, and their little fleet in Africa and Asia is simply negligible! If it follows their plan. In fact, for at least 10 years, we and they will not be able to close the gap in the number of dreadnoughts! ”

When Fisher wanted to dismantle the old rags that were not even dreadnoughts, they could cause a major earthquake in the Royal Navy, and now Wilson's prestige and temper continue to dismantle the overseas fleet? Those conservatives can eat him alive! McKenna didn't want conservatives to get a handle on Fisher's naval reform at this time.

"Not only can we not accept their conditions, but we also need to speed up our pace! Those damned Germans are not fools! I don't believe that their so-called stop building ships for a year is out of good intentions! Wilson on the side shouted: "They just want to stall for time, and they want our 13.5-inch naval gun super dreadnoughts to threaten them later!"

Moreover, their parliament just passed a budget at the beginning of the year to increase the cost of the navy, but the number of ships they built has not increased. This also means a significant increase in the performance of their new ship! I don't believe they're going to use the money to build cruisers, they don't have that many overseas areas to patrol!

Their request this time confirmed our previous judgment - the Germans are already developing a 14-inch naval gun! It's just that they're slow, so they want to slow us down so they can catch up! "Just because Wilson is reckless doesn't mean he's a bale of straw. He saw at a glance the purpose of this very strange request of the Germans. But alas, he was not a politician, he could only think about it from the point of view of a soldier, so he took the bait, as the Germans expected.

"Isn't that too arbitrary?" Churchill on the side scoffed: "Maybe the Germans, as I said before, have to slow down the pace of building ships due to financial constraints?" ”

"Your Excellency Churchill, where do you see that the Germans are financially strained by the fact that their foreign trade is rising every year, that the stock market of the Germans is rising well, and that the German government has a lower debt than we do?" McKenna scoffed: "And the Germans just passed a budget to increase naval spending at the beginning of the year, which is not like a resolution that would be made in a financially tight situation." McKenna's words made Churchill's face red and white with embarrassment.

Although no one here is willing to admit this, it is a sure fact that the Germans' gross national product and fiscal income exceed that of Britain, and Germany's steel production has reached more than 130% of that of Britain, France, and Russia combined.

"So it seems that Haldane has returned in vain this time." Asquith sighed.

"I can't say that, Your Excellency Prime Minister, we have at least figured out the future plans of the Germans to build ships, and it is indeed possible that they are already developing new large-caliber naval guns, which is what we were aiming for in the first place. It's good to get those Germans to stop going crazy, but it's not a bad thing that it doesn't work out, at least in the future, when the Royal Navy can be prepared. McKenna reassured.

Asquith nodded, but did not speak, he was worried that the Germans began to develop 14-inch naval guns, so the previous plan of the Navy to build a 15-inch naval gun warship was very likely to be put on his desk, but he had no way to refuse at that time, so the government's revenue and expenditure situation ...... The thought of this gave Asquith a headache.

"It seems that we are going to speed up the construction of 13.5-inch gun-gun dreadnoughts, and we are going to try to secure as many 13.5-inch gun-gun battleships as possible before the Germans put their 14-inch gunboats into service, so as to ensure our quality superiority." At this time, Wilson didn't open any pot and continued to block Asquith.

Asquith nodded helplessly, it seems that next year's financial expenditure will increase again.

"Everything is as we expected, Your Majesty." Tirpitz scoffed: "The British are really unwilling to face reality. ”

"This does not bode well, Alfred, but it only shows that our external environment is getting more and more tense." Machar sighed, this negotiation did not lead to anything, and Haldane was left with a bunch of empty words of friendship between the two countries that no one believed. For Marchar, the British insincerity made him worried about Germany's diplomatic woes.

"It's better to rely on oneself to gain respect than to count on other people's friendship, and we didn't expect much from this negotiation, did we?" Jochen said.

"Your Majesty, that's what you said." Marchar nodded.

"Then, it's up to you next, and we want to fully express our regret and disappointment that we have not made progress in the negotiations." Jochen smiled slightly.

Since the British are not sincere, then the Germans will not let go of such a good opportunity for public opinion warfare. The Germans' willingness to slow down the pace of shipbuilding, and their willingness to accept a 45 percent comparison of the number of capital ships in exchange for an olive branch from the British were rejected, and the proposal of the two countries to stop building ships for a year to cool down tense relations was also denied, and the decision made by the British to destroy the friendship between the two countries and hurt the feelings of the two peoples made the German government feel extremely regretful, and said that Germany would never close the door to negotiations, and that the argument that Germany was willing to accept the olive branch handed by the British at any time would become the main topic of discussion in the German media for a long time.

Jochen began to sketch in his head the picture of Asquith smashing the newspaper. (To be continued......)