"She's the Dreadnought? The British seem to have high hopes for their new battleship. Jochen laughed and threw the newspaper on the table, dismissing the dreadnought's compliments.

For the name of the dreadnought, if you can't grab it, you can't grab it, although it sounds very popular to call it a German ship, but a false name is just a false name after all, and there is no need to deliberately change the original plan in order to grab this false name.

Although these flattering words were of no value to Jochen, Mashal was nervous: "Your Majesty, it may be true that the British battleships are not worth our nervousness, but our people are full of worries about the new British battleships, and they think that the British have fooled us and put our warship design at a disadvantage!" ”

Jochen did not give any answer to Mashal's nervousness, but diverted the topic and asked: "Adolf, have you ever thought that the British have been keeping it a secret all year long, and are not allowed to mislead us with great fanfare, and now there is a lack of such high-profile publicity about a battleship, but what is it for?" ”

"Wishing to mislead our navy about the design of warships and to claim that the British Navy is technologically ahead?" Guided by Jochen's words, Mashal did not dwell on the previous question, and asked with some doubt.

"Hehe, because the British have no self-confidence, the size of the Royal Navy allowed them to calmly deal with any challenge, but now they think that their navy can no longer maintain an absolute advantage as before, so they can only seek technical superiority to make up for it.

This year, the British have only started construction of 3 armored cruisers for large warships, and next year they will only start construction of 3 battleships, which is the lowest level of shipbuilding in the Royal Navy after the Boer War. ”

"陛xià means. The British wanted to warn us with the propaganda of the Dreadnought that they had mastered the technological superiority and continued to fight against us, and the gap between us and them would grow wider, right? "Then we should let the British know that it is us, not them, who have the technological and numerical superiority, right?" That would also dispel the panic of the population, wouldn't it? ”

"There is no need for this, the British are not wrong to think that they are ahead, because our ships are not yet finished, so we not only can't announce it now. Instead, to continue to cooperate with the British, I have informed Tirpitz to have the Navy Office announce the postponement of the start of construction of our new battleship, and to ask the Naval League to publicize the technology of the Dreadnought to the outside world, and the news that Germany is about to build a warship of the same type. Jochen replied with a smile.

Originally, the German Navy was ready to start construction of two high-speed battleships, and the new four slow-speed battleships were originally planned to start construction in the second half of the year, so a slight change in this situation would create the illusion that the Germans were in a hurry to redesign.

"On the contrary, not only should we not reveal the true situation of the German class, but on the contrary, we should increase the publicity of the various technical advantages of the Dreadnought, so that all citizens will realize the advantages of this new warship. Although this will cause anxiety among the people, they will be even happier when the German class appears in their eyes, and they will not only not be dissatisfied with being deceived by the government, but will be happy that the German navy has mastered numerical superiority and fooled the British. ”

The British deceived the people by releasing false news when the Intrepid was launched, but instead of being upset by this, the British were now full of pride and schadenfreude about Germany, and Jochen did not mind making the German people happy in the same way.

But just when Jochen was hoping to make the German people happy in a few months. Others wanted to upset the Germans.

"Gentlemen, the banking syndicate of the French guarantees 60% of the Moroccan customs duty. With a loan of 62.5 million francs to Morocco, it is clear that the French want to control Morocco's foreign trade and finances. And I'm sure there will be other follow-up moves from the French. "In the conference room at 10 Downing Street, the diplomat Edward? Viscount Grey to Prime Minister Henry? Sir Gambell Bannerman reported on the actions of the French.

"The French are still in contact with the Spaniards in private, right? Is there such a specific message? "Prime Minister Henry? Sir Gambell Bannerman asked.

"I'm sorry, Prime Minister, but we don't know if the French and Spaniards have reached an agreement in private. But it is not wrong that its content should be directed at Morocco. Gray replied.

"The timing chosen by the French is really bad, the Russians have just finished the war in the Far East, and the quelling of the riots in the country and the resumption of production will make it impossible for His Majesty the Tsar to take care of the affairs of Morocco, and the result of their doing so will surely drag our country into the water." Gamble said with a headache.

Henry? Sir Gamble-Bannerman was a more moderate politician who proposed a plan for Boer autonomy that went a long way in reducing the hatred of the Boers caused by the brutal methods of the British in the Boer War. It has made a great contribution to the stability of the British control of South Africa. He was therefore unusually concerned about the current British involvement in the dispute between France and Germany, which might lead to a direct conflict.

"The Russians pose no threat to Germany now, and if the Germans take a tough stance on Morocco, then the only ally the French can rely on is the British Empire, and it is very unwise for us to passively fight the Germans because of the recklessness of the French."

"But Your Excellency, we have an obligation to the French, as stipulated in the Moroccan Agreement, and we must support the French in the Moroccan question, otherwise we will lose our diplomatic credibility and it will be a disaster." Gray convinces that the loss of diplomatic credibility will make it difficult for the British to gain the trust of other countries in all future foreign affairs, which must be avoided by Foreign Secretary Gray.

"But if it means a war, then it will also be a disaster!" Gamble said.

"I think maybe the Germans didn't dare start a war." Admiral Marchbanks on the side suddenly spoke.

"Oh? Why? Your Excellency, tell me what you think. Because both Gray and Marchbanks are named Edward, Gamble likes to use their titles to distinguish them.

"Your Excellency, the Germans are not aware of our agreement with the French, so they may not anticipate our attitude, and if we make it clear that we will be on the side of the French if war breaks out, then the Germans will have some scruples, and our attitude will make them dare not act rashly, because the Royal Navy has a great deterrent that the Germans dare not take lightly.

Moreover, the entry into service of the Dreadnought had already served as a deterrent to the Germans, who delayed the construction of their new battleship, and it was clear that they realized the value of the Dreadnought and needed to revise their original design. Then the Germans, who understood the enormous technical superiority of the Dreadnought, did not have the courage to confront us at sea.

And the Germans also do not know anything about the intelligence of the armored cruisers we are building, and the armored cruisers they are preparing to build, armed with 10 9.4-inch naval guns, are about to start, which is again a bargaining chip for us, and if the Germans realize that there is such a big gap between our country in the field of battleships and armored cruisers, then they will not dare to adopt a too tough attitude on the Moroccan issue. "Marchbanks built yì to.

"In addition, I think that if there is to be a more forceful response to the German threat of war, I think it should be made clear that if Germany and France go to war, Great Britain will send an expeditionary force to France to fight alongside the French, in addition to the Royal Navy. This would also force the Germans to think carefully about their attitude, and it would also embolden the French to be tough on the Germans. "Secretary of War Richard? Haldane likewise advocated a tough stance towards Germany.

"I agree with the two Excellencies, as long as the Royal Navy puts pressure on Germany in the North Sea, the Germans will certainly have some scruples, and as long as the Germans are not prepared to solve the problem by means of war, then we will undoubtedly have an absolute advantage at the negotiating table." Gray swore that "the Russians are now too busy to take care of themselves, the Americans have no interests in North Africa, and if Spain and the French come to an agreement, then they must support France, and if France and we jointly put pressure, the Italians will not make it clear, so who will support Germany at that time?" Morocco? Who cares about their opinions? ”

"We can help France to make diplomatic contacts, and the French can also do some exchange of interests in private, and the French, who have a large colony, can come up with exciting exchange chips, but the Germans have nothing to exchange, and no one will be on the side of Germany at the conference." Count Elgin, Minister of the Colonies, Victor? Alexander? Bruce built yì to.

"I think it's too obvious to directly state our military support for France." Gamble hesitated, not wanting to be a saber-rattling approach to a colonial dispute that had nothing to do with the British Empire from the outset: "This would make the French expect more from us, and our aim was to push the Germans to the negotiating table, not to let the French force the Germans into battle." I think it is important to first express our attitude on Morocco and make the French realize that we are supporting them diplomatically. In addition, we need to guide the Germans to resolve the issue as much as possible through international conferences, so as to achieve diplomatic isolation from the Germans. Only when none of this qiē worked against the Germans should we use our military force to deter Germany. (To be continued......)