"At a time when all eyes of Europe are on Berlin, is it appropriate for you to come to Trieste yourself? And you called me? Is it the desire for our country to join the German military campaign? It's not that I don't want to help you, Jochen, but if Germany and France go to war, I'm afraid I won't be able to help much here in the Mediterranean. Ferdinand, the king of Croatia-Slovenia and a personal friend of the German Emperor, persuaded Jochen with some worry and some helplessness.

The two were drinking afternoon tea on the balcony inside Miramar Castle, bathed in the mild sunshine, the sea breeze blowing from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea was refreshing, and the two sitting side by side seemed to be chatting more about family affairs than military affairs.

Originally the castle of the Habsburgs, the Archduke of Austria and later executed in Spain, the castle of the Mexican Emperor Maximiliano I, and now the residence of the German Emperor, is also the residence of Johenlai's Trieste.

"I understand, Franz, I am already grateful that the Croatian government has made it clear that it agrees with Germany's position on Morocco, and it would be too bad to ask for more." Jochen laughed and said, "And to be honest, we are not strong enough to compete with the French in the Mediterranean, so we can't drag you into the water." Besides, if you wish to discuss joining forces, you should be invited to Berlin as well, and we should meet in Vienna instead of here. ”

Hearing Jochen's words, Ferdinand relieved himself, after all, he knew very well how many catties and taels his kingdom had, maybe the army was still a strong army in the Balkans, but the navy really couldn't be put on the table, let alone the behemoth of France, even the decaying and backward Ottoman Turkey could beat itself.

But if you don't ask the weak Croatian Navy to go to war, why do you call yourself here? And, as Jochen said, not in Berlin. What is the purpose of the meeting in Trieste instead of Vienna?

Seeing the puzzled expression on Ferdinand's face, Jochen did not directly answer Ferdinand's doubts, but mentioned an irrelevant matter: "Franz, do you remember that you originally asked our country to buy the Brandenburg class, but I rejected it?" ”

"Of course, I remember when you said that the appearance of the unified all-heavy artillery battleships would make all the old battleships obsolete, so let me wait. And there is no need to buy those battleships that are about to become obsolete. Ferdinand was slightly unhappy when he mentioned this: "However, there was no news at all, and now the British have preemptively built the Dreadnought, and I have to resist the attitude of the domestic admirals, and I have not considered any capital ship construction plans for such a long time." ”

Having received some German-supported equipment from the Pula Naval Shipyard, Croatia established its own shipbuilding industry, capable of building small ships of the thousand-ton class.

The Croatian Navy, on the other hand, began with the assembly of drawings and accessories provided by Germany, and gradually completed the road of self-construction of torpedo boats, destroyers and submarines. However, the largest ships of the Croatian Navy are still the two cruisers given by Germany at the time of the separation, which naturally makes the Croatian Navy, which hopes to have a superior naval position among the Balkan countries, feel quite dissatisfied.

In fact, Ferdinand's statement was quite plain, and in fact, some of the admirals in China even proposed that the Germans were unwilling to sell capital ships to Croatia. Then let's find someone else to buy. Both the British Royal Navy's two agile classes and the Italian Navy's Garibaldi class have been the subject of inspection by the Croatian Navy's top brass.

If it weren't for Ferdinand's very righteous concealment of the Germans' new research, and at the same time suppressing the demands of his admirals, the Croatian-Slovenian Royal Navy would have run away with others.

Speaking of this, Ferdinand reacted immediately: "So your unified all-heavy artillery battleship is going to be announced to the public?" The 6 battleships that are being built now are these new warships, right? The secrecy is very good, I haven't heard anything about them going into the water, and I thought there was something wrong with your construction work. ”

"Would you send a telegram to ask? Anyway, I've already told you, so I won't have anything to hide from you. Jochen said: "You are right, you were invited to attend the completion ceremony of the Upper Austria built at the STT shipyard. We're really ready to make an announcement. ”

"It's not safe, so it's better not to let anyone have access to it." Ferdinand shook his head: "You are going to use the news of the completion of these warships to deter the British?" ”

"That's right. The ships of the Royal Navy have recently increased the frequency of patrolling in the North Sea, and it is clear that they will actually blockade the entire North Sea if we go to war with France, or even worse, the British will directly enter the war. This possibility has already affected Germany's domestic foreign trade and shipping industry.

Moreover, the aggressive attitude of the British also fueled the arrogance of the French, and some time ago the French also announced in a high-profile manner that they would start construction of a new type of battleship, and said that it would be a super battleship second only to the Dreadnought. Hehe, I think when the 4 German-class battleships are unveiled en masse. What the British and French would look like. Jochen sneered, do you really think the Germans are easy to bully?

"I kind of understand your tough confidence, if this kind of warship is really so amazing to the British, then it means that the balance of British and German naval strength will be reversed." Ferdinand suddenly realized, and said with a smile: "You have forced the English into a corner. ”

"Twist to the point where it doesn't. But it was enough to make the British throw a mouse, and whether it was worth it to lose the main force of the Royal Navy for the sake of the French, I don't think the British would be so brainless. Jochen replied flatly.

"Well, the French dared to confront Germany because they had the support of Britain, and Britain because of their absolute confidence in the strength of the Royal Navy, and now that this self-confidence is gone, then Britain may not support France like this, so won't France, which had taken a tough attitude before, step down?" Ferdinand gloated a little and said, "What a good play you played." ”

"Actually, I don't want to do that, if the French are willing to sit down and talk to us directly, it would be better, but if you have to let someone else intervene, then I will not accompany you." Jochen spread his hands, looking innocent.

"Okay, in that case, I don't have to worry about anything." Ferdinand smiled and said, "So is it possible to build this kind of warship for our country now?" My naval commander is always talking in front of me. ”

"This shows that His Excellency Vice Admiral House attaches great importance to naval construction, and you should be happy to have such a naval commander." Jochen teased, "Besides, you don't wait for our warship to evaluate before making a decision?" Ready to take the plunge and buy this completely new warship now? ”

Anton von Hauss, a native of Tolmin, Slovenia, joined the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1869 and served as an instructor at the Austro-Hungarian Naval Officer School and was the supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in World War I.

After the Austro-Hungarian breakup, the Slovenian-born Haus did not stay in Austria, but chose to join the then very weak Croatian-Slovenian Royal Navy, and was heavily used for his participation in the formation of the Croatian-Slovenian Royal Naval Academy, so that in 1905 he became the commander of the Croatian-Slovenian Navy.

The vice admiral's role as commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in World War I was quite good, and although he had a relatively conservative side, he was also one of the few admirals in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who supported unrestricted submarine warfare, so it was happy to see him become the commander of the Croatian-Slovenian Navy.

"The British have already built such warships and hyped them up without flattery, and you have built six of them, so how can you do this if you don't have faith?" Ferdinand said confidently: "I can't imagine that Croatia will become the third country in the world to have such a new type of warship, so that the Croatian navy in the Balkans will always be a force to be reckoned with." But will building new battleships for us affect your own shipbuilding plans? ”

For Ferdinand's confidence, Jochen decided not to pour cold water on him, if nothing else, the Americans are estimated to have started construction of South Carolina-class battleships, and the Brazilians are probably also discussing with the British to build their own Minas Gerais-class battleships, this third place will definitely not fall on the head of Croatia.

"Rest assured, the Trieste shipyard and the Danube Ganz shipyard can undertake the construction of new battleships for the Croatian Navy, and if the Croatian Navy needs it, we can spare him to take your orders when the battleship that is being built at the STT shipyard is completed." Jochen said that in 1907 the German Navy planned to build only six large warships, and the STT shipyard was empty, so it was better to let him take orders from other countries.

"Even if you could build it, we wouldn't be able to afford it." Ferdinand smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "Our navy has limited funds, we can't spend all of them on this, and we can only take out about 3 million pounds." ”

"Well, that's true, and it also takes a lot of energy and financial resources to train qualified officers and men who can give full play to the combat capabilities of new warships, and it is difficult to digest too many warships at once." Jochen nodded: "Don't worry, we have considered the situation in Croatia, so the battleships prepared for you are designed according to the needs of the Mediterranean, so they are not a simple copy of the German class being built in our country, and the price is also controlled as much as possible." I've already brought the blueprints, but I can't see them here, so we're going to change places first. ”

With that, Jochen stood up and made a gesture to Ferdinand. (To be continued......)

ps: Today's battleship girl suffered heavy losses, playing 6-1 suppression tasks, asking 2ca to see the boss, 4cv+2ca and 4bb+2ca full level lineup to try all kinds of fiascos, consume 70+ barrels and finally pass the level, this task is simply emaciated R1292