Tirpitz was thrilled by Haldane's visit, which he saw as a sign of the success of his own fleet of risks, and that the British Empire had finally had to bow its haughty head to negotiate with the German Empire, which Mashal saw as an opportunity to ease tensions between the two countries through dialogue, and the Germans showed great sincerity in receiving Haldane and Battenberg with a very high standard.

But Jochen is not as optimistic as the likes of Tirpitz and Machar. Haldane's visit took place more than half a year earlier than in history, but it is believed that the purpose of the visit should be the same as in history, on the one hand, to find out the next steps for the development of the German navy, and on the other hand, if possible, to conclude a naval agreement with Germany that would limit the size of the German navy to a standard acceptable to the British, as was the case with the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935.

However, in Jochen's view, the possibility of an agreement between the two sides is basically non-existent. Historically, when Haldane visited Germany in early 1912, Germany had started to build a total of 20 battleships and large cruisers from 1907 to 1911, while the number of British was only 27 at that time.

And now that the balance of power between the two sides is closer, it is very likely that this is the reason for Haldan's early visit, so the result is actually obvious.

So Jochen decided to pour cold water on Tirpitz and Machar: "I don't think Haldane's visit will play a role in the current tensions between us and the British. ”

"Your Majesty, why do you think so? His Excellency Haldan has expressed his desire to ease the current tensions between the two countries and to ease the competition between the two navies. This will not only improve our external environment, but also reduce our financial pressure. It would be extremely unwise to abandon the olive branch handed over by the British. Marchar said anxiously that he feared that His Majesty the Emperor had come to such a conclusion out of his personal sense of confrontation with Britain, and that it was not a wise move.

And in the previous amendment that asked parliament to increase naval spending to cope with the increase in the cost of warships, Machar himself was under tremendous pressure. Therefore, if an agreement can be reached, it is also happy for him to slow down the speed of ship construction

"In addition, the sincerity of the British side can be seen by accompanying Prince Battenberg, who was born in the Duchy of Hesse." Tirpitz was on the sidelines.

Jochen couldn't laugh or cry at this, Alfred, you don't want to mention this old man.

Historically, when he accompanied Edward VII on a visit to Germany in 1909, he was accused of serving in the Royal Navy as a German, and the "German" who joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14 replied: "When I joined the Royal Navy in 1868, the German Empire did not exist! ”

The Prince of Battenberg refused to join his uncle, His Majesty Joseph, in the Imperial Austrian Navy, and became a British citizen at the age of fourteen. After 42 years in the Royal Navy, and even changing his name from Ludwig to the British Louis, do you really think he will be on our side because of his origins? He has long been an out-and-out 'Englishman'. Jochen said mockingly.

His Royal Highness was the last British First Sea Minister before the First World War, and even changed the surname Battenberg to Mountbatten after the outbreak of the First World War. His son was the future Marshal of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Allied Commander of the Southeast Asian Theater of Operations in World War II, and the last Viceroy of India. It would be foolish to think of him as a German.

Of course, such reasons were not enough to convince Mashal and Tirpitz, who continued: "The naval race between the British and us continues to this day. They still haven't had a decisive advantage, but it's safe to assume that their financial pressure is definitely greater than ours. That's why they want to slow down the pace of shipbuilding, give them a chance to breathe, and take the opportunity to regain the upper hand.

Therefore, Haldane definitely not only hopes that the two sides will slow down the speed of ship construction this time, but will definitely take this opportunity to reach an agreement with us to ensure the numerical superiority of the Navy's capital ships through negotiations. ”

"It's not impossible to talk about, Your Majesty." Tirpitz stroked his beard and said, "We didn't have the same fleet as the British. If the British could accept a 5:8 ratio of capital ships, then it would be reasonable to reach such an agreement with them. Even if we can take a step back, a 2:3 ratio is okay. ”

Tirpitz was a little hesitant in his words, he himself knew that the gap in strength between the German Navy and the British was now unprecedentedly close, and he was unwilling to give up such a situation on his own initiative. And now Yoheng is no longer the young man he was at the beginning, and the emperor's increasing power will inevitably produce pride and arrogance, and it is unknown whether the ratio of 10:16 or even 2:3 proposed by himself will attract the emperor's reprimand.

I thought about it a little. Tirpitz added: "If an agreement is reached, the financial pressure on the government will be reduced, and we will be more generous on each of our ships." Although the parliament passed an amendment to increase the cost of building ships by 50 million marks per year for the next four years, it will increase the number of capital ships built by 10 million marks per year. If we reduce the number of ships we build, then we will have more money to build more complete ships. ”

Due to the increase in the cost of battleships. At the beginning, the funds approved by the second amendment could no longer meet the current situation, and the navy had to often tear down the east wall and make up the west wall from the navy's funds to fill the holes in the shipbuilding funds. However, this was not an option, and the cost of the successor battleships of the East Prussian-class battleships, which was planned to start construction this year, had soared to more than 52 million marks, and according to this trend, the original requirement of five capital ships per year until 1915 could not be fulfilled at all.

Because the construction of new ships already designed by the Navy was more expensive and exaggerated, Haldane's visit at this time was like a lifesaver, and the problem of reducing the number of construction and the shortage of funds was immediately solved, so he was also very enthusiastic about reaching an agreement with the British side.

Tirpitz's words made Jochen frightened, I don't know when, his mentality has changed, and he who originally supported the theory of the risk fleet is now beginning to accept that his original numerical superiority has been surpassed by the British. Maybe it's because I've been sitting on the emperor's throne for a long time and I'm starting to be arrogant?

But while Tirpitz was right, the reality wasn't as simple as he thought. First, it is impossible for Haldane to accept the number of 10:16 or 2:3, and secondly, it makes no sense for Haldane to accept the comparison of 2:3 or 10:16, because the real driving force behind the naval race is the British Royal Navy, and they will do everything they can to sabotage this agreement, and they have done so historically.

Historically, when Haldan visited Germany in 1912, in the negotiations between the two sides on the comparison of the number of capital ships, in order to show sincerity, Tirpitz took the initiative to reveal to Haldan the details of the third amendment to the "Navy Act" that had not yet been passed at this time, hoping to let Haldan know that the German Navy was ready to continue to build additional battleships, so as to show that the 1:2 German number ratio proposed by Haldan was impossible to accept, and the 10:16 number ratio proposed by his own side had already made a huge concession.

However, the British soon did something shocking: after Haldane reported Tirpitz's "sincerity" to the British cabinet, Churchill, the fat man who had swapped positions with McKenna and became Secretary of the Admiralty, immediately stabbed the news to the press, which was classified to both countries, regardless of basic political principles and diplomatic ethics.

And this news was immediately understood by the British press as a German provocation against Britain, and at the instigation of the Royal Navy top brass, including Churchill, the British press launched extremely obscene personal attacks on Wilhelm II and Tirpitz. On the one hand, the mutual trust between the British and German top leaders and the navies of the two countries, which can be said to be basically nonexistent, has completely turned into a negative number, and what follows is more extreme confrontation and competition.

Only a few months later, the third amendment to the Naval Act was passed on the German side, while the British side approved the construction of Queen Elizabeth-class battleships armed with 15-inch naval guns.

Of course, for Churchill, who had completely forgotten how he ridiculed the conservatives for using the German threat theory as a "ballot ATM" and fully supported the reduction of naval spending when he was Home Secretary, it was undoubtedly a political capital worthy of lifelong boasting about "exposing" Wilhelm II's conspiracy to dominate the world after only a few months in office.

And the famous phrase often quoted by many later accusers of building Germany's navy in order to seize maritime supremacy is that "the determination of the largest military power on the continent to become at least the second largest naval power at the same time is a major event of the greatest significance in world affairs." It was this period that came from the mouth of Winston Churchill, who spared no effort on every occasion to emphasize the "German threat theory."

Although Churchill had not yet taken the position of Lord of the Admiralty, Jochen did not want to take the risk. However, Tirpitz's opinion is still very reasonable, and Jochen sorted out his mentality and nodded: "You're right, we can talk." However, since we want to slow down the pace of ship construction and ease the financial pressure, then we might as well not mention the total number comparison of 10:16 or 2:3, and let's talk to the British in another way. (To be continued......)