The signing of the four-nation economic cooperation agreement made Jochen very happy, saying that it was four countries, but in fact the goal was to directly target Italy. Because the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slovenia themselves had low industrial capacity, they both exported agricultural products to Germany in exchange for industrial goods, and they were very dependent on Germany.

In addition, the Queen of Hungary is the German Crown Princess, and the Croatian-Slovenian King has the advantage of being born in the Habsburg family, and the economic cooperation between the three countries has given each other huge preferential policies. With the deepening of economic cooperation, Italy's economic imprint on the British brand will become weaker and weaker, and the ties with Germany will become closer and closer.

Now the first step, the Italians have stepped forward. However, considering that the Italians are not so reliable now, Jochen does not plan to strengthen the Italians too much.

However, there is another object that is different, and Jochen can safely and boldly strengthen his strength, which is Ferdinand's Croatian-Slovenian kingdom.

With the support of Germany, after 10 years of rapid development, the economic level of the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom has been greatly improved, and Croatia-Slovenia is not as big as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so Ferdinand's treatment of this poor place in Bosnia and Herzegovina has also become an important territory to be digested and developed as a trophy of the empire's outward expansion during the Austro-Hungarian period.

Croatia-Slovenia has a population of more than 3 million people, thanks to the fact that it provided a large number of jobs and provided for the relocation of minorities from the former Austrian region, which was initially reluctant to join part of the German Empire.

Therefore, although the overall strength of Croatia-Slovenia is not outstanding among the Balkan countries, the speed of development is amazing, and at this rate, Croatia-Slovenia's strength in World War I should not be much worse than that of Greece.

This also allowed Jochen to count on the military power of the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom, so although Ferdinand spent all his energy on consolidating the regime and developing the economy during the past 10 years, and invested little in the military, Germany still strengthened military cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.

Considering that the target of Serbia's previous war with Austria-Hungary was Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ferdinand maintained a small army deployed in the east to defend against Serbia. However, Ferdinand, who had seen the fighting ability of the Serbian army back then, knew that although the Croatian-Slovenian army was not large, it had to be small and fine, and that too large a size would be detrimental to the development of the economy, but if it was not strong enough, it would not be an opponent of the Serbs at all.

Therefore, the construction and training of this small army was entrusted to the allies Germany, and most of the Germans were originally handed over to the Hungarians because of the army light weapons and production lines during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Croatia-Slovenia was given some rifles and light artillery.

So Ferdinand simply decided to completely Germanize the armament, and with Jochen's intervention, Germany also generously helped Croatia-Slovenia to establish a production line of rifles, machine guns, mortars and other light weapons, and the price of heavy weapons exported was quite low.

A fully Germanized Croatian-Slovenian army, small but lean, is also a force to be reckoned with in the troubled Balkans.

However, Jochen expected more than that, but interestingly, Ferdinand himself was not satisfied with this, so taking advantage of the signing of this alliance, Ferdinand proposed his own plan to Jochen to strengthen the army.

"The Croatian Navy wants to buy Brandenburg-class battleships? Why so suddenly? And now your main work is still in the development of the economy, the cost of the naval fleet is very high, and the pressure on Croatia's coastal defense is not great, is it appropriate to increase the investment in the navy? Jochen was surprised to hear Ferdinand's request.

Ferdinand offered to buy 2 Brandenburg-class battleships, which meant that the Croatian-Slovenian kingdom wanted to build its own navy! That's what Jochen would love to see, but isn't it a bit inappropriate at this time?

For the Croatian-Slovenian allies, Jochen was not prepared to pit them, so he was not happy at all about being able to eliminate two old former dreadnoughts and replace them with new ones, but he was concerned about why Ferdinand wanted to spend money at this time.

"I didn't think it was a whim." Ferdinand said with a smile, and at the same time a little grateful, he could see that the other party was really worried that he wanted to expand the navy for a while. Then Ferdinand explained: "It is true that only Germany, Italy and us have naval power in the Adriatic, Albania and Montenegro have no navy at all, and Croatia does not need a very strong navy under the protection of Germany."

However, in order to develop the Croatian-Slovenian economy, it would be too wasteful for our marine resources not to be utilized, and the development of foreign trade in the Mediterranean is also one of my plans, so Croatia also needs a naval force.

The warships inherited from the Austro-Hungarian Navy are also fundamentally outdated, so my navy also needs to be replenished with some new ships. Naval ships are expensive to maintain, and we do not have the financial capacity to support a large and comprehensive naval fleet.

Therefore, a small fleet with a small number of combat effectiveness is very suitable for the needs of our country, and we do not need armored cruisers with high cost and long endurance; And the light cruisers, which are also expensive, but lack combat effectiveness, cannot meet the needs of our country. Therefore, the configuration of a small number of capital ships with small lightning strikers is the most suitable. ”

Jochen nodded, and although Ferdinand's understanding of the navy was far inferior to that of Jochen, he still made a fairly reasonable judgment. Jochen's plan for the Croatian-Slovenian Navy was also a combination of capital ships with destroyers and submarines, and cruisers were too extravagant for them.

Historically, Ferdinand was one of the few aristocratic leaders in the Austro-Hungarian Empire who were enthusiastic about the navy, and in the face of the obstruction of the Hungarian aristocracy who saw the navy as "a money burner far away from them", the Austro-Crarian navy was able to build such a scale, and Ferdinand's role in building it cannot be overlooked.

And the construction plan of the first and only first class dreadnought of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Combined Forces class was also promoted by Ferdinand to make those Hungarian nobles nod. He also served as Director of Construction Works, and in just 30 months, STT Shipyard was instrumental in building a cutting-edge warship that had never been built before, allowing Austria-Hungary to keep up with the naval powers of the time.

Although his knowledge of the navy was far inferior to that of Jochen, Ferdinand's maritime awareness and love for the navy made him work it.

"So why buy a Brandenburg class? They are already 10 years old. Yochen asked.

"It's because they're old ships that the price will be cheaper." Ferdinand said bluntly: "The cost of Germany's latest battleships is now unaffordable for us, and even now the performance of the Brandenburg class is not backward, so I think it is more suitable for our country." ”

Ferdinand was right, for the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom, there was no essential difference between the Brandenburg class and the Braunschweig class, which was still under construction, and they were both things to scare people.

However, Jochen did not promise Ferdinand, even if the two battleships could be sold and two new replacement ships could be started immediately.

Jochen shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Franz, I won't let the Navy sell the Brandenburg-class battleships to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slovenia. ”

"Why?" Ferdinand was a little surprised to hear an answer from Jochen that he thought he would never hear.

"Because the German Navy is planning to build a new warship that can sweep all the capital ships of the world into the dustbin of history, the appearance of such a warship will make all the first-line capital ships of the world's naval powers obsolete, and then such a battleship as the Brandenburg class will not be able to meet your needs at all.

Moreover, the emergence of this new warship will allow the naval powers that have the ability to build warships of the same type to sell a large number of old ships in their hands, and I believe that the price of these old warships will become very cheap at that time, and there must not be a small number of Balkan countries with a certain amount of financial resources to buy old ships, so the Brandenburg class you buy now will become expensive and useless.

As a staunch ally of Germany, of course I don't want you to hide it, so I propose that you wait a little longer, now that the coastal defense security environment in Croatia-Slovenia is not bad, you can wait for the completion of the construction of our new warships before deciding.

When the time comes, when you have more money, you will have more choices about whether to buy cheap old ships or order powerful new ships. Joechen earnestly advised.

Ferdinand's limited naval funds must of course be used carefully, for Germany to make less money on two old former dreadnoughts is simply a trivial matter, and when the shipbuilding race is fierce, the German Navy still cares about this little money? But for Croatia-Slovenia to buy two Brandenburg-class ships, it is unlikely that they will order another dreadnought within five years, so Jochen will firmly reject the deal.

If the Croatian-Slovenian Navy could be equipped with 2-3 dreadnoughts by 1914, and if all maintenance and maintenance would depend on the German Mediterranean shipyards, and the training and logistics would be in line with the German Navy's Mediterranean Fleet.

This small but powerful naval force can fully cooperate with the German navy and become an important force in the struggle for control of the Mediterranean. R1152