The Germans are making a big deal about the amendment to the "Navy Act", and the British are not unaware of it, and they have just started to make amendments as soon as they have an unpleasant relationship with themselves, which is aimed at everyone who is stupid.

The British were also mentally prepared for Germany to make a big news, but as soon as the results came out, the Royal Navy was surprised, not because the Germans were big enough, but because the movement was too small.

In fact, only half of the battleship detachment was added on the North Sea side, and although a squadron was added on the Mediterranean side, the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy had a certain pressure, but considering that the French and Italian navies were gathered here, the Germans' actions were not so targeted.

Each cruiser squadron was only one more heavy cruiser, which gave the British the feeling of thunder and rain. And the scale of the Germans' shipbuilding this year is also incomprehensible, only 6 light cruisers have been started, and the Germans' sense of urgency is completely incomprehensible.

The British were naturally wary of the naval expansion bill that the German Navy had drawn up after the Citis incident, and even if the scale of the German amendment was much smaller than the British expected, as long as the Germans could complete it, they would still be able to surpass France in one fell swoop to become the world's second navy.

It was no longer appropriate to think of the German Navy as a harmless weakling, and the Royal Navy had begun to take this ambitious force seriously.

Of course, after all, the Germans' plan was to end in 1914, which was a long period, and the newly submitted shipbuilding bill submitted by the French was still the biggest trouble for the British in a short time, plus Britain was now at war. And France and the United States have been making trouble for Britain.

So the Royal Navy did not immediately jump out and shout at the Germans' plan, but by this time, the German Navy had already been included in the list of potential targets of the Royal Navy.

What should come will always come. Even if Jochen and Tirpitz knew about it, they wouldn't have much of a damn about it, and they would not waver in their determination to go as planned.

At this time, the British were not in trouble, the war with the Boers was going extremely unwell, and the front line was repeatedly defeated, and if it were not for the arrival of the first reinforcements from Australia, New Zealand and Canada in Cape Town at this time, the British Empire would have been able to fight the GG.

And the successive defeats also made the whole world look at the jokes of the British. Almost the entire Western world, including the United States, is denouncing the actions of the British, and it is a one-sided disadvantage in the war of public opinion.

The British were now very keen to make some deals with the French, the Americans, and the Germans so that they would not make trouble for themselves in Africa. And the first breakthrough is the United States.

Since Germany had already handed over the whole of Samoa to the British when Bismarck was still prime minister, and the Americans had been eyeing it all the time, it was natural that the consensus reached by Britain, the United States and Germany on the Samoa question in 1899 was nothing to do with Germany. However, this also made the British try to obstruct the invasion and occupation of Samoa by the United States, and the two sides have never reached an agreement.

And the Americans' support for Venezuela's territorial claims to British Guiana in 1899 was also a test of the British attitude. As a result, negotiations between Britain and the United States began in 1899 on a range of issues, including the Samoan question. At this time, the international environment is very bad. The British began to make concessions to the Americans.

On February 5, 1900, the United Kingdom and the United States reached the Treaty of John Ponsford, which not only included the renunciation of Britain's claim to the separation of powers over the Panama Canal and the management of the future construction of the canal, but also the complete withdrawal of the British side from Samoa and the complete transfer of Samoa to the United States.

This concession is not insignificant, and it marks the first time that the Royal Navy has given up control of the Isthmus of Panama and the future canal, and has actually given up its advantage in the traditional waters of North America. Not only that, but it also marked a decline in the Royal Navy's ability to control the southeast Pacific.

Such a big concession was naturally exchanged for diplomatic support from the Americans. While the descendants of Dutch immigrants in the United States, most of the middle class and working class, still supported the Boers, the U.S. government began to keep its mouth shut and remain neutral.

The British, after making substantial concessions to the Americans, once again opened a dialogue with the German government, and even if everyone had been very unhappy before, it was only a small unpleasantness, which was better solved than the French who were eyeing the Sudanese border and frequently provocative.

However, unlike the historical Sitis incident, although the people were agitated, but the government was still able to maintain a superficial peace, this time the German government did not give face to the British.

The main reason is the butterfly effect, originally in order to prevent Germany from intervening in the Boer War, Britain made a series of preparations before the start of the war, in March 1899, the British visited Wèn Germany, and then reached a secret deal with Wilhelm II.

As a condition of the German no-meddling deal, Britain supported Germany's Berlin-Istanbul-Baghdad railway, the 3B rail plan; support for German expansionist operations in the Middle East and Asia Minor; and encouraged Germany to buy the Caroline and Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean from the Spaniards, who had just been defeated by the United States, in order to divert Germany's attention from South Africa so that the British could move freely in the Transvaal and Orange.

But now that all the Spanish islands in the Pacific have fallen into German hands, and the Germans' attention is already in the Far East, and the Philippines has 100,000 horses, how can they divert their attention? So the British didn't feel the need to make any secret deals with the Germans.

Therefore, under such circumstances, the current Sitis incident will make the German government move and catch Salisbury off guard.

However, the current situation has obviously developed beyond the expectations of the British, and at the same time it is at odds with Germany and France, and even the British know that it is absolutely unwise, so it is better to solve them one by one first. Compared to the French, who were unhappy on the Sudanese border, and apparently focused on the Philippines, the Citis incident could also be treated as a minor friction for the Germans, who were better able to solve.

In this case, even if everyone was unhappy before, the British felt that they had been swept away by the Germans, but it was time to talk, and now the situation could not be allowed to continue to deteriorate, and it would be a big trouble if the Germans and France echoed it. And the German government's handling of the matter after that made the British feel that everyone still had something to talk about.

"What does Salisbury want to talk to us about? Would you like us not to get involved in the British military operations in South Africa? Jochen was a little surprised to hear Salisbury's proposal conveyed by Foreign Secretary Billlow: "It seems that we have not been involved in their operation, what does Salisbury mean by making such a request at this time?" ”

It would be a lie to say that it has not been involved, and it would be a lie to say that from German East Africa and through Portuguese Mozambique into the Transvaal, it is a road line of communication that the British Royal Navy cannot do. From the beginning of the Anglo-Boer War, Germany continued to supply the Transvaal Republic with various supplies in exchange for their gold.

So the merchant ships of the Germans were absolutely innocent, because the Germans took the land route. But compared to the volunteers from other countries who went to the Transvaal to fight side by side with the Boers, and the national government and private organizations donated money and materials, Germany did look much cleaner than the people who restricted German citizens from going to the Transvaal and secretly made secret deals.

But what does the British mean by making such representations in this case? Could it be that the deal with the Transvaal was discovered? No, Germany's side is quite hidden, and there are those high-profile guys as shields, and the possibility of Germany's behavior being exposed is extremely low.

"Salisbury hopes that we can forget about the small misunderstanding before and maintain the traditional friendship between the two countries, and hope that we can reach an agreement on African issues and not be affected by the provocation of certain countries." Billo said with some mockery.

Historically, Bilow was more inclined to be close to Britain, of course, the reason for this preference for being close to Britain was that he believed that Britain and France would not be reconciled, which can only be said to be the limitation of the times, and Billow himself cannot be blamed for his lack of ability. Although he prefers to be closer to the British, Billlow is still a hard-line politician, so he is still annoyed by what the British are doing this time.

Although the Germans are also cheating on the British, they still pay attention to face, and everyone plays small tricks with each other, so blatant bullying is quite infuriating.

"Misunderstanding? If you misunderstand, apologize first, and then talk about friendship. Jochen was equally unimpressed, scoffing at the diplomatic rhetoric.

Marcal did not comment on this, and his cautious temper led him to analyze it directly to Frederick III: "We did not intervene directly in the Anglo-Boer War, and the British have no evidence that we were secretly supporting the Boers, so it is unlikely that the British want to agree with us on the issue of military action by the British, hoping that we can reach a consensus."

I think the real purpose of His Excellency Salisbury is to hope that we will not get too close to France, and that relations between us and France have been the most relaxed since the Franco-Prussian War since the outbreak of the Sitis incident, and that it would be detrimental to the British if we had agreed with France beforehand. ”

"Then what are you going to do with Salisbury, Adolf?" Frederick III asked.

"The British were able to make concessions to the United States, so if they want us to nod their heads, they will have to make concessions to us as well." Mashal said with a smile. (To be continued......)