"We must first know where the core of the Empire's future maritime interests lies. Personally, I think that the extent of the sea area that the empire can control is nothing more than the surrounding sea area near our African colonies and the northern Indian Ocean region that can be fought for. In addition to this, the Imperial Navy will not be able to put decisive power in the seas beyond this for the next 20 years, and the future of the Empire will be Africa and the Middle East, not the Far East and the Americas! After the prince finished speaking, the whole room fell silent, which was so shocking that it was a strategic re-examination of Germany's overseas policy.

"The defeat of our Far East has made it clear that the Empire is weak and powerless in the Pacific. We don't have the money and colonies to build a system of naval bases that stretches from the mainland to Samoa. Therefore, it is impossible to fight for de facto control in the Far East, and we cannot now fight against the British Far East Fleet in the Far East, let alone the victors after the Russo-Japanese War. They have a good location, and that can't be changed. ”

"In the same way, expansion into South America is also unrealistic, in the face of an increasingly powerful United States, even Britain chooses to act cautiously, we can do business with South American countries, but it may be very difficult to expand our influence, and military presence is even more undesirable."

"Of course, the empire needs to expand, it needs to move resources from overseas, it needs markets, so we have to look for those interests that we can win over or take away, the whole world is relatively close to us, and the only thing we can control is parts of Africa and the Ottoman Empire! The Empire's future naval construction and expansion should revolve around these two places, and at the same time, the fleet will also be used against potential adversaries in these places! ”

"In Europe we will certainly not be able to suppress the present Britain, so the conflict with Britain should be avoided as much as possible, but at the same time it must be able to suppress France! And similar to the principle of the formation of the battleship fleet, our cruiser formations also had France as an imaginary enemy. ”

"At the moment the main force of our cruiser fleet is 6 armored cruisers of the Munich type. And the French currently have 6 armored cruisers in service and on the slipway, with tonnages ranging from 4800 to 6000 tons. In addition, there are 3 or 4 protective cruisers, although the combat effectiveness is very poor, but the total tonnage is about the same as our cruiser fleet, let's count us a slight advantage. ”

"But according to internal intelligence, in the future. Especially around 1898, the French were likely to significantly expand their fleet of armored cruisers, and almost all of the new warships were about 10,000 tons. The exact number may not be known, but the number of warships that were built before 1900 will not be less than 8! This is a very dangerous signal. And our cruiser formations must be able to cope with this challenge! ”

(Historically, from 1896 to 1900, there were as many as 11 armored cruisers in France, of which all but three were more than 7,500 tons.) The rest are warships of around 10,000 tons. However, given the lengthy nature of the French Navy's construction, the ships were completed between 1902 and 1904. ）

"It is said that the Navy intends to sell two Munich-class armored cruisers to Qing Guo after the completion of the new ship, and if this news is true, then the number of our Munich-class armored cruisers will drop to four. In order to compete with the French fleet, in line with the principle of leniency with the enemy, the French should have about 4 warships in service or close to service before 1900. (Ruprecht is.) Then the number of large armored cruisers that we replenish should not be less than this number, and from now on before 1901, we will have at least 4 large armored cruisers in service! ”

"I think you should already know the data of the new Mainz-class armored cruiser, with a displacement of 14,000 tons and 8 inches of hardened armor. 8 254MML40 guns. Maximum speed above 21 knots. These battleships and 4 Munich-class armored cruisers were enough to deal with the French fleet in this time. And relying on strong firepower, these battleships can also join the battle line operations. ”

"The lead ship of the Mainz should also start construction by the end of this year. In 1897, construction began on one ship, and in 1898 on two, so that in the two years from 1897 to 1898, three capital ships were built each year, which would guarantee the number of warships we could use in 1900. As for the situation of the construction of warships in 1899, it depends on the international environment and our needs at that time. ”

That is to say. By 1901, we would have 6-8 battleships, 4 10,000-ton armored cruisers and 4 7500-ton armored cruisers. This fleet is enough for us to maintain a sea power second only to Britain in Eurasia. It had an advantage over France and at the same time was able to hold down the Russian Baltic Fleet. ”

Prince Ruprecht's plan was basically completed, about 8 battleships and 8 cruisers. Let's call this combination the "Eighty-Eight" fleet! The purpose of this fleet was to create superiority over the navies of a single other nation in the area that German projection could reach. (with the exception of Great Britain) so that Germany would not have a shortage of naval forces in the face of a single power.

"Bang bang." After Ruprecht finished speaking, the room fell into silence, and after waiting for about a few minutes, applause came from the chief, and the Kaiser took the lead in expressing his support! Since His Majesty the Emperor has expressed his position, then all this is not a problem, and the plan agreed by the Prussian leaders and the Bavarian delegates means that the whole Reich has been adopted, whether it is the Federal Assembly or the Reichstag, and the final adoption is only a matter of process. Invisibly, Prince Ruprecht had already planned the core of the first expansion of the German Navy!

And whether it was Wilhelm II, the founding party of the naval forces, or Bismarck, who was on the conservative side, was also acceptable to this construction plan. 5 years to replenish 8 to 10 capital ships, 2 of which are to be replaced. The strength of this supplement is still acceptable. Ruprecht was also very satisfied, because this force was no worse than the historical German navy, and even slightly stronger. Historically, the German Navy had only eight battleships completed before 1900, and even fewer 10,000-ton armored cruisers.

Although the strength is stronger, but generally speaking, the impact on Germany's diplomatic environment will not be very large, one of which is because the fleet bill did not appear, sometimes do and say two concepts, you say that I will build 8 capital ships in 5 years in order to balance France, the British can tolerate it, but you build 8 capital ships, and also said that you want to build a huge fleet of more than 20 battleships, then the British must have ideas!

In other words, a good dog doesn't bark, and a dog doesn't bite! Sometimes people who don't have the ability to shout will be hated, but those who keep a low profile and secretly recharge themselves will not attract the attention of outsiders. Just know your own strength, don't shout everywhere.

Thanks to the book friend hukaikaka, Leng Tian tone, classmates are in love and other book friends for their rewards~~~, as well as the book friend Jiang Feng 25412's monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued.) )