In the afternoon of the same day, Nie Renfeng received clear instructions from the prime minister, asking to hold Germany and Persia in tow, find an excuse not to fulfill the previous promises, and buy time for the government to negotiate. In other words, Germany and Persia had to know that they could not get a capital ship in a short time, and that if they wanted to get the capital ship they coveted, they would have to pay more, and not just economically.

The Prime Minister's meaning also quickly reached Tan Renhao, who spent the whole night "weaving" this beautiful lie, and in the end, he also came up with a reasonable way, which is to take advantage of the difference in the basic standards of the navies of the three countries, ://.. cN

At that time, almost every country had its own independent standards for building ships. If nothing else, just in the caliber of artillery, there are not a few countries that are exactly the same. The new battleships of the Tang Empire used 400 mm main guns, 120 mm high-level secondary guns, 80 mm, 40 mm and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. And the main guns of the German Navy battleships were 382 mm caliber, the British Navy had 356 mm and some larger, and the US Navy had 406 mm. The differences in other aspects are not small, which determines that the navies of each country have their own separate logistics support and supply systems, and it is difficult to share them.

Under the circumstances, if the German Navy and the Persian Navy wanted to obtain capital ships from the Tang Empire as soon as possible, there was only one way, that is, to directly order the "new provincial capital" of the Tang Empire

Class battleships. However, the problem was that the "New Provincial Capital" class battleships were built according to the standards of the Tang Imperial Navy, and did not meet the requirements of the German and Persian imperial navies. Maybe there is not much of a problem with changing the barrel of the main gun caliber, but there are many other problems, such as to match the new battleship. That would have to cost a huge amount of money to build a new logistics support and supply system, and the investment in this system is not much less than the purchase of a few new battleships. The cost-benefit ratio is obviously not cost-effective.

To solve the problem of logistics and supply, it must be built according to German or Persian naval standards. In other words, Germany and Persia provided the design drawings for the new warships, which were built in the shipyards of the Tang Empire. But this brings up a new problem. That is, the shipyards of the Tang Empire had to be renovated according to the standards of the German and Persian navies, and the manufacturing methods of the related artillery had to be changed, which also required a lot of work.

It is this question that Tan Renhao exploits. Germany and Persia have already said that they need battleships that meet the standards of their own naval forces, not battleships of the Tang Empire. Then, Germany and Persia had to provide relevant warship design drawings, and they also had to negotiate with the Tang Empire on how to solve the troubles that arose in the construction work, so that the Tang Empire's engineers could familiarize themselves with the standards of the German and Persian navies. And it doesn't take a day or two. It's not a month or two, and if the Tang Empire intends to delay time, maybe it will take half a year. It's not necessarily strange that it took a year to complete the preparations.

"I have already presented these issues to the German side in the morning meeting." Gan Yongxing slowed down, and then glanced at Tan Renhao next to him, "But." The representative of Germany believes that there is room for negotiation, and that it is now up to you to convince them. ”

"Me?" Tan Renhao glanced at Gan Yongxing in surprise. "Chief of Staff, I'm not an expert negotiator."

"But you came up with this idea, didn't you?" Gan Yongxing pushed open the office door, "And you are the one who knows best how to convince the Germans that it will take at least two years to build a battleship that can meet their needs, and if even you can't do it, I'm afraid none of us can do it." ”

"But the problem is, I only have one idea about it."

"We don't even have an idea of it. The afternoon session starts at half past two, and you have an hour to prepare. Gan Yongxing sat down, "So, you'd better sort out your thoughts first, and don't be caught by the Germans." ”

Tan Renhao sighed secretly. "So, what exactly does the prime minister mean?"

"It's time, and it's an important weight in our hands." Gan Yongxing took out a cigarette, "Let's put it this way, the Germans are arguing with us now."

It is very likely that France will surrender at the end of the next year, and the Spanish ambassador to Brazil has already contacted us to convey their message that if France is defeated, Spain will seek an opportunity to exit the war with dignity, and we are preparing for negotiations. ”

"That is, Germany will soon be able to get rid of the troubles on the battlefield on the Western Front?"

Gan Yongxing nodded slightly. "According to our agreement with Germany, after the end of the war in Western Europe, a joint attack on Russia will end the continental war, so that the Imperial Army can devote more troops in other directions. But now that Germany is proposing to include Italy in the Western European theater, they will continue to attack Italy instead of attacking Russia with all their might. ”

Tan Renhao gritted his teeth. "This is obviously pumping us back, and now the Imperial Army still has to provide support to the Australian battlefield, if Germany does not invest more troops on the Eastern Front, the Imperial Army will not be able to invest a large number of troops in the Australian battlefield, then there will be a major problem in our attack on Australia."

"Yes, that's why the prime minister won't let up on naval aid." Gan Yongxing's expression also became excited, "The Germans know very well that if they can't build a strong fleet during the war, then after the war, they will never have a chance to achieve the same status as us." With the defeat of France, Russia will be defeated sooner or later, and after Spain withdraws from the war, Italy can only choose to withdraw from the war with dignity. At that time, only Britain and the United States will continue to fight, and we will be one step away from victory. If Germany can't get capital ships from us this time, then they won't have much chance of catching up with the Reich. ”

"So, the Germans are threatening to fight against Russia, let's make concessions?"

Gan Yongxing nodded slightly. "That's what the Germans intended, and now the Chancellor's intention is, as long as Germany doesn't concede first. Then we can't budge. ”

"But ......"

"The Prime Minister had already spoken to the Chancellor in detail yesterday that if Germany finally refuses to budge, then we will have to unite with Persia to squeeze out Germany." Gan Yongxing sneered. "The Germans have always been ambitious, starting with Bismarck. By Wilhelm II, Germany had been striving to become a world power, at least on an equal footing with the Reich. Our alliance with Germany is only an alliance of interests, and Germany needs our support and needs us to contain Russia.

In the same way, we need the support of Germany to contain the Western powers. But the problem is that we cannot always be in alliance with Germany, and after losing our common interests, Germany will be our adversary. Therefore, we had to limit Germany, and the best way to do that was to unite with Persia. ”

Tan Renhao fell silent, and Gan Yongxing served as the chief of the general staff of the Imperial Navy. Political interests must be taken into account, but Ren Hao is only the commander of the fleet, before. He gave little thought to the political side of things.

"We are already in bilateral negotiations with Persia, and we have also helped Persia build a lot of warships, and we have built several capital ships of the Persian navy. Therefore, we have the relevant standards of the Persian Navy, according to the requirements of Persia, to make certain modifications to the 'new provincial capital' class battleships, and then it is not difficult to build according to the new standards, this problem, the engineers are solving, if it goes well, early next year, we can start building several capital ships for the Persian Empire. Gan Yongxing threw away his cigarette butt, "However, we will not be soft in our attitude towards Germany." And now we're doing this to get a clear message! ”

Tan Renhao sighed secretly, and then nodded. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to tell this story a little more beautifully."

"Have you seen the material of the German representative?" Gan Yongxing glanced at Tan Renhao, then went to the desk and took a document, "This is the detailed information of the German representative, hurry up and take a look, maybe you can use it later." ”

Tan Renhao didn't waste any more time, and immediately watched it seriously. At this point, he has finally figured out why the prime minister has been biting on naval aid. Germany has German interests, the Reich has imperial interests, and when the interests of both sides coincide, it is an ally, and when the interests of both sides are not aligned, then the technical opponent!

The negotiations with the German representatives took place punctually in the afternoon, and Tan Renhao was the main spokesman of the Reich Navy, and he raised several extremely detailed and demanding questions during the negotiations, and all the problems were that the Reich shipyards had no experience in building capital ships for the German Navy, and if the capital ships were to be built according to the standards of the German Navy, the German Navy would have to provide the relevant standards and detailed design drawings of the warships, so that the Reich shipyards could complete the construction work. But this meant that all the performance parameters of the capital ships of the German Navy were in the hands of the Reich, and the specific shortcomings of these warships were also in the hands of the Reich, which was obviously not in the interests of Germany.

The German representative proposed that battleships be built according to the standards of the Reich, and Tan Renhao also pointed out that if the battleships were built according to the standards of the Reich, then the German Navy would have to completely renovate its logistical support and supply system, and the experts of the Reich Navy would have to determine whether the renovation work of the German Navy could meet the operational needs of the new warships. In fact, this is also a problem involving the state's top-secret information, and the trouble it brings is almost impossible to solve.

The two sides argued for several days on these two issues, and finally the Germans relented and said that they would consider new ways to solve the problem. In other words, the Germans already understood the position of the Don Empire.

Tan Renhao was also busy for several days, but fortunately, the negotiations were conducted in Chinese, and he could clearly and directly understand what the other party meant. At the same time as the negotiations were taking place in Zhoushan, representatives of the governments of the Tang Empire, Germany, and Persia were also conducting relevant negotiations in Tehran.

"Now it seems that our toughness has paid off." Nie Renfeng was the first to know the news from Tehran. "Germany has made concessions, they will not put Italy in the Western European theater, they will still put it on the southern front, and they have abandoned the plan to attack Italy first, and will attack Russia with us in accordance with the strategic plan that was previously established.

Now, Yan Dingyu has sent Shi Naixing to Berlin to discuss with the German General Staff the specific plan for attacking Russia, and the campaign will begin no later than next spring, that is, in March. ”

"Then we'll have to meet the demands of the Germans." Gan Yongxing looked at the principal, "Does the prime minister have any further instructions?" ”

"The Prime Minister also called and asked us to discuss a concrete solution with Germany." Nie Renfeng laughed, "Well, there is already a specific way." Judging by the information we have now, the Germans have come up with a compromise. ”

"What's the solution?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly.

"We provide the infrastructure, the workers, and the raw materials. Germany sent engineers to us to work on the design and construction plans. That is, Germany did not need to provide us with specific design drawings of the battleship, and we built new battleships according to the standards of the German Navy. Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "However, what the prime minister means is to make as much trouble as possible for the Germans, and delay the construction of new warships until after next spring, if the Germans dare to play any tricks in the war against Russia, then we can choke their necks at any time." ”

Tan Renhao thought about it for a moment and laughed. "It seems that this time we are using each other. Headmaster, I'll have to prepare a plan. ”

"You don't need to worry about this matter, I'll arrange for someone else." Nie Renfeng stood up and went to get a document, "This is another cooperation plan between us and the German side, you can take a closer look." It's more important than building a few battleships, and now, you're in charge of that. ”

Tan Renhao took the document, and as soon as he saw the title, he immediately looked at the principal in surprise.

"According to Yongxing, your performance this time is very good, so I leave this task to you to complete.

Nie Renfeng also looked at Tan Renhao, "You have worked in the Navy Equipment Technology Office before, although you have not been for a long time, you still have a certain understanding of the Navy's equipment technology, so we think it is most appropriate for you to be in charge of this matter." ”

Tan Renhao touched his forehead, he felt that he had indeed become a "panacea".