My daughter has just turned 40 days old, and there are a lot of things at home, and the update speed has been affected, so forgive me!

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Seeing that Prince Joachim, who had always been full of confidence and had a clear outlook, appeared to be a lost lamb, Tirpitz seemed a little confused. He invited www.biquge.info the Prussian prince to sit down at his large and modest desk, lit a square-headed cigar, and slowly paced to the open window:

"The spies are doing everything they can to get the intelligence of the British Navy, but the British are bound to guard their technical secrets. For the sake of prudence, I personally prefer to design and build our new battleships of the first rank at a set pace. ”

"I completely agree with the teacher's opinion." Natsuki said in a gentle tone.

"I have on my desk a copy of the latest report on the Russo-Japanese naval war, which I have obtained first-hand information from the Russians, please read it Your Highness."

Tirpitz didn't turn around, and Natsuki was familiar with his habit of placing papers. Next, the Minister of the Navy smoked silently in front of the window, and Natsuki silently read this intelligence material based on Russian military communication documents in front of the table. It took a long time for this silence to be broken.

"This is an important turning point in the history of naval warfare, just like the Battle of Dadonggou between Qing and Japan ten years ago." Natsuki commented.

"How so?" Tirpitz asked, leaning back.

"The real effective distance of the artillery battle between the two sides was 4,000 meters away, and the fierce and concentrated main gun fire of the Japanese capital ships quickly made the Russian capital ships lose their combat effectiveness, and the rapid-fire guns of small and medium caliber only played some auxiliary roles, which should be the most significant difference from the naval battle between Qing and Japan ten years ago."

Natsuki's words are an objective evaluation of the Battle of Tsushima made by later generations in combination with history, and although the content of this intelligence in front of him is a bit messy, some corresponding key information is still extracted from the descriptions of the surviving Russian crews.

Tirpitz returned to his desk and pressed the cigarette butt into the ship-shaped black clay ashtray. He lowered his head, the same posture as when Natsuki first came in: "I thought that His Highness would attribute the main reason for the victory of the Japanese fleet to the command ability of the Japanese officers and the training quality of the sailors. ”

Tirpitz is not serving the old man, Natsuki hurriedly brought him a small bench down the steps: "The teacher must consider the construction of the German Navy as a whole, and there can be no negligence in anything, and I am just a naval cadet now, I can guess irresponsibly, and I really can't compare." ”

"Your Highness doesn't have to be so modest." Tirpitz sat down and said, "Now that I think back to His Highness's plan to modify the large cruiser eight months ago, the reason why I insisted on reducing the number of second-class guns is because I have already seen this trend of technological development!" ”

Whether it's work or business, it's good to show off some mystery at the right time. Natsuki smiled slightly: "At that time, I did have a strong intuition, but there were not enough practical examples, but fortunately, the teacher had a long-term vision, and without your support, my ideas were just a fantasy." ”

Tirpitz's usual calm and stubborn eyes finally wavered and retreated, he took a sip of the cold cup of tea, put it down, took a second sip, put it down, reached for the cigar box to get the cigar, but as soon as his fingers touched the cigar and pulled it back, his once gloomy eyes suddenly regained their luster.

"I heard that His Royal Highness's Friedrich shipyard was being expanded, and I received support not only from Deutsche Bank, but also some funds from the British. I wonder if it is intended to simply expand the production of high-speed torpedo boats, or is it intended to develop higher-class warships? ”

Xia Shu heard a little reproach from these words, the relationship between Britain and Germany is not very optimistic this year, and the two navies are competing in various fields, and in this case, selling the speedboats with the latest speed to the British is at least a money obsession, and at worst it is suspected of betraying the country.

"I am personally honoured to be able to make the shrewd and prudent British pay a fortune for a high-speed speedboat that is not at all suitable for use as a torpedo boat."

"Oh?" Tirpitz was surprised by this answer.

"That's just a trap." Natsuki deliberately showed a victorious smile.

"Your Highness is ......"

"We gave the British a big gift, as long as they spent two hundred torpedo boats of that kind, they would have to reduce the cost of one capital ship, and when war really broke out, they would realize that these torpedo boats were just beautiful decorations."

"Oh?" Tirpitz said he didn't quite understand it yet.

Natsuki pretended to explain mysteriously: "In the case of assembling torpedoes, although the speedboat can still maintain a speed of about 50 knots, its hull structure is light and fragile, and it can neither withstand the wind and waves, nor can withstand the impact of shells, and the combination of the two will have a catastrophic impact on them, and it is impossible for the British to test torpedo boats at high speed with real shells, so ...... They won't wake up until the war breaks out. ”

Tirpitz seemed to feel really old.

"How is it possible, you think, for His Majesty the Emperor to allow me to sell technology to the detriment of German interests to our competitors? Of course, in order to convince the British that I was going for money, the price of the deal was very high - 600,000 pounds. ”

"Six hundred thousand pounds?" Surprised, Tirpitz not only widened his eyes, but even his nostrils in the black hole unconsciously dilated.

"No one said I was a business genius?" Natsuki shrugged and smiled.

Tirpitz finally showed a long-lost smile at this time, although it was very shallow, but it showed that his attitude towards Natsuki had changed.

"Only you can think of these unthinkable things and put them into practice."

In front of the Minister of the Admiralty, showing off must be done in moderation, Natsuki said to the point: "Having said that, the Friedrich shipyard is indeed preparing to expand the scope of ship construction, in addition to various types of torpedo boats, it is also preparing to expand the scope of business to the construction and production of small cruisers and submarines. ”

"Oh...... I think Your Highness has taken a fancy to the 3,600-ton fast cruiser and the third batch of 500-ton submarines scheduled to start construction next year? Tirpitz's tone softened noticeably.

Natsuki deliberately made the Admiralty feel that he was playing a small calculation of the shipyard's profits: "Yes, the Friedrich shipyard has an advantage in terms of designers and skilled mechanics, and is currently working on the purchase of a batch of new equipment. In order to accumulate sufficient practical experience, we are ready to get an order for the repair of one or two steam cruisers at a relatively attractive low price in the second half of the year, and the trial submarine project will also enter the substantive stage in recent months. ”

Some people are inflexible, others are not. Tirpitz resented the royal family's meddling in naval affairs, but had to rely on royal support to maintain his absolute leadership of the navy, so improving relations with Prince Joachim would be beneficial to both of them. Therefore, he said very accommodatingly: "Our cruiser 'Giffion' has been in service for 10 years, and it just needs a comprehensive overhaul, as long as the price is right and the technology is in place, the logistics department will not have any objections." As for submarines, as long as the Friedrich shipyard proves that it has sufficient technical prowess, I can say a few innocuous words in private and guarantee that you will receive at least two orders. ”

Natsuki disguised his true appetite with a satisfied expression: within ten years, the Friedrich shipyard would become a real super shipyard, with top torpedo boats, submarines and small and medium-sized cruiser construction technology, and then rely on its own strength to make a historic breakthrough in the field of aircraft carriers - the Americans successfully tested the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft in 1911, and the first real aircraft carrier would appear in the British Royal Navy's combat sequence in 1917, and it was called "Fury".

"Hold a football league in the Navy?"

As he said this, Tirpitz stroked his gray beard with his left hand, football was not new in Germany at this time, but the national competition was only held for the first time last year, and it was not called a "league". However, the name is just a code name after all, and it is not all 11-on-11 football matches.

Natsuki explains, "From my personal experience, there are three major benefits of football: exercise, friendship, and understanding. These three are all qualities that Navy personnel should possess, and many officers and men will spontaneously organize football games in peacetime, and I think it is quite beneficial for the Navy to organize such joint competitions. ”

Tirpitz was obviously in a good mood after talking about the previous business, and no matter how noisy football was, it was just like that, that is, he promised: "I heard that the football match you organized at the Kiel Naval Academy is very popular, as long as it does not interfere with the normal training operations of the navy, I personally have no opinion, and the funding can be properly considered." ”

"Great!" Natsuki said happily, "My initial consideration is to use the port garrison, large warships or light ship detachments as units, and each team will play two rounds against each other, with the team with the most wins and goals as the champion. I hereby cordially invite you to serve as the Honorary President of the Football League. ”

"Hah!" Tirpitz laughed, "I don't know anything about football. ”

"With your ability to understand, you can see everything in half the game." Natsuki gave a small compliment.

"Alright, Your Royal Highness, I'll leave the matter of organizing the football match to you." Tirpitz apparently did not want to waste any more time on the innocuous digression of football, and before the end of the conversation, he admonished: "The discussion on the design of the new battleship will be held at nine o'clock next Monday morning in the conference hall on the fourth floor of the Navy office. ”

"No problem." Natsuki teased, "I promise not to whistle this time." ”

Tirpitz shook his head with a smile, and put his right hand on Natsuki's right shoulder blade, the intimate gesture of the two seemed to return to the relationship without any conflict of rights and interests in the past, although this pure relationship cannot be reversed, but standing in the position of the same country and the same nation, each other can still cooperate and win by seeking common ground while reserving differences.

(End of chapter)