As Germany's southwestern gateway to the North Sea, Heligoland is famous for its strategic location, at the beginning of the world war in 1914, the British had won the Battle of Heligoland here, but it also annoyed the German Navy, after the Battle of Pascalflo, the tide of the war turned sharply, the British quickly lost their sea supremacy and the British Isles, and the Edward VIII regime suffered in Canada for ten years and finally perished.

Today, the Kingdom of Britain and Ireland have become allies of Germany, the neighboring Netherlands and Denmark cannot pose a threat to Germany, the North Sea has become the "inland sea" of German power, and the island of Heligoland has been transformed from a guard outpost into a pure naval weapons test plant.

After entering March, the economic crisis in Europe has gradually subsided, but all walks of life are still in a depression period with a low atmosphere, and most of the world's eyes are attracted by the war in Oceania, and there is always objective profit behind the smoke of gunpowder, so arms dealers began to be ready to move.

One day in early February, the Royal Shipyard in Kiel carried out a display and promotion of export ships in the waters of Heligoland Island, although the scale of the exhibition was ordinary, but it attracted a lot of military attachés in Germany, government procurement commissioners to come, the distinguished Kaiser Wilhelm III, King Robert I of Britain, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and King Alfonso XIII of Spain deigned to drive In order to entertain these distinguished guests, Chentian used his own private yacht "Royal Ceremonies" as a viewing ship, At 98 meters long and costing 1.2 million European marks, the yacht is far from the most luxurious yacht in the world, but it is beautifully furnished and uniquely designed, with VIP areas, general areas, restaurants, guest rooms, and especially the most advanced communication equipment and a small seaplane, so that the Kaiser can remotely direct domestic affairs while on vacation.

As far as Chen Tian knew, none of these dignitaries were going on a sightseeing trip, and his good brother, King Robert I of Britain, needless to say. Britain is purchasing a large number of "volunteers" to arm and aid Australia, especially small and medium-sized surface ships and submarines; Although the Netherlands was under the "Allied Protective Circle" of Germany, they were forced by the Japanese navy to reluctantly return the East Indies to German protection, which made them deeply feel the weakness of their own naval strength, and the overseas trade of the sea coachmen still needed escort ships, so this time they also planned to purchase a few destroyers with long range and certain air defense and anti-submarine capabilities; After the revolution in Spain entered the 20s, Alfonso XIII had to rely on the army and the Germans to maintain his position, and the new navy built with the support of Germany was his most reliable force.

In addition to these distinguished guests. There are also many big buyers participating in the exhibition, Chileans and Mexicans are planning to expand their naval strength, and there is also a Japanese "visiting group" headed by Japanese Ambassador to Germany Hiroki Hirota and Navy Attache Ozawa Saburo Ozawa; although Japan has suffered a serious economic crisis in Japan, after declaring war on Australia and New Zealand, they have obtained a special military loan worth 20 million euromarks from Germany through diplomatic means, and for the German government, this loan will eventually be used to purchase its own arms and materials. It is also a good thing to offset part of the losses of the economic crisis by stimulating the arms industry. According to the land agreement signed by the two sides, 10 million of the 20 million Euromarks will be used to purchase naval vessels. The remaining 10 million is half for the army and half for the air force.

Don't look at the "Class A war criminals" and "frustrated bait" with a procurement budget of 10 million Euromarks in their hands. Ke Chentian did not intend for them to bring practical things back to Japan, and at his behest, the shipyard also prepared some very special "goods" for these Japanese.

Morning. Chen Tian prepared a sumptuous breakfast for many guests at the "Royal Etiquette", which was supposed to be only for European royalty and aristocrats to sit and dine together, and there were originally only five seats at the table, which were prepared by Chen Tian and the three monarchs, as well as the chief ship designer of the Royal Shipyard, Count von Steinmetz. After obtaining the consent of Robert I, Queen Wilhelmina, and Alfonso XIII, Tatsuten asked the attendants to add two chairs, and then invited the "Class A war criminals" and the "frustrated bait" to dine at the same table, to which the two Japanese were naturally surprised and delighted.

"His Majesty Emperor Mondstadt and all of you have made this shipyard possible today, and I would like to express my gratitude to all of you on behalf of all the ship designers and shipbuilders. As Germany's Royal Dockyard, we will strive to repay everyone with more and better ships.

I wish you all a great trip! ”

Count Steinmetz first welcomed the guests as host, and at this time the yacht also anchored from Wilhelmshaven to Heligoland, escorting this royal yacht is the German North Sea Fleet's four brand-new medal-class destroyers, this destroyer on the basis of the bayonet class to further improve anti-submarine and anti-aircraft capabilities, displacement of 24,000 tons, has been close to the lightest cruisers, in the coastal waters have a strong ability to act independently, so since their appearance, the Dutch eyes have been on them.

Chen Tian smiled in his heart. The Dutch wanted to strengthen their navy in order to regain at least some of the defense of the Dutch East Indies, which was not a bad thing for Germany's strategy, so he planned to sell some old cruisers and destroyers to the Dutch government at a low price, but it seems that the Dutch had a good eye, and the construction of medal-class destroyers began towards the end of the German-American war.

After the meal, after receiving an affirmative look from the Kaiser, the count began to introduce the general situation of the exhibition:

"Ladies and gentlemen, what you are going to see today is this year's high-speed combat cruiser, which uses 8 of the latest Mex oil-fired boilers and 4 sets of Siemens steam turbines, with a maximum output of 1,350,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of 35 knots, and a cruising range of 9,500 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots; 12 203 mm naval guns are arranged in the triple turret of the front 2 and 2 rear, these naval guns are all using Krupp's 50 times the diameter of the special naval gun, firing 120 kg of high-explosive shells and armor-piercing shells, and two quadruple 304 mm torpedo launchers and 10 88 mm high-level dual-purpose guns, 6 twin 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and 18 quadruple 127 mm large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns; The ship adopts the most effective unified shooting command system for the whole ship, and is equipped with advanced K-III detection sonar, and the underwater detection distance can reach 5 to 8 nautical miles! ”

Tatsuten noticed that when the earl mentioned the K-III detection sonar, Hirota and Ozawa, who had not said anything before, exchanged a few words, saying that copying and research and development through the purchase of equipment from other countries was something that the Japanese have always been good at. Although they often imitate some strange four dissimilarities, it is undeniable that they "steal" many important techniques through this way.

If nothing else, just a so-called K-III detection sonar can induce the Japanese to buy such a miniature version of the battle cruiser that costs 1.2 million European marks and sells for 3 million European marks. The K-III detection sonar has a long range. However, the whole machine is large and bulky, and it is not suitable for use on anti-submarine ships such as destroyers, and it is undoubtedly very stupid to use such a battle cruiser to carry out anti-submarine missions, and there is also a very important point, that is, this kind of cruiser is not designed to carry reconnaissance aircraft at all, and if you insist on installing catapults between chimneys or on the rear deck, it will inevitably reduce the anti-aircraft firepower on the ship.

After a while, Hirota and Ozawa seemed to have settled, and they calmed down and continued to listen to the Count's introduction to the other ships.

"The second type of export ship launched by this shipyard is a longbow-class escort aircraft carrier with a displacement of 7,800 tons, which is worth mentioning. This is the country's first export-type aircraft carrier! Oh. You can now see the first Longbow in the Longbow class through our starboard window! Its island bridge and chimney are located on the starboard side, and the deck is 155 meters long and 33 meters wide. It can carry 20 to 25 fighters, there are two lifts on board, and all fighters can take off in less than ten minutes; As anti-aircraft firepower, the ship is equipped with a total of 4 88 mm guns, 6 twin 37 mm guns and 12 quadruple 1.27 mm large-caliber machine guns, and is equipped with waterline anti-torpedo compartments and thin deck armor, which are the standard defense measures of German Navy aircraft carriers. ”

The Earl's introduction clearly aroused the interest of the King of Britain, the Queen of the Netherlands, and the King of Spain, and it was indeed a dream that many small countries could not dream of for 3.5 million euros to have an aircraft carrier that could call the wind and rain in naval battles. It's just that compared to Alfonso XIII's "spiritual need" to show off his force to the people, this kind of aircraft carrier is more practical for the country of Robert I and Queen Wilhelmina.

Hirota and Ozawa whispered again that Japan clearly did not want any country to support Australia and New Zealand in any way from the beginning, but it was not only Britain's arms aid, but after the Wyndham massacre, many countries were in solidarity with Australia and condemned the Japanese government, and two of the four monarchs in this room expressed regret for the atrocities of the Japanese army, and one expressed indignation, which was somewhat surprising.

It turned out to be Queen Wilhelmina who was indignant.

"If you are interested, you can personally visit our Longbow in a while, this escort aircraft carrier is not only an export ship, but even our German Navy is ready to order some!" The earl said respectfully bowing to Chentian slightly.

"Yes, this escort aircraft carrier is indeed of good quality and low price, and the German Navy is ready to order a batch in the future to replace the old escort aircraft carriers on the main overseas routes!" After that, Chen Tian deliberately glanced at the Japanese, who must now be very interested in this kind of weapon that the German Navy would also equip.

"You can see a slender warship in front of the Longbow, that is, our third export ship today - a standard displacement of 1,800 tons, a maximum speed of 36 knots of fish-class destroyers, it is characterized by fast speed, long range, strong air defense capabilities, so we can also call it a high-speed air defense frigate, it is equipped with 3 152 mm guns, 2 88 mm guns, 4 twin 57 mm guns, 10 20 mm guns can be used as air defense, and form a long, medium and near air defense system, Ordinary fighter jets can't get close at all, so in the afternoon we will give you a live-fire demonstration using a towed target aircraft! ”

"Behind the Longbow is our last export ship today - VII-K class submarines, to be exact, this is not a newly developed submarine, but a large-scale modification of a batch of submarines that the German Navy has been reduced due to funding and personnel reasons, although the age of the ship is basically 8 to 12 years, but the advantage is that the price is low, bulk inventory, buy and take now, and all aspects of performance are also very good in the active submarines of the navies of various countries!" The Count then added, "They have all been equipped with specialized submarine sounding sonars, and will be accompanied by 24 T-stone trigger torpedoes in service with the German Navy and 533 mm T9 magnetic torpedoes to be equipped!" ”

Due to the needs of their respective countries, everyone on the yacht was wide-eyed during the morning and afternoon demonstrations of the ship's performance, and when they boarded the ship, the purchasing delegations of various countries also raised questions of their own interest.

Over the next few days, the deal was a one-on-one deal, and the wealthy Dutch ordered 2 Longbow-class escort carriers, 4 Yu-class destroyers, and 21 VII-K-class submarines, making a good start to the arms fair; The Spaniards weighed their economic strength and bought a Boxer-class battle cruiser, and they wanted it in stock; Britain was clearly prepared, and Robert I signed out 3 Fighter, 5 Longbow, 12 Fish and 28 VII-K without blinking, and when people were surprised that Britain had such deep pockets, they didn't know that the Australians paid for these weapons in the end.

After thinking about it for a long time and after frequent contact with the country, Hirota and Ozawa, on behalf of the Japanese government, placed an order for one Boxer, one Longbow, one Fish, and one VII-K, which together with ammunition, carrier-based aircraft, and additional equipment cost them a total of 7.5 million Euromarks, but before they could use the remaining 2.5 million marks to buy something more practical, they heard the news that the Kingdom of Britain was ready to buy a newly decommissioned Caesar-class battleship from Germany on behalf of Australia, They hurriedly bought the Caesar-class whose performance could no longer keep up with the mainstream of the times, and this one was another 2.5 million!

While the Japanese were waiting in line to pick up the goods, the British "volunteers" formed into an army arrived in Australia one after another, and the army and navy composed of Britons would work with the Australian and New Zealand soldiers and civilians to give the Japanese a taste of the might of the British army.