Brothers, those who have a monthly pass will smash the monthly pass, and those who don't have a monthly pass will smash the recommendation ticket, everyone supports it!!

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Berlin, Germany.

As soon as the news of France's surrender broke, Beasley, the US ambassador to Germany, visited German Foreign Minister Bilo again.

"Mr. Ambassador, what are you doing in a hurry today?" Billo looked at Beasley with some nonchalant, the American who had become a regular visitor in recent times.

Beasley sat down unreservedly, "Honorable Foreign Secretary, on behalf of our President Wilson and Congress, I would like to congratulate your country on the successful defeat of France!" ”

"Oh? Hasn't your country always opposed war and embraced peace? Barrow said with a slight mockery.

"Of course, we in the United States are definitely the most peace-loving country in the world!" Beasley said this with pride on his face, as if the Philippines had been chosen by them, and if the Spanish people heard this, they would have been surprised by the thickness of Beasley's skin.

"However, we also know that some things have to be solved by war! Now that the war is over, we would like to congratulate your country on becoming the victor, and secondly, we hope that your country can resolve the contradictions and disputes with Britain through peaceful means, and return peace to the world! ”

Beasley's argument has been heard countless times lately, and his ears are almost calloused. Either long live the friendship, or the Anglo-German family, anyway, try everything to reconcile it, maybe this guy dreams of Germany and Britain can turn hostility into friendship!

"I have said many times, Mr. Ambassador, that it is not that we are unwilling to use peaceful means, but that the British are unwilling to accept the terms of peace talks that we have proposed. Just like how friendly the French government is, don't we renew our friendship with France? If the French had heard this, they would have been very sad.

Two weeks ago, it was Beasley who conveyed the will of the British government for peace talks, and Bilow relayed it to the Kaiser as he had originally relayed, but the Kaiser was furious, remembering Prince, who was still unconscious, and the emperor gritted his teeth and swore to sweep away the British. The U.S. government is well aware of this, but it is not good to blame the German government in its mouth.

"What a pity! Although your country and Britain are determined to continue the war, we will continue to stand on a neutral stand, and we will sell the relevant supplies to the warring parties out of the consideration of benevolence! Beasley alluded to the British sale of the fleet, although Germany had heard about it, but Britain and the United States were still in the stage of secret contact, so Below was not easy to talk about it clearly, but reminded Beasley from time to time that the United States should strictly abide by the neutrality law, but this guy always pretended not to hear.

"We do not object to your country's sale of civilian goods to Britain, but we also remind your government that it is better not to do anything that violates the Neutrality Act, otherwise it will affect our long-standing friendly relations between Germany and the United States. Recently, there have been rumors in the world that your country will reach a big deal with the United Kingdom! Bilow and the Germany behind him were not afraid of the United States, but they were also unwilling to force the United States to the side of Britain, after all, the United States' world's first industrial strength and unique geographical location still made Germany have some scruples, and the United States would become a huge arsenal for Britain.

"Neutrality law? Ha ha! Your Excellency Foreign Minister, the Neutrality Act has always been decided by the strong, and it seems that no one condemns the disgraceful behavior of your country's loyal Russian allies who, after making peace with the Revolutionary Party, have undeclared war against the Revolutionary Party. Of course, our government has always stood on a neutral standpoint and will never take sides. The United States sold the British government $1 in supplies, and naturally agreed to the German government to buy $1 in supplies from us, but as for whether the German government buys it or not, we can't force it! ”

Below frowned, Beasley was still repeating the same old story, the U.S. government offered to provide Germany with $5 billion worth of supplies (the exchange rate between the pound and the dollar at the outbreak of World War I was about 1:5) or a free loan, if the purchase of American supplies, the German government could pay in cash, installments or in exchange for colonies, and American freighters could be responsible for transportation. In this way, the Americans also intend to sell at least $5 billion to the British government, which not only violates the Neutrality Act, but is simply trampling on the Neutrality Act, but if Germany, Britain and the United States make a deal, I am afraid that no one wants or dares to protest.

"$5 billion! Your government's business is getting bigger and bigger! ”

Bülow and the German government did not directly reject the US government's proposal, and any government on either side of the war would need to bear a large amount of military spending, and for each additional day of the war, the German government would have to invest millions of marks more, and the consumption of the entire country's resources would be even more staggering. Loans, mineral resources, military supplies, all that the Americans say are the things that the German government needs most, and the loans and materials of the Americans will undoubtedly become the lubricant of the German war machine.

Although Germany would receive a large number of colonies and reparations from France, it would take a long time for those colonies to function normally and generate wealth, and because the war was fought on French soil, France's original wealth and resources were consumed considerably, and the French government's indemnities would not be paid in full until 20 years later, so the benefits of Germany's victory were not immediately apparent. As for Germany's major allies, their economies and industries are not very developed, and Russia and Turkey are in a stage where they are in a state of abandonment, and they are only able to provide Germany with effective resources politically and militarily, while capital and economy are basically dragging Germany back, and their domestic resource development has yet to be restored and strengthened.

However, most of the cabinet ministers, including the Kaiser, were opposed to borrowing money from the US government, and as for the purchase of American goods in installments or on credit, these people had their own opinions, and for the time being, they had not yet reached a unanimous conclusion. As far as the Kaiser himself is concerned, as long as the price of American resources and materials is reasonable, the German government can consider buying them on credit, or exchanging them with some former French colonies that are of little significance to Germany.

Beasley scowled, "This is the way this world is, there are buyers and sellers!" The policy of our US government is fair, even if your country is unwilling to accept the loans and supplies provided by our country, our country will still provide the British government with corresponding supplies, including the rumored fleet! My government deeply regrets that the friendship between our two countries has been affected because of such fair trade practices. ”

"What if our two countries go to war because of this?" Birlo asked cautiously.

"With all due respect, within ten years, Germany will not have enough financial and transportation resources to attack the American mainland, and the United States will not have the military strength to attack Germany except to help Britain defend its homeland, and the war between us will be almost meaningless! The economic damage of this kind of war will also be enormous to our two countries, the trade between our two countries will be completely terminated, the conflict of interests in the Americas will become more intense, your colonial islands in the Pacific region will be attacked by our country, and our investment in Europe will be frozen. ”

After listening to Beasley's opinion, Bilow suddenly remembered Japan, the Japanese government is still actively asking to join the Allies, and their strength and ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region may be used to contain the Americans at this time.

"Well, Mr. Ambassador! I will take your opinion into account with His Majesty the Kaiser! Billlow seemed to say the same thing every time he ended his conversation with Beasley, but this time, he was probably going to ask about the Japanese.

Beasley cooperated and stood up, "That's good! I'll go back and wait for the good news! To be honest, the prices of the materials provided by our country are very fair! ”

Naturally, there was a burst of contempt in Billo's heart, the price of resources and materials provided by the Americans was almost twice the normal market price, which was simply a robbery while the fire was burning. In fact, the British were slaughtered even more badly.

As always, Beasley left confidently.

Norfolk Military Port, USA.

Not far from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, this port is one of the largest military ports in the world and the destination of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On this day, Norfolk welcomed a special guest.

When Churchill arrived at the docks in Norfolk, American warships, including 18 battleships, 19 cruisers, 35 destroyers, and a large number of small patrol ships, were neatly docked in the harbor, and the US Atlantic Fleet also sent several senior admirals, including Vice Admiral Conway, deputy commander of the fleet, to accompany the tour.

"The seven battleships here are all battleships that have participated in the 'Great White Fleet' round-the-world voyage, and they are all the pride of the US Navy!" Conway pointed to the northernmost warships of the harbor, like pork hanging in front of a butcher introducing his guests.

Churchill squinted his eyes at the few white battleships that were not particularly large, the white paint on their hulls that once attracted the attention of the world had been left to the ground under the polish of wind and waves and time, and looked like dilapidated houses, the caliber and number of the main guns of these battleships were far behind the times, and they could basically only be shown off in front of the backward American and Asian countries, and compared with the best warships in Europe, I am afraid that the Americans would be ashamed to scuttle them themselves.

Seeing that Churchill was silent, Conway changed his statement, "For the army units that land across the sea, they still have considerable deterrent and lethal power!" ”

Churchill reluctantly nodded, these warships were basically no threat to the German navy and aviation, and the German army that attacked the landing operation might be able to exert some residual heat.

A group of strange men in trench coats in autumn continued to walk forward, the docks seemed to be exceptionally clean, and the warships looked to have been recently cleaned.

After a while, they stopped again in front of a row of destroyers.

"These 5 are the 'Samon-class' destroyers launched in 1910, they have a top speed of 28 knots, are armed with 3 120-mm guns and 2 533-mm torpedoes!" "Presumably, they're enough to deal with any torpedo boat in the world." ”

In Churchill's view, the performance of these destroyers was only average, the main guns were weaker than the latest British destroyers, and the torpedoes were weaker than the new German destroyers, but with the addition of anti-submarine weapons, they should still be able to deal with German submarines.

As the crowd continued to walk forward, Churchill's eyes were drawn to several brand-new and majestic battleships not far away.

"This is our Florida-class battleship 'Florida', commissioned in 1911, with a displacement of 21,825 tons, 5 twin 12-inch main gun turrets, 16 5-inch single-mounted secondary gun turrets, and a design speed of an astonishing 33 knots, but it will be slower when actually sailing for fuel saving and other reasons!" Vice Admiral Conway proudly introduced that this is the absolute capital ship of the US Atlantic Fleet.

"Verse 33?" Churchill was a little surprised, but what surprised him was not the speed, but the design of this ultra-high speed will inevitably greatly reduce the endurance and armor protection of the battleship, "Mr. Lieutenant General, I would like to ask how far this battleship can sail at cruising speed, and how thick is the armor of the turret and conning tower?" ”

Conway was a little embarrassed by the connoisseur's question, "Uh...... At a cruising speed of 10 knots, it has a range of nearly 7,000 nautical miles, and the turret and conning tower are equipped with 11-inch armor. ”

"Alas......" Churchill sighed softly, the range of 7,000 nautical miles was not bad, but this armor was not even comparable to the old German German-class armored battleships, and in the Battle of the North Sea, British battleships with 11-inch armor for the main turret and conning tower were difficult to withstand the armor-piercing shells of German battleships.

Seeing Churchill's displeased face, Conway hurriedly brought the big buyer to the next battleship, "This is the 'Utah' of the same class as the 'Florida', commissioned in 1911, with a displacement of 23,033 tons, the same guns as the 'Utah', but with additional coal storage tanks, and a range of up to 16,000 nautical miles!" ”

"Voyage? Then its armor is the same as the one in front of it! Churchill felt more and more that there was little hope of relying on these warships to confront the German Navy, and the U.S. Navy, which had not experienced high-scale naval battles in Europe, still had many obvious flaws in the design of its warships, but Britain was like a man dying of hunger, and the need for warships had reached the point of starvation.

After a full three hours, Conway finally led Churchill to see all the American warships here, and the British had a close understanding of the fleet they were going to buy.

Churchill's report back to Britain was simple: "The attack on the other side is acceptable, but the naval battle is powerless!" ”

George V's telegram back to Churchill was also simple: "In order to protect the homeland, there is no choice but to keep the price as low as possible or ask for more military supplies, and hurry up to negotiate a deal and receive the warships as soon as possible." In addition, the first 'ducks' have already departed. ”

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