Danzig, Friedrich Royal Shipyard, G shipyard. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info In the long dry docks arranged in parallel, the workers are busy in full swing. Some of the structures in the dockyard are still only steel skeletons, some are beginning to take shape, and some are nearing completion.

"These are our best submarines at the moment, my esteemed Fatih Pasha."

The speaker in the civilian uniform of a naval colonel was Prince Joachim of Prussia, and two months away, the young brilliant and talented member of the royal family turned 20 years old. At his age, many people have just started their careers, and he is not only the youngest naval designer in Germany's history, but also presided over the design and construction of 21 10,000-ton capital warships in seven classes, and most ship engineers have never achieved such achievements in their lifetimes.

At this moment, the prince accompanied a middle-aged man with a stocky figure and gorgeous costumes. The man has a yellowish complexion, dark brown hair and eyebrows, deep-set eyes, and a high nose - a typical Eurasian race.

"I heard that you Germans have built a submarine warship the size of a cruiser, so it seems that it should be a rumor?" The middle-aged man spoke slowly in German that others could understand. Compared with three years ago, he has made a fortune, grown a beard, and his words and deeds have become more stable, but his German does not seem to have improved.

The prince told him very seriously: "This is definitely a rumor, my Fatih Pasha! ”

Pasha, the Turkish word for general, is the youngest son of the former Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. When Xia Shu sailed to Istanbul with the naval training ship "Charlotte", he was warmly entertained by Fatih. A year earlier, a second constitutional movement led by the Young Turks ousted Hamid II and replaced him with his brother Mohammed V as the new sultan. The process of changing dynasties is often extremely bloody and brutal, but this regime change of the Turks is very "gentle", the old sultan is only under house arrest, and his sons, including Fatih, although they have lost their previous status and power, at least keep their heads. After donating several high-speed speedboats he owned to the Ottoman Navy, Fatih, who had no military merits, became the Pasha of the Ottoman Navy. This time, the Ottoman naval delegation came to Germany to discuss the purchase of warships, and although Fatih was not the number one person in the delegation, he also had a lot of influence and the right to speak.

Fatih grinned, and glanced thiefly at the assembly dock. There are a number of submarines moored in the advanced assembly stage, some of which are already equipped with forward deck guns and backward rapid-fire guns, making them look imposing.

"That's the submarine you designed recently!" He said with admiration, "It's a pity that I've never seen how they work and attack, I wonder if it's an honor today?" ”

The decaying Ottoman Empire had long since been reduced to the point of being bullied, but its ruling class was still rich. While Hamid II was still in power, Fatih received an unarmed simplified version of the Sailfish from Natsuki, and soon sent someone to the Friedrich shipyard to order four fully equipped Sailfish high-speed torpedo boats at a high price in the name of his own person, not for the Ottoman Navy. Through this transaction, the shipyard not only recovered the cost of the previous gift of the simplified version of the "Sailfish", but also made additional profits, which can be seen in the high price.

Natsuki should pay attention to the Ottoman prince who once entertained himself in Istanbul for a Turkish bath, both in public and private, and he summoned the shipyard business manager who accompanied him, and after learning the exact situation, he said to Fatih: "The performance demonstration of this new submarine will not be scheduled until next week at the earliest, and if you don't mind, we can experience the combat principle of the submarine with another model today." It is slightly smaller in size and has basically the same structural performance. ”

Fatih did not show his disappointment clearly, his eyes rolled bonely, and said: "Don't hide it from Your Highness, our government has raised a considerable amount of money in the past two years in order to build a modern navy following the example of Germany, and this time we are ready to purchase almost all types of combat ships except battleships, as long as we ensure that they are the best performing at present, and the price is appropriately favorable, we don't mind handing over all orders to one shipyard." ”

The corners of Natsuki's mouth moved: "The Friedrich shipyard only produces first-class ships. ”

The group was then led by the staff to the main pier of the shipyard.

"Although my Government has agreed to transfer to your country two active 10,000-ton battleships at very low prices, I understand that your Government is collecting naval funds throughout the country for the construction of powerful new all-heavy artillery battleships. If it's fast, you can place an order this year, right? Natsuki said as she walked. Not long ago, Germany reached an agreement with the Ottoman government to transfer the "Brandenburg" and "Wissenburg" that had been in service for less than 20 years for 4 million each, which was less than half the original cost of the Brandenburg-class battleships, and the Germans were also responsible for training officers and sailors for the Ottoman navy, and providing corresponding maintenance and repairs. The Turks came to Germany suspiciously, and when they saw it, they signed the transfer agreement with a smile on their faces. For the same price, in Britain or France, they can buy a cruiser at most, and the performance of the Brandenburg class is indeed a little behind, but it is a 10,000-ton ship with 6 305 mm main guns, and it also has waterline armor up to 400 mm thick, which is an ideal weapon for near-shore defense and channel blockade.

Fatih replied: "His Royal Highness the prince is indeed well-informed. If the fundraising goes well, it will be possible to come up with an order for one or two new battleships later this year. ”

"Although the Friedrich shipyard does not have the capacity to build battleships, I can guarantee that the performance of German battleships is currently the best in the world."

If it can help the German shipbuilding alliance to win the battleship order of the Ottoman Empire, Xia Shu thought to himself, it is not only conducive to the healthy development of the German shipbuilding industry, but also conducive to the German government to enhance the political and military influence of the Ottoman Empire, but according to the historical line, the Turks finally handed over the construction order to the British, because in the eyes of the layman, it is much more cost-effective to choose British battleships with more firepower, higher speed and lower cost than to buy German goods, and the two will have to wait until there is a head-to-head confrontation to be decided.

"Personally, of course, I would like to cooperate with His Highness, but as you know, the situation in the Ottoman Empire has changed a bit, the country is governed differently than before, and the Joint Progress Council has the final say." Fatih said, "I am mainly responsible for observing and evaluating the purchase of ships, and the decision is in the hands of the committee members. ”

"I understand, of course I do." Natsuki smiled, "They are laymen in the navy, and the key depends on your opinion report." Rest assured, Fatih Pasha, my sincere friend, our cooperation will be a win-win situation! ”

When they arrived at the main pier, they boarded a small gray livery submarine, and there was a black submarine of the same type nearby. Different colors were used to distinguish between self-use and export models, and submarines equipped with the German Navy were all in pure black. Repainting a submarine is neither a difficult technical task nor does it take much time, and the real difference lies in their internal structure and equipment, which are not very different, but cannot be ignored.

Next, the shipyard staff skillfully demonstrated submarine submersion, periscope observation, afloat, deck gun firing and torpedo attack in the surface state. Fatih, who was not a professional naval officer, was unaware of the excitement just by looking at it, but the two Ottoman officers accompanying him were bright-eyed and amazed.

On the way back, Natsuki explained to Fatih: "With torpedoes as their main weapon, submarines attack more concealed than torpedo boats, which also means that they can achieve more outstanding results in the war. In the next war, submarines will surely become the most dazzling new weapons, and battleships with strong ships and guns will also become their prey. ”

"I see that your operators are very sophisticated, does it take a long time to train a group of qualified submarine sailors?" Fatih asked.

"That's inevitable." Natsuki replied, "If your country orders ships from us, as in the past, we will take care of the full training of personnel and the maintenance of ships, and the credibility and attitude of the Germans are beyond doubt." ”

"Then the price of such a submarine is ......"

In the past, Fatih paid for torpedo boats out of his own pocket, and Fatih said that he was the price, but now he is cautious when he buys ships for the country.

Natsuki didn't patronize the business, if it was just for the sale of a few submarines, he didn't need to accompany Fatih on this trip in person, just let Wizel or other officials of the shipyard greet him, because this was obviously an "opportunity" political deal.

Xia Shu deliberately lowered his voice: "To tell you the truth, the cost of its single ship is 1.2 million marks, which is equivalent to about 60,000 pounds. ”

Fatih was really surprised, and he also suppressed his voice: "One such submarine is equivalent to four 'sailfish'? ”

"This is a double-hull submarine, and the safety performance is much better than the single-hull submarines of other countries." Natsuki explained.

Fatih grimaced: "At this price, it is estimated that the committee will approve at most one ship, or simply use the budget to buy more 'sailfish'." His Royal Highness the Prince...... You're not kidding me, are you? A brand new 3,000-ton cruiser is priced at around 3 million marks, and a submarine like yours weighs 500 tons! ”

Of course, Natsuki was not joking, he said with a serious face: "With a displacement of 630 tons on the water, 710 tons underwater, five 500-mm torpedo tubes, and ten black-headed torpedoes, it only takes an excellent commander and thirty qualified sailors to easily sink warships and cargo ships of tens of thousands of tons, while a 3,000-ton cruiser can only escape when it encounters a large battleship!" ”

Fatih shook his head: "Even if I could understand these truths, those people in the committee would not accept them." ”

"That's because they don't know the goods." Natsuki said.

Fatih pondered for a while, but was obviously still a little moved by Natsuki's words, so he asked, "Can the price be more favorable?" ”

"I'm talking about the cost of construction." Natsuki replied.

As soon as he heard that there was no drama, Fatih's eyes suddenly lost their brilliance.

Natsuki deliberately provoked: "This little difficulty makes our Fatih Pasha worried? ”

Fatih sighed.

Xia Shu slowly revealed his intentions: "As far as I know, the price of foreign submarines sold by the United Kingdom and France is at least 40,000 pounds, but the performance is much worse than ours. I know that your country's current economic situation is not ideal, and that the construction of the navy is mainly financed by donations from the people, but my suggestion is that submarines, a powerful and flexible new weapon, are indispensable, and that they cannot afford to buy them for a while, so why not try Lend-Lease? ”

"Lending?" Fatih came to his senses as if he had been recharged.

Natsuki said: "For any other country, we would not consider leasing expensive submarines, but the Ottomans are our loyal partners, and you, Fatih Pasha, are the rising star of the Ottoman Navy." I think if you could return to Ottoman with two new submarines on loan for free, the whole military and political circles would be impressed with you! ”

With Fatih's shrewdness, it was not difficult to grasp the meaning of Natsuki's words, and he hurriedly offered a compliment, and promised that once the Ottoman government approved the battleship procurement plan, he would promise to reveal the key information he had learned to Natsuki as soon as possible, even if he could not exert enough influence.

Battleships costing tens of millions of marks are certainly one of Natsuki's targets, but his proposal for the lease plan actually has another layer of intentions: from the initial test model to the newly put into production medium-range submarines, the Friedrich shipyard has developed and put into production two series of six types of submarines, delivered 19 to the German Navy, 7 to Sweden, Russia and Austria-Hungary, and will fulfill more orders from the German and Austro-Hungarian navies. Of the 26 submarines that have been put into use, there have been no major accidents so far, and mechanical glitches aside, what makes Natsuki most uneasy is that these submarines designed and built for combat purposes have never been tested in actual combat, and they may have hidden design hazards that have not been discovered, and if they are exposed during the war and then hastily improved, it is very likely to cause historical regrets, and it is difficult for officers and crew members to find out truly effective tactical tactics in regular training and exercises. In Germany's strategic environment, once it gets involved in a war, it will inevitably be a full-scale world war, and there is almost no opportunity to train troops in war, but the Ottoman Empire is different, it is known to all as the "sick man of Europe" and is the object of erosion and partition by neighboring countries, not only Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Italy are eyeing its territory, but even Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Mendenegro, these small countries are ready to pounce on it at any time and tear a piece of meat.

Historically, the Ottoman Empire experienced three wars in just three years before the outbreak of World War I, namely the Italian-Turkish War, the First Balkan War and the Second Balkan War.

After the submarine trials, Natsuki led Fatih to visit the rest of the shipbuilding area of the Friedrich shipyard, the light cruiser "Olsburg" built for the German Navy has entered the final stage of outfitting, the beautiful and practical ship type has greatly admired the Turks, and the other cruiser "Breslau" is under construction of the hull, the clean and tidy construction environment and strict and meticulous construction standards also make the visitors impressed by the rigorous style of German industry. Not only that, during Fatih Pasha's stay in Danzig, Natsuki specially ordered people to eat and drink well and serve him, and gave him expensive souvenirs, just like Fatih's hospitality in Istanbul back then, but at the beginning Natsuki and Christian felt that this enthusiasm was a little too much, and Fatih, whose status had changed, was twelve points satisfied with this.

(End of chapter)