Two days later, a meeting to decide on the construction of a 3,600-ton cruiser for the German Navy was held at the premises of the Technical Development Committee of the Royal German Navy. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoBased on the current shipbuilding model of the German Navy, large and medium-sized ships above armored cruisers are formulated by the naval design department to formulate a full set of technical plans, estimate the budget required for construction, and then determine the construction task according to the dock, equipment and construction schedule arrangements of various domestic shipyards, and the shipyard will start construction in accordance with the requirements of the Admiralty after accepting the task. Protecting cruisers and small ships below, usually determined by the Naval Technical Committee to determine the performance indicators, to the domestic shipyards with the conditions for construction to send an invitation to bid, the shipyards that intend to bid within the specified time to submit a design plan, its design performance shall not be lower than the requirements indicated in the invitation to bid, after the technical committee to evaluate the construction plan - this is how the Friedrich shipyard of Natsuki got the 1903 class single-seat high-speed torpedo boat, Contract for the construction of two-seater high-speed torpedo boats of the class of 1905 and part of the large torpedo boats of the class of 1906.

Only two years ago, the century-old Friedrich-Royal Shipyard did not have the capacity to build all-steel cruisers, but after an expansion and upgrade that cost more than 50 million Reichsmarks, equivalent to about 2.5 million pounds, the shipyard became a large and medium-sized shipyard with more than 1,000 employees, not only consolidating and expanding their technological superiority in the field of torpedo boats, but also becoming the third German shipyard with submarine construction capabilities, and accumulating sufficient experience by repairing cruisers for the German, Russian and Swedish navies. The Friedrich shipyard was qualified to participate in the bidding for the construction of a 3,600-ton cruiser as determined by the Technical Development Committee of the Royal German Navy. In view of the strength of the competitors and the successful experience of building all-steel armored cruisers, Natsuki squeezed out time in addition to his studies and the design of the new battleship, and led the shipyard technicians to finalize the design, aiming at the "Arrow" substitute ship for the colonial cruising mission of the two new cruisers, that is, the future "Emden"!

In the guest lounge of the Royal Navy's Technical Development Committee office, Natsuki sat quietly by the window, listening to Uncle Wiesel whisper about the other people in the room—operating representatives and naval engineers from shipyards such as Kiel Navy, Hamburg Volken, Hamburg Blom-Foss, Danzig Shuoxiao, Bremen Weser and others. Although their names are not known to outsiders, they are familiar in the industry. For nearly a decade, the Weser shipyard in Bremen was undoubtedly the leader in the design and construction of German cruisers, with a total of five 2,600-ton Gazelle-class and three 3,300-ton Bremen class sailing from their dock to the sea, followed by Volken in Hamburg and Danzig's Success, both of which received orders for the construction of Königsberg-class cruisers, so the design of the tender was an easy task for them, but on the other hand, it was difficult for them to get rid of the established routine. This is the biggest breakthrough point for Natsuki and the Friedrich shipyard.

In the conference room on the second floor, members of the Royal German Navy's Technical Development Committee are putting the finishing touches on the design proposals submitted by the shipyards. Count Warren had just retired, and the three important posts of chairman of the Naval Technical Committee, director of naval shipbuilding, and chief adviser to the Naval Act were vacant at the same time, and until they were selected by the Technical Committee, the Admiralty, and the Reichstag, the Kaiser appointed Admiral and Prince Heinrich to temporarily take charge of the shipbuilding work, and the Reichstag sent another representative to serve as interim overseer.

The shipyard representatives waiting downstairs had no way of knowing what was going on in the conference room upstairs. With the exception of a few younger engineers, the rest of them were clearly tried-and-tested, unhurried or unhurried, chatting with each other or sitting in their seats reading books and newspapers. Although Natsuki participated in the bidding for the cruiser project for the first time, and had already experienced such occasions several times before competing for torpedo boat orders, his eyes were constantly wandering over those who were wise and introverted, these were the best cruiser engineers in Germany - their foresight, courage and courage may not be half that of Natsuki, but Natsuki could not handle every detail personally, and the ideal state was that he determined the overall shipbuilding plan, and the plan would be carried out by high-quality engineers. In the end, Natsuki's vision was translated into a ship entity as completely and accurately as possible.

After more than an hour of waiting, the staff of the Technical Committee finally appeared at the door of the break room, holding a piece of paper folded in half. He glanced into the lounge, and the shipyard representatives stood up.

"Blom-Foss shipyard!"

When the name of the first shortlisted shipyard popped out of the staff, the rest of the people suddenly became nervous, except for the two excited-looking representatives of Blom Foss. Before announcing the second name, the staff member glanced up at Natsuki.

"Friedrich shipyard!"

Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Uncle Wiesel, the budget cost of the 3600-ton cruiser is 6.5 million marks per ship, which is equivalent to 60 "Thunderbolts" or 45 "Thunder", and the profit from building ships is only one of the potential benefits, according to the German Navy's amendment law, 30 light cruisers will be built in the next ten years, plus the construction needs of other European countries for light cruisers, a successful start will inevitably bring considerable development opportunities to the Friedrich shipyard.

The staff folded up the paper and said in a routine tone: "Please come with me the representatives of the two shipyards just mentioned." ”

Under the envious gaze of their peers, four representatives from the two shipyards walked out of the lounge, one of them carrying a briefcase containing a design they had built to beat the competition. After their departure, the rest of the shipyard representatives sat down disappointed, but this did not mean that they had completely lost hope. After all, cruisers are not like ordinary barges and tugboats, the project period is often more than 20 months, involving naval deployment and even national strategy, the examination and approval of the construction plan is strict and cautious, and the two shipyards that are initially shortlisted may not be the final contractors, and their representatives will also be questioned face-to-face by the technical committee, if they cannot obtain the approval of the majority of the members, they must submit a revised plan within a limited time, if they cannot be approved by the committee, they will lose this opportunity.

At the door of the conference room, the staff let the two representatives of the Blom-Foss shipyard enter first, and Natsuki and Uncle Wiesel waited in front of the door. Natsuki was no stranger to this room, where he had conquered the discerning commissioners with his superb torpedo boat design and had been the subject of fierce controversy over the Scharnhorst-class armored cruiser proposal. He was familiar with the smell of coffee, cigar burn, men's perfume, wooden floors, tables and chairs, the way of thinking of the technical committee members, and even the inherent position of the various furnishings......

Although there was only a wooden door, Natsuki couldn't spy on what the people inside were saying, and as time passed, the apprehension in his heart quietly increased. Although his own uncle, Prince Heinrich, was in charge of the construction of the 3,600-ton cruiser, and two days ago he took the opportunity of the Earl of Warren's award and retirement ceremony to greet him, but with the German's one-sided style, it is unrealistic to expect him to open the back door widely, and with the strength of the Hamburg Blom-Forth shipyard, there is no problem in starting the construction of two light cruisers at the same time.

It took more than twenty minutes for the door of the conference room to open from the inside, and the two representatives of Blom Foss were obviously in a good mood, they bowed to Natsuki with a polite smile, Natsuki nodded slightly at them, and then collected his mood and walked in with his head held high.

Fifteen technical commissioners, one representative of the National Assembly, and Prince Heinrich, who presided over the meeting, these 17 gentlemen, who were basically more than twice the age of Natsuki, were sitting by the window, all looking at the representatives of the enterprises who came from the door, and in the face of ordinary people, such momentum was enough to form a dominant position, but as soon as Natsuki entered, the power of this formation was suddenly reduced by half - the committee members obviously remembered the domineering performance of the "Hohenzollern genius" in the discussion of the design of armored cruisers and new battleships.

"Welcome, both!" Prince Heinrich's tone was relaxed, and he turned his head slightly to the left: "Colonel, let's start with you!" ”

Sitting on the Prince's left hand side was Bruckner, the chief designer of the Navy, who nodded and said politely: "Your Royal Highness Prince Joachim, before I evaluate your work, I need to make a small statement on behalf of the members here: our evaluation is purely from a technical point of view, and is not directed at any individual, and we will try to avoid the influence of subjective opinions and strive to make fair and impartial judgments." ”

Natsuki smiled, smiling very indifferently. Well, this group of guys finally seized an opportunity for a "communiqué personal vendetta" today, and even if they dare not embarrass themselves on issues of principle, it is not so easy to pass this hurdle today.

(End of chapter)