16 Project 1916 minelayers nicknamed "Vikings", each priced at 2.4 million marks each; 98 landing ships in three classes with a total price of DM 22 million; 3 ocean-going submarines of the U-180 project with a total cost of DM 11.4 million...... Marshal Muller's preliminary plan, the total amount of ships ordered is barely equivalent to the cost of a standard aircraft carrier, and the construction period is relatively relaxed, if all of them are handed over to a certain shipyard for implementation, it is naturally a good deal, but for the Limerick Shipbuilding Centre, which has more than 50 shipyards, three of which are large first-class shipyards, these orders are only enough for about one-fifth of the shipbuilding facilities to maintain operation for a certain period of time, thus guaranteeing 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. The difficult Irish shipbuilding industry is a drop in the bucket. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Battleships, battle cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, the German Navy handed over these ship projects with relatively high technical content, cost and potential profits to its own shipyards as much as possible, which not only conformed to the country's strategic security, but also met the needs of the country's shipbuilding industry, and was conducive to the country's economic and social stability. Only a third of the honeymoon has been underway, and nearly a dozen orders for the construction and modification of ships have been signed or memorandums have been reached, the largest and most politically valuable one is the construction of four 750-ton short- and medium-range combat submarines for the Portuguese Navy.

The Germans, of course, had not forgotten the Portuguese crisis two years earlier, and they tried to block the deal, but in the end they only regretted it, given the limited national power of Portugal and the ease with which it could easily buy submarines of similar performance from the United States.

At the seaside hotel in Tus, Natsuki sipped juice and had an informal conversation with Muller and others, who appeared in formal clothes. With the current power structure of the German Navy, the plan proposed by Müller basically represents the intention of the German high-level, and Natsuki did not bother to carry forward the spirit of small traders and hawkers, and the Germans were calculating the number of ship orders, but asked about the latest trends in the construction of the German Navy in a casual chat. Müller's answer was clearly a trade-off, and the officers accompanying him were not easy to speak, but after all, the two sides had worked together in the same system for many years, and they are still considered peers, and some topics could not be avoided—Germany would start construction of two super-dreadnoughts and a super-battlecruiser in 1919, and the pace of construction of capital ships would be comparable to that of the period before the war, when tensions were at its highest, and considering that the cost of capital ships was now at least 40 percent higher than before the war, the German government's expenditure was actually greatly increased. Under these circumstances, the German Navy's investment in light and auxiliary ships was reduced from the previous plan, and fell far short of the standards required for an ocean-going navy. Today's High Seas Fleet is still a naval force that is fully capable of dealing with war.

……

"The design standards of destroyers really shouldn't be lowered." Natsuki said to Muller in a serious manner, "Air defense and anti-submarine are as important capabilities as firepower, speed, protection, and damage management, and if you ignore them, you will definitely pay the price in future naval battles." ”

Mueller nodded, but was noncommittal.

The reason why Natsuki reminded him was that the German Navy lowered the standards for the new destroyers that were finalized and built from 1919 to 1920, and because these ships were all built in Germany and were not designed by the German-Irish Navy Joint Technical Research and Development Department, they were exclusive secrets of the German Navy. Although Mueller only revealed their general situation, Natsuki was very keenly aware of the changes, and after questioning, he learned that although the tonnage of these destroyers has increased and the seaworthiness performance has improved, the air defense and anti-submarine standards have not increased but decreased.

It is important to know that the first torpedo boat destroyers that were built during the war and after the war were installed in the German Navy and the Irish Navy respectively, and their design was very successful, and due to the improvement of construction technology, the overall performance was higher than the expected level, and they were unanimously praised by the officers and men of the Navy after they entered service.

The original plan was to build 80 destroyers over five years, 72 to the German Navy and eight to the Irish Navy. As the war did not last as long as feared, plans were later adjusted, and construction of only 28 ships was built, 25 of which were to be delivered to the German Navy by the end of 1919. These destroyers, which can meet the needs of modern naval warfare, have completed all the design work under the leadership of Xia Shu, although they are constructed in seven shipyards in Germany and Ireland, and the technical indicators and process standards are completely consistent, which can be called the earliest international standard warships.

After all, Muller is a naval admiral standing on the shore, unlike those naval officers who lead ships into battle, and have a strong intuitive sense of the performance of ships. Several of these German naval officers who came to Turk served in the High Seas Fleet and participated in the fleet's naval operations during the war. Natsuki turned to them to elaborate on the importance of air defense and anti-potential future naval warfare, and although some senior officers responded positively, it was clear that their efforts alone would make it difficult to change the minds of those in power who lacked foresight.

This situation gave Natsuki a faint bad feeling: the German Navy would not be as powerful in the next war as it was in 1914, and even if they could win, they would inevitably pay a heavy price for their negligence. Ireland was tightly tied to the German chariot, and its small but elite Royal Fleet would inevitably follow the German fleet into the ocean, fighting for blood, and if the German navy suffered a defeat, how could the Irish fleet be left alone? I don't know how many Irish soldiers will die at the bottom of the sea, Natsuki is a mortal after all, under such a majestic trend, what can he change by relying on his personal ability?

At this point, Natsuki couldn't help but feel melancholy. The national strength and military strength of the Second German Reich are advancing to an unprecedented height, and the quality of the officers and men of the army, the level of equipment, and the morale of the army cannot be said, but there is a lack of a group of talented generals who are not born in the world. The commanders of the army during the war, there were three **** among the seven people, a duke, and two were born in a famous family, and only one person really relied on personal ability to reach this height, this proportion roughly reflects the promotion channels in the army - the German army is especially affected by the traditional atmosphere, and the navy is slightly better, but in peacetime, unless the ability is particularly outstanding and is promoted by the high-level, it can only slowly boil up the seniority.

Raising mediocre people in good times, creating talents in adversity, is often the case in the world.

During the conversation, Natsuki also received another information, in addition to the landing ships that are ready to be commissioned to the shipyards in Ireland, the German Navy will also order at least 40 landing ships at the Royal Friedrich Shipyard. After Xia Shu left Germany, this rapidly developing and prominent shipbuilding enterprise was re-owned by the government, and light surface ships and submarines are still its advantages, but in the field of large and medium-sized combat ship construction, it lacks competitiveness with those old shipyards in the Rhine River Basin, and can only undertake some old ship repair and modification business.

According to Müller's original intention, the landing ships built in Ireland will adopt the design that has been finalized, and the batch built at the Friedrich shipyard will try the idea of cross-channel landing ships, that is, these landing ships can carry landing personnel and combat equipment from any port in northern France, directly cross the English Channel to carry out landing operations in southern Britain, or carry out amphibious assault personnel of the same intensity, which requires a significant increase in the endurance and resistance of the original landing ships. With the current level of naval technology, it is completely feasible to achieve this goal, and it has a certain strategic value. However, from a political and diplomatic standpoint, the mass construction of such landing ships is by no means a wise move, and it is very likely to arouse the British people's vigilance and anxiety, lead to tension between the two countries and an escalation of the arms race, and prompt Britain to continue to maintain close cooperative relations with the United States. Therefore, Natsuki suggested that Ireland should improve the original model of the landing ship to improve its combat performance, and after being approved by the German naval technical department, the Irish shipyard and the Friedrich shipyard would jointly build the standard model. In this way, the cost of building a single ship was also reduced, the construction period was shortened, and the savings could be used elsewhere or by ordering more landing ships from the Friedrich shipyard to replace the older models produced during the war.

After listening to Natsuki's suggestion, Mueller asked rhetorically: "Can you assert that the landing ship designed and built by Ireland is a success and does not have any technical defects?" ”

The German Navy Cabinet Chief was older than his own previous and present lives combined, and Natsuki could not have patiently explained his full considerations as patiently as he did to his younger juniors, and even if he did, it could be counterproductive. He replied lightly: "There is no guarantee of absoluteness, but there is enough certainty." ”

Of course, this was not the answer that Müller wanted, but he was unable to challenge the prestige of the "Hohenzollern genius" in the field of naval design, so he retorted from another angle: "Since His Majesty came to Ireland, it seems that he has been particularly keen on 'standards', and it is indeed necessary to standardize the technology of industry, transportation, and construction, but I feel that not all fields are suitable for standardization." If you think about it, no matter what country it is, the number of ships built each year is limited, and if you have been building exactly the same ships for several years, without progress and development, will such a fleet still have strong combat effectiveness? At present, the most common, the most reasonable, and the most economical method is to build two to four large warships in batches, four to eight medium-sized warships in batches, and a slightly larger number of light ships in one batch. ”

Xia Shu didn't say anything, but he secretly thought in his heart: Your Excellency has never seen the wealthy United States build ships like dumplings. In order to become a real maritime hegemon and maintain a vast colony, it is necessary to build practical small and medium-sized ships in large quantities in a standardized way.

(End of chapter)