"The four Bavaria-class ships have the ability to become the core formation of the German Navy for the next 15 to 20 years, and as long as they are modernized and refitted in due course, their service in the first-line fleet can be extended, and until the next war has obvious signs of coming, we do not need to build capital ships on a large scale, and medium ships suitable for defending the interests of the colonies and aircraft carriers capable of multiple tasks are the types of ships we should focus on developing next. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

In the Kaiser's office, in front of the German naval giants, Natsuki repeatedly used the title "we", as if he still regarded himself as an important member of the German Imperial Navy, and the supreme ruler of Germany left him to discuss the core secrets of the Imperial Navy, apparently not treating him as an outsider. After all, Germany and Ireland are destined for a long honeymoon period in terms of national interests and strategic directions, and a trusting attitude helps to maintain a close alliance.

"So...... Do you think the Mackensen-class could be put on hold and not need to be that many? Crown Prince William the Younger accurately said what Natsuki meant, and it seems that the Imperial Prince is paying more attention to naval affairs.

Natsuki responded in an affirmative tone: "As long as the situation does not change significantly, it is enough to build two or three Mackensen-class." As you know, the United States today is an isolationist country, and as long as we do not seriously infringe on their interests, we will never provoke military confrontation with them. Over the next two decades, Germany's main rivals in expanding its overseas interests will remain Britain, Russia, and the ambitious Oriental countries of Japan. Britain and Russia were severely weakened by the war, and their struggle was more about political and diplomatic issues, but a few decades ago, the Japanese Empire, which had climbed to the third place in the world in naval power, would sooner or later become our number one enemy. ”

Von Bohr, chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Navy, corrected very seriously: "According to tonnage calculations, the third in the world today should be the Italian Navy, and the fourth may be Japan's turn." ”

Although the focus of von Pohl's sentence deviated from the main line, Natsuki did not point out on the spot that he had made the mistake of abandoning the original and the end, but explained without haste: "In terms of the total tonnage of the navy, the Italians do have some advantages, and if the number and quality of the capital ships are calculated, the Italian navy is probably no match for the Japanese navy now." ”

Since the beginning of the Dreadnought era, the Japanese Navy's capital ships in service include two Satsuma-class battleships, two Settsu-class battleships, and two modern Kongo-class battlecruisers, while two Fuso-class battleships and two Kongo-class battlecruisers are under construction. The capital ships of the Italian Navy are only "Dante" and three Count Cavour-class, and there are only two Doria-class battleships in the construction stage, and the main fleet lineup is indeed a cut worse than that of the Japanese, and the Japanese Navy has won two large-scale naval battles in the past two decades, and the general's ability and quality of officers and men are recognized by the world, while the Italian Navy was beaten to shame by the backward Turks in the Italian-Turkish War. Compare the two, and the score is superior.

Von Pohl certainly knew what the technological gap between the two navies was, but the German navy had just overthrown the once invincible British navy, and was enjoying the supreme glory of the victors, and it seemed that it had not yet calmed down to look at the new pattern of the seas. In terms of the total tonnage of ships in service, Germany has overtaken Britain to sit on the throne of the world's first, but Germany's lead over the US Navy is only 100,000 tons. Because of the fear that the war in Europe will spread to the United States, the United States has formulated a huge shipbuilding program with its abundant financial resources, many ships have already started, and when they are completed and put into service, the total tonnage of the US Navy will throw the Germans out of several streets, but as Natsuki analyzed, isolationism is rife in the United States, and the focus of their overseas interests is on the Pacific region, although Washington also covets the oil resources of the Middle East, However, the current military strength and strategic deployment of the United States are not enough to support them in extending their political and military tentacles to the Persian Gulf, not to mention that more and more oil fields in the United States have entered the stage of commercial development, and the expansion and penetration of the Middle East is still limited to economic means.

Unlike the United States, Japan has no oil fields on either the mainland islands or the Korean Peninsula, and relies on imports for all the oil resources needed to sustain its industry and military. After Britain withdrew from the war, Japan seemed to have lost the excuse to send troops to South and West Asia, and the German colonies that it had swallowed were now like a stinging throat, but Japan did not take the initiative to compromise, but became the last two countries to continue to confront the Allied camp with Russia. The Japanese, relying on their geography far from Europe and the navy that had defeated the Russian fleet, knew that Germany could certainly assemble an expeditionary fleet that was stronger than the Russians in those days, but with the defeat of the Russian fleet in front of them, and the unwilling Britain and restless Italy on their side, the Germans did not dare to risk their precious main fleet, not to mention that the fleet was still in a semi-disabled state.

It was precisely because Japan did not withdraw from the war that the German navy mobilized the main battle patrols of "De Fllinger", "Seydlitz", "Moltke", "Goeben", and "von der Tann" to the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf with great fanfare, and asked Austria-Hungary and Italy to deploy their main fleets to the eastern Mediterranean in order to reinforce the German expeditionary fleet if necessary. In fact, in Natsuki's view, with the heroic performance of the German main fleet in the war against Britain, even if Japan had great ambitions and received the covert instigation and support of Britain, it would not dare to go to the Middle East to challenge the Allied camp led by Germany.

Before speaking, Kaiser Wilhelm II looked at the Admiral Tirpitz, whom he had relied on and later deliberately alienated for various reasons, and no matter how dangerous his theory of fleet attack was, the high seas fleet he had built had finally withstood the harshest tests on the battlefield, and was now "the world's first."

Tirpitz didn't speak, but his expression showed his inclination.

"I basically agree with Jochen's view that before there are obvious signs of war, we should build fewer expensive capital ships and more practical medium ships."

Wilhelm II's statement seems to be contrary to his usual radical style, but this is not out of love for his young son, if he does not need to consider the financial problems of the imperial government, he will not be too much to build ten Mackensen-class in one go, the biggest problem is that the cost of these capital ships is too expensive. The average cost of building the Nassau class is less than 40 million marks, the Helgoland class and the Caesar class have increased to 45 million, and the best dreadnought during the First World War, the King class, cost 48 million marks per ship, and the De Fllinger class, known as the "super battleship", cost close to 50 million, while the single budget of the Bavarian class is 57 million marks, and the Mackensen-class has exceeded 60 million marks, and the large-scale construction of dreadnoughts and battle cruisers has saddled the German government with heavy debts. By the time the Second Naval Supplement Act was passed in 1908, the German government had already incurred a deficit of 500 million marks, and from 1897, when Germany introduced the Naval Act, to 1914, the German government had increased its national debt by 1,040,700,000 marks for the large-scale construction of naval ships. In fact, in 1912, when the Bavaria-class shipbuilding plan was decided, Wilhelm II had already abandoned the two plans with stronger configurations but too high costs, and now Germany occupied half of France, relying on the looted wealth to barely alleviate the predicament of high government debts and lack of domestic materials, and it would take at least a few years to turn the fruits of the war into practical benefits.

"Based on the inseparable strategic alliance between Ireland and Germany, I think the German Navy's shipbuilding plan can include Ireland, simply put, Ireland builds some warships according to the standards of the German Navy, and the Irish Navy is responsible for maintaining them in peacetime, and once war breaks out, these warships are directly incorporated into the battle sequence of the German Navy and are completely under the orders of the German fleet commander."

"Similar in military structure to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries?" Crown Prince William chimed in.

Without the prefix "military system", this phrase is a serious affront to Ireland's independent status.

Natsuki nodded: "The advantage of this is that it can share Germany's shipbuilding investment, and at the same time develop Ireland's shipbuilding industry, provide a considerable number of jobs for the Irish, and the training of the Irish Navy originally relied on the help of German instructors, and there was no problem with combat standards." ”

Tirpitz, Muller, and Bol did not answer, and they all looked like they were thinking about each other.

The atmosphere was a little dreary, but the cheerful Prince William quipped: "So the outlook for Ireland's butter economy is very optimistic!" ”

Natsuki replied: "The profits of butter are only better in the first few years after the end of the war, and after the situation stabilizes, the country's economy will still be driven by industry and trade, which means that we will have to fight another war with Britain without gunpowder." Of course, I'm confident that we can win again. ”

Tirpitz, who had the most say in the planning of the shipbuilding, finally spoke: "According to a shipbuilding plan that the German Navy had considered in 1912, only three Mackensen-class ships will be built, and all of them will use triple 13.8-inch main guns, and the rest of the capital ships will be changed to 15,000-ton light battle cruisers and aircraft carriers of the same tonnage, and then one-fifth or one-sixth of the shipbuilding plan will be handed over to Ireland for implementation, and our investment in the navy should be reduced to a level that the Imperial Government is willing to accept." ”

Wilhelm II stared at the technical drawings on the board for a long time, and then suddenly turned around: "This is a proper way, and there seems to be only one small trouble, and that is that we must not allow the rule of Ireland to be left to others." ”

Natsuki shrugged at him with a smile: "It's okay, the best of both worlds." ”

(End of chapter)