Money is a good thing, but it's not everything. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Even if Qin Zhiyuan had the financial resources to buy 20 battleships, just like Lloyd George said, Qin Zhiyuan couldn't find so many people to operate them.

A battleship needs about 1,400 people to ensure full combat effectiveness, 20 battleships need almost 28,000 people, and if you add logistics support personnel, the number of people needed has exceeded 50,000.

These 50,000 people are not just recruited to find all of them, these are all professionals, even if they are auxiliary personnel on the shore, they need long-term training to be competent in support work, as for the sailors on the ship, it needs more protracted investment, "one year of the army, ten years of the air force, a hundred years of the navy" is not a joke.

Lan Fang's current navy is to bring the old with the new, recruit former naval members with combat experience from France and Germany, and after joining Lan Fang, they will be mixed with newly recruited sailors, which will initially have combat effectiveness.

Lloyd George also knew that Qin Zhiyuan's statement was a joke, so he also laughed it off.

Qin Zhiyuan's purpose is to fight for more naval quotas, if Lan Fang goes to the Washington Naval Conference, then it is foreseeable that the French will stand with Lan Fang to fight for more rights, the British will work with the Americans to limit Lan Fang's development as much as possible, and the Italians will definitely still be the same grass on the wall, and whoever gives more benefits will be biased.

Qin Zhiyuan didn't want to pin his hopes for a quota on noodles.

"Your Majesty, I hope that before we leave for Washington, we can reach some agreement, which will be more conducive to reaching a contract." Lloyd George was finally a little more pragmatic.

"I also hope so, so Lan Fang will get at least 500,000 tons, if the British Empire insists on 700,000 tons - I have a question, if you want 700,000 tons, then it means that you have to continue to build more battleships, is the situation facing the British Empire already so dangerous?" Qin Zhiyuan cross-examined.

The old rivals of the British, the Germans, have died down, they will not get any quotas, and the whole world will not allow the Germans to regain their navy, so what do the British want so many battleships for? The purpose is certainly not to target the Americans, the pro-sons of the British, then it can only be France and Lanfang.

If you add those old guys who have been mothballed, the total tonnage of the capital ships that the British now have - that is, battleships can indeed reach 700,000 tons, but about 300,000 tons of them are on the verge of scrapping, or there are already dismantling plans, if the British want to maintain the scale of 700,000 tons, it means that the British will continue to build, which is definitely a threat to Lanfang.

"Of course it is necessary, we have a huge territory to patrol, from the Americas to Asia to Oceania and Africa, as long as there are human habitation, there are interests of the British Empire, so we need more warships, at least more than the Lanfang navy needs." When it comes to this issue, Lloyd George is indeed more confident.

"Then we need more, our merchant ships are now all over the world, and we need more battleships wherever our merchant ships can reach." Qin Zhiyuan was-for-tat.

Compared with the British colonies, Lan Fang is indeed incomparable, but if it is compared to the number of merchant ships, Lan Fang has much less than the British, just the "Royal Ocean" in the hands of Qin Zhiyuan, there are more than 200 ocean freighters, from this aspect, Lan Fang is indeed in demand.

"Battleships are not needed to escort merchant ships." Lloyd George points to the heart of the matter.

As Lloyd George said, escorts need destroyers, as long as they can deal with pirates or submarines. Battleships are used to launch national wars, and at present, in terms of Lan Fang's national strength, there are not many countries in the world that are worthy of Lan Fang sending battleships.

"So what? If you ask for a quota of 700,000 tons of capital ships, then we must have 500,000 tons, otherwise the Lanfang Navy will not be able to guarantee Lanfang's national interests, you know very well, I did not ask for the same 700,000 tons as you, and the Lanfang Navy did not mean to compete with the British Navy, what we want is self-protection, so 500,000 tons is not too much. Qin Zhiyuan further expressed his attitude.

"Well—if we keep it at 500,000 tons—" Lloyd George said carefully, a little cautiously.

"Then we can also reduce the number, if you want 500,000, then we only need 300,000." Qin Zhiyuan gave in with Lloyd's George's concession, which is the proper rhythm of reaching a consensus.

"You don't have 300,000 tons now, and this plan is not only to limit the arms race, but also to ask us to restrain each other, and it is best that we do not build any capital ships for ten years from now, so as not to provoke an arms race." Lloyd George had the idea that he really wanted to focus on reviving the economy, and now that the world war is over, the military should not continue to be the protagonist.

"Why not? Our existing 'Vladivostok' and 'Lanfang' are both 43,000 tons, the 'France' is 25,000 tons, the 'Ningbei' is 35,000 tons, and the 'Legion class' under construction is 30,000 tons, and three keels have been laid, which is already more than 260,000, and two more ships will be built in the Legion class in the plan, so 300,000 tons is not a very excessive number. Qin Zhiyuan is still very familiar with these data.

"43,000 tons - that's too much, why do you want such a big ship? It's crazy! Lloyd George rolled his eyes a little as he spoke, a very rude gesture that truly reflected Lloyd George's inner breakdown.

The 43,000-ton warship is absolutely an unprecedented giant on the planet, and the British Navy only has one "Hood", but Lan Fang has two, which makes Lloyd George really feel the indignation of the British Navy.

"200,000 tons, it can only be 200,000 tons, it can't be more, this number includes the 'Legion-class' built by the French for Lan Fang, in addition, the two Keels that Lan Fang has laid can be repurposed for other purposes, such as aircraft carriers, hasn't Lan Fang's air force always been very strong? This is the right path for Lanfang. "Lloyd George has an idea, which coincides with Qin Zhiyuan's thinking.

Of course, this "coincidence" is to be put in quotation marks.

At present, the most popular saying in the world is very unfavorable to aircraft carriers, in a general sense, many people admit that the future of aircraft carriers is bright, but the fragile armor of aircraft carriers is really terrifying, if a battleship with absolute firepower superiority is close to an aircraft carrier, it does not need more, one shot into the soul!

Even including the Lan Fang Navy, many people think so, and only Qin Zhiyuan knows the embarrassment of battleships in the face of aircraft carriers.

Compared with the battleship's armor of 30,000 or 40,000 tons, the aircraft carrier is now generally about 20,000 tons, because of the lighter weight, so it has a higher speed, under the condition that the Lanfang Navy has developed a radar, the battleship does not want to get close to the aircraft carrier, and the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier can calmly implement the "kite tactic" on the battleship at a long distance, which is enough to make the battleship captains want to cry without tears.

During a military exercise in Lanfang last month, Lanfang's admiral chief Antonio had already experienced that feeling.

Although Antonio was still stubborn after the exercise, it is not difficult to find Antonio's true attitude from the fact that one of the two keels that Antonio no longer objects to the newly laid keel belongs to an aircraft carrier.

"Since we are talking about aircraft carriers, let's talk about aircraft carriers, if Lan Fang gives up the requirement of a 500,000-ton capital ship, then what kind of compensation can Lan Fang get on the aircraft carrier?" If you can't talk about it, put it aside first, Qin Zhiyuan is not in a hurry.

Lloyd George began to roll his eyes again, and it was bound to be another heavy and long topic.

It's really a long time, until Julie returns, Qin Zhiyuan and Lloyd George have not reached a consensus.

Of course, there is still progress, at least Lloyd George has understood Qin Zhiyuan's requirements, and Qin Zhiyuan has also understood Lloyd George's purpose, which is a good start compared to the long negotiations.

Julie, who came back from afternoon tea, was in good spirits, carrying a few paper bags in her hands, and seemed to have gone shopping again. didn't have much excitement, seeing Qin De babbling with his hands open and wanting to hug, he reported one very perfunctorily, and then threw Qin De back to Qin Zhiyuan, and he collapsed on the recliner and complained.

"My dear, let's go back to Lanfang, I really can't stand it, I feel that if I continue to stay in Europe, I will be smoked to death by these poisonous gases, I really can't figure it out, why did I still feel that Europe was very good before?" Julie spit out the groans and was also very sharp.

London's air quality – not to mention.

"Soon, we'll be back in a few days, how is your friendship going?" Qin Zhiyuan still cares about Julie.

During this period in the UK, Qin Zhiyuan and George V and Lloyd George were exchanging feelings, and Julie and those noble ladies were also hot, almost every day had different activities, and every day had to face different people.

"Don't mention it, it's really impossible to communicate, Mary is almost 60 years old, can you imagine that there will be a friendship between us? And there is also that David, who is really a bit rebellious, and if David becomes the king of England in 20 years, it will undoubtedly be a disaster for Britain. Julie commented that the British royal family was very unkind.

"Davy" is the former Duke of Windsor, and the little thing about him and Mrs. Simpson is still talked about in the 21st century.

"He will indeed be a king, and he will not be a good king." Qin Zhiyuan did not deny Julie's words.

David still has a good reputation, at least he hasn't begun to have a crush on married women, and in the past world war, David was widely praised for joining the army, which undoubtedly gave a lot of points to the British royal family with German ancestry.

That's right, this is the British version of Zhou Gong's Fear of Rumors Day, when Corporal Wang Mang Lixian was born. (To be continued.) )