Chapter 142 Jiāo Exchange (Ask for a monthly pass!) Read! ）

At night, Kiel Harbour was shrouded in sea fog, and under the dim calcium carbide gas street lamps, pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages walked on the ashlar road from time to time, but more often it was the songs hummed by slightly drunk sailors, and several sailors walked hobbly in arms or hugs, stopping from time to time to raise their heads and raise their bottles to drink.

As a base for the High Seas Fleet, the ambition of the "Commander of the Atlantic Fleet" can be seen from all corners of Kiel, and although the German navy is not strong, the ambition of Wilhelm II can be felt in all corners of Kiel, at least from the outside, Kiel is not only a port, but also a city of sailors.

The High Seas Fleet in the port of Kiel may not be strong, but for this fleet of tens of thousands of sailors, it is only a matter of time before it equals or surpasses the British Navy, although Germany does not have the British Royal Navy for a hundred years, but after decades of industrial revolution, this fleet not only has world-class warships, but also famous generals, I am afraid that the only regret is that he is not like the British Navy, with more than a number of ships of major powers combined.

But this did not prevent a country from having the ambition to enter the seas, especially when the German Navy went out into the ocean under the leadership of the "Commander of the Atlantic Fleet" and it was only a matter of time before the British Royal Navy was challenged.

Perhaps the Germans, as a continental nation, do not really understand the sea, although they are sad for the sea, but they have not really understood the sea, but this does not prevent them from being fanatical for the sea, paying for the sea, and similarly, the mainland people may not really understand the sea, but who can stop their determination to go to the sea?

"No, no, no......"

Lalian three words, spit out from Jiang Zhixian's mouth, he looked at Alfred with a croissant-style beard opposite? Feng? Tirpitz said word for word.

"We want to buy at least three battleships, four armored cruisers!"

"Impossible!"

Alfred? Feng? Tirpitz replied without a trace of hesitation, and at the same time those eyes looked directly at Jiang Zhixian.

"Two battleships, two armored cruisers, 36 million marks!"

While rebutting, Alfred? Feng? Tirpitz emphasized his demands again.

"Plus all the engineering drawings of the Zhiyuan-class battleship! That's the bottom line we can accept! ”

Eight years ago, when Tirpitz became Minister of the Navy, the German Navy was only an offshore defense force, only comparable to Sweden and Denmark in strength, or slightly stronger. For the ambitious German Emperor, the German Army, with its fine traditions, was not to be worried, and the only thing he was worried about was the Navy.

At this time, the Royal Navy was in its heyday, with a large fleet and the best minds in Britain being drawn to the navy, which guarded tens of millions of square kilometers of colonial territory from Canada to Australia, from India to South Africa. The combat effectiveness of the British Royal Navy had an absolute superiority over Germany. If Germany is to realize its ambitions, it must seriously consider this harsh fact.

Tirpitz was a man of great courage, who was determined not only to create a true ocean-going fleet for Germany, but also to rival the Royal Navy. Obviously, Tirpitz's plan to expand the German naval fleet was undisguised as a sign of his undisguised belief in Alfred? Thayer? Mahan's adoration of the German emperor was very zealous and eager.

As a result, Wilhelm II admired Tirpitz's courage and ambition, placed great trust in Tirpitz, fully supported his expansion plans, and soon made him a count. This trust was so strong that Tirpitz eventually earned the nickname "Tirpitz Forever". This title is due to the fact that Tirpitz has always maintained power while the people around him come and go.

It was also such a person, a week ago, after the voyage of the Zhiyuan-class warships of the Chinese Navy shocked the whole world, and immediately made a decision "by selling old warships to China in exchange for drawings of Zhiyuan-class warships", and his decision proved to be correct, as he initially said to the Kaiser.

"With the end of the war between Japan and Russia, the war between Japan and China in Asia is imminent, the appearance of the Zhiyuan ship eliminated all known warships, rather than keeping the old warships that have been eliminated, it is better to export the old warships to China that needs warships, in exchange for the construction of new warships at the same time, but also in exchange for the drawings of the Zhiyuan ship, in order to learn from its experience in the construction of the German "Zhiyuan" ship. ,

The fundamental reason why Tirpitz could not ignore the Zhiyuan was Fisher's words: "The Zhiyuan is the most perfect warship in the world today, with a perfect combination of speed and firepower, firepower and armor." And the British Navy has already begun to design the "Zhiyuan", which may be the only chance for the German shipbuilding industry and navy to surpass the British Navy.

"Four battleships, four armored cruisers, four light cruisers, 97 million marks, plus a full set of drawings for the" Zhiyuan Ship ", this is the bottom line that our country can accept! ”

Perhaps worried that the other party would not be able to accept his conditions, Jiang Zhixian finally added.

"The Minister of the Navy of the Chinese Empire hopes that Your Excellency can understand that the threat that China is facing now makes us have to make this proposal, and I hope that your country and Your Excellency can give understanding, and after your country eliminates the warships, you can obtain sufficient funds to build modern warships, even if it is three former Zhiyuan ships, it cannot threaten the Zhiyuan ships!" It can be said that the era of the Zhiyuan ship has come, and the era of the former Zhiyuan ship is over! ”

Jiang Zhixian's words reached Tirpitz's heart, from the first time the Zhiyuan ship appeared in front of the world, he realized that the ocean has undergone fundamental changes because of the appearance of the Zhiyuan ship, and its transformation of the ocean is almost no less than the drastic change from a wooden-hulled ship to an ironclad ship.

Although it is understood that Tirpitz remained silent for a long time, the conditions offered by the Chinese were unacceptable, perhaps the prices they offered were very confusing, but Germany had German shortcomings.

Glancing at his colleagues, from their eyes, Tirpitz read their opinion, battleships are acceptable, but armored cruisers are unacceptable, perhaps armored cruisers have always been the main force of third-rate naval countries, but the performance of Japanese armored cruisers in the Russo-Japanese naval war is something that countries cannot ignore.

And the four armored cruisers that the Chinese intended to buy, perhaps the armored cruiser xìng of the German Navy was not very good, and even fell into a kind of embarrassment: if she performed sabotage and reconnaissance missions as a cruiser, her speed was too slow; As a battleship, her armor was a little thin and her firepower was weak, but these four cruisers were all of the German Navy.

"If the Germans can sell two armored cruisers, God will already bless, find a way to get Germany to sell us two more capital ships!"

Thinking about the secret telegram he received a month ago, Jiang Zhixian was silent after saying the previous words, in his heart it was impossible for Germany to sell armored cruisers, and now he just put forward a condition, and then bargained and negotiated.

Four armored cruisers...... Thinking in his heart, Tirpitz still discounted this number in his heart, and when he persuaded the emperor to sell the old ship, he had already drawn up a plan.

"Bismarck, Prince Heinrich armored cruisers!"

Speaking a little deeper, Tirpitz continued.

"Plus 5 Wicchersbach-class battleships!"

Laughing, Tirpitz added a suggestion that he thought was very good, the Wicchersbach-class battleship was the second type of battleship in the German Navy to be fully equipped with speed guns, maybe Caesar? The Frederick III-class battleship was older than it and inferior in armor, but the Wiecchersbach-class battleship had a fatal shortcoming, as a strengthened version of the previous battleship, its armored defense area was expanded a lot, and at the same time the speed shè guns on the middle deck were eliminated, the secondary gun openings on the side of the ship were removed, the hull structure was strengthened, more weapons were moved to the area above the upper deck, and the shè was also improved, but in order to lower the center of gravity, the position of the secondary gun deck was lowered by one layer, During this period, the secondary guns of the capital ships of various countries had the disadvantage of being installed too low, and it turned out that they could not be fired at all in bad sea conditions.

If the German Navy needed to eliminate old warships, then the Vicchersbach-class battleships were undoubtedly the first to be eliminated.

"Vicchersbach-class battleships!"

After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Zhixian understood the reason why Tirpitz was willing to sell five Vicchersbach-class battleships, which could be called Germany's "most defeated" battleships, despite the fact that he was very new.

Is there a choice?

Jiang Zhixian asked himself in his heart, the firepower of the five ships is only slightly stronger than that of the armored cruiser, the old German battleship!

"We need four armored cruisers!"

Tirpitz smiled and did not answer Jiang Zhixian's question, the Chinese had no choice at all, and he preferred to sell battleships, especially the old-fashioned, hidden ones, rather than poor armored cruisers that sold less.

In the face of Tirpitz's silence, Jiang Zhixian hesitated for a long time, and he even imagined that it was possible to replace another type of warship. Or maybe it's Caesar? Frederick III-class battleships too! Despite his inner struggle, he knew that if he did not accept it, there might really be no better alternative, where the British had clearly refused to export battleships or armored cruisers to China, and the contact with the United States seemed to be ......

"I beg your pardon, I need to inform China of today's results before I can make a decision!"