In the royal palace of Rome, the capital of Italy, the king of Italy, Vittorio? Emanuele III said categorically: "Then immediately place an order for 2 Roman-class aircraft carriers and 2 Litorio-class super dreadnought battleships for domestic shipyards, the country's finances are responsible for half of the construction costs, the navy is responsible for the construction costs of 1 Roman-class aircraft carrier, and as for the construction costs of the other 1 Litorio-class super dreadnought, it will be directly transferred from the royal family's account, and our Italian Navy must not stop growing stronger!" ”

Italy's Prime Minister Brandra and Admiral Robert looked at each other, and they both knew that King Vittorio? In order to develop Italy's military strength, Emanuele III has used the savings of the Italian royal family many times, and most of the previous rebuilding of the Italian navy relied on royal funds, so that the royal family has no money in its account, and this time it is necessary to take out the funds for the construction of a Roman-class aircraft carrier from the royal family's account, which is likely to empty the funds of the Italian royal family. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Prime Minister Flandra hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, it is better to build 2 Roman-class aircraft carriers and 1 Litorio-class super dreadnought battleship first, and the funds in the royal family's account will be reserved for emergency purposes." ”

The Minister of the Navy, Roberte, also followed up and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, the royal family must keep some funds in the royal family's account, and when the country's finances are more comfortable, it is not too late to build more capital warships." ”

King Vittorio? Emanuele III waved his hand and said: "Just do what this king wants, in the royal family's account, in addition to the funds for the construction of 1 Litorio-class super dreadnought, there is also a lot of money left, all of which is enough to build 2 more Litorio-class super dreadnought battleships, and there is no problem at all to build only one." ”

Hearing that the king said this, Prime Minister Brandra and Admiral Robert did not persuade him any further, and then King Vittorio? Emanuele III also said: "The large order of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, our Italian shipyard did not get, but according to reliable information, Spain, which is about to join the Central Powers, is also ready to order several capital warships abroad to enhance the strength of the Spanish Navy, our Italian shipyard must win the order of the Spanish Navy this time, and this king also hopes to rely on the large order of the Spanish Navy to build one or two more capital warships for our Italian Navy." ”

In the Spanish-American War, the Philippines, which originally belonged to the Spanish colonies in Asia, and Guam and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean were bought by Lin Daxin, and Cuba and Puerto Rico, which originally belonged to the Spanish colonies in South America, were robbed by the United States, resulting in the loss of all Spain's overseas colonies and the status of an international power ceasing to exist.

Historically, between 1909 and 1911, a series of revolutionary movements broke out among the Spanish people under the banner of overthrowing the monarchy, among which Madrid and Barcelona were the most serious, which directly made Spain's overall strength even worse.

Spain, which did not suffer from the turmoil in history, after the end of the Spanish-American War, under the leadership of King Alfonso XIII, gradually strengthened its military strength, and the Spanish Navy now has 4 Spanish-class dreadnought battleships and 3 Agosta-class battlecruisers, plus other types of warships of the Spanish Navy, it can be said that in Europe, in addition to Britain, France, and Russia of the Entente, as well as Germany, Italy, Austria and Turkey of the Allied Powers, the Spanish Navy is the eighth in Europe, and it ranks eleventh in the world. Outside of Europe, only the Imperial Chinese Navy, the U.S. Navy, and the Japanese Navy surpassed the Spanish Navy in strength.

The strength of the Spanish Army has also exceeded 600,000, and the Spanish Air Force has also begun to equip itself with several new fighters developed and produced by the country, making Spain the strongest military country in Europe in addition to the Entente and the Allied Powers.

In the Royal Palace of Madrid, the capital of Spain, King Alfonso XIII addressed Spanish Prime Minister Carlos Xiii? Navarro said: "The matter of our Kingdom of Spain's accession to the Central Powers has basically been decided, and the free aid that the Allies have given us to Spain of about 8 million pounds has been transferred to the account of the Kingdom's treasury, and the Siegfelli-class aircraft carrier that the Germans gave us, our Spanish Navy has sent officers and soldiers to Germany to receive it, and our Kingdom of Spain will not only face the threat of the Entente, but also face the hostility of the Chinese Empire, the world's largest power." ”

Prime Minister Carlos? Navarro hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the minister has not understood why you are strongly advocating that our Kingdom of Spain join the troubled waters of the Central Powers?" You must know that the relationship between the Central Powers and the Chinese Empire is not only very tense, but also between the Allied Powers and the Entente Powers, and it is not clear that our Kingdom of Spain will be dragged into a protracted war by the other four countries of the Central Powers. ”

King Alfonso XIII then said: "At present, the world's great powers are basically divided into four camps, the Chinese Empire itself counts one, the US-Japan military alliance counts one, and then there are the Entente and the Allied Powers. ”

After a pause, King Alfonso XIII continued: "The Chinese Empire is the country of the Orientals, and it is impossible for our Kingdom of Spain to get up, and the United States has a great hatred for our Kingdom of Spain, so our Kingdom of Spain has two choices left, and the reason why this King chose to join the Allies, the free aid of 8 million pounds from the Allies and the 1 aircraft carrier of the German Navy only occupy a small part, and the more reason is because the military strength of the four countries of the Allies has risen sharply in recent years. ”

Prime Minister Carlos? Navarro couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, the three countries of the Entente, Britain, France and Russia, have also increased their military strength rapidly in recent years, and on the whole, the Entente still has a certain advantage over the Central Powers, why didn't His Majesty choose the Entente?" ”

The corners of King Alfonso XIII's mouth curled slightly, and said with a smile: "The military strength of the Entente has indeed increased rapidly in recent years, only the Russian army is almost 7 million now, but it is because Russia has 7 million army troops that it is more dangerous to join the Entente, you must know that the Russian Tsar Nicholas II is a very vengeful person, the Chinese Empire has annexed more than 17 million square kilometers of land in Russia, and that Tsar Nicholas II must not want to take revenge all the time, Maybe at any time, the 7 million army troops of Russia will move eastward, and if our Kingdom of Spain joins the Entente, it may be involved in the war between the Entente and the Chinese Empire at any time, and none of the four countries of the Allied Powers borders the Chinese Empire. ”

Prime Minister Carlos? Navarro suddenly realized: "The minister understands, although the four countries of the Allied States also joined the last war against the Chinese Empire, but the four countries of the Allied States are far away from the Chinese Empire, and it is not so easy to break out a war, His Majesty the King is wise!" ”

Don't look at Prime Minister Carlos? Navarro shouted that His Majesty the King was wise, but in his heart he still thought that King Alfonso XIII's decision was too hasty, and he believed that Spain's accession to the Central Powers would definitely do more harm than good.

Once a war breaks out between the Central Powers and the Chinese Empire, or with the Entente, Spain will be involved in the war, not to mention whether it can win in the end, the losses in the war are likely to make Spain unbearable, that is to be at war with several military powers in the world!

King Alfonso XIII said: "Another advantage of joining the Central Powers is that we Spain can finally order aircraft carriers, super dreadnoughts and battle cruisers from Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary among the Central Powers, and if we Spain now join the Entente, Britain and France are busy building their own capital warships, and there is no idle large dock to build capital warships for our Spanish navy!" ”

There is a big gap between the Spanish shipbuilding industry and several other military powers in Europe, although the Spanish Navy's 4 Spanish-class dreadnought battleships and 3 Agosta-class battlecruisers are all built by the Spanish shipyards themselves, but the full load displacement of the Spanish-class dreadnought battleships is only 15850 tons, and they are only equipped with 4 double-mounted 45 times the caliber 305 mm main guns, which is the smallest dreadnought battleship in the world, and the full load displacement of the Agosta-class battlecruisers is only 16500 tons. Equipped with 4 double-mounted 45 times caliber 320 mm main guns, it can be said that it is the world's smallest displacement battlecruiser, and these two types of main warships of the Spanish Navy have great hidden dangers, if the sea wind and waves are too strong, these two types of main warships of the Spanish Navy are prone to capsizing.

According to the current level of Spain's shipbuilding industry, if you want to independently build a super dreadnought battleship or battle cruiser with a larger displacement and a larger caliber of main guns, you will need to take a lot of risks, and as for the independent construction of aircraft carriers, the Spanish shipbuilding industry is even more unthinkable, so Spain hopes to introduce technology to Britain, France, Germany, and Italy in European countries with developed shipbuilding industries.

However, the Entente and the Allies said in unison before that only when Spain joins their own camp can they help Spain improve the technical level of the shipbuilding industry, otherwise I will help you, and you will join the hostile camp, then I will not lose my wife and lose my army!

Spain then wanted to order a few capital warships from Britain, France, Germany and Italy, but they were also refused, and the reason was the same: if I help you build a few capital warships, but you join the hostile camp at the end, then I will shoot myself in the foot!

Prime Minister Carlos? Navarro nodded and said: "Your Majesty, there is no need for us to ask for it now, Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary all hope that we Spain can order capital warships in their shipyards, and all of them promise to teach us a series of technologies for ordering capital warships to our Spanish shipyards free of charge." ”

King Alfonso XIII said with a twinkle in his eyes: "This king has always hoped to reproduce the era of the Spanish Armada, and this time to join the Allied Powers is an opportunity for our Spanish Navy. ”

Prime Minister Carlos? Navarroma said: "Your Majesty can rest assured that this time our Spanish Navy will take advantage of the opportunity to join the Central Powers to order a few more capital warships at the lowest possible price, and to obtain all kinds of technology that our Spanish shipbuilding industry urgently needs." ”

On January 20, 1912, the Kingdom of Spain officially announced its accession to the Central Powers, becoming the fifth country of the Central Powers, and on the same day, Spain announced that it had ordered 3 Siegfolli-class aircraft carriers and 4 Bavarian-class super dreadnought-class battleships from Germany, of which 1 Siegfolli-class aircraft carrier and 2 Bavaria-class super-dreadnought battleships would be built in Spanish shipyards under the direction of German engineers, and the remaining 4 capital warships would be built in German shipyards. And the purchase contract included German carrier-based aircraft equipped with three Siegfrey-class aircraft carriers.

The reason why the Kingdom of Spain ordered 7 capital warships from Germany at once was because of the excellent performance of German warships, and on the other hand, because Germany was the boss of the Central Powers.

Spain prepared a very sufficient fund for the purchase of ships this time, mainly King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who also took out a huge amount of money from the royal family, and after purchasing seven capital warships from Germany, the next day, that is, January 21, Spain signed contracts with Austria-Hungary and Italy respectively.

Spain purchased two Alpine-class battlecruisers from Austria-Hungary and two more Leonardo da Vinci-class battlecruisers from Italy, and one of the Austro-Hungarian and Italian battlecruisers was to be built in a shipyard in Spain, under the direction of Austro-Hungarian and Italian engineers.

The boss Germany has slipped his beard, and he can't miss the second Austria-Hungary and the third Italy, but unfortunately the fourth Ottoman Turkish Empire's own shipbuilding industry is not as good as the younger brother Spain, who has just joined the Central Powers, otherwise Spain may also play a sloppy to the fourth. (To be continued.) )