A soft glow pours down from the chandelier in the dome, illuminating the room.

Haldane was silent for a moment, and finally slowly spoke: "Before 1906, the speed of your country's shipbuilding was indeed in a relatively slow state, but this does not mean that your country's naval strength has not made a substantial leap. Since 1903, your country has been building all-heavy artillery warships with a speed of more than 20 knots; This kind of ship has an unrivaled overwhelming advantage over the conventional battleships of the past, except for the capital of Lord Nelson of Britain, who has the capital of the first war, and any other warship is as powerless as a lamb under the mouth of a lion! In addition to this, your country has built large cruisers with a standard displacement of 18,250 tons and eight 11-inch guns, which also makes the 54 cruisers of the first class built by the Royal Navy obsolete. The construction of these new ships by your country has unilaterally seriously disrupted the balance of naval strength between the two sides, and Britain has no choice but to choose to start a large number of capital ships of the same type to deal with it. ”

Hearing Haldan's words, Bilo's narrow eyes suddenly burst into a cold and sharp light. He took a deep breath and said coldly: "At present, the development of science and technology in the world is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the navies of all countries are trying to transform their latest research and development results into physical objects that can improve the performance of warships. In this field, our German Navy has only achieved more fruitful gains than the rest of the powers, and the number of ships built has not increased at all. Moreover, Mr. Sir, you yourself have said that your country has 54 cruisers of the first rank, while our Germany has only 14. Could it be that this nearly four-fold difference is what Britain takes for granted? And I'm building a few new warships that can be counted on one hand and upset the 'balance' at sea? Billo sneered. In a tone full of ridicule, he sarcastically said mercilessly: "Then according to your country's theory. All the naval powers except your own should scuttle all their warships and disband all naval research institutes, so that they can develop with peace of mind without destroying the British maritime balance, and then become idiots. ”

The face of the person in front of the meeting changed slightly, but Bilo didn't have the slightest idea of stopping, and continued to chase after him: "In fact, as long as you analyze it a little, the cause and effect of the matter is already very clear. Because Germany has made groundbreaking, subversive, and breakthrough progress in the field of naval warships, it has made your country a country that has always been above the top and believes in the typical bandit logic of 'divine authority of the sea' and 'only I am allowed to have it and not others'. In an instant, there was a violent stimulus and intense anger like a sympathizer being seduced by an enemy. Driven by a series of unreasonable currents of thought, such as fear, resentment, and jealousy, in 1906 your country passed a huge budget for the construction of nine capital ships, and in 1906 it was 'right' to blame Germany for provoking an arms race. If it weren't for the hysterical and crazy clamor of your country that suddenly increased the speed of building ships, why would our Germany have expanded its naval fleet at today's pace! As the direct initiator of this shipbuilding race, if your country insists on refusing to stop this frenzied shipbuilding operation, Germany can only accompany it. Since the meeting was a private meeting between the two parties, and there was no third party in the small secret room, Bilow could only freely express his long-standing bitter anger at the shameless acts of the British robbers, and did not worry at all that his radical remarks would spread and cause serious consequences.

was directly satirized by Billo's tricky and spicy spicy. Haldan's face was blue and white for a while, as if he couldn't bear the endless shame of his glamorous face being directly pierced. It seems to be forcibly suppressing the surging anger that swells up in his heart. He stared at the German Prime Minister with a mocking face in front of him, but he was also blushing and thick-necked, and after a while, he initially calmed down the restless emotions in his heart, and slowly spoke: "In other words, your country is determined to start a naval arms race with my British?" But you need to understand that from Spain to France, from Drake to Nelson, the Royal Navy has never been afraid of any enemy challenging us on the seas. The Parliament of Great Britain has passed a bill to respond to your country's shipbuilding plan at a rate of 2 to 1, and for every capital ship your country will build, Britain will build two. Your country will have no chance of winning this naval arms race. ”

"It should be emphasized that this naval race was actually initiated by your country, and Germany followed in your footsteps at most; Therefore, if your country wants to stop this shipbuilding race, you must first stop your country's rapid progress. Only in this way will Germany slow down the pace of ship construction and negotiate. If not, then let you and I put our will into the slipway. Barrow replied lightly, knowing that he was completely unmoved by Haldane's threat, "As for whether your country can achieve twice the speed of shipbuilding in my Germany, I think you know best, Mr. Sir. ”

Haldane listened to Birlo's calm but unusually tough words, and the already somewhat worried heart sank even more slowly.

Before his visit to Germany, Haldane knew that his trip to Berlin was likely to be full of bumps and thorns. Because if the current situation continues, Britain will not be able to effectively suppress the German navy on the other side of the Strait; In this era of social Darwinism, where truth only exists within the range of a cannon, only the powerful side can get the results they want at the negotiating table!

Judging from the speed of shipbuilding alone, Germany is indeed inferior to Britain. Germany, with France and Russia as its imaginary enemies, needed to maintain a large and capable army that was second to none in the world, which determined that this traditional land empire would invest far more money than its British counterparts. Although Germany's shipbuilding capacity has developed rapidly in the more than 30 years since reunification, it is still far behind Britain, an old industrial country that is extremely dependent on the sea and has a natural desire for progress. Therefore, even if Britain's total economic and industrial output is surpassed by Germany, it can still surpass Germany in the speed of shipbuilding.

However, Britain can only barely do this. Because Germany in this dimension has achieved far more success in obtaining foreign investment, dumping goods, and exploiting colonies than history, the booming national economy has enabled them to build new dreadnoughts at a faster rate than the historical average of four per year; Britain, on the other hand, has been as slow to respond as ever to this era of great change, insisting on free trade by destroying the Great Wall, and allowing its colonies to break away from London's direct control and become dominions, thus bringing the funds available for the construction of ships on both sides much closer. If the shipbuilding race is allowed to continue normally, it is true that Britain can build a dreadnought fleet that surpasses Germany, but it will not be able to open up the gap between Britain and the rest of the powers in the late 19th century, as it did in the late 19th century, and even a slight advantage of 4 to 3! And the German fleet, which was so large that it was a chilling one, was less than two days away from London and could become a second Napoleon to threaten the British Isles at any moment!

"We must find a way to sabotage the German Navy's shipbuilding plans." This was what Prime Minister Bannerman repeatedly told him when he left London. Regardless of the attitude of the political parties, the royal family, and the general public towards Germany's unstoppable rise, and the government's final decision was to settle the war or compromise peacefully, with Britain no longer able to maintain the same naval superiority with Germany as it had in the late 19th century, Haldane must also stop the development of the German navy as much as possible through diplomatic means, and buy time for the British navy to rebuild its superiority over Germany. However, as a member of the highest decision-making level of the British government, Haldane clearly knows that the bright sun that has shone over the British Empire for three centuries is slowly but irreversibly sinking; In the field of national economy, which is directly linked to the size of the fleet, Germany has overtaken Britain and occupied a leading position! Therefore, as long as the German decision-makers can understand the key and firmly grasp the strength of the fleet in their hands, then it is inevitable that they will make a certain degree of compromise with Germany during their trip to Berlin!

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"In order to keep the lights of civilization from being extinguished by war, the British Empire is very willing to make a modest contribution to this benevolent act for the benefit of all Europe through its own practical actions. However, as the number one army nation in Europe and the world, you should also show the sincerity you should have for peace. Haldane emphatically deepens the tone of the term Army, as if to imply that Bilow should have an accurate orientation of German attributes. Although he had no illusions that he would succeed in blackmailing Germany this time, he was still doing everything he could to fool the heretical prime minister in front of him, hoping to get more additional benefits.

Billo smiled slightly, and ignored Haldan's emphasis on the army: "I wonder what your country will do, and what obligations do you want my Germany to fulfill?" ”

Seeing that his expression was completely made for the blind man to see, Haldane felt a little bitter in his heart; His face was solemn, and then he took a deep breath as if he had made a great decision, and said: "If your country keeps the number of dreadnoughts within 50% of the British Empire, then the British Empire will revise its sincere agreement with France and maintain its neutrality forever in the event that your country is attacked by France and Russia!" (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly pass support of MeTaTron and 尐○のnoodles for supporting the coming Year of the Horse, and I wish you all a happy New Year and a happy family~~