The impact of the British and French decision to sell the line of fire to Russian warships did not only cause the Chinese navy to reassess its strategic plans. It has also had a profound impact on Europe at hand. This matter cannot be concealed from China, and of course it is impossible to conceal from Germany, France and Germany are old enemies, and the Germans will naturally be very attentive to every move of the French. Even if the Germans did not find out for a while because of an intelligence error, then the well-meaning Chinese Republic would have told the Germans about the recent actions of the French and expressed their displeasure.

To tell the truth, although the Anglo-French alliance was aimed at Germany, Britain and France really did not calculate Germany on the issue of selling warships to Russia, and they just wanted to maintain their power in the Far East. However, the fact that Britain and France think this way does not mean that Germany thinks this way. The same action will interpret different messages in the eyes of different people, and in the eyes of Kaiser Wilhelm II, in the eyes of this German Führer who is bent on pushing the German Empire to a high height, the actions of Britain and France are very provocative and very dangerous! In the eyes of the German leadership, this is simply telling the Germans that now Britain, France and Russia are already allies! See, the line of fire support is no longer something that a neutral country can do, this is definitely a military alliance, and this means that what Germany and Austria were worried about has finally happened, and Germany and Austria are forced to enter the situation of fighting on two fronts.

In addition to this dangerous sign, the growth of the Russian naval power directly affected the interests of Germany. It is important to know that whether it is the promise of rubber, tin or oil supplies from China to Germany, it is based on China's acquisition of the Dutch East Indies colony. If the Russian navy defeated the Chinese navy, the Dutch held their colony in the Far East. Then these vital strategic materials will be out of contact with Germany! More importantly, if the already powerful Russian fleet was to return to the Baltics, the German High Seas Fleet would have to deal with both British and Russian naval pressure. It was originally impossible to deal with the Royal Navy, and you still have to deal with the Russian fleet? Isn't that more tragic?

When Wilhelm II received the information. It was very angry, quite angry. Wilhelm II was a man of action, and he could not afford to watch the resources at his disposal fly away from his hands, and at the same time, for the sake of Russia and its allies. Wilhelm II immediately summoned his most trusted minister, Tirpitz the Forever. The Kaiser's idea was simple: since Britain and France had added some weight to the Russians, it was necessary for the Germans to balance this influence.

Just when the Kaiser was thinking about how to balance the impact of the two Danton-class ships on Southeast Asia, Tirpitz also walked into the Kaiser's study with a thick stack of documents. He considered the future naval build-up of Germany's allies.

After the establishment of the German, Austrian, Italian, and Turkish alliance. Tirpitz proposed to reconstruct a complete naval strategic system within the framework of the Quadruple Alliance, with the German High Seas Fleet fighting the British Royal Navy in the North Sea, and the Italian-Austrian attacking the French fleet in the Mediterranean. And to annihilate the French fleet in the shortest possible time, or rather, blockade. and then control the shipping corridors of the Mediterranean. If the British supported France, then the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets were to at least ensure the cutting off of the Mediterranean shipping route.

In Tirpitz's view, there is a gap between the navies of the three countries and the British, French, and Russian fleets, and the first class main warships of the German High Seas Fleet are at most 6 to 7 percent of the British Royal Navy. As for such capital ships, it is far from it. Moreover, the German Navy had to divide part of its fleet against Russia. The Italian and French fleets were close in strength. The Austro-Hungarian navy was in a weaker position. So Tirpitz felt a little empty no matter what.

Tirpitz later discovers that he has an ally named Turkey. If Turkey could deploy a strong fleet in the Indian Ocean, then Britain and France would have to separate some warships to maintain the safety of shipping in the Indian Ocean, which would be of great significance to Germany. After all, whether it is the Mediterranean Sea or the North Sea, it is a collision of large fleets, and there is no fancy. The only thing that can be mobile is Turkey, which faces the Indian Ocean!

But then another problem came, the production capacity of the warships of Germany, Austria and Italy was not enough! If you want to talk about production capacity, the British had as many as 1 dozen shipyards that could produce capital ships in World War 1! And how many are there in Germany? There are only 5 of them! The number of shipyards in the British alone was almost equal to the number of German, Austrian, and Italian countries. So much so that in Xu Jie's plane, the British Royal Navy was enough to overwhelm the navies of Germany, Austria and Italy in the Jutland era. Although Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary are now in this plane, they have started relatively early, and their production capacity has been increased as much as possible. However, the British also advanced the production schedule, and the situation in Germany, Austria and Italy was quite bad. As for Turkey. Y simply does not have the ability to build capital ships. Germany, Austria and Italy can't even guarantee their own naval production capacity, who can control Turkey?

Looking at Tirpitz with a pile of papers and a serious statement. Wilhelm II was so angry, but for his most trusted minister, Wilhelm II still listened to him with twelve points of patience. "So we need to find a new source of warships for Turkey, which doesn't have to be top-notch, but it has to be strong enough that the Royal Navy has to split its capital ships to deal with it." Tirpitz said as he looked at Wilhelm II, whose face was gloomy.

"The only countries in the world that can produce dreadnoughts are the six European naval powers and the United States of America, but these seven countries have been excluded. So the source of naval warships of the Turkish Empire is very problematic. Tirpitz said. Isn't there still a Chinese Republic? Their economic situation is not good, and it is very likely that they will retire some of their warships at any time to replace them with new ones, such as the King-class armored cruiser that has just been sold to the Turkish Empire. The current Huaxia Navy has 9 dreadnoughts, and Huaxia will continue to update his fleet after the war, but it is clear that they cannot withstand the ever-expanding size of the fleet, so it is inevitable to dispose of some warships. Wilhelm II said impatiently.

William himself didn't expect that this matter could be related to Huaxia, so he subconsciously said this. And more importantly. I actually found the supplier of the Turkish fleet! Huaxia likes to deal with old ships in exchange for new ship funds, so it's good to give it to Turkey! It's all in stock! And the price may not be expensive. The tonnage is moderate, the size is appropriate, and now the shipyards and dockyards in Turkey may be remodeled. Dreadnoughts will definitely get bigger and bigger later, and new ships are good. But if you can't maintain it, you might as well use an old boat! And the combat effectiveness of the old ships is not low, didn't the two Longxu class also choke the Russian-Dutch fleet enough?

"If the Chinese Navy is willing to sell their warships to Turkey, it would be a very good idea. A warship of about 20,000 tons is suitable for Turkey. It is enough to expand on the existing foundation. And it was also enough to deal with the former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers of the British overseas. Tirpitz said with satisfaction.

"Well, my minister, the problem has been settled, so let us now speak of the Far East, where England and France have finally come together with Russia, and they are going to be detrimental to the Empire's allies in the Far East. And if the Huaxia Republic fails, both the resources of the Dutch East Indies and the warships that are ready for the Huaxia Republic to cede to Turkey will become empty talk. So I hope that the Admiralty will come up with a practical plan to counteract the influence of Britain and France on the Far East! Wilhelm II voiced his concerns and demands in one breath!

"Ugh. Your Majesty, are you planning to sell the warships of the German Empire's High Seas Fleet to Huaxia? This is absolutely not possible, not to mention the supply problem during such a long voyage from the North Sea to the Far East, it is a huge time consuming matter to simply let the Chinese navy personnel come to Europe to receive ships. It is not operational at all. More importantly, the number of capital ships of the High Seas Fleet is obviously insufficient, and it has been helping the Chinese Navy build ships in the past few years. Only now begin to update your own fleet. We are also short on time. Tirpitz said firmly.

"The capital ship of the High Seas Fleet is the sharpest sword in the hands of the Empire, and this long sword is still very fragile, and we can't easily sell it to other countries, Your Majesty." Looking at Wilhelm II, whose face was cloudy, Tirpitz pleaded again.

"The Chinese Navy must win the naval battle in Southeast Asia, the Russian fleet must be severely damaged, the resources of the Dutch East Indies must be obtained, and I don't care what method the Navy uses. I just want results. The grumpy Wilhelm II finally got a little unbearable, and first got the news of the alliance between England, France and Russia. Then Tirpitz's arrival not only did not solve the problem, but instead talked about a topic that he didn't care about for a long time, and Tirpitz vetoed his suggestion later, which made Wilhelm II very unhappy!

"Actually, we don't necessarily have to provide first-class capital ships to the Huaxia Navy, and even we don't have to draw fleets from Europe, we also have a detachment in the Far East, and there are just the right warships to use." Otherwise, in times of crisis, people's heads turn quickly, and in the face of Wilhelm II, who was already on the verge of going berserk, Tirpitz was really finding a solution, and in his opinion, this solution was simply tailor-made for this problem!

In addition to the domestic fleet, the German High Seas Fleet also has sub-fleets overseas, but the size of the sub-fleets is very small, and it is quite good to have a few light cruisers. There was one exception, however, a detachment, and that was the German Far East Fleet. On Xu Jie's plane, the German Far East Fleet was stationed in Qingdao and had two armored cruisers, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and several light cruisers. And at the beginning of World War I, it had a brilliant record. The Germans did not forcibly lease Tsingtao in this plane, but they still deployed a cruiser formation in the Caroline Islands in the Far East, which still contained two armored cruisers known as Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but these two warships were much stronger than in history.

Since the advent of the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers and the PISA-type armored cruisers, the development trend of the entire world of navies has undergone major changes, and because of Xu Jie, the Germans have also begun to comprehensively adjust their naval construction design, equipped with six 11-inch guns of the quasi-dreadnought battleship Westminster-class battleship. AT THE SAME TIME, A LOT OF CHANGES WERE MADE IN TERMS OF ARMORED CRUISERS, AND THE GERMANS ABANDONED THE LATER 210MM MAIN GUNS. RATHER, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 240MM MAIN GUN CONTINUED. THE LORD BISMARCK-CLASS ARMORED CRUISER IS A PISA-LIKE ARMORED CRUISER WITH SIX 240MM GUNS IN THE CENTRAL AXIS.

With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, the Germans were very pleased with the three main guns of the Spanish-class battleships, and the Germans were very satisfied with the design of the twin turrets that could be replaced with larger calibers from secret sources. German research and development of the main gun lagged behind. It is not possible to let the battleship and other artillery, but if it can be replaced with a new artillery, it can undoubtedly take into account both the development of artillery and the production of warships.

As a result, the Germans came up with the first triple gun turret, and installed it on the new generation of cruiser Scharnhorst, but the plan could not keep up with the changes, and in 1904, when the German Scharnhorst entered the artillery outfitting stage, the new twin-mounted 11-inch 45L main gun had been successfully developed. THE TRIPLE 240MM CANNON IS NO LONGER NECESSARY, EXCEPT FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF NECESSARY SKILLS, THERE IS NO OTHER USE. And the Scharnhorst jumped directly from the armored cruiser to the battle cruiser class! AFTER ALL, THE SHIP WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO INSTALL 9 240MM GUNS, AND THE HULL MARGIN WAS QUITE LARGE.

If the Dutchman's Rotterdam-class armored cruisers were the last ultimate cruisers, then the German Scharnhorst-class were the smaller battlecruisers. The usual displacement is up to 16,000 tons, and the full load displacement is 18,000 tons. Equipped with 16 boilers and four four-cylinder vertical reciprocating steam engines, the Scharnhorst-class has an output of up to 25,000 horsepower and a top speed of 23.5 knots, which is comparable to the speed of the Longtai-class fast battleships in Huaxia. THE MAIN ARMOR BELT IS UP TO 8 INCHES THICK, THE UPPER ARMOR IS 5 INCHES, AND THE HORIZONTAL ARMOR IS 60 MM. The turret armor was 10 inches, and the turret armor also reached 10 inches. THERE ARE 100MM ARMOR BELTS AT THE END AND AT THE END. And it has an underwater lightning protection system with a width of 3 meters. It can be said that the protection has reached the peak of installation.

In terms of firepower, it is equipped with three new 11-inch 45L twin-mounted main turrets. The maximum rate of fire is 2-3 rounds per minute. THE WEIGHT OF THE SHELL IS 300KG. The muzzle velocity is as high as 855 meters per second! COUPLED WITH THE HARDENED QUILT CAP-PIERCING SHELL MADE IN GERMANY, THE COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE HAS SURPASSED THE LEGAL 274MM MAIN GUN OF THE SEVEN-PROVINCIAL FAST BATTLESHIP. AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE ALSO 8 150MM SECONDARY GUNS, 16 88MM ANTI-MINE GUNS AND 4 450MM TORPEDO TUBES. This firepower is already comparable to that of the Russian Peter the Great-class fast battleships. So it is not an exaggeration to call the Scharnhorst-class small battlecruisers.

Yesterday there was a big chapter, but who would have thought that the subscription would not be as much as half of the usual——! The author is unwilling~~~, and decides to turn grief and anger into strength! Today there is another big chapter~~~. Ask for a subscription~~~.

Thanks to the book friend 1 Love is Melancholy 1, Dongguan Bald King for the monthly ticket support ~~~~. (To be continued......)