Compared with Russia and Italy, the naval strength is slightly inferior, and although Britain and France have a richer heritage, the Spaniards still have not realized their willingness to buy active warships. There is no other reason, because the two have also begun to compete with each other.

In recent years, as the contradictions between Britain and France in the colonies and the seas have become increasingly prominent, the French navy, the second largest in the world, has also begun to take the leap of the day, ready to wash away the shame of the Battle of Trafalgar for their ancestors. Since the enemy was a behemoth of the Royal Navy, the French Navy's originally rich possessions were somewhat dwarfed. In order to deal with the British, who were much stronger than them, the French would not sell their new ships, and the old ships, which were slightly inferior in performance, Spain could not look down on them, and at the end they could only be scattered in two.

As for the Royal Navy, which is in full swing, people also have their own difficulties! At present, the French are building a large number of new armored cruisers with slightly weaker firepower, but excellent speed and range, clearly to play with the British Navy; France, on the other hand, has colonies throughout the world, and its assault ships can be supplied almost on the spot, and its continuous combat capability can be described as terrifying. On the ocean surface of millions of square kilometers, it is difficult to imagine how difficult it is to capture these broken ships. If the Franco-Russian navies scattered all their cruisers across the ocean, it would pose a great threat to the British maritime lifeline; In order to counteract, the British Navy needs a large number of warships to clear and escort, and this number must be as numerous as possible. For the British, there was never such a saying that there was never a "surplus" of battleships! As a result, it was impossible for the British Navy to sell the ships in service that were slightly better to the Spaniards. The Spanish diplomats went around the two countries and got the same reply: the construction of new ships is acceptable, and the sale of existing ships is not negotiable!

Seeing that Britain, France, Russia, and Italy all had one or another demand, and refused to put slightly newer warships on the shelves for sale, the Spaniards had no choice but to come to the Germans, who coveted the Philippines.

In a room in the Reichstag in Berlin, the Spanish ambassador García sat quietly on a couch, his face completely betraying his true situation, although he still tried to maintain his composure and composure. On the other hand, German Foreign Minister Machar, who sat across from him, was in a relaxed manner, a cup of warm coffee swaying from side to side in his hand, exuding a mellow and intoxicating fragrance.

"Mr. Machar, I have come to visit you this time to discuss with your country the purchase of warships in active service. The Americans themselves blew up and sank the Maine, but they falsely accused me of the Spanish Empire; This is clearly a deliberate provocation to kill our Spanish Empire! Your country is a European country with us, so it must not be the reason to see this group of barbarians with no nation and no history attacking their white brothers, right? Garcia pretended to be calm, but there was still a hint of eagerness in his words.

"Mr. Ambassador, if your country wants to order warships from our shipyards, then we warmly welcome this kind act of your country; However, if your country wants to buy an active warship, then please contact the British or the French, Mr. Ambassador. The two of them have a large number of warships, and the sale of several active ships to your country does not affect their maritime strategy at all, and our Germany is obviously different from them. The total tonnage of our fleet is only one-fifth of that of the British, and each of our active ships has a specific mission, and if it were to be sold, it would have a very bad impact on the maritime security situation in our Germany. What's more, I, Germany, am not short of the marks from the sale of these warships. Mashal said to Garcia with a sincere face.

Hearing Machar's words, Garcia couldn't help but clench his fist hidden in his cuffs. A few days earlier, the German government had hinted to itself that it could buy active warships from them; At this moment, the Germans are pretending to be confused, making it clear that they don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles, waiting for themselves to make a statement on Philippine affairs! Garcia breathed a sigh of relief in his chest, and in his heart he had cursed the evil Germans countless times.

Half a year ago, because of the fear that the introduction of Germany as an aid to suppress the indigenous Filipino natives would quench their thirst, and because the country had begun to try to recruit those natives who rebelled in the Philippines, it was far from the point of exhaustion. In view of this, he Garcia avoided the German "old way" and every time he talked about this argument with the Germans, he did not mention the incident at all. At that time, his attitude towards the Philippines was how long he could hold off the Germans; If the local natives could be successfully recruited and the situation could be restored, then the Germans would have to stay in the remote fishing village of Santa Anna, and there would be no excuse for marching inland into the Philippines.

To Garcia's great disappointment, things weren't going according to the script he had in mind. The natives of the Philippines are not fools, and after a brief period of recruitment, they suddenly discover that peace has not been as independent as they imagined; Realizing that they had been deceived, they took up their weapons again and continued to fight the Spaniards. However, due to the Cuban riots, Spain could not provide effective support to the Philippines, which was 10,000 nautical miles away, and the Philippine resistance army became increasingly powerful. Today, Spain's situation in the Philippines is completely out of control, leaving only a few large cities such as Manila in their hands. And at this critical moment of life and death, the American's Maine exploded again; Tensions between the United States and Spain have made it even more difficult for Spain to take care of the Philippines in the Far East. At present, even the Spaniards, who know that the help of the Germans is a glass of poisoned wine, but are about to die of thirst, have no choice!

He took a deep breath and said slowly: "In addition, my country's colonization in the Philippines is also in a crisis, so I also ask your country to help quell the riots of those natives." ”

Hearing these words, Mashal's eyes finally showed a look of satisfaction. He smiled slightly, and said; "Your country and my Germany are both white European countries, and we should help each other in times of difficulty. As for your country's request to buy our country's active warships, as long as the price is reasonable, your country can even hire the devil, let alone buy a few warships? ”

"So, I wonder what warships you have to sell us?" Seeing that the German's face changed faster than turning a book, the Spaniard was angry, but his good diplomat quality still made him endure and asked in a tone that did not fluctuate emotionally. Hearing this, the corners of Machar's mouth twitched, and he tinkered in his drawer for a while, and then put a few drawings in front of Garcia: "Mr. Ambassador, please see, these pieces of paper are depicted on some of the lines of the capital ships of our German Empire. With it, Mr. Ambassador will be able to get a general idea of my German battleship. So, let's get started now, shall we? ”

Mashal glanced at the map in Garcia's hand, then cleared his throat and said, "What Mr. Ambassador is seeing now is the Saxony-class ironclad ships that my Germany completed in the last 10 years, and they used to be the pride of the Imperial Navy!" They are 93 meters long, 18.4 meters wide, 6.53 meters draft, have a standing displacement of 7,677 tons, are armed with six 260 mm main guns and eight 88 mm secondary guns, and have waterline armor up to 254 mm thick. It is worth noting that in a large-scale modernization that began in 1890, they replaced the old armor with the latest Krupp armor, which more than doubled their protection. In addition, they have been replaced with newer boilers in this retrofit, and now they can run at 15 knots! ”

Garcia looked at the battleship with only one chimney left in the picture, and couldn't help but reluctantly nodded. Beginning in 1890, the German Navy undertook a two-and-a-half-year extensive renovation of four Saxony-class ironclads; Not only did they replace the original wrought iron armor with a new Krupp armor, but they also changed the power and combined two chimneys into one, so that each ship could increase its speed by at least 1 knot. Seeing that the Germans put this class of ironclad ships on the shelves, which were still in good condition, the annoyance in his heart also subsided, and he said: "After refitting, they are also good first-class warships." I don't know what your country's offer is? ”

Machar took a leisurely sip of the coffee in his hand and spat out a number from his mouth: "The unit price is 1 million pounds." ”

Hearing this number, the Spaniards, who had managed to raise a trace of goodwill towards the Germans, were immediately thrown to the island of Java, and in their place there was a burst of intense anger. The bruises on his forehead twitched, and he said in a voice that almost popped out between his teeth: "Mr. Marchar, is your offer a little too high?" 1 million pounds can order a new capital ship of more than 13,000 tons, how can a second-class ironclad like this, which has been in service for more than 15 years, be worth the price? ”

"Mr. Ambassador, there are a few questions that you should be clear. First, your country has purchased our active capital ship in Germany, and you can directly pick up the goods without waiting for 3 years of construction time, but after our country lost this battleship, it needs to temporarily build a battleship to make up for this vacancy! Shouldn't you pay me Germany for the three years of waiting that belonged to you? ”

Seeing that the Spaniards were so ignorant of current affairs, Machar was greatly dissatisfied, and his words became stiff, and he said: "Second, after your country bought the battleship, the officers and men who originally served on the ship lost the battleship; And they are all experienced old sailors, and it is obviously impossible for our German Navy to dismiss them, only to pay them according to their salaries! Therefore, this amount of money should also be borne by your country. Finally, the explosion of the USS Maine in the port of Havana is the culprit of your country, whether it was your country or not! By selling our warships in service to your country at this critical juncture, we are taking a huge political risk of making enemies with the United States! To tell the truth, 1,000,000 pounds for 1 ship is already the price of care given by His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, who is particularly merciful; If Mr. Ambassador still thinks it's expensive, then please find another country. ”

PS: Details about the Saxony-class modification are mentioned on Conway.

The author will go to the second chapter of the code to ask for collections, clicks, and recommendations~~~