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"Your Excellency the Minister of the Navy, Your Excellency the Prime Minister is in a meeting, or you will wait a while!" The secretary of the Prime Minister's Office said to the British Admiralty, Sir Fisher. In the near future, King Edward VII will ascend the throne, and Prime Minister Arthur Balfour is gathering relevant personnel to discuss some issues that need to be paid attention to during the enthronement ceremony.

"No, I must see His Excellency the Prime Minister immediately, the fate of Britain is at stake!" Lord Fisher, Lord of the Admiralty, said with a gloomy face.

"This, well! I'll report to the Prime Minister right away! "The secretary of the Prime Minister's Office did not dare to slack off. After all, Sir Fisher said so strictly, if something really went wrong, it was not something he could afford.

Sir Fisher nodded, and went straight to Prime Minister Arthur Belfour's office to wait.

At this moment, in the conference room of the Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Arthur Belfort is organizing a meeting. The enthronement of King Edward VII is being discussed. Prime Minister Arthur Belfour proposed to show Britain's strong strength at this enthronement ceremony, and let the world know that Britain is still the most powerful country in the world. It's just that the condition he put forward is a bit too embarrassing. Britain dominates the world by relying on its navy. However, although the British Navy still has more than 20 battleships, these battleships are all outdated and old battleships. Even the six 'old man-star' battleships that have just been commissioned are only tortured and killed in front of the new battleships of the Chinese Navy. And the British Navy's own 'Dreadnought-class' battleships may not be able to enter service until the second half of the year.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Minister of the Navy has an urgent need to see you!" The secretary of the Prime Minister's Office pushed open the door to the conference room. Came to the side of Prime Minister Arthur Belfour and whispered.

Prime Minister Arthur Belfour frowned. He really doesn't like being interrupted in meetings. He knew, however, that Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Fisher, must have something urgent to see him. Therefore, he nodded.

"Let's discuss it first, I have another thing to deal with!" With that, Prime Minister Arthur Belfour left the conference room and went to his office. Along. He was also wondering what was going on. Could it be that the Chinese and the Germans have formed an alliance? If that's the case, then it's not good news for the UK. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Yuze are visiting Wèn in Germany. It was inevitable that Arthur Belfour would be able to think so.

"Sir Fisher, what has happened?" As soon as he entered the office, Prime Minister Arthur Belfour saw Sir Fisher fidgeting, which made him feel that something big was really about to happen.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, yes, our intelligence officers. At the shipyards in China, it was discovered that the Chinese were secretly building several battleships! Sir Fisher said.

Prime Minister Arthur Belfour frowned suddenly, and then said: "Do the Chinese continue to develop naval strength?" Do they really want to replace the Royal Navy. Become the most powerful navy in the world? ”

"Your Excellency, if this is the case, then it is not a great threat to us. After all. China is too far away from us, and they want to attack us. It takes 20,000 kilometers to do so. Sir Fisher said.

"What do you mean?" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour was a little puzzled.

"Your Excellency, according to the information we have obtained, these battleships do not belong to the Chinese Navy, they were built by the Chinese for other countries!" Sir Fisher said.

"Other countries? You mean Germany! The Chinese built battleships for the Germans again? Prime Minister Arthur Belfour suddenly stood up from his chair. If the Chinese were building battleships for Germany, this would be a big problem. Germany itself was also frantically building battleships to catch up with the British. In order to cope with the German naval challenge, Britain had to exert great efforts to mobilize resources to build new battleships as much as possible, so as to be able to suppress Germany. At present, Germany has 8 battleships under construction, but Britain has 12, which is enough to guarantee Britain's superiority. However, if China was also building battleships for Germany, then the British advantage would no longer exist. And as soon as the German Navy had an advantage over the British Navy, the fool would know what was going to happen. The arrogant German Navy will definitely challenge the British Navy. And once the British navy was defeated, all of Europe would not be able to stop the Germans.

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister. We can be sure that the battleships on the slipway of the Chinese belonged to the Germans. There are four, none other than the Germans' Nassau-class' battleships, with 280 mm guns, which are completely different from the 305 mm guns of the Chinese' 'Chinese-class' battleships. Most likely, these four battleships will be commissioned in the second half of the year. In addition, there are four "Helgoran-class" battleships modified from the Chinese' "Qin-class" battleships, which are under construction and are expected to be able to enter service within one and a half or two years! By then, the Germans would have 16 powerful battleships, and we had only 12! Sir Fisher said in a somewhat low tone.

"Those damn yellow-skinned monkeys, how can they do that? They are destroying the peace of Europe and the whole world! Prime Minister Arthur Belfour roared angrily. I have to admit that this trick of the Chinese hit exactly where the British Navy was deadly. Although, the British Isles are protected by the Channel. However, it is very difficult to say how useful the narrow channel will be if the British navy no longer has the upper hand.

"Sir Fisher, what are we going to do in England now? How can Britain cope with the current crisis? Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said. He knows that anger can't solve problems, and he can only deal with them positively.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have no choice but to take the initiative against the Germans. Only our navy, with more and more powerful battleships than the Germans, did not dare to act rashly. Therefore, the Imperial Royal Navy had to maintain its superiority over the battleships of the German Navy. If you approve it, next month, the construction of the 'St. Sente-class' battleships will begin, and six will be built at the same time, and at the rate of our shipyards, these six 'St. Sente-class' battleships will definitely be in service when the battleships of the German Navy can be put into service. Add to this the three more 'Invincible class' battlecruisers that we are about to start building, and then we will have eighteen battleships and three battlecruisers, and we will still be able to have an advantage over the Germans! It's just that this advantage is very fragile, and once the Chinese join it, we will lose all advantages. Therefore, we need to build more battleships! Sir Fisher said. In his opinion, the total number of battleships in the British Navy must be at least twice that of the German Navy in order to be able to meet the challenges of both Germany and China.

"Build six more 'St. Sente-class' battleships?" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour was a little embarrassed. Six 'St. Cent' battleships cost more than £20 million, plus three 'Invincible-class' battlecruisers, the total cost would be over £30 million. Britain, now in the quagmire of the Boer War, can no longer afford a large-scale shipbuilding program.

"Your Excellency, there is no other way. After the construction of the St. Sentes-class battleships began, work began on the design of our next class battleship, the Neptune battleship. In order to maintain the superiority of the British Royal Navy, we must continue to build more and more advanced battleships. Sir Fisher said.

"In this case, we will enter the arms race completely, and our economy will be dragged down!" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said.

"Your Excellency Chancellor, even if our economy is dragged down, I believe that the Germans' economy will collapse before we do. The Germans were growing rapidly, but their foundation was too weak. Plus we were able to get support from the colonies, which the Germans couldn't. Therefore, even if there is a real arms race, the first ones who cannot support it will be the Germans! Sir Fisher said.

"Is it possible to get the Germans to abandon the arms race with us?" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said.

Sir Fisher shook his head: "Your Excellency, the ambitions of the Germans are already very obvious, otherwise, they would not have secretly built battleships in China. ”

"Alright then, immediately summon the Foreign Secretary, Lord Lansdowne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Thomson Richie, and Field Marshal Neville Bowles Sir Chamberlain, to discuss countermeasures!" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said. Such a major event is not something he can decide alone. Even if it is decided, if it is necessary to allocate funds to the Admiralty, it must be approved by the Parliament. Therefore, he must first reach a consensus in the cabinet.

Soon, the cabinet leaders arrived at the Prime Minister's Office, and everyone was shocked when the British Admiralty-Secretary, Sir John Fisher, briefed everyone on the information he had received from China. Everyone knew perfectly well that the Germans had been coveting the British overseas colonies. The Germans vigorously developed the navy for only one purpose, that is, to defeat the British navy, and then seek to seize Britain's overseas colonies, once Britain's overseas colonies were seized, Britain's decline was at hand.

"Everyone is very clear about the severity of the matter. So, do you think Sir Fisher's naval shipbuilding plan should be approved? Prime Minister Arthur Belfour asked.