Episode 88 The Temptation of a Battleship

At the birthday party, Xiang Xiaoqiang ate, drank, and bragged, but until the banquet ended, he did not find Guderian among the crowded officers. Although Guderian's position was not high at this time, he was also a brigadier general, and there were only a few generals at the dinner, which could be counted on one hand. If you come, you will definitely be introduced to Xiang Xiaoqiang. Therefore, the only explanation is this: Guderian did not come at all tonight.

Xiang Xiaoqiang thought about it on the car back to the hotel, and the more he thought about it, the more empty he became. Several generals whom he and Hitler wanted to know by name came tonight, including the biggest officials Flitsch and Beck, but Guderian did not come. Although Guderian was the "Director of the Panzer Corps" and "Chief of Staff of the Panzer Corps", the titles sounded very grand, but at this time the German Panzer Corps had only one brigade in total.

Xiang Xiaoqiang began to mutter: Could it be that Hitler, an old and cunning thing, has realized that what I want to dig up most is Guderian? That's why you deliberately didn't let him come tonight, teasing me? …… Speaking of which, it's not that hard to guess. Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that he was the commander of the Ming People's Guard, and the People's Guard was known for its strong armored strength, and he was so keen on using armored troops in the Ming and Qing wars. Indeed, you can guess with just your brain.

He vigorously recalled Guderian's situation in 1936. All the sources say that Hitler watched a tank drill in 1933 and was fascinated by the "steel torrent" and said, "This is what I want", and then Guderian was greatly appreciated by Hitler and was appointed chief of staff of the Panzer Forces Command, chief of the Panzer Corps, and later asked him to form three Panzer divisions.

Yes, Guderian at this time was very much appreciated by Hitler...... However, there were many people who were "appreciated" by Hitler, and Hitler often "appreciated" many people at the same time. Hitler, like a wayward emperor, could be rewarded with a speculative conversation, a good first impression, a successful exercise, a book...... And a great appreciation for a person. At the same time, it is easy for him to stop "appreciating" a person because of a trivial matter, remove him from his post and put him in the cold palace. Guderian's two ups and downs are the most representative.

Now that Guderian is admired by Hitler, it is difficult for Hitler to cut his love on the surface. But the question is, to what extent? If a warship is used as a bargaining chip, is his position in Hitler's heart worthy of a light cruiser? Is it worth a heavy cruiser? Is it worth a capital ship? ……

After all, Guderian has not yet achieved a single battle, has not yet shown his extraordinary military talent, and he has not yet performed miracles again and again with blitzkrieg. He is not yet the "blitzkrieg hero" of later, and he is not even the "father of German armored forces". The whole reason why he now appreciates Hitler is nothing more than a rather imposing tank maneuver and a military mind that is more appetizing to Hitler.

Thinking of this, Xiang Xiaoqiang was full of confidence again. He calculated the lot of chips in his hand, and felt that it should not be a big problem to get a mere Guderian. A commander of the armored corps has been poached, and another one can be "appreciated". And grain, non-ferrous metal ores, second-hand warships, these things, if the Ming Dynasty does not sell them to Germany, Germany itself will not be able to change them.

……

To be honest, throwing out the bait of "dealing with warships" is Xiang Xiaoqiang's own assertion.

The capital ships of the current naval powers were built before 1922. Because of Washington's 1922 Treaty on the Limitation of Naval Armaments, several naval powers, including the Ming Dynasty, have not rebuilt battleships and battle cruisers in the past 15 years. Even if cruisers and aircraft carriers were built, there were many restrictions on tonnage and weapons, and they were called "treaty ships".

Originally, in 1935, several signatories signed the "Treaty on the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments" in London, extending the treaty period until December 1942, but because Japan did not participate this time, the Ming Dynasty did not participate in it for the sake of its own security. In this way, for Britain, the United States, France, and Italy, it will not expire until the end of 42, but for the Ming Dynasty and Japan, it will expire at the end of this year. Both countries have designed new warships early and are ready to start construction as soon as the end of the year arrives and start a new shipbuilding competition.

This is too much financial pressure on Daming. First, the Ming Dynasty was not like Japan, which was able to tighten its belts and save money to build warships, and secondly, it had to spend huge sums of money to maintain the Yangtze River defense line, so it preferred to adopt the method of gradual upgrading, that is, to sell the outdated old warships and invest the money from the sale into the budget of the new warships, rather than blindly pursuing quantity and combining the old and the new. That's too much to afford.

Now the news that the Navy has decided to dispose of one capital ship and two treaty cruisers is still known to him before leaving the Ming Dynasty. In addition to defending the capital and defending the imperial power, the biggest duty of the People's Guard is to supervise and monitor the entire ** team to ensure that they obey the emperor. Therefore, all kinds of news from within the army and navy, the People's Guard is always very quick to know. They have the right to investigate openly, or they can secretly send personnel, like Dongchang. The news from the navy will be summarized to the two adjutant officers of the navy, Qiuyu and Xiuxiu, and reported to Xiang Xiaoqiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang returned to the hotel, and Qiu Yu was already obediently greeted at the door of the room. After Xiang Xiaoqiang entered, Qiu Yun gently leaned up, took off his coat for him, took his hat, and then quickly ran to the outer hall to make hot tea for him. Xiang Xiaoqiang was very surprised, he was going to spend a lot of effort to coax the autumn comeder, thinking that it would be good to make the autumn cloudy and sunny within three days. This is nothing else after all, this is emotional derailment.

But unexpectedly, Qiu Yu took the initiative to please himself. This made Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart warm, but the guilt was even worse.

In the Hereafter, it will be a family crisis. If the woman is more powerful, she will definitely not make a fuss. But in the current Ming Dynasty, the husband has no "cheating" at all, and he can like other women openly, chase other women, and even marry other women home. Only when a wife is more virtuous and flattering her husband can she keep her position. Even a pampered eldest lady like Qiu Yu is well aware of this truth.

This is the woman of the Ming Dynasty. This is the kind of effect that Xiang Xiaoqiang wanted before crossing over. It can be said that Xiang Xiaoqiang really got his wish. But now, he didn't feel proud, but felt sour.

"Ping Pong...... Whoa......"

There was a sound of something falling outside, obviously the result of Qiu Yu's clumsiness. Xiang Xiaoqiang sat on the sofa, shook his head, and shouted:

"Qiuyun, it's okay, don't be busy, call the waiter."

Qiu Qiu's panicked voice came in:

"Well, it's going to be right away...... I'm so stupid......"

I heard Qiu Yu hurriedly cleaning up for a while. After a while, Qiu Yu came in with a smile and a tea tray with a steaming cup of black tea on top and two sugar cubes next to it.

Xiang Xiaoqiang hurriedly took the tea tray and put it on the small tea table, and then wanted to take her into his arms to comfort her, Qiu Qian suddenly saw Xiang Xiaoqiang still wearing leather boots on his feet, "ah", raised his face to look at Xiang Xiaoqiang, "hehe" smiled, and then trotted to the door, picked up the slippers and ran back, squatting down to take off his boots and change shoes.

"Oops, hey......" Xiang Xiaoqiang dodged back, dragged Qiu Yun up, let her sit on his lap, pinched her cheeks and shook it, "You stupid thing, I haven't seen you serve anyone before, what medicine are you taking today?" Why are you so slapping me up, huh? Why are you so slapping me up......"

Qiu Yu smiled, put his face into his arms, and muttered:

"People shouldn't lose their temper with you in the morning......

Xiang Xiaoqiang grabbed her two ears again, trying to pull her out, but Qiu Yun arched in his arms with a smile, and muttered with a smile while blowing:

“…… I don't care, Xiaoqiang, if you don't forgive me, I won't come out......"

"My day, it's good," Xiang Xiaoqiang was tickled by her blowing, and smiled, "Forgive me, forgive you!" Come out! ”

Qiu Yun raised his face, suppressed his smile, and looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang gently, showing a hundred obedient looks.

Xiang Xiaoqiang held her chin, and Qiu Yu closed her eyes obediently.

But Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't kiss it, but sighed lightly and said:

"Qiu Yun, to be honest, I should ask your forgiveness."

Qiu Yun was startled, opened his eyes and looked at him, and wondered if he was talking back.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at Qiu Qiu's weak appearance, kissed her on the lips, and said with a smile:

"Really, it's my fault in the first place. I shouldn't ...... Uh, I shouldn't have ......"

What shouldn't be? Xiang Xiaoqiang was speechless for a while. …… Shouldn't you like other women? Or shouldn't you accept the words from other women? Or shouldn't you be friends with other women?

Xiang Xiaoqiang found that judging by Daming's moral standards at this time, he really didn't make any mistakes at all, and all the faults were in Qiuqiu. -- Qiu Yu shouldn't eat her husband's vinegar. You shouldn't lose your temper with your husband because you're jealous.

Xiang Xiaoqiangxin said don't look for trouble, this result is already ideal. He grinned and said:

"It's my birthday, I shouldn't have left you alone in a hotel and run out drinking with those officers...... We really deserve to have a cozy dinner. ”

Qiu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, rested his chin on his shoulder, and smiled softly in his ear:

"'Run and drink with those officers,' and see what you say...... People don't know, they think you really went to the barracks tavern and made trouble all night...... I know that you brought me out for national affairs...... The German generals will give you a birthday banquet tonight, this is a national event...... We can do whatever we want. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was very pleased that Qiu Yu was so sensible, so he held her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

……

The two lingered for a while, and Xiang Xiaoqiang began to ask about the Qiu Ming fleet. Qiu Yu confirmed the news again. And this time she said in more detail: it is basically certain that the capital ship to be dealt with is the Gonggong, and the other two treaty-type heavy cruisers are both Han Xin-class, one is Han Signal, and the other is Xiang Yu.

Construction of the Gonggong began in 1920, and by the time of the Washington Conference in 22, it had already been launched and was almost completed, so it was preserved at the conference. Gonggong is the sister ship of the Zhurong and belongs to the Zhurong class. Because the Zhurong class was built late, the performance was still good, and the only shortcoming was that the caliber of the main gun was a little smaller, which was difficult to compete with the mainstream capital ships at that time.

Not long ago, the Navy upgraded the Zhurong and replaced it with larger guns. However, it is very troublesome to change the main gun of the battleship, and there are many places to change, which involves a series of problems. In the end, the modification was completed, and the performance was improved, but it was found that the gains outweighed the losses, so it was better to add some money to build a new one. Therefore, this time to deal with the warship, another unmodified Gonggong will be given priority.

The other two heavy cruisers were also a problem, the firepower was a little weak, but the armor and speed were not bad. When the Ming Dynasty was used as an escort ship or in a large formation to fight, the shortcomings of insufficient firepower were obvious. But it is quite suitable as an ocean-going assault ship.

Both Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiuqiu knew that this style of warship was the most suitable for Germany. German ships are generally characterized by thick armor, high speed, and relatively weak firepower. Their design idea is to have many enemies. When a single ship faces multiple enemy ships, one more gun may not be able to hit the enemy, and an inch thick armor can make the shells fired from several sides ineffective. In addition, what is more important is the high speed, so that you can fight if you can beat it, and run if you can't beat it, and the survivability is very high.

As for the weak firepower, the German-built battleships were mainly used as ocean-going attack ships, not for decisive battles with the British fleet. A relatively small artillery to bully a merchant fleet with weak escort forces is enough.

After this exchange with Qiu Qiu, Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that the attraction of these three baits to Germany was simply beyond words.

Now Germany simply did not have a warship that could be handled. There are only two pocket battleships that can barely be seen: the Deutschland and the Admiral Schell. The third Earl Graf-Spee, the famous raider that sank itself in South America, is not yet finished.

Xiang Xiaoqiang immediately asked Qiu Yu to send a telegram to China. A telegram was sent to Zhu Yourong, asking him to use the three warships to be sold as bargaining chips with Germany. If Germany is willing to compromise on other conditions, the Ming can sell them cheaper. Also, if you agree, quickly make a valuation of the three warships.

The telegram was sent. Qiu Yu suddenly asked:

"Xiaoqiang, you say, will we suddenly sell one capital ship and two heavy cruisers to Germany, will it stimulate Britain?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang bowed his head and thought for a while, then hesitated and said:

"I don't think so. The Anglo-German naval agreement was signed, and Britain voluntarily allowed Germany to expand its fleet to 35% of its own, and even if we sold German ** ships, it would be counted within this 35%. As long as Germany abides by the agreement, even if all the 35% of the warships are bought by others, what difference will it make to Britain? Besides, if Germany makes it itself, it will be slower, but it will only be better. ”

Qiu Yu nodded:

"yes, yes."

"Besides," said Xiang Xiaoqiang, "if we take Sumatra, is there anything more exciting than Britain?" Then we approached Germany and signed a lot of mutual aid agreements...... Anyway, it has already stimulated the UK, so it simply stabbed to the end. ”