Just when Kaiser Wilhelm II was thrilled by the success of a naval agreement with Britain and thus a big hole in the French encirclement of Germany, a piece of news from St. Petersburg made his excitement completely congregated.

In February 1908, at the insistence of Tsar Nicholas II and the strong tactics of the iron-fisted Prime Minister Stolypin, the second Russian Duma adopted a plan to rebuild the navy. According to this extremely ambitious revival law, the Russian Navy will build the Baltic Fleet into a formidable force with 24 battleships, 12 large cruisers or battle cruisers, 24 light cruisers and 108 destroyers!

Despite its own financial constraints, the Naval Fleet Law adopted by Russia took more than twenty years to complete, and was much inferior to the horrific speed of shipbuilding in Britain and Germany in the previous two years; However, their move to start construction of an average of three capital ships every two years also made Berlin's top brass nervous. According to the naval agreement just signed with Britain, the speed of shipbuilding on both Britain and Germany has been greatly reduced; If the Russian navy had risen at this time with a very rapid posture, it would have greatly worsened the present situation at sea in Germany, which had become very favorable by the destruction of the Russian expeditionary fleet against Japan. Due to its geographical location, the primary target of the Russian Baltic Fleet was the German High Seas Fleet, which choked its choke point to the outside oceans!

There can be no doubt that once the Russian Navy is reinvigorated, the German High Seas Fleet will be pinned down in the eastern waters as it was before the Second Pacific Fleet's expedition; This would certainly enable the Royal Navy to take a more relaxed stance in the face of the German fleet, thereby reducing the risk of war that Britain would have to bear after the war against Germany. And history has long proven that only the roar of cannons is the only way to have a normal dialogue with the British, the Sven robber with the law of the jungle, and to ensure that he will not break his word and get fat! Therefore. Only the formation of the Russian Baltic Fleet completely disappeared. Utter loss of their maritime power in the region. is most in line with Germany's national strategy and maritime security interests.

"According to the information from our spies in St. Petersburg, there is a strong French and even British presence in the recent Russian naval revival bill." In Kaiser Wilhelm's office study, Billo, dressed in formal clothes, had a solemn face and told everyone in front of him the information he had recently gathered.

"Economically, the expansion of the Russian navy was greatly aided by France. The Russians were still mired in socio-economic decline due to the enormous attrition of the war against Japan and the sweeping destruction of the domestic revolutionary wave, and it was not easy to maintain the follow-up construction of the two Pavel I-class and two Yevstafi-class pre-dreadnoughts that they had begun after 1903, and there was hardly any spare money to build expensive dreadnoughts. However, the loans of the French were of great help to Russia. France has promised to provide Russia with a decent loan with half the interest rate it used to do in the past to rebuild Russia's maritime power. At present, the official propaganda campaign in Paris to encourage people to buy this particular bond has been launched, and it is in this situation that the Russian Navy has the confidence to build four dreadnoughts in advance in order to keep up with the trend of the navies of the top powers. ”

Bilo paused slightly, and then said: "And in terms of technology, Russia has received full support from Britain and France. In contrast to the stinginess of the late last century, when the design drawings of the battleship Dauphin were sold at high prices, the French were surprisingly eager: they gave the Russian Admiralty all the information about their latest Danton-class battleships, and they also replaced the main engine they used from the original reciprocating type to the Parsons steam turbine. In addition to this, Britain has expressed unimaginable support for Russia's naval build-up. There is information that Britain and Russia have begun to explore the possibility of bilateral contacts and agreement on the reconstruction of the navy; In the coming period. There will be a disturbing warming of relations between Britain and Russia. ”

William nodded slightly, his eyes revealing a slightly complicated expression. Seeming to be aware and resentful, he said for a while: "This situation has been expected by us a long time ago. The British could not calmly accept the fact that the German Navy had 80 per cent of the Royal Navy's capital ships, and they dreamed of giving us some trouble and seeking to find new forces to contain or even weaken our navy, and Russia was the best choice in every respect. France and Russia hoped for a Anglo-Russian rapprochement and a closer encirclement of our Germany, while the other hoped to rebuild their dilapidated naval strength. Therefore, they were naturally overjoyed by the goodwill shown by the British to St. Petersburg, and there was no rejection of it. ”

"Although Russia's wealth was greatly weakened by heavy losses in the two-year war in the Far East, its developed industrial base and large population base would provide a sustained and reliable backbone for its naval development. Therefore, it is well predicted that Germany will face a dual threat from the British Navy and the Russian Baltic Fleet in the future. William's words were tinged with some apprehension, and he said, "In order to cope with the development of the Russian Navy, I think that the Navy should still maintain a relatively rapid pace of fleet expansion this year. In addition to this, we should also try to find out the approximate performance of the dreadnoughts to be built in this class of Russians, so that we can design new ships that are sufficient to engage them. ”

When Qingying heard this, she was quite convinced of William's judgment in her heart. Although the Russian government with the Tsar at its core was rotten, bloated, brutal and incompetent, the speed of developing the navy should not be underestimated against the background of 170 million people as the backing up and its national economy reaching nearly 70% of the total value of the same period in Germany's history. Historically, after the Russian Navy successively started construction of 4 Gangut-class and 3 Queen Maria-class, in 1913 it also built 4 Izmail-class battlecruisers with a standard displacement of 32,500 tons and 12 356-mm guns; If it weren't for the outbreak of World War I, which greatly destroyed Russia's stupid big black and crude shipbuilding industry, which relied heavily on the import of foreign high-precision products, these unfinished ships would have become behemoths moving at high speed on the sea! Therefore, with the restoration of the strength of the Russian Navy already the general trend, the strengthening of the German Navy is an urgent matter.

"In order to cope with the post-war expansion of the Russian Navy, and to allow the imperial economy to continue to be pulled forward by the Navy's shipbuilding operations, we should also ensure that at least two new battleships can be successfully started this year." Looking at William's gray eyes swept with scrutinizing gaze, Qingying's thin lips moved, and then he gave a compromise in his heart. He paused for a moment, then added: "In addition, we can also try to contain the strength of the Russian navy, so that they cannot devote all their energy to the Baltic region!" ”

——————————————————

"This time, the British, out of reluctance to the rise of the German navy, have chosen to support their former enemies to contain our strength, and why can't we use the same tricks to return the favor? Germany, which does not want to see a powerful Russian Baltic Fleet, can also use some means to contain the direction of the construction of the Russian Navy! Qingying smiled slightly.

William's body shook, and a sharp light suddenly burst out from his contracted pupils. He pondered quietly for a moment, and then said slowly, "You mean, let's strengthen the Ottoman Empire's navy?" ”

"My father is really the reincarnation of Frederick the Great, and I can see the essence of everything at a glance." Qingying praised him respectfully, and then explained his considerations to William in detail.

"According to the previously signed London Straits Convention, combat ships of any country, with the exception of the Ottoman Empire itself, are not allowed to freely enter or leave the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. Although by the end of the last century this regulation had been extended to naval vessels of the Ottoman Empire and the countries she considered friendly, the political implications of access to the strait were too sensitive: neither the Mediterranean naval powers, Britain, France, Italy, nor Austria had any influence on its external strength and direct will, and the Turks clearly did not include the Russians in the eyes of the 'friendly countries'. Therefore, it is only the Turks themselves who can freely allow warships to enter and exit the Black Sea through the straits; To distract Russia, strengthening the Ottoman Empire, which has grown closer to us in recent years, is the best option. ”

Qing Ying smiled and said, "The Black Sea and its coastal lands are undoubtedly the core areas of Russia's interests. Most of Russia's maritime transport depends on this ice-free shipping lane, which is stuck by the Turks, and the Balkan Peninsula along the coast is inextricably linked to St. Petersburg. If the Turks possess dreadnoughts, it will undoubtedly have a great impact on Russia's power in the Black Sea region; Under this pressure, an arms race in the Black Sea between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was imminent. At that time, the Russians will be forced to throw a lot of industrial and financial resources into the Black Sea region, unable to concentrate on the development of the Baltic Fleet; The Imperial High Seas Fleet would be less pinned down by the Russian navy, and would be able to go head-to-head at any time with a majestic formation that would terrify the British. In this way, we will be able to completely cut off Britain's desire to rely on maritime superiority to stifle the rise of our Germany! (To be continued......)