- "Cassini is gone?" ”

In the West Garden of the Honolulu Mansion in Yanjing, Feng Qi was greatly relieved to see his deputy nodding.

A week ago, after Kamapov, the new commander of the Russian Far East Fleet, led a cruiser and two French freighters loaded with more than 2,000 Russian captured soldiers to Vladivostok, he did not expect to run into a mine laid by the Pacific Army, causing the cruiser to sink and he himself died, and even a French freighter was also seriously damaged.

Although the mines were laid during the last war, who let the Russians themselves be careless? However, Cassini ignored it, and even tried his best to protest, and said that it was the Pacific Army that made the provocation first, so Russia should reconsider the armistice agreement that had just been signed, and demanded that the Qing government axe immediately expel its own people.

Termination of the agreement? Expelled yourself? Russia simply does not have the strength to continue to send to the Far East, and Cassini is just paving the way for the next battlefield, but where does his confidence come from?!

Just as Feng Qi was rubbing his temples, an exclamation came from outside the office, and he hurriedly walked out only to find that the staff of the mansion outside had already gathered together, and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"Mr. Feng, Europe is in chaos."

"Europe?" Feng Qi walked among everyone, and the counselor hurriedly handed him the briefing he had just received, and said hurriedly: "A week ago, Russia loaned France one billion francs and announced that it would build a main fleet with twenty first-class battleships and twenty second-class battleships by 1902. ”

As soon as the telegraph operator finished speaking, Feng Qi gasped suddenly, did Nicholas II go crazy? A billion francs! That's fifty million pounds! Moreover, the navy not only has capital ships, but also supporting auxiliary ships, ammunition, etc., which is almost the same as building ships!

No wonder Cassini has become more and more confident in speaking these times, and he dares to say that he wants to tear up the agreement, obviously because he has received domestic news! And the important thing is that, unlike Russia, which is concentrating on preparing for war, the Pacific Army will still have this confidant in the next few years!

The first batch of two light cruisers and four destroyers ordered by the Austro-Hungarian Empire had returned to Yokosuka three days earlier, indicating that the strength of the navy was gradually recovering and a new round of war was imminent.

According to Russia's timetable, the Pacific Army will face two difficult wars in the next five years, and this is not counting where Luzon is, if it is calculated according to the conventional war losses, even if all are won, the Pacific Army will suffer heavy losses, so this briefing sent by the General Staff not only stunned Feng Qi, but also made everyone in the mansion burst into cold hairs.

Everyone only had one thought left, how would the young master deal with the crazy Yuben and Russia? ――

"Are the Russians crazy?!"

As soon as Tirpitz walked into the Imperial Admiralty building, he received information about the expansion of the Russian navy, and his mouth opened in astonishment just by looking at it, although he had already thought that the Russians would retaliate on the way back, but he did not expect the Russians to be so fierce, twenty first-class battleships, twenty second-class battleships, plus other ships that matched, God! The Russians can't build so many warships even if they smash the pot and sell iron!

After pressing himself on the chair, Tirpitz's eyes began to converge, those who knew him well knew that this was a precursor to his thoughts, the Admiral Hoffmann, who was sitting opposite him, did not speak quietly, although he was the nominal Admiralty, but he was not the best candidate in the heart of Wilhelm II, he knew that with the return of Tirpitz, his position would sooner or later be given to the bearded man in front of him!

Tirpitz thought for a moment before he raised his head and asked, "Do Your Majesty and Marshal Schlieffen have any preparations for this plan?" ”

"Marshal Schlieffen is already discussing this matter with His Majesty, but according to the marshal, the Russians' expansion of the navy is only to retaliate against Honolulu, and it will not pose much threat to the Empire, so the Empire only needs to increase the number of land forces on the border to deal with it." Hoffman replied.

"He's speaking for the Army!" Tirpitz slapped the table in an atmosphere, although Schlieffen was a respectable reich marshal, but there was one thing that not only Tirpitz was not very satisfied with, but even Hoffman and other naval personnel were not very satisfied, that is, he was too protective of the army, so Tirpitz's performance of slapping the table did not surprise Hoffman too much.

"No, I must go to Your Majesty immediately, the plans of the Russians are too huge, and if they are completed, Nicholas II will definitely have ambitions for the Empire, and we must deal with it!" Tirpitz said as he picked up his hood.

Hoffman also stood up immediately: "But what about the Far Eastern Fleet? Is there danger there for Major General Delis? Will the Pacific Army attack them? ”

Tirpitz narrowed his eyes: "Don't worry, I've already made an agreement with Honolulu, and when they go to war next year, we'll get a piece of land in the Far East!" Perhaps, that would be very vast! ”

"That's great, now we can concentrate on dealing with the Russians." Hoffman high-fived and said, "I'll accompany you to His Majesty Wilhelm." ”――

Portsmouth Military Port, United Kingdom.

Prince Louis of Badenberg, First Admiral of the Royal Navy, smiled and poured a cup of coffee for the visiting Admiralty of the Admiralty, John Fisher.

To be honest, he didn't have a very good influence on the energetic Third Admiralty, first of all, this guy's energy was too strong, although he actively wanted to break the tradition and carry out reforms for the good of the Imperial Navy, but there was no need to be so serious, the most important thing was that this guy also used his position to always like to point fingers when supervising every warship built by the Admiralty, and not long ago he also proposed that the Navy should be more economical, and try to save money by improving the old warships, Then use the money saved to invest in the development of new technologies.

Is the Royal Navy running out of money?

You know, Parliament has only just begun to discuss a 100 million pound plan for the development of the Navy, and according to some radical young MPs, even if a billion pounds are provided, as long as it can contain the Pacific Army, Russia's expansion in the Far East will force the Americans to be unable to enter the Pacific.

Therefore, at this time, it is proposed that the Navy must be economical, not to give everyone in the military department eye medicine! So in the past few days, the people who have come to visit and complain are about to crush the threshold, but this guy does have some ability, so Prince Louis of Badenberg turned a blind eye, hoping to make a big thing small.

But who would have thought that this guy would actually come to the door by himself, is this what he is going to do?

Badenberg glanced at John Fisher, who was sitting upright, and said with a smile: "John, is there something to do today?" ”

After John Fisher took the coffee from the acolyte's hand, he immediately asked, "Your Excellency, the Majesty of the Parliament and the Prime Minister really want to do their best to help him win this battle?" ”

"Yes." Badenberg nodded: "The bill has already passed yesterday in support of the resolution in favor of the Empire, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a telegram to the Imperial Minister in the Empire, hoping that they will come in March to receive all the warships!" ”

After hearing this, Fisher suddenly stood up: "Your Excellency, you should stop this immediately. ”

"Oh? Why? Badenberg picked up the quilt, he didn't like the strong taste of coffee, and as a traditional aristocrat, he preferred black tea from Sri Lanka.

"Your Excellency, please forgive me, unless the Empire is willing to send troops directly, it is impossible for me to achieve this victory, the strength of the Pacific Fleet has proven itself by fighting back in the Horse Strait, even Admiral Philettman is very appreciative of that battle, they now have more experience in naval warfare than all countries, and you should not forget, this navy simply can't muster so many skilled sailors, do you think a lion leading a sheep can defeat a group of old hunters?"

After listening to Fisher's words, Badenberg finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, at first he thought that Fisher came this time to renovate the old ship, so he immediately smiled: "Dear John, I don't think you need to worry too much about this, I believe you should have seen the intelligence of the Russians to expand the navy, do you think that in front of such a huge fleet, even if the Pacific Fleet is more experienced, I am afraid it will face serious challenges, right?" ”

"Even if they can win the game, they will need to continue to face the madman of Nicholas II." Without waiting for Fisher to nod, Badenberg continued: "Both the Prime Minister and the Parliament feel that if Limer is allowed to control the Far East, it will be an even greater disaster for the Empire!" Although we cannot intervene directly, we cannot allow the Pacific Fleet to continue to run rampant in the Far East! ”

"But what if the Pacific Army wins?!" Fisher asked, frowning.

"Perhaps, who knows." Badenberg took a sip of tea: "But even if he wins, what is left?" Dear John, don't forget that both Ben and Russia, when all their warships return home, will be far stronger than the Pacific Fleet! ”

"And my opinion is the opposite of yours, I think it will be difficult for the Pacific Fleet to defeat Yuben, because when we deliver all the warships, Yuben will be able to have eight battleships, although the Pacific Fleet plus the captured Russian battleships, and the two battleships built by the Germans for them also have eight, but you and I both know that except for the two German ones, the others are all old models!"

Fisher sat down slowly, and although he admitted that Badenberg had a point, he always felt that something was wrong, so he came to see him, hoping to dissuade the Prime Minister and the Parliament's decision.

Seeing that Fisher was still thinking, Badenberg smiled again: "John, don't worry about this kind of trivial matter anymore, the parliament has considered allocating a special allocation for the navy to build a new batch of warships again to deal with the Russian plan, so I hope you still pay attention to this and look at those designers, I don't want to build warships that are not as good as before." ”

Hearing that the council was going to increase the allocation of funds for the navy, Fisher hurriedly asked, "What about my plan to refit warships?" ”

"Forget about it." Prince Louis of Badenberg frowned and waved his hand: "The Imperial Navy has not yet reached the time when it is short of money, if you want to ensure the strength of the Imperial Navy and defeat every challenger, you must build more new warships, not modify any old warships." ”

Seeing Badenberg's stern tone, Fisher knew that the other party was reminding him, so he could only nod helplessly: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will definitely do a good job of logistics and supervision." ”

"That's great." Badenberg smiled and picked up his teacup again.

It's a pity that neither Badenberg nor Fisher, when they think about the chaos in the Far East, probably did not think that another competitor has already paid for it.

In the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, Wilhelm II put down his club, took the handkerchief from the maid, wiped his hands, and then picked up a white glove from the silver plate and put it on his left hand.

"It seems that my cousin Nicholas is really crazy and actually borrowed money from those damned Frenchmen, why didn't he come to me? Maybe I'll charge less interest. ”

Wilhelm II looked at his shrunken left hand with a little disgust, then raised his head again to look at his prime minister, and continued with a smile: "Am I right? My Prime Minister. ”

Hohenlohe, the German Chancellor who had only been in office for a year, was naturally very aware of Wilhelm II's temper, and knew that the moody emperor was very fond of talking back, so he hurriedly smiled and said: "Your Majesty said a lot, if the Russians desperately expand their navy, then their army will definitely not get more military spending, not to mention that they still have to build the Trans-Siberian Railway, if they are willing to mortgage some territories, I am very willing to sign the loan." ”

"Haha." Wilhelm II laughed a few times before shouting to the guards next to him: "Let Hoffmann and Tirpitz in." ”

"Oh? General Tirpitz is back? Hohenlohe paused slightly.

"Yes, my Far East Fleet Admiral returned only a few days ago, and he has already made some small agreements with Honolulu." After Wilhelm II finished speaking, he took the lead towards the meeting room.

In the lavish parlor of Zwinger Palace, Tirpitz wears a neat naval uniform and white gloves and does not squint, while Hoffmann on the side looks a little shabby.

Seeing Wilhelm II walk into the living room, Tirpitz hurriedly bent down and bowed: "Your Majesty the Great Emperor of Prussia, Tirpitz salutes you." ”

"No more etiquette." Wilhelm II smiled and sat down in his chair, looked at Tirpitz, who had just returned, and asked, "Didn't my Admiral give you a holiday?" Why don't you rest for a few days? ”

"For the sake of the Empire, Tirpitz did not dare to rest." Tirpitz hurriedly replied.

"Huh." Such an answer made Wilhelm II smile with satisfaction, and then asked: "General Tirpitz, is there anything you have come this time for?" Could it be that the Far East is having problems again? ”

"Everything is very good in the Far East, Rear Admiral Delis has taken over the defense of the Far East Fleet, and the Army is stepping up to send soldiers there, so we can get a very good foothold in the Far East as long as we wait until next spring."

After Tirpitz finished speaking, he glanced at Prime Minister Hohenlohe beside William II and continued: "Your Majesty, I have come this time in the hope that Your Majesty can increase investment in the navy to deal with the Russian naval expansion plan. ”

"General Tirpitz, the expansion of the Russian navy was proposed because their Far East Fleet was completely annihilated and they wanted revenge on Honolulu, and the empire now has no real maritime threat, so why should it expand its army?" Hohenlohe asked with a frown.

"Your Majesty, perhaps the Prime Minister is right now, there is no real maritime threat to the Empire, but what about once the Russian Navy is expanded and the Far East War is won?" Tirpitz straightened, his eyes sparkling.

"We can't wait for threats to arise before deciding whether to expand the navy, because the navy is different from the army, and the expansion requires a advance amount to build warships, so we have to have a master plan for the future, and besides, we have the British and the French on the other side! If the Russians win and eventually eat the entire Far East, their strength will increase several times, so may I ask you, Prime Minister, how will the Reich face once the French and Russians join forces? ”

"This ......" Although Hohenlohe was born in the army, he could not see this kind of strategic matter as clearly as a person like Tirpitz, so he also knew that Wilhelm II was not very satisfied with him, and he was choked like this at the moment, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

But after all, he is the prime minister and has his own means, so after thinking about it, he still stubbornly said: "We still have the army." ”

"But the Army can't complete long-range delivery." Tirpitz immediately replied: "Only the navy can fight for more overseas territories for the empire, even if the threat of France and Russia is not considered, in order to maintain the superiority of the Far East, the empire must build more warships, not to mention that as far as I know, the British have already begun to build six new battleships for their Far East fleet, and the French have put forward similar plans, so for the future of the empire, in order to ensure the security of more overseas territories in the future, General Hoffman and I, on behalf of the Admiralty, formally propose to you, Allocate funds for the construction of more warships. ”

After Tirpitz finished speaking, he immediately bent down and waited for Wilhelm II's answer, but his heart was extremely nervous, and it can be said that if his proposal was rejected this time, then his future prospects in the navy would not be good.

"My Prime Minister, do you think more warships should be built?" Wilhelm II did not answer, but immediately turned to Hohenlohe.

Hohenlohe's head is big, Wilhelm II has always been moody, no one knows what he is thinking, although he is asking his opinion at the moment, but he must have a plan in his heart, once he answers wrong, will he be dismissed immediately?

No one knew what Wilhelm II was thinking, so Hohenlohe had to gamble on Wilhelm II's arrogant ambition. So he immediately said: "Your Majesty, although I do not recommend joining this competition, for the sake of the future of the empire, I think it is possible to increase the military spending of the navy to a limited extent, start building newer battleships, and ensure that the interests of the empire in the open sea are not violated." ”

After Hohenlohe finished speaking, he saw a glimmer of light in Wilhelm II's eyes, and his heart was finally right, so he continued to make persistent efforts and said: "In addition, I think we can also contact that young master of Hawaii and work together to resist the expansion of the Russians in the Far East, or we can ......." ”

"No, now is not the time, if they can defeat the navy again, then it is a trustworthy partner, otherwise, ......" Wilhelm II's eyes flashed with fierceness, and without waiting for Hohenlohe to finish speaking, he immediately stood up: "Okay, I'm a little tired, since the Prime Minister said that the navy's military spending can be appropriately increased, then you can go and prepare." ”

"Yes."

Wilhelm II agreed to expand the navy, which meant one step closer to his goal, so Tirpitz immediately bent down and bowed, not to mention how happy he was.

The German Navy is finally starting to take off! ……

(To be continued)