"Another country?" William II frowned, thought for a while, and then turned his gaze back to Minister Andrew, and said with a smile: "The other country Arthur is talking about can't be you Australia, right?" ”

In fact, it is very simple, the one who can help the German Empire win over the Tsarist Empire must at least be a country that the German Empire can trust.

Counting the countries that could export weapons and warships, the only one that the German Empire trusted was Austria-Hungary.

But Austria-Hungary was also located on the European continent, and the slightest movement could not be hidden from the other European powers.

Moreover, there were unsolvable contradictions between Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia, and it was basically impossible for Austria-Hungary to export arms to Tsarist Russia.

Outside of Europe, there were even fewer countries capable of exporting arms and warships that the Russian Empire could look up to.

In addition, it must also be a country with good relations with the German Empire, which also made Wilhelm II set his sights on Australia for the first time.

Australia fits both of these requirements perfectly, not only with the German Empire, but also with the monarchs Arthur and Wilhelm II.

In addition, Australia also has the light weapons systems of the British Empire and the German Empire, including artillery and warships, and also has good technology from the British Empire and the German Empire.

Geographically, Australia is also far away from Europe, and some actions will not be taken too seriously by European countries, especially when the current disputes in Europe are somewhat serious.

It's just that Australia has just exported a large number of weapons and equipment and warships to the island countries of the Tsarist Empire, the enemy of the Tsarist Empire in East Asia, and has also signed an agreement on the import and export of mineral resources.

Looking at Wilhelm II's slightly scrutinizing and inquiring gaze, Minister Andrew did not hide it, and explained without any panic: "Yes, Your Majesty." At present, although the fact that France did not support the actions of the Russian Empire in the Far East, there were some differences of opinion between the two countries. But for the time being, the German Empire could not shake the union between the Russian Empire and France. If the German Empire wanted to communicate with the Tsarist Empire, it was absolutely impossible to avoid France, a fierce rival. ”

"But it is a pity that as long as the plan to win over the Russian Empire is exposed to the French, then the plan will never succeed. His Royal Highness therefore suggested that the German Empire should look elsewhere and use non-European forces to promote plans to aid the Russian Empire. Australia has met this condition very well, not only has good diplomatic relations with Germany, but even many of Australia's weapons and equipment and warships and military industry come from Germany. Aiding the Tsarist Empire through Australia's hand will not only allow Germany to hide behind the scenes, but also allow the Tsarist Empire to clearly understand who is helping him and achieve your country's plan to win over the Tsarist Empire. Andrew explained with a smile.

Australia's weapons and equipment exports to foreign countries are basically from the German military industry, including Gew98 rifles, various howitzers from the Krupp factory, German-made Maxim heavy machine guns, various small and medium-sized warships and even Brunswick-class battleships, all of which are German military technology and technology.

This can really highlight the role of Germany, especially when the Russians get their hands on these weapons, and the German standard weapons will make them understand who is really helping them behind the scenes.

After hearing Minister Andrew's explanation, William II nodded flatly, smiled, and said, "Arthur is really a good plan!" I originally thought that Australia was exporting weapons and equipment and mineral resources to the island countries in order to win over an ally in the Far East, but I didn't expect that he would want to eat both ends, even the Tsarist Empire. However, what he said is indeed reasonable, it is somewhat unlikely that the German Empire wants to win over the Tsarist Empire with its own strength, and France is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed. ”

"It is a good plan to take advantage of the contradictions and disputes between the Tsarist Empire and the island countries in the Far East to open the door to their own arms trade! But Arthur's words did move me, and I will give you the information you need to help you get orders for the arms trade. But don't forget what you promised, this time the arms trade and aid will be carried out secretly in the name of the German Empire. Wilhelm II laughed, first affirming and admiring Arthur's plan, and then agreeing to the whole plan.

It is clear that the arms market of the entire Tsarist Empire was not something that the German Empire could interfere with. In other words, even if the German Empire could rely on arms trade and financial assistance to gain the favor and closeness of the Tsarist Empire, it would be offset and balanced by further actions by France.

Moreover, the Russian Empire would never hesitate to choose the latter between the German Empire and France, and if it did not want the co-optation plan to fail, then it was better not to let France join it.

However, there are many spies in European countries, especially those of the European powers, and their ability to obtain intelligence is also very strong.

The actions of European countries, especially those of great powers like the German Empire, would definitely be noticeable, especially for such an enemy of the German Empire as France.

Therefore, the best way to keep France out of this arms trade is for Germany not to be involved, so that the French will let their guard down.

Therefore, Wilhelm II used these two words secretly, and the arms trade on the surface was still done by the Tsarist Empire and Australia alone, but in fact, the benefits of the relationship were given to the German Empire.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Our aim was only to open up the arms trade in Australia, and we were happy to bring about a détente between the German Empire and the Tsarist Empire. Minister Andrew nodded as a matter of course and said with a smile.

"I'm afraid that judging by the financial situation of the Russian Empire, there is basically no extra money to buy weapons and equipment. Although their backward logistics and transport system led to the backwardness of their army equipment in the Far East, funding was also a very serious problem for them. Although the Russian Empire had a large amount of financial aid and loans from France, most of these loans were needed to purchase French industrial products and other resources, and it was basically impossible to use them to buy your weapons and equipment. Wilhelm II said: "I am afraid that before the arms trade treaty with the Russian Empire can be signed, a loan treaty must be signed with them." ”

"Your Majesty, I think this is also a good opportunity for the German Empire. If it were only a question of the Far East, the Russian Empire would not have received much loan from France. This also led to the scarcity of funds for their Far Eastern issues, and it was also the reason for the backward equipment and lack of supplies for their troops. Australia could privately provide an interest-free loan to the Russian Empire in the name of the German Empire, which had to be used to solve the Far Eastern question. In this way, it can not only solve the problem of insufficient funds of the Tsarist Empire, but also make the Russians more grateful to Germany. Minister Andrew replied.

It is true that Australia wants to sign an arms trade treaty with the Russian Empire, but this does not mean that Australia will be wronged.

The economic situation of the Tsarist Empire has always been poor, and the country also has a large number of debts and loans.

Among other things, the Russian Empire had taken countless loans from France, and it took decades to repay them, so where did they have time to repay the other loans?

The Germans were wealthy and genuinely wanted to win over the Russian Empire. So why not let the Germans come out with this money?

"Hahaha, that's fine. I will give you a check of 100,000,000 marks, which will be used as money to win over the Russian Empire and lend money to them. The only requirement was that the funds could only be used by the Tsarist Empire for the procurement of military equipment and warships in the Far East, and could not be used anywhere else. "Naturally, Wilhelm II also heard Minister Andrew's intentions, but he didn't care.

For the German Empire, it was well worth spending a little money to win over a relatively powerful country, not to mention that this powerful country was also an ally of its own enemies.

It takes a sum of money to strengthen your own power and weaken the enemy, so why not?

Moreover, 100 million marks was really nothing to Wilhelm II, and it was only five million when converted into pounds.

If it is really possible to win over the Tsarist Empire, then even if the interest-free loan of 100 million marks can be converted into gifts and aid to Wilhelm II, it will not be distressed.

Just imagine, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Kingdom of Italy, which went through the motions, how powerful is the combined power of the four countries?

Even if the two old powers, the British Empire and France, were united, they would probably not be the opponents of these four countries.

In terms of land forces, a German Empire was already able to defeat France, not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which also had a good overall strength in the army, and the Tsarist Russian Empire, which had a large gray population.

Although the armies of the Tsarist Empire could not catch up with other countries in terms of weaponry and the quality of their soldiers, the population of the country was so large that it could easily arm millions or even millions of troops.

In this era, the number of soldiers in the army is still one of the extremely important factors. A country with a larger population will also have a number of inherent advantages over a less populous country in terms of military affairs.

After gaining the support of Wilhelm II, Minister Andrew was also relieved.

Although the German Empire could not directly participate in the arms trade, the information they had about the Russian Empire and the reputation of German-made weapons were very helpful to the arms trade.

If it is a weapon that Australia has researched and produced itself, it has to go through layers of tests if it wants to export it.

But if it was weaponry produced by the mighty German Empire, it would not raise much suspicion by the marginally.

This is the blessing that a nation's prestige brings to a nation, and unless Australia can grow into a great power or achieve something militarily, there will always be such doubts.

And this arms trade also solved a potential problem, which was the possible underfunding of the Tsarist Empire.

Anyway, it was the German Empire that provided loans to the Tsarist Empire, and the Tsarist Empire must have had money to pay Australia for the arms trade, and as for whether there was money to repay the loan in the future, it was not Australia's concern.

Anyway, the German Empire and Wilhelm II were also very willing to pay this money, and the only dissatisfaction may be France, which will learn about the situation in the future.

"Do you know when the island nation will act? If we don't prepare quickly, it will be too late to conclude an arms trade treaty with the Russian Empire. After everything had been discussed, Wilhelm II asked.

Whether it is light weapons or heavy weapons, even large, medium and small warships, their manufacture takes a certain amount of time, and the same goes for transportation.

Fortunately, army weapons generally do not take a long time to manufacture, even if it is a large number of orders, they can generally be completed within a year.

But warships are different. Even if it is a small warship, the construction period may be as high as two or three months, let alone medium and large warships.

The construction period of a medium-sized warship is about five to seven months, and it will increase and decrease depending on the difficulty of the construction of the warship and the weapons and equipment it carries.

Not to mention a new type of battleship, which was generally built for more than a year, or even maintained for about a year to a year and a half.

What's more, after the construction of the warship is completed, it will go through a series of steps such as launching, sea trials, and testing before it will be delivered, and this test time will take at least half a year to a year.

That is, the time required for the delivery of a complete warship may be much more than the time it takes to build, unless there is some rush that reduces or even drastically reduces the test time of the warship.

Take the battleship purchased by the island nation from Australia as an example, although the construction time is about one to one and a half years, the actual delivery time may be more than a year and a half, and it may even take two and a half years.

Of course, this does not mean that after two and a half years, the battleship will be truly combat-ready.

The crew of the warship will need at least two and a half years of training time before they can become more familiar with the performance and facilities of the warship, and can truly become combat-ready.

And these crew members must also be previously trained crew, otherwise the crew training time alone may take another two and a half years.

To sum up, the general time from the placement of an order to the official delivery of a warship is about two and a half years.

The training time of the crew is almost two and a half years, and they can barely grow into a qualified naval officer.

At the same time, after taking over the new warship, the crew also needs to adapt for two and a half years before they can make the warship truly combat-effective.

It takes two and a half years for a warship to become capable of fighting at the beginning of its construction, and three and a half years at most.

The two-in-one chapter asks for support

(End of chapter)