After handing Renee to the housekeeper Zac to settle, Chen Tian lay quietly on the couch, imagining how the big man was wearing ninja clothes, and couldn't help laughing alone. It would be nice if I could invite some ninjas from Japan to set up a ninja organization, but if I knew what I had done for the Japanese before and what I would do in the future, I am afraid that these ninjas would unload themselves. As I become more and more deeply involved in the military and politics, I am afraid that fighting is inevitable. Sooner or later, I will set up a professional private guard. Reini is the first member of this guard!
Chen Tian was thinking, Thomas came in with a telegram.
"Gigi, Your Majesty the Emperor convened the Yuqian Conference, and you will participate this time!"
"Oh? Yuqian meeting?" Chen Tian took the telegram and read it carefully.
"Do you know why His Majesty the Emperor rushed to convene the Yuqian meeting this time?"
"I heard that the British Dreadnought was launched!"
"Fearless ship!" Chen Tian thought about it. She only knew that the fearless ship caused the shipbuilding competition between the world, especially Britain and Germany. As for the specific time, it is not very clear. Now it seems that the era of the fearless ship has arrived.
"Okay, Thomas, notify the next man to prepare the car, and we will leave for Berlin!"
After 10 days, the Berlin Royal Palace.
In the conference room, in addition to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Crown Prince Prince, and the Cabinet Ministers, there is Chief of General Staff Little Mao Qi, Army Secretary von Falkenhain, Navy Secretary Tirpitz, and the Admiralty General Reinhard Schell, General Franz von Hipper, General Maximilian von Spey, General Paul von Retov Forbeck. It seems that the navy is the protagonist at this meeting.
"Everyone! The theme of today's meeting is how to deal with the new British warships!" The emperor signaled that the guards uncovered the objects covered by the red cloth in the center of the conference table. The model of a warship appeared in front of everyone. For this kind of warship never seen before, everyone showed twelve points of surprise.
Then, Navy Secretary Tirpitz began to introduce the battleship to everyone.
"According to the information we collected, the British called their battleship "Dreadnought". The biggest feature of this battleship is the 10 single large-caliber 305 mm main guns, steam turbine power, 21 knots, full weight Armor protection!"
"Well..."
Tirpitz said this, everyone couldn't help but admire it.
"This battleship with a displacement of about 20,000 tons was built in Portsmouth, England last October, and was launched at an alarming rate in February this year. The sea trial began in October." Tirpitz had to stop again. Because every word he said would make people wonder.
"According to our information, this "fearless" level of protection is comprehensive. The armor of key parts such as the turret, engine room, ammunition depot, and command tower are very thick. Even the armor belt of the hull of the hull is much thicker than the ordinary battleships, and it is canceled. The traditional angle of collision of the ship's bow."
Everyone exclaimed again for this new battleship.
"Quiet and quiet!" The emperor was dissatisfied with everyone's praise of the British battleship, and the meeting room finally calmed down.
"I decided to suspend our current shipbuilding plans for all battleships, and make all efforts to build our German fearless ships!"
"Yes, as His Majesty the Emperor said, we will revise the shipbuilding plan, and His Majesty hopes that the new plan will allow the Imperial Navy to have 13 fearless class warships, 5 battlecruisers, 22 vintage battleships in 1914, The size of 32 cruisers, 114 destroyers and 30 submarines." Tirpitz added, "Your Majesty invites everyone to come and discuss this shipbuilding plan!"
discuss? Chen Tian felt that the shipbuilding plan was obviously negotiated by the emperor and the navy minister in advance. Even the specific ship types and quantities have been planned. Is there any room for negotiation now? What you have to do today should be to support this plan of the emperor and the navy minister! The generals should not object, but the ministers who hold the finances... It seems that the emperor is going to put pressure on them today.
"Do you have any opinions to put forward!" The emperor looked at the ministers and generals who were discussing their opinions.
"Your Majesty Yingming! I think this shipbuilding plan is perfect!" Chen Tian stood up. He felt that there was nothing to blame for this plan. In this international environment, Germany had to keep up with the pace of Britain, and Britain had to. Speed up to avoid being overtaken by Germany. He had just pointed out that the emperor was instructing the other two navy generals to come out to support this plan, and he immediately took the initiative to stand up and support the emperor's shipbuilding plan.
Although Chen Tian did not have a say in the government and cabinet, after all, he was expensive as the Prince of East Prussia, not to mention that his plane gave him considerable influence in everyone's mind. So the generals agreed, and only a few cabinet ministers frowned there, and it seemed that they were worried about the financial pressure.
"Your Majesty, ministers and generals, in order to support the development of the imperial navy, and for our Germany to dominate the world, I am willing to contribute my private property to support the grand plan of His Majesty the Emperor, my Königsberg shipyard will be paid for free Provide the navy with all the submarines in this shipbuilding plan!" Chen Tian quickly calculated the cost of this sentence in his mind. If it is built in batches, each submarine only needs about 500,000 marks, and his own economic ability can fully achieve it. "Everyone, I promise to Your Majesty that you will provide 30 submarines and all the aircraft needed by the Navy for free in the next 8 years!"
"Well..." Today everyone's heart was stimulated one after another, making several elderly ministers plan to retreat sooner.
Finally, the cabinet ministers nodded.
"Very good!" The emperor nodded to Chen Tian, stood up and announced loudly, "Then I announce that the new shipbuilding plan is set, and tomorrow this plan will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval! We are now behind the British I hope that everyone, like the Prince of Prussia, will contribute to the rise of Germany!"
After the Yuqian meeting, the emperor asked the guard to tell Chen Tian to go to his study.
"Dear Gigi, my nephew, you are very satisfied with your performance today!" The emperor sat wearily at the desk. "I thought I would have to work hard for the support of those cabinet ministers. This shipbuilding plan Need such huge financial support! All damn British!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! But I am worried that the British will build more warships for our shipbuilding plan!" Chen Tian knew that the British historically won the shipbuilding competition with a speed of 2 ships to 1 ship. The history here is likely to repeat itself. That is to say, by the time the war began, the German navy would still lag far behind the British navy in terms of scale. If Germany had enough advanced warships, there would still be a fight. submarine! aircraft carrier!
"You don't have to worry about this! In addition, I will not let you provide these things for the empire. I will notify the Admiralty tomorrow to let them provide you with the best submarine experts and technicians in the country. After providing 30 submarines, all submarines of the Navy will be ordered from your shipyard!" The emperor knows that although 30 submarines are not the main force of the Navy, the cost of building them is definitely a huge expense for individuals.
"Your Majesty, what I should do to serve the empire! It's just..." Chen Tian secretly figured out how to make his own request without letting the emperor think his appetite was too big.
"Well! Do you have any other requirements? Just say!"
"This is the case. I hope to set up a Baltic squadron!" Chen Tian glanced at the emperor. There was no change in his expression on his face, just a look of thinking, so he continued, "I hope this is a team The fleet of destroyers and submarines, of course, I hope to realize my vision of an aircraft carrier in this fleet!"
"Aircraft carrier?" The emperor looked at Chen Tian, a term he had never heard of.
"It is a large vessel carrying a seaplane or a normal plane. The seaplane is suspended from the ship and placed on the water and then takes off, while the normal plane takes off from the deck of the ship."
"Haha! Interesting! Gigi, how could you have such an idea!" The emperor couldn't seem to imagine what kind of thing it was, he thought for a while, then nodded, "The future goal of the Imperial Navy is the battleship, The Admiralty does not have extra funds to support your vision, but I can give you the Baltic Squadron. The destroyers you need can be provided by the Navy. This Baltic fleet. This fleet will be given to you, and you will take care of the rest!"
"Your Majesty!"
Although he had to pay his own money, Chen Tian still felt very happy with his navy anyway.
"It turned out to be a respected prince! What are you so happy about?"
When Chen Tian walked to the gate of the palace, he suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned his head to look. It turned out to be Prince Prince, not sure if this guy was in trouble for the plane.
"Oh, it's a respected Crown Prince! Hello!"
"Father and Emperor recruited you to say something, and made you happy like this? Happier than being a prince!" Prince looked at Chen Tian and smiled coldly.
"His Royal Highness, please don't make me happy! His Majesty the Emperor just asked me to go back and prepare the submarine!" Chen Tian felt that the crown prince liked Tibetans, and he hated such people the most.
"Yes! Speaking of submarines, you are really rich! You can't take 30 submarines without tens of millions of marks! Rich, really rich!"
"As members of the royal family, we enjoy the treatment of millions of marks every year. How can we not worry about our country! Now that the empire needs it, I can only make some rewards!" Chen Tian laughed, "Recently, the sales of our aircraft Not bad, the crown prince is really fame and fortune!"
"Hum! Not bad! I hope we can cooperate well all the time, that's good for us!" The crown prince patted Chen Tian's shoulder and smiled and turned away.
The good mood was destroyed by this guy alive, and Chen Tian could only smile bitterly.
The next day, Chen Tian was again sought by Navy Secretary Tirpitz. Tirpitz has received notice from the emperor about the establishment of the Baltic Squadron and the provision of submarine experts and technicians. He was very optimistic about the future of submarines. After a long talk with Chen Tian, he became more aware of the submarine as a blockade. The great effect of weapons. At the same time, at the request of Chen Tian, he agreed to allocate two light cruisers to the Baltic Squadron in the future, and instructed that the fleet's mission was to protect ports along the coast of East Prussia and block the Baltic Sea when necessary.
In December 1906, the Baltic Fleet was formally established. At the beginning of the establishment of the fleet, there were only three test submarines, two destroyers transferred from the Navy, and five torpedo boats built by the Königsberg shipyard. After that, Chentian once again invested 20 million marks in the Königsberg shipyard. The scale of the shipyard expanded from a medium-sized shipyard to a large shipyard. A large number of experts and skilled workers were recruited from Norway and Sweden. The shipyard began to build medium and large ocean-going freighters. With the technical support of Tirpitz and the Admiralty, construction of the destroyer began. The strength of the Baltic Squadron has gradually become stronger.