Chapter 221 The German Navy has finally started

——"Kasini is gone?"

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

In the past few days, he is about to be annoyed by the Russian ambassador Cassini. A week ago, Kamopov, the commander of the new Russian Far East Fleet, led a cruiser and two French cargo ships loaded with more than 2,000 Russian captured soldiers to arrive in Vladivostok. Unexpectedly, he crashed into the mines laid by the Pacific Army, causing the cruiser to sink. He also died, and a French cargo ship was also hit hard. Fortunately, he barely rushed to the shore and ran aground, which did not lead to a bigger disaster.

Although the mines were arranged during the last war, who let the Russians not be careful? However, Kashini ignored it and protested with all his might. He also said that the Pacific Army was the first to make a provocation, so Russia would reconsider the just signed armistice agreement and ask Qingzheng Axe to expel these people immediately.

Suspend the agreement? Expulsion? Russia has no power to continue to send to the Far East. Casini just paves the way for the next battlefield, but where did his confidence come from?!

Just as Feng Qi was rubbing her temples, an exclamation came from outside the office. He hurried out and found that the staff of the mansion outside had gathered together. He quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Feng, Europe is in a mess."

"Europe?" Feng Qi walked to everyone, and the counselor quickly handed him the briefing he had just received and hurriedly said, "A week ago, Russia lent 1 billion francs to France and announced that it would build a main fleet of 20 first-class battleships and 20 second-class battleships by 1902."

After the telegrapher finished his words, Feng Qi suddenly took a few breaths of cold air. Did Nicholas II go crazy? One billion francs! That's 50 million pounds! Moreover, the navy not only has a capital ship, but also a matching auxiliary ship, ammunition and so on, which is almost the same as building a ship!

No wonder Casini has become more and more confident in his words these times, and he dares to say that he wants to tear up the agreement. Obviously, he got domestic news! And the important thing is that unlike Russia, which is dedicated to preparing for war, the Pacific Army will still have a big problem in the next few years!

The first two light cruisers and four destroyers ordered in Austria-Hungary returned to Yokosuka three days ago, which means that the strength of the Japanese navy has gradually recovered, and a new round of war is imminent.

According to Russia's schedule, the Pacific Army will face two arduous wars in the next five years, which is not counted as Luzon. If calculated according to the conventional war losses, even if all of them are victorious, the Pacific Army will suffer heavy losses, so this briefing sent by the General Staff not only stunned Feng Qi, but also made the mansion Everyone's hair exploded all of a sudden.

Everyone has only one idea left. How should the young master deal with the crazy Japanese and Russia? ——

"Are the Russians crazy?!"

As soon as Tirpitz entered the Imperial Navy Building, he received information about Russia's expansion of the navy. He opened his mouth in astonishment at a glance. Although he had already thought that the Russians would retaliate on the way back, he did not expect the Russians to be so fierce. Twenty first-class battleships and 20 second-class battleships , plus other matching ships, God! The Russians can't build so many warships by smashing the pot and selling iron!

After pressing himself on the chair, Tirpitz's eyes began to converge. Everyone who was familiar with him knew that this was a precursor to his thinking about the problem. Hoffman, the Secretary of the Navy sitting opposite him, quietly did not say anything. Although he was the nominal Minister of the Navy, he was not Wei. The best candidate in Lian II's heart, he knew that with the return of Tirupitz, his position would sooner or later give the beard in front of him!

After thinking for a while, Tirpitz looked up and asked, "Does your majesty and Marshal Schliefen have any preparations for this plan?"

"Marshal Schliefen has already discussed this with His Majesty, but according to the Marshal, the Russians' expansion of the navy is only to retaliate against Honolulu, which will not pose a big threat to the empire, so the empire only needs to increase the number of troops on the border to deal with it." Hoffman replied.

"He is speaking for the army!" Timpitz's atmosphere slapped the table. Although Schliefen was a respectable imperial marshal, not only Timpitz was not satisfied, but also Hoffman and other naval personnel were not satisfied. That is, he was too protective of the army, so Tierpitz's performance on the table did not surprise Hoffman too much.

"No, I must go to your majesty immediately. The Russian plan is too huge. If it is completed, Nicholas II will definitely have ambitions for the empire, and we must deal with it!" Tierpitz said as he picked up the hood.

Hoffman then stood up: "But what about the Far East Fleet? Is there any danger there for Major General Di Lisi? Will the Pacific Army attack them?

Tirpitz narrowed his eyes: "Don't worry, I have reached an agreement with Honolulu. When they go to war next year, we will get a piece of land in the Far East! Maybe it will be very vast!"

"That's great. Now we can concentrate on dealing with the Russians." Hoffman high-fived: "I'll accompany you to see His Majesty William." --

Portsmouth Military Port, United Kingdom.

Prince Louis Badenberg, the First Secretary of the Navy of the Royal Navy, smiled and made a cup of coffee for the visiting Third Secretary of the Navy, John Fisher.

To be honest, he has no good influence on the energetic Third Navy Minister. First of all, this guy is too energetic. Although he actively wants to break the tradition and reform for the good of the imperial navy, there is no need to take it so seriously. The most important thing is that this guy still takes advantage of it. In my position, I always like to dictate every warship built by the Admiralty, and not long ago, I proposed that the navy should be more economical and try to save money by improving old-fashioned warships, and then invest the money saved in the development of new technologies.

Is it time for the Royal Navy of the British Empire to be short of money?

You know, Congress has just begun to discuss a 10-year naval development plan totaling 100 million pounds, and according to some radical young legislators, even if it is provided with a billion pounds, as long as it can curb the Pacific Army, Russia's expansion in the Far East will force Americans from entering the Pacific Ocean.

So at this time, it is proposed that the navy must be economical, not to give eye drops to everyone in the military department! So the visitors are about to break the threshold these days, but this guy does have some ability, so Prince Baden Berg Louis turned a blind eye, hoping to make things smaller.

But who would have thought that this guy came to the door by himself. What is he going to do?

Badenberg looked at John Fisher, who was sitting in his eyes, and smiled, "John, what's the matter today?"

After taking the coffee from the attendants, John Fisher immediately asked, "Your Excellency, will the Parliament and the Prime Minister really do their best to help Japan win this battle?"

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

After listening to this, Fisher suddenly stood up: "Your Majesty, you should stop this immediately."

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

"Your Excellency, with all due respect, unless the empire is willing to send troops directly, it is impossible for me to win this victory. The strength of the Pacific Fleet has proved itself through the battle of Mahai. Even General Felitman appreciates that battle. They now have more naval battles than all countries. Experience, and you should not forget that the navy can't make up so many skilled sailors at all. Do you think a lion leading a sheep can defeat a group of old and spicy hunters?

After listening to Fisher's words, Badenberg was finally relieved. At first, he thought that Fisher was here to modify the old ship, so he immediately laughed and said, "Dear John, I don't think you need to worry too much about this. I believe you should have read the Russians's information about the expansion of the navy. You I think that in the face of such a huge fleet, even if the Pacific Fleet is more experienced, it will face severe challenges, right?

"Even if they can win the Japanese version, they still need to continue to face the madman Nicholas II." After Fisher nodded, Badenberg continued: "The Prime Minister and Parliament felt that if Limer took control of the Far East, it would be a greater disaster for the empire! Although we can't intervene directly, we can't allow the Pacific Fleet to continue to run rampant in the Far East!"

"But what if the Pacific Army wins all of them?" Fisher frowned and asked.

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

"And my point of view is exactly the opposite of yours. I think it is difficult for the Pacific Fleet to defeat the Japanese, because when all our warships are delivered, the Japanese will have eight battleships. Although the Pacific Fleet, together with the captured Russian battleships and the two battleships built by the Germans, there are also eight for them, you and I We all know that except for the two German ships, the others are all old-fashioned models!"

Fisher sat down slowly. Although he also admitted that Badenberg was reasonable, he always felt that there was something wrong, so he came to see him, hoping to dissuade the Prime Minister and Parliament from deciding.

Seeing that Fisher was still thinking, Badenberg smiled again and said, "John, don't worry about such a small thing. The parliament has considered allocating a special naval grant to build a batch of new warships again to deal with Russia's plan, so I hope you can still focus on this and see those designs. Master, I don't want to build a warship that is not as good as before.

Hearing that the parliament was going to add naval allocations, Fisher quickly asked, "So what about my modified warship plan?"

"Forget it." Prince Louis Badenberg frowned and waved his hand: "The Imperial Navy is not short of money yet. If you want to ensure the strength of the Imperial Navy and defeat every challenger, you must build more new warships, rather than modifying some old-fashioned warships."

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

"That would be great." Badenberg smiled and picked up the teacup again.

Unfortunately, when considering the chaotic situation in the Far East, whether it is Badenberg or Fisher, I'm afraid they didn't expect that another competitor had already paid for it.

In the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, William II put down the club, took the aromatherapy handkerchief handed over by 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 brother Nicholas is really crazy. He actually borrowed money from those damn Frenchmen. Why didn't he come to me? Maybe I will charge less interest."

William II looked at his atrophied left hand with a little disgust, then looked up at his prime minister again and continued with a smile, "Am I right? My Prime Minister."

Hohenlohe, the German Prime Minister, who has only been in office for a year, naturally knows the temper of Wilhelm II very well. He knows that the moody emperor likes to speak irony, so he quickly apologized and said, "Your Majesty has said a lot. If the Russians try their best to expand the navy, their army will certainly not get more military expenses. What's more, they have to build the Siberian Railway. If they are willing to mortgage some territory, I am very willing to sign the loan.

"Haha." After a few laughs, William II shouted to the bodyguard next to him, "Let Hoffman and Tierpitz come in."

"Oh? Is General Tierpitz back? Hohenloe was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, my Far East Fleet general just came back a few days ago. He has reached some small agreements with Honolulu." After saying that, William II took the lead in walking to the living room.

In the luxurious living room of the Zwinger Palace, Tirpitz wore a neat navy uniform, white gloves, and did not squint, while Hoffman on the side looked a little shabby.

Seeing William II walking into the living room, Tirpitz quickly bent down and bowed: "Your Majesty the great Prussian emperor, Tirpitz pays tribute to you."

"You don't need so much etiquette." William II smiled and sat on the chair, looked at Timpitz, who had just come back, and asked, "Didn't my Secretary of the Navy give you a holiday? Why don't you have a good rest for a few days?

"For the sake of the empire, Tirpitz dare not rest." Tierpitz hurried back.

"Ha ha." Such an answer made William II smile with satisfaction, and then asked, "General Tir Pitts, what's the matter with you coming this time? Is there something wrong with the Far East again?

"Everything in the Far East is very good. Major General Di Lisi has taken over the defense of the Far East Fleet. In addition, the army is stepping up the dispatch of soldiers there. As long as we wait until next spring, we can get a very good foothold in the Far East."

After Tirpitz finished speaking, he looked at Prime Minister Hohenloe beside William II and continued, "Your Majesty, I am here to hope that your Majesty can increase your investment in the navy and deal with the Russian naval expansion plan."

"General Tirpitz, Russia's expansion of the navy was proposed because their Far East fleet was completely annihilarated and they wanted to take revenge on Honolulu. The empire has no real maritime threat now. Why should it expand its army?" Hohenloe frowned and asked.

"Your Majesty, maybe the Prime Minister is right now. The empire has no real maritime threat, but what happens after the expansion of the Russian navy and wins the Far East War?" Tierpitz stood up straight, and his eyes were shining.

"We can't wait for threats to decide whether to expand the navy, because the navy is different from the army. The expansion of the army needs to build warships in advance, so we must have an overall plan for the future. Besides, there are British and French on our side! If the Russians win and finally eat the whole Far East, their strength will be increased several times. So may I ask the Prime Minister, once the French and the Russians join hands, how will the empire face it?

"This..." Although Hohenloe was born in the army, this kind of strategic problem was not as clear as that of people like Tyrpitz, so he also knew that William II was not very satisfied with him. At this moment, he was so choked and didn't know how to interface.

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

"But the army can't complete the long-distance delivery." Timpitz immediately replied, "Only the navy can win more overseas territories for the empire. Even without considering the threat of France and Russia, in order to maintain the advantage of the Far East, the empire must build more warships. What's more, as far as I know, the British have begun to build six new battleships for their Far East fleet, and France People also put forward a similar plan, so for the future of the empire and in order to ensure the security of more overseas territories in the future, General Hoffman and I, on behalf of the Admiralty, formally proposed to you to allocate funds to build more warships.

After saying that, Tirpitz immediately bent down and waited for William II's answer, but he was very nervous. It can be said that if his proposal is rejected this time, his future in the navy will not be good.

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

Hohenloe's head is big. William II has always been moody. No one knows what he is thinking. Although he is asking for his opinion at this moment, he must have had a plan in his heart. Once he answers wrong, will he be dismissed immediately?

No one knows William II's idea, so Hohenloe can only bet on William II's arrogant ambition. So he immediately said, "Your Majesty, although I don't recommend joining this competition, for the future of the empire, I think we can increase the naval military spending to a limited extent and start building newer battleships to ensure that the empire's offshore interests are inviolable."

After Hohenloe finished speaking, he saw a glimmer of light in William II's eyes, and his heart was finally the right bet, so he continued to say, "In addition, I think we can also contact the young master of Hawaii to work together to resist the expansion of the Russians in the Far East, or..."

"No, it's not the right time. If they can defeat the Japanese navy again, they will be a trustworthy partner, otherwise..." William II's eyes flashed another fierceness. Before Hohenloe finished speaking, he immediately stood up: "Okay, I'm a little tired. Since the Prime Minister said that the naval military expenses could be increased appropriately, you can prepare for it.

"Yes."

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

The German navy has finally started! ......

(to be continued)