Chapter 18： Meeting with Tirpitz! (1/2)
”Let me go! Let the future Secretary of State of the Navy come to greet me! This is simply...too...” Ruprecht was flattered! When the attendant reported that Tirpitz would visit him tomorrow, our prince Ruprecht was not calm! Father of the High Seas Fleet! Countless objects of German worship on the Internet in the future! Came to Munich to visit me in person? I have such a big face!
”His Royal Highness, the other party is just a colonel, nothing more.” Earl Schelling, who had been helping the prince to deal with all kinds of clutter before the trip, said with some dissatisfaction. In his eyes, his little master's behavior was demeaning, but Just a colonel, as for? Even if the commander of the navy comes, he must still pay due respect to the Bavarian royal family!
”This....... That's right!” The prince reacted, history has changed, and he still compares with history! ”Tell the waiter to put the model of the Munich armored cruiser we prepared in the most conspicuous position in the living room so that he can see it as soon as he enters the door!”
One day later, under the guidance of the attendants in the early spring sunshine, when the current colonel and future marshal walked into the prince’s living room, a model of a silver-white battleship more than 1 meter long appeared Right now! This 1:100 model attracted all the attention of the navy captain in an instant. If it weren't for the attendant next to him to remind him that the prince was here, he might even have been focusing on this battleship!
”What a beautiful battleship! I have never seen a record that is more beautiful than him. The 11-inch main gun, the densely packed secondary gun group, and the slender hull of the simple appearance, this is really a perfect ship. The record! Even the first-class cruisers of the British Empire may not have this excellent record!”
The future minister of the Navy did not hesitate to praise this warship with the most beautiful words! Although he got the rough data very early, the dry data on paper is not as shocking as a large-scale model! Judging from the reaction of the Secretary of the Navy alone, His Royal Highness felt that this large-scale model was worth it! With Tirpitz's eloquence and ability, Ruprecht believed that he had no problem persuading the bureaucrats of the Navy Department!
After the simple politeness, the final topic of the two sides still shifted to this battleship model. After all, the primary purpose of the two is to sell the ship! Naturally, some questions need to be clarified! Excluding those that need subscribing rules and black box operations, the prince thinks he must at least make it clear about the purpose, performance, advantages, and comparisons of this warship with foreign warships at the same time. of! The prince watched the whole process of the creation of the Garibaldi Church by a certain pit king! Finally, I have to admit that someone’s argument is very convincing!
His Royal Highness wanted to say so, but Tirpitz didn't think so! Before the translator speaks. Tirpitz asked a question, and turned the subject directly away! ”His Royal Highness, why did the Bavarian Design Bureau design a cruiser instead of a battleship?”
The naval authorities have not finalized the specific direction of the next step of the army expansion. Ruprecht only pressed the cruiser side based on the information he had at hand and his own judgment. After all, even in history, the German shipbuilding work before 1895 was still chaotic. In 1896, when the Germans started construction of the Kaiser-class battleship, they also started construction of 6 cruisers in one go! Five of them are the Victoria Louis cruiser with more than 6,000 tons, and the other is the Bismarck armored cruiser with nearly 10,000 tons! The 4 Brandenburg-class battleships are designed to balance the new Russian battleships in the Baltic Sea. Since this plane is still an ally of Russia and Germany, this balance is not needed. Coupled with budget issues, the possibility of building cruisers will naturally be much greater. !
”So what can we build without a cruiser? Nearly ten thousand tons of battleships? Is it useful? Russia is our ally, the pressure on the Baltic Sea is not great, France is our enemy, but we can easily use the army. Overwhelming France, Britain and us have a good relationship, and there will be no war or conflict in the short term. Our biggest problem is the rights and interests of overseas colonies, especially the conflict between the Pacific and the United States! As well as the possible conflict with France in the ocean, In this case, what do you not build a cruiser? Build a group of battleships to stop in the harbor?” The prince said a little funny!
”But any powerful navy must have a powerful battleship formation at its core! Because battleships are the decisive force at sea! Honestly, I am not satisfied with the idea of the Admiralty. This kind of cruiser-based military expansion plan is not Not in line with the future maritime interests of the empire! The cruiser is at best a means of showing the military presence, and the battleship formation is a decisive deterrent!” Tirpitz obviously has his own point of view and can become the father of the High Seas Fleet. People, he has his own set of theories, and today he wants to convince the prince in front of him!
”Hehe, have you set the tone so early?” the prince said in his heart. Regarding Tirpitz’s shipbuilding policy, the prince originally thought that it would be formally formed after 1894, because in June 1894, Tirpitz pointed out in the ”Memorandum No. 9” that ”a powerful combat station stationed in the country” The fleet is far more awe-inspiring to the powers of the world than a fleet of cruisers that are often scattered around the world!”