It has to be said that it is a very sad thing that the size of a country's naval armament is actually determined by the other two countries. What is even more tragic is that Japan itself has to be grateful to the makers of this treaty————

Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Fleet, Fremantle.

Three days later, when Xu Jie saw William again with the "Japanese Naval Arms Treaty" that the senior leaders of the Beiyang Fleet worked together to create, Xu Jie suddenly found that there was a British naval officer next to him who looked familiar to him. But then, Xu Jie

Jie was relieved again. After all, this William represented the British government and had almost no naval attainments. He really needed a naval expert as a staff officer.

"This is Major Alvin Thomas of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. He will be my assistant." William looked at Xu Jie's slightly confused eyes and said.

"Hello, it's an honor for me to meet Mr. Xu, who is known as Nelson of the East." Major Alvin Thomas said with some excitement.

"Well, you're welcome. Let's go in and talk." Xu Jie was slightly stunned. He finally knew who the person in front of him was. If he guessed correctly, this person should be Rid in his plane.

Major General Hugh Alvin Thomas, who commanded four Queen-class battleships in the Battle of Lanhai. I am really lucky to have met so many famous people, Xu Jie said with some pride in his heart, but what made Xu Jie even more proud was Major Thomas.

The respect in the eyes.

"This is Beiyang's opinion. You two can take a look at it first." After saying that, Xu Jie handed a document to William opposite. After William scanned it for a while, he handed it directly to Major Thomas next to him.

.

"We allow the Japanese Navy to have at most two armored cruisers that do not exceed the tonnage of the Barbarian class. You should know how much impact the Japanese Navy's Barbarian and Nanmonov cruisers had on our military back then!"

Xu Jie said immediately.

"If we follow the calculations written in your memorandum, then the tonnage of the main fleet cannot exceed 30% of the Beiyang system. In this way, the Japanese Navy can only have a total tonnage of 40,000 to 50,000 tons, and dispatch two 8,000-ton ships.

After the warships, the remaining tonnage of all remaining warships is only 24,000 to 34,000 tons." Thomas paused and continued: "And the remaining tonnage cannot have warships exceeding 6,500 tons. Is that so?

"

"Yes, that's what it means." Xu Jie nodded and said.

"That is to say, if the Japanese Navy has auxiliary warships such as 10,000-ton third-class cruisers and gunboats and torpedo boats, the remaining tonnage will only be the standard of 2 to 3 cruisers, and they will still be 6,500-ton defective products.

Thomas glanced at the other person and continued.

"Aren't five new armored cruisers enough for Japan's self-defense? You know, the entire Russian Far East Fleet only has seven cruisers." Xu Jie said unhappily.

"Mr. Xu, your treaty is calculated based on the current total tonnage of the Beiyang Fleet, and the entire period is within the next five years. The scale that the Japanese fleet can have, and during this time, the strength of the Russian fleet will be

"In addition, even according to current standards, I personally don't think two 6,500-ton cruisers can suppress one Russian armored cruiser." William shook his head.

"Japan's purpose is only to contain the Russian navy and defend itself, not to give it another chance to enter the ocean. The sea power in the Far East is jointly controlled by our country and the British Empire. It is better for the Japanese navy to serve as a coastal defense fleet."

Xu Jie said with a smile. "

Thirty percent is already our highest limit. You can imagine that the French fleet is only about 50% of your country's. And there are a large number of old ships in it, which already puts your country on its back. For Japan, this

We must guard against external forces."

"General Xu is overly worried. In the Far East, as long as your country is consistent with the British Empire, then a larger or smaller Japanese fleet will definitely not have much impact." William thought for a while and said.

"Stay consistent? Tie our country and Britain together?" Xu Jie snorted in his heart, but still said without changing his face: "It's not just Japan that covets the Far East. Don't forget the other country on the other side of the ocean.

It has a vast territory, a huge industrial scale and sufficient manpower. Although it was defeated this time, it is still a giant. As long as time passes, the fleet flying the Stars and Stripes will eventually return to the East!"

"The U.S. fleet? This is indeed a problem." William didn't understand the navy, but that doesn't mean he couldn't see the strength and weakness. Although the U.S. Navy lost, the British government

Fu generally believes that as a large-scale industrial country, if the United States wants to have a powerful fleet, it will not take more than 10 years at most. If Beiyang can defeat Russia, then the enemies that the British Far East Fleet and Beiyang Fleet will face next

Maybe it's the United States, the British ship

Although the army is strong, it must maintain a deterrent against the European powers. There is actually very little power that can be invested in the Far East, but the interests in the Far East cannot but concern the British. This is the most depressing part of being the world's most powerful country, as its sphere of influence is very small.

It is big, the total fleet is also large, but there are also many enemies it faces!

"In this case, I don't know what the government of your country is.

Can fu guarantee that Japan will not betray again?" There was a hint of ridicule in Xu Jie's words. Xu Jie designed this memorandum in this way, which is quite meaningful. Except for the two 8,000-ton armored cruisers, which cannot be changed, the remaining

The 6500-ton battleship below is actually useless compared to the navy of this plane! You need to know which plane of Xu Jie has better armor

The minimum tonnage of cruisers is around 7,000 tons, and the original version of Garibaldi is above 6,700 tons. It is no longer possible to build a good warship with a tonnage of 6,500, especially if it is built by the British who waste tonnage! So after Xu Jie

The Japanese navy designed in this way can only be used as a break-up fleet and auxiliary fleet at best, but it is still not suitable for a real decisive battle.

"But this tonnage is indeed a bit low. We have to take a longer-term view. We also have to consider the possible reinforcements and future development of the Russian fleet. So what do you think? We will set this agreement within 4 years, and in addition allow Japan

The fleet can have an additional 6,000 tons of third-class protected cruisers." William and Thomas exchanged glances and said.

"Four years? This means that the Japanese Navy will add one capital ship per year on average. This speed is not too slow." Xu Jie said to himself.

"The first opponent of the Japanese Navy is the Russians. At this stage, the strength of the Japanese Navy is equivalent to the weakening of the Russian Navy." William said sincerely.

"That's great, but how to ensure that the Japanese Navy can do its best in the battle instead of just watching?" Xu Jie raised a serious question.

"Well, we can sign the agreement." William said happily.

"An agreement? To some extent, agreements are meant to be torn up. I think Japan has no credibility at all! We must have practical policies to restrain the Japanese navy." Xu Jie shook his head and said.

"Practical measures? Has Mr. Xu already thought of it?" William asked curiously.

"After your country sells the warships of the Japanese Navy, the relevant accessories and supplies must be handed over to us for transshipment. In other words, the specific delivery time and place are determined by us. If the actions of the Japanese Navy make your country

If Beiyang is disappointed, then these supplies will be requisitioned by Beiyang. After all, the shells and accessories for both the Armstrong 10-inch gun and the 6-inch gun are universal." Xu Jie put forward his own conditions.

"This condition is too harsh. The materials purchased by Japan cannot be controlled by Japan. This is probably unreasonable." William said with some embarrassment.

"The purpose of Japan's owning this fleet is to fight against Russia. We must prevent Japan from being idle. Therefore, we can only take this relatively safe measure to deal with this matter." Xu Jie said with some displeasure.

"And I want to remind Mr. William that we have already made a full concession to the tonnage limit of three third-class cruisers. This is already a big concession. We have taken into account your country's face, so now, can't your country come up with some

Sincerity?"

"But the first batch of ammunition and supplies purchased with the ship must be in the hands of the Japanese Navy." William thought for a while and said.

"Yes, but the quantity must be limited." Xu Jie nodded in agreement.

"Well, in that case, I think after reaching an agreement on the principle, we can refine the specific terms." William was also quite satisfied with this.

In this way, after two and a half days of bargaining between the two sides, the "Japanese Naval Arms Limitation Treaty" re-written by Beiyang and the United Kingdom was officially released. This document jointly drafted by Beiyang and the United Kingdom determines the fate of a third country's navy. This cannot be

It is an extremely absurd thing not to say it. But when this naval arms treaty was sent to the Japanese Navy Ministry, whether it was like Qiu

Yamazaki, Uemura Hikonosei (released and returned to China after the Spanish-American War), low-level officers and even ordinary soldiers were all very happy, although there were still many restrictions on the Japanese navy, and even some supplies had to be in Beiyang's hands.

.But in Japan's view, they can finally have large battleships again, and this will be the starting point for the re-emergence of Japan's navy.

The British move also did not disappoint Japan. One week after the signing of the treaty, the 8,500-ton armored cruiser built by the British for Japan had already begun outfitting. This armored cruiser, named Rixiang, is equipped with 2 double-seaters.

It is equipped with 8-inch guns, 12 6-inch guns on the side strings, and 8 12-pound guns. It is equipped with 4 18-inch torpedo tubes. The thickness of the main armor belt on the side strings is 7 inches, and the upper armor is 5 inches. The turret

frontal armor

8 inches, 8 inches of gun mount armor, and 10 inches of command tower. The maximum power is 18,000 horsepower and the maximum speed is 21 knots. Although the performance of this battleship cannot be defeated even by the original Garibaldi, but in Japan

From the Navy's perspective, this new armored cruiser is already quite good. At the same time, the second ship of the same class will be launched in 2 months. In the British plan, Japan will have 3 armored cruisers within 2 years.

cruiser.
Chapter completed!