"Mr. Yan, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you doing?" Thomas came to Yan Boxun's side with a wine glass and said. This was originally a very normal greeting, but at this time, Yan Boxun's eyes had some other meanings.

"It's very bad. I actually lost to this guy Philip Watts, and the loss was so inexplicable. If there is a God, I really want to know why." Yan Boxun said. This move made Thomas feel very embarrassed.

At the same time, I was a little curious. I thought about this Chinese Naval Design Bureau

How did the Chief Designer get into trouble with Watts? However, due to the purpose of this reception - to bring the relationship between the Chinese Navy and the British Navy closer, and because the two sides had just completed a cooperation, even though Yan Boxun had some failures.

Thomas wisely chose to say hello and then walked away.

"General, was there any unhappiness between Mr. Watts and Mr. Yan?" Thomas then came to Jericho and asked. Men can also be very gossipy sometimes.

"Unhappiness? The two parties have only met a few times. There should be no such thing." Jericho was a little puzzled. "Wait a minute, if there is really any unhappiness, and if it happened recently, there really is such a thing."

"I heard from General Yang Yonglin that originally Mr. Yan would not attend this reception. He was going to South America to participate in Argentina's warship bidding. But now he is not going, so there is only one explanation. The plan of the Chinese Republic has failed. As a loser

, he was naturally a little unhappy, after all

That's a list of at least 2.2 million pounds." Jericho thought for a while and said with a smile. He was still very familiar with Yan Boxun, a master shipbuilder. The two parties had been in contact after the Sino-Japanese War of 1888. When he was in England, Yan Boxun also went to

I've been a guest at his house. I'm a very good friend.

"It is said that the warships China participated in Argentina's bidding this time are the same model as those ordered by Germany and Turkey. And in order to win this customer, the Chinese Navy even plans to start designing for Argentina first. I don't know if it is true." Thomas said in a low voice.

.

"Huh?! Interesting. Let's talk in another place." After a while, Jericho and Thomas came to a small room, "Tell me what you heard." Because he was busy with reports after the exercise, Jericho did not

Thomas didn't pay attention to other things, but he heard a lot of rumors.

"The Chinese Navy has begun to implement their next-level dreadnought construction plan. The entire design work was completed in June this year. However, their funds do not seem to be very sufficient, so they need to sell some of the warships in exchange for funds.

, and at the same time, the research and development costs can be shared. The Germans and Turkey should have obtained some drawings of these battleships. And they should be very satisfied with this class of battleships. Otherwise, they

It is impossible for them to place orders. These orders should be in progress, but because they are to make up for the battle losses of two Scharnhorst-class battleships, Germany will not pay too much money, and now the Chinese government is relatively tight on funds. So they

It was decided to raise funds by selling it to the country first, and then build it for Turkey and the Germans." Thomas said everything he knew in one breath, and then waited for his boss's decision.

"The Germans are very satisfied? That means the level of this battleship should not be inferior, at least it should be better than Mr. Watts's." Thomas said thoughtfully. This does not mean that the British designers are better than the Germans.

Low. In the UK, a country full of commercial atmosphere, commercial costs must be considered for everything, even armaments. Same thing.

In terms of paper performance, the lower the cost, the more popular it will be. So they will play a series of paper games. Therefore, they will reduce the number of subdivided compartments. It’s not that the British don’t understand, but the power of money is too great! British shipbuilding

There are so many factories that survival is not dependent on performance. Everyone is lowering prices, so designers must also reduce budgets in order to maintain the lowest profit!

But Germany is different. There are not many shipyards in Germany that can build capital ships. The British have more than enough, while the Germans have more than enough! It is too easy to get orders in Germany, even if the cost of one shipyard is higher than that of another.

It doesn't matter if it's a few million marks, the German Admiralty

Orders will also be sent to these shipyards. Of course, the only requirement is that these warships must strive for excellence! As a businessman, you may be disgusted with this idea of ​​​​the Germans, but as the fleet commander, Jericho is very supportive! "Life is priceless!"

"That's enough!"

"Battleships are different from rifles and field guns. Quantity sometimes cannot make up for quality. Subtle gaps in various aspects will be continuously magnified in actual combat, leading to the failure of the war. The Russians have verified it three times for us! And now some people

They are still cutting corners! What they are destroying is the cornerstone of the entire British Empire." Jericho said rather helplessly. As the future commander of the Grand Fleet, he has always been preparing for a major event to reverse the situation, but it is not yet mature yet.

It will take at least 2 years before it can be launched.

"What a pity. It would be great if the British Empire's Grand Fleet could use these battleships to replace those things that cut corners." Thomas couldn't help but shook his head and said. But he knew that this was impossible. The reason was simple.

The pride of the British Empire prevents it from buying warships from other countries to arm its own fleet! At most, it is just buying some raw materials!

"No, you are wrong, this is not impossible! We have a chance, a good chance!" Suddenly, Jericho sat up from the sofa and said excitedly. "I found a person who can both

A way to save the British Empire's Grand Fleet and a way to weaken our enemies."

"Help me apologize to General Yang and the others, saying that I have some personal matters, and tell Mr. Yan Boxun that if nothing else happens, he will have a very huge order in the near future." Jericho finished speaking.

He walked out of the room and walked outside.

It is definitely not an accident that Jericho finally became the commander of the Grand Fleet. Super high naval combat literacy is one aspect, and the necessary political ability is also a must. At least there must always be a few hardcore allies to help him! It is true that he

It is not possible to change the Admiralty's decision now, but it is still possible to do some things behind the scenes. This time he has set his sights on Australia, New Zealand, and the newly appointed Colonial Affairs Secretary Churchill.

Historically, three battleships in the British Empire Grand Fleet were named after the three dominions of the United Kingdom at that time. They were the Indefatigable-class battlecruisers New Zealand and Australia, and the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship Malay

Asia, the fundamental reason why these three battleships are named after three autonomous territories is that the construction funds for these three battleships were borne by these autonomous territories!

In this dimension, under the inertia of history, some changes have taken place in Australia and New Zealand. That is, these two countries are still willing to hand over the capital ships they financed and built to the British Empire for use during war. But in peacetime, this

The two battleships should go to Australia and New Zealand! The British Empire does not

Will buy Chinese warships, but it didn’t say that the Dominions of the British Empire cannot purchase warships from other countries? Anyway, as long as the last two warships can flow into their own command, Jericho has no control over who pays! And because in

They are for personal use in peacetime, so these two countries should be very concerned about the quality of warships?

In this case, if Churchill, the senior official responsible for the daily affairs of the colony, can push it at the right time, Jericho believes that this matter is not without room for operation! And although Fisher began to promote the new creation

ship plan, but the Navy

There are still some opponents. In addition to Jericho and Thomas, even Betty expressed doubts that the new ship can be equipped with larger artillery and faster speed under the same tonnage. After all, he is the commander of the future fleet.

, he is also responsible for his crew and his own life!

On the one hand, he needs to use his own resources to do this, and on the other hand, he needs to conduct an inspection of the new ships of the Chinese Navy to finally decide whether to risk offending the Minister of the Navy to carry out this task. However,

Well, there's always a chance, right? Jericho doesn't want to give up.

A few days later, several telegrams signed by Jericho were delivered to the desks of several important people at the same time, and the one placed in front of Churchill was one of them. Churchill played many roles in his life. He was a politician.

I also served in the Army,

But he had never been in the navy, and he was not yet Lord of the Admiralty at this time. When Jericho, a powerful naval admiral, wrote him a personal letter, he was surprised, but driven by curiosity

He still read what he wrote from beginning to end.

"Dear Mr. Under-Secretary, the person writing to you here is a loyal British Royal Navy officer. He will command a huge fleet to fight against ferocious enemies in the near future! We will be in the North Sea, in the Mediterranean, in the

The Indian Ocean is at war with the Germans, Italians and Turks! Every warrior needs a sharp sword to overcome obstacles for him. But

It's a pity now that the craftsmen who make our swords have been captured by the shining pounds. They have forgotten their duties in pursuit of profit, so I need your help, a very simple help, hint Australia and New Zealand

Officials will come to China for inspection, and I will do the rest, and you will receive generous rewards..."

"A generous return? Well, this return is very good. If the Jericho plan succeeds, then Fisher will have no other choice but to step down, and I? I can take advantage of this incident to replace him. Colonial Affairs

I can still tell which one is more important than the Under-Secretary-General and the Chief Admiralty. As for the risk? For me, there is almost none, because there will be nothing written left, and I will only use hints. It seems like this

It’s a huge profit,” Churchill said in his heart.
Chapter completed!