"If this is the case, then what we can do now is probably meaningless delay. No matter how much effort we make, under such a harsh situation, we cannot make any breakthroughs on key issues." Earl Belford sighed.

"We will be the most humiliating government in the history of the British Empire. In our hands, the glory of the British Empire has become a cloud of clouds. We may be shivering in the shroud of powerful countries in the next few decades," said Lloyd George.

"Okay, complaining and lamenting cannot solve the problem." Prime Minister Asquis said. "At least we must be prepared now. The cooperation between us and Japan must continue. Some remaining military assets in the Far East can be considered as soon as possible. However, aircraft engines, optical instruments, hydrophones and some high-tech equipment must be cautious. These things are urgently needed by the Japanese and have insufficient production capacity. We can sell them at a good price."

"In the next stage, our negotiations with the Germans mainly include the following points. The first point is to persuade Germany to release some Canadian prisoners and return some weapons. We want to send these people back to the Americas as soon as possible. The Americans may not use military means to Canada, but we must not be careful!"

"The second point is that we must strive for a relatively relaxed compensation method. Paying 1.5 billion pounds of war reparations in the first three years is too much pressure for us. We must lower the down payment or extend the term. At the same time, if we can pay in kind, try to use physical goods. The empire's financial and monetary system is close to the brink of collapse, and we must leave a certain hard currency to ensure the stability of the financial system."

"If the Germans want to make them agree to our conditions, then what price will the empire pay? The Germans will not make concessions easily." Belfort said with a complicated expression.

"We can complete the colony delivery work as soon as possible, especially the South African colonies that the Germans are concerned about, such as Cape Town and Johannesburg. We cooperate with Germany's acceptance of these core cities in exchange for their concessions in other aspects." Asquith thought about it and said. The British understood this very clearly that the territorial issues in the clauses were not to be discussed, and it was almost impossible to save them. In this case, it would be better to cooperate with the Germans in exchange for their concessions in other aspects.

"What about the military issue? Although this issue is not the primary issue in negotiations now, it is something we must face. After all, once we sign the treaty, the sword of the British Empire will be covered with an invisible shackle." said Lloyd George, who once took charge of the military.

"The Germans not only limited the equipment and performance of our warships, but also limited the pace of replacement. We cannot build new warships within ten years. This means that in the next ten years, outdated warships will still be flooded in the battle sequence of the Royal Navy. Our fleet will not be updated and its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. The shipyards will shrink or even go bankrupt because they cannot get naval orders. The same is true for the aviation industry. The Germans have restricted the development of our engines and aircraft, which will be devastating to our related industries. And what is most unbearable is that the two Furious Class battleships we are now on the ship platform must also be abandoned." Lloyd George said.

The restrictions on arms destroy not only the army, but also make related industries and technological research and development to an unsustainable level. This example can be seen from the equipment of the German Navy in World War II. Although the German Navy had many very garbage designs in World War II, such as Nassau-class battleships and Helgolan-class battleships, there are also many fine products, such as German battlecruisers, Bavarian-class battleships, and King-class battleships, but the artillery is too small. Overall, although there are many problems, it is at least synchronized with the times.

But what about the second battle? You can also attribute the design concept issue of large ships, anti-small cannons of the Schánhorst-class battleship. However, the overweight hull and the life gate on the dome armor are completely a problem of basic design skills, as well as the outdated armor belt design and the power system that often fails in the Schánhorst-class... Although in Bismarck, there will be no more problems such as the so-called life gate, overweight and unstable power that extremely damage the face of "Made in Germany", the backward design concept cannot be eliminated.

If the fleet cannot be updated, then the shipyard will not have orders. Without orders, a large number of designers and skilled workers will be unemployed or transferred to other industries. Even if you want to fight violently, it is a very slow process to restore production and design capabilities. The Air Force is actually the same. The reason why the Luftwaffe gained technical advantages in the beginning of the second battle is largely because the British were not restricted! Or the Germans found good loopholes.

Historically, the treaty stipulated that although the Germans could not own the air force, it did not prevent the Germans from owning aircraft and developing engines! Take the famous BMW company in the 2nd Battle for example. In fact, in 1919, BMW developed a BM-iv engine, followed by a BM-V engine, and in 1926, the BMV-6 engine was developed!

This time, the Germans limited the power of the British to develop engines. According to Lloyd George's speculation, when talking about specific arms terms, the Germans will definitely come up with more complex and detailed constraints, such as limiting the volume of engine cylinders, limiting the number of cylinders and the overall weight of the engine! Even the Germans may require the British engine to be taken to Germany for testing when measuring these data, in case the British are tampering with the test standards!

As for whether the British can study engines in other places and then install engines secretly? This is of course possible, but after these things come out, they can only be called bench products. After an industrial product is produced, stability tests, production arrangements and a large number of test flights are required. Only after enough experiments can the engine be found to be stable, and only after a large number of production can the stability of product quality be achieved! These are not small-scale experiments that can be completed. The Germans cannot completely suppress the British Air Force R&D process, but they can effectively delay the progress of British engines from the design institute to the formation of combat effectiveness!
Chapter completed!