The temptation of battleships for the navy does not need to be emphasized, men do not dislike stupid, big and thick black, relatively speaking, aircraft carriers are too delicate and weak.

However, the Normandy-class battleships did not meet Roque's requirements, when the project was established in 1912, the performance of the Normandy-class battleships was already backward, and now it is even more than ten years behind.

This problem could not be solved by Edward's shipyard, and the Royal Navy had to turn to the Royal Navy to solve it, so Roque had to go to the sick Balfour, hoping that the Royal Navy could give proper help to southern Africa.

"France wants to sell Normandy-class battleships?" Balfour did not know the news, and the shock was probably equivalent to the British going to sell the battlecruiser "Hood".

"Yes, France's economy continues to be sluggish, and the Navy no longer has the strength to restart the Normandy-class battleships, so it is ready to be spun off and sold - the problem now is that these five battleships are seriously backward, and the original design plan must be significantly modified, such as the speed, the displacement of 41,200 tons of the 'Hood' has exceeded 30 knots, and the maximum speed of the Normandy-class battleship with a displacement of only 25,000 tons is only 21 knots, which is definitely not good." Roque attaches great importance to speed, and the firepower and protection of Normandy-class battleships are passable, and the biggest shortcoming is speed.

According to the lessons learned from the Battle of Jutland, the Normandy-class battleships have strengthened their underwater protection, and at the same time, the 12 340 mm main guns can also ensure considerable firepower intensity, and the most criticized by Roque is the fastest speed of 21 knots, if the power system is not adjusted, then the Normandy-class battleships will seriously drag down the speed of the entire fleet, and then affect the entire fleet.

The Transvaal-class aircraft carriers in southern Africa have reached an unprecedented speed of 32 knots.

Roque did not require the Normandy-class battleships to reach a speed of 32 knots, at least about 30, so that the Normandy-class battleships could accompany the fleet in the future.

That's right, the biggest role of the battleship in the future is probably to escort the aircraft carrier fleet, and there is a high probability that the situation of the Battle of Jutland will not happen again.

Balfour didn't speak, leaning against the head of the bed with his eyes closed.

The purchase of Normandy-class battleships by Southern Africa will not pose a threat to the Royal Navy, but will become a powerful complement to the Royal Navy.

Balfour's only concern was whether the southern African navy would be irritated once it was equipped with battleships.

At that time, even with Roque's prestige in southern Africa, I am afraid that it will not be able to suppress the growing ambitions of the southern African navy.

It's a double-edged sword.

"Don't worry, Locke, this kind of deal can't be reached in a day or two, even if the Royal Navy Shipyard and Edward Shipyard work together again, it will need the approval of Congress." Balfour can't say anything about it, because the interests are too wide.

Before the outbreak of the World War, there was a honeymoon period between the Royal Navy Dockyard and the Edward Shipyard.

During that time, the Royal Navy Shipyard received information about aircraft carriers from the Edward Shipyard, which in turn received the most advanced power and artillery technology from the Royal Navy Shipyard.

Of course, looking back now, Edward's Shipyard and Royal Navy Shipyard both had their own agendas.

Edward Shipyard did not give out all the technology and inventory about aircraft carriers.

The Royal Navy shipyards were not unreserved, at least at that time Britain had the ability to manufacture 15-inch naval guns, and the Royal Navy only gave the relevant technology for 14-inch naval guns in southern Africa.

14 inches is 355 mm, which is quite enough for the Southern African Navy.

The main gun of the heavy cruiser "Johannesburg" was only 203 mm.

Back at the station, Roque was not in a good mood, it was too difficult to do something, Roque wanted to buy a Normandy-class battleship, and he needed the approval of the Southern African Congress; Balfour wanted to help the Edwards shipyard, but also needed the approval of the British Parliament, and the increase in status did not bring more convenience to Roque, but more and more constraints.

Xiao Si and Owen also knew that Roque was in a bad mood, so they invited Roque to relax.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a big health care, it's just going to a bar and having a casual drink of "juice" and chatting or something.

This "juice" is, of course, in quotation marks, and when a certain amount of water is added in proportion, it becomes wine, which is the mass wisdom of the vast American people during Prohibition.

"Don't be depressed Locke, my father was also very ambitious when he first came to southern Africa, so my father created the South African company, occupied Rhodesia, and provoked the Boer War - you know what happened later, some people are like this, they sit in the office and think wildly, and they want to control everything in their own hands, and the result often backfires, Locke, if one day you become the prime minister of southern Africa, you better dissolve the parliament directly, and the truth will always be in the hands of a few." Xiao Si is Roque's staunchest supporter, and I have to say that the old Cecil Rhodes's eyes are indeed vicious.

Less than half an hour after the meeting between Cecil Rhodes and Roque, it was decided to "sell" Nyasaland, which has a total area of 200,000 square kilometers, to Roque for one pound.

After Roque acquired Nyasaland, he gave the Rhodes family much more than 200,000 square kilometers, and now Southern and Northern Rhodesia together have an area of more than 1.6 million square kilometers, second only to the Cape and the second largest continent in southern Africa.

The key is not how big the area is, another time and space, when Southern Africa was established, Rhodesia did not join the Southern African Federation and was still a British colony.

After World War II, Britain was unable to maintain a large colonial system, Rhodesia was divided into Zimbabwe and Zambia, and the Rhodes family gradually disappeared from its former glory.

"Let's not do this, if Congress makes good use of it, it will still play a big role." Owen proceeded from the interests of the Matilda family, and without Congress, the influence of the Matilda family would be greatly affected.

Don't look at the fact that Roque is still part of the Matilda family, in the long run, Roque will sooner or later become a family of his own, and the interests of the Locke family and the Matilda family may conflict at that time.

Don't think that with a family marriage, the relationship will be unbreakable, George V and Wilhelm II are still related, and it did not prevent the outbreak of world war.

"Congress still needs to exist, one person counts the short, and the other counts the long—" Roque held a cup to cover his face as he spoke, and Owen couldn't see Roque's eyes and expression.

"Ah, Lord, what a coincidence—" Yuzaburo Kato also appeared in the bar, most likely not by coincidence.

"Your Excellency, good evening." Roque is not salty or light, he knows why Yuzaburo Kato is here.

Although Roque clearly rejected Yuzaburo Kato in New York, Yuzaburo Kato did not give up and was still actively creating opportunities to communicate with Roque through various "coincidences".

After a long time, Roque is also very helpless, Kato Yuzaburo has the unique tenacity and persistence of the Japanese, if it were not for the grievances between the Japanese and the Chinese, Roque still admired Kato Yuzaburo very much.

"Lord, do you have any ideas for France to sell Normandy-class battleships?" Yuzaburo Kato already knew that Roque and Albert Sarau had met, and this kind of thing could not be hidden from others.

"No, the battleship Normandy is a battleship that is already outdated, and there is no interest in southern Africa." Roque did not pick up, saying that whether Southern Africa is interested or not has nothing to do with the Japanese.

"Lord, if you feel that the Normandy-class battleships are not good enough, then the Great Japanese Empire can provide more advanced artillery-" Yuzaburo Kato threw an olive branch to Roque.

"Hahahaha, Minister Kato, what technology can you have, which is more advanced than the British Empire?" Xiao Sihaha laughed, Japan is still a country that is still very strange to many Westerners.

Or rather, it's mysterious.

Kato Yuzaburo sneered and didn't speak, of course Japan's killer features are there, such as the 410 mm main guns of "Mutsu" and "Nagato", which Britain really can't make.

Of course, the caliber of the main guns of "Mutsu" and "Nagato" is a top secret for the Japanese Navy, and Yuzaburo Kato will definitely not say.

"Your Excellency, let's talk about the tonnage of the capital ships, the naval meeting has been held for half a month, and there has been no progress, we can't waste our precious time on boring quarrels." Roque gets straight to the point, and now Roque really regrets that he shouldn't have come to Washington, and there are a lot of things going on in Southern Africa.

Of course, Roque was in Washington, and it didn't affect the handling work, but it was just a little troublesome, and he needed to communicate with the southern African mainland.

It took almost three hours to send a telegram from Washington to Southern Africa, and the time was mostly wasted on transit.

"Yes, that's right, but 300,000 tons is really not enough for the Japanese Navy." Yuzaburo Kato is also tired of endless bickering.

"And how much do you want?" Roque doesn't care, the future opponent of the Japanese Navy is the United States, so Roque really doesn't care how much tonnage the Japanese Navy's capital ships have.

In fact, the more the merrier.

The more capital ships Japan has, the more trouble it will create for the United States.

"350,000 tons—" Yuzaburo Kato gritted his teeth.

"Hehe, 350,000 tons, 37,500 tons of 'Kongo' class battleships, 30,600 tons of 'Fuso' class battleships, 31,260 tons of 'Ise' class battleships, 33,800 tons of 'Mutsu' and 'Nagato', the total tonnage adds up to a little more than 300,000 tons, where did the 350,000 tons come from? Unless you still want to build new capital ships -- "Roque listed them in detail, these data are all public, and it is impossible for Yuzaburo Kato to deny them" -- think about Mr. Secretary of State, if you build one, the United States will build four, and if you think that Japan has the capability and the United States to engage in an arms race, then please. ”

In Roque's words, Japan is shameless.