"Your Excellency McKenna, this is just your speculation, as far as I know, His Majesty the German Emperor has always been an advocate of small-caliber and high rate of fire, and he has influenced the German Navy to choose 10-inch naval guns since the Brandenburg class, and then has been interfering with the German Navy in the use of 11-inch naval guns.

It is precisely because of the use of smaller-caliber naval guns that the Germans were able to start building dreadnoughts earlier than us, so His Majesty the Emperor loved small-caliber rapid-fire guns for ten minutes, and his influence on the German Navy is known to everyone, even the Germans jokingly call their navy 'the emperor's toy', because of his reason, the large cruisers of the German Navy still use 11-inch naval guns.

It is said that the German Navy battleships can use 12-inch naval guns or Admiral Tirpitz and the Emperor after a big quarrel, so it is very likely that the Germans will continue to use 12-inch naval guns under the influence of His Majesty the Emperor, and when His Majesty the Emperor lobbied the Minister of the Navy of Brazil, did he continue to maintain his opinion and promote small-caliber and high-rate naval guns? The Home Secretary's words were full of mockery of the Germans, especially when referring to "His Majesty" and "the Emperor's toys".

McKenna watched the crackdown on strikes and marches without mercy, and was blamed for the recent killings on Sedney Street, and even more so because he was derided by Conservative leader Balfour after a photograph of him directing the scene was taken as "both he and the photographer had put their precious lives at risk." I know what this photographer is doing, but what is this respectable gentleman doing? The fat man replied unhurriedly: "Your Excellency Churchill, what you are talking about is nothing more than those tabloid sensationalizing reports.

His Majesty the Emperor was an expert in naval gunnery, and the papers he wrote at the Kiel Naval Academy are still used as textbooks for the Germans. You think he will not understand that the weight of the shell is directly proportional to the cube of the caliber, and the size of the front area of the shell is directly proportional to the square of the caliber, so the weight of the shell in the area of the unit increases. Is it a theory that velocity decays more slowly when applied to air resistance, thus maintaining muzzle velocity for a longer period of time?

And although the Germans' former dreadnoughts had been using 11-inch naval guns before, they changed to 12-inch naval guns from the second rank of dreadnoughts, do you really think this is a change that Tirpitz can make just by arguing? ”

Churchill was embarrassed by McKenna's remarks, which accused him of believing the tabloid reports and not being able to discern the facts. And he also tasted a little bit of "You are born in the army, and you don't know anything about noble naval affairs", "Although His Majesty the Emperor is an enemy of the British Empire, no matter what, everyone is a noble navy, and I don't know how much higher than you, the army red deer".

In the British Empire, the Royal Navy was superior, and the Army was inferior, and this realization made Churchill blushing for a while and didn't know how to refute it.

McKenna turned his head to Asquith and reasoned, "Your Excellency, the refusal of the Germans to cooperate with the Americans in the development of a 14-inch naval gun is not because the Germans do not want a 14-inch naval gun. Rather, the Germans themselves were already developing naval guns of the 14-inch class, so there was no need for them to cooperate with the Americans anymore. ”

Asquith sighed: "Your inference is sufficient, but inference cannot be taken as a conclusion, and I cannot make a decision based on just one inference. ”

At this time, Churchill, who was still sitting in the position of Home Secretary, supporting Asquith to balance the finances and suppressing the Navy to cut military spending, seemed to think of refuting McKenna's words, and returned to the energetic appearance just now: "I don't think the Germans will build warships equipped with 14-inch guns, because their finances do not allow it."

I wrote about it in my report in November 1909. Germany's excessive spending threatened social and political stability at home, and the heavy taxes imposed by Germany on food, the main part of its tariff revenues, had caused a great division between the peasants and the industrialists. The central and local governments have already collected large amounts of direct taxes. The German parliament is about to encroach on this depleted sphere through universal suffrage, and the propertied classes are full of common concern.

On the other hand, the new tax on consumer goods has increased the political power of the left-wing party, which is an opponent of military spending and many other public spending. At the same time, Germany's debt has doubled over the past 30 years of peace, and their financial credibility has fallen to the level of Italy. Therefore, it is foreseeable that Germany will enter a period of internal tension in the future. ”

Churchill was so complacent that his report was so influential in the British press that the British often used it to prove that the "naval race" between Germany and the British Empire was inevitable. The report also earned Churchill his own popularity, of which he was often proud.

But when the text first became popular on the streets of England, Jochen scoffed at it. Assessing Churchill in front of Mashal was not only ignorant but also hypocritical.

First of all, Germany's heavy tax on grain originated from the Bismarck era, because Bismarck refused to import Russian grain in order to safeguard the interests of agricultural Juncker and protect German agriculture, so he continued to raise grain tariffs in the process of a series of deterioration of German-Russian relations, which not only led to the rupture of German-Russian relations, Russia began to fall to France, but also caused domestic industrial giants to begin to oppose Bismarck. Even so, Germany's agricultural tariffs are not very high in the world, and agricultural tariffs are still about 15% lower than those on industrial goods.

Moreover, after Bismarck's downfall, a series of remedial measures for German trade with Russia led to a reduction in tariffs on agricultural products, and the fragmentation of the Juncker group allowed the industrial faction to begin to gain the upper hand. The annexation of Austria and the reform of local agricultural production methods have increased local grain production and lowered food prices, so the original level of protective tariffs has also been declining.

Therefore, although it is true that the level of grain tariffs in Germany is still higher than the level of the 70s of the last century, it is still much lower than before Bismarck stepped down.

Problems with left-wing parties and rising debt are also true, but the replacement of "Germany" with "Britain" in front of these problems is also perfectly applicable, and the situation is more serious.

Not to mention other problems, at least his own debt problem McKenna himself knows it, looking at this complacent dead fat man, it is not easy to say that Great Britain's debt problem is more serious than that of the Germans, isn't this adding to the blockage of His Excellency the Prime Minister? For a while, it was also an itchy tooth of hate.

However, McKenna still has a way to refute: "Your Excellency Churchill said that the Germans are financially tight, but the current situation is that the tonnage of warships built by the German Navy is getting larger and larger, and the standard displacement of the Helgoland-class battleships they are about to complete is more than 24,000 tons, and the East Prussia-class that has just been launched is close to 26,000 tons, while the standard displacement of the super-dreadnoughts we are building is only 23,000 tons, and the new ships planned to be built are only 25,000 tons. ”

McKenna also deliberately ignored the standard displacement of the armored cruiser equipped with 13.5-inch naval guns, which had just started, had exceeded 26,000 tons, and the battleship tonnage was inferior to the Germans to squeeze Churchill.

"Alright, stop arguing." Seeing that the two might quarrel, Asquith spoke, and McKenna immediately shut up, but Churchill, who just wanted to say something, couldn't say anything and was choked with internal injuries.

"It's too early to draw conclusions, and we have already started construction of 4 battleships with 13.5-inch guns, 1 armored cruiser, and we have an advantage in the number of super-dreadnoughts, so there is no need to rush too much now. But gentlemen should also be aware that our financial pressures are also very high, and it would be extremely irresponsible to start construction of more powerful warships on the basis of speculation, so it is imperative that we find out what the Germans are doing. ”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister said so." War Secretary Haldane nodded: "We do need to have a good talk with the Germans now, since the death of His Majesty Edward, we have basically not had high-level diplomatic contacts with Germany, and this will only increase the distrust between the two governments, which will lead to a further escalation of the naval race and cause financial pressure."

I'd like to go to Berlin myself to get a real idea of what the German government is going to do next with regard to the navy, whether it's good news or bad news, or at least we know the situation so we can respond more accurately.

Moreover, if I was going in a private capacity, it would be more secrecy and would allow me to communicate openly with the Germans without attracting diplomatic attention. ”

"In this way, it is only fitting that Your Excellency Haldane, who knows Germany very well, should go." Asquith nodded slowly, then thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, you are going to Berlin alone and there is no one to discuss, so I suggest that it is best to have Prince Battenberg accompany you, so that you can also have someone who knows the situation of the navy with you to discuss." ”

Prince Battenberg was born in the royal family of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Rhein, and joined the Royal Navy at an early age, so that he could not only shorten the distance between himself and the Germans, but also allow himself to have someone who is well versed in naval affairs to discuss, so that his trip to Germany can be smoother. Haldane nodded, and accepted Asquith's suggestion: "Your Excellency, if you are thoughtful, then I will ask Prince Battenberg to accompany me on a trip." (To be continued......)