"Full set of technologies for triple 406 mm / L50 turrets; Full set of technologies for triple 180 mm / L60 secondary gun turrets; the full set of technology for twin 100-mm anti-aircraft guns; It also requires a single steam turbine with a power of more than 45,000 horsepower and a large heavy oil boiler......"

Hersman whispered the requirements listed on the list, but his brows furrowed slightly, and he said to himself: "Stalin's appetite is really big, what does he want to do?" ”

"Your Excellency, we have received information that the Soviets are preparing to start construction of 8 battleships with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons and 406 mm guns and 18 heavy cruisers of 26,000 tons." Hans. Spicer said.

"I remember this," Hirschman shook his head with a smile, "the Soviets simply did not have the ability to design such large surface ships, and they asked us for help a few years ago, but their requirements were too high for us to meet, and the proposal we proposed (that is, the Bismarck-class proposal) they thought was too conservative...... Then they seemed to be looking for Italians. ”

"It's the Italian company Ansialdo." Hans. Spechard had an amazing memory, "They completed the design in July 1936, codenamed the UP-41 battleship. It is said that this battleship was the Italian 'Litorio. An improved version of the Veneto' class. The standard displacement is as high as 42,674 tons, and the full load displacement is 46,200 tons! ”

"It's been improved so well that it can't be built." Hersmann smiled mockingly, "Stalin was just too anxious and liked to be brute...... More than 40,000 tons, and there are three triple 406-mm guns, where is it so easy to build? ”

Hans. Specdar reminded: "General, we still have a way to deal with the hull, armor, and power system. The battleship F was about the same as it. ”

The F was later known as the Bismarck, which began construction in early 1936 and was expected to be completed by the end of 1939.

"But the F doesn't have a 406mm cannon either." Hersman gently dropped the file on the table. "And there is no triple main gun system that can be transferred to the Soviets, we can give them at most the 403-mm cannon of the H-class battleship that they are designing."

Hersmann really wanted to meet the demands of the Soviets - to exchange technology for oil and non-ferrous metals!

"General, it's May 1937," said Hans. Spicer whispered. "Isn't it a little late to build a battleship?"

"Is it late?" Hersman smiled softly, "Start now, it should be basically completed by the end of 1940, the first ship will be commissioned in 1941, and the shipbuilding program of 8 battleships and 18 heavy cruisers may be completed by the end of 1943. Marx's class aircraft carriers. Then the USSR will have a very strong naval power......"

Hersman remembers that in the original history, because of the blind pursuit of high technology and world wars, the Soviets designed a bunch of battleships and battlecruisers. But in the end, none of them were built.

However, in this time and space where history has been changed, it is still very possible for the Soviet battleship program to be realized. Because Soviet engineers were involved in the design and construction of two battleships of the "Scharnhorst" class throughout the whole process, they basically "ate through" the battleships of this class.

However, Stalin was not satisfied with the performance of the "Scharnhorst" class, mainly because of the ship's firepower - only three triple 280 mm guns were not enough to defeat the most powerful battleships of Britain, the United States and Japan, and more than 400 mm guns were necessary to defeat them.

According to the plan given by the Italian company Ansaldo, the new generation of Soviet battleships will have three triple 406 mm guns - more firepower than the German F-class battleships with four twin 380 mm guns......

Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Commander of the Navy of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Philip Mir. Mitrofanovich. Orlov walked into Stalin's office building on the morning of May 12 and saw that Berzin, the military adviser to Spain, was already there.

"Comrade Stalin. Comrade Berzin, "Orlov gave a military salute to Stalin. Then he greeted Berzin, whom he had not seen for many years, and then reported to the great leader of the Soviet Union, "The Germans agreed to provide us with the power system and secondary artillery system of the F-class battleships, and also offered to provide us with the twin 403-mm main gun systems of the H-class battleships." ”

The H-class battleships, like the F-class battleships and the Scharnhorst-class battleships, were all part of Project Z. According to the plan, the H-class battleship was to be completed in its entirety by the end of 1938. Construction began before July 1939.

Although the unladen displacement of this class of battleships will exceed 55,000 tons, the main gun system used is still relatively conservative, with only four twin 403 mm cannons.

"Comrade Orlov, what do you think?" When Stalin was questioned, he was still looking down at photographs of the planes and tanks used by the German and Italian intervention forces in the Spanish Civil War, brought by Berzin.

"Comrade Stalin." Orlov said that "the technology of the twin 403 mm gun system can be used as a reference, and perhaps we can improve it into a triple 403 mm gun...... This is 3 mm worse than the design of the Italians, the problem is not very big and there will be no delays. ”

The design given by the Italians was three triple 406 mm guns, and it was troublesome to change them to four twin 403 mm guns. But it was not difficult to change to three triple 403-mm guns.

"Will it be possible to complete 4 ships of the 'Soviet' class by the end of June 1943?"

There was a dark and excited look in Stalin's eyes, much like the look of the beast before it struck.

"Obviously, what will happen after June 1943!" Yang. Karlovich. Belzin thought to himself, "I wish I had lived until that time." ”

Berzin, of course, did not suffer from any terminal illness. He had just undergone a full medical examination at the General Hospital of the Red Army, and it was a pity that he was in good health and there was nothing wrong with him. This means that he cannot retire in the name of "waiting for death". And in the past few months, many people have been arrested in the military intelligence department of the Red Army, some of whom are his cronies......

"If the current plan is followed, we are confident that we will complete four ships as planned." Orlov replied.

"Very well," Stalin pulled out one of the stacks of photographs in his hand and placed it in front of Orlov. "This is Italy's Fiat G.50 'Arrow' fighter, their latest carrier-based aircraft, which has only been shown once in Spain."

Unlike the other plane, in which Mussolini had two aircraft carriers - not that he thought they were needed, but that the Soviet Union had the "Lenin" and the "Karl Illuminati". Marx".

Since Stalin had aircraft carriers, then Mussolini must have them!

However, the Italians did not copy the Soviet "Karl. Marx". Mussolini's first aircraft carrier was named "Aquila" and the second was named "Eagle Sparrow", both of which were converted with an empty displacement of more than 20,000 tons, dismantling the superstructure to form a continuous flight deck.

Because the hull was not built as an aircraft carrier at the beginning, and it was also armed with a large number of guns. So the hangar area of these two aircraft carriers is not very large, the number of carrier-based aircraft is on the small side, and in the absence of collapsible wing carrier-based aircraft, there are only 51 carrier-based aircraft (15 of which are suspended from the roof of the hangar).

"By June 1943, our carrier-based aircraft were going to surpass theirs." Stalin paused for a moment and looked at Orlov, "By that time, the Black Sea Fleet should be the main force of the Red Navy, and it needs to be equipped with 'Karl. The aircraft carrier USS Marx and 4 heavy cruisers of the 'Soviet' class and 2 new heavy cruisers (in fact, the Kronstadt-class battlecruisers)! ”

The USSR is going south!

Orlov and Berzin immediately understood Stalin's assumptions.

If war had broken out in 1939, Poland would certainly not have lasted long, and under the Soviet and German attacks, it would have lasted until the end of 1939 at most. But Britain and France would not be so quick to finish - because the Soviet Union did not intend to go to war with Britain and France.

In this way, Germany and Britain and France would fight a tug-of-war on the Western Front, as was the case after the February Revolution of 1917.

The Soviet Union, on the other hand, could take the opportunity to continue to develop its own strength and at the same time consolidate its defenses on the Western Front; It is also necessary to expand the power of the socialist camp in the Far East. By the time Britain, France, and Germany were exhausted—three or four years later, and by 1943 they should have been almost exhausted—and then they would march south, taking Turkey, and marching into the Mediterranean......

And the Italian Navy, most likely, was the biggest obstacle for the USSR to go south to the Mediterranean!

So the Red Navy of the USSR was to deploy "Karl . Marx" and 4 heavy cruisers of the "Soviet" class 2 new types.

"Comrade Stalin, I understand what you mean!" Orlov sighed in his heart - he is Ukrainian! At present, Ukrainians are the focus of the "Great Purge", and many ethnic Ukrainian cadres have been shot. So Orlov was worried every day these days, and now that Stalin seemed to be delegating important tasks to him, then it seemed that he would be able to live with peace of mind until June 1943.

Stalin smiled and nodded, waving Orlov to leave. Now only Stalin and Berzin were left in Stalin's office.

The fatherly leader of the Soviet Union looked at Berzin with a smile, and Berzin felt furious in his heart. Stalin suddenly spoke: "Yesterday the comrades of the Political Security Bureau just arrested Tukhachevsky!" (To be continued.) )