"What a big plan for both sides!" Listening to the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xu Jie smiled bitterly. His original intention was to open a small opening for Italy to increase the strength of the Italian navy so that it could maintain neutrality in future wars, and by the way, sell some benefits to the French, so that they could better contain Germany. But who would have thought that both the Central and Entente would see it as an opportunity, an opportunity to limit the enemy's self-promotion! Treaties are never 100% honored, and both sides will find loopholes. But now it seems that both the Central and Entente countries wanted to make a big deal out of this in order to get the most out of it. After all, everyone knows that each other is not clean, and it would be better if we could destroy some of each other's careful thoughts?

Both the Central Powers and the Entente had to request a meeting, and China could only participate, and in this kind of conference, which exploited loopholes and restricted loopholes, whoever did not go would suffer, and considering that it was Italy that proposed the limitation treaty, the countries agreed to convene a supplementary conference to the Naval Armaments Treaty in Rome after consultation. to remedy some "deficiencies" and "loopholes"! "It's only been 3 years...... Meeting again? Is there still any end? Lin Yongsheng, who had represented the Huaxia Navy at the last arms limitation meeting, heard that he was going to be sent again this time, so he complained that for it, holding a meeting was far less ......... than fighting a war.

The first topic of the meeting was raised by the Italians, that is, the question of how to operate the surplus in the case of the surplus of capital ship tonnage, but not enough to build new capital ships. For example, the French Navy can build a new capital ship with a tonnage of 10,000 tons, so the choice of a new capital ship is a large battleship close to 40,000 tons and a smaller battleship. Or to directly choose 3 large capital ships, the remaining tonnage is converted into aircraft carrier tonnage, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also has so much tonnage of newly built warships. This problem also exists.

On the contrary, China, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom do not have these problems. Because of their large tonnage, this bit of offcuts is nothing to them. As for the construction of aircraft carriers? Hehe, these first-rate naval powers with deep pockets are preparing their own aircraft carrier reserves, who cares about this bit of scraps? Therefore, the first topic of this meeting is actually the first-rate naval power to fight for some interests for its little brother!

Judging by the situation, Italy still has about 1.8 to 18,000 tons of remaining tonnage (because the old warships also have to be improved, and this will inevitably cause the tonnage to fluctuate.) France and Austria-Hungary used less than 1,000 tonnes of leftovers at most. Both countries were also shrewd, and both invariably abandoned the original size of the construction plan, and instead switched to 3 large capital ships. Then the idea raises the issue of tonnage conversion in the negotiations. And in addition to the three countries of Italy, France and Austria. Turkey, Spain and Russia are also .........struggling with plans to build new warships.

It stands to reason. The three countries enjoy a 4.weight ratio. That is, the tonnage of the capital ship is . 10,000 tons Turkey and Spain have a total of one fast capital ship, which uses at least 10,000 tons of tonnage, even if they don't build new ships. Russia can only use about 90,000 tons. Russia now has no ability to build new capital ships on its own, the construction of the Izmail-class battleships was actually carried out with the support of foreign countries, and the Russian naval industry was looted by the Germans during the war, which can be described as sad, and according to the jump limit, Russia can only buy battleships with a standard row of no more than 30,000 tons. That is, at most, ships will be built. And then there was more than 10,000 tons of capital ship tonnage left. Of course. In fact, this was born in tonnage and could build 3 fast battleships equipped with 1-inch guns, but it was obvious. As the supplier, Germany and Austria don't have this idea, he still wants Russia to squeeze out more tonnage for Turkey and Spain, two more obedient little brothers! …。

All in all. This time, France had 10,000 remaining capital ship tonnage, while Italy had more than 10,000 tons of tonnage left in the Central Powers, and Austria-Hungary was on par with France. The remaining tonnage of Spain, Turkey and Russia is about 10,000 tons, and if it is really enough to convert the tonnage of capital ships, then the Entente will obviously suffer a big loss in terms of aircraft carriers! Did the Entente probably endure it? Obviously impossible! For this, they have prepared ample rhetoric as ammunition for the "mouth cannon"! …。

"The core issue of this meeting is to fix the loopholes and deficiencies of the Beijing Naval Arms Limitation Treaty, not to deny the treaty from scratch, so in this meeting, the changes in the fleets of the two sides should follow the principle of reciprocity, that is, the Allied and Entente changes should be the same. We agree with Italy to convert part of the remaining capital ship tonnage into aircraft carrier tonnage, but at the same time, France should also enjoy such treatment. And I need to remind you of the ...... The Allies have gained an advantage in this exchange, and it is not time to extend this change to other countries. "On the first day of the conference, the British presented their point of view on behalf of the Entente.

"So ruthless?!" The opening remarks of the British made the Allies feel very tricky, first of all, they expressed their support for Italy's attitude, on the one hand, it was to show goodwill to Italy, after all, the rift between Italy and Germany and Austria was no secret, and in this case it was normal for the Allies to win over Italy. The second aspect is to seek certain interests for France. After all, the British officials said very well, this is to follow the principle of fairness and justice, the Italians have changed, and the French are not too much to change, right?

"Your remarks are biased. Italy's choice to convert battleship tonnage into aircraft carrier tonnage was the tone set during the talks in Beijing three years ago. At that time, there was no restriction on other countries. So Italy can convert the remaining tonnage of capital ships into aircraft carrier tonnage. But France can't. The Germans are not fuel-efficient lamps either, and after flatly rejecting the one-on-one conversion, the Germans turned around and put forward their own opinion: "If the French side demands that the tonnage of capital ships be converted into the tonnage of aircraft carriers, then we demand the same full force from Austria-Hungary, Spain, and the Turkish Empire." "The last sentence is the point of the Allies! In this meeting, the Allies have a great plan! …。

"If the tonnage of capital ships can be converted into aircraft carrier tonnage at will, then the restrictions on the tonnage of various warships in the treaty will become useless, and the treaty will lose its meaning. If your country requires that the tonnage of capital ships of other countries can be converted. We, the United States, will definitely accompany us to the end! In the face of the Germans' counterattack, the American representative Sims said calmly. The treaty has only been signed for three years. The Americans' ambitious shipbuilding program is underway, and the tonnage under construction is far from reaching the amount specified in the treaty, so the Americans are not afraid, since you want to convert, then the United States can naturally too, not only the allies have a lot of surplus tonnage that is not used, but the United States also has it! And the large number is terrible!

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we got a wrong question, what we need to discuss is the utilization and conversion of a small amount of surplus tonnage in the tonnage of capital ships, not the conversion of capital ship tonnage. In other words, the tonnage of the capital ship cannot be converted at will. Italy really has no choice, and the remaining tonnage of about 10,000 tons is even enough to build a cruiser. The same was true for France and Austria-Hungary. However, considering the balance between the Central and Entente powers, the total tonnage of conversion could not be in the same proportion. "Just when the meeting was at an impasse. Lin Yongsheng expressed his opinion on behalf of Huaxia. …………。

"Our view is that the Italian Navy can be converted to a ratio of 4, because at the time of the signing of the treaty, it was already stipulated that Italy could convert the remaining tonnage into aircraft carriers at a later date. So the Italian Navy can add about 1,000 tons of aircraft carrier tonnage, and the French Navy can also get about 9 tons of aircraft carrier tonnage. And taking into account the balance between the Central and Entente powers. The tonnage of Austria-Hungary should have been somewhat lower than that of France. "In this meeting, Italy and China are in a group, so China naturally wants to support Italy to gain an advantageous and detached position as much as possible. If Italy is completely included in the Central Powers. Then the tonnage that the Italian Navy can obtain in the future is naturally at a relatively low standard.

"Your country's proposal is not fair. Because the remaining tonnage is a common problem in almost all countries. If only Italy, Austria-Hungary and France could solve it...... Then it's unfair to other small countries. Of course, we still support the definition of remaining tonnage in the Republic of China. Some countries could not gain aircraft carrier tonnage by stopping the construction of battleships. This is a betrayal of the spirit of the treaty! "The German representative, Siperpel, has bitten the issue of the conversion of the tonnage of small countries, and demanded that the remaining tonnage shared by Turkey and other countries can also be converted into ..........

"Speaking of a betrayal of the spirit of the treaty. I think Germany has the least reason to blame other countries. Russia, Turkey and Spain share the required tonnage. In practice, however, Germany forced Russia to give up its tonnage. As far as I know, Russia once wanted to build an aircraft carrier, but it was rejected because the Germans wanted to use Russian tonnage to transfer it to Turkey. And the builder is a German shipyard, which is unfair to Russia. In the treaty, it seems that there is no provision for large countries to arrange the tonnage of small countries, right? The tonnage issue of the three small countries should be resolved through negotiation on the basis of the principle of equality, right? Sims said.

As for this, it doesn't matter whether the Germans admit it or not, the Americans just want a head, although three small countries can have 4. However, if it is assigned to each country, you can only build one at most. 10,000-ton aircraft carrier. After several years of research, it became known that aircraft carriers of this tonnage were not balanced. And the Americans are doing this to break the Allies' naval construction plans.

"If it is in the spirit of justice, Spain, Turkey and Russia should indeed share equally in the tonnage of aircraft carriers, and it is inopportune to give all the tonnage to the other two countries." At this critical moment, the Huaxia delegates sided with the Entente. The situation of the whole conference immediately turned against the Allies! …。

Thanks to book friends zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for their tips~~, as well as book friends flying knife + Xiao Li, Xiaobai who doesn't want to die, ranky, fatchi1979's monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued.) (。 ))。