Published at 13th of February 2023 07:02:19 AM

"His Royal Highness, the capital ships sold by the Germans are generally very advanced in performance. Moreover, the age of the ships is also very short. Even the oldest 'Nassau-class' battleships are less than ten years old. .If we buy it, it can be used for another ten years or even longer. This is very necessary to expand the strength of the Imperial Navy." Admiral Anton House said excitedly.

Although, since the former Crown Prince Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has attached great importance to the development of the navy. However, due to various reasons, the naval development of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not satisfactory. So far, the capital ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are only four "United Force-class" battleships. Although these battleships are equipped with four triple-mounted 305mm main guns. However, the overall strength is not strong, and it cannot even match the "Nassau-class" battleships of the German Navy. As for the more powerful "Austro-Hungarian Sovereign Class" battleship, it has just been built not long ago. It is estimated that the first ship "Austro-Hungarian Sovereign" will not be able to enter service until next year. As for other battleships, it is estimated that they will have to wait longer before they can enter service.

Naturally, such a naval scale cannot satisfy Admiral Anton House, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Now, Crown Prince Karl intends to buy the battleship that the Germans are about to retire, which is undoubtedly the best. Although those battleships were to be decommissioned by the Germans, the Germans looked down on them, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy would not despise them. After all, those are real main battleships! Even the "Austro-Hungarian Sovereign-class" battleships are no better than the "Helgoland-class" battleships and "Caesar-class" battleships retired by the German Navy. Even the "Moltke-class" battlecruiser, the combat power will not be much worse than the "Austro-Hungarian Sovereign-class" battleship.

"That is to say, we have used all the capital ships of the Germans?" Crown Prince Karl asked.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness. Five 'Caesar-class' battleships, four 'Helgoland-class' battleships, and three 'Moltke-class' battleships are all very powerful. The remaining four 'Nassau-class' battleships Although the performance of the 'battleship' and the two 'Blcher-class' battleships is slightly inferior, they are also rare and powerful capital ships. If we can buy all these capital ships, this will increase the strength of our navy. , quickly took off." General Anton House said.

"Shoot all of them? How is this possible? A total of 18 capital ships cost more than one billion marks. Although the Germans have used them for a long time, it is estimated that they will exceed 600 million marks after bidding. Even if the competition If there are more countries, the price will rise further. We simply don't have that much money to bid for those battleships!" Baron Berchdold shook his head.

"Don't worry about the money, I will take care of it!" Crown Prince Karl said nonchalantly.

Admiral Anton House looked happy, since Crown Prince Karl said that he doesn't care about money anymore. Then he naturally has nothing to worry about.

But Baron Berchdold was a little puzzled.

"His Royal Highness, how much loan did the Americans promise to give us?" Baron Berchdold asked.

Crown Prince Karl hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Two hundred million dollars! After we dissolve the ally with the Germans, we will give us more loans."

"Two hundred million dollars?" Admiral Anton House and Beridold both exclaimed. There is no doubt that this is already a huge sum of money.

"Yes, 200 million US dollars. This is the first." Crown Prince Karl said proudly. As if he thought he had made a great deal.

"Your Highness, if we dissolve our alliance with the Germans, it will put us in danger!" Baron Berchdold said immediately. Although the Americans gave a lot of money, it would not be worthwhile if a war with Germany was triggered.

"Yes, Your Highness." Admiral Anton House obviously didn't think it was a good idea to accept loans from the Americans either.

"Let's talk about this issue later, don't worry, I have arrangements!" Crown Prince Karl said impatiently.

General Anton House and Baron Berchdold had no choice but to say nothing more. They began to discuss how to bid for more battleships from the Germans. After all, this is directly related to enhancing the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. If the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can be greatly enhanced, then their right to speak in the Mediterranean can be greatly increased. At least, in front of the Germans, they don't have to worry so much anymore.

The US Secretary of State held a banquet at the embassy, of course the German side knew about it. Even the US Secretary of State had secret talks with the crown princes of the island countries and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the German side also learned about it. However, it is unclear what exactly they discussed.

Although this is the territory of Germany, it is not so easy to get conversations in the secret room of the embassy. But even so, General Feng Bo Laiming, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, reported this matter to Qin Tian immediately.

"Your Majesty, the Americans are obviously doing something small. The Empire has won this world war, and the Americans have already felt threatened. Therefore, they can't wait to win over other countries to deal with the Empire together! "Prime Minister Bilo said.

"The island country and the empire are inherently incompatible. It is reasonable for the Americans to win over the island country. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is still an ally of the empire after all. They did not take the empire too seriously in doing so! said Foreign Secretary Wahit.

"The Austro-Hungarian Empire has long been divorced from the Empire, and the Americans will not be clear about this. However, I am more curious, is Crown Prince Karl's brain caught by the door? They don't know that this will anger the Empire. Right! However, they still foolishly contacted the Americans. Do they think that their army can really withstand the attack of the empire?" Qin Tian had an amused face.

"Your Majesty, should we prepare early. Once the Austro-Hungarian Empire falls to the United States, it will be very detrimental to the empire!" Marshal von Falkenhain said.

"It doesn't matter. Before the death of the Austrian Emperor, the alliance between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Empire will be very stable. Of course, after the death of the Austrian Emperor, the alliance between the Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will come to an end. At that time, The empire will go all out to deal with the Austro-Hungarian Empire!" Qin Tian said. This was something he had planned long ago.