Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 339: Secret Talk (Part 2)

Xu Jun is not very good at economics and finance, but some of his staff are experts who are proficient in this. Schacht and Funk have proved to Xu Jun that they are competent for this job. German economy Stability was quickly restored after the war ended, and there was no financial shock caused by the entry of a large number of war dividends.

The German government announced last month that the mark currency value will continue to be fixed at the original exchange rate. This is exciting news for everyone in the European financial markets. I don’t know how many financial experts are relieved.

In the past, whenever large-scale wars between European countries ended, there was a redistribution of power and wealth, which was also a feast for war brokers and financial scavengers. Only this time, the financial beasts in Germany have long been collared by the Nazis. In the frenetic political atmosphere in Germany, there is no room for war brokers. The giant family companies and consortia in Germany have been controlled by the Nazi government. Hitler removed the biggest obstacles for his successor and paved a highway leading to the dictatorship.

"Our progress in the U.S. is very smooth. They are full of enthusiasm for this project. There are only some procedural issues left. I believe it should be possible to sign the final agreement later this month." Viscount Wood took I picked up the glass pot at hand and poured myself a cup of black tea.

"We provide the technology, and they are responsible for the manufacturing. I don't see any reason for rejection by the Americans." Admiral de La Polde had a confident smile on his face.

"The previous shipbuilding plan of the US Navy has now been attacked by conservative members of the Senate. In these people's eyes, this plan is part of Roosevelt's "war conspiracy"." Laval sneered. On this issue, he despised those vulgar and ignorant Yankees from the bottom of his heart.

“Because of this, many slipways are available on the east and west coasts of the United States. Our orders are extremely attractive to shipbuilders.” Viscount Wood picked up the delicate silver clip on the plate and picked it from the sugar dish. A piece of white sugar cube.

Xu Jun knows that the U.S. Navy’s current military expansion plan will not be greatly affected for the time being. At most, the budget for the new fiscal year will be reduced to a certain extent, but not all politics in the Senate and the House of Representatives Animals, they will not fail to see the threat that exists in the direction of the Pacific.

However, the possibility of large-scale arms expansion and war preparations like Roosevelt’s administration is almost non-existent. After all, the US Navy’s domestic position is not as supreme as it was in the mid- to late-war period.

The situation of the U.S. Army is also very bad. After losing the "war threat" on the European continent, the security of the United States is guaranteed, and life is back to the peaceful age of singing and dancing.

The U.S. Army’s weapon replacement program was stranded following the cancellation of the British government’s order.

The domestic stock of artillery and firearms is piled up like a mountain, why should the American people pay for the new weapons? "You said that these weapons are old? Then why did the British want to accept these tatters before? Do you still dare to say that there is no deal or collusion with the British?"

The U.S. Navy also has its own troubles. In order to maintain the size of the fleet, mainly to retain experienced sailors, they have to continue to keep a number of old ships in the organization.

More importantly, the United States used to be the biggest maritime threat. The Royal Navy has been hit hard, and with the strength of the United Kingdom, it is difficult to return to the old days.

Conservatives who are trying to restore "glorious isolation" are ecstatic so far. Their political slogan is "America First". The decline of the Royal Navy has given these politicians an excellent reason. The tonnage of the American Navy has jumped. Ranked number one in the world. For a long time to come, there will be no force in the Atlantic direction that can challenge US sea power. There is no need to add more warships in this direction. If there is a real need, it should also be released. To the other side of the mainland.

As a result, most of the large and small shipbuilding companies on the east coast of the United States are idle, and it seems that this depression will continue for some time in the market.

Just as the shipbuilding industry on the east coast of the United States was about to fall into sorrow, the former rivals the British came. They are like angels descending on the land where the rice flag was once hoisted, and at the same time they brought a scale Amazing ship purchase plan.

The UK used to have the largest commercial fleet in the world, but after the brutal Atlantic submarine war, the fleet has now shrunk to about 70% of its original size, and many of them need to be sent for various reasons. The shipyard undergoes major repairs.

This situation has affected the blood transfusion capacity of the United Kingdom. The wealth and resources that they have raided in the colonies can only be hoarded in warehouses in the port area, and there is not enough transport capacity to send them back to China. So they need the United States to build a batch of transport ships for them, and also make special modifications to make them suitable for navigating in the tropical waters of Asia.

The UK itself is a big shipbuilding country, but at this time the production of domestic shipyards has become saturated, because in addition to building merchant ships, they are now fully repairing and building military ships.

In addition to the warships that were damaged in the war, there are also some sunken ships that have been salvaged. Now, as long as the ship is proven to be worthy of repair, the Royal Navy will never give up any opportunity.

For example, the [Hood] sunk off the coast of Dunkirk. Thanks to the efforts of the naval engineers of Britain, Germany and France, this battle patrol was successfully salvaged and corrected. It is planned to be towed by the Royal Navy in the next month. Back to her home port of Clydebank, back to the berth of the John Brown Company that built her.

The damage of this battle patrol was not as serious as everyone thought. The Royal Navy guessed that the reason why she capsized in such a short time should be caused by the chaos of the damage control system, except for a few concrete-damaged bombs. Naval investigators also discovered that more than a dozen ballast tanks on her right side and the water injection valves of the bottom ammunition depot had been opened due to the crack in the bottom of the ship.

At that time, the firepower of the German heavy artillery was beyond imagination. The battleships of the same group were shot and sunk one after another. The officers and soldiers on the [Hood] who were responsible for the damage management had improper measures because of panic. This is not impossible.

However, the number of survivors of the Hood was not large. All senior officers including the captain were killed at that time. The divers of the German Navy were also in the armored command tower of the [Hood] and found Captain Cole and The remains of several senior officers were mostly sailors on duty on the upper deck. The highest rank was only a captain. No one can tell what happened at that time.

The repair and transformation of this battle patrol is a huge project and a severe test of the British Royal Navy’s shipbuilding technology. However, the Royal Navy seems very confident that the [Hood] has become like One of their belief totems, in order to return this battleship to the navy sequence, they will not hesitate to pay no matter how high the price is.

The information about repairing warships has been classified as the highest secret, and only the government and navy leaders of Britain, France and Germany know. In the past, the British Navy’s secrecy work was done like a colander, and even Japanese spies with their own dry food appeared. Now they have cleaned up with the “help” of the Germans. Xu Jun hopes that they can keep these secrets for at least a year. .

In addition to general cargo ships and oil tankers, the British orders also include a number of special ships, of which the most interesting to Americans is a high-speed maritime supply ship.

This ship has adopted many "advanced technologies" confirmed by the US as "beyond this era", allowing this supply ship to replenish the target ship at sea, which will greatly improve the replenishment work. Flexibility, but also to ensure the viability of the battlefield of both sides of the supply.

At that time, most of the marine supplies between ships could only be carried out in calm sea conditions and after the two sides stopped the ship. This is often the most vulnerable stage of the warship, because it takes a certain amount of time for the ship's power to restart. If it is attacked at this time~IndoMTL.com~ the ship can only be a target, and cannot perform evasive maneuvers at all. Especially when it encounters a sneak attack by a submarine or aircraft at this time, it is almost equivalent to being sentenced to death.

How can the British not know what the Americans think, "Do you want technology? Then let's cooperate.".

The United States will build eight high-speed supply ships of this type named [Drian] class for the British Navy. At the same time, it also allows the United States to build two similar supply ships on its own in the form of a license. In the usual style of the Americans, the above technology is a free gift.

The British would not tell the U.S. Navy that this ship is actually based on a high-speed transport ship developed by the French Navy. After joining some of the "advanced designs" of the German Navy, it was integrated and optimized by British Royal Navy shipbuilding experts. Made it out.

This is a water test product of the European naval technical cooperation, and it is also the crystallization of the wisdom of the naval technicians of the three countries. The choice to build this ship in the United States, in addition to the fact that various countries cannot make an empty berth, is also due to the design of the ship All of them are in the metric system. If Americans want to build, they must go through a lot of conversion. After this "cooperation", I believe they should be more proficient in building other European-designed ships in the future.

PS: Thank you for your support, the author will continue to work hard.