My Italy

The army exercises continued, but the figures of the monarchs of the two countries did not appear again, and neither did the figures of senior officers of the two navies.

Located 12 kilometers west of the Altmark training ground, there is a manor of the Hohenzollern family, where the two monarchs and several naval officers from the two countries are all present.

Of course, with so many people here, it is impossible to come here for vacation, so under the witness of the two monarchs, the German-Italian naval technical cooperation negotiations began.

"Everyone, these are some of our country's views on naval cooperation. Please correct me."

Rear Admiral Tirpitz, who is called the Chief of the General Staff of the German Navy but is actually the head of the Navy, presented the German cooperation plan at the beginning.

Admiral Yagir and others took the plan and read it quickly, while the German naval admirals waited silently.

The cooperation plan of the German naval counterparts covers several aspects, such as joint maritime training, military and technical exchanges, and equipment research and development. Of course, among these cooperations, what Germany values ​​most is warship design and military exchanges.

Needless to say, warship design. German warship designers should all be disbanded. In later generations, the wasteful tonnage design of German warships that was ridiculed by military fans has become an ancestral skill.

And indeed, if we don’t talk about what didn’t appear later, we can’t talk about the two battleships of the German Navy at present. The Brandenburg class also has a strong armored ship style, and its speed and firepower are far behind the battleships of the same era. As for the epoch-making Turin class, there is absolutely no comparison.

If the Brandenburg class can be explained by the fact that it appeared at the same time as the Turin class and did not pay attention to the arrival, then there is nothing to defend the Frederick III class.

This time, the firepower of the Frederick III class has increased. The 350mm main gun is not behind the battleships of other countries. However, its maximum speed of 17.5 knots should be regarded as the second slowest except for the American battleships that love to make iron turtles. .

In terms of armor, although the main armor belt of the Frederick III class has a thickness of 228mm-300mm, the armor belt is very narrow and cannot provide sufficient protection. In addition, one more thing needs to be said. With its endurance of 2,000 nautical miles/9 knots, it does not seem inconsistent to call it a coastal defense battleship.

That's right, I don't know what the German Navy thinks. The endurance of this class is a full 2,500 nautical miles lower than the previous Brandenburg class.

Of course, this cannot all be blamed on warship designers. After all, the navy is responsible for building whatever warships it needs. But judging from the design of the battleship, the needs of the German Navy are indeed a mystery?

But when the German navy colleagues looked at the Italian battleships, they would definitely be filled with emotion.

As for military exchanges, this is even simpler. Over the years, the Italian Navy has accumulated a lot of combat experience through expeditions to the east and west. At the same time, the uninterrupted battles have also allowed it to obtain first-hand battleship information, making it easier for it to see the development of battleships.

So the German navy lacks this experience, so they hope to gain this experience from their Italian colleagues.

The Italian side quickly read the German cooperation plan.

"Everyone, your country's cooperation plan is very good, and it is very conducive to the naval cooperation between your two countries."

Admiral Yagil praised the other party as soon as he opened his mouth, but then he changed the subject. "However, we think there are a few points that have been poorly considered?"

Faced with Admiral Yagir's somewhat doubtful words, Major General Tirpitz immediately asked. "What aspect are you talking about?"

"First of all, in terms of technical cooperation, our country believes that the naval technical cooperation between the two countries should continue. For example, the previous research between your country and our country on armor steel is a very good example. In fact, from this aspect, we can also expand to We have good room for cooperation in the research and development of new artillery, as well as technical breakthroughs in ship power, as well as communication technology."

Admiral Yagir's words aroused thoughts on the German side. There is indeed much room for improvement in technical cooperation. For example, Germany is very coveted in radio communication technology. This is equipment that every sea-going ship needs to be equipped with. It is a bit incredible that Italy is willing to use it this time.

However, this technical cooperation is also an example of what is easier said than done.

All the technologies needed by the navies of the two countries are basically in the hands of various supporting companies. If you want to share them with everyone, this will not be possible without sufficient exchange of interests.

In addition, apart from this technical cooperation, the different needs of the two navies will also cause technical differences. For example, I think bigger cannons are better, so we should strive for larger calibers, and I think future warships will have thicker armor, so penetration will be more important, so the barrels will need to be longer. Logically speaking, both are right, so who should you listen to?

So this technical cooperation sounds good, but it is not easy to achieve. Even for the armored steel project, which was the most successful cooperation, Krupp still believed that it had suffered a loss. The funds and manpower provided by Italy were too much compared to Italy, but it was not fair that it could still get so many benefits. This matter was suppressed by the Kaiser because of the special friendship between the two countries.

"As for technical cooperation, there are many things that need to be coordinated, so we can't decide now."

Major General Tirpitz thought about it and returned to Italy.

"It doesn't matter. In fact, I think we can cooperate on projects that both parties agree on. It doesn't necessarily require cooperation on both sides."

Admiral Yagier behaved very generously and did not mind Germany's hesitation.

This also shows Italy's urgency for technical cooperation, because the Italian Navy knows that in this era of rapid technological advancement, if Italy wants to not fall behind technologically, it cannot do so on its own. The Italian Navy's annual research funding is simply not enough. Therefore, at this time, it has become an important topic for the Italian Navy to work with the navies of other countries to engage in technological research and development.

The German Navy, which is preparing to vigorously develop its own navy, has become the target of Italy's hope for cooperation. And the German Navy just wants to ask for itself. How long will it wait if it does not take the opportunity to propose cooperation matters?

After hearing Italy's proposal to prioritize cooperation that both parties were interested in, Germany also expressed its agreement.

Of course, the two parties came to talk about more than just technical cooperation. Later, the two parties had exchanges on joint exercises and the design of warships that the German Navy was most concerned about.

Of course, during the exchange, Admiral Yagier bluntly pointed out that after observing the two German battleships, he expressed doubts about whether their strategic goals were consistent.

At this time, Major General Tirpitz took the opportunity to propose that Italy send shipbuilding technicians to provide technical assistance to several German shipyards.

Italy recognizes this and can provide help to the German shipbuilding industry.

Of course, no matter how the German and Italian navies talk about it, it will not affect the friendship between the two monarchs.