Expedition to Europe

The Coconut City Naval Conference did not discuss the part about submarines.

This was due to France's insistence and Lan Fang's instigation.

The French received a quota of 175,000 tons of battleships at the Coconut City Naval Conference. This quota was actually meaningless because France had no shipbuilding plan at all and was unable to build a 175,000-ton battleship.

Like the Germans, when competing with the British Navy, the French placed their hopes on submarines.

During the World War, the German submarine force was impressive. In fact, the French submarine performance was not bad either, especially after the cooperation between the Foreign Legion chaired by Qin Zhiyuan and the French Navy, France's submarine technology made rapid progress. By the end of the World War, it had surpassed Germany and built the most advanced submarines in the world. With the new torpedo technology extorted from Qin Zhiyuan, the combat effectiveness of the French submarine force was indeed overwhelming, which made the French have high hopes for the submarine force.

Like France, Lan Fang's submarine technology is also advanced. Lan Fang's submarine technology is of the same origin as France's submarine technology. After the end of the World War, Lan Fang continued to study submarines and developed a new type of submarine that was completely Lan Fang's - the "Swordfish" class submarine.

The Swordfish class submarine still uses a teardrop shape, using the latest diesel-electric engine to provide thrust. The maximum speed under the water can reach 15 knots, and the maximum speed on the surface is 21 knots. The Swordfish class submarine can dive to a depth of 200 meters. It is equipped with six torpedo launchers and can carry 23 533 mm caliber torpedoes.

The submarine ideas of other countries' navies in this era are different. The "Swordfish" class submarine is not equipped with any machine guns and artillery. The streamlined shape of the hull also ensures that the "Swordfish" class submarine has excellent underwater maneuverability and combat capabilities. Qin Zhiyuan has invested a lot of effort in the submarine force. Lan Fang's submarine is equipped with the latest radio equipment and sonar equipment, which can ensure that the "Swordfish" class submarine has the strongest combat effectiveness of this era.

It is a good thing that the Coconut City Naval Conference did not impose restrictions on submarines. This will allow the Lan Fang Navy to develop submarine forces without scruples. With the combat performance of the "Swordfish-class" submarines and the extraordinary range of the new torpedoes, the Lan Fang Navy will not be too hard when facing the US Navy.

After determining the direction, Qin Zhiyuan immediately convened the heads of relevant departments to discuss the possibility of increasing the number of submarines to deal with the threat of the US Navy.

"The submarine force is the best weapon against surface ships, not just merchant ships. As long as the right tactics are used, a small submarine can send a huge battleship to the bottom of the sea. This has been proven in the two-day exercise." Hearing that the submarine force should be vigorously developed, Douglas, the commander of the submarine force, immediately raised his hands in approval.

The submarine force also participated in this exercise. Because the submarine is slow, the submarine force arrived in the Marshall Islands a little later than the three fleets. However, this did not affect the submarine force's limelight. In yesterday's exercise, Douglas organized 16 submarines to set up an ambush circle. In just half an hour, Douglas' submarine force annihilated nine battleships including the battleship "Vladivostok", which dealt a heavy blow to the "big ship and big gun" party led by Antonio.

The Navy's exercise has been going on so far. It can be said that it is a heavy blow to the "big ship and big gun" party headed by Antonio. In the exercise a few days ago, Xie Rundong commanded the task force to fight against the Cam Ranh Bay Fleet and the Vladivostok Fleet with one against two, and did not lose the wind at all. He only paid the price of two aircraft carriers to sink all the main battleships of the two fleets. After the submarine force participated in the exercise, it once again dealt a heavy blow to Antonio and his team.

In the face of facts, Antonio and his team had to abandon the idea of ​​​​developing battleships with all their strength and began to pay attention to the role of aircraft carriers. Tan Xueheng, commander of the Vladivostok Fleet, had the most thorough transformation. Tan Xueheng even suggested to Qin Zhiyuan that all three "corps-class" battleships under construction should be converted into aircraft carriers to adapt to the future development trend of the navy.

Qin Zhiyuan also had this idea, but considering the restrictions of the "Coconut City Naval Treaty", Qin Zhiyuan had no choice but to give up.

The four "Surabhai-class" aircraft carriers have used up all of Lan Fang's aircraft carrier quotas. If Lan Fang wants to use the quota of the main battleship to develop aircraft carriers, this will definitely attract the attention of Britain, the United States and other countries.

Compared with the performance of the task force, the performance of the submarine force is not so amazing. After all, in the World War, the German submarine had an amazing record of sinking three British cruisers within an hour, which made everyone mentally prepared.

"Then there is only one question now, whether the current "Swordfish-class" submarine can meet the needs of the navy, and whether it is necessary to develop a more powerful submarine." Qin Zhiyuan's requirements are relatively high, and he is not very satisfied with the existing "Swordfish-class" submarines.

"From the current point of view, the 'Swordfish class' can meet the needs of the navy. Although the Americans are refitting their warships, this is a process after all. As long as the performance of the American warships is not greatly improved, the advantage of the 'Swordfish class' submarines will not be shaken." Douglas is confident in the "Swordfish class".

Today's battleships are already powerful enough. It is not easy to improve the performance of battleships. Unless the Americans go crazy and start building super battleships like the "Yamato" like Japan, the current battleships are the pinnacle of battleships.

"So how many submarines do we need if we want to deal with the threat from the Americans?" Qin Zhiyuan raised a most practical question.

Lan Fang has a long sea border. In terms of the scope of the territory, it is not an exaggeration to say that Lan Fang has the longest sea border in the world. After all, Lan Fang's mainland is mostly composed of islands. If the Americans want to launch an attack, there are countless possibilities for the Americans to choose.

"If it is just to deal with the threat from the Americans, then we need to double the size of the existing submarine force." Navy Minister Antonio has a plan in mind, this is based on the premise that the strength of the three fleets is also taken into account.

Lan Fang's submarine force is quite large. At present, Lan Fang's submarine force has a total of 110 submarines, of which a total of 40 submarines are assigned to the Cam Ranh Bay Fleet and the Vladivostok Fleet. Xie Rundong's task force is not equipped with submarines because of its faster speed. The remaining submarines, except for the 25 submarines in Port Hedland, are all concentrated in Laut Island and Surabaya.

At present, Lan Fang has the largest number of submarines in the world, followed by the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The total number of submarines in these four countries accounts for 90% of the world's submarines, of which Lan Fang's submarines account for one-third of the world's total number of submarines.

If it doubles on this basis, then the total number of Lan Fang's submarines will reach half of the world's total. If the war breaks out again, Lan Fang may be able to use submarines to block the US coastline.

At least it can be used to block the west coast of the United States.

"Then build it." Qin Zhiyuan made up his mind.

Hearing that Qin Zhiyuan finally made a decision, the joy in Antonio and Douglas' eyes flashed, and then Antonio asked an embarrassing question: "So - what about the money?"

Money, this is indeed a big problem. It is now 1923, and the military budget for 1923 has been determined. There is no room for this money in the total budget of 2 billion Lan Fang yuan.

The Lanfang army is still supported by Qin Zhiyuan personally. The annual funding of 2 billion yuan also makes Qin Zhiyuan a little stretched. One hundred submarines is not a small number. According to the cost of the "Swordfish-class" submarine, the cost will reach 650 million Lanfang yuan.

"I will find a way to deal with the money. What you need to do is to train more captains and sailors. You don't need to worry about other things." Qin Zhiyuan took the responsibility and didn't let Antonio worry about the funds.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

"Okay." Antonio did not object. Antonio really couldn't help with the money.

In front of Antonio and Douglas, Qin Zhiyuan certainly acted very firm, but after Ortonio and Douglas left, Qin Zhiyuan began to worry.

650 million Lanfang yuan, even for Qin Zhiyuan, this is not a small number. It is possible that Qin Zhiyuan will have to borrow money to get through this hurdle.

If there is anyone in Lanfang who is qualified to ask Qin Zhiyuan to borrow money, then apart from Huang Bohan who cries poor all day long, it must be Old Renault who makes a fortune quietly.

Even Qin Zhiyuan doesn't know how much money Old Renault has, but it is certain that Old Renault's money is not much less than Qin Zhiyuan's.

Old Renault has a stake in many of Qin Zhiyuan's businesses, including United Petroleum, United Bio, Pilbara Mining Group and Lanfang Automobile Group, etc. Strictly speaking, these are all industries jointly owned by Qin Zhiyuan and Old Renault. In addition to these, Old Renault also waves a checkbook to acquire factories and mines all over the world, vowing to become the world's largest mining tycoon.

In addition to the above-mentioned industries, Old Renault has other industries that Qin Zhiyuan has not set foot in, such as the bauxite company in Madagascar, which is a wholly-owned enterprise of Old Renault.

Although Qin Zhiyuan is rich, he also spends a lot, so Qin Zhiyuan's rich man is a bit unworthy of his name. From this point of view, Old Renault is the real first rich man in Lanfang now.

Of course, Qin Zhiyuan was not going to "kill the New Year pig". It should be regarded as a national debt issued in accordance with international practice. Old Renault lent Qin Zhiyuan money with interest.

Qin Zhiyuan was not prepared to let Old Renault pay alone. In addition to Old Renault, Lan Fang also had other wealthy people who were obliged to work hard.

Qin Zhiyuan's initial budget was to issue 2 billion Lan Fang yuan of national debt. In this way, plus the output of the companies in Qin Zhiyuan's hands, Lan Fang would not be short of money in the next few years.