69novels Chapter 681
Chapter 681
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: 0.031s Scan: 0.030sJust because Mainz doesn’t like the Nelson doesn’t mean that others are not interested in it!
After learning that the German army had captured an important naval port of the Royal Navy and captured a large number of British warships, many countries in the world quietly came to Hans, hoping to buy these second-hand warships from him at a low price.
Among them, the battleship Nelson, which was disliked by Mainz, was unusually popular. After hearing that the German army had given up the work of salvaging the Nelson, many countries came to express their willingness to contribute money and effort, begging Hans to help salvage the battleship Nelson. They were willing to pay a lot of money to buy this battleship from Hans!
Among them, the Samba country in South America, the native chicken in West Asia, the Celestial Empire in the Far East, the Siam in Southeast Asia, and even the bear in Eastern Europe all expressed their interest in a tactful way!
Samba, China and Siam even sent their diplomatic ambassadors to Hans to the Hans government to ask for an audience with Mainz, hoping to reach a deal with Hans.
Mainz was very surprised that a warship that he despised could arouse such great interest from various countries.
“These guys, we have already clearly announced before that our Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers can be sold publicly. They are unwilling to purchase our brand new battleships, but are scrambling to buy the British Empire’s battleships that were sunk by us. This is really puzzling!”
Industry Minister Speer said with an unhappy face.
The Scharnhorst-class battleships have been built in three batches, with a total of twelve ships launched.
These twelve battleships are enough to meet the current combat needs of the German army.
They can form two aircraft carrier battle groups with two aircraft carriers.
The remaining four battleships can also form a surface rapid strike battle group with Bismarck and Tirpitz, and go out to sea alone to carry out ocean-going anti-shipping operations.
Considering that the German army’s current shipyards are mainly building Midway-class aircraft carriers and Bismarck-class battleships, the construction speed of the Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers has slowed down. Before the third or even the fourth aircraft carrier was launched, the German army itself did not have a great demand for this type of battleship.
Because a long time ago, the German army had determined the ocean-going navy based on aircraft carriers. Development strategy, the existing 12 Scharnhorst-class battleships and two Bismarck-class battleships, plus the Bismarck-class battleships and two Scharnhorst-class battleships on the shipyard, they have a total of 20 battleships!
According to the aircraft carrier strike group composed of two to three battleships and an aircraft carrier, they can form at least seven or even ten aircraft carrier battle groups, but at present they have a serious shortage of aircraft carriers, but the number of battleships is a bit too much, so the main energy of the German army must be invested in the vigorous construction of aircraft carriers, and the resources of the Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers will naturally be reduced!
After the Battle of Gaul, Hans controlled the Benelux countries and Gaul, and the shipbuilding industry of these countries was very developed. Among them, the Windmill Country itself had many large shipyards, as long as the transformation If so, they can build warships of more than 30,000 tons, even including battleships.
Gaul itself has the ability to build large ships, so after Gaul surrendered, the German army immediately controlled the Gaul shipyards and gave Gaul’s navy as an important guarantee for the future invasion of North Africa!
Although these Gallic shipyards do not directly build Bismarck-class battleships and Island-class aircraft carriers, they can still build Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers. The technical requirements are relatively low, and the performance of the battleships is not particularly outstanding. It is not among Hans’ core secrets, so it can be built in the occupied areas without worrying about leaks.
After integrating the industries in these occupied areas, Hans suddenly went from insufficient construction capacity to overflowing construction capacity.
In the past, the shipyards were full of orders, and the workers worked 24 hours a day. All of them are too busy!
Now there are too many shipyards, and the orders are being divided and snatched. Except for a few core shipyards in the country that have guaranteed orders for aircraft carriers and Bismarck-class battleships, other shipyards have to compete for orders from Hans’ Ministry of Defense. This situation of too many wolves and little meat makes Industry Minister Speer face a happy trouble!
The palms and backs of the hands are all flesh, and they all serve the Third Reich. It is not appropriate for anyone to starve to death!
The development of Hans’ own navy is too fast and is now close to saturation. Therefore, in addition to the need to build a batch of landing ships and cruisers, they can no longer take out many other orders! If they can’t get too many orders from Hans themselves, then they can only turn their attention to foreign countries, pin their hopes on the international arms market, and plan to get a share of the international arms market.
As the only battleship currently exported from Hans, the Scharnhorst-class battlecruiser has naturally become the flagship product of Hans’ military products!
The unit price of the Scharnhorst-class battleship is about 10 million US dollars. This is the purchase price within the German army. If it is to be exported, the price must be slightly higher. However, Speer does not intend to open his mouth. He thinks that setting a price of 20 million US dollars is very critical for some strategic positions. For countries that are very friendly to Hans, a friendly price of 15 million US dollars can also be sold!
Selling warships is not a one-shot deal. In addition to warships, there are also many projects such as personnel training, equipment maintenance, and procurement and guarantee of weapons and ammunition. The surface price of a warship may be only 10 million US dollars, but if all these miscellaneous things are done, the price may double or even several times!
So as long as a battleship can be sold, hundreds of workers can be supported!
If these workers stay in the shipyard, once Hans needs them, they can build various ships for Hans’ military at any time, and even urgently requisition warships ordered by other countries in the shipyard!
In this case, it is equivalent to spending other countries’ money to serve their own army. Who wouldn’t be jealous of such a good thing?
So Speer hoped that other countries would place more such large orders instead of picking up leaks from the British Empire.
“Haha, the battleship Nelson has 9 406mm main guns. This battleship is called BI9, and it is of the same level as our Bismarck-class battleships. I think the reason why these countries are so envious of the Nelson is probably because they are attracted by the tonnage, firepower and fame of this battleship!”
Navy Commander Dönitz’s attitude was more detached. Mainz looked down on the battleship Nelson, and he, the naval commander, looked down on it too!
Although Nelson’s firepower was very strong and its tonnage was also large, it could be called the world’s top-tier battleship, but this battleship was still far behind the German Bismarck-class battleships!
Although both were 406mm naval guns, Nelson’s rate of fire was only half of Bismarck’s, and it lacked an excellent fire control system, so its shooting accuracy was very poor. What was even more fatal was that Nelson’s fuel capacity was only 2,800 tons, only half of Bismarck’s, and its maximum power was only 45,000 hp, with a maximum speed of only a pitiful 23 knots, 10 knots slower than Bismarck!