"The fleet construction problem may not have improved in the past six years. To put it more accurately, we may not even have a new type of battleship in service within five years. Of course, there will be an aircraft carrier under construction on the ship platform? Depending on the situation, if necessary, it may be modified with civilian ships." Ruprecht gave Scher a brief explanation.

"Will there be no battleships in service within 6 years?" Scher touched his chin and fell into deep thought. As the current leader of the German Navy, he still knows the construction cycle of warships very well. In peacetime, warships will be relatively slow to build, and the new battleships will definitely be larger in tonnage, which is estimated to be more than 35,000 tons. Moreover, considering the problem of insufficient funds, the construction cycle will definitely be delayed. During the war, the Bavarian-class construction time can be shortened to 2 years. So now, if the first-class battleship equipped with a 16-inch main gun is completed, the construction period will be about 4 years. (From the start of construction to service.)

"Your Highness, can you give me the bottom line? If the expected first batch of eight fast battleships cannot be completed, then what is the lower limit? What is the upper limit?" Schell asked.

"There are at least two ships, and the maximum is 4 ships. And there may be 6 ships that are started under the name of newly built battleships." Ruprecht thought for a while and said.

"Okay, thank you for your sincerity. I'm sorry, I understand why we only have 4 ships at most, but we have to start construction of 6 ships? In terms of the compilation table, our first batch is 8 ships, and there may be 6 ships in the second batch?" Schell frowned and said, after all, once warships start construction, it means a lot of money. It is estimated that the conservative price of new battleships will be around 5 million pounds. Is it a waste to start construction, but I don't plan to complete it?

"Do you think, what do the major congresses treat the navy after the end of the Pacific War?" Ruprecht asked.

"Although I don't know what the outcome of the future US-Japan battle will be, I can conclude that Japan will not be completely defeated. After the war is over, the confrontation between the United States and Japan in the Western Pacific will be long-term. This confrontation is very likely to cause a new wave of arms race." Schell said after thinking about it.

"But a long naval arms race is a huge burden for any country. You are the commander of the navy. You know how much the empire allocated for naval construction every ten years before the war began, and how many national debts were issued for it!" said the crown prince.

"But in terms of the national strength of the United States, if we face Japan alone, then the United States may bear certain economic pressure, but in the end, they can crush Japan! Even if Japan survived this war, there will be only two results. One is that the economy is dragged down by the long-term arms race, and the other is that it admits its conscience!" Sher said.

"If it were just the United States and Japan, then it would naturally be the result. But the Americans have a potential enemy. I think you would not think that the friendly relations between the Empire and the United States will continue to be maintained, right? The basis of the relationship between Germany and the United States is Britain, and now the British have fallen. Germany has ascended the throne of the world hegemony. The United States is a double-headed eagle. He stares at the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean." The crown prince said.

"If this is the case, the Americans may compromise with us, right? The two sides signed an agreement to jointly limit the size of the navy, but if the two most powerful maritime powers first proposed limiting arms, then other countries must also participate, including the Japanese, the British, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the French, and even the Italians." General Schell said.

In fact, restricting naval armament was not something that happened after the Washington Treaty in history. In fact, before World War I, when the United States and Germany felt a lot of pressure because of the naval arms race, they did consider giving in to each other and compressing the naval fleets of both sides to a range that both sides could bear. However, in the end, this effort failed because of the pursuit of tonnage between the two sides. The British insisted that the tonnage ratio of the main battleships of Britain and Germany was 2 to 1. However, the Germans believed that the tonnage of their main battleships should reach 70% of the British, so the talks eventually collapsed.

Before the war started, the two countries also discussed the issue of restricting naval military equipment. However, this time the differences between the two sides did not lie in tonnage. After all, the number of dreadnoughts in front of the Germans was rare. Even if the tonnage was set at a ratio of 2 to 1, the tonnage gap between the two sides would be very small. After all, the British had a lot of dreadnoughts in front of the British. What really made this negotiation fruitless was the restriction on the performance of German warships! The British demanded that Germany could only retain four Bavarian-class battleships, but Germany finally refused!

"Yes, after the war, the best result for each country is to sign a naval armament treaty that can limit the vicious expansion of each other's naval naval forces. This treaty stipulates the tonnage, technical performance and replacement principles of all types of warships. There may even be relevant supervisory agencies, and the most important basis for limiting fleets is the status of each country and the naval power they have. We must strive for an advantage, and if we want the other party to be afraid, then it is undoubtedly very important to have the goods in our hands or be ready to be in stock."

Ruprecht has already made it clear that the extra warships and the second batch of fast battleships in the plan are just bargaining chips that can be exchanged for benefits at any time! Tell the Americans that the German Navy also has huge plans, don't go too far! Otherwise, everyone will fight together!

If facing Japan alone, the Americans have the confidence to die in one breath, but facing Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Haha, the Americans really don’t have the confidence at this time! After all, Germany in the future will be much stronger than before World War I! Then add an equally powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire! The Americans will never dare to shout out to Germany and Austria that you build a main battleship, so we will build two of them. The reason is very simple. After the Pacific War, the Americans will definitely consume a huge amount of money!

For Germany and Austria, if you don’t fight now, you should farm as soon as possible if you have money, why do you build so many warships? So, you can get an advantage through negotiations, and there is no need to fight with the Americans to the end. Even if you really want to be at a high level with the Americans, it will be nearly 20 years later. Are you now? You are not in a hurry at all!

"I have told you everything I should say. You must know it. After all, this matter will probably happen before you retire. You won't want to have a stain on your back before leaving the navy, right?" the crown prince said half-seriously and half-jokingly.
Chapter completed!