Chapter 85
After Romodan and Nestaco left the palace, they came to the German Embassy non-stop.
"Your Excellency, Romanian Rear Admiral Romodan, and Fleet Commander Nestacu came to visit." The secretary opened the door and said to Ambassador Baslob who was checking the information in the office.
After hearing his secretary's report, Baslob put the note in his hand in the drawer and said. "Please come in, two generals."
Lomodan and Nestacu walked into the office under the leadership of the secretary. Ambassador Baslob, who saw the two come in, said with a smile on his face as if he had met friends for many years. "It's been a long time since I saw the two generals. Did you come here today to tell me about the past, or is there something to do?"
"The ghost is looking for you to renew the old." Both of them cursed in their minds, but their faces were also smiling, and Romodan stepped forward to talk about it. "This time I want to buy a warship."
When the German ambassador heard what Lomodan said, he knew that it should not be a boat, otherwise the two Romanian navy leaders would not come together.
Basslob took the conversation and said. "The Romanian Navy is indeed too weak and needs to strengthen itself. I don't know how big a warship you plan to buy?"
Facing the ambassador's question, Romodan still answered. "If your country can provide part of the loan, we intend to purchase a Königsberg-class cruiser."
"How much money do you have?" Baslob asked the key question.
Nestaku answered the ambassador's question. "We now have 3.26 million gold marks in funds."
After Baslob heard Nestaku's answer, he calculated it in his mind based on his own understanding. The difference is not too big, almost a gap of 1.7 million gold marks.
"I can't do anything about this right now, but I will report it to China. The two need to be patient." Baslob said to the two.
"no problem."
Originally, they did not expect the German ambassador to agree in one fell swoop. They came this time just to take a look at Germany's attitude first. After all, everyone likes good ships. If you can buy a warship with good performance, who will look at the bad.
after sending away the two. Baslob sent a telegram to the country to report the incident and wait for a response from the government.
Lomodan and Nestacu left the German Embassy and returned to the Admiralty. This is an old-fashioned two-story building. Compared to the War Department and the General Staff, it can be said to be too shabby. Whoever makes them insufficient funds can only do it. After they came back, they explained the conditions promised by the crown prince this time, and everyone in the Admiralty was extremely happy. For the navy officers and soldiers, they finally changed from the picked up child to the adopted child, which can be regarded as the progress of the navy.
There are still people in the navy who are not satisfied with this plan, and Lieutenant Colonel Midraffair is expressing his opinion with his friend Captain Bilk. Now Midraphael is promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel because he is the captain of the gunboat formation and usually leads the gunboat in daily training.
"Is General Lomodan only this cruiser in his eyes?"
"Midraphael, why can't you control your own mouth, sooner or later you will be killed by it." Bilk also had no way to deal with his friend's virtue.
"Bilk, can't you let people speak out what you think." Midraffa began to complain about his friend.
"Well, tell me your plan." Birke also wanted to hear his friends' opinions.
"I think we should abandon this cruiser and increase funding for the construction of lightning strike ships and gun turrets, especially Constanta's gun turrets. The navy must make its own changes in response to the needs of the country. We can't do anything by others. What to do."
Bilk heard what a good friend meant, because Romania's main imaginary enemy is Russia. Facing the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Romanian Navy had no chance. Constanta is now becoming more and more important. Now the caliber of warships is getting bigger and bigger, and most of the turrets built before are old-fashioned. The construction of large-caliber turrets has become urgent.
Bilk knew that his friend was talking about an urgent need, so he could only talk about it. "It's a pity that you are not the head of the Romanian Navy. Midraffair, you are only a middle-level officer now. If you really have an idea, you should hide it in your heart. Only after you sit in that position can you realize your dream."
"Well Birk, I will try my best to reach it." Midrafell said to his friend very seriously.
When the Romanian naval officer expressed his opinion, the telegram of Ambassador Baslob was also placed on the desk of Prime Minister Helwig. For him, who only took office last year, he is no different from the previous prime ministers, and they are both the puppets of the Kaiser. This telegram, like other content that needs to be reported to the Kaiser, was brought before Wilhelm II by the Prime Minister. The recent fierce naval competition between Germany and Britain has distracted a lot of the Kaiser's attention.
"Herwig said something important."
"Good Majesty."
Helvig took out the first document, which was the report by Ambassador Baslob.
"His Royal Highness, this is a report of Romania's purchase of a cruiser."
Recently, William II was more sensitive to warships. This report immediately aroused his interest.
"Come here, let me see."
The Prime Minister handed him the report. William II saw that this was a report that the Romanian Navy wanted to purchase a Königsberg-class cruiser, but he needed to apply for a loan for payment. William II said with a smile to Prime Minister Helwig after reading it.
"These Romanians always like loans, do they have no money anymore."
The Prime Minister also checked the information and replied. "His Royal Highness estimates that they are really gone. They only got the money from the issuance of national debt. I heard that the Prime Minister of Romania had a quarrel with the Chief of Staff because he owed the army money."
"I have a very good impression of the chief of staff called Puleshan, and I am a very capable person." William II continued after commenting on Puleshan. "As for this loan, it can be counted as the Romanian big loan. The more they get, the more they can't get rid of us. Tell them that we can provide a loan and let them buy the latest Coleburg-class cruiser."
After sending away Prime Minister Helwig, Wilhelm II's dissatisfaction with Austria-Hungary increased. If it weren't for the win over Romania, would he have to do this? Originally, on the Bosnia and Herzegovina issue, Romania's approach made him very satisfied. As a result, in Transylvania, those Hungarians began to oppress the local Romanians again, causing the relationship between Oro and Oro to plummet. The Kaiser also had a headache. This loan from the Romanian Navy gave him a chance to improve.
The reply of the German government made Lomodan and Nestaco overjoyed, and they should report to the crown prince with news from Germany.
In the palace, Edel looked at the desk, his eyes barking to reveal the longing Romodan and Nestaku. Although he knew the intentions of the German Emperor, he wanted to ease the relationship between Austria and Hungary and pull them into a chariot to fight for Germany. But Edel couldn't refuse. This was a request from the service, and he could only agree to it.
"I agree to this condition, you can talk to the German side."
After seven days of negotiations, they finally achieved a result that was satisfactory to both parties, so it was announced. Romania purchased a newest Kolburg-class cruiser from Germany. The ship was built by the Kiel Shipyard and will begin construction at the end of September. It is expected to start sea trials in April of the following year and will be delivered to the Romanian Navy in June. In order to better meet the needs of Romania, the ship's main gun was changed to eight 150-caliber single guns, and the others remained unchanged.