Chapter 151 Churchill's Means

"Your Excellency, gentlemen. The strength of the Royal Navy is still the number one in the world. This is beyond doubt. However, it is hard to say whether it will be able to retain the number one in the future. From the information we have obtained, Germany People are also frantically building warships. The gap between them and us is constantly narrowing. If we don't speed up, we will even be overtaken by the Germans one day." Churchill said.

"Your Excellency Churchill, are your words too alarmist? How can the Germans compare with us in terms of capital ships?" asked Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. If the Navy wants to speed up the construction of warships, it means that additional funds need to be allocated. This is undoubtedly a great pressure on the British finances. Therefore, Lloyd George certainly hopes to maintain the current progress of warship construction.

"Your Excellency, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, this is definitely not alarmist talk. Although the Germans have always kept their cutting-edge warships highly secret. However, through many clues, we can still draw rough conclusions. For example, the Germans' first-class battleships, they Named the 'Nassau-class' battleships, a total of four were built. The displacement of the 'Nassau-class' battleships is roughly the same as our 'St. The performance is roughly equivalent to that of our "St. Vincent-class" battleship. But, everyone, don't forget that this is the first dreadnought of the Germans. The "St. Vincent-class" battleship is almost the most powerful battleship in active service in the Royal Navy It is," Churchill continued.

Immediately, the smiles on the faces of the cabinet ministers gradually dissipated. They are not fools, so they can naturally hear the stakes. The performance of the first-class dreadnought of the German Navy is equivalent to that of the most powerful dreadnought of the British Navy. Is this worth it? Doesn't that mean that none of the battleships built before can compare with the German Navy? In this case, once the war starts, wouldn't the Royal Navy's capital ship be suppressed? How could these proud British people accept such a result?

"This is the latecomer advantage of the Germans! However, the 'Orion-class' battleship we are starting to build already uses a 343mm main gun. Once it enters service, it will greatly increase the strength of the Royal Navy!" Secretary of the Navy McCann Na retorted.

"That's right, our 'Orion-class' battleship is very powerful. But if it is going to be put into service, I'm afraid it will have to wait until the next year. What's more, according to intelligence, the second-tier battleship that the Germans have already served, namely the 'Hergo The Lan-class battleship uses a 343mm main gun." Churchill once again dropped a blockbuster.

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible. It is absolutely impossible for the Germans to develop a 343mm main gun before us." McKenna shouted.

Indeed, this news is really shocking. The Royal Navy's battleships equipped with 343mm main guns have just begun to be built. However, the German Navy's battleships equipped with 343mm main guns have already entered service. This undoubtedly shows that the gap between the two sides is too large. Even the Royal Navy has been left behind by the German Navy.

Prime Minister Asquith's face also turned serious: "Could it be that the gap between the Royal Navy and the German Navy is already that big?"

"Your Excellency, this is just a guess by the intelligence agencies. It has not been confirmed yet. However, the possibility is very high. I think this should be worthy of our attention." Churchill said.

Prime Minister Asquith nodded, even though it has not been confirmed, this information is really important. Britain must be vigilant against this. Otherwise, once the intelligence is true and Britain is not prepared, the consequences will be even more serious.

"My lord McKenna, what is the Navy doing about this?" Prime Minister Asquith asked.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will ask the major shipyards to speed up the construction of the 'Orion-class' battleship. In addition, the follow-up 'King George V-class' battleship and the 'Iron Duke-class' battleship will also start construction as soon as possible. The Germans It is impossible to surpass us in the number of capital ships," McKenna said.

Britain's shipbuilding capacity is number one in the world. Many shipyards are capable of building battleships. As long as they build battleships at full capacity, they will soon be able to increase the strength of the Royal Navy.

"How did the Germans have so much money to build battleships? With their fiscal revenue, they simply can't afford it." Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George said.

"Yeah! This is a big problem. We have vast colonial support and can get riches from the colonies to strengthen the navy. But what about the Germans? Although their industrial output exceeds ours, their fiscal revenue is much higher than ours. Not necessarily more than us. What's more, they have to face enemies on land. In order to defend against France and Russia, the strength of the German Army is also strengthening. Under such circumstances, where did the Germans get so much money to build such a How many battleships?" said War Secretary Richard Haldane.

This is undoubtedly the question in the minds of British cabinet ministers.

"Your Excellency, I may have guessed the reason," Churchill said.

"What's the matter?" asked Prime Minister Asquith.

"The German imperial family probably used their wealth to support the construction of the navy," Churchill said.

Prime Minister Asquith nodded, indeed, it is very likely that this is the reason. The wealth held by the German royal family is also amazing.

"It seems that we have to let His Majesty the King strongly support the development of the navy." Prime Minister Asquith said.

The other ministers also nodded repeatedly. A gleam of joy flashed across the face of Secretary of the Navy McKenna. With more money, they can build more battleships, and the strength of the Royal Navy can be further improved.

"In addition to the German royal family supporting their navy, I think that the German Crown Prince Oscar is also using his own money to support the navy. The German welfare lottery company, which earns a large amount of wealth in the UK every year, is now using Develop their navy and become an enemy of the British Empire. Such behavior is undoubtedly extremely shameless. Therefore, we should close the German Welfare Lottery Company." Churchill suggested.

Churchill has long been very dissatisfied with the German Welfare Lottery's robbery of money in the UK. Now, it is undoubtedly possible to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the German Welfare Lottery Company.