Chapter 587: Break the blockade

"You won't do any design anymore." Several question marks popped up in the prince's mind.

   "It's a design, or an idea." William II smiled and went back to have a look. Maybe you already have a similar idea.

After returning, Ruprecht took a closer look. This time William II did not take a piece of paper to draw a battleship or other ships. Instead, he proposed to break the British blockade. some advices.

No matter how the Germans destroyed the British sea transportation lines, but their own lines of communication were almost cut off by the British, it is impossible to import large quantities of materials, but a large amount is not enough, a small amount is still possible, and Germany also relies on it. Substitutes were imported from neutral countries and smuggled for 4 years. Because of this, the German senior management had already had a certain understanding of the future. The shortage of materials made the German senior management feel like on pins and needles. In fact, the Germans finally created this A super-large submarine similar to the Deutsche Bahn ran to the United States to exchange chemical products, precious metals, and precious metals for rubber and non-ferrous metals to see Germany’s material dilemma.

  Bulky low-value items such as grain, Germany can substitute or obtain from the Allied system, but after all, there are some things that cannot be obtained from the system, such as rubber, large amounts of copper ore, tin ore, manganese ore, and so on. The demand for these things is not as large as food, but if they are lacking, German industry will inevitably lead to poor operation. Therefore, the Kaiser is also thinking about how to break through the British blockade of German strategic materials.

  Don’t think about all the ships flying the German flag. Even if these ships will not be cleared by the Royal Navy in the first time, they will never be able to travel between Germany and neutral countries. As for the disguised assault ships flying other neutral countries, how do you say? It may be fine if the number of in and outs is less. For example, the Wolf has gone 2 times and the Seagull has gone 4 times, but if you go too much, it will not work. After all, you are a fake. .

  The only truly neutral ships that can cross the blockade with less risk. The British penalties for transporting contraband by merchant ships from neutral countries in history are confiscation or forced purchase. Specifically, those items are considered contraband, and the prince is not sure about whether they are forcibly confiscated or purchased by force, but one thing is certain is that maybe the goods may be gone, but the ship can still be kept.

The meaning of the Kaiser was very close to that of the prince, that is, Germany invested in a shipping company in other neutral countries, especially the United States. An important task of this company during the war was to secretly deliver supplies to Germany. On the surface, this is business. The event, luck is good, the supplies have passed, everyone is happy. With bad luck, is it confiscated the worst? If the British are afraid of the power of the United States, it is estimated that they will buy it by force, which can be considered as a cost recovery... The prince could think of this, and he did so. The Kaiser went further. This time, in this document, the Kaiser proposed to use a high-speed ship to directly break through the barrier!

  This is a bit unimaginable at first glance, but after careful consideration, His Royal Highness thinks that what the Kaiser said this time really has some truth. First of all, high-speed cruise ships are considered a strategic resource in the 2nd war because their speed is too fast! Regardless of the fact that some light cruisers are theoretically faster than high-speed cruise ships, how fast they can run is really a problem in the high sea conditions of the North Sea. Moreover, it was impossible for the British to use a large number of light cruisers to block the entrance to the northern end of the North Sea. The reason was simple. The front line was too long and the number of British light cruisers was limited.

Moreover, light cruisers themselves are not suitable for long-term patrols in the north, because their endurance is relatively small, and they have to carry a large number of supplies and boarding personnel. Take the nearly 8,000-ton old first-class cruiser Edgar class as an example. In fact, none of the ships are enough. Excessive supplies and personnel have caused the living environment to deteriorate, and morale and efficiency have been greatly affected. How can most of the 5,000-ton light cruisers have so much endurance for blockade?

In fact, the British blockades on the North Sea North Line in history are these slow ships. Think about it, such as Edgar and his ilk, which had been in service for more than 20 years around 1914, and they were able to run under overload conditions. How many knots does it go? You know, the high-speed civilian boats of this era run more than 23 knots and play, and the whole journey is not difficult. As long as it is not particularly bad luck, just rush over. Does Edgar really hope to use old artillery and reserve personnel to catch high-speed merchant ships over 23 knots? What do you think?

  Moreover, this is a genuinely neutral American merchant ship. If you really sink it, something will happen. The relationship between the United States and the British is not good on this plane. Will the United Kingdom over-stimulate the United States when it goes to war with the allies? What do you think?

  Although this method of transportation cannot fundamentally reverse the situation where German materials are blocked, at least some high-value materials will be greatly improved. And in fact, if Germany can use submarines or other warships to continuously attack this blockade, it can also increase the cost of the British to maintain the blockade, and it will also make the blockade more vulnerable.

  For the German navy, the lower limit is actually very low. As long as the absolute advantage in the Baltic Sea can be guaranteed and the offshore waters will not be attacked by the British, it is still possible to bear some losses. To some extent, it is still a big profit to trade a submarine for an auxiliary cruiser... Although the argument is cruel, is it war? It is to exchange ~www.wuxiaspot.com to some extent. The prince supports the proposal of the Kaiser, and the prince himself has also modified this proposal. When necessary, if there are more merchant ships arriving at one time, then German battlecruisers or light cruisers can also choose to go north to sweep the North Sea blockade network with submarines at the right time. Of course, the voyage will be longer and the risk will be slightly greater, but if successful, the benefits are obviously not small. In the eyes of His Royal Highness, at least it is more cost-effective than going to the British mainland to bombard undefended cities.

Think about it, a team of battleships, risking being blocked by the British BC, risking mines near the sea, just to run to the other side of the city and use expensive artillery shells and fuel to bombard several buildings and bomb them. The death of a few civilians, except to bring some political pressure to the British Navy, other effects are very ordinary.

  But it is not the same to ensure that a group of fast transport ships successfully break through the blockade. According to the Kaiser’s vision, how can each transport ship have a displacement of more than 20,000 tons? At least 5 digits for the loaded goods, right? Not to mention some high-value resources, that is, 10,000 tons of wheat and rice are of great significance.

  Thanks to the book friend Golden Crab, I like cats, the First Guards Tank Brigade, Happy Heroes, Slowly Swimming, and the King of Fat Cow for rewards~~~! And book friends horseshoes, what are sensitive words, hugetiger, cyfkx, and the monthly ticket support of Dream Unlimited 99~~~! Yesterday’s bookings actually dropped--! There is no difference between the new additions of the third watch and the second watch--! Author Jun is depressed--!