I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 532 Devil’s Deal

William II just tightened his belt, and Nicholas just tightened his neck, but life was not easy for both of them.

Although Tirpitz did not take the Russian Imperial Navy seriously, what if William II made a mistake and forced Tirpitz to attack St. Petersburg from the Baltic Sea? What would he do then?
Including four dreadnoughts, the Baltic Fleet had a total of eight battleships.

The German Navy had 13 dreadnoughts alone, 5 battlecruisers, 22 old battleships, and 32 cruisers. If a war broke out, would George be the one to be beaten?

If they fail to win the war, it will be George's fault. If a world war breaks out, Germany will not attack France first, but the Russian Empire first. George believes that both France and Britain will only be happy to see it happen and will not fulfill their duties as allies at all.

Therefore, George's current strategy is the same as Tirpitz's, which is to make Tirpitz fully realize that the Russian Empire is not easy to mess with and the Schlieffen Plan is the right way.

5700 million rubles were only enough to build two dreadnoughts, which was not enough to make up for the gap between the Baltic Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet.

But if we use it to build submarines, we can build about 200 of them.

The submarine built by the Vladivostok Shipyard cost less than 30.

George doesn't need too many submarines, just 30 of them would be enough to deter the German Navy.

Considering the performance of submarines in the Russo-Japanese War, although their advantages were obvious, their disadvantages were equally obvious. The most important defects were their slow speed, short range, small payload, and slightly insufficient attack methods.

The Vladivostok submarine's only weapons are torpedoes, with no artillery installed, so it lacks effective means of attack when dealing with small ships.

If a cannon is installed on a submarine, it will affect its speed and endurance, and you cannot have both.

One important reason why George sold the submarines to the Germans was that the Siberian fleet had already commissioned new submarines.

The Siberian Fleet's new submarines have a displacement of up to 1800 tons and a maximum surface speed of an astonishing 15 knots, which is faster than the cruising speed of most warships.

The number of torpedoes on the new submarine increased to 24. In addition to the torpedoes, there was also a 40mm rapid-fire gun.

In order to meet George's requirements, this rapid-fire gun can be retracted into the submarine when not in use and will not affect the speed of the submarine.

What is most amazing is that the new submarine has a range of 9000 nautical miles, which is almost enough to make a round trip from Vladivostok to Los Angeles.

Although the cost of the new submarine exceeded 120 million rubles, compared with the battleship, submarines were still too cheap, so George planned to build 10 of them first to see how they went.

If you have 10 submarines, you can declare to the outside world that you have 100 submarines, believe it or not.

By then, even the British Royal Navy would not dare to enter the Baltic Sea.

"No one wants your money. I just want to say that you should at least tell me before doing business with the Germans."

Nicholas's attitude was humble enough, and George finally realized the benefits of being a royal uncle.

Nicholas had no choice.

It was not Nicholas but the British and the French who reacted most strongly to George's "aiding the enemy".

Britain is engaged in a frantic arms race with Germany. The Germans are having a hard time, and the British are having a hard time too.

Although France is not qualified to engage in an arms race, the French will be uneasy as long as Germany's strength increases.

After the German media made public George's transaction with the Germans, London and Paris immediately called St. Petersburg and asked Nikolai to terminate George's transaction with the Germans.

George refused to comply. He said the money had not been received yet and he absolutely could not terminate the contract.

"The Imperial Navy is in a difficult situation. There is no money to build warships. We can only exchange technology for money. Otherwise, will London and Paris give us money?"

George felt confident.

No matter how George fanned the flames when he was in Berlin, when facing the British and French, George had only one thing to say: If you want me not to "aid the enemy", give me money.

"What are you going to build?" Little Nicholas never expected that he would get into trouble without saying a word.

The military budget is limited. If the navy wants to build warships, the army will have no money to buy tanks.

"Didn't you say that the Baltic Fleet didn't need battleships?"

Nicholas was also surprised. No one else wanted money, but if George needed money, Nicholas could squeeze in and give him some.

George looked at the two Nicholas with disdain. None of you Nicholas are smart.

Regardless of whether the Baltic Fleet needs battleships, it is true that the Russian Empire is short of money.

Although Britain was full of malice towards the Russian Empire, if the Russian Empire was on the verge of destruction, the British would be the first to be unwilling, otherwise they would not have lent money to Russia to rebuild its finances.

George felt that the British's sunk costs were not enough and that more efforts should be made.

For the same reason, George felt that the French should also pay more protection fees to the Russian Empire.

The French frantically bought Japanese bonds during the Russo-Japanese War, and after the war ended, they increased their investment in the Russian Empire. Stolypin had just borrowed 10 billion francs from France some time ago.

The French think they are smart, but in fact they are the typical example of people who only care about food and not about punishment, and they can't please anyone.

Even if George let loose, 10 billion francs would not be enough for shipbuilding, and the bankers in Paris had to tighten their belts to support St. Petersburg in building Russia.

"If you owe money, you must pay it back—"

Nicholas's failure lies in being too honest and stubborn.

The Russian Empire's borrowing of money was different from the Qing Empire's reparations. The initiative was in the hands of the Russian Empire.

The Qing Empire borrowed money to pay the indemnity with customs revenue as collateral, and would be beaten if it dared not to repay the money.

Even if the Russian Empire asked Britain to borrow money by mortgaging its customs revenue, Britain would not dare to send people to take over the Russian Empire's customs.

During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, Britain borrowed money from Italy, with the total amount equivalent to 6 times the UK's fiscal revenue at the time.

The Italians took advantage of the situation and offered the British the condition of using Britain's customs revenue from the 14th century to 1911 as collateral.

The British agreed.

The Italians were very happy. After paying the money, they happily sent people to take over the British customs. However, as soon as they arrived in Britain, they were locked up by the British. This incident directly triggered the European economic crisis.

George didn't say he wouldn't pay back the money. As long as the empire existed, the money could be paid back slowly.

If the empire is gone, you can find whoever you want.

When the Russian Empire owed Britain and France 10 billion pounds, if the bourgeoisie of the Russian Empire forced Nicholas to abdicate, Britain and France would support Nicholas.

If the Russian Empire owed 100 billion, Britain and France would send troops to protect Nicholas' safety.

"Isn't it a bit inappropriate to do this——"

Nicholas said that it was not good, but he started rubbing his hands happily.

"Niki, let George serve as the Minister of Finance as well. There is a huge difference between Stolypin and George!"

Little Nicholas was so happy. If George succeeded in blackmailing, the army would at least get a share of the profits.

(End of this chapter)