"Don't try to figure out this matter. He has been buried in the tomb of history by us and added a lock. You can have a head-on confrontation with your opponent politically, but never have any military ideas. That is not a question that your head can think about. The Germans emphasize that military affairs should be handed over to soldiers. Although it is completely opposite to the idea of ​​politicians guiding the army, the Germans proved that this is correct within a certain range with their outstanding martial arts. Well, General Benson will explain the rest to you. Remember my words, if you have any questions, we can contact us via telegram." After saying that, Roosevelt closed his eyes and the other party could leave.

Two days later, Taft, accompanied by General Benson, the U.S. Naval Operations Deputy General Benson, boarded the warship to the Netherlands. That's right, it was the warship. This time, the Americans sent their most advanced super-dreadnought, the New Mexico, and the newly-served light cruiser Omaha, and accompanied by four 1,500-ton destroyers. Of course, such a fleet's external propaganda must not be said to have taken the US Vice President to negotiate with the Germans. On the surface, the Americans' external propaganda was to conduct a friendly visit to the Netherlands. During the visit, the US government will discuss "several issues in the Dutch East India region" with the Dutch government.

"General Benson, although I am a politician, the issues we are going to discuss this time involve military affairs and the future military operations that the United States may carry out in the Far East. So I need to ask you some questions and hope you can answer fairly." In Taft's cabin, the US Vice President began to make up for his military knowledge. The person who advised him was the highest commander in charge of operations in the US Navy, General Benson.

"General Benson, if the United States is allowed to face Japan independently, how likely are we to win?" Taft asked the first question.

"If we go to war with the Japanese in the current situation, 60% of the probability will fail, 30% of the probability will be possible to achieve a certain degree of victory, and we may obtain the original German colonial islands occupied by Japan. The last one is to drive the Japanese out of New Guinea with God standing on our side. This is our best result, and the Japanese will continue to occupy important islands such as Kalimantan." Admiral Benson's answer was very straightforward.

"That is, in the best case, we cannot achieve the minimum result we want? Do we place all our hopes on the Germans? Is our navy so powerless?" Taft said dissatisfied.

"In fact, this is true. According to our deduction, with the help of the German Navy, we will at least not fail, and we will always get some benefits. As for the powerlessness of the United States Navy? I can only say that the responsibilities of the men in the parliament are greater than that of us. What kind of navy does not have money to build?" General Benson said angrily: "After all, the men in China want to use the most economical means to get benefits, so they chose to help the Germans win the war and let the Germans help us regain the islands. Of course, they can also make a fortune for the Germans to provide war materials and loans to the Germans. I think this issue is the most important. The United States is a country controlled by capital."

"Okay, let's not talk about the funding issue for the time being. Let's talk about the Navy's purchase. I want to know why the speed of the main fleet of the US Navy is generally around 21 knots, while most of the main fleet of the Germans are above 25 knots? Since the Germans have better combat philosophy, why don't we learn from the Germans?" Taft said.

"First of all, all the performance, speed, defense and firepower of the warship are piled up with money, so any problem in the navy cannot avoid the problem of money. This is the first point! Second, the environment faced by the navy of both sides is different. The main force of the German navy is only used in the North Sea to fight, and the requirements for endurance and logistics are not high. Therefore, they can equip warships with small water pipe boilers. In the weight of the unit, the small water pipe boilers are more efficient, and the disadvantage is that cleaning is more troublesome and replacement is more frequent."

"What about the U.S. Navy? Even if we control the Panama Canal, it's also very troublesome to transfer the fleet from the West Coast to the East Coast. If you want to go to Pearl Harbor and Midway again, it's even further away. So, the maintenance and time cost of using small water pipe boilers is very high. We can only use ordinary boilers that are easy to maintain, which makes our warships slower."

"Of course, it's OK if you have a hard pile of weight, but it's possible to lengthen the defense area of ​​the warship, which requires increasing the structural weight and defensive armor weight, which will greatly increase the tonnage and cost. Moreover, if there are more water and more water on the surface, there will always be an upper limit, thus limiting the performance of the warship to a very awkward range." Benson replied.

"Okay, I don't understand technical issues, so let's say something else. For example, tactical arrangements, strategy or other aspects." Taft said.

"We need a fast fleet of the Germans, who will be the core of some of our tactical implementations. This fleet must be able to entangle the Japanese fleet and fight alone when necessary. Because the distance from Hawaii to the East Indies is too far, we need a high-speed fleet to defend against possible sneak attacks from the Japanese fleet," Benson said.

"This President Roosevelt told me that we need at least one German battleship squad. If I remember correctly, such a fleet should have 4 fast battleships." Taft learned and sold it on time.

"In fact, 4 ships are far from enough. The Japanese have built 6 ships in Fusang class alone. Considering that the British might be selling their main ships after the war, I don't need at least one German battleship team. Each ship is at least at the Helgolan class battleship or above. We want 8 ships! Four of them are at least Bavarian class!" General Benson said seriously.

"This kind of fleet is enough to destroy the French Navy or German Navy's fearless fleet before the war." Taft said with a sigh: "Would it be better if we bought these ships and then replaced them with our people? Even if the Bavarian-class battleship is worth 3.5 million pounds, it is not expensive to buy them all. The Congress can pass it during the war. I don't trust the Germans, and the President thinks so."
Chapter completed!