In fact, if you want to complete such complex improvements on a built warship, it is absolutely impossible to complete within half a year. First, you have to remove the central turret and then dismantle most of the superstructure to re-arrange the flue and power chambers, as well as various steam pipes. This also includes the time of redesign. Although the underwater protrusions at the bottom of the ship can be produced elsewhere and then transported to the shipyard for installation, this is not a small workload. Perhaps, some hull bottoms also need to be removed and re-installed. The workload is no less than the reinstallation of a new ship. It will be a ghost to be able to be modified within half a year!

Faced with the French who were eager to sell the warships, Colonel Lech was very impatient, but was embarrassed to refuse directly, and could only say that he would leave it to the top government officials to make a decision. Of course, in his report to Old Roosevelt, Colonel Lech hardly said a good word from the French, describing the Brestane-class battleship as a warship that was outdated, old, expensive and almost impossible to catch up with the service time! At the same time, he also wrote a letter to Sims, asking him to refuse to purchase warships from France. Then, after a round trip in Paris, Colonel Lech and his group returned to Port Kiel again, staring at the modification of the German battleships.

So, in the end, the plan to resettle the Americans was to temporarily purchase four Helgolan-class fast battleships, and then add the fleet sent by Germany to the Pacific to form a fast fleet. As for whether to buy other warships, it will be left to be observed later. At this point, the first wave of ship purchases in the US Navy has come to an end!

What the Americans didn't expect was that just when they were negotiating the warship business with the French Navy with the French Navy, the French Army was also negotiating business with the Japanese! And as the Americans disdained, the French Navy begged the United States to buy warships, but in terms of army equipment, Japan took the initiative to come to buy French equipment. What the Americans didn't expect was that unlike the French Navy preparing to clear out old goods, the French were preparing to jointly develop a multi-purpose armored combat vehicle with Japan!

Although French warships did not have a high reputation before World War I, the French artillery was really good! I won’t talk about the 75-speed gun. After World War I, the US Army’s artillery also referenced a lot of references to the French to illustrate the problem. Moreover, not only the Americans, but in history, the Japanese military also favored French heavy artillery. For example, the 240MM cannon with the longest range before World War II is an example! This artillery can shoot more than 160 kilograms of shells for more than 50 kilometers, which was quite powerful at the time!

As for this plane, after purchasing the famous French GPF194MM self-propelled cannon and the 220MM Holy King Kong cannon, Japan was very satisfied with the performance of the French artillery, and even prepared to test the French M1917 155MM cannon. However, the Japanese were limited in their level and the gap between the experimental products and genuine products was too big, which led to the fact that most of the cannons with more than 150MM in the Japanese Army now rely on French imports. It is not that Japanese people cannot make it, but that they cannot make it well and their production capacity is not enough. What makes the Japanese even more embarrassed is that the French artillery and shells are still cheap! This is completely contrary to the reputation of French weapons!

In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is unexpected and reasonable. After all, the French are cleaning up old goods, and some light artillery and ammunition are sold by the French with the idea of ​​half selling and half giving away. Only those bad weapons made by Japanese people are really sharpened and slaughtered hard! And with the tendency of war to become long-term, the French began to raise prices for newly-built weapons after clearing a batch of inventory!

As for why the French are now preparing to develop new armored units with the Japanese? The reason is very simple. On the one hand, the Japanese have this need. To be honest, Japan currently has no good way to deal with wolf tanks. If you want to completely destroy them, you can only use a small and very expensive 105MM cannon. Using infantry explosives and molten bottles can indeed make the wolf tanks withdraw from combat or injure, but it will be cured for two days. This kind of attack that treats symptoms but not root causes is not a big deal for the US military that is gradually mastering the battlefield.

Now it is just on New Ireland. Relying on topographic advantages and preset positions, the Japanese Army's losses are at least twice that of the US Army. If you go to New Guinea or Kalimantan and start a large-scale army battle in a relatively open place, how can the Japanese Army fight? Therefore, the Japanese Army needs a relatively reliable anti-armor combat vehicle.

Well, the Japanese will naturally compare various armored vehicles imported from the UK and France, the French FT10 tanks, Renault tanks and Saint Monsa. The British MK series tanks are all within the Japanese comparison range. After some comparison, the Japanese believe that the 6-pound cannon of the MK series tank is too small. The French FT10 tank's 75MM rapid-fire cannon is also somewhat insufficient. Saint Monsa is good, but this kind of tank is launched hastily after all, and there are many problems. Therefore, the Japanese hope to provide funds to allow the French to conduct research and development, and then create a wolf-style tank suitable for dealing with the Americans.

And just so happens that the French are actually able to develop the next generation of armored vehicles. Although the French have realized that in the future war, the French army will not be able to compete with the Germans at all, as a traditional European army power, it is impossible not to develop the army. The pride in the bones of the French also makes it impossible for them to directly purchase German weapons as their main equipment. Now the Japanese are suddenly willing to invest in helping France develop a chariot, so the French are naturally willing to use the Japanese as guinea pigs to test whether the French chariot can shoulder the heavy responsibility of fighting against world-class armored units in the future.

Although it is called joint development, it is actually only part of the Japanese demands, and almost all the technicians are from France. Therefore, except for the final choice of the plan, the French people were almost responsible for it themselves. The general in charge of the development of this chariot was General Xiafei, the French general in the First World War. At this time, he was discussing the bidding plan with Major General Emond, the famous French armored commander during the war.

"This is the FT20 tank proposed by Renault." Major General Emund sent the first document to Xia Fei. Xia Fei frowned when he saw it.

"How is this different from the German wolf-style tank?" Xia Fei asked.

"Uh, how to say it, it can be understood as a wolf-style tank with all the components in French." Major General Emund said with some embarrassment.

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Chapter completed!