"Sell! We'll sell them as much as they want. Also, ask them, licenses can be sold, and technology can be sold, but can they produce the steel and special alloys for making submarines themselves? If not, then tell them that they don't have these steels and special alloys.
Special alloy, after the submarine is launched into the water, it becomes an iron coffin. It can sink on its own without being attacked by the enemy." This was Liu Fu's final reply to the Soviet Navy's request.
After repeated negotiations, in the end, the Soviet Russian Navy stubbornly insisted on its own request, which must be purchased together with the production license and technology. Raw materials such as steel must be purchased by the Soviet Russian Navy from the South China Sea Federation. And another requirement was added, that is,
The South China Sea Federal Navy assisted the Soviet Navy in building a submarine base in their Polyar.
However, the Soviet Russian Navy did not use currency to pay the above-mentioned payments. They had no money and no goods to exchange. There was still war in Russia, and the League of Nations was imposing a blockade on the Soviet government, so the Soviet Russian Navy proposed a payment
The way to do this is to use gold and works of art to pay for the arms purchase. Needless to say, those gold and works of art were part of the assets of the Russian royal family and nobles confiscated by the Soviet government.
After Liu Fu's approval, the deal totaling US$50 million was finally completed, of which US$19 million was the payment for 30 submarines, while the other US$31 million was for spare torpedoes for the submarines and 20 federal naval technicians.
and training personnel to train submarine personnel for the Soviet Navy.
The Soviet Navy will pay the fee with 68 tons of gold, and then a bank in the South China Sea Federation will provide the Soviet Navy with a 10-year low-interest loan of US$100 million to purchase submarine production licenses and technology and build submarine bases.
part of the cost.
This arms purchase transaction between the Soviet Navy and the South China Sea Federation has been kept strictly confidential, and the transaction will also be a secret transaction. After the Soviet Navy pays the first payment, the 10 modified federal submarines will be purchased by the Federation.
The Navy's submarine force was responsible for driving the five ships bound for Germany.
The grain transport ship acted as a cover, crossed the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar, headed north to the Barents Sea, and finally docked at Polyar. This was also a practical submarine exercise conducted by the Federal Navy for the Soviet Navy. And the following 20
The submarines will also sail to Polyar in 2 to 3 batches within a year.
Compared with the Soviet Navy's hunger for submarines, countries such as Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Italy are more hesitant. On the one hand, their domestic situations are more responsible, and there are different forces. Some are inclined to the United Kingdom, and some are inclined to the United Kingdom.
In the United States, some people like battleships, and some are willing to develop aircraft carriers. There are many opinions.
It is difficult to unify; on the other hand, their country's navy has not disarmed submarines and has no combat experience in this area. Although they have heard of the names and illustrious achievements of South China Sea Federation Navy submarines, if they purchase these submarines, will they be able to
They are not convinced that they can perform at a normal level in the hands of their own country's navy.
In the end, the Chileans were more urgent, because after the two main battleships in their country's navy were built, they were requisitioned by the British who were fighting World War I. Although they compensated all the construction costs, the Chilean Navy has never had
The available warships can be used. Facing the expansion of the Argentine Navy, the Chilean Navy is anxious.
But the battleship is not only expensive to build, but also takes less than 3 years from design to construction to final outfitting and sea trials. And the Chileans can no longer wait that long. They urgently need something to fight against.
weapons of the Argentine Navy battleships, so when representatives of the Chilean Navy
Off the coast of Keelung, after watching the South China Sea Federal Navy demonstrate to them how the submarine combat group cooperated with each other to effectively supply a large fleet, they immediately made up their mind to purchase 15 "Tuna-class" submarines to form their own submarine force.
, a battleship used against the Argentine Navy.
The "Big Yellow Fish" and "Tuna" class submarines were mostly built before 1900, and their service life has exceeded 20 years. According to the cost at that time, a "Big Yellow Fish" class cost about US$1.2 million, and one
"Tuna Class"
It requires 1.5 million US dollars. The two submarines sold by the Federal Navy to the Soviet Navy were sold at prices of 700,000 US dollars and 500,000 US dollars respectively. This price also included the torpedoes carried on the boats and some common accessories, so Liu Fu felt that
It's already very benevolent.
The Chilean Navy did not have too much entanglement on the price. Like the Soviet Union, they made a request to offset part of the payment with goods, and the goods the Chileans could provide were their country's specialty, saltpeter.
Saltpeter is a mineral that has many uses. It is not only a pigment, but also a necessity for making matches, glass, fertilizers and gunpowder. Potassium nitrate can also be extracted and used in chemical industry, machinery, pharmaceuticals, food processing, etc.
field, and Chile is the only country in the world that produces natural saltpeter.
The South China Sea federal government readily accepted the Chilean Navy's request. Saltpeter was not produced by the Eastern and Western Federations, and was used in large quantities. Using saltpeter as currency was not an obstacle at all to the federation. So the two governments struck a deal.
And then, the Chilean government's first ship carrying saltpeter arrived.
After the Port of Valo, 15 "Tuna-class" submarines will set off for Chile, and training personnel from the Federal Navy will also arrive in Chile and help the Chilean Navy establish a combat-capable submarine force. Of course, these trainings will also
It's not free. If you calculate it carefully, it's more expensive than buying a submarine.
In March 1922, after several months of negotiations, the five countries of Britain, the United States, South Africa, France, and Italy finally reached an agreement and jointly signed an agreement to reduce the naval equipment of each country and limit the tonnage of naval combat ships. Due to this
This agreement was signed in Washington, USA, so it is called the "Washington Naval Treaty".
In this naval treaty it is stated:
The total tonnage ratio of the capital ships of the five countries of Britain, the United States, South Korea, France, and Italy is 5:5:4:1.75:1.75. According to the current capital ships of each country, the United Kingdom has made a reserved number of tonnage.
Reserve 558
950-ton battleships; the United States retains 525,850-ton battleships; the South China Sea Federation retains 456,160-ton battleships; France retains 221,170-ton battleships; and Italy retains 182,800-ton battleships.
From the date of signing, the contracting countries will no longer be able to build battleships with a tonnage exceeding 35,560, nor aircraft carriers with a tonnage exceeding 27,432. The caliber of the main guns of the battleships shall not exceed 406 mm, which is 16 inches, and the caliber of the main guns of other battleships shall not exceed
203mm is 8 inches.
In addition, the treaty also stipulates how to replace old ships, how to stipulate the specifications of merchant ships, and how to prohibit the sale and purchase of decommissioned warships. Due to the insistence of the South China Sea Federation, this treaty does not impose restrictions on submarines, and the tonnage of submarines will not be counted.
In the tonnage of capital ships.
Compared with the contracting countries that all need to decommission and dismantle some of their warships, the South China Sea Federation not only does not have to decommission a single warship, but it is also far away from the 450,000-ton capital ship. Since the Federation Navy does not have battleships that occupy a lot of tonnage,
Guys, so just a few aircraft carriers and heavy patrols are far from enough to meet this standard. Therefore, this treaty has no practical significance in the short term for the naval development of the South China Sea Federation. It is nothing more than limiting the federal construction of aircraft carriers.
Just tonnage and quantity.
After signing a peace treaty, the next step is for each country to send observer missions to start checking the number and tonnage of other signatory countries' naval ships, and then compile a naval roster of each country, and use this roster to check which ship each country should keep and which ship should be retired.
, dismantle that ship.
Liu Fu was quite sensitive about this work. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Military Intelligence Bureau to keep a close eye on the members of the observation team who came to verify the number and tonnage of the ships. They could see what they could see and what they couldn't see.
No one is allowed to look at them, and all ships can only be inspected at the Davao Naval Base. Other navy, air force, and army bases are not open to the public, and the scope of activities of these observation group members must be strictly restricted.
There is no airtight wall in the world. Shortly after the signing of the "Washington Naval Treaty", the South China Sea Federation's sale of submarines was discovered by the British government. Although the Chilean government and navy have worked very hard to keep this secret, but under the influence of British forces
Chile is a very powerful country, but this news was still revealed to the British side. (To be continued...)
