Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Given that such intense verbal sparring was agonizing for all parties, and that the delegations at this point realized they needed more time and opportunities for private exchanges, all parties agreed to postpone the second collective meeting, originally scheduled for three days later, to a week later. After the first day of the meeting, the naval vessels of various countries anchored in Pearl Harbor began sending telegrams back home.

Colombian intelligence would certainly not stand idly by at this time. Although they were not entirely confident in deciphering the coded messages prepared by other countries for this naval conference in a short period of time, they still diligently recorded and attempted to decipher the coded messages transmitted by the long-wave radios on the warships of several countries anchored in Pearl Harbor, in order to show a good attitude.

The telegrams used by Victoria, Gaul, Syracuse, and other countries were not unexpected. These countries adopted entirely new codes. Naval intelligence code experts stated that these new codes not only changed the keys, but also the encryption methods were completely different from those used during the previous World Wars. Therefore, it was difficult for them to decipher these telegrams and give an accurate time.

However, the code expert changed his tone, saying that he didn't know if the Tang Empire was overconfident in their previous codes. The encryption method they used could be said to have inherited the encryption style of the Ming Dynasty navy during World War II. This time, they had only changed the key. With such encryption measures, if all the code-breaking personnel at hand were deployed, although he couldn't guarantee that they could accurately decipher all the information in the telegram, it was still possible to decipher some key information within a week.

The words of the code expert greatly pleased the Colombian Navy. If they could obtain the communications between the Tang Empire's negotiating team and their home country, it would be of great benefit in accurately judging the Tang Empire's bottom line in this naval conference.

In light of this, the Colombian Naval Intelligence Agency decisively devoted all its resources to deciphering the telegrams from the Tang Dynasty. Even some people who were not originally in the intelligence deciphering department were transferred to help the intelligence deciphering department with calculations using slide rules.

After all, in this era without electronic computers, massive computations were a labor-intensive industry. Some mathematics professors liked to take on a large number of students, not for any other reason than to have these students work for them like slaves in another world, working on slide rules for them.

However, on the night of June 2nd, two figures reeking of alcohol, who had just returned from the officers' club on shore, boarded the battleship Normandy.

That evening, in the officers' meeting room of the Normandy battleship with its doors tightly shut, Gallic Admiral Henri de Bernard and Albert Salau, the head of the Gallic delegation, former Minister of Colonial Affairs, and now Senator, looked with some surprise at Licher, who was wearing a French naval uniform and boarding the Normandy.

“It’s unbelievable. I never imagined that His Highness would get on our ship in such a secretive way, and that he would actually be able to shake off the Colombians’ surveillance…” Albert Salau looked at Li Che and Xu Yueming, who was accompanying him. This former colonial minister, who was quite knowledgeable in politics, was genuinely curious: “How did you do it?”

"It's actually very simple. My friend and I disguised ourselves as two ordinary officers of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy, found two drunken officers of your country's navy in the officers' club, invited them to the restroom, exchanged clothes with them, and then came straight here."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple."

"But as far as I know, Colombian intelligence has been sending people to monitor our every move. Did they not notice anything during this whole process?"

Li Che and Xu Yueming exchanged a glance and then laughed: "Before this, Colombia's intelligence agencies probably did keep a very tight watch on us, but these past two days they've probably been short-handed, so their net can't be as tight as it used to be."

"Are they short-staffed?"

Although the Gauls still had a lot of curiosity, Li Che clearly didn't intend to continue the discussion on this topic. He hadn't come to the Normandy battleship tonight to boast about how successful his intelligence war against Colombia was.

“I think we should use our precious time tonight to discuss some more important topics.” Li Che asked General Bernard directly: “Although our two countries were on opposing sides during the World Wars, there were actually no irreconcilable conflicts between us. In the mid-20th century, our two countries also had a honeymoon period. Therefore, I am here tonight in the hope of rekindling the friendship between our two countries, just like the medical assistance that some of our medical personnel are providing to your country now.”

Albert Salau nodded solemnly. Although Li Che's words were a kind of polite formality, they were the kind that could be taken to heart. Everything Li Che said was true. There was no real conflict between Gaul and the former Ming Dynasty; in fact, the two sides had not even engaged in any actual fighting during the World War. Therefore, there was naturally no deep-seated hatred between the two countries.

On this basis, the "medical assistance" that Li Che specifically mentioned at the end was even more of a godsend for the Kingdom of Gaul.

Now that damned Colombian flu is raging across the globe, especially for older Europeans, it makes them more likely to recall the horrors of the Black Death.

Traditional Chinese medicine from the East quickly dispelled some of the darkness and gloom. Although this medicine could not completely cure the disease, it was quite effective against the various complications caused by the Colombian flu.

The geographical reality dictates that there is no direct conflict between the two countries, and coupled with the timely assistance provided, Albert Salau earnestly asked, "Your Highness, what is it you wish to discuss with us today aboard the Normandy battleship?"

"Of course, we're talking about the navy's quota." Li Che spread his hands. "What else can we talk about? We can't exactly be here discussing what flowers to give a girl on our first date, can we?"

The people in the room smiled slightly upon hearing this. Henry de Bernard stated bluntly, "Our country's naval share is not the focus of this meeting. After all, the Gallic Navy is no longer the global navy it once was. We do not need so many capital ships, nor do we need so many shares. If you are looking for allies to stand with your country, you have probably chosen the wrong target. Our country has no intention of disrupting the balance."

"Disrupt the balance?"

Li Che raised an eyebrow slightly. These Gauls were more wary than he had expected. They probably didn't want to get involved in the power struggle between the top three nations. For the Gauls, not submitting to Victoria was a national characteristic, while maintaining a balance of power with the Kingdom of Syracuse, or at least a certain advantage, was what Gaul's current military needs were.

"I think you may have misunderstood. We are here today not to promise your country a certain tonnage, because the country your country is actually eyeing is not Victoria, but the Kingdom of Syracuse, which is also in the Mediterranean. If I am not mistaken, your country's bottom line in this negotiation is to obtain a share of naval capital ships no less than that of the Kingdom of Syracuse?"

After Li Che uttered these words, the expressions of the two Gallic men sitting in front of him changed visibly. Clearly, they hadn't expected their country's bottom line in negotiations to be so easily revealed by a prince from another country.

Albert Salau immediately cast a questioning glance at Admiral Henri de Bernard beside him, the meaning of which was quite clear—is your navy's intelligence secrecy completely leaky? Even the Tang Empire knows about it?

"Please rest assured, this is merely my personal speculation. We did not obtain your country's intelligence through any other means." Li Che's reassuring words did not put the two Gauls at ease; instead, they were even more dumbfounded. If it wasn't an intelligence leak but something that anyone could see, wouldn't that be even more disastrous?

"Your Highness, why have you come to tell us all this...?"

"It seems we were right."

Li Che nodded in a perfunctory manner. Of course, he didn't have the ability to see through the Gauls' bottom line directly; this was simply a copy of a reference answer from another world.

"There's no one else here today, so can we have a more open and frank discussion? For example, I'd like to confirm whether, if your country's navy and the Kingdom of Syracuse maintain the same tonnage share, does your country feel that, under this premise, it would be better for the navy's share to be slightly smaller?"

Albert Salau's expression remained unchanged this time, but General Henri de Bernard, who had little diplomatic experience, practically had "You're right" written all over his face.

Chapter 294 Halftime Break (2)

In another world, if the behavior of most French men during World War II can be said to have embodied the word "laid-off" to the extreme, then the French navy went down the road of "lying down" even earlier.

In a sense, Gaul was in a similar situation in this world. After witnessing the Battle of Helgeland and the Battle of Scadrak in the North Atlantic during this World War, and the Battle of the Sulu Sea, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the two Battles of the Bashi Channel in the East, the Gallic Navy came to a profound understanding of a truth.

That is, the development of the navy is not about fighting and killing. The development of the navy requires consideration of human relationships and social interactions. If you are thinking about fighting and killing all day long, look at how many ships will sink and how many people will die in a naval battle.

The navies of countries like Victoria, Colombia, and the Ming/Tang dynasties were large and powerful. Even if they lost a few squadrons during the war, it would not affect the size of their navies. However, if the Gallic navy lost a squadron, it would be equivalent to losing half of its life.

Not to mention that Gaul invested most of its resources in the construction of its army during the war, and its navy had fallen far behind in terms of both technology and scale. Under such circumstances, the Gallic navy certainly did not dream that its naval power could confront its old enemy, the Victorian Empire.

In fact, the current fleet deployment of the Gallic Navy still follows the deployment method during the World War, with the vast majority of capital ships deployed in the Mediterranean. During the World War, the hypothetical enemy was naturally the Habsburg Navy, and now the hypothetical enemy has naturally become the Syracuse Navy or the Royal Victorian Navy Mediterranean Fleet.

Therefore, the Gallic Navy does not currently need to maintain a large-scale main combat fleet. After all, most of the capital ships that have been retained were built before the outbreak of war and are still in their prime. However, in a dozen years, these ships will definitely be severely outdated. The treaty period negotiated by the various countries is initially set at 15 years. After 15 years, everyone will gather again to discuss the renewal of the treaty, and the naval tonnage can still be renegotiated at that time.

Therefore, from any perspective, the Gallic Navy has neither urgent maritime pressure nor room to adjust its fleet size in the future. Thus, there is no need for the Gallic Navy to compete in tonnage at present.

If a certain understanding can be reached with the Syracuse Navy, and both sides control the size of their main naval fleets to a certain extent and avoid malicious competition, then the two navies only need to maintain a size comparable to the Royal Victoria Navy's Mediterranean Fleet to meet the requirements.

As for what to do in the Atlantic and how to deal with the Royal Navy of Victoria, the Gallic Navy also has something to say. We have learned from the experience of the Tang Empire and the United States of Colombia in the Western Pacific and are preparing to play a new era of cruiser warfare with the Royal Navy of Victoria in the Atlantic.

Therefore, the Gallic Navy never intended to obtain a high share from the beginning, and in this respect, the Gallic Navy and the Syracuse Navy actually had a certain tacit understanding.

“I still suggest that your country pursue a larger tonnage.” Xu Yueming spoke up for Li Che. The Crown Prince was playing the good cop tonight, so he was naturally playing the bad cop: “The Barat people are nothing more than livestock in the eyes of the Victorians, but now these livestock-like people have formed a country that can already have four capital ships. Yingzhou is now trying to retain not only six capital ships, but also a large light cruiser that they have already started construction on.”

Moreover, the main warships that these two countries intend to retain are mostly significantly larger in tonnage than those of your country and the Kingdom of Syracuse. In the end, the traditional naval powers of Europe will have a tonnage share that is barely greater than that of two dogs kept by others. If such news were to spread, do you two think public opinion in your countries would be able to accept such a situation?

Xu Yueming counted on his fingers and roughly calculated the paper tonnage of the Yingzhou and Bharat navies. According to the treaty, the tonnage of warships of all countries is calculated based on standard displacement. This is the first time that the concept of standard displacement has been clearly and uniformly determined by all countries. It refers to the displacement of a ship including the hull, shipboard equipment, shipboard weapons (including ammunition), logistics supplies, fresh water and shipboard personnel, but excluding fuel and boiler water.

Under the current standard displacement calculation method, the two types of battlecruisers that Yingzhou attempted to retain had standard displacements of over 2.7 tons and almost 2.8 tons, respectively.

Although the two King-class battleships are still embroiled in a heated war of words over their wreckage, these two battleships also have a displacement of 25,000 tons. Add to that a 10,000-ton light cruiser that Yingzhou is currently building, and the total displacement of Yingzhou's ships reaches 160,000 tons.

If we also include that large light cruiser of over 1 tons, and if the conditions proposed by Yingzhou can be retained, then the size of their main naval fleet will exceed 17 tons.

This is already a rather astonishing figure, because in another world, the tonnage share that the French and Italian navies ultimately retained during the treaty period was only 175,000 tons. In other words, the demands made by the Italian navy are equivalent to obtaining a tonnage share comparable to that of France in another world.

In this time and space, Li Che believed that if no other external factors interfered, the Gallic and Syracuse navies, who had reached a tacit understanding, probably wouldn't be seeking much more tonnage than this.

After all, their ships are often over 25,000, while the main warships of your two countries are mostly only around 22,000 to 23,000 tons, and some may even be less than 20,000 tons. Among the major naval powers, only your two countries still deploy pre-dreadnoughts on the front line.

How can this work?

What was the purpose of Li Che's efforts tonight to get to the Gallic navy ship? The three strongest powers were practically exchanging fire with each other all night, and you old Europeans are just loafing around and enjoying your leisure?

Especially considering that these guys' frivolity allowed them to enjoy themselves into the 21st century, Li Che felt extremely resentful. Look at the kind of miserable lives the people of the three permanent members of the UN Security Council in another world, even into the 21st century. They were either in a state of involution, filling in the gaps, or their lives were dominated by various insurance and loan products that represented capital in the country, leading them down the path of crime.

As a result, under such circumstances, those old Europeans were still able to live a life of peace and prosperity, and were still able to live a good life while resting on the laurels of their ancestors. How could anyone tolerate that?

So Li Che decided to use his influence on these Gauls. Besides talking about the country's face, he also needed to persuade them from a more realistic perspective.

The more resources the Royal Navy of Gaul and Syracuse currently have, the more resources they need to invest in the Mediterranean. The more resources the Royal Navy invests, the more troops they need to draw from non-key areas.

"Here we also brought some experience we gained during our firepower tests." Xu Yueming took out a document from his briefcase, then pushed it forward on the table: "Your country's largest caliber naval gun is currently only 340 mm."

However, the Kingdom of Syracuse now has battleships equipped with 15-inch guns, not to mention that the Royal Victorian Navy's fleet in the Mediterranean certainly includes a giant ship equipped with 15-inch guns.

Based on our tests of the 330mm and 420mm naval guns we have on hand, the advantage of larger caliber naval guns over smaller caliber naval guns will continue to widen in the future.

Your country currently does not have an advantage in the quality of its warships. I think that even when facing the Victorian Empire's Mediterranean Fleet, a small force, your country would need a larger fleet to have sufficient confidence to properly respond in the event of a future conflict.

To put it simply, Xu Yueming's words mean: "With such a weak ship and no troops, are you planning to use your money for compensation?"

This two-pronged approach did indeed yield results. Although neither Albert Salau nor Henri de Bernard made any explicit statements by the time Li Che and Xu Yueming left the Normandy battleship, after the two reported the relevant information back to their country, the current prime minister of the Kingdom of Gaul, who usually liked to drastically cut military spending after the end of world wars, unusually acknowledged the contents of the report.

It's hard to say whether it was national pride or "fleet quality" that ultimately prompted the Gauls to make their decision, but one thing is certain: after Li Che's nighttime visit, the Gallic Navy firmly demanded to retain its 245,000-ton naval tonnage after negotiations resumed.

This tonnage share was considered by the Gauls to be sufficient to reflect the gap between the Gallic Navy and the Yingzhou Navy, and it was the extra tonnage on the original basis... It did not mean that the Gallic Navy was preparing to build more Lyon-class battleships.

The Leon-class battleships are still only one ship to be completed, but the Gallic Navy is now planning to retain a larger share of the other older battleships. That's right, although the tonnage has been increased by tens of thousands of tons, it does not mean that the Gallic Navy needs to start construction on new warships to supplement them. In fact, they only need to scrap a few fewer ships.

This is fundamentally different from the navy of Syracuse. After learning that the Gallic navy had increased its tonnage requirements, Syracuse wanted to replicate the same operations as the Gallic navy, but it faced a problem: Do you have that many ships?

Chapter 295 The Man Who Can Fight a Polar Bear (not really)

Colombia and Victoria wanted to bring their dogs to the table for a meal, so Li Che's solution was to collude with other countries to demand a redistribution of the meat.

That's why he approached the Gauls first.

After all, as everyone knows, one of the defining characteristics of the Gauls is that they don't care who the world's superpower is, they just won't submit!

This national character, along with Gaul's own foreign policy, made it very suitable as a breakthrough point to open up new possibilities.

Although the Gaulish government certainly wanted to save money as much as possible after the war, no navy felt that it had too much funding or too many ships.

The attitudes of the Gallic navy and the Gallic government were like weights on opposite ends of a scale. All Li Che had to do was lightly tap one of them. After successfully manipulating Gaul, he did not continue to lobby the other Mediterranean naval power, Syracuse, who was also attending the conference.

Because the representatives of the Kingdom of Syracuse came to us on their own initiative.

The representative of the Royal Navy of Syracuse who boarded the ship to visit was a vice admiral named Otto Gattuso. He was a robust man who looked exactly like the Apennine Peninsula. Although he was a bit older, you could still tell that he must have been a very dashing and handsome man in his youth. With his strong physique of nearly 1.9 meters and his surname, he looked like a hero who could fight a polar bear.

This hero from the Apennines immediately displayed the cheerful nature of the Syracuse people, and warmly shook hands with Li Che: "It is an honor to meet Your Highness on such a meritorious warship."

Li Che also laughed heartily: "Yes, some of the battle achievements on this meritorious warship were made possible by your country's assistance in actual combat."

These words, tinged with deeper meaning, would certainly make ordinary people feel somewhat uncomfortable if they heard them. After all, Li Che was referring to the export of warships from the Kingdom of Syracuse to the United States of Colombia during the later stages of the last World War. When the Colombian Navy desperately needed high-speed capital ships, the Kingdom of Syracuse extended a helping hand, not only leasing its most powerful fast battleships to the Colombian Navy, but also selling two battlecruisers that it had acquired from the former Habsburg Empire Navy to the Colombian Navy.

Although those two battlecruisers were probably the weakest in firepower among battlecruisers in the world, there is no doubt that they were a lifeline for the Colombian Navy at the time.

Although it was during the war and the two sides were on opposing sides, the actions of the Kingdom of Syracuse were understandable. However, understanding you is one thing, and liking you is another. Therefore, the representatives of the Kingdom of Syracuse's navy did not receive a warm welcome when they boarded the Jingyuan.

Fortunately, the Syracuse naval commander named Otto Gattuso was clearly quite cheerful. He didn't seem to notice the subtle atmosphere on the Jingyuan, or perhaps he deliberately ignored it. Vice Admiral Gattuso patted his chest heartily and said, "It's no wonder that such a powerful warship can easily deal with the Habsburg Empire's floating trash in naval battles."

Li Che wasn't sure if he should praise the other party's good attitude, but ultimately, the Kingdom of Syracuse wasn't an enemy of the Tang Dynasty; in fact, it was someone they wanted to win over. Li Che didn't continue to escalate the verbal conflict. While inviting Lieutenant General Gattuso inside, he casually remarked:

"Speaking of powerful warships, the Caracciolo-class battleships also left a deep impression on us. They are probably the first high-speed capital ships in the world to truly possess both such powerful firepower and excellent protection. Compared to the Caracciolo-class battleships, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the Royal Victorian Navy, although bearing the name of fast battleships, are made to look like a bunch of clowns by the excellent performance of your navy's truly fast battleships. It can only be said that the performance of the Caracciolo-class battleships is indeed worthy of being the excellent crystallization of your navy's warship design over the past decades."

Although both were fast battleships equipped with 15-inch guns, the Caracciolo-class battleships had a speed of at least 27 knots. The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the Victorian Empire were in a slightly better position than the Queen Elizabeth of the Niu Niu family on another world's Earth, but they could only barely reach a speed of 25 knots when not fully loaded, through power overload.

Both are fast battleships, but the speed they exhibit is far from comparable. If we take into account the reduced protection of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, then the Caracciolo-class battleships, with a tonnage not significantly larger, have achieved a comprehensive surpassing of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast battleships in both speed and protection. You can't help but admire the warship designers of the Kingdom of Syracuse.

“If I were a Gaul, Your Highness’s words would have made me laugh so hard I couldn’t stand up straight,” Lieutenant General Gattuso said with his usual humor. “Judging from your words, Your Highness, do you also have a good understanding of the history of our navy’s warship design?”

"Of course, I greatly admire the design style of your navy's warships. Compared to the navy's combat capabilities, your country's warship design skills have long been among the best in Europe and even the world. This is indeed worth referencing and learning from. Starting with the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers from the pre-dreadnought era, your navy has always been at the forefront of naval technology development. If your country's financial situation were better, then the title of the world's first dreadnought might have fallen into your hands."

Vice Admiral Gattuso seemed to have completely ignored the phrase "compared to the navy's combat capabilities." When he heard Li Che's praise for Syracuse's naval ship design capabilities, he nodded happily and repeatedly: "Yes, the concept of a fully heavy gun battleship was first proposed by our country, but unfortunately, our country did not have enough financial resources at the time to support the realization of this idea..."

At this point, a look of helplessness and dejection appeared on his face: "Even now, we must still succumb to reality. The Caracciolo-class battleship is absolutely a masterpiece, but we probably don't have enough funds to complete and commission the three sister ships of the Caracciolo..."

Before meeting Lieutenant General Gattuso, Li Che had been wondering what the purpose of these Syracuseans' visit was. After meeting them, he found that the situation was not much different from what he had expected, and the topic quickly turned to "no money".

After a long conversation with Lieutenant General Gattuso in the officers' conference room on the warship, Li Che finally understood the purpose of the visit by these Syracuse naval representatives. The answer was that these Syracuse naval representatives wanted him to act as an intermediary and persuade the Gallic Navy to abandon the shipbuilding race in the Mediterranean.

In particular, they hoped to persuade the Gallic navy to abandon the construction of other unfinished battleships, in order to de-escalate the escalating tensions in the Mediterranean since the end of the war.

Vice Admiral Gattuso's message was simple: in principle, the Syracuse Navy hoped to reach a certain level of mutual trust with the Gallic Navy, with both sides ceasing to build more new battleships and reducing expenditures by streamlining their fleets.

This idea actually coincides with the previous thinking of the Gallic navy. If the Gallic people were too badly injured in this war, then the Kingdom of Syracuse was simply too weak in terms of its own country and national strength.

However, the Kingdom of Syracuse could not be certain of the Gallic navy's true intentions, so they were determined to find a country that was large and powerful enough to act as a witness between them and the Kingdom of Gaul.

This analogy feels as absurd as two countries getting married...

Li Che was already laughing to himself. If he hadn't taken advantage of the night to pry into the Gallic navy and successfully persuaded and changed their original plans and attitudes, then in fact, there would have been no need for other countries to mediate. As long as the Kingdom of Syracuse had put forward its idea, the Gallic side would probably have agreed.

However, now that the Gauls have been manipulated by their own tactics, the Syracuses are facing a Gaulish navy that, while not entirely lacking in ambition, has at least escaped the category of simply giving up.

After all, the Gallic Navy still had some historical pride and was determined to gain a larger share of tonnage. Although this would increase the future maintenance costs of the fleet, such an increase in maintenance costs was foreseeable. And if the Gallic Navy wanted to fill the extra share with the tonnage of warships, the cost would not be much.

Contrary to what many people imagine, even if the Gallic Navy were to try to increase its tonnage share to 245,000 tons, it would not need to start construction on new capital ships to make up for those tonnages.

After receiving the warships as compensation from the Leitanian Empire, the Gallic Navy's dreadnoughts and larger capital ships had a tonnage far exceeding 24 tons. For the Gallic Navy, its original fleet size plus the spoils of war could easily fill the 24-ton void.

When Li Che kindly relayed this information to the Kingdom of Syracuse, the representatives of Syracuse all looked as if the sky had fallen.

The reason for this expression is quite simple: the Syracuse navy is not as well-equipped as the Gallic navy.

Despite the impressive appearance of the Caracciolo-class battleships, with their 15-inch guns currently dominating the Mediterranean, the unfortunate problem is that the Kingdom of Syracuse has no other super-dreadnoughts besides the Caracciolo-class. Currently, only one Caracciolo-class battleship has been completed, and it is very likely that only this one ship will be completed.

Apart from the flagship Caracciolo, all the other ships are dreadnoughts, which already significantly impacts the fleet's overall combat effectiveness. At least the Gallic navy has most of its capital ships as super-dreadnoughts, but for the Syracuse royal navy, dreadnoughts are no longer the biggest problem.

While the Syracuse Kingdom's dreadnoughts, armed with 13 main guns, could rely on their firepower density, the spoils they acquired from the Habsburg Empire—the United Forces-class battleships—were truly a force to be reckoned with.

If the Syracuse Navy wants to fill the 245,000-ton capacity, it will have to reluctantly leave behind these turrets with extremely weak underwater protection and a poorly designed ammunition feeding system, with only two ammunition lifts provided for a triple-mounted turret.

It's easy to imagine how upset the people of Syracuse must have felt when they heard Li Che say that the Kingdom of Gaul was not only dissatisfied with its previous tonnage share, but also wanted to further increase it (since it wouldn't cost them any more money).

Seeing this, Li Che resorted to his previous tactics of manipulating the Gallic Navy, using a series of arguments that concerned the face of a nation's navy and its actual military geopolitical situation, such as comparing the tonnage of the French and Chinese navies.

But he soon realized that what he was doing was like casting pearls before swine. National honor and face? How much was this thing worth? If this thing could be sold, then the Kingdom of Syracuse would probably put these two items up for sale.

"I understand that your navy must feel that the quality of the warships to be retained is rather poor, especially several battleships that originally belonged to the Habsburg Empire. But from another perspective, doesn't this also mean that your country is the first to prepare for the next generation of naval capital ships?"