Greece’s Roman Road

"Ten destroyers have already entered the construction process. Although we can refer to the destroyer development experience of the Royal Navy, but your highness, your requirements are very high, and the Athens Shipyard lacks the construction experience of new destroyers, so far only two have been launched. ship." Cantoriotis heard Constantine asking about the progress of the Navy's destroyers, and did not dare to neglect, and replied immediately.

Constantine sighed and encouraged: "Greece is still a small European country after all, and the funds that can be used to build the navy are relatively small. It is impossible to be like the navies of those big countries. They have huge wealth and abundant funds. In order to complete specific maritime tasks, special warships can be specially built, torpedo boats are built for lightning strikes, destroyers are built to deal with torpedo boats, and cruisers are built to deal with destroyers. Greek navy must spend money where it matters"

Just like the British navy, with sufficient funds in hand, the pompous style of building warships, dreadnoughts, battle cruisers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and torpedo boats, each type of ship has a clear division of labor and performs its own duties.

However, the British navy is the number one navy in the world at this time, and it has the financial support of the world hegemon. No navy of any country can build a navy with the same wealth and wealth as the British navy, regardless of the cost.

The construction plan of the Greek Navy drafted by Cantoriotis, whether it is a battle cruiser or a destroyer, is all-rounder and can do any chores required.

The Greek navy does not have the financial resources to buy a full range of warships.

The two Esmeralda-class cruisers, "Congo" and "Banning", are old ships that have been in service for more than ten years. The use of the manual, frequent maintenance and maintenance, and the age of the ships are getting longer. After the two battle cruisers are in service, it is no surprise that these two ships will be allocated to the second-line troops, and the possibility of participating in front-line operations is minimal.

Greek destroyers, to some extent, are responsible for the work of cruisers, so they cannot fully refer to the construction experience of British destroyers.

In this case, Greek destroyers are required to have ocean-going combat capabilities to play the role of cruisers such as ocean patrols, protection of commercial routes, and destruction of enemy commerce and trade.

Constantine's requirements for Greek destroyers are: a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, a speed of not less than 28 knots, equipped with artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm, several torpedo tubes, and fuel-driven.

Despite the help of the British Navy, due to the weak shipbuilding and design capabilities of Greece, and the high technical requirements of the Greek Navy for destroyers, the progress of Greece's self-built destroyer plan has been slow.

According to the current development of the world's navy destroyers, the displacement of destroyers in various countries is inconveniently below 1,000 tons. This does not mean that they cannot build them, but they do not have the need to crack large destroyers like Greece.

"The ship designers at the Athens Shipyard have worked very hard, and have been working overtime after receiving the task," Cantoriotis said with emotion.

"Since the beginning of the new century, the destroyers of the navies of various countries have developed rapidly. The current destroyers are not only responsible for the task of dealing with the enemy's torpedo boats, but also responsible for carrying out torpedo attacks and weakening the enemy's forces before the decisive battle of the main fleet."

Speaking of the new destroyer, Cantoriotis, the naval commander, was very enthusiastic. "I asked the designer to refer to the Beagle-class destroyer that the United Kingdom started to build last year."

"The two destroyers currently launched, with a displacement of 1,200 tons, are equipped with three steam turbines produced by Tesla Power Group, with a horsepower of 18,000 horsepower, a speed of 27 knots, equipped with four 105 mm artillery, three torpedo tubes, and a range of 1,200. nautical miles"

Having said this, Cantoriotis continued: "In this case, the destroyer can completely cooperate with the battle cruiser to form a rapid response fleet."

"It can also carry out tasks such as minelaying, patrolling, and guarding."

It was now the end of 1910. Constantine estimated the construction time of ten destroyers, and urged: "You must hurry up and put them into service as soon as possible. In the next war, the navy will still undertake important tasks."

While Constantine and Cantoriotis were chatting about the navy, Greek Foreign Minister Venizelos hurried to the pier, looking for the crown prince who came here to participate in the ceremony of the war cruise joining the Greek shipping.

"What's the matter? Mr. Venizelos?" Constantine asked quickly when he saw the foreign minister who was in a hurry.

"His Royal Highness, the Greek embassy abroad has received news that Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a warship to Agadir, Morocco, and a war in Europe is imminent," Venizelos said eagerly.

Hearing this, Constantine secretly said that his brother-in-law made another big news.

On the side, Crown Princess Sophie heard the words and was stunned, "How could William do this..."

After the momentary gaffe, it was someone who had been in a high position for a long time, and he immediately reacted.

Constantine asked, "What's going on?"

Venizelos watched Constantine and the Crown Princess staring at him, took a deep breath, and said, "Due to the Moroccan issue, conflicts and conflicts have arisen between Germany and France."

Morocco is located in the northwest of Africa, bordering the Strait of Gibraltar to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, which is of great strategic significance.

France and Germany thus launched a fierce competition in Morocco.

"France has been operating in Morocco for nearly a hundred years, and its strength is deeply rooted. Paris has a decisive influence on Morocco's domestic and foreign affairs. French immigrants and businessmen also spread all over Morocco's main cities. The powerful Britain and the other countries across the sea Spain, also has its own interests in Morocco. As a result, Morocco as a whole has become a strategic location that affects the whole body,” explained Venizelos.

"After the last Morocco crisis, although Germany and France have reached an agreement on the Moroccan issue on the surface, they are still in a wrestling match secretly."

"The Germans encouraged Moroccan sultans to rebel against French control. In 1905, William II paid a state visit to Morocco, a move that really encouraged the local nobles in Morocco, who encouraged Moroccan sultans to stop bowing to France. The last time Morocco The crisis (the first Moroccan crisis in 1906), the immediate trigger was that the Germans wanted to lease a port in Morocco”

"As for this time, it was because France dispatched troops stationed in North Africa into northern Morocco to help quell the armed rebellion." Venizelos shrugged and added: "According to the French, it is so."

"William II was furious when he heard the news and ordered the Foreign Office to inform the French to get out, otherwise Germany has the right to take all necessary actions. After that, the gunboat "Leopard" was sent into Morocco."

Sophie asked inexplicably, "What about the attitude of the British? Is it still partial to the French?"

As the princess of the German royal family~www.novelmt.com~ Sophie asked subconsciously.

Venizelos said of course: "In recent years, the contradiction between Britain and Germany has become more and more fierce, especially the naval competition between the two countries. The High Seas Fleet and the Oceanic Fleet have invested heavily to build new warships."

"Moreover, Germany's idea of ​​acquiring a port in Morocco will definitely make the British vigilant. Once Germany has a naval port in Morocco, the threat to British overseas trade routes is too great. Therefore, the British attitude is very fierce."

After a pause, Venizelos said with a serious face: "British Foreign Minister Gray met with the German ambassador to the UK this morning. According to the information our diplomats have inquired about, Gray warned that if Kaiser Wilhelm really told the Germans Sending troops into Morocco, as the newspapers say, is like going to war against Britain and France at the same time.”

The seriousness of the situation exceeded everyone's expectations. After Venizelos explained the details of the situation, everyone fell silent.

No wonder everyone is so concerned about the diplomatic turmoil between Britain, France and Germany. It is really a war between major European powers, and the impact is too great.

Once a war breaks out in Europe, it will have a direct impact on Greece. For example, Greece imports nearly one million tons of coal from the United Kingdom every year. Once the United Kingdom participates in the war, Greece's coal imports will be affected immediately, and the Greek steel industry will suffer from coal shortages. In trouble.

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