Chapter 122 Soviet Aircraft Carrier

The sumptuous dinner began. The menu was printed in Russian and German on a thick yellow paper with a hammer and sickle emblem. There was a long list of fish, soup, game, chicken, barbecue, etc. The waiters began to serve the dishes. They were all cute girls. They jumped around with bottles of wine and vodka to pour wine into the glasses of the bigwigs.

Stalin's newly married wife Nadezhda also came to the Kremlin to accompany him - Stalin and his wife did not live in the Kremlin now, but they would move in soon.

At the dinner, Hersman found another opportunity to talk to Stalin about aircraft carriers.

"What? Ludwig, you said you built an aircraft carrier in the shipyard in Riga?" Stalin showed a surprised expression. He didn't know about such a big thing!

"It was secretly built in a large dock. It's just a 7,500-ton boat, and it hasn't been equipped with a flight deck yet. It's not a real aircraft carrier."

The construction process of this test aircraft carrier was strictly confidential, and the entire dock was a military restricted area - it was originally a base of the Tsarist Russian Navy, and it was easy to guard around it. And it was not finally completed, and there was no flight deck, so even if someone saw it, they couldn't recognize it as an aircraft carrier.

"We want to drive it to the Petrograd Shipyard to lay the flight deck, is that okay?"

It would always be a problem if the British saw it wandering in the Gulf of Riga, but there would be no problem if it was driven to the Soviet territory. Who would care if the Soviet Red Navy built an aircraft carrier?

And Hersman did want to use this "test" ship to fool the Soviets into building an aircraft carrier - he regarded the United States as the number one enemy and John Bull as the second villain boss. To defeat them, an aircraft carrier is a must.

And building an aircraft carrier is a gradual accumulation process. A 7,500-ton test ship is easy to make. The United States found a coal carrier at the beginning and laid wooden boards to make do with it, and it could also play with an aircraft carrier. However, it will not be easy to build an aircraft carrier that can truly dominate the ocean in the future. This "experimental" ship is just the beginning. To continue to develop, it can only be launched in the Soviet shipyard.

"Go to Leningrad... Do you want to build an aircraft carrier with us?" Stalin quickly guessed Hessman's idea.

"Yes," Hessman took a sip of wine, "This should be the starting point for our comprehensive military cooperation."

"Comprehensive military cooperation?"

Historically, Soviet-German military cooperation also began in 1924. Germany used the territory of the Soviet Union to train pilots and mechanized troops, laying the initial foundation for the future German military revival.

In this time and space, Germany is not very dependent on Soviet-German military cooperation because it has the Baltic Republic, a satellite country that is not restricted by the Treaty of Versailles. Now the Baltic Defense Force has established an aviation team and a tank force. Although the scale is not large, it is enough to study tactics and test secret weapons.

However, it is difficult to develop a big guy like an aircraft carrier with the Baltic shell. In Hessman's plan, the Soviet Union, Italy and Japan can all be considered as partners.

However, to cooperate with Italy and Japan, you must have something in your hands, otherwise it will be difficult to bargain.

"But the Soviet Navy is not the focus of development at present. Aircraft carriers are for us..."

Stalin seemed a little embarrassed. Compared with aircraft carriers, he now hopes to get German submarines more - submarines can be used to deal with Japan. After the Siberian intervention, the Soviet Union has regarded Japan as a major threat.

"It won't cost much," Hessman waved his hand, "Our test ship only cost more than 2 million Baltic marks. If the Soviet Union is interested, we can cooperate to build a 15,000-ton medium-sized aircraft carrier at the Sevastopol Shipyard.

If it is a Pacific-type deployed in Vladivostok - the Pacific Ocean has small winds and waves, and the requirements for the hull are relatively low, so it is also more economical - including research and development costs, more than 40 million Baltic marks will be enough... about 7 million to 8 million rubles. And it is not spent in one year, because it is the development of new ships. , the progress will be slow. If the design is completed in 1925, it will be good if it can be built in 1928, so the average annual cost is 2 million rubles. We can afford 25% of the cost. After the aircraft carrier is built, it will belong to the Soviet Union as a training ship, but Germany will send people on board for training. Of course, if you want to turn it into a combat ship, you still need to pay us the corresponding price. "

1.5 million rubles a year is indeed not a lot of money for the Soviet Union at the moment. They spend at least ten times more on exporting revolution every year. The question is whether this money is worth spending.

Hersman added: "Our naval experts believe that if four such aircraft carriers are deployed in Vladivostok, they will pose a major threat to Japanese imperialism. If they are combined with 300 long-range four-engine bombers with a combat radius of more than 1,000 kilometers, the situation of the Soviet Union in the Far East will be completely changed-from passive defense to active offense. "

Hersman paused and looked at Stalin, "This is more effective than deploying one or two hundred submarines... Of course, we can also provide the Soviet Union with submarine-related technology, which is not a problem. "

Historically, the Soviet Union had a powerful submarine force before World War II, but it played almost no role. Because Germany had no sea control and no long sea transport lines. The war between the Soviet Union and Japan did not break out until the end of World War II, and they won after only a few days of fighting.

And if the Soviet Union could deploy a Pacific Fleet with four 15,000-ton aircraft carriers (similar to Japan's Soryu class) as the core in Vladivostok in the Far East before September 1931, supplemented by 300 "enhanced" TB-3 heavy bombers. Then the situation in the Far East will change significantly...

"The bases of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Sasebo and Kure Naval Port, and the most important cities in Japan, Tokyo and Osaka, will all be under the threat of bombers and fighters taking off from Vladivostok and aircraft carriers!"

"Three hundred long-range four-engine bombers with a combat radius of more than 1,000 kilometers?" Stalin raised his eyebrows slightly, and it was obvious that he was more interested in this kind of aircraft. "Are you ready to develop such an aircraft?"

"Not now, we must wait for BMW or Siemens to develop a more powerful engine based on the Type 101 engine... To meet the needs of heavy long-range bombers, the power of a single engine must be at least more than 900 horsepower."

Hersman gently turned the wine glass, "When we have this engine, we will transfer technology to the Soviet Union, and at the same time we will jointly develop a four-engine heavy bomber... As long as our two countries can have 500 such aircraft, we can effectively deter imperialist aggression wars."

"Heavy bombers can be developed together, and we also need 900 horsepower engines." Stalin said with a smile, "We can work on aircraft carriers together, we can afford 8 million rubles, and you don't have to pay a quarter. However, we still need cruisers and destroyers after we have aircraft carriers, and we also need to equip aircraft carriers with aircraft. ”

This means that Germany must develop or provide (technology) at least one heavy bomber, a 900-horsepower air-cooled engine, a 15,000-ton aircraft carrier, a cruiser, a destroyer, several carrier-based aircraft, and of course submarine technology with the Soviet Union...

"That's not a problem," Hessmann said immediately, "We can jointly develop new aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and carrier-based aircraft, and Germany can also transfer new aircraft engines and submarine technology to the Soviet Union. When I return to Germany, I will immediately arrange negotiations on comprehensive military cooperation. ”

"Absolutely, Ludwig." Stalin raised his glass and clinked it with Hessmann's glass, "I wish our two countries a happy cooperation."

"I wish you a happy cooperation."

Just as the two clinked glasses, a secretary of Stalin walked in quickly from outside the restaurant and leaned over to whisper a few words in the ear of the future great leader.

Stalin waved to the man, then said to Hersman: "Ludwig, Comrade Lenin has awakened... The final farewell will be held tonight, let's go first."

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