Chapter 89 Roermond Arms Conference

Next to the town square in Roermond stands a very old Renaissance building, which is called the "Bishop's Residence" by the residents of Roermond. It is a villa built by an ancestor of the Heinsberg family who once served as the bishop of Limburg.

Hessman and Chloe spent their first night as newlyweds in this old house. And this house will be famous in the future. The Roermond Arms Conference, which was called one of the "100 major events that influenced the course of world history" by later generations, was held in this house. And not just once, but five consecutive meetings were held from 1919 to 1923.

On August 3, 1919, just three days after Hessman and Chloe's wedding. The first Roermond Arms Conference was held in a tall room in the "Bishop's Residence", but the light was a little gloomy, and the walls were covered with religious paintings.

The person who presided over the meeting was Karl Haushofer of the Industrial Promotion Committee. Today's "Armament Conference" was actually a plenary meeting of the Industrial Promotion Committee. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the Industrial Promotion Committee was separated from the Weimar Republic government and became a veritable civilian organization.

Moreover, the activities of this "civilian organization" also violated the Treaty of Versailles, so it was not convenient to hold meetings in Germany, so the headquarters of the Industrial Promotion Committee was simply moved to the Netherlands, which is close to the Rhine region.

In addition, due to the chaos in Germany after the November Revolution, the business of the Industrial Promotion Committee was suspended for several months, and it was not resumed until March 1919.

However, from March to now, this committee has not done anything big. In addition to facilitating the birth of the FK-BF consortium, it is revising the previous "Dark Sword Plan" and formulating a work plan for 1920.

Hersmann sat in the first seat to the right of Karl Haushofer, and another representative of the army, Colonel Schleicher, sat opposite him.

Next to the two, Anthony Focke and Gustav Krupp sat respectively. Dr. Schacht of the National Bank, Otto Gistein of BMW, Richard Benz of Benz, Harald, the representative of Rheinmetall, and others. These people are old acquaintances of Hessmann, and they have all met at the past meetings of the Industrial Promotion Committee.

In addition, the famous gun manufacturer Mauser, the four major German shipbuilding companies Bremen Wessel Shipyard, Kiel Germania Shipyard, Hamburg Falken Shipyard and Danzig Kaiser Kaiser Shipyard, as well as the famous German chemical manufacturers BASF and Bayer Chemicals, and the German electrical industry giant Siemens all sent representatives.

In addition, there is also a representative sent by the German Navy, Erich Raeder, who has just been promoted to naval captain.

In front of everyone present, including Hessmann, there is a handwritten confidentiality agreement by Karl Haushofer. Because from now on, this Industrial Promotion Committee must operate in the most confidential manner possible.

So everyone involved must sign a confidentiality agreement. If the agreement is violated, it will not be as simple as a court prosecution.

"We all have to sign this agreement." Hersman was the first to pick up the pen on the table and signed the agreement. "Because what we are going to do now is intolerable to the enemy, and even some people in the government will be afraid. If you are afraid, then please withdraw now."

No one withdrew, and everyone signed the document like Hersman. The secretaries of the two industrial promotion committees walked into the meeting room, took away the documents in front of everyone, and replaced them with a "1920 Work Plan".

When everyone opened the "Work Plan", Hersman said again: "Since everyone is working together and is ready to devote energy and financial resources to the revival of our motherland. Then, as a representative of the Defense Force (now the name of the German Army is the German Defense Force), I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you. At the same time, I also want to give you a promise: the Defense Force will do everything it can to help the company you represent grow and develop!"

This can be regarded as a reassurance, but the Defense Force today is not the German army that had a country in the past.

"Lieutenant Colonel, can our Kaiser shipyard also grow and develop?" The one who doubted Hessmann's words was Dr. Eisenberg, the general manager of Kaiser shipyard. He was an elderly Junker nobleman who had built ships for the German Navy for his whole life.

Kaiser shipyard is an industry of the Prussian state and an important naval factory. But now although the city of Danzig is known as "free" (the residents there are all Germans), diplomacy and defense are controlled by Poland. Representatives of the Polish government also appeared in Kaiser shipyard.

"It can be moved to Courland," Hessmann said. "It has been mentioned in the "Work Plan for 1920" that all state-owned shipbuilding and ship repair facilities in the ports of Riga, Wendawa and Liepaja will be taken over by Kaiser shipyard. The Industrial Promotion Committee will provide loans to support the project."

The ports of Riga, Wendawa and Liepaja are all military ports of the Tsarist Russian Baltic Fleet, and there are many shipbuilding and ship repair factories in the ports that originally belonged to the Tsarist Russian Navy. Although it is not large in scale, it has a large dock that can repair Gangut-class battleships (displacement 23,360 tons).

"We hope that the Caesar Shipyard can complete the relocation in 1920, and resume shipbuilding and ship repair operations in 1921. In 1923 or 1924, you will complete the construction of an aircraft carrier with a standard displacement of about 7,500 tons!"

"Aircraft carrier?" Eisenberg was surprised, "Can we build such a ship? The Allies..."

"There is no need to worry about the Allies," Hessmann said. "The United Baltic Principalities are not our territory...Now the Allies have recognized the status of Empress Olga. And there is hope that the Baltic States can achieve independence from Russia in 1920 or Achieved in 1921. By then, this country will be part of the 'anti-epidemic zone' that isolates the spread of Bolshevism."

Although the Baltic Republic did not appear in another time and space, it was not because of the opposition of the Allies. In fact, General Goltz in history had conquered Latvia and received support from the United Kingdom. However, the general was greedy and marched into Estonia. As a result, his "Iron Division" was crushed by the Estonian and Belarusian coalition forces. Even Latvia was not saved.

In this time and space, because of Hirschman, the "Courland Plan" was formulated very reasonably, taking into account all the most difficult problems. So now it has reached a point where it is difficult to shake.

Moreover, Britain and France have demands from Courland - now they are required to betray White Russia, and in the future they are required to resist Red Russia. With so many demands, it is natural to give the Germans in Courland a little sweetness.

After the Bolsheviks defeated White Russia, the Baltic Republics would be able to swing between the Soviet Union and the West, and they would have greater freedom.

Hersman continued: "Your Caesar Shipyard should start designing now. The intelligence department will get you some information on foreign aircraft carriers under construction and completed for reference. In addition, this aircraft carrier is a verification ship , training ships and advertising ships..."

"Advertising ship?"

Hessman smiled and nodded, "Yes, so there is no need to consider armor or naval guns, and the seaworthiness does not need to be very good. There is no need to consider the wind and waves of the North Atlantic... but the speed cannot be lower than 25 knots. It must have a deck that can take off and land aircraft and a hangar that can accommodate more than 20 carrier-based aircraft.”

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