"Twenty-eight million marks!"
"Thirty million marks!"
Representatives from Argentina and Brazil followed suit. This immediately increased the price of the battleship 'Nassau' by a full ten million marks. You know, this is close to two-thirds of the cost of the battleship 'Nassau'. It is undoubtedly very good for a battleship that has been in service for several years to be sold at such a price.
Of course, this is mainly due to the fierce competition among buyers.
Chile, Argentina, and Brazil can be regarded as the three major powers in South America. The naval strength of the three countries is not weak. Especially Chile, although their land area is small, they are rich in mineral resources. In particular, the rich copper resources make Chile very rich.
When the country is rich, it will naturally invest more in the military. This also makes Brazil and Argentina, the two traditional powers, feel threatened. In order to ensure their own interests, they also had to increase their investment in the military. South America fell into a triwizard hegemony.
Of course, in the eyes of real big countries, the so-called top three in South America are nothing more than children's play. Any powerful country has the strength to easily defeat them. It's just that all major countries support agents in South America, which makes the situation in South America very complicated. Therefore, these three countries were able to jump up and down. For example, the Republic of Chile is backed by Germany. Otherwise, they would not have developed so fast.
"Damn it, the price has climbed to 30 million marks just after the start." Crown Prince Karl cursed secretly. He also wanted to buy all the 18 capital ships sold by the German Navy this time as much as possible. However, that now seems unlikely. With so many spoilers, this is bound to drive prices even higher. The 200 million U.S. dollars in loans given by the Americans is equivalent to 800 million marks.
"Your Highness, do we want to bid?" Admiral Anton House was very anxious.
"Wait a minute, let them fight for it! We can't eat all the warships anymore, let's focus on the follow-up capital ships equipped with 343mm main guns!" Crown Prince Karl quickly made a choice. Give up the weaker battleships in the front first, and fully compete for the stronger battleships in the future.
"Yes, Your Highness." Admiral Anton House nodded.
Fatih Pasha of the Ottoman Turkish Empire also gave up, obviously not wanting to participate in the competition among the three South American countries.
"Thirty-six million marks!" The representative of the Republic of Chile bid again.
The representative of Brazil thought for a while and chose to give up. However, the Argentine representative bid again, raising Gagen to 38 million marks.
The Chilean representative did not show any weakness, and directly raised the price to 40 million marks.
In the competition between Chile and Argentina, the battleship 'Nassau' was successfully auctioned for 45 million.
After the battleship 'Nassau', it was the battleship 'West **'. The second ship of the "Nassau-class" battleship was bought by Argentina at a price of 43 million marks.
The battleship "Rhineland", the third ship of the "Nassau-class" battleship, was once again auctioned by the Republic of Chile at a price of 44 million marks.
The battleship "Posen", the fourth ship of the "Nassau-class" battleship, fell into the hands of Brazil at a price of 42 million marks.
Four "Nassau-class" battleships were auctioned for a total of 174 million marks. Although, compared to the cost of these four battleships, it is a little less. However, overall it has been very cost-effective.
"The next thing to bid for is the 'Blücher-class' battlecruiser of the Imperial Navy. There are only two remaining battleships of this class, 'Von der Tann' and 'Leopold'. No." Lieutenant General Hipper introduced the performance of the 'Blücher-class' battlecruiser with a smile on his face. A total of three battlecruisers of this class were built. However, the first ship "Blücher" was sunk in the naval battle with the British, and became one of the few capital ships of the German Navy to be sunk during the war.
However, this does not mean that the strength of the "Blücher-class" battlecruisers is not strong. After all, during the naval battle, they were besieged by the British and finally sunk.
The starting bid for the battlecruiser 'Von der Tann' is still 20 million marks. Chile, Argentina, and Brazil are not very interested in battlecruisers, and they stopped bidding after only one round of quotations. At this time, the price of the battlecruiser "Von der Tann" was 32 million marks.
The battlecruiser's combat effectiveness is slightly weaker than that of the battleship, and its main advantage lies in its high speed. For countries with overseas interests, battlecruisers are very useful. However, for countries with no overseas interests, it is somewhat insufficient. Of course, if you can buy it at a lower price, it's still good. After all, the performance of the battlecruisers built by the German Navy is very good, the defense is strong, and they can even participate in battles between battleships.
Fatih Pasha of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, seeing this situation, also participated in the quotation, raising the price to 35 million marks, ready to pick up a bargain.
However, it is a pity that Admiral Anton House, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, also joined the auction under the instruction of Crown Prince Karl.
"Forty million marks!" Admiral Anton House directly bid.
Fatih Pasha's complexion suddenly became a little ugly. Originally, he was planning to pick up a bargain, but after the Austro-Hungarian Empire joined in, it was impossible to buy this battlecruiser at a low price. However, if he was asked to give up, he felt a little unwilling. After all, the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are feuds!
"Forty-two million marks!" Fatih Pasha gritted his teeth and said.
"Forty-five million marks!" Admiral Anton House once again bid.
"Forty-seven million marks!" Fatih Pasha quoted again.
Next, Admiral Anton Howes no longer bid.
Although Fatih Pasha successfully bought the battlecruiser 'Von der Tann', the price was much higher than his previous expectation, which made him very dissatisfied.
The next auction for the battlecruiser "Leopold" completely became a competition between the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Perhaps it was because he had been fooled once before, so Fatih Pasha became more cautious. In the end, the battlecruiser "Leopold" was bought by the Ottoman Turkish Empire at a price of 42 million marks.
The total price of the two "Blücher-class" battlecruisers is 89 million marks.