stonecrandall Chapter 361
Chapter 361
In fact, when Mainz and Dönitz were discussing the future development of the navy, all countries were paying close attention to Hans’s next move!
For all countries, Hans launched four 35,000-ton battleships at once, which had a great impact on them!
These are four main battleships, with a standard displacement of 35,000 tons, and a full load displacement of no less than 40,000 tons!
This kind of battleship is considered one of the best main battleships even in the navies of various countries!
And the Hans built four of these main battleships in one go. This construction speed and this ability to build quickly made all countries look at Hans’ industrial strength with new eyes!
Just when all countries were amazed at Hans’s concentrated launch of four main battleships, the sea powers such as the Sun Never Sets and Eagle Sauce had already put their eyes back on Hans’ shipyard! Since these four battleships have been launched, there is plenty of time to study them slowly.
And now, the most critical thing is to determine the next move of the Hans!
Let’s see if they only plan to build these four battleships, or continue to build the next batch of battleships?
If the Hans people stop when they are ahead and only build these four battleships, then other countries will know that Hans’s naval expansion plan has begun to slow down or even stop here, and then they will not regard Hans as a major threat! However
, if Hans continues to build a new batch of battleships, the result will be different!
The second batch of battleships plus the first batch of battleships, Hans built eight main battleships in just two years. This terrifying expansion speed is definitely heading for war!
So as long as this result is determined, all countries will have to evaluate the strength of Hans’ navy and the threat that Hans brings to them!
Unfortunately, a new batch of Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers soon appeared in Hans’ shipyard!
Like last time, Hans also started construction at four shipyards this time, building these four battleships at the same time. If all goes well, these four battleships will be launched almost at the same time and join Hans’ navy at the same time!
This result surprised both the British Empire and the United States!
“Hans’s naval expansion speed is too fast. If it continues like this, even if the Royal Navy has an advantage in tonnage, it may not be able to win in quality!”
After learning that the German army had launched four more battleships, the British Navy could no longer sit still!
The tonnage of the main battleships launched by Hans at this time has exceeded 220,000 tons, which is more than half of the tonnage quota of their navy’s main battleships!
In other words, they still have a quota of 200,000 tons available, and they can build at least six such battleships!
If they are allowed to complete the construction of these six battleships, Hans will have 10 Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers and 2 Bismarck-class battleships!
They are still behind the Royal Navy of the British Navy in quantity and tonnage, but they are fully ahead in quality!
Compared with the Royal Navy’s large number of battleships built in World War I or even before World War I, Hans’s battleships were all designed and built after the war, and they were launched in a very short time, so their construction technology, weapon technology and armor protection are all ahead of the battleships of the British Navy.
If they really fight, I am afraid that even if the Royal Navy has a quantitative advantage, it will not be able to erase the huge gap in quality between the two sides!
“We must speed up the development plan of our own battleships!” said the British Navy Minister worriedly.
Half a year ago, after learning that Hans was building a new generation of main battleships, they immediately began to discuss and prepare to build their own new generation and main battleships to make up for the gap in battleship quality with Hans.
However, due to the corrupt bureaucracy and inefficient review process, the report submitted by the Navy has not yet been approved!
The result of no approval is that their new battleships have not yet started construction, and Hans’s four main battleships have been launched!
This time, the British finally felt the urgency of the matter, so the Prime Minister of the British had to use his authority to allocate a batch of funds on a priority basis to allow the shipyard to start designing and building a new generation of battleships!
“If we design it now, it might be too slow. I think it would be better to make some improvements based on the Nelson-class battleships!”
After the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, because of the existence of the two super-standard battleships, Nagato and Mutsu, permission was obtained to build two Nelson-class battleships!
The guns of these two battleships are both 406 mm, which is one of the battleships with the largest main gun caliber in the world.
However, according to the restrictions of the Fog City Naval Treaty, they can no longer continue to build Nelson-class battleships, because the caliber of the main guns of this type of battleship exceeds the restrictions of the Fog City Naval Treaty!
However, the performance of the Nelson-class battleships has been recognized by the military, so the Minister of the Navy will propose to improve the Nelson-class battleships at this time and produce their latest generation of battleships!
Improvements based on a mature battleship can shorten the development and construction time to the greatest extent. , so that the Royal Navy can be equipped with this type of battleship in the shortest possible time!
Hans Navy’s dumpling-like shipbuilding plan put tremendous pressure on the British Empire. If they cannot equip a new generation of battleships as soon as possible, their maritime advantage will probably disappear!
This is something the British Empire absolutely cannot accept!
Therefore, the proposal of the Minister of the Navy was unanimously agreed in the cabinet. The Prime Minister allocated emergency funds and ordered the shipyard to be renovated immediately. At the same time, he submitted a bill in Parliament, urging the House of Lords and the House of Commons to quickly complete the approval!
At this time, the financial situation of the British Empire was not very good. The Navy proposed an ambitious construction plan that would cost huge expenses.
The government’s fiscal revenue has reached the point where it is not enough to cover its expenses, so there was a heated debate in Parliament about this matter.
“Your Excellency, Prime Minister, your economic minister should have reported to you the latest financial situation of our country. With all due respect, is it worthwhile to continue to invest huge sums of money in such an arms race when our fiscal deficit is increasing? Please think about it carefully, Your Excellency, Prime Minister and everyone else!”
The opposition party immediately expressed fierce opposition to the Prime Minister’s proposal.
For the opposition party, they are the largest opposition party. In order to win the election, they must hold back the current ruling party, find as many faults as possible, and then attack them, so as to gain the support of the people and lay the foundation for their future victory in the election!
In this case, every decision made by the ruling party will be carefully searched and examined by them with a magnifying glass, and no clues will be missed!
The proposal submitted by the Prime Minister of the British Empire involves a fiscal budget of nearly 500 million pounds, which is a huge expense. The opposition party cannot help but make a fuss about this!
“Ladies and gentlemen, this matter concerns the life and death of our country, so even if we risk overspending on the fiscal budget, we must plan ahead to improve the strength of our navy. I think this financial allocation is very worthwhile!”
The Prime Minister was not afraid at all. He knew that everyone present knew what the Royal Navy meant to the British Empire, so as long as these people had a little bit of reason, they would not reject this proposal to strengthen the navy, because it concerns the foundation of the country on which the sun never sets!
Sure enough, after hearing the Prime Minister’s words, the leader of the opposition who had previously spoken out in opposition was silent.
However, he soon found another excuse to attack the Prime Minister:”In this case, then stop the development and construction of the Royal Ark-class aircraft carrier!”
Aircraft carriers and battleships, two types of ships with different functions, can only choose one. To vigorously develop battleships, the construction of aircraft carriers must be stopped. Otherwise, if both sides come together, the British Empire will not be able to bear the expenses!
“Well, in that case, please approve this resolution!”