The Rise of the Empire

"What? The representative of Brazil asked us to hand over the unfinished battleship and accessories to the British immediately, and then the two armored cruisers will complete the final outfitting in the UK?" Prince Ruprecht heard Baron Vittorio's report Said with some surprise. It was supposed to be Christmas in 5 days, and the prince wanted to corrupt it, but he didn't expect to encounter this before the corruption started!

"The Japanese are in a hurry!" This was His Royal Highness's first reaction. Now the battleship's outfitting has been mostly completed, and the repair of the superstructure is just a step away. The four twin-mounted 10-inch guns on the two battleships have been installed. , It is short of the installation of the dual 8-inch guns.

According to the prince's plan, the two warships were planned to be handed over to the Japanese in March, so the prince deliberately slowed down the construction progress. And this has caused dissatisfaction with the real buyers, the Japanese, who have repeatedly asked for rush work through the Brazilians. However, the shipyard explained that because the construction of a large number of new fleets for the German Navy has already started, manpower is relatively short, and Brom emphasized that as long as we can complete the delivery within the specified time, the buyer has no right to blame the seller. Then, when the Brazilian representative proposed to increase the money to rush the work, under the instruction of His Royal Highness, the shipyard rejected the Brazilian representative's request on the grounds of insufficient manpower and equipment, so the finishing work of the two warships is still proceeding slowly.

A joke, His Royal Highness deliberately delayed the delivery in order to let the navies of the United States and Japan fight fiercely. If the Americans knew that the Japanese navy had 4 Asami-class armored cruisers, what if the Philippines were not wanted? This feud is not deep enough! Both sides breaking heads is the result His Royal Highness would like to see!

But what the prince didn't expect was that at this critical moment, the British jumped out to pick up the ship! Then go to England for outfitting, although the prince will not lose anything economically. After all, this is an unplanned thing, and the buyer must pay what he should pay. Even the representative of Brazil said that the transfer of the warship would not affect the payment of the final payment, but this disrupted Ruprecht's plan after all. And in the face of such an accident, the prince really had no excuse to refuse the delivery! At this time, the warship has been launched, and the main project has been completed, so it is not easy to cause a small accident.

"Is there any news from the Americans?" The prince thought for a while and asked Earl Schelling beside him.

"They seem to have contacts with the Russians, and what is surprising is that Russia just ordered a batch of 11-inch heavy artillery shells and some spare parts from Krupp a few days ago. You know, the Russians ordered in September I just got a batch of supplies at the time," said Earl Schelling.

"It's really not normal." His Royal Highness nodded, because the Russian fleet deployed in the Far East has to face the problem of blocking the port every year, so they will purchase a batch of supplies and ammunition from Germany before freezing. The Russians have already purchased a batch this year, and it is said that they should not add another batch, but now the Russians have indeed bought another batch, and the quantity is very large, so the problem is very clear. On the one hand, what are they preparing for? One aspect is that they must have consumed some recently.

"This is abnormal! Absolutely abnormal! What agreement must the Russians and Americans have reached? Tell me the location of the Russian fleet!" A somewhat terrifying plan gradually appeared in the mind of His Highness the Prince. "The Americans really dare to fight!" The prince had to give Roosevelt and others a thumbs up! You are indeed the master who gave up the favorable environment of the office and led the team to the battlefield in person!

"The Russian battleship formation is based in Vladivostok, and the cruiser formation appears to be stationed in Shanghai under the French lease. Rurik, Bayan, Parada and two ocean-going supply ships are all here.

It looks like they might have a big move. said Earl Schelling.

"Damn it, this is more than a big move! Maybe it will be filmed!" His Royal Highness muttered in his heart. The most combat-effective units of the Russian fleet are deployed relatively close to the Philippines, and the Russian Navy has also arranged a separate supply fleet for the three armored cruisers, and imported main artillery shells from Germany. This series of problems shows that what? It shows that the Russians are preparing for war! And the target opponent cannot be the United States, so it can only be Japan! This time the Japanese faced a lot of opponents!

The British must be aware of this, so they hope that the Japanese fleet will reach its peak state as soon as possible to meet the US and Russian fleets. Of course, the best result is to deter the US and Russia and make them give up voluntarily. So the British and Japanese couldn't wait and wanted to get these two warships as soon as possible.

"When will Krupp's shells arrive in Shanghai?" Ruprecht asked.

"By the end of February next year at the latest, Krupp has a lot of inventory." Earl Schelling replied.

"That is to say, if the Americans' action plan remains unchanged, then the Japanese may start earlier than the Americans?! This is interesting." Ruprecht said to himself.

His Royal Highness suddenly found that he didn't seem to have to worry about how to make the United States and Japan break their heads! If at the beginning, the United States or Japan voluntarily abandoned the Philippines, the conflict could be avoided, then when the Russians join and stand with the Americans, even if Japan abandons the Philippines, the conflict may be inevitable! If the previous conflict between the United States and Japan is considered a minor conflict, then the conflict between Russia and Japan is irreconcilable, and since Russia has acted, there is absolutely no reason why he should not use this opportunity to defeat the Japanese together with the United States ! Now that this is the case, it doesn't matter when the ship is delivered!

Although the prince is a time traveler, the time traveler is not a god, and he can't explain some things that didn't happen in history, but at least the general direction is not wrong. Therefore, His Royal Highness began to calculate the strength of the fleets of both sides. Who is stronger, the Japanese fleet or the US-Russian combined fleet?

If the entire U.S. fleet comes over, Japan will definitely have no chance, but due to geographical constraints and the performance limitations of the ships themselves, it is very difficult for American battleships to come over. The voyage itself is average, and the seaworthiness is relatively poor. In addition, there are not enough bases and the Panama Canal does not exist. It is not easy for the US Navy battleship formation to come over. So the prince thinks that the cruiser is the most that can come.

And if the battleships are excluded, then the strength of the American cruiser formation is not enough. Except for the New York and the Brooklyn, the remaining battleships can't go a few rounds against the Japanese Asama. Even with the addition of the three Russian warships, the prince still believed that the Japanese fleet had a better chance of winning.

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