The Rise of the Empire

"Now we can't wait any longer. The Germans have surpassed us in the construction speed of new warships. The maritime security of the British Empire is already in jeopardy. When we are still tentatively discussing new warships, the Germans have systematically launched them. Their new dreadnought battleship! Here I want to tell you two things, the first thing is that the completion time of the German battleship Blücher is earlier than our dreadnought! The second thing is, The number of dreadnoughts that the Germans have currently served, will soon serve, and are under construction has reached 8!"

"If we don't catch up, maybe in just a few years, the Royal Navy of the British Empire will lose the advantages, authority and deterrence they have accumulated over the centuries! Therefore, we must not wait! We will start construction of 6 ships this year! Next year, 6 ships will continue! The Imperial Navy has given everything to the British Empire! Therefore, even if we spend the last pound in the imperial treasury, we must not back down!" Sir Fisher, the Secretary of the Navy, said in such a heartbroken speech in the House of Lords .

The content of this speech was subsequently stabbed in the newspaper by those who wanted to, and it ignited public opinion in the UK in a very short period of time. After all, history began to roll forward with great inertia. Under the double pressure of public opinion and politics, the British government passed a plan to start construction of 7 dreadnoughts in 1905, among which the number of fast battleships and battlecruisers advocated by Fisher It is 1, and the number of battleships is 6!

"It seems that our plan was successful?" Tirpitz, who was sitting next to him, looked at the newspaper in his hand and said. "In the speeches the British called Blücher a battleship, not a large cruiser or their battlecruiser, maybe they were really fooled by the appearance?"

Although at the time of design, the German designer had deliberately shortened the captain of the Blücher as much as possible to prevent the British from seeing the clues from the appearance, but the Blücher was still more powerful than the pure-blooded battleship Nassau. Longer, for this reason, the Germans also carried out some publicity on some open or covert channels, such as reducing the power coefficient, such as emphasizing the impact of triple-mounted artillery on the width of the hull, and so on.

And so far, Tirpitz feels that everything he has done seems to be successful? At least that's how it looks in the British newspapers!

"Ruprecht, tell me what you think." The most senior Kaiser said to the Bavarian government sitting on his left.

"Maybe the British haven't built a battlecruiser yet, so they need to accumulate experience? The so-called ten birds in the forest is worse than one bird in the hand. It is obviously more appropriate to build a basic battleship first when you are not sure." Originally, Prince Ruprecht wanted to save Tirpitz's face, but, according to the information the prince received, Tirpitz's inference was almost entirely based on the British newspapers! This intelligence work is too bad, right? Even if the result is correct, the process is really problematic.

"Huh?! There is such a possibility." The Kaiser was also shocked. The first Dreadnought was built to test the waters, but the battlecruisers hadn't tested the waters yet. "Find out more about this matter and get some reliable information. I don't hope that the daily work of the intelligence department is to read newspapers." The words of the Kaiser were full of enthusiasm.

"It's Your Majesty." Tirpitz looked at him with lingering fear, and then obediently sat aside.

"The reaction of the British is indeed fierce, but it will be a matter of time." The Kaiser sighed. To be honest, until now, he still has lingering fears about confronting the British.

In the shadow of a famous tree, the achievements of the British Empire for hundreds of years are no joke. Germany is confident of defeating France. After all, before Germany was established, Prussia and a bunch of little brothers put France on the ground. I also have the confidence to support Russia, because the latter is almost a representative of backwardness and decay in Europe, but the Kaiser is somewhat afraid of the thriving British Empire.

But the so-called open bow has no turning back. If the strength of the Russians is restored, Germany's situation will be even worse, so the Kaiser has decided that the war must start as soon as possible. Start the war when the power of Germany and Austria has reached its peak, but the Allied Powers have not yet fully entered the state!

"Our opponents are not just the British. I want to know what attitude other countries will have towards this naval gamble, the French, the Americans, the Russians, Austria-Hungary, and Italy." The Kaiser paused. Then he said: "Well, I want to know, do you have any plans?"

"Looking at the situation, I feel that there is no need for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to participate in this gamble. Their capital and environment determine that the construction of the navy is meaningless." His Royal Highness thought for a while and said.

"Then let's take a look first." The Kaiser nodded and said.

When Yingde provoked this naval gamble, other countries did not follow up immediately. The French continued to complete their Dandong-class battleship with as many as 6 ships. They believed that a small number of main guns plus a large number of The secondary main battery is still more useful in actual combat than the more expensive full main battery battle.

The behavior of the French is the same as in history. The Dandong-class quasi-dreadnought was designed in 1906, and six ships were started between 1906 and 1908. Historically, the French should have looked down on dreadnoughts at first. After all, the Dreadnought was in service at the end of 1906 in history. If the French had this idea, they could design their own dreadnoughts in 2007, and then stop the follow-up construction plan of the Dandong class. In fact, the first French dreadnought was alone. The promotion battle was started in 1910! This can no longer be explained by lack of time and funds.

After all, the Germans started building their own dreadnoughts in 2007, and the Americans were earlier in history. They started construction at the end of 1906. Even Italy, which has a relatively weak navy, started building their first-class dreadnoughts in 1909. So it can only be said that this time, the French, who are romantic and ingenious, have not kept up with the pace of the world. This is a pity for France and a blessing for Germany.

At the same time, there is no shortage of countries with vision in this world, such as Italy, but it is a pity that vision is not a sufficient condition, but a necessary condition for success. Italy is short of money now! At that time, ***Zeng could say the poems about arming to the bow and going to the whole world. It was because Italy had a little savings at that time, but now? Hundreds of thousands of troops are still trapped in North Africa, how can they have so much money?

As for Russia and Japan, not to mention, they are still at war, so they have more than enough heart but not enough power! Therefore, things that were supposed to shake the world didn't have a big reaction. Of course, this is just the calm before the storm. As time goes by, what should happen will happen!

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