Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 144 Bullying

Dreadnoughts alone are not enough, battlecruisers are incomparably important to the main fleet. Although battlecruisers are becoming more and more expensive, compared to the launch speed of various types of Talen warships, battlecruisers are more cost-effective.

"Four Maensen-class battlecruisers and one improved Byrne-class battleship are enough to fill our shipyard. Although the military command has given us an allowance of seven battleships, the army will not always be so generous as the war progresses. The Byrne-class battlecruisers, Hindenburg battlecruisers, Drake battlecruisers, and many light ships and submarines that are under construction will undoubtedly cost a lot of resources. We haven't broken the Talen blockade yet, so we should invest our limited resources in projects with the greatest returns."

Leo walked down from the podium, chattering sounds rang out, and he sat on the side waiting for the results of the discussion.

By the end of the naval meeting, with the unremitting insistence of Leo and others, the plan to build three Mackensen-class battlecruisers was approved. The result of the compromise among several parties was that the remaining places must be used to build powerful dreadnoughts.

As for the maritime policy, it continued to use commerce disruption, battlecruiser harassment and even possible battleship decisive battles to break the long-range blockade of the large fleet as its tactical goal, and clearly defined the blockade and destruction of Talen's sea transport lines and the weakening and destruction of Talen's wartime economy as its long-term strategic goals.

The design of the Mackensen-class battlecruiser was completed at the fastest speed. It was an expensive new battlecruiser with an estimated cost of 6600 million gold marks. It had a maximum displacement of over 35,000 tons and a maximum speed of 27.5 knots. Its eight newly designed 8mm main guns and 350mm main waterline defensive armor made it the most powerful battleship in the history of the Drake Empire.

A few days after the meeting, the Ocean Fleet was stationed.

"Leo!" In the office of the commander of the Oceanic Fleet, Admiral Leon was furious when he saw Leo's sincere smile.

"Commander, I'm here!"

"Can't you just behave yourself, huh? Why are you harassing the Naval Design Department? Your ability to cause trouble is as outstanding as your ability to command!" Admiral Leon gritted his teeth.

"Isn't the First Reconnaissance Fleet going to be assigned the Drake battlecruiser? I'll go discuss the issue with the designers at the Navy Department!" Leo explained.

"If you have any requests, just send someone to make them! Why go in person? The Navy Design Department has already blocked you. Your theories have caused many of them to complain, and their hair has turned gray! I've heard about it, and you can see how resentful they are!"

"Don't worry, they welcome me this time. I just asked the Drake battlecruiser to have a top speed of more than 27 knots!" Leo paused and said, "I also asked them to design a battleship that is more powerful than the Byrne battleship! They are designing it in full swing?"

"Bullshit! How can the Empire have any extra funds?" Admiral Leon slammed the table and questioned. How could he, the commander of the ocean fleet, not know about a warship more powerful than the Byrne?

"General, I didn't say we wanted to build it. I just asked them to design it!" Leo said repeatedly.

“??? Huh? What’s your idea?” Admiral Leon sat down slowly, waiting for Leo’s explanation.

"It's just strategic deception! If the news leaks out that we are going to build a battleship more powerful than the Byrne-class battleship, how will the Talen people react?"

"Follow up?! Will the Talens be fooled?"

"They have no choice! Because this thing is real in the design department!"

The fact was just as he expected. The Taron spy did learn the terrifying news from the Naval Design Department. The Drake Navy designers secretly designed the most powerful battleship in history for the Drake Navy. As long as this battleship named Celestial Class was launched, it would deal a major blow to the Royal Navy.

The spies who had infiltrated the Navy Department, seeing the designers speaking with confidence and working hard, did not dare to delay and reported the news back to Taron as quickly as possible.

"What kind of pie did you paint for them that made them...work like slaves?"

"I told you, there is no funding limit?"

"Have they become stupid from reading so much? Do they believe this?" Admiral Leon said, sucking his teeth and covering his face.

"I'm not lying. I'm just preparing the technology for future warship upgrades!"

"You should go there less... no... it's better not to go to the Naval Design Department at all. I'm afraid they will beat you up after knowing the truth!" Admiral Leon shook his head.

As time went by, the design of a super dreadnought with the largest tonnage, the best seaworthiness, a speed exceeding that of a battlecruiser, and defensive armor that could ignore 343mm naval guns in the history of the Drake Empire was born.

The displacement is more than tons, the waterline is 260 meters long, 36 meters wide, the full-load draft is 10 meters, the maximum speed is 7 knots, and the endurance is nautical miles/27 knots + 19% combat reserve. In terms of protection, it can resist 20mm shells at a distance of 2 to 3 meters, and the ship's side can withstand the attack of a 381kg charge torpedo. There are 250 twin-mounted 380mm main guns, 4 secondary guns with a caliber of 150mm, and 16 rapid-fire guns with a caliber of 37mm.

After the unremitting efforts of spies Leo and Taron, the Navy Department, which had always maintained strict confidentiality, finally saw a number of espionage incidents. Although the spies were finally caught, the shipbuilding plan and approximate parameters of the Celestial-class battleship were leaked, and Allied newspapers reported the incident in great detail for several days in a row.

Those congressmen who had no power and only had their mouths in the wartime state angrily cursed the navy and repeatedly stated in the newspapers that if it were peacetime, they would definitely veto such a ridiculous shipbuilding plan.

The Army was also very dissatisfied with this. The Army, the big brother, was already in such a difficult situation, and you, the Navy, were still wasting resources and money to expand the army? This was absolutely not allowed!

Facing accusations from many parties, the Navy Department firmly stated that this was all slander and there was no such thing. This was a conspiracy of the Allies! Leo quietly told the Navy designers not to talk nonsense and that he would take responsibility for anything. This made the Navy designers, who were worried about their own safety, grateful to him.

The common people and the lower-ranking officers and soldiers of the Drake Navy were excited and looking forward to the launch of the super battleship. The German Emperor was also very happy. He asked the Navy Design Department to make a model of the Celestial-class battleship and send it to his desk so that he could appreciate the majesty of the Celestial-class in advance.

Although Marshal Aperwin and Admiral Bollinger both explained to the emperor that this was absolutely not the case, the German emperor did not believe it and thought that Admiral Bollinger had been assimilated into the navy.

The Kaiser didn't believe it until the two swore to each other to death. Then he said sadly: "It would be great if this is true. The God-level will definitely bring victory to me and the Empire!"