Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 185 Follow the trend

"Leo, that little bastard, is lying to me again!" The emperor was furious because the official in charge of shipbuilding glared at the emperor, indicating that he knew nothing.

Since the rise of the Drake Navy, many countries have followed the example of the Drake Navy, and many designs have referenced the Drake battleship. Therefore, without exception, many countries have copied and built large light cruisers. The worst victim was the Republic of Chile in South America. The Chief of Naval Staff of their country cursed the initiator Leo Sivens as a shameless person in his diary.

Although Leo had published many papers in which he praised battlecruisers to the sky, and Marshal Fisher of Talen was also a supporter of battlecruisers, the Republic of Yemelica, the Fran Republic, the Kingdom of Itli, the Rakshasa Kingdom, and the Osmagali Empire, which were participating in the dreadnought construction competition, did not dare to bet easily. After all, except for Yemelica, which had abundant funds, other countries were willing to spend every penny.

Before the war, only the Kingdom of Tarun, the Empire of Drake and the Kingdom of Wa Nuxian had battlecruisers. In 1917, the Japanese already had four Kongo-class battlecruisers. This was because the Japanese were lucky enough to get the Kongo-class battlecruisers they ordered from the Tarun shipyard back home before the outbreak of the world war, thus escaping the clutches of their father Tarun.

The Leo Fleet, which rushed out from the Far East, consisted of 3 battlecruisers and 2 armored cruisers. It ran rampant in the Pacific Ocean, the Bolivian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean, and even cut off the Allied shipping routes in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific.

Facing the Leo fleet, Talen's dreadnoughts and battleships could not catch up, and the general cruisers and destroyers were giving Leo a chance to win. There was no other way, so the Royal Navy set a trap and sent out the same battlecruisers, which blocked the Leo fleet. This was the first time the world saw the power of the battlecruisers.

The outbreak of the Battle of Shipwreck Bay made the world realize the importance of battlecruisers in high mobility, surprise attacks and reconnaissance in naval warfare. After the war, the Yemelica Navy Department voted overwhelmingly to build a plan called the Lexington-class battlecruiser. They could not fall too far behind the Taruns and Drakes; while the Japanese were complacent with their four powerful Kongo-class battlecruisers and looked at their neighbors with increasing unfriendliness.

The news of the Battle of the North Sea spread throughout the world. From then on, the naval powers that already had battlecruisers were in high spirits and continued to build more battlecruisers. The countries that had not yet equipped themselves with battlecruisers were uneasy, fearing that others would come to their doorstep to cause trouble, so they were secretly making efforts, either building their own or purchasing them. Unfortunately, once the war broke out, no country would sell them.

The financially strapped Franks have already used most of their working capital to build three Bretagne-class battleships and a large number of Normandy-class battleships. Originally, the battlecruiser plan had been put on the agenda, but because the Franks needed to support the Rakshasa Empire, the shipbuilding funds were misappropriated and the plan to build the battlecruiser had to be shelved.

The Kingdom of Itri placed its hopes on the commissioning of three Count of Cavour-class and two Caio-Duilio-class battleships, attempting to occupy the throne of the Mediterranean hegemon alone. Although they had started building a fast battleship on the slipway, it was still a big question whether the Kingdom of Itri, with its poor industrial capacity, could complete the battleship.

Before the Osmagali Empire solved various problems on land, it confidently turned its attention to the ocean and obtained a huge amount of shipbuilding funds from the parliament, hoping to build four more advanced super-dreadnoughts. However, after the outbreak of the war, the funds were quickly diverted to other uses. The Navy Department was not discouraged by the difficult situation and designed a battlecruiser to build, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Osmagali Empire Navy vetoed it again. The combined forces were enough to protect their interests, so the vast ocean should be left to the Drakes to explore.

The Yemelica people looked like nouveau riche, but the biggest obstacle for the Yemelica naval designers was the Yemelica Congress, where the congressmen vowed not to let the navy waste every penny of taxpayers' money. In 1913, the Yemelica Navy commissioned two Pennsylvania-class battleships, and in 1914, three new Mexicali-class battleships were laid down. The navy did not dare to hope to get funds from Congress to build the Lexington-class battlecruisers they had high hopes for.

But the Battle of the North Sea gave the Congress some shock, and they finally accepted the construction plan of the Lexington battlecruiser. The German battlecruisers played tricks on the Talen First Battlecruiser Squadron with inferior numbers, sinking three battleships of the Talen Kingdom and making a quick rescue in front of the battleship line of the Talen Grand Fleet. The German battleships managed to turn the disadvantage around under multiple rounds of artillery fire from the Talens and sank two battleships.

It can be said that the German battleship became famous in one battle and became a model for the world's navies to imitate. When the Drakes announced that they would install a large light cruiser in addition to the huge battlecruiser construction plan, the heated discussion about this new battleship in various countries inevitably spread widely.

"We can't afford to build battlecruisers, but building a few large light cruisers will surely provide good combat power! They can just serve as a showpiece!" This is the voice of many countries with weak navies, and they now have another option.

In fact, even the frugal Drake Navy invested 194 million gold pounds in the first battlecruiser. In addition, the first ship of the Tireless class battlecruiser of Talen, which is known as the cheapest in the world, cost 155 million gold pounds. This was before the gold pound depreciated sharply. Now, the most advanced Derflinger class battlecruiser of the Drake Empire costs 281 million gold pounds, excluding the depreciation of the gold pound, and this does not include the cost of logistics and maintenance. The price of the Talen Lion class battlecruiser is generally more than 200 million gold pounds, excluding some tricks.

The high price prevents the countries at war from equipping more, but if it is a weakened version of the battlecruiser, it is not unacceptable. Yemelica, Fran, Itli, and Osmagali are obviously very interested, and even the three South American giants are willing to give it a try.

"After deducting this year's shipbuilding, modification and maintenance funds, the special shipbuilding funds allocated by Parliament to the Royal Navy have less than two million pounds left." Art paused and continued, "Although our national debt issued globally has made investors afraid to buy due to the loss of the naval battle, and it is also difficult to raise funds from the private sector. However, it is urgent for the Royal Navy to strengthen its strength. The Prime Minister has decided to use the gold reserves of the treasury to provide us with a shipbuilding fund of more than 20 million pounds. This money is the reserve of the empire for hundreds of years, and they must use it effectively!"

"Sir Art, as the commander of the Grand Fleet, I think the most urgent task of the Royal Navy now is how to suppress the impact of Drake's naval battle cruiser!" Jefferson said worriedly.