Please call me William III

Chapter 29: My Fleet

Chapter 29: My Fleet After handing over Renyi to the butler Zack for settlement, Chentian lay quietly on the sleeping chair, imagining the big man wearing ninja clothes, and couldn't help but laugh alone. If only I could hire some ninjas from Japan to establish a ninja organization, but if I knew what I had done and would do to the Japanese in the past, I'm afraid these ninjas would break me apart. As one becomes increasingly involved in military and political affairs, conflicts are likely to be inevitable. Sooner or later, one will have to establish a professional private guard, and Ren é will be the first member of this guard! Chen Tian was pondering when Thomas walked in with a telegram. Jiji, His Majesty the Emperor has convened a meeting in front of the court, and you must also attend this time Do you know why His Majesty the Emperor is in such a hurry to convene the imperial meeting this time I heard it's because the British dreadnought was launched The dreadnought! "Chen Tian pondered, knowing only that the dreadnought had sparked a shipbuilding competition between the world, especially between England and Germany. As for the specific time, it was not very clear, but now it seemed that the era of dreadnoughts had arrived. Okay, Thomas, notify the servants to prepare the car, and we'll set off for Berlin now 10 days later, the Berlin Palace. In the conference room, in addition to German Emperor Wilhelm II, Crown Prince Prince Prince, and cabinet ministers, there were also Chief of General Staff Maurice, Army Minister von Falkenhain, Navy Minister Tirpitz, as well as General Reinhard Scheer, General Franz von Hipper, General Maximilian von Spee, and General Paul von Letov Forbeck from the Navy Department. It seems that the navy is the protagonist in this meeting. Ladies and gentlemen! The theme of today's meeting is how to deal with Britain's new warships! "The emperor gestured for the guards to uncover the object covered with red cloth in the center of the conference table, and a model of a warship appeared in front of everyone. For this unprecedented warship, everyone showed great surprise. Then, Admiral Tirpitz began to introduce this warship to everyone. According to the intelligence we have collected, the British refer to their battleship as the 'Dreadnought' class battleship. The biggest feature of this warship is 10 single large caliber 305mm main guns, steam turbine power, 21 knots speed, and comprehensive heavy armor protection Mmm Tilpitz said this, and everyone couldn't help but admire him. This battleship with a displacement of about 20000 tons, which started construction in Portsmouth, England in October last year, was launched at an astonishing speed in February this year and began sea trials in October. Tirpitz had to stop again because every word he said would make people exclaim in surprise. According to our intelligence, this' Dreadnought 'class has comprehensive protection, with very thick armor in key areas such as turrets, engine rooms, ammunition depots, and command towers. Even the armor belt in the midship of the ship is much thicker than that of ordinary battleships, and the traditional bow impact angle has been eliminated The crowd once again exclaimed in surprise at this new type of battleship. Quiet, quiet! "The emperor was dissatisfied with everyone's admiration for the British warship, and the conference room finally fell silent. I have decided to suspend all of our current battleship construction plans and focus on building our German dreadnoughts Yes, as His Majesty the Emperor has said, we will revise the shipbuilding plan. His Majesty hopes that the new plan will bring the Imperial Navy's strength to a scale of 13 dreadnought class battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 22 old battleships, 32 cruisers, 114 destroyers, and 30 submarines by 1914. "Tirpitz added," Your Majesty invited everyone here today to discuss this shipbuilding plan Discuss? Chen Tian thinks that this shipbuilding plan was clearly agreed upon by the emperor and the naval minister in advance, even the specific types and quantities of ships have been planned. Is there any room for negotiation now? What everyone is going to do today should be to support the plan of the Emperor and the Minister of the Navy! The generals should not object, it's just the ministers who control the finances... It seems that the emperor is going to put pressure on them today. Everyone is welcome to raise any opinions! "The emperor looked at the ministers and generals who were discussing below. Your Majesty's reputation! I think this shipbuilding plan is very perfect! "Chen Tian stood up, feeling that there was nothing to criticize about this plan. In this international environment, Germany had to keep up with Britain's pace, and Britain had to speed up to avoid being caught up by Germany. He just caught sight of the emperor gesturing for two other naval generals to come out and support this plan, so he had an idea and stepped forward to support the emperor's shipbuilding plan. Although Chen Tian does not have much say in the government and cabinet, he is still a noble prince of East Prussia, and his plane has given him considerable influence in people's minds. So the generals all expressed their approval, with only a few cabinet ministers frowning, indicating that financial pressure was their concern. Your Majesty, ministers, and generals, in order to support the development of the Imperial Navy and our German hegemony in the world, I am willing to contribute my personal property to support Your Majesty's grand plan. My K ö nigsberg shipyard will provide all the submarines in this shipbuilding plan to the Navy free of charge! "Chen Tian quickly calculated the cost of his words in his heart. If the submarines were to be built in bulk, each one would only cost about 500000 marks, and his economic ability could fully achieve it." Ladies and gentlemen, I promise to provide 30 submarines and all the planes needed by the Navy without compensation in the next 8 years Mmm... "Today, everyone's hearts were stimulated one after another, causing several elderly ministers to plan to retire early. Finally, those cabinet ministers also nodded. Very good! "The emperor nodded to Chen Tian and stood up to announce loudly," So I announce that the new shipbuilding plan has been finalized. Tomorrow, this plan will be submitted to the cabinet for approval! We are now behind the British, and we hope that everyone, like the Prince of East Prussia, will contribute their own strength to the rise of Germany After the imperial meeting, the emperor instructed the guards to notify Chen Tian to go to his study. Dear Jiji, my nephew, I am very satisfied with your performance today! "The emperor sat wearily at his desk." I thought I had to put in some effort to support those cabinet ministers. This shipbuilding plan requires such huge financial support! They are all damn British Yes, Your Majesty! But I'm worried that the British will build more warships against our shipbuilding plan! "Chen Tian knew that in history, the British won this shipbuilding competition with a speed of 2 ships to 1 ship, and history may repeat itself here. That is to say, at the beginning of the war, the German navy may still lag far behind the British navy in terms of scale. If Germany had advanced warships, it would still have to compete. submarine! Aircraft carrier! You don't have to worry about this! Besides, I won't let you provide these things to the empire for nothing. Tomorrow, I will notify the Navy Department and ask them to provide you with the best submarine experts and technicians in the country. After you provide 30 submarines, all submarines of the Navy will be ordered from your shipyard! "The emperor knows that although 30 submarines are not the main force of the Navy, the cost of building them is definitely a huge expense for individuals. Your Majesty, serving the empire is what I should do! However... "Chen Tian secretly calculated how to make his demands without making the emperor feel that his appetite was too big. Hmm! Do you have any other requirements? Just let me know It's like this, I hope to establish a Baltic Fleet! "Chen Tian glanced at the emperor, his expression unchanged, just thinking, and continued," I hope this is a fleet mainly composed of destroyers and submarines, and of course, I hope to realize my idea of an aircraft carrier in this fleet 'Aircraft carrier?' The emperor looked at Chen Tian, a term he had never heard of before. It is a large vessel loaded with seaplanes or regular aircraft. The seaplane is suspended from the ship and lifted to the surface before taking off, while the regular aircraft takes off from the deck of the ship Haha! Interesting! Jiji, how could you have such an idea! "The emperor seemed unable to imagine what kind of thing it was. He thought for a moment and then nodded," The future goal of the Imperial Navy is battleships. The Navy Department does not have extra funds to support your idea, but I can give you the organization of the Baltic Fleet. You can provide a few destroyers that you need from the Navy. As for submarines, 10 of the submarines you provided to the Navy for free will be allocated to this Baltic Fleet. You can handle the rest yourself Thank you, Your Majesty Although he had to pay for it himself, Chen Tian still felt very happy to have his own navy. So it's Your Highness the Prince! What's so happy about When Chen Tian walked to the entrance of the palace, he suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned his head to see that it was indeed Crown Prince Prince. He didn't know if this guy was causing trouble for the plane. Oh, it's Your Highness the Crown Prince! Hello Father, what did he say when he invited you in and made you so happy? It's even happier than being a prince! "Prince looked at Chen Tian with a cold smile. Your Highness, don't make me happy! Your Majesty the Emperor just asked me to go back and prepare my submarine properly! "Chen Tian felt that the Crown Prince liked to keep his words hidden, and he hated people like this the most. Yeah! Speaking of submarines, you're really wealthy! With 30 submarines, I'm afraid you can't get them without tens of millions of marks! You have money, you really have money As members of the royal family, we enjoy a treatment of several million marks every year. How can we not share the burden of the country! Now that the empire needs it, I am just making some returns! "Chen Tian smiled." Recently, our airplane sales have been good, and the Crown Prince is really gaining both fame and fortune Hmph! Not bad! I hope we can continue to work together well, it will be beneficial for both of us! "The Crown Prince patted Chen Tian's shoulder and turned away with a smile. The beautiful mood was ruined by this guy, and Chen Tian could only smile bitterly. It seems that the Crown Prince and himself have been exhausted! The next day, Chen Tian was found again by Navy Minister Tirpitz. Tirpitz has received notification from the emperor regarding the establishment of the Baltic Fleet and the provision of submarine experts and technicians. He was already very optimistic about the future of submarines, and after a long conversation with Chen Tian, he became even more aware of the enormous role of submarines as blockade weapons. At the request of Chen Tian, he agreed to transfer two light cruisers to the Baltic Fleet in the future and instructed that the task of this fleet is to protect the ports along the coast of East Prussia and, if necessary, to impose submarine blockades on the Baltic Sea. In December 1906, the Baltic Fleet was officially established. At the beginning of the fleet's establishment, there were only three experimental submarines, two destroyers transferred by the navy, and five torpedo boats built by the K ö nigsberg shipyard. Afterwards, Chentian once again invested 20 million marks in the K ö nigsberg shipyard, expanding its scale from a medium-sized shipyard to a large shipyard, and recruited a large number of experts and technical workers from Norway and Sweden. The shipyard began building medium and large ocean going cargo ships, and also began building destroyers with technical support from Tirpitz and the Navy Department. The strength of the Baltic Fleet is gradually increasing.