The winter wind was howling, the snow was dancing, and the end of 1928 was soon over the world.

While the German Navy was gradually regaining its strength and laying the keel for one new warship after another, the shipyards of the major powers were also busy like beehives. The furnace fire in the factory roared, and the molten steel poured down, producing tens of thousands of parts and materials for warships; On the slipway, the rivets are sonorous, the boom is horizontal, and a large number of construction workers are attached to the temporary working platform, and these parts are installed in place according to the design drawings. In the berths of the shipyard, the ships that have been launched are also undergoing intense outfitting operations; When the superstructure was erected and the final turret was hoisted and ready, it was the official entry of the warship.

Today, Fang Yan's book "The Revelation of the Rise and Fall of the High Seas Fleet of the German Empire" has been published for two and a half years, and its deafening and muddy sound has also reached the hearts of the leaders of every major power who has the strength to enter the ocean with the translation of relevant languages. Challenging innocence and building ships justified, this is Fang Yan's fierce retort to the missionary demonization of pre-war history compiled by London's elites; If Britain has done the first year of the first year of the exclusive sea profiteering, why can't other countries do the fifteenth to go and share a piece of meat? What's more, today's Britain is no longer the empire that can dominate the universe and make all forces breathless!

Italy, located in southern Europe, is ahead of the competition to build ships during the naval holiday. Italy not only has an objective strategic need to maintain the Libyan oil fields, but Mussolini, who is in charge of the power, also attaches great importance and attention to the development of the navy - Fang Yan's conversation with him last summer has strengthened the determination of the dictator who is already in favor of large warships. Although the Italian Navy has not yet made a fuss about capital ships due to political considerations, the construction of auxiliary ships to expand its own strength has become the core of their established line.

The Italian Admiralty was greatly satisfied with the performance indicators of the Taranto-class cruisers, which began construction in 1925, and this year, the Navy, which had received sufficient funds, threw out an order for four improved models as a follow-up. The new cruiser, named "Zara", was mainly based on the parent Taranto class, and its power was strengthened: its design power was increased from 100,000 to 125,000 horsepower, and it was expected to achieve a top speed of 35 knots while optimizing the alignment. Although its standard displacement has been increased to 11,000 tons in order to ensure the same 9 203-mm guns as its predecessor and its own shells, this overweight is also completely within the perfunctory range. Comparing the treaty cruisers of various countries, the Zara class undoubtedly stands at the pinnacle of the same family.

And in order to deal with the French super destroyer, the Italian Navy, which has received the export of Brom-Foss technology, has also decided to adopt a-for-tat strategy of building ships of the same type. In the end, the proposal offered by the Ansaldo shipyard was chosen by the Navy, and an order was placed for 8 ships after being named the "Saruno" class. It has a standard displacement of 2,000 tons, is equipped with six twin 120 mm L45 guns and six triple 533 mm torpedo tubes, and has a design speed of 35 knots. The Italian Navy plans to completely replace the old torpedo boats with this versatile and high-performance destroyer, which means that at least 40 of them and subsequent improved models will be built.

The actions of the Italian Navy naturally affected neighboring France. It is rather ironic that the French also admired Tsubashi's book on the eulogy of his sworn enemy's navy. This strange situation is not difficult to understand: the French Navy was also the loser in the competition with the British Navy in the past, and the Battle of Trafalgar, which directly led to the shattering of Napoleon's dream of attacking the British mainland, was denounced by the London elite as a typical example of "daring to be an enemy of the Royal Navy on the sea" before the emergence of William II and Tirpitz, and Napoleon was also labeled as an extremely negative "threat to the civilized world"!

The French who have lived in this shadow for more than 100 years can be imagined with resentment and humiliation in their hearts. Now that Fang Yan has completely overturned the so-called "God-given theocracy" of the legal order of the sea, which was written and performed by the British, and undoubtedly completely whitewashed Napoleon, the greatest hero in the eyes of the French, how can this not make them feel bad and happy at the same time? Moreover, at present, the relationship between Britain and France has also been clearly cracked because of the differences between the two sides on the question of Germany: Britain's connivance and assistance to Germany in regaining its strength have all made France feel angry, and its hostility towards Britain has reached its highest point since the conclusion of the "Good Faith Agreement" between Britain and France in 1905.

In order to counter the expansion of the imaginary Italian navy, maintain its global maritime rights and interests as the world's second largest colonial empire, and also to express its dissatisfaction with Britain, France, which is obviously stronger economically and industrially than Italy, also rolled up its sleeves and went all out in this round of competition for auxiliary warships. They added an order for two "Soflon" (sister-in-law) classes, so that they still had two more cruisers than the Italians in terms of the total number of 10,000-ton treaty cruisers. In the field of destroyers, they enlarged the caliber of the main gun from 130 mm to 138.6 mm, and designed the "Cheetah" class with a standard displacement of 2436 tons. At a time when the mainstream destroyers of various countries are only 13,400 tons, this is definitely a behemoth of astonishing size.

The escalating shipbuilding race between the two powers in the Mediterranean Sea made Fang Yan, who was far away in Kiel, feel irrepressible joy. Needless to say, the benefits of an expanded Italian navy would be an ideal situation to maximize the use of its resources. The opposite is true for France: the expansion of its naval fleet will inevitably affect the lineup of the army and air forces and the production capacity of related equipment, and the latter is the key to the death of the country and the fate of the nation. The more they invest in the navy, the easier it will be for future campaigns on the Western Front; By the time France is defeated on land, these warships will all become independent monsters, and may even be used by Germany!

Although the United States and Japan are far away from the whirlpool of Europe, which is a land of right and wrong, they have never stopped building their fleets for a moment. Following the construction of four Myo-class, Japan has started construction of four Kaohsiung-class cruisers in recent years, and these eight high-speed and heavy artillery cruisers have greatly exceeded the 10,000-ton standard displacement limit stipulated in the treaty. The United States also has eight treaty cruisers under construction, but this number is only for the cowboys to be ready to go, but not for the extreme. Even the Soviet Union joined the race for cruisers: the Leningrad Union Shipyard, a branch of Brom-Foss, built two Sverdlov-class cruisers. Among them, there is also an unfinished hull of a battleship that has attracted the attention of the outside world. In the past, the Red Navy was forced to scrap a valuable dreadnought inherited from Tsarist Russia due to serious damage; Now, the Russians, who have not signed an arms limitation treaty at all, are ready to make up for this shortfall.

For Britain, this situation of the combination of powers is undoubtedly another round of serious impact and challenge to its maritime power. Although it had already started construction of 15 treaty cruisers totaling 146,000 tons, as if it had returned to the glorious days of implementing the "two power standards" in the past, Churchill, who was in charge of the British Empire's money bags, understood better than anyone else that the advantage he had formed at present was only a short-term explosion of overdrawing his future potential in advance and using the means of financing. When the previous debt matures, it will inevitably be impossible for the government to build as much of the ship as it did before. In the whole of 1928, Britain only started construction of one new cruiser, and its decline and fatigue were already fully visible. And with the passage of time, the advantages that Britain gained in the early stage will soon be rapidly reduced or even overtaken by the United States, a country that has been growing for a long time!

And at this moment, the Americans are already preparing to put it into action. Due to the failure of the Geneva Naval Disarmament Conference on June 20, 1927, the United States decided to take practical action to show Britain and Japan, which dared to set off a cruiser race craze during the naval holiday and take advantage of themselves. At this moment, the United States, which is at the peak of Coolidge's prosperity, has a larger industrial and economic aggregate than the whole of Europe combined, and is not afraid of any kind of peace challenge! Congress quickly approved a budget for building ships for small tests, and construction of 15 10,000-ton cruisers is expected to start in the next three years. Obviously, when these warships are completed, the small advantage of scale that Britain has accumulated with all its best efforts will instantly disappear like a drop in a fire.

"The British should be ready to 'meet' again, right?" After learning this news, Fang Yan couldn't help but sneer slightly. During the current naval holiday, the shipbuilding plans of various countries are transparent and open, which makes him still able to obtain this important information in a relatively short period of time, even on the other side of the ocean. It is not surprising that the Americans are going to exert their strength, and only 30% of the strength makes the British Empire, which is in decline, unable to match. In order to ensure a naval status commensurate with its global empire, Britain can only beg the United States to sign a treaty with a face!

Thinking of the United States, Fang Yan couldn't help but move slightly in his heart. In mid-1920, his uncle Walter went to the United States to carry out a Ponzi scheme; Now that more than 8 years have passed, and the development of the Brom family is also thriving, his goal has already been achieved, and it should be time to consider retreating, right?