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"Are the 'Imperial' battleships ready to start construction?" Wang Yuze asked with some surprise. As the last battleship of the Imperial Navy, it took the Navy's Battleship Design Institute two years to complete the relevant design. There is no doubt that the 'Imperial-class' battleship will be the largest and most formidable battleship ever built.

"Yes, Your Majesty! Preparations have been completed at the shipyard, and one will be built at the Tianjin Shipyard and the Beihai Shipyard. The first ship 'Empire' was built at the Tianjin Shipyard, and the second ship 'The Emperor' was built at the Beihai Shipyard! Navy Minister Zhang Cheng said. The only thing that made him feel a little regretful was that the 'Empire-class' battleship Wang Yuze only approved the construction plan of two ships, such a perfect battleship, if more can be built, Zhang Cheng believes that the Chinese Navy can easily defeat the US Navy and the British Navy without sending aircraft carriers. Of course, the cost of the 'Imperial-class' battleships is too high, much more expensive than aircraft carriers, Wang Yuze's promise to build two is already taking into account the feelings of the navy, if you want to build four at once, it is impossible!

The 'Imperial-class' battleship has a standard displacement of 41,000 tons, a full load displacement of 49,500 tons, a length of 1,995 meters, a width of 324 meters, and a draft of 112 meters. It is powered by 24 new oil-fired boilers and four latest steam turbines, with a power of 126,000 horsepower, four-axle propulsion, a maximum speed of more than 28 knots (the maximum speed of 29 knots in the test run after successful construction), a cruising range of 10 knots/9,000 nautical miles, and three triple 406 mm 50 times caliber naval guns. It adopts a knapsack turret, two in the front and one in the rear, 10 155 mm rapid-fire guns and 10 twin 37-mm rapid-fire guns. The armor is made of new domestic armor, which is fully capable of matching the latest armor of Krupp, with 406 mm of armor for the main turret and bridge, 135 mm for the deck and 406 mm for the side straps. Compared with the 'Tang-class' battleships, the 'Imperial-class' battleships have more firepower. The speed is also comparable. After completion, no country's battleships could compete with the 'Imperial class'. Moreover, the 'Imperial-class' battleships were strengthened with underwater armor, and even the 450-mm medium torpedoes of naval aviation were difficult to blow up the underwater armor of the 'Imperial-class' battleships. Unless it was hit by a 533-mm heavy torpedo and hit multiple heavy torpedoes. Otherwise, the 'Imperial-class' battleships were not in danger of sinking. The powerful performance of the 'Imperial-class' battleships also makes the cost of the 'Imperial-class' battleships relatively high, each of which costs 50 million Chinese yuan, and a total of two ships are built, namely the 'Imperial' and the 'Emperor'.

"Inform the shipyard that I will go to the groundbreaking ceremony. But. It would be better for the shipyard to speed up the schedule, and I hope that in three years' time, the 'Imperial' battleships will be in service with the Chinese Navy. In addition, confidentiality must be done well. I don't want to be informed by Western countries about the 'Imperial' battleships until they are commissioned! Wang Yuze said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The news of the Don-class' battleships was deliberately leaked by the Empire. If the Empire is unwilling, other countries will not want to find out the specific situation of the Imperial Navy! Navy Minister Zhang Cheng said. The main shipyards in China. In particular, the shipyards that build warships for the Navy are military exclusion zones, and are guarded by Department of Homeland Security agents and factory escorts for several kilometers around, making it almost impossible to sneak in. Only when the battleship is built and sea trials are carried out, it is possible to be discovered by the outside world!

Wang Yuze hoped that the 'Imperial-class' battleships would be commissioned in three years, hoping that these two battleships, which had been built at great expense, would be able to catch up with this world war. The current history is completely different from the history known by Wang Yuze, perhaps because of their father and son, the current history has been changed beyond recognition. Therefore, Wang Yuze did not know when the war would break out. The only thing he can do next week is to increase China's military strength as much as possible before war breaks out.

"Chief of the General Staff, when will the General Staff negotiation war break out?" Wang Yuze asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have obtained, after analysis, it is believed that the Great War will probably break out in 1912 or 1913. Both the Entente and the Allies have already experienced economic recession and a decline in the people's living standards, which shows that the economies of various countries have begun to deteriorate because of the frenzied arms expansion. By 1912 or 1913, the economies of the countries were about to collapse. And in order to divert the contradictions, countries have to start wars, and there is no other way! Of course, this is only a preliminary judgment. If some unexpected factors break out during this period, it may also make the war break out! Chief of the General Staff Xiong Wu said.

"Hmmm! Now that all countries have invested most of their national strength in armaments, the situation in Europe is even more critical, and war is on the verge of breaking out. The Empire also needs to speed up its preparations for war! Wang Yuze said. Because of the emergence of China, the current history is different, the main change is that Germany's strength is stronger than in history, under the threat of Germany, Britain and France have also accelerated the speed of preparations, so that if you calculate, the war is likely to break out in 1914!

"Your Majesty, the Empire's preparations for war have been going on in an orderly manner. All types of warships of the Navy are being built according to the plan and will not affect the war. The Army has also perfected the mobilization mechanism, and after the mobilization order is issued, the country's 40 reserve brigades will be expanded into divisions within a week, and according to the plans of the General Staff and the War Department, these divisions will be numbered 101 to 140. Within three months, sixty divisions of retired servicemen will also be formed, numbering 141 to 200. After that, the empire was able to create a hundred or even two hundred new divisions every year to devote to the war. Judging from the huge number of troops in the army, no country can compare with the empire! Chief of the General Staff Xiong Wu said. The large number of people is also an advantage at this time. After acquiring vast land, especially the rich land in the Nanyang region, China's population has once again increased tremendously, and the country's population has now reached 560 million, and the number of soldiers that can be recruited is more than 20 million. Moreover, it will not have much impact on the domestic economy!

"What about mercenaries? The Japanese and Koreans also have to establish a corresponding mobilization mechanism, and after the outbreak of war, they will also contribute to the hegemony of the empire! Wang Yuze said. Both Japanese and Korean mercenaries are good in the South Seas, and they will be very good candidates for cannon fodder in future wars!

"After the start of the war, Japan can form a mercenary army of one million people within two years, and North Korea can also form a mercenary army of 500,000 people. And, if the Empire needs it, this number can be doubled! Xiong Wu said.

"Alright, let's go according to this plan! The next war will be a protracted war, and the empire must be prepared to fight a protracted war. All kinds of military supplies, especially weapons and ammunition, must be fully prepared! Wang Yuze advised. China does not lack grain. Although the population has increased considerably, the rice produced in the Nanyang region every year is enough to feed all Chinese.

"Yes, Your Majesty! The major arsenals have increased their production capacity to the maximum, and the weapons and ammunition produced have been stored for future wars! Xiong Wu replied!

On October 1, 1909, Wang Yuze secretly came to the Tianjin shipyard to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the battleship "Empire". The ceremony was very low-key, with no one but military dignitaries and shipyard workers in attendance. The arrival of Wang Yuze made the workers full of enthusiasm.

When the gantry crane lifted the first keel and installed it, there was warm applause around the dock. Construction of the Imperial Navy's most powerful battleships has finally begun, and in a few years' time, they will be on the seas and terrified by the enemy!

The Tianjin Shipyard has become the largest shipyard in the Empire, now employing more than 100,000 people, capable of building everything from gunboats to battleships and aircraft carriers, where the main warships of the Imperial Navy were built.

"How's our aircraft carrier being built?" Wang Yuze asked.

After the last naval exercise, the aircraft carrier showed extremely strong combat power during the exercise, which greatly impacted the admirals of the navy. However, the 'Kunlun' aircraft carrier is only a training aircraft carrier, and its performance is not enough to be put into actual combat. Therefore, after the exercise, Wang Yuze asked the warship design institute to come up with a design plan for a new aircraft carrier.

The Navy's warship design institute is also in the process of exploring the design of the aircraft carrier, and it took more than a year and several revisions during this period before it was finally finalized. After Wang Yuze's approval, from the second half of last year, the construction of the empire's new aircraft carrier has begun!

The Empire's new aircraft carrier was named the 'Emeishan-class' aircraft carrier, and a total of four ships will be built, named 'Emeishan', 'Wutaishan', 'Jiuhuashan' and 'Putuoshan'. The 'Emeishan-class' aircraft carrier has a standard displacement of 20,100 tons, a full load displacement of 25,800 tons, a length of 2,467 meters, a width of 3,338 meters, and a draft of 853 meters. It is equipped with 18 new oil-fired boilers, four steam turbines, a power of 100,000 horsepower, four propulsions, a maximum speed of 28 knots, and a cruising range of 9,000 nautical miles/12 knots. Capable of carrying 80 combat aircraft and eight seaplanes. It is armed with eight 105-mm high-level guns, four twin 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, eight 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 24 762-mm anti-aircraft machine guns. In addition, the 'Emeishan-class' aircraft carrier has two lifting platforms and two catapults, which can speed up the take-off speed of fighters!