"Mr. President, one of the main reasons why the Germans dared to ignore the mediation of the United States this time was that our fleet was too weak to be sure of what would happen after we entered the war."

Secretary of the Navy Daniels spoke slowly, breaking the silence in the chamber: "The United States is located in North America, across two oceans, and is surrounded by no major powers, which inherently provides a valuable breeding ground for our peaceful development. Yet, while God has blessed the people of the United States with this abundant grace, he has also built a wall as we go out into the country. Because of the vast oceans, our influence is limited to a corner of North America; And if the United States were to spread its will to Europe farther away, a naval fleet capable of transcending the maritime barrier and projecting power on a large scale would be our most critical dependence. ”

Hearing these words, everyone in the conference hall was stunned; Previously, they all thought about how to use their life experience to make a lot of money, so that the United States could obtain enough economic benefits through this war, but few people thought about the deep-seated problems hidden under the surface from the perspective of national strategy. Seeing Daniels, a businessman, with a face that could not hide his philistine appearance in elegance, Wilson, who knew him well, suddenly moved in his heart and said, "Teddy, did you hear this from Theodore?" ”

Daniels smiled awkwardly, in response to Wilson's inquiry. While Theodore? Roosevelt had announced his retirement from politics, but as Wilson's number one rival in the presidential election the year before, his contacts with him were still somewhat unacceptable. However, Roosevelt, who had a close personal relationship with Mahan himself. But he can almost be said to be the most far-sighted politician in the field of naval affairs in the United States at present; It was from 1897, when he actually dominated the US Navy. The strength of the fleet under the Stars and Stripes has grown by leaps and bounds. It quickly climbed from the sixth place in the world to the top three behind Britain and Germany. Daniels inherited the efficient and stable Admiralty that Roosevelt had devoted ten years of hard work to. Under the premise of serving the United States, Daniels also maintained a considerable amount of correspondence with this retired old lion, and many of the latter's policies and ideas in naval construction were completely inherited and carried forward by Daniels.

"If our fleet is strong enough to blockade the sea power which Germany has just acquired, the Germans will be as subservient to the will of the United States in shock as Mexico and Panama; Unfortunately, however, the current United States Navy is still an order of magnitude behind the German High Seas Fleet. We have only 2 South Carolina-class, 2 Delaware-class, 2 Florida-class, 2 Wyoming-class, and 2 New York-class dreadnoughts in active service, and the overall lineup is less than half of the main German fleet; 2 Nevada-class battleships will not be delivered to the Navy until 1916. The commissioning of the other two Pennsylvania-class battleships, which had just begun, was even more far away. Whether it is in the number of warships in active service or the replenishment of subsequent warships, we have a huge gap with the Germans. ”

Daniels briefly counted the current U.S. Navy, and then said: "If this situation continues, the gap between our fleet and the Germans will only widen. What is even more serious is that we cannot concentrate the only warships in the same ocean: on the other side of the Pacific, Japan is expanding its fleet on a large scale, and now has two large battlecruisers equipped with eight 14-inch guns and a speed of more than 27 knots, while the United States of America currently has no corresponding warships to deal with it! To deter Japan's expanding expansionist ambitions, we must also deploy a powerful fleet in Hawaii, with even fewer ships capable of fighting in the Atlantic. This diplomatic failure against Germany is a wake-up call that the big stick in the hands of the United States is shrinking. We must now go all out to expand the vital strength of our fleet! ”

Daniels's words fell, and he found that everyone around him was contemplating. There is no such thing as the disdainful eyes and foaming arguments of the usual days. Seeing this scene, Daniels finally had a bad breath in his heart. Prior to this, Congress and the public were attacking their proposal to increase the naval budget, and a group of colleagues in the Democratic Cabinet were also making it difficult: in their eyes, the dreadnoughts, which cost as much as $9 million, were gold-swallowing behemoths and the culprits who took their wealth out of their purses. It wasn't until the current $3.5 billion in overseas loans that bubbled up that these blind-eyed idiots were finally woken up by a slap in the face. If they had been able to invest an extra $400 or 500 million in the navy and expand the lineup of the main US fleet to 20 ships, the Germans would not have dared to turn a deaf ear to the voices coming from Washington, where would the situation we have today?

"Teddy, how many warships do we need now?" After a long silence, Wilson finally asked.

"Mr. President, the United States is now building new warships too slowly. On average, construction starts on three capital ships every two years, and in some cases, the Diet only approves the construction of one ship per year, a rate that even the Japanese cannot guarantee to be surpassed. They also have 2 Kongo-class battlecruisers that are already in outfitting condition after launching, and 4 larger battleships are under construction; If the European war is over and the Germans return those 2 foreign trade warships to them, we will face the tremendous pressure of 10 capital ships in the Pacific Ocean in the next three years! Before coming to the meeting, Daniels had already calculated his calculations, and then told Wilson all his calculations, "We must pass a new naval expansion decree and add two more Pennsylvania-class ships this year." In 1915 and 1916, we needed to ensure that 10 battleships appeared on the slipways of the major shipyards, so that we could somewhat stabilize the current disadvantage facing the United States. In addition, we need 8 light cruisers and at least 30 new destroyers, and with the funds needed to expand the slipway, the entire expansion plan will cost more than $900 million. ”

"Start construction of 10 battleships in two years?" Rao Wilson was mentally prepared, but was still taken aback by the numbers Daniels reported. You must know that at present, the appropriation of every battleship of the US Navy can only be obtained by fierce fighting with those lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives; After all, after entering the era of dreadnoughts, the cost of a single capital ship of the Navy has risen sharply, and ordinary parliamentarians have always hated the flesh of these gold-devouring behemoths, and they hate to completely cancel the navy that burns money. If it weren't for the "two ships a year" policy when Roosevelt was in office, which made these congressmen have a limit to file in the annual budget, the current US Navy may not even be able to compete for the number of one ship a year!

"Mr. President, this is already the minimum required for the Navy of the United States now. Now that the Germans have captured 5 capital ships after defeating the Russians, what size will they expand their fleet to if France or even Britain are defeated? If possible, I would even like to increase the speed of construction to 8 ships per year, at the same time as the British at their peak, so that from 1920 onwards we could gain the strength to deter both oceans at the same time! Seeing Wilson's embarrassed look, Daniels said with some anxiety, "Besides, now is also a good time for the United States to expand its fleet. With the rapid withering of the British Royal Navy in the Great War, a large vacuum appeared in the maritime sphere of influence that originally belonged to Britain; If we seize the opportunity to build ships quickly, we will be able to seize large areas of the sea and expand our trade to other parts of the world. If you miss this period, you won't have the opportunity you have today. ”

Wilson looked up and glanced slowly at the staff in front of him; After a while, Vice President Marshall and Secretary of War Garrison both nodded slightly in agreement, while the rest of the group acquiesced to the Secretary of the Navy's opinion. He took a deep breath and sighed, "Then let's do it." Tomorrow is the day of the National Assembly, and I will be the first to signal the expansion of the army. You are all ready to bring more people to our side. ”

Daniels bowed to Wilson, and an uncontrollable ecstasy welled up in his heart: whether the future was smooth or not, his long-cherished wish to expand the army had finally taken the most crucial step. Wilson paused, and then said, "Then on the European side, we can only sit back and watch the Germans continue to attack Britain and France?" ”

"I'm afraid yes, Mr. President, we cannot be allowed by the people, nor do we have the strength to get involved in the present war in Europe. Continuing to provide large amounts of loans and material aid to Britain and France would not only risk losing all their money, but would also anger Germany's nerves. The only way we can reduce the potential losses is to issue large loans to Germany and wait for the interest returns. "Now that Germany has defeated Russia and cut off a rich enough piece of flesh from the remains of this giant, we have no worries about the repayment of this loan." And the Germans have a basis of co-operation with us: the war planes they have been running for almost a year now will undoubtedly need a large loan as a lubricant, and this goodwill of the United States will certainly be accepted by them. ”

Wilson nodded, a bitter smile on his face. The law of the jungle is still the law of the jungle, and no truth or justice is as powerful as the roar of a cannon. Next, it will only be up to the members of Congress who operate the decision-making power to understand this! (To be continued......)

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