Wu Haoxuan approved the design drawings of the capital ships of the next level of the Imperial Navy, which made Marshal Sa Zhenbing and Marshal Cheng Biguang very excited. Although, even if construction starts this year, it will be almost three years from now. But the thought that the Imperial Navy would have these powerful battleships in three years later made the two still excited.

"Your Majesty, the cost of the next class of capital ships of the Imperial Navy is expected to reach thirty-five million dollars. The British Navy's 'Queen Elizabeth class' battleships, a total of five were built. Due to the financial resources of the German Navy, only four 'Bavaria-class' battleships were built. Therefore, the Imperial Navy hopes that our next class of capital ships, and it is better to be able to build five. In this way, the Imperial Navy will have a total of 13 battleships and four battlecruisers in the future, and it will be able to barely guarantee the overseas interests of the Empire. Marshal Sa Zhenbing said. He knew that the reason why Wu Haoxuan approved the construction of new battleships was that he was worried that the empire's overseas interests would not be able to be maintained under the oppression of the Western world.

With the current industrial strength and land strength of the Empire, the Empire's homeland is safe. With a population of more than 400 million, the empire could easily arm tens of millions of land forces. If the maximum mobilization is carried out, it will be able to arm more than 30 million land forces. There is absolutely no country in the world that is sure that a powerful country can mobilize 30 million land forces.

However, compared to the Imperial Army, the Imperial Navy is undoubtedly a short board. The navy is not comparable to the army, and it requires a large amount of capital and the accumulation of talents. The gap between the Empire and the Western powers in terms of navy is too great. Even in the past two years, the Imperial Navy has been catching up, but it is still very difficult to catch up with and surpass the Western powers. In order to protect the Empire's overseas interests, the Empire had to increase its investment in this area.

"Your Majesty, the Sino-German Secret Treaty we have signed with the Germans. In the event of a war in Europe, the Germans would transfer their colonies in the Pacific to the Reich. However, once Germany was defeated and the Allies were victorious. The Entente, then, would certainly have forced the Reich to surrender all those colonies of Germany. In particular, the United States and Japan, as well as Britain, were even more reluctant to see the power of the empire extend into the Pacific. Be sure. They will definitely put pressure on the empire and even send the main forces of the navy to come. If the Imperial Navy could have five powerful battleships armed with 381 mm guns, the Empire would be much more likely to hold on to these colonies. Marshal Cheng Biguang also said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded, he also knew that Germany would definitely be defeated in this war. After the defeat of the war, Germany will lose all its overseas colonies. This time, the Chinese Empire will first take over Germany's colonies in the Pacific, which will certainly cause dissatisfaction among other countries. At this time, the empire must have a strong force. That's the only way. to ensure that the empire will be able to hold these interests in the future.

"Okay. Then let's build five battleships of this class. As for the name, let's call it the 'Five Emperor-class' battleship. The first ship M was named 'Shaohao', and the remaining four ships were named 'Zhuan', 'Diyu', 'Yao' and 'Shun'. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Marshal Sa Zhenbing and Marshal Cheng Biguang were both ecstatic. Originally, they thought. To be able to build four capital ships would already be good. Unexpectedly, Wu Haoxuan actually directly agreed to build five ships. One more battleship of this kind will also make the strength of the Imperial Navy even higher! This is a powerful battleship with three triple 381mm guns!

"After the construction of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships began. The Reich must digest the technology of the 381-mm gun. And on this basis, the development of a larger caliber gun continues. Although, the 381-mm gun already looks very powerful. However, this is far from the limit. If possible, the Reich might also build battleships with 410 mm guns in the first rank. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Marshal Sa Zhenbing and Marshal Cheng Biguang nodded solemnly. Wu Haoxuan's considerations in the navy. Obviously older than they are. They thought that a battleship with 381 mm guns was already powerful enough. However, Wu Haoxuan's goal now is to set himself on a more powerful 410mm main gun. However, this also seems to indicate that the pressure on the empire in the future will be very great. Otherwise, Wu Haoxuan would definitely not support the construction of the navy in this way.

Even if the road ahead is difficult. However, Marshal Sa Zhenbing and Marshal Cheng Biguang also believed that the Imperial Navy would definitely be able to achieve victory in the future. The strength of the Imperial Navy, as the strength of the Empire increases, will become stronger and stronger.

The empire will start construction of five 'Five Emperor-class' battleships within this year, which will further increase the strength of the imperial navy and become the world's top naval power. Of course, this also put a lot of pressure on the finances of the empire. The construction fund for the single ship of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships has reached 35 million Chinese dollars, equivalent to 3.5 million pounds. Even the British Navy's 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships were not so expensive. Of course, although the caliber of the main guns of the 'Five Emperor-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy is the same as that of the 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships, the three triple-mounted main guns are obviously one more than the four twin guns of the 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships. At the same time, the 50-caliber main gun is also more powerful than the 45-caliber main gun. In addition, in terms of defensive power, the Imperial Navy's 'Five Emperor-class' battleships are also significantly stronger than the British Navy's 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships. The armor contrast of the waterline, main turret and conning tower is 380 mm versus 330 mm, 380 mm versus 330 mm, and 380 mm versus 300 mm, respectively. From this point of view, the defense power of the Imperial Navy's 'Five Emperor-class' battleships is not a little bit stronger than that of the British Navy's 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships. Of course, the cost is higher.

The Chinese Navy's large-scale construction of a new class of capital ships has also stimulated its old rival Japan and the local tyrants on the other side of the ocean. Japan and the United States have also begun to put forward plans for the construction of capital ships of a new level, making this arms race have a tendency to become global.

At the end of February (13) of the Yellow Emperor Era 4611, General Chen Xudong, director of the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau, went to the imperial palace to report his work to the imperial emperor Wu Haoxuan. Since then, the Directorate of Military Intelligence has expanded in the South Seas and Southeast Asia.

"Your Majesty, through our efforts. We have established contact with the resisters in the French colonies of Indochina. Next month, they will go to the empire with our help. Admiral Chen Xudong said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded: "The Intelligence Bureau should do a good job of letting those resisters in French Indochina know that the empire is sincere in helping them." If necessary, the General Staff will also assist inside. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Chen Xudong nodded.

After the empire completed its occupation of the East Indies, the pace of expansion did not stop. It's just that, in order not to stimulate the Western world too much, it has turned from overt expansion to covert expansion.

At present, the major powers in the South Seas are the Empire, Britain, the United States, and France. Among them, the empire controlled the East Indies, the British controlled the Straits Settlements and Burma, the United States controlled the Philippines, and France controlled the Indochina colony. Among the other three forces besides the Empire, Britain is the world hegemon, and it is not something that the Empire can provoke in a short period of time. The United States is the world's largest industrial power, and if the empire and the United States tear their faces apart, once the powerful industrial strength of the United States is transformed into military strength, it will be completely enough to crush the empire to death. Therefore, the only object that the empire can attack is France.

Although France is also strong now, after the world war, France will completely decline. The French would pay a heavy toll in the war, and their control of the overseas colonies would fall to a point of extreme weakness. The Empire could take its place and replace French control in the region.

Of course, it would have been impossible to get the French to withdraw from the Indochina colonies themselves. The Reich had to drive the French out. It's just that even after the end of the world war, it is not easy for the empire to do it directly. Therefore, it became the best choice to support the natives of the Indochina colonies against the French.

The French seized the colony of Indochina, and the people there have been rebelling against French colonial rule. It's just that France is too strong, and those who resist are too weak in comparison. It is almost impossible that they wanted to drive out the French without the help of external forces.

Now that the empire is strong, the colonies of French Indochina are like a piece of fat in the mouth of the empire, and the empire naturally cannot turn a blind eye.

Of course, in order to alleviate the hostility of the local natives towards the Empire, the Empire would appear as righteous liberators to help those natives of the Indochina colonies. The empire provided them with funds and weapons, trained troops for them, and sent them to fight the French and drive them away. None of this help is selfless. They will be repaid with mineral resources and land. Wu Haoxuan wanted to restore the Qin and Han empire's rule over Indochina. At least, those territories in northern Vietnam were imperial.

Born in New China and growing up under the red flag, Wu Haoxuan knows that Vietnamese monkeys are white-eyed wolves that cannot be raised. Therefore, the empire will not really help them selflessly. After these Vietnamese monkeys drove out the French, they had to not only cede the northern territories to the Empire, but also become the Empire's source of raw materials and dumping ground for industrial products. (To be continued.) )

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