The Imperial Navy's five 'Gogake-class' aircraft carriers, which will be secretly built, are expected to be able to enter service in two years. The difficulty of building an aircraft carrier is no more difficult than that of a powerful battleship, and the cost is not comparable to that of a battleship. After all, the tonnage of a battleship was much larger than that of an aircraft carrier. It's just that it's not enough to have an aircraft carrier, you also need a warship to escort the aircraft carrier.

In parallel with the construction of aircraft carriers, the Imperial Navy also began to build a series of escort warships, including large anti-aircraft cruisers, as well as destroyers with both aviation and anti-submarine operations. Once the aircraft carrier goes into battle, they will become the most solid barrier for the aircraft carrier.

For the sake of secrecy, the construction of the aircraft carrier was all carried out at the Dalian and Qingdao shipyards in the north. It was far from the central area of the capital of the empire, as well as the developed areas of the south. The intelligence officers of the Germans were relatively few in the northern part of the Reich. This, coupled with the Empire's Military Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security, has intensified its crackdown on enemy intelligence agencies in these areas, allowing the carriers to be as secretive as possible.

Even if it was not possible to keep it completely secret, it would have been possible to slow down the time for the Germans to learn of the news. In addition, it is not so easy for fighters to get on aircraft carriers. Not only do the fighters have to be refitted, but at the same time the personnel have to be trained. It would have been impossible for the Germans to catch up with the Reich in carrier-based aviation without spending a long time specializing in this area. Perhaps, it was not until the aircraft carriers of the Reich Navy entered the war that the Germans would realize the horror of such weapons. And if they want to develop aircraft carriers, they are already unwilling. By then, the war may have come to an end. If the Germans wanted to defeat the Imperial Navy and seize the Empire's maritime supremacy, it was simply impossible.

At the time of the exercise. Long Yufei once said that war may break out in the next year or two. It's not that he's alarmist. But by that time the empire would be ready for war. By that time, even if the Germans did not take the initiative to provoke the war. The Chinese Empire will not let go of this opportunity. After all, once the Reich had completed its preparations for war, and the Germans had not yet completed their war preparations. The Empire will have a great advantage in the war. Perhaps the Germans could have been dealt a fatal blow at the beginning of the war, thus ending the war quickly.

Long Yufei knew that this time's opponent was stronger than the previous one, and it was almost impossible to end the war quickly. However, the longer the war breaks out, the more resources are expended. If you can. It is undoubtedly best to end the war in the shortest possible time. In this way, the damage to the empire is also minimal. Long Yufei didn't want this war to wipe out all the wealth that the empire had accumulated over the years. The empire also needed to spend more of its wealth on improving the living standards of its citizens. This war will also be the last large-scale war fought by the Empire. After this war, the empire had no main opponents. At most, it is just to suppress rebellions and the like, and to fight some small-scale local wars. By then, the Empire's position as the world hegemon was incomparably secure, and no country could threaten the Empire anymore.

On this day, the Imperial Emperor Long Yufei convened a pre-imperial meeting. Listen to their reports on preparations for war.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fate of the Reich is at stake in the future if we can defeat the Germans once and for all. You can get rid of your opponent once and for all. No country will be able to threaten the Empire for at least the next few hundred years. So, I hope we can prepare for war. As soon as the war broke out. The Empire will be able to throw in all its strength and defeat its opponents in the fastest time. Long Yufei looked at the military and political ministers of the empire. said with a solemn expression. It's been almost thirty years since I came into this world. He has also changed from a young man in his twenties to an old man in his fifties. Even if you exercise regularly. But the body is still a little unbearable. The aging of his physiological functions made him feel that he was gradually aging. Therefore, Long Yufei hopes to solve all the problems in his lifetime and leave a prosperous era for his children and grandchildren. In this way, it is not in vain that he has traveled back from the future.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The military ministers all replied excitedly. Many of them came together from the original Xinhuaguo. watched the country develop from a small country in the South Seas to the current world hegemon. In the past few decades, the empire has grown rapidly. That's why everyone is working hard. Now, there is only one opponent left. As long as you defeat this opponent, you will win completely.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Cabinet is ready for war. We have been preparing for war for many years, and if war breaks out, the Cabinet can provide five billion Chinese dollars for the war. If that's not enough, we can issue war bonds, which are expected to raise another 10 billion or so dollars. In addition, the industries of the empire could be transferred to the wartime system at any time. Imperial Prime Minister Lin Zihao said. Although, none of the cabinet ministers are very fond of war. But they also know that this should be the last battle of the Empire, and they must be prepared. Otherwise, all the previous efforts of the empire would be in vain. The empire has finally become a world hegemon, how can it give up halfway because of this?

Long Yufei nodded, the cooperation of the cabinet made the empire's war preparations much faster. Five billion Chinese dollars may seem like a lot of money for the war, but once the war breaks out, this amount of money will not be enough at all. An army tank costs more than 100,000 yuan, and an armored vehicle costs tens of thousands of dollars. An airplane of the Air Force also costs tens of thousands of dollars, and a bomber costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The warships of the navy are even more moving, millions of dollars. All kinds of ammunition also require a lot of money. The so-called cannon fires ten thousand taels of gold, this sentence is really true. After the outbreak of war, the empire will inevitably spend money like running water. Therefore, the empire must be prepared to issue public bonds. If the war is underfunded, raise more funds immediately to ensure that the war can continue without being affected.

"Your Majesty, the Army's preparations are expected to take another year to complete. Weapons and ammunition and the like have been 80 percent prepared. Soldiers and the like, it's ready. The construction of the various armored brigades and armored corps has only been completed by 70 percent. The remaining 30 percent is expected to be completed within a year. Marshal Sun Hao, Minister of War, said.

"Hmm!" Long Yufei nodded.

"Your Majesty, the warships of the Navy's 1st and 5th Fleets have begun to be upgraded. All warships will be upgraded within a year. The Empire's new aircraft carrier formation will take two years to be able to enter combat. The 'Imperial' battleships will not be able to enter service until two and a half years later. However, with the current strength of the Imperial Navy, victory can be achieved! Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Navy, also said.

Long Yufei was very relieved about the navy, after all, in the era when battleships were dominant, the battleships of the Imperial Navy were twice as large as those of the German Navy. In terms of the performance of the battleship, it was not only not worse than the German Navy, but also slightly better. As long as luck wasn't too bad, there was no reason why the Imperial Navy would lose this war.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Air Force now has four wings of fighters and two wings of bombers. It is expected that by next year, the Imperial Air Force will be able to have six wings of fighters and three wings of bombers. Air Force Commander General Song Zhiyuan said.

The Imperial Air Force was organized into four aircraft squadrons, three squadrons for one squadron, three squadrons plus four reserve aircraft for a group, for a total of forty aircraft. Three battalions are a wing, and with the addition of reserve aircraft, one wing has about one hundred and thirty aircraft.

That is, the Imperial Air Force now has more than five hundred fighters and more than two hundred bombers. It is expected that by next year, it will increase to more than 700 fighters and more than 300 bombers. This may not be too much. However, this is not due to the lack of aircraft production. Mainly because there are not enough pilots. As long as the cadets of the various flight schools established by the Empire graduate in large numbers, the Imperial Air Force will also grow exponentially. Besides, even on this scale, the Reich was already in an absolute position of superiority compared to the Germans.

The Imperial Army, Navy, and Air Force will all complete their preparations for war next year, and the Imperial Government is already ready. It can be said that the war preparations of the empire will be completed by waiting until next year. The vast empire's warplanes will come into action, and will burst into incredible power. And this is not a good thing for the Germans. Although the Germans were also preparing for war. However, in terms of speed, it is inferior to the Empire. From the point of view of war potential, it is even worse than the Empire. Once war breaks out, the Empire will inevitably be victorious.

After the defeat of Germany, the Reich would not allow a large Germany to continue to exist. All the territories that Germany had gained in the last war would be divided. Even, Germany itself will be dismembered and return to the state it was before reunification. In the whole of Europe, there will be no countries that are too strong. Only in this way will the status of the world hegemon of the empire be guaranteed.

While the Chinese Empire was preparing for war, the Germans were not idle. On the one hand, Germany accelerated the pace of war preparations. On the other hand, the Germans intensified their intelligence gathering on the Reich, and then prepared to take some necessary means to delay the Reich's preparations for war and create more time for Germany.

At the end of April 1862, Count Moltke, Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, informed Kaiser Wilhelm I that the preparations for war in the Chinese Empire were about to be completed and that Germany would be in a crisis of war. (To be continued......)

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