"When will the two Bismarck-class battleships be put into service next year?" After a naval meeting, Scheer came to Tirpitz's office and asked.

"You've asked this question many times, and I can't tell, but if it can be commissioned in 1918, it will be after August, and unless we don't take any action in the first half of the year, these two ships can't be counted on. I would very much like to see that the battleship that bears my name will be able to participate in the operations of the High Seas Fleet, but unfortunately, it is difficult to bring the construction period forward. At the end of the Battle of Jutland in 1915, the whole of Germany was boiling over, rejoicing that the High Seas Fleet could defeat the British Grand Fleet in a regular naval battle, and that many people thought that the navy would bring the war to an early end, and Tirpitz took advantage of this time to ask the government to agree to the construction of two more Bismarck-class battleships.

Eventually, after some haggling, Bismarck's wish was finally fulfilled, and in September 1915 Germany began construction of two new Bismarck-class battleships, named Deutschland and Tirpitz! Naming Germany's most powerful warship after himself was very gratifying to the old man, who had worked for the High Seas Fleet for decades. He even personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the giant ship. And these two battleships have become the only capital ships that the German Navy can expect to join so far, according to the scheduled construction period, these two battleships will be completed in three years, although there was a period of time affected by the shortage of raw materials, but the subsequent overtime seems to have saved the lost time, and these two capital ships will become the new hope of the German Navy! The German Navy hoped to win the 1918 North Sea engagement.

"There are also auxiliary warship and aircraft units. In that engagement on British soil, we lost too many light cruisers and destroyers. We couldn't even defend ourselves against lightning strikes from the other side. Not to mention dealing with the opponent's air strikes, as well as aircraft, our seaplanes are far from the other side in terms of quantity and quality. It is fortunate that the fighters cannot be used in the open ocean, otherwise our seaplanes would have become targets. Even if we can't put torpedoes on planes like the British, at least so that our fleet can withstand the air attacks of the opposing side, right? As if opening a conversation, Schell kept asking what would happen to the arrival of the German High Seas Fleet in 1918.

"In addition, if you can, I heard that the Huaxia Navy can already let fighter jets take off and land on ships, and they call this kind of warship an aircraft carrier. We can also give it a try. Construction of a warship with aircraft as a weapon, specifically for air defense. This time the level of air defense of our fleet has improved significantly. Scheer thought for a moment and said.

"You're thinking too much, the resources of the empire are not enough to make your dreams come true. Perhaps after the end of the war, when we have completely digested the territory of Russia, we will have a very large empire. That's when we could build the world's first fleet. But not right now. Tirpitz looked at the somewhat disappointed Scheer and smiled and continued: "In the next year, the number of aircraft that the Navy can replenish is about 700. Plus the various aircraft that are now available. The number of aircraft available for us will be around 400 units. As for the construction of aircraft carriers? This can only wait until the end of the war, we do not have aircraft and pilots that can take off on battleships, and we do not have enough resources to build such capital ships. As for the destroyers? We can bring the number to the level of the beginning of 1917, but the number of submarines will increase if the light cruisers are replenished with up to 4 3000-ton ones, but it is difficult to say how much. ”

The war is about to enter its fourth year, and the two sides are already somewhat exhausted after more than three years of fighting. But neither the Entente nor the Central Powers had any intention of giving up, at least not at the highest level. After the United States joined, the Entente was full of confidence, and the Allies had always had the advantage on the field. When Spain was successfully drawn into the Allied bloc, the entire Mediterranean Sea became the internal sea of the Confederates, and North Africa became an isolated island. Coupled with the support of the Huaxia Republic, the Allies believed that they would not be far from victory.

Just as the German Navy tightened its belts to replenish its capital ships, Italy, Austria-Hungary, was also expanding its naval strength as much as possible. Italy, in particular, has put naval construction in the first place. The reason is simple, compared to the victorious navy, the Italian army's performance can really be described as sad, so much so that at another meeting of the Allies, the German representative pleaded with the Italian side to increase naval investment, and even said that a problem on land could be handed over to the allies. As Italy, at this time, it did not have enough strength to complete the new main warship, but the Italians started the construction of a large number of submarines, and converted some civilian ships with better conditions into camouflaged attack ships. Having gained access to the Atlantic from the Mediterranean, the Italian navy had a much greater geographical advantage than their German counterparts. Their proximity to the hunting grounds, and the fact that they had the large Allied Mediterranean Fleet to contain the movements of the opposing capital ships, made the submarines much less of a threat. Those old destroyers could not even guarantee their own safety in the face of the fast battleships of the Central Powers that came and went without a trace, and their anti-submarine capabilities would naturally be greatly reduced.

While increasing the combat strength of submarines as much as possible, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Spain are also trying to establish an aerial reconnaissance network with the Spanish mainland as the core, in which reconnaissance of the west coast of France will be regarded as the top priority, and Tycho's reconnaissance mission is to withstand all ships entering and leaving the French mainland, whether warships or civilian ships. These twin-engine reconnaissance planes do not carry any ground or sea weapons, but they have greatly improved the efficiency of the Allied Powers' naval operations, and often the whereabouts of the US fleet will be discovered by the other side, and after receiving intelligence support, the fast warships of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet can more easily avoid the other side's hunting. It's like a deft cheetah dodging an elephant's attacks, which, although powerful, is never able to catch its opponent.

Compared to the Allied navy's snap ropes, the Allied powers, especially the United States, had a terrifying shipbuilding program, and in the United States, three Maryland-class battleships armed with eight 16-inch L45 guns had been launched, and one or two were expected to be completed in 1918. THIS CLASS OF BATTLESHIPS CAN BE SEEN AS REPLACING 12 14-INCH L45 GUNS WITH 8 16-INCH L45 MAIN GUNS ON THE BASIS OF THE TENNESSEE CLASS, WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN SPEED, IMPROVED DEFENSE, AND THE THICKNESS OF THE SIDE-CHORD INCLINED ARMOR REACHED 350MM AND THE TILT WAS 20 DEGREES. The firepower has increased a lot. The Americans believed that in the case of a strong charge, the 16-inch naval guns of Maryland could quite well penetrate the side-chord main armor of the Bismarck-class at medium distances. At the same time, in order to counter the increasingly rampant submarine warfare, the United States had to devote a considerable part of the shipbuilding industry to the production of various destroyers. Some of these destroyers will be integrated into convoys to carry out escort missions, while others will be organized into small groups to hunt in the oceans. In addition to these warships, the United States needs to replenish a large number of civilian ships to offset the number of losses. Because the main fleet has always been pinned, the rate of loss of transport ships remains high.

As for the British? The Hood-class fast battleships, known as the "Shining Hood" within the British Navy, would also enter the final sprint in 1918. The British started construction of a total of 4 Admiral-class battleships, and at the end of 1918, the first battleship, HMS Hood, was to join active service. Once again, the British would have an advantage in firepower, and the Hood class was given high hopes within the British Navy. A British naval officer even described the Hood in private: "He will completely crush all the ships of the Allied Navy, and Bismarck will meet Hood as the current King-class battleship will face the Vengeance-class battleship." The Navy of the British Empire will regain technological superiority. It can be seen that the British are still very confident in their new warships.

Like the Allies, the Allies also made great efforts to strengthen their air forces, and in the face of the Allies reconnaissance planes scurrying around the coast of France, the Allies also specially equipped twin-engine fighters that could carry out long-range patrol missions. Thanks to the advanced aircraft engines of the British, the Allied twin-engine aircraft had better range and speed, and with the commissioning of the first coastal patrol air units, the Allied maritime aerial reconnaissance was gradually curtailed.

While Britain and the United States were still ambitiously considering further expanding their fleets and completely destroying their opponents, the French had given up on the war at sea. After being beaten by the Italian Austro-Hungarian navy, the French tried to cheer themselves up, and after receiving the support of the British navy, the two sides broke out again in the Mediterranean. But the result was still a failure. With the strong entry of the U.S. Navy, France once again retained its southern coastline, but the good times were short-lived, as the U.S. fleet withdrew from the Mediterranean despite the opposition of the French government due to the involvement of Spain.

The French Navy, which was once a hegemon, now has only two super-dreadnoughts left. The status was even lower to a level higher than that of a third-rate store like the Dutch navy, and because of the intense attrition of land battles, the French were simply unable to replenish the lost warships. A decadent ideology spread within the French navy, and the fierce fighting on home soil made even the French despair. So much so that there is such a saying circulating in the country, "I don't know who the final winner of this war will be, but definitely not France, Germany and Austria-Hungary will fall, I don't know, but France will definitely become a burial object." "If you talk about fighting so far, the country that you don't want to fight the most is probably France, the war has made France, which is not already full of human resources, even more stretched, and millions of casualties have made this country almost fight for a generation! Although the Americans are now gradually replacing the French army on part of the defensive line, the French army is still the main force in the war against Germany. In fact, the French have now begun to retreat, and this kind of battle cannot be fought!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 and the book friend hukaikaka for the tip~~~~. (To be continued......)