According to the naval bill promulgated by Wilhelm II, Germany was to build three battleships and one battlecruiser per year from 1912 to 1914, aiming to have the German Navy with more than 17 dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts, five battle cruisers, 22 pre-dreadnoughts, 32 cruisers, 114 destroyers and 30 submarines by the end of 1914.

This naval bill adds four more battleships than in history, which means that in the next three years, Germany will build 1.33 more battleships per year than in history.

The Naval Supplement Act, promulgated by the Germans and officially begun in early 1912, quickly attracted the attention of the British, who took German news very seriously.

On October 25, 1911, shortly after the Germans announced the Naval Enlargement Act, Churchill, who had just exchanged duties with Secretary of the Admiralty McKenna, became the new Secretary of the Navy of the British Empire.

This politician, who once was the Minister of Commerce and prevented the Navy from increasing its budget, now proposed-for-tat to the Germans' naval supplement bill: For every capital warship that the Germans built, the British would build two.

Historically, Churchill did the same, and in 1912-1913 Britain had twice as much naval budget as Germany, a terrifying £44.08 million.

Churchill openly stated that if the Germans built three capital warships a year, the British Empire would build four capital warships and two battlecruisers to maintain all-round superiority over the German navy.

The two most powerful countries in the world are competing for the navy, which has also brought the naval race in Europe into the hottest state.

France, Italy, and Austria-Hungary followed suit to announce their own plans for naval expansion, and the Russian Empire, which had already placed orders for warships in Australasia, moved the European powers one after another, and the warships were like dumplings.

In addition to these European powers, there are actually two other great powers that are also focusing on the development of dreadnoughts.

The island nation's dreadnoughts already have a bit of an eyebrow, and their first dreadnought design, which was named the Hanoi-class dreadnought.

But even the earliest battleship Hanoi would have to wait until the beginning of 1913 if it was to be built.

In fact, the island nation has been slow to have its own dreadnought, which has also made the island country, which once barely gained the status of a great power because of the Russo-Japanese War, almost give up its position to others.

Even many Europeans have preferred to think of Australasia as a great power, after all, Australasia is also a Western country with three dreadnoughts.

Of course, Australasia's military strength is not yet worthy of the status of a great power, and the reason why some Europeans say this is nothing more than ethnic and racial discrimination.

But it cannot be denied that at present the navy of Australasia has reached the level of a great power. The main battleship even surpassed the Italian crane tail, and the number of dreadnoughts was second only to Britain and Germany.

In the corners of Europe that many countries do not care too much, the development of dreadnoughts by the Americans has also begun to take shape.

The American South Carolina-class battleships are the same warship design as the battleship of the Intrepid era.

However, due to the long delay in determining the design plan, this also led to the two South Carolina-class battleships, which were about three years later than the Dreadnought.

The USS South Carolina and USS Michigan battleships were completed in January and March last year, respectively, and have officially joined the US Navy this year.

However, the design of the South Carolina-class battleships was not as impressive compared to the Dreadnought battleships.

The South Carolina-class battleships had a power of only 16,000 horsepower, which also caused the speed of this class of battleships to be only a little more than 18 knots, which was far from the level of 20 to 21 knots of the Dreadnought.

Therefore, the South Carolina-class battleships can also be seen as old battleships with enhanced firepower and armor, and they are still a long way from real dreadnoughts in terms of speed.

The second dreadnought design of the United States, the Delaware-class battleship, is the true dreadnought of the United States, and it is also the first battleship of the U.S. Navy to receive a budget without a specified displacement.

The battleships USS Delaware and USS North Dakota were both completed last April and have joined the U.S. Navy.

The Delaware-class battleships are already capable of reaching a speed of 21 knots, which is also the standard speed of current dreadnoughts.

Of course, the American dreadnought design does not stop there.

The Florida-class battleship was a powerful battleship improved by the United States based on the Delaware-class battleship.

The United States plans to build two ships, the battleship Florida and the battleship Utah, both completed in early September this year, and the sea test phase has already begun.

Of course, the battleships that the United States plans to build, and the newest Wyoming-class battleships.

There are also two Wyoming-class battleships planned for construction, the Wyoming and the Arkansas.

The completion of the two battleships will not be until about September next year, and if nothing else, this should also be the last American dreadnought design.

From the US warship construction plan, it can also be seen that the ambitions of the United States are not small at present.

Barely counting the South Carolina-class battleships, the United States currently has a total of six completed dreadnoughts and two planned dreadnoughts, and the current number of main navies is already the third in the world.

If it weren't for the fact that Germany was too close to Britain and the United States was too far from Britain, I am afraid that the main conflict in World War I would have been the conflict between Britain and the United States.

At present, the potential of the United States is actually greater than the threat posed by Germany to Britain.

But there is no way, compared to the United States, which is far away from the Atlantic, Germany under the face of the British is what the British think is a big problem.

By the time the British understood the ambitions and potential of the Americans, the United States at that time was no longer something that Britain could withstand, which had suffered serious damage from two world wars.

This also led to the colonial order maintained by Britain and France for hundreds of years, which was easily wiped out by the United States and a newborn nation.

Under the indoctrination of liberal democratic ideas, the colonial order collapsed in an instant, the various ethnic groups in the colonies demanded independence one after another, and Britain and France were instantly beaten back to their original shapes.

For Arthur, Australasia's enemies were not the British Empire and the German Empire, which were currently very powerful.

Arthur had always been well aware that despite the strength of European countries, the decline of Europe was inevitable with the development of time and the two world wars in Europe.

The potential of the United States, as well as its superior geographical location, doomed the United States to be Australasia's greatest enemy.

Among other things, the liberal democratic concept of the United States to dismantle the British and French colonial system also has a certain harm to Australasia.

No matter how fierce the European countries fight, after all, they are related to each other, and everyone is a family to put it bluntly.

But the Americans are different, they are not monarchies, and the relationship with the major European royal families is not very good.

Allowing such a country to become a world hegemon is not good news for European royal families.

When necessary, unite the post-war European monarchies to form a monarchical alliance against the United States, which can limit the development of the United States, at least not so quickly that the colonial system will collapse.

In early October 1911, at the request of the Cabinet officials, the Australasian Cabinet meeting was officially convened.

What was discussed at the meeting was the more intense warship race and arms race that broke out in European countries at the end of September.

To put it bluntly, the arms race in the countries of Europe is already preparing for war.

All countries understand that war is inevitable, which is why the arms race is still insisted on despite the enormous cost.

"Your Majesty, are we also going to carry out a new round of naval expansion?" At the conference table, Defense Secretary Raul asked expectantly.

Although Arthur's previous plan to expand the Navy was rejected by the Ministry of Defense, it was not long ago that the Army was expanded, and the Ministry of Defense believed that the opportunity had come, and now was the time to raise the armaments of Australasia to the level of a great power and seek the status of a great power.

"Let's talk about the situation in Europe first! In addition to the naval expansion plans of various countries, is there any intelligence on their land expansion plans? Arthur did not directly reject Minister Raul's proposal, but instead changed the topic and asked.

As the monarch of a country, although Arthur can actually say some things, it is better to avoid saying them directly.

A direct rejection of the proposal for naval expansion in the presence of Minister Raul would have dampened the enthusiasm of the radicals and attackers.

While there are no plans for a major expansion of naval power for the time being, it would be a bit of a loss to allow the Australasian government to move towards isolation and pacifism.

After all, if Australasia wants to achieve a real rise, it will inevitably have a great conflict with the puppet island nation and the biggest enemy, the United States.

Therefore, the enthusiasm of the government is very necessary. Let the rest of the Cabinet Government reject the proposals made by the Cabinet Ministers.

"Your Majesty, judging from the information released by other countries, at present, the major countries of Europe are already plotting to expand their armaments. The Russians have openly announced that they will expand their army by 500,000, and although Russia's progress has been slow, if you count the million standing army they already have, their army will reach a terrifying 1.5 million, and I am afraid that the Germans will be a little uncomfortable. Foreign Minister Andrew reported with a respectful face.

Arthur smacked his tongue and had to be envious of the actions of the Russians.

The expansion of Australasia's army of 100,000 men had to carefully calculate the burden and funding of the domestic population, as well as the stockpiles of officers and weapons and equipment.

The Russians were good, they already had a standing army of up to one million, but now they directly expanded by 500,000, and the number of troops even reached the number of British, French and German combined.

In terms of the number of land forces, Russia really deserves to be the first in Europe at present.

3000 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

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(End of chapter)