Rise of the Overlord

Chapter 158 The Hope of Stopping the Arms Race

After Shurik, Prime Minister of the Sharad Empire, said that the naval arms race would bring a very heavy burden to several countries, August, Prime Minister of the Inroba Empire, Julian, Prime Minister of the Noomi Empire, and Torah, Prime Minister of the Monia Empire, Lichka, the expression on his face became more dignified.

In fact, the current naval arms race of various countries in the world refers to the naval arms race among the British Empire, the Noomi Empire, the Monia Empire, and the Sharad Empire. Before he was born, he had been ranked among the top four navies in the world, and the navies of these four countries all had the idea of ​​competing for the number one navy in the world.

Of course, the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire and the Royal Navy of the Ziyue Empire under Su Yi's command have now joined the ranks of the above-mentioned four-nation naval arms race.

However, the Jisk Empire, Rielan Empire, and Orensa Empire were limited by their economic strength. Although they each built a large number of new warships, including many super dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers, the scale of shipbuilding of the three navies is, As well as its own current strength, compared with the navies of the other four countries, there is a big gap. The navies of the Jisk Empire, Rielan Empire, and Orenza Empire have never thought of competing for the position of the world's number one navy.

Tolicka, the Prime Minister of the Monia Empire, pondered for a while and asked: "Prime Minister Shulik, what does the treaty that limits the size of the navy and army of various countries refer specifically?"

The currently active capital ships of the Monia Empire Navy include ten super dreadnought battleships, ten battlecruisers, twenty dreadnought battleships, 22 former dreadnought battleships and forty iron-clad battleships. In addition, the Monia Empire Navy also has Twenty super dreadnought battleships with 356mm main guns and twenty battlecruisers with 356mm main guns are under construction.

If there is no accident, after the completion of the super dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers being built by the Monia Imperial Navy, the Monia Imperial Navy will immediately continue to build 381 super dreadnought battleships with 381mm main guns and [-] A battlecruiser with a [-]mm main gun.

Among the four countries of the Yingluoba Empire, the Sharad Empire, the Noomi Empire, and the Monia Empire, the Monia Empire is relatively the weakest in terms of economic strength. The Niah Empire seemed to be struggling, so Tolicka, the Prime Minister of the Monia Empire, was very interested when he heard that Shulik, Prime Minister of the Sharad Empire, proposed to formulate a treaty to limit the size of the navy and army of various countries.

Shulik, Prime Minister of the Sharad Empire, said immediately: "According to the concept of our Sharad Empire, in terms of the navy, each country should limit the total tonnage of capital ships, and in terms of the army, it is necessary to limit the number of armies of each country. Of course, the specific value, we There has to be careful consultation between the seven countries."

August, the Prime Minister of the British Empire, sighed and said: "Now we are indeed caught in a naval arms race with no end in sight. If this naval arms race can be stopped, our British Empire will of course Willing, but we have 48 super dreadnought battleships, 24 battlecruisers, 36 dreadnought battleships, 72 pre-dreadnought battleships and [-] ironclad battleships in active service in the British Royal Navy, and there are [-] tenacious battleships under construction None of the super dreadnought battleships and thirty ambush-class battlecruisers will be put into storage. In addition, the signing of a treaty limiting the size of the navy and army is not something that I, the prime minister, can decide. We still need to get the Emperor of the Inaba Empire. consent."

Prime Minister Julian of the Noomi Empire shrugged and said: "It is possible to sign a treaty to limit the size of the navy and army, but we have to wait for our Noomi Empire Navy to send 36 Mist-class super dreadnought battleships with 381mm main guns and 36 ships with 381mm guns. The Kuaima-class battlecruisers with [-]mm main guns are all built."

As soon as Julian, the Prime Minister of the Noomi Empire, finished speaking, August, the Prime Minister of the Inlobal Empire, said in a deep voice: "If you follow Prime Minister Julian's statement, then our Royal Navy in Inaba will have to build a new level of super Only dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers can agree to sign a treaty limiting the size of the navy and army."

Julian, the Prime Minister of the Noomi Empire, snorted coldly and said, "Prime Minister August, then our two countries should not sign any treaties. Let's see who is the winner of this naval arms race in the end?"

Prime Minister August of the Inlob Empire smiled contemptuously, "Prime Minister Julian, even if your Noomi Empire has a gold mine with an astonishing reserve and a silver mine with an astonishing reserve that can provide huge funds, but you want to catch up We the Royal Navy of England, that is certainly a daydream."

Seeing that the two prime ministers of the Inroba Empire and the Noomi Empire became more and more rigid, Tolicka, the Prime Minister of the Monia Empire, smoothed things over and said: "After all, we are only prime ministers here. As for whether to sign or not to limit the size of the navy and army of each country The treaty still depends on the emperors of our countries to decide, it is useless for us to argue here."

Shurik, Prime Minister of the Sharad Empire, followed up and said: "Signing a treaty that limits the size of the navy and army of each country requires a long period of negotiations before the final limit of the size of the navy and army of each country can be determined. Army-scale treaty, then our seven countries must also bring in the Tang Empire and the Ziyue Empire."

Regarding the intensified naval arms race, even the rich and powerful Inlobal Empire and the Noomi Empire, which discovered a giant gold mine and a giant silver mine, felt very stressed.

After all, for a super dreadnought battleship or a battlecruiser, in addition to the cost of construction, maintaining a super dreadnought battleship or a battlecruiser requires a lot of expenses every year. As it gets bigger and bigger, just the annual salary of naval officers and soldiers, coupled with the coal and oil consumed by warships, will become a huge gold-eating beast, constantly devouring the finances of various countries.

Therefore, for the proposal of the Sharad Empire, the emperors of the other six countries finally agreed to talk first. Of course, if the negotiation results cannot satisfy these emperors, these countries will not sign the treaty that limits the size of the navy and army of each country. .

On the morning of June 3013, 28 in the Tang calendar, August, the Prime Minister of the Inroba Empire, Shurik, the Prime Minister of the Sharad Empire, Julian, the Prime Minister of the Noomi Empire, Tolicka, the Prime Minister of the Monia Empire, and Kyrgyzstan The Prime Minister of the Skrit Empire, Maxim, the Prime Minister of the Rilland Empire, Gehrman, and the Prime Minister of the Orenza Empire, Niki Forer, came together to the Hall of Virtue in the Imperial Palace of Chang'an City.

When the prime ministers of the seven great powers explained their intentions, Su Yi smiled slightly and said, "The naval arms race will indeed bring a heavy burden to our countries. Although the capital ships of the Imperial Navy of the Tang Empire already have 58 super-dreadnoughts Battleships, 26 battlecruisers, 23 dreadnought battleships and 42 pre-dreadnought battleships, but in order not to fall behind in this naval arms race, I am already preparing to let the newly formed shipyards of the Datang Empire Twenty super dreadnought battleships and twenty battlecruisers have been built, and in my island shipyard, there are still a large number of super dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers under construction."

Su Yi did not lie to the prime ministers of these seven countries. Now, using various shipbuilding equipment in the system mall, eight large shipyards in the Tang Empire are under construction. After the first phase of the eight shipyards is completed, In total, there will be [-] docks of [-] tons, [-] docks of [-] tons, [-] docks of [-] tons, and more than two million docks of less than [-] tons.

At present, the Royal Navy of the Datang Empire has designed a super dreadnought battleship to be built by eight large shipyards of the Datang Empire with reference to the Queen Elizabeth class and the Bavarian class. The standard displacement is 34200 tons, the full load displacement is 37600 tons, and the maximum speed is 25 knots. Equipped with five double-mounted 42-caliber 381mm main guns, ten 152mm secondary guns, sixteen 88mm anti-aircraft guns, 24 40mm double-linked anti-aircraft guns, and 24 20mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns. The main armor is 350 mm, the deck armor is 76 mm to 127 mm, the main turret armor is 350 mm, and the crew is 500 people.

In addition, referring to the King Kong-class battlecruiser and the prestige-class battlecruiser, a battlecruiser was designed to be built by eight large shipyards in the Datang Empire. The standard displacement is 32500 tons, the full-load displacement is 36700 tons, and the maximum speed is 31 knots. Equipped with four double-mounted 42-caliber 381mm main guns, ten 152mm secondary guns, sixteen 88mm anti-aircraft guns, 24 40mm double-linked anti-aircraft guns, 24 20mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns, with side belts The main armor is 229 mm, the deck armor is 76 mm, the main turret armor is 229 mm, and the crew is 400.

In addition, Su Yi also plans to let the eight large shipyards of the Datang Empire build a batch of large armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers.

The shipbuilding industry of the original Cangyu Empire is very average, but the shipbuilding industry of the Ziyue Empire is quite good. They can even build dreadnought battleships by themselves. Su Yi transferred most of the engineers and technicians from the several major shipyards of the Ziyue Empire to the eight large shipyards of the Datang Empire.

The prime ministers of the seven countries looked at each other with a trace of solemnity in their eyes. August, the prime minister of the British Empire, said to Su Yi: "Your Majesty the Emperor, it is precisely to stop this endless naval arms race." Therefore, our countries are willing to sit together and discuss a treaty recognized by all countries to limit the size of the navy and army of each country, otherwise our countries will sooner or later be dragged down by the arms race between the navy and the army.”

A cold light flashed in Su Yi's eyes and said: "On behalf of the Tang Empire and the Ziyue Empire, I can express my willingness to join this negotiation on limiting the size of the navy and army of various countries. I hope that our nine countries can finally reach an agreement. and the growing arms race in the Army."

(End of this chapter)