Empire Conquest
Chapter 217 - 213: The Terrifying Potential

Chapter 217: Chapter 213: The Terrifying Potential

Zhao Yu didn’t go back on his word, arriving at the hotel only around noon. Knowing that Bai Zhizhan probably hadn’t eaten breakfast, he first went to the restaurant and bought a set meal.

In addition, on his way to the hotel, he picked up some toiletries.

The Empire had already begun mobilizing, but it hadn’t reached the rationing stage yet, and the domestic market was quite stable with abundant supplies—there was no problem money couldn’t solve in acquiring necessities.

"You haven’t put on weight in the past two years, have you?"

"What?" Bai Zhizhan was still squatting in the toilet and hadn’t heard Zhao Yu’s words clearly.

"Your sister-in-law went to the tailor to have a few sets of military uniforms custom-made in your old size."

"That’s good."

"After I went back yesterday, I got a call from Li Yunxiang. He said you got yourself a girlfriend back in the Imperial Capital, and she will be coming to work in Puzhou in a few days. He asked me to help rent an apartment. He said not to worry about the price, you’re not short on cash."

"What did you start saying?"

Bai Zhizhan got anxious all of a sudden; if it weren’t for him still needing to wipe, he would have dashed out right away.

"You didn’t hear clearly? You can call him yourself tonight. I talked to your sister-in-law about it, and she’s looking for apartments. She also said that when the lady arrives, she must come to our house for a meal."

"Brother—"

Taking advantage of this time, Bai Zhizhan had wiped, pulled up his pants, and made it to the living room.

"I heard you’ve got yourself a girlfriend, your sister-in-law is especially happy."

"Can you believe anything Old Li says?"

Zhao Yu blinked, looking a bit puzzled.

"Where are you planning to take me?" Bai Zhizhan didn’t want to delve into the "girlfriend" topic because even friends was a stretch for his relationship with Zhang Xiaoqing.

"Let’s eat first."

"It’s the same if we eat on the road; it’s already noon, don’t delay."

Zhao Yu didn’t fuss any further. As the chief designer at Jiangnan Ship Design Institute, every minute of his time was precious, and it was already quite generous of him to spare half a day with Bai Zhizhan.

Actually, there wasn’t much to it.

That afternoon, Zhao Yu accompanied Bai Zhizhan on a tour of the shipyard and the Ship Design Institute, introducing him to the heads of the major departments.

Although Bai Zhizhan had visited Puzhou Shipyard several times a year over the past decade, since the "Longjiang" had been commissioned, he hadn’t been back down to the grass roots, and the shipyard workers had changed several times over, with many who knew Bai Zhizhan now retired.

Besides, he never needed to go down to the grass roots on his past visits to the shipyard.

Most of the time, his visits were for research, meaning attending meetings called by the shipyard management to gather relevant data, such as how many battleships could be built simultaneously during wartime, how long it would take to complete mobilization, and what preparations needed to be made to reach wartime construction speed.

Such work didn’t require him to go down to the workshop floor.

Moreover, research like this was primarily conducted by the fleet, and Bai Zhizhan had long since been transferred to the Navy headquarters; there was no need for him to interact with shipyard personnel.

Following Zhao Yu around the shipyard was truly an eye-opening experience for Bai Zhizhan.

The transformation of the shipyard was nothing short of dramatic!

There were four shipbuilding docks, each capable of constructing a main battleship of up to fifty thousand tons, or simultaneously building eight large-scale battleships of ten thousand tons each. If used exclusively for carrier construction, four large-scale carriers could be built at once, and ones much improved over the "Imperial Capital" class.

And that was just the Puzhou Shipyard.

According to Zhao Yu, Cizhou Shipyard was of a comparable size, and the three other large shipyards were slightly behind but not by much.

Actually, just counting the Cizhou Shipyard, they could build eight large carriers at the same time.

This shipbuilding capability could almost crush all enemy nations!

When it comes to the Empire’s shipbuilding capacity, it exceeds the total of all other Great Powers except for the Newland Federation. Even when counting the Newland Federation, they would have to finish their mobilization and combine with other Great Powers to surpass the Empire, and even then, they wouldn’t have a quantitative advantage.

Right now, there are two large carriers and two Fast Battleships laid down at the Puzhou Shipyard.

Counting the Cizhou Shipyard, by the end of year 100 in the New Calendar, the Empire’s Navy could have four large carriers and four Fast Battleships at the same time. By the middle of 101 at the latest, the Empire’s Navy could form two standard-sized Special Mixed Fleets with these eight Main Battle Ships.

Unless there is a carrier sunk during this period, the Empire’s Navy will have nine carriers by then.

Which navy could resist nine carriers?

The key point is there are also ten Fast Battleships and at least four older Battleships.

Even if the Newland Federation mobilizes now, it’s impossible for them to gain a naval force capable of challenging the Empire before year 101 in the New Calendar, not to mention year 102. When the Empire’s Navy’s strength reaches a periodic peak in the first half of 101, even counting the carriers the Bulan Royal Navy could send over, the Alliance Group might not be able to gain superiority in the East Ocean, let alone defeat the Liangxia Empire.

Actually, this is the advantage of a "head start."

Even if this advantage is hard to maintain permanently, after all, once mobilized, the Newland Federation’s war potential bursts are not much less than the Empire’s.

However, in the early stages of the war, such an advantage is enough to secure a decisive victory.

At the Ship Design Institute, Bai Zhizhan also reaped huge benefits.

Indeed, it was quite a feast for the eyes.

If prior to the outbreak of the war, designers like Zhao Yu were somewhat hesitant because the combat effectiveness of carriers and the Air Force had not been tested in actual combat, and appeared immature in many aspects, giving off a taken-for-granted air, then, after being tested by the fires of war, designers became more daring and had more clearly defined goals, focusing on aerial combat.

At the Nanjiang Ship Design Institute, there were over a dozen new-style Battleships in the design phase.

Some of them were outlandish ideas that no designer could have come up with before, or even if they had, they would never dare to voice them.

According to Zhao Yu, several of these designs were near completion and were about to be submitted to the Navy headquarter for review.

Among these were the large Anti-Aircraft ships and Integrated Supply Ships that Bai Zhizhan had been particularly interested in.

Because the great war had already erupted, even if these bizarre Battleships didn’t quite fit past assessment standards, they would mostly likely be approved.

Whether they’re useful or not, just build a few and send them to run a few laps on the battlefield, and it would naturally become evident.

As for peace-time concerns like budget issues, they simply didn’t exist during wartime; the current problem was whether they could build good enough Battleships.

If they could build powerful Battleships, taking a few detours would be acceptable.

According to the usual practices of the Empire’s Navy, the fear wasn’t that the shipyards couldn’t build them; it was that designers couldn’t imagine them.

However, there were also problems.

It was still the initial phase of the great war, and there was only one enemy, and moreover, it was the weakest, so being prodigal wasn’t a problem.

But what about when the strongest enemy joins the war? Can they still be as extravagant?

Moreover, the Army side hadn’t started yet.

Once the Army gets going, they will inevitably compete with the Navy for resources.

At that time, it won’t be about whether there’s enough budget, but whether the Empire’s steel factories can produce enough high-quality armor steel to satisfy the appetites of both the Land and Sea Forces.

For this reason, Bai Zhizhan suggested to the designers to look to the future and design Battleships that were outstanding in performance and easy to construct.

He claimed to be guiding the work, but whether the designers took it to heart was another matter altogether.

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