Empire Conquest
Chapter 384 - 380: White Hair at the Temples

Chapter 384: Chapter 380: White Hair at the Temples

Hearing Zhao Yu mention these matters, Bai Zhizhan also felt a deep sense of lamentation.

More than twenty years ago, it was through Zhao Yu that he came to understand the true state of the He Family, and Bai Zhizhan realized that following the He Family might not lead to positive outcomes.

Of course, the key issue was that it went against his fundamental values.

To put it more seriously, some of the He Family’s actions were actually profiteering from the nation’s troubles.

Unfortunately, even Xue Yuanzheng was helpless in this matter.

As Zhao Yu put it, removing the He Family was a minor issue, but if the He Family fell, the Empire’s five major shipyards, as well as over a hundred upstream enterprises, would all have to halt production.

Without the He Family, who could restrain the Liu Family?

The two great families mutually opposed each other, at least obeying orders from above.

If only one remained, it would only become even more arrogant and unyielding.

In fact, within the Empire’s Army, a similar situation existed, and the struggle was even more vicious.

Zhao Yu said these things because he had no other choice.

In his words, He Yongxing suppressing the acquisition of small carrier fleets was actually to force Liu Changxun to make equivalent concessions in other areas.

Firstly, he demanded that Liu Changxun quickly approve the procurement contract for the second batch of large cruisers.

This matter had already caused several months of disputes.

Not to mention the second batch, due to the high construction costs and the risk of cost overruns, the construction period was delayed again and again. Liu Changxun even considered cancelling the first batch of construction projects several times, proposing to repurpose the hulls for his own use, such as retaining only the propulsion system and converting them into fleet oilers that would support the carriers.

Of course, if they were converted into fleet oilers, there would be no need to purchase those expensive pieces of equipment, and the cost could naturally be reduced.

Because He Yongxing did not agree, they had been at an impasse.

Likewise, because Liu Changxun did not agree to increase the purchase quantity, the construction contract for the second batch of eight cruisers had been put on hold and to this day had not passed review.

As long as Liu Changxun did not agree, there was nothing He Yongxing could do.

Another goal was to initiate the construction of the third fast battleship ahead of schedule.

The key point was that this was a direct challenge to Zhao Yu, because he had not yet submitted the design proposal, and without design approval, there could be no talk of allocating funds for construction.

In reality, the design work had already been completed, but it had always been suppressed by Zhao Yu.

The reasoning was simple—The "Xu Sea" class had proven through action that its performance was sufficiently formidable. The second fast battleship type, which was being outfitted, was even more powerful than the "Xu Sea" class. It was not only capable of escorting carriers but also would not be at a disadvantage when facing the enemy’s fast battleships.

Not to mention, it also had the advantage of completely overwhelming the enemy’s treaty type fast battleships.

The crucial point was that this temporarily named "Nanzhu Sea" class fast battleship had broken through the limits imposed by the treaties, being the first post-treaty type battleship.

The Navy of Newland and the Royal Navy of Bulan’s post-treaty type battleships were still on the drawing boards!

So, what reason was there to build an even better-performing and costlier fast battleship?

As it stood, the primary mission of the fast battleship was to protect the carriers.

Since several carriers had already been lost and the probability of carriers being damaged was much higher than that of their escorting battleships, there had never been a shortage of fast battleships.

Besides, once the four large cruisers were commissioned, there would no longer be a need for fast battleships to escort the carriers.

All in all, there was no reason to build more fast battleships; even if there was a need, just building another batch of second-generation fast battleships would suffice.

What was truly needed was an increase in the construction of large carriers.

Therein lay the problem.

Even with similar tonnage, the cost of building a carrier was much lower than that of a battleship, typically around 75% of that of a fast battleship.

The reason was simple: carriers did not require costly large-caliber naval guns, expensive fire-control radar systems, nor did they require nearly as much armor plate.

Among the construction costs of a battleship, armored steel has always been the most significant expense, and the main guns also account for a substantial proportion.

As for the structural steel of the ship’s hull, it’s much cheaper due to the lower difficulty of smelting.

Because there’s no need to withstand the shock produced by firing the main guns, carriers have lower structural strength requirements than battleships and use less structural steel. Conversely, carriers adopt a structure with many smaller compartments, and the deck steel, which makes up a large proportion, happens to be the cheapest to produce.

Even the propulsion system, another major cost factor in construction, doesn’t cost more than that of a fast battleship.

Of course, if you factor in the difficulty of construction, the difference is even more apparent.

If a shipyard builds carriers, the profits are definitely not as high as those from constructing battleships, and in many cases, it’s not possible to overstate the costs.

There’s a key problem here.

Cizhou Shipyard’s major shareholder is not the He family.

Because it was built in tandem with Puzhou Shipyard, Cizhou couldn’t overstate the costs too much when declaring them, making it difficult to increase profits.

That’s precisely why He Yongxing hoped to build more of the third-generation fast battleships, which are more advanced and certainly much more expensive.

However, in Zhao Yu’s view, it was a complete waste!

The Newland Navy’s fast battleships?

Even if everything went smoothly, they would only enter service next year, and the two "Beika" class ships really weren’t much to speak of. The four "Nanda" class ships still under construction were about on par with the "Xu Sea" class, perhaps slightly better in protection since their hulls were significantly shorter. As for the legendary "Yihua" class, to date, only two had been started, and no one knew what their actual performance would be like.

The Bulan Royal Navy?

Several "New Qiao V" class ships, whether or not they count as fast battleships, cheapened themselves considerably with their antiquated 14-inch main guns.

It was clear that, no matter how you looked at it, the Empire Navy had no urgent need to build more fast battleships.

This view was also held by Liu Changxun and most of the navy generals.

On this matter, Liu Xiangdong had said something profound: Instead of rushing to build fast battleships, it was better to use the steel to build ocean-going submarines.

Implicitly, the demand of the Empire Navy for ocean-going submarines was greater than that for fast battleships.

But now was a time of war.

The crux of the matter rested with Zhao Yu.

As long as Zhao Yu submitted the design and emphasized the importance of fast battleships during the review, he would most likely get the construction authorization.

If it passed the Grand Secretary, more precisely, the War Cabinet Military Equipment Committee, once it reached the Navy headquarters, everything else would be easy.

Arguing with Liu Changxun had become like daily bread for He Yongxing.

He Yongxing had plenty of cards to play; he wasn’t worried about sparring with Liu Changxun; he was anxious he wouldn’t get the chance to spar with him at all.

In Zhao Yu’s words, He Yongxing was pressuring him by making a fuss over the small carrier fleet.

Indeed, Zhao Yu noticed Bai Zhizhan’s concern when discussing these matters.

In just a few months, the white at his temples had considerably increased.

Clearly, he must be constantly worried.

"Let’s not talk about these discouraging matters. You don’t have any other plans this afternoon, right? I’ll take you around the yard and let you familiarize yourself with your future warship."

"Ready for delivery?"

"The construction work is mostly finished, just a few final inspections left. Once the Navy completes the first acceptance, by next month at the latest, it will be ready to sail."

"Alright, take me to have a look."

What Zhao Yu was excited about was the "province" class large carrier, also the world’s first type designed as a carrier, surpassing the constrained and cramped treaty-type fleet carriers in every aspect with a standard displacement exceeding 35,000 tons when built.

The linchpin of the Empire Navy in this great war!

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