Empire Conquest
Chapter 409 - 405: The Greatest Spoils of War

Chapter 409: Chapter 405: The Greatest Spoils of War

Liu Changxun had no intention of giving Bai Zhizhan time off, nor did he wish to treat him to the Saiyi local flavor, but instead, he wanted him to accompany Zhao Yu on an inspection tour of the Daban Shipyard.

In fact, this included the shipyards at places like Shenhu as well.

Even though the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom had been defeated and the Imperial Authority had no plans to reconstruct the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom or, in other words, take advantage of Saiyi industry, the shipbuilding industry of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was not at all outdated, and much of the infrastructure had been completely preserved. Even if these were not used to build battleships, they could still be used to repair battleships or construct civilian transport vessels, especially oil tankers, which would definitely be needed in significant quantities in the future.

Moreover, there were many unfinished battleships in several Navy Shipyards.

This was Zhao Yu’s main purpose for visiting the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

The focus was not on Daban; his visit to Daban was merely to meet and confer with Bai Zhizhan.

Although Daban was the second largest city of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, with a population and city area second only to East Imperial City, and was also the largest port city in Saiyi, Daban didn’t have any notable shipyards, let alone Navy Shipyards. In the past few decades, Daban had only constructed civilian ships.

The largest shipyard of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was, in fact, at Long Sorrow Port.

When the Imperial Navy attacked Long Sorrow, the Marine Corps landed at Long Sorrow Port, and the Saiyi military forces had destroyed all the infrastructure inside the Long Sorrow Shipyard and blew up the Super Battleship under construction, which was the "Saiyi" class No.2 Ship, not even leaving a complete dock behind!

Such comprehensive and thorough destruction meant that Long Sorrow Port still hadn’t recovered to normal to this day.

As for the once Long Sorrow Shipyard, only broken walls and ruins remained.

The West Saiyi Regime had always been trying to get the Long Sorrow Shipyard working again, but since the infrastructure had been bombed to ruins and the supporting factories had also been destroyed in the bombardments, even if the Empire was willing to provide some help, it would probably not be until next year, or even the year after that, for the relevant assistance to arrive.

It’s not that Saiyi’s industry was worthless, but rather that the strategic situation didn’t allow it.

For the sake of security concerns, before gaining absolute strategic advantage, the Imperial Authority would never help the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom develop its industry.

Consequently, Yihua and Zhao Yu’s first stop was actually at Wu Port.

A few months earlier, shortly after the Saiyi National Self-Defense Team landed on the Main Island, they had captured this port city on the western part of the island.

What’s more, the East Saiyi military forces defending Wu Port had been defeated before they could do any damage.

As a result, the Super Battleship "Saiyi" under construction and the main infrastructure of Wu Port Shipyard were preserved.

However, the battles around that area continued until the latter half of the year.

By the time the Saiyi National Self-Defense Team had occupied Wu Port and started to push eastward, the Imperial Navy had almost forgotten about the unfinished Saiyi battleship in Wu Port.

It wasn’t until after the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom had been defeated and surrendered that officials from the Imperial Navy tasked with inventorying war prizes discovered that there was a Super Battleship in Wu Port that had a fully completed hull and nearly half of the superstructure, with turrets for the main guns already mounted, though the main guns themselves had not yet been installed.

In fact, the corresponding 460mm naval guns were also stored in Wu Port, just not mounted on the "Saiyi" yet.

Even in the warehouses of Wu Port Navy, there were dozens of produced 460mm shells intended for testing upon the "Saiyi’s" delivery.

After sending people to inspect, the Imperial Navy learned that the completion rate of this battleship had reached 75%.

Through on-site inspections, many questions were also resolved.

For example, the equipped 460mm main guns were not the previously claimed 16-inch main guns; the standard displacement definitely exceeded 60,000 tons, and the full load displacement might reach 70,000 tons, 20% higher than previously claimed; with only 12 boilers with a maximum pressure of just 3.8 megapascals, the power system’s output was around 150,000 horsepower, and the calculated top speed was 27 knots, which did not meet the minimum threshold for a Fast Battleship.

In addition, the armor steel used on this battleship did not meet the standards of the Imperial Navy!

According to calculations, the battleship’s main armor belt, with a thickness of 410 millimeters, had an effective protection equivalent to the armor steel used by the Imperial Navy, which ranged between 330 to 350 millimeters.

That is to say, the protective capability of the battleship was only slightly better than that of the "Xu Sea" class with a main armor belt thickness of 320 millimeters.

Because the "Xu Sea" class, in pursuit of high speeds, did not require protection up to the standards of a battleship—namely to withstand heavy armor-piercing bullets fired from its own main guns—theoretically, the "Saiyi" battleship within effective combat range, could not stop the Imperial Navy’s 400-millimeter heavy armor-piercing bullets.

At least according to the data on paper, the "Saiyi", displacing more than 60,000 tons, was not much stronger than the "Xu Sea" class, which was lighter by more than 20,000 tons.

If one factored in cruising speed, in a one-on-one battle, the "Saiyi" would not necessarily defeat the "Xu Sea".

That being said, its hit resistance capability was definitely much stronger.

Thanks to its thick armor and massive hull, the "Saiyi" could sustain hits, particularly its ability to resist torpedoes, definitely exceeding that of the "Xu Sea" class.

How much it exceeded by was difficult to provide an exact answer through theoretical calculations.

In fact, Zhao Yu came to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom to ascertain the "Saiyi’s" actual performance, namely how formidable this behemoth really was.

As for the reason for ascertaining this, it was even more pragmatic.

Previously, had not He Yongxing been constantly working on starting the construction of the "Nanzhu Sea" class fast battleships?

These fast battleships were designed specifically with the Saiyi Navy’s "Saiyi" and the legendary "Yihua" class of the Newland Navy in mind because prior intelligence was inaccurate. Thus, the "Nanzhu Sea" class was designed with a displacement of only 50,000 tons, to be precise, close to 50,000 tons.

Actually, before the outbreak of the great war, the Sixth Bureau updated the data on the "Saiyi" and re-assessed Newland’s "Yihua" class battleship.

The last assessment report substantially increased the estimated displacement of the "Saiyi" class and made a more accurate judgment of the main gun caliber. This meant that after determining the "Saiyi" had only nine main guns, the intelligence analysts concluded that it was not equipped with 16-inch main guns. Initially, it was believed that the Saiyi Navy would align with the Imperial Navy and arm the "Saiyi" with a new type of naval gun with a caliber of 450 millimeters.

In addition, the Sixth Bureau identified the "Yihua" class as a post-treaty type fast battleship with a speed exceeding 30 knots and a standard displacement of around 50,000 tons.

It was based on these pieces of intelligence that the Imperial Navy determined the design specifications for the "Nanzhu Sea" class.

In this nearly completed design, the "Nanzhu Sea" class would be equipped with nine 450-millimeter main guns, with a standard displacement of no less than 50,000 tons, and a cruising speed of at least 32 knots.

Such ambitious specifications resulted in the "Nanzhu Sea" class being extremely costly to build!

If it could be proven that the "Saiyi", displacing more than 60,000 tons, could not withstand bombardment and shelling, it would also prove that there was no need to construct the "Nanzhu Sea" class.

In Zhao Yu’s words, building one "Nanzhu Sea" was enough to purchase three "Province" class ships.

If the "Nanzhu Sea" class could be shelved, the saved resources could be redirected to initiate the third batch of "Province" class, with at least eight ships being constructed.

What’s not to like about having eight more large carriers?

Liu Changxun also attached great importance to this matter, which was why he sent Zhao Yu to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and called for Bai Zhizhan, directing the 41st Special Mixed Fleet to head early to Long Sorrow.

Several days before, the "Saiyi" had already been towed to the testing area to the west of Long Sorrow.

The live-fire test would take place in the next few days!

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