In December 1906, accompanied by the falling frost and snow, the Fearless battleship finally showed her true figure in the berth of the Portsmouth Shipyard. Compared with the short, fat and ugly German battleship completed half a year ago, the Fearless body looked slender and elegant; coupled with its tall freeboard and majestic bridge, it made her look more like a straight nobleman than her German counterparts.

Perhaps it was because of the successive launch of German heavy artillery warships that greatly stimulated the nerves of the British Navy's senior management. When the giant ship that was built with the whole country was completed, the Royal Navy held a grand completion ceremony for her. Faced with the observation reporters from all over the world and naval spies who intended to see the final analysis, the British in charge of the ocean did not have the idea of ​​making a fortune in silence, but showed her almost all performance to the world without reservation. At the ceremony, Admiral Fisher, dressed in neat military uniform, greatly promoted the 10 305mm L45 heavy artillery equipped by the Fearless and the speed of up to 21 knots, as if this steel giant ship with a standard displacement of 17,800 was completely capable of crushing ten pieces when it came to the German sling with a smaller caliber and a slower speed.

Qingying had already expected Fisher's move. Since March 1906, seven dreadnought ships that Germany started construction in 1903-1905 have been launched or completed one after another. This is undoubtedly a loud slap in the ocean field that Britain is proud of. The British finally seized an opportunity to regain their face, so they naturally wanted to publicize them to the world in order to maintain their maritime glory. As for the speed advantage and firepower of the USS Fischer advocated by the USS Fischer to crush the German battleships, Qingying could only despise: With the absolute advantage of the hard-capped armor-piercing shells over the British slag shells, the German 283mm L47 artillery could explode the British 305. And the speed advantage of less than one knot could not have practical results in the naval battle battlefield of large cluster confrontations.

The actions carried out by the British Navy were also expected by Qingying.

The bell of the New Year sounded. Just as the whole of Europe was immersed in a joyful and peaceful atmosphere, a State of the Union address from the British Navy quickly spread on the British Isles. In this comparison document aimed at displaying the naval lineup between Britain and the world, the French and American navies, which ranked second and third in the world in total tonnage and equipped with a large number of armored cruisers that can be used for overseas disputes, turned a blind eye to the target of the French and American navies, who were in Victory, turned a blind eye to the target.

Germany, led by the grandson who held her hand tightly when Queen Leah died: By 1909, the German Navy would have a huge fleet of 8 dreadnoughts and 4 battlecruisers, while Britain had only 4 dreadnoughts and 3 battlecruisers to deal with it during the same period! This document, which completely ignored the massive gap between Britain and Germany, was like a chasm in the previous fearless era, dropped a super bombshell in the UK.

Since defeating the Spanish Invincible Fleet in 1588, Britain has been the only absolute overlord on this ocean. Centuries of deposition have made the idea that "the vast ocean is the wealth God has given them" deeply impressed in the minds of every British. They regard the ocean as their own private property and will never allow outsiders to be involved. Therefore, when the British people learned that the "warlord country" opposite the strait actually had a top fleet that was stronger than the Royal Navy, their anger accumulated over decades of production at Germany's share of its world market, they erupted with a volcano in an instant.

The attitude burst out. The angry British people began to roar and yell in a state of almost hysterical madness. The remarks of the militants such as "let the German fleet be completely destroyed like Copenhagen" were rampant throughout Britain. The public and Congress put forward tremendous pressure on the British government, which had already been overwhelmed by the crazy expansion budget of nine main battleships in 1906. They even proposed that the Royal Navy re-established its absolute initiative over Germany at the speed of "two ships to one ship".

Under the heavy pressure of fierce public opinion, Prime Minister Banerman, who was willing to balance the budget, had to succumb to Congress' willingness to increase the strength of the Royal Navy, and threw the task of reducing financing and reducing debts out of the blue. But even so, it is obviously impossible to achieve the "double standard" proposed by those who just talk nonsense - because from any perspective, Britain would not have the possibility of starting 17 main battleships in 1907, not to mention that this was the most conservative data when the Germans did nothing in 1907! The huge budget of starting 9 main battleships in 1906 has caused the British finance to suffer unimaginable heavy bleeding; now, not to mention 17, even 7 can't afford enough funds, you should know that these dreadnoughts are money-burning machines representing the economic strength and industrial power of the top power!

After repeated planning and operation, the British government dug three feet into the ground and finally pieced together a huge sum of money for the navy to maintain its additional five main battleships in 1907. The MPs changed their usual sluggish style. With unprecedented efficiency, they passed this "short" budget that they were not satisfied with and were dissatisfied with. A month later, the Royal Navy officially announced the specific shipbuilding plan for this year to the world: in addition to 190.

In addition to the remaining three Berlerofon-class battleships that were postponed in the 6th year, they will also build two Invincible Class Battlecruisers and three Saint Vincent-class battleships with a standard displacement of 19,560 tons. The UK clearly demonstrated to the world their firm determination to control the ocean at an astonishing speed of 14 main battleships within two years: "The Trident of the Sea King Poseidon will always belong to the glorious Britain!" A Royal Navy spokesperson said in front of many reporters.

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Faced with this situation, the ambitious German Emperor William and Tirpitz obviously would not retreat. In fact, Britain's huge shipbuilding plan not only did not make them give up their willingness to compete with Britain in a naval competition, but instead strengthened the unchanging belief of the two to build a risk fleet. Although the number of battleships actually started in Britain this year has increased compared with last year, the naval shipbuilding budget has dropped significantly compared with last year; Britain only performed this way under the pressure of Germany's dominant dreadnought, which shows that the start of seven battleships in the year is the limit of Britain's finances! Qing and Britain's previous historical speculations have been confirmed that even if it has the world's hard currency - the British pound, the British government cannot borrow money without restrictions, and it is even more impossible to invest more than half of its national income in military spending like a national war!

The sudden drop in the speed of British shipbuilding has undoubtedly greatly encouraged the German decision-maker's confidence in victory. Through the development of the navy, which has always pointed to the core part of the world hegemony of the British Empire, Germany has obtained an unprecedented opportunity that no diplomatic trick or political fraud has ever obtained before. As long as the German Navy continues to maintain the starting speed of five main ships per year, it will be enough to easily build a powerful fleet that reaches more than 70% of the Royal Navy and make it impossible for Britain to defeat easily. And Germany will also rely on this fleet that can drag the navy that the Sun-Down-Set Empire depends on to maintain it into the third-rate fleet to obtain a pass to the absolute hegemony of the European continent - the friendship with Britain, a very important offshore balancer!

With the joint support of William and Qingying, Tirpitz began to act quickly. The father of the German Navy who brought the unprecedented high seas fleet in history was not only a recognized naval tactical authority and excellent naval general, but also a politician with extremely flexible wits. During his ten years as secretary of the Imperial Navy, through the silent subtle influence of various things, the development of the German Navy has been strongly supported by industrial giants, members of parliament and the general public. Through careful guidance of public opinion, the national sentiment in Germany was suddenly ignited by Britain's targeted shipbuilding plan; Tirpitz advanced and quickly passed the construction plan of the five main battleships in the same year as last year in Parliament.

In order to ensure that the warships can be built quickly, putting greater pressure on Britain, the four new battleships in the planned use most of the designs of the 1906 battleships, but only made some improvements in power based on the technological development over the past year. On another battleship that started construction this year, its main gun caliber was magnified to 305 mm the same as the battleships. The four double-mounted turrets were arranged in front 2 and rear 2, which were completely superior to the British class in both appearance and connotation. The slag class equipped with the main guns of the battleships on armored cruisers. Since the oil reserves led by Qingying began to be established in Germany, the problem of oil shortage was greatly alleviated. The ship used a kerosene mixed-burning boiler that could be used for fuel injection and combustion for the first time, which undoubtedly had great benefits to the speed of the battleships.
Chapter completed!