Empire Conquest

Chapter 539 - 535: Catching Up

Actual combat also proved that battleships had not been completely phased out, and fast battleships possessed formidable combat power, claiming a place in the fleet as "close escorts for carriers." The key was that, in night combat, fast battleships were the undisputed masters of the sea.

Whether in the Northwest East Ocean Battle, the defense of Sai Island, the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean Battle, the recent battle in the Bengal Bay, or the current battle for Transfer Island, fast battleships had been one of the central pillars on the battlefield, second only to carriers in terms of their deterrent power.

In nighttime, their invincibility was even more pronounced!

Clearly, more fast battleships had to be built.

At this point, Nizi specifically mentioned the deceptions strategies of the opponents.

Although the Liangxia Navy had been actively advocating the "obsolescence of battleships" and was a practical implementer, being the first to replace the main status of battleships with carriers, to date, the Liangxia Navy had obtained a total of no fewer than 10 fast battleships through retrofitting and construction, far surpassing any competitor.

The Newland Navy had only six fast battleships, either in service or under construction, and even if those which had been allocated funding but had not yet been started were counted, that number was only ten.

The Bulan Navy had a total of just four, with one more under construction and only one planned for construction; including the three battlecruisers, that made a total of only nine vessels, and one had already been sunk in combat.

The Saiyi Navy had only four quasi-fast battleships upgraded from battlecruisers before their defeat.

The Tiaoman Navy had only two, while the Raleigh Navy had at most four, and the Locke Navy, even counting battlecruisers and incomplete ships, had only five.

Crucially, at least four fast battleships were under construction in the Liangxia Empire’s shipyards, and it was uncertain if another four would soon appear on the slipways.

Thus, the Liangxia Navy might have as many as 14 to 18 fast battleships.

It was evident that the Liangxia Navy had always placed great importance on fast battleships and had built a sufficiently large number of them.

With such a huge gap, the Newland Navy had to make an effort to catch up.

It was precisely because of this that Nizi clearly proposed that measures must be taken to accelerate the construction of the "Yihua" class and to place orders for the second batch ahead of schedule.

Here, he touched upon a problem that had not yet been resolved.

The construction of the first batch of four "Yihua" class had begun at the start of the year, but due to funding issues, or rather, the priority given to carriers, foremost warships, and even fast cargo ships, the shipborne costs for the four battleships had not been fully provided.

As a result, the four "Yihua" class had made no progress since the start of their construction.

Of course, that was an unavoidable situation.

Meanwhile, construction of the four "Nanda" class was guaranteed, and two "Montana" class were delivered to the Navy within the scheduled time.

Of course, Nizi emphasized the value of fast battleships.

In his words, the Liangxia Navy’s ability to win several decisive naval battles consecutively while keeping losses within a tolerable range was not only due to having elite shipborne air force but also the role played by fast battleships could not be underestimated.

The most direct evidence was that several fleet carriers of the Liangxia Navy had narrowly escaped destruction thanks to the anti-aircraft cover provided by fast battleships.

Had those few carriers not held on, the Liangxia Navy would now have at most only four large carriers available.

Let’s not forget, of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet’s three carriers, only "Peijing" had not been severely damaged, while "Heng River," which had been repurposed for training, had also suffered significant damage.

By that account, the fleet carriers of the Liangxia Empire had all been "sunk" in combat at least once.

Of course, what Nizi wanted was not limited to eight "Yihua" class fast battleships.

The Liangxia Navy’s "Nanzhu Sea" class had already entered the battlefield and its combat power was certainly superior to the "Nanda" class and unlikely to be inferior to the "Yihua" class that was under construction.

If we’re talking about it, the fact is that they are evenly matched.

That is to say, the "Yihua" class does not possess an absolute performance advantage over the "Nanzhu Sea" class.

The key point is that the Liangxia Navy has already initiated its second post-treaty type of Fast Battleship, with the first batch already under construction, and their combat power is definitely above the "Nanzhu Sea" class.

According to the latest intelligence, the performance of this yet-to-be-named Super Battleship completely surpasses the "Yihua" class.

Not to mention anything else, its standard displacement is likely to exceed 55,000 tons, and its full load displacement will definitely be over 65,000 tons.

Although it’s somewhat less than the unbuilt "Saiyi" of the Saiyi Navy, as long as it is built, it will certainly be the largest Battleship in terms of tonnage to date.

It could be said that the tonnage might even surpass that of the "Saiyi".

Furthermore, intelligence indicates that this type of Super Battleship is equipped with 450 mm main guns of a 55-caliber length, capable of overpowering all current Fast Battleships across their entire firing range.

Theoretically, no type of Battleship can withstand armor-piercing bullets of 450 mm.

Not just the "Yihua" class, even the yet-to-be-standardized "Montana" class, with the strongest armor design option, can only resist 16-inch heavy armor-piercing bullets.

What’s most important is that its construction progress has even surpassed the "Yihua" class!

This is precisely why Nizi directly proposed to Rofuss to start the BBX project in advance, that is, the construction of the "Montana" class Super Battleship, and selected the design option equipped with nine 18-inch main guns. By reducing the speed by 2 knots, they could increase armor by 5,000 tons.

Only in this way could they achieve an immunity zone against 450 mm armor-piercing bullets.

As for cruising speed, after practical combat testing, the Newland Navy had long realized that speed indicators over 33 knots were essentially pointless. Even fleet carriers rarely run that fast when evading attacks. As long as they can reach 30 knots, that is sufficient.

For Battleships, a reduction in speed by a single knot means an increase of 1,500 to 2,000 tons of armor!

Relatively speaking, thick armor remains the most fundamental guarantee of survival capability.

In terms of the number of new battleships built by the Liangxia Navy, Nizi proposed that there should be at least four in the first batch, ideally eight, or else the second batch must reach eight.

In summary, the construction number must not be less than twelve.

If this number cannot be reached, it would be necessary to continue increasing the number of "Yihua" class units being built, and the third batch of "Yihua" class should ideally have major modifications, like shortening the hull to reduce structural tonnage and replacing them with three compact turrets equipped with three 18-inch main guns each.

In short, even in the realm of Fast Battleships, the Newland Navy still has to strive to catch up.

As for construction costs, other expenses could be appropriately reduced, such as shrinking the Marine Corps and decreasing the number of Landing Ships being built.

The reason is simple: in the foreseeable future, the Newland Navy has no possibility of launching a strategic Reprisal, hence there is no need for too many Marines and Landing Ships.

When it comes to island defense, the Army is just as capable without the Marine Corps.

In fact, on Sai Island and Transfer Island, there are quite a few Army troops, and not many Marines are deployed.

In the Southwest East Ocean, the Army is also the main force defending the islands.

Of course, the key really lies in the Landing Ships and the variety of transport vessels that are inevitably used in large-scale landing operations.

Even if the cost of Landing Ships and transports is low, their sheer number makes the overall expense not insignificant.

By saving this money, it would be enough to build several battleships.