Empire Conquest

Chapter 656 - 5 Imperial Chief Minister_2

He could either become the Chief of Naval Staff of the Empire after Li Mingbo retired,

or he could retire early to compete for the position of Imperial Chief Minister.

The former was a sure bet.

As for the latter, Zhou Yongtao had to fight with all his might for it.

It was on that day that Zhou Yongtao made a life-altering decision.

The result of this decision made him the first Navy Marshal in the history of the Empire to move into the Prime Minister Mansion.

Of course, following the precedent set by Lian Xusheng, Zhou Yongtao received the rank of Marshal, not Grand Marshal, upon retirement.

This decision was not merely for himself, though.

More than a decade earlier, Bai Zhizhan, to bring him back to the Navy Commander’s office and promote Navy reform, voluntarily gave up the chance to become the Imperial Chief Minister, retired early as the Grand Navy Marshal, and let the evidently less talented Li Mingbo take over as the Navy Commander.

Subsequently, under the military reforms initiated by Zhou Yongtao, the Navy was almost completely transformed, rejuvenating as a dominant force of the Empire.

However, with the promotion by the current Imperial Chief Minister, the Ministry of Defense rapidly expanded and strengthened.

Simply put, all these arrangements made by Bai Zhizhan, especially the compromises and concessions, were ultimately for the purpose of someday seeing Zhou Yongtao move into the Prime Minister Mansion.

As for why Bai Zhizhan did not become the Imperial Chief Minister,

the reason is quite simple.

In his era, there were Lian Xusheng and Li Yunxiang, and since Lian Xusheng had taken the lead, when it was Bai Zhizhan’s turn, he was already over 80 years old.

Clearly, supporting Zhou Yongtao was because Zhou Yongtao was over 20 years younger.

In Bai Zhizhan’s words, only by having an Imperial Chief Minister could the Navy change its destiny of being restrained by the Army and having to obey the Army’s commands in all aspects.

The reason Bai Zhizhan had such thoughts, Zhou Yongtao knew all too well.

Indeed, it related to the Boi War.

In this large-scale regional war that altered the global landscape, the Imperial Navy was fully committed, with its forces at their peak making up 70% of the total employed forces. In June of New Calendar year 134, just the carriers deployed in Boss Bay and the Mua Sea totaled 22.

The Navy paid a heavy price, losing thousands of ship-borne aircraft.

Yet, after the war, the Empire’s high command and the public blamed the Navy for the defeat, and Bai Zhizhan resigned in protest.

Although the current situation indicated that letting the Navy take the blame in media was primarily to protect the dignity of the Imperial Family, as the last frontline Commander-in-chief was the Crown Prince, an Army General, Bai Zhizhan firmly believed this was actually forcing the Navy to comply.

Simply put, it was about forcing the Navy to drastically reduce the size of the fleet.

After the Boi War ended, the Navy’s fleet size still exceeded 1000 ships, 60% of which were old battleships built and designed during the previous major war.

Just maintaining these ships took up nearly 30% of the military budget.

The critical issue was, both Bai Zhizhan and Li Mingbo opposed reducing fleet size as a way to cut costs and continuously strove to maintain it.

Replacing aging battleships one-for-one with new ones!?

For the Empire post-war, this was an unbearable burden.

If so, the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps would all be starving!

Within five years after the Boi War, nearly 600 ships built during the World War II, including 12 "Province" class large new carriers, were successively retired.

The key point is, no replacement ships were built.

The result was, by the late period of Li Mingbo’s term as Navy Commander, the number of carriers had sharply fallen from 37 before the outbreak of the Boi War to 15, and only 7 large carriers had been built post-war, with the first of the 100,000-ton super carriers still under construction at that time.

By New Calendar year 141, at its lowest point, the Imperial Navy had only 383 commissioned battleships!

This number was a full 30% less than the 545 required to maintain global dominance.

Furthermore, the Imperial bicameral legislature had passed an act that seemed to protect the Navy’s interests but actually limited the size of the fleet.

It capped the number of carriers at 15!

Which meant, only in the event of a full-scale war and the abolishing of this act, could the Imperial Navy acquire the 16th carrier.

Otherwise, for every new carrier commissioned, an old one had to be decommissioned.

For this matter, Bai Zhizhan, citing health issues, did not attend the current Holy Emperor’s coronation.

Do not forget, he was the husband of the Little Eldest Princess, the Empire’s Prince Consort, and by civilian familial relations, he was the current Holy Emperor’s uncle.

It was for this reason that Bai Zhizhan hoped the Navy could give birth to an Imperial Chief Minister.

Clearly, the most suitable candidate was Zhou Yongtao.

However, Zhou Yongtao also understood that some of Bai Zhizhan’s views had become outdated, or were too biased.

Limiting the size of the Navy was an inevitable move.

Moreover, it wasn’t the Army but the Air Force that benefited.

To a great extent, limiting the Army and Navy while increasing investment in the Air Force had been the main theme of post-war military reform.

Though the Navy hadn’t disappeared or withdrawn from the historical stage, in the context of the new era, the Air Force was what decided the outcomes of wars and held the initiative in warfare.

It was the Strategic Air Force that had global strike capabilities!

In fact, Bai Zhizhan understood this rationale as well.

The most representative event was that in the year the great war ended, Bai Zhizhan, serving as the Imperial Navy Commander, approved the construction of the "Empire"-class super carrier.

A few months later, the "Empire" was laid down in Puzhou.

Compared to previous carriers, the most significant feature of the "Empire" was the elimination of all obstructions that hindered the planes’ taking off and landing, including the superstructure.

Even the chimneys were designed to bend sideways and downward.

All this was taken to the extreme for one purpose.

To carry heavy bombers that had an operational radius of over 2,000 kilometers and could perform strategic bombing missions, thus giving ship-borne air force substantial strategic strike capabilities.

For sure, Bai Zhizhan also understood that the future was primarily about strategic strikes.

Unfortunately, less than a year after the "Empire" was laid down, its construction was forced to a halt due to military adjustment.

At the time, a group of Navy generals led by Wei Jun even threatened to resign to demand the continuation of the "Empire"’s construction, but this backfired.

In reality, it wasn’t without results.

Following the indignant resignations of Wei Jun and several other distinguished Navy generals, Imperial Authority made concessions and approved, a few years later, the construction of the "Chen Bingxun"-class—the first post-war type of large carrier—authorizing two more ships than the Navy had hoped to receive.

The standard displacement of the "Chen Bingxun" class was as high as 64,000 tons, whereas the "Empire" was only 60,000 tons.

However, to cater to the lords responsible for funding in both houses, and to avoid encumberment from the Air Force, the "Chen Bingxun" class adopted a traditional carrier design.

As for the strategic strikes insisted upon by Bai Zhizhan, in the jet age, particularly after the advent of refueling aircraft, it was no longer an exclusive capability of heavy bombers.

Furthermore, the collective retirement of Wei Jun and other Navy generals essentially promoted Zhou Yongtao.

Don’t forget, throughout the entire great war, Zhou Yongtao had served as a chief of staff.

Although he had always followed Bai Zhizhan and had distinguished himself in battle, he clearly couldn’t match the notoriety of Wei Jun, who always served as a commander.

Moreover, in terms of seniority, Zhou Yongtao was also somewhat inferior to Wei Jun.

Without Wei Jun’s retirement, it would never have been Zhou Yongtao’s turn to lead the Navy.

Of course, Zhou Yongtao did not disappoint Bai Zhizhan.

Within less than a month of moving into the Prime Minister Mansion, Zhou Yongtao did something significant with great vigor.

That was the aforementioned suppression of the rebellion in Sri Lanka.

In the subsequent years, under Zhou Yongtao’s command, the Empire gradually emerged from the shadow of the Boi War defeat and launched a new round of military reform driven by a technological explosion.

If anything, pushing military reform had always been Zhou Yongtao’s primary mission.

Indeed, he was the only one who could achieve it.

The reason was simple, the Navy is a quintessentially high-technology military branch, Navy generals are more sensitive to emerging technologies, and they are more willing to support technological equipment.

The current round of military reform was driven by electronic technology, particularly integrated circuits!

According to the Ministry of Defense’s assessment, this wave of military reform was not inferior to the mechanization revolution and would definitely change the face of warfare completely!

Zhou Yongtao never doubted this.

Of course, if he had known 5 years ago that he would face the sternest challenge since World War II during his tenure, and might even ignite the fuse for World War III, it’s not that he would have made another choice, but rather, he would have immediately pushed for military reform and synchronized adjustment of the Empire’s fundamental strategy upon assuming office.

Starting preparations 5 years earlier would at least not have left him as passive as now!