Hirota Koki's heart was also burned with pain, but it was not Nagano Shushen's enthusiastic expectations, but being driven to anger by these guys!

After the August 26 incident last year, the Army guys could not be suppressed first. The Navy suffered consecutive losses and suffered serious losses. Although it was ridiculed very much, it was also full of anger. And now these cabinet members and the Military Command have come to power.

The heads of

, but they are all expansionists. They have been clamoring to continue to expand the size of the navy since the year before last. Last year, they intensified their efforts. China's military construction also gave them a good excuse. Now, the official construction of large battleships has directly become a

fuse..

In the supplementary ship plan passed in January, it is proposed to build at least four new battleships with a standard displacement of 40,000 tons, and the first batch will build two ships. This type of battleship follows the "Ten" in the "Eighty-Eight Fleet" plan in 1920.

According to the standard of "No. 3 Ship", it is scheduled to have a standing displacement of 47,500 tons, a length of 278.3 meters, and a width of 31.36 meters. However, the armament no longer uses the originally planned four-seater twin 460mm

45 times caliber main gun, and four 3-barrel 410mm guns will be installed.

A mature artillery gun with a caliber of 45 times, which is basically the same as that of the "Nagato-class".

This kind of battleship should be said to be the fusion product of the earlier "Ki-class" battleship and the No. 13 ship. On a larger load-bearing platform, a main gun that can be used with a displacement of only 42,600 tons is installed, and the excess tonnage is used.

On the secondary battery, anti-aircraft guns and armor.

Abandoning the original design, the new "Ki-class" battleship in the new and improved design adopts an 8-seater twin 140mm

50 times caliber secondary battery, 6 twin 127mm high-angle guns, 8 twin 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and 20 twin 20mm cannons.

Equipped with a power system with a total power of 15 horsepower, ensuring a high speed of 30 knots!

In addition, in terms of armor, the armor thickness of the side sides will be guaranteed to be at least 105-356mm, the total thickness of the deck armor will reach 120-185mm, the armor thickness of the turret and command tower will reach 410mm, and the gun mount will also have 356mm of armor. This data, as far as the Japanese know

, seemingly the most powerful in the world!

As a result, the actual full-load displacement of this battleship will reach an astonishing 55,000 tons!

In order to fool outsiders and avoid the restrictions of the naval agreement, the Navy not only continued to use the deceptive "Ki-class" battleship codename, but also used the same caliber number for the outside world as two 35,000-ton battleships, which was said to be a supplementary misfortune.

The two sunken "King Kong-class" ships

, but the dry dock that has actually been expanded at Wujun Port Shipyard is only 300 meters long. After the relevant transformation drawings came out, several major steel plants and supporting equipment manufacturers, including Muroran Steel Plant, etc., have begun to produce shipbuilding steel.

Guns and turrets, boilers, main engines and propellers, etc.

Just for these four battleships, the first phase allocation for the first two was as high as 200 million yen. It is estimated that it may not be enough, and it has to be announced that two additional heavy cruisers will be built to balance it.

With this money, if it had not been for the loans from Britain and Germany, the stretched finances might not have been able to come up with it, but at least it was finally squeezed out. Since the second half of last year, the military industry has started crazy construction, steel, coal, oil refining, shipbuilding, tanks

, automobiles, artillery and other industries have greatly increased the employment rate, and the great idea of ​​building a new city and a new empire in southern Manchuria has also provided hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Up to now, His Majesty the Emperor has personally presided over a comprehensive immigration and empire disembarkation operation, and has mobilized redundant farmers and small workers. The entire empire has actually taken on a new and prosperous look! Not only did the great earthquake not collapse Japan, but it has unprecedented

If we unite and get busy, is this the legendary "nation thrives through adversities"?

Excluding the losses and casualties caused by the earthquake. It is expected that by the end of this year, everything will return to normal, and there will be an explosive economic growth next year. By then, it will be no problem to allocate one billion to the Navy for shipbuilding, but

.Don’t go too far!

What is the concept of the so-called new large battleship that Nagano Shushen is now proposing? The estimated cost of each ship must exceed 100 million yen. This is certain. Even if Hirota Koki does not understand the relevant details, he can still judge that it is equipped with a huge 460mm

The displacement and tonnage of the main gun must be much larger than that of the new "Ki-class". Can Japan really build such a behemoth?

Even if it can be built, how much military expenditure will it take up? Those guys in the Army are jumping around asking for a thousand fighter jets, a thousand tanks, a thousand heavy artillery... These are all fatal things.

If the Ministry of Finance can't handle it, won't it fall on him, the hard-working Prime Minister, in the end?

Hirota Kouki rubbed his eyes vigorously, trying to make himself look less anxious, and patiently said to Nagano Shushen: "Excuse me, Minister of the Navy, does the empire really need to build so many battleships to show its majesty? There are four new Kii,

It's enough to clear everything! Moreover, if new proposals need to be passed, there will be huge troubles in manufacturing. We don't seem to have so many large shipyards and skilled workers, and we have to provide supervision from the United Kingdom and the United States at any time. This matter requires

Think long term.”

Nagano Shushen suddenly glared, leaned forward in an oppressive posture, stared at Hirota and shouted in a deep voice: "Please pay attention to your Excellency, Prime Minister, the mission of the Imperial Navy is to prepare weapons to face the powerful United States on the other side of the ocean.

Not for a small China! Our enemy is

As the world's largest industrial country with half of the Pacific Ocean, as long as there is a war, they will explode with manufacturing capabilities several times that of the empire. Therefore, in order to ensure absolute military superiority, we must be prepared in advance. The construction of large battleships is a must

Yes, it’s urgent!”

Hirota Koki's face turned red because he was choked, but he could not openly oppose the grand national policy decreed by His Majesty the Emperor. He could only cry in his heart: "Get ready, you! Opening and shutting up are all wars, why don't we proceed?"

Will the empire not survive expansion?

With the four provinces of Manchuria and Korea, the empire's territory and foundation have reached a new level. As long as it has a firm foothold, there is an infinitely vast Asian continent waiting for the empire to occupy and possess. Why must it move towards the thousands of miles of ocean?

!”

Today's Japan is not what it was thirty years ago! With Manchuria and Korea, important basic raw materials and production conditions such as industry and agriculture can meet the growth and expansion in the next two to thirty years. In the past, resources that were in short supply, such as iron ore,

The newly discovered 100-million-ton iron ore in northern North Korea and the iron ore and coal mines in Anshan and Benxi, Liaoning are almost enough. After all new steel plants are implemented, Japan's steelmaking capacity can reach up to 8 million tons or even 10 million tons.

, isn’t it enough?

Oil, which was originally very scarce, has increased sharply from the original 200,000 tons to 1.5 million tons per year with the continuous expansion of the Sakhalin oil field. The Germans have also secretly developed offshore oil mining technology and equipment, and

Agreeing to sell to Japan, it was even revealed that there are rich oil reserves in Japan's northern offshore and Sakhalin offshore. By then, it will not be a dream to produce 3 million tons of oil per year.

In addition, the Germans can also sell to Japan coal-to-oil technology, artificial rubber technology, etc. The oil and rubber in South Asia, dominated by the United States, are not absolutely necessary. Is it worth going to war with the United States over this?

It’s simply putting the cart before the horse!

But Hirota Koki had no choice. After all, the empire still had its old strength in power. In addition to the imperial family, the navy headed by the Choshu clan and the Satsuma clan were deeply entrenched and had controlled the cabinet for a long time. The army was pressing harder because of its continuous victories.

The battle between the Kanto and Kansai consortium is also becoming increasingly fierce. The contradiction between the two is simply irreconcilable. For their own interests and authority, provoking a war is nothing to them.

But the problem is, if these four giant ships are approved for the navy, what kind of trouble will the army cause?

As the Prime Minister of Japan, they are usually quite hardworking. There are not many things they can decide. Nagano Osamu raised this matter on behalf of the Navy Ministry. In fact, it was not a request, but a requirement, or simply a notification. There was no room for the House of Nobles or the Elders.

Even if they object, they will definitely do it.

After thinking and enduring, Hirota Koki simply didn't even bother asking the Tibetan Prime Minister, and suppressed his displeasure and said: "Since the construction of new large battleships is a necessity for the empire, the cabinet can discuss and pass relevant proposals.

However, the construction of the next two batches of warships will cause a strong reaction from the world's powers. How to balance and coordinate requires a reliable plan. In any case, the empire cannot become a public enemy that attracts the attention of the world, which will seriously affect the great decision-making of His Majesty the Emperor.

!”

No, it's time to bring up the Emperor and talk about it.

Nagano Shushen seemed to have been prepared for a long time. Seeing Hirota surrender so happily, a satisfied smile appeared on his arrogant face. After sitting back, he puffed out his chest and said: "This matter is not difficult to handle. The new slipway will not be renovated until next year."

Once it is completed, there will be no problem in saying that it will be the second batch of two new 'Ki's. In this case, it will be more secure!"

I have already thought about it! Hirota Hongyi groaned in his heart and looked up at the other ministers. He found that almost all of them were like monks with their eyes closed and their curtains lowered. It seemed that the matter had nothing to do with them, or they simply did not hear.

In the final analysis, no one was willing to object. Even the Minister of War, Juichi Terauchi, had his eyebrows drooped and didn't know what he was thinking.

But Hirota is an old politician, and he knows very well what tricks they are playing. Maybe privately, the Navy and Army have reached a temporary compromise on military funding. I want to build warships and ask them to pass the budget. Don't stop them. I don't care about the reverse.

Your proposal to increase military expenditures will benefit both sides if we work together. Otherwise, it will not benefit anyone and will delay the great cause. Otherwise, it will hinder each other and hinder each other. Don't cry.

If Zhu Bin had not been there, maybe they would have been wrangling for three to five months. But now the army has been severely suppressed and urgently needs to expand its armaments to achieve a breakthrough. It is inevitable that they will end up fighting against the same enemy.

The proposal to build a new battleship was quickly approved by the Imperial Parliament. The Wugang Shipyard, which is already renovating the slipway, is stepping up its renovation of two other 320-meter-long slipways. The first two ships of the project code-named "A140-F5" are expected to be launched in January next year.

start!
Chapter completed!