"Gentlemen, I have received authorization from the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Royal Navy must speed up the construction of new battleships, and to catch up and regain superiority over the German Navy, as the Germans have overtaken us in the new battleships. Pen Fun Cabinet www.biquge.info "At the Navy Conference, John? Sir Fisher was in high spirits.

With the full support of the cabinet, he no longer has to worry about the shortage of military spending. The huge financial allocation allowed the Royal Navy to quickly build the battleships they wanted.

"Your Excellency, of course we can speed up the construction of warships. However, the 343-mm gun has not yet made a breakthrough. Therefore, the construction of capital ships of the next level may still not be carried out. A British admiral said.

"It doesn't matter, we can finish the design first. I believe that the Arsenal will soon be able to make a breakthrough. The technological accumulation and heritage of the British Empire will not be comparable to that of the Germans. "John? Sir Fisher was confident in his own level of technology.

Yes, the current British Empire is not the Britain that hugged the thigh of the American imperialism in later generations, but a superpower that dominates the world. Their level of science and technology is also ahead of the world. The current US imperialism, in the eyes of these European powers, is nothing more than a sudden rise of the nouveau riche. Although the industrial strength is very strong, there is no technical content. In terms of high technology, especially in military technology, there is undoubtedly a big gap between China and the European powers.

"Yes, Sir Sir." The admiral nodded.

"Your Excellency, the 'Bellerophon-class' battleships, if the progress is accelerated, are expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Can the construction of the next class of 'St. Vincent-class' battleships start now? A Navy Department official in charge of building ships asked.

John? Sir Fisher hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "The construction of the 'St. Vincent-class' battleship will begin immediately." The design of the subsequent battleship, as soon as it was completed, also began construction. Now, we need to replenish the Royal Navy as quickly as possible, and strive to have a powerful fleet of dreadnoughts in the shortest possible time. ”

Although, John? Sir Fisher could tell from his intelligence that the new battleships that the German Navy was about to enter service were stronger than their 'Dreadnought' battleships, and that even the 'Bellerophon-class' battleships under construction could not keep up. Even the follow-up 'St. Vincent-class' battleships are estimated to be no match for them. But now the Royal Navy has no other choice. Constrained by technical bottlenecks, it is almost impossible for them to launch new, more powerful battleships. Only those battleships that made minor improvements to the battleship 'Dreadnought' could be built. Strive for an overwhelming superiority over the German Navy in the number of new battleships. In this way, the Royal Navy can also have an advantage in the naval race.

This also led the British Navy to build nine battleships of four classes on the basis of the "Dreadnought" battleship, namely three "Bellerophon-class" battleships, three "St. Vincent-class" battleships, one "Neptune" battleship and two "Giant-class" battleships. With the addition of three 'Invincible' and three 'Indefatigable' battlecruisers, the Royal Navy has a total of 15 new capital ships.

Of course, these were battleships with a displacement of about 20,000 tons and armed with 305-mm guns. Compared with the battleships of the German Navy, which had a strong defense, these battleships of the British Navy were undoubtedly thin-skinned capital ships. Once a war starts, it will be very common to be blown up in a naval battle.

While the British Navy accelerated the construction of new warships, other countries were also affected. Although, the current British Empire is still a well-deserved maritime hegemon. But other countries, more or less, also have their own ideas about sea power. Although there is no way to compete with the British Empire, it must be able to protect its overseas interests. Otherwise, how would the overseas colonies be able to hold on? Therefore, all countries have also strengthened the construction of their navies and launched new battleships one after another.

The United States, on the other side of the ocean, abandoned the construction of the former dreadnought and began to build dreadnoughts. However, because of the gap between technology and Europe, the US Navy chose the strategy of focusing on firepower and defense and abandoning speed of the turtle warship. In addition, only two capital ships of each class were built, in an attempt to make a breakthrough in the new type of battleship by running in small steps.

Starting with the 'South Carolina-class' battleships, to the 'Delaware-class' battleships, the 'Florida-class' battleships, and the 'Wyoming-class' battleships, the U.S. Navy will start building two new battleships of the first class every year. Starting with the 'New York-class' battleships, the caliber of the main guns was suddenly increased from 305 mm to 356 mm. It can be seen that the ambitions of the Americans in terms of sea power.

After becoming the world's largest industrial nation, Americans' ambitions grew. They want to be able to have a higher status on the international stage. It would be great if Britain could replace Britain as the world hegemon. Of course, Americans know that this is very difficult. So they are accumulating their strength little by little, waiting for the pattern of the world to change.

France, as a traditional European power, is also a naval power. A few hundred years ago, it was even the main challenger to the maritime supremacy of the British Empire. After various countries entered the era of dreadnoughts one after another, the French were naturally not far behind.

Although, France's greatest enemy now is Germany from land. However, France, which had vast colonies overseas, gritted its teeth and began to design their 'Danton-class' battleships. Moreover, the construction of six battleships of this class began at one time. However, France always had to put the main forces on land to ensure that the army could withstand the German attack. Therefore, the investment in the ocean naturally cannot be compared with that of other countries. Although the French were unwilling, they had no choice but to withdraw from the first echelon of the sea power struggle.

Italy and Austria-Hungary, as part of the Central Powers, allies of Germany. When the Entente began to build dreadnoughts, they were not far behind. The Italian Navy, armed with 12 305 mm guns, began to design the battleship Dante. Not far behind, Austria-Hungary began to design a 'Combined Forces-class' battleship equipped with four triple 305mm guns.