"This can't be, how can they challenge us" someone completely disagrees.
Wesley looked at the other party disdainfully, "Why can't it be that Japan's most powerful navy, although it is not very good now, but they have been developing, and they have been using large war reparations to develop armaments, and they have been staring at the land of Huaxia, especially Huaxia is now very chaotic internally, and externally, the European war is about to begin, this is the best time for them to develop." ” "Once they get too much in China, then according to their madness and speed of development, sooner or later they will be in line with our United States, and where can their powerful navy go" "In addition, isolationism makes us lack allies, Huaxia is actually a good friend, we can get more by helping them, after all, they have land, resources, manpower, and they can become our allies after development, and all we need is free trade."
"Mr.
Major, like you said, isn't Huaxia also our opponent after it develops?"
"This gentleman's words make me laugh, does the world have friends forever, especially the country, you even asked how you got into this room," Wesley turned on the taunt mode again.
"Well, gentlemen, that's not what we're talking about today, but I'd like to ask how our navy is doing," the president asked.
"Mr.
President, the pace of development of the Navy is very fast, the first destroyers have completed sea trials and have been assigned to two fleets, and at the same time the construction of a total of 16 light cruisers has also been completed, and now heavy cruisers are being outfitted, and battleships have been laid keels."
William Benson said.
"Well, how long will it take to finish?"
Wesley said at this time: "It can be fast or slow, the first batch of four battleships are all produced by my shipyard, if you want to develop to the Pacific Ocean, then it can be completed in half a year at the earliest, and all four are deployed in the Pacific direction, they will be invincible." ” Since Wesley got the follow-up order, the first batch of four light cruisers began to be built, which was very fast, and it was still built in three shifts, while Wesley chose to enlarge the destroyer model, and some parts were common, with a full load displacement of 8,000 tons and a twin-mounted main gun of 21,050 times the diameter, a total of three front and two rear ones were arranged on the central axis, and the others were basically unchanged, and the size was put some.
Four ships that have been built and immediately joined the Navy have become training ships, while the Navy has directly placed an order for 16 ships, and the ships produced by Wesley Shipyard are currently all training ships, training the Navy in batches, and not joining the fleet.
The new ships required a lot of time to train, but because Wesley used a fire control system and unified aiming, the Navy's training was much easier, and Wesley concentrated his workers to start the construction of heavy cruisers.
The development of the shipyard required a large number of skilled workers, and Wesley hit them to build uniformly, constantly honing their skills, and rewarding the good ones, increasing wages, and slowly increasing the number of workers.
The tonnage of the heavy cruiser was designed to be fully loaded with 18,000 kilotons, and the main gun was 28,050 times the diameter of the main gun.
At present, it is about to be completed, and the battleship has begun to lay the keel, designed with a full load displacement of 24,000 tons, 30,550 times the diameter of the main gun, and still uses 180 secondary guns.
The reason why battleships of more than 30,000 tons were not built was because it was not necessary, it was enough for now, and no matter how large the tonnage, the US Navy could not afford these costs.
William Benson was very satisfied with Wesley's design, and at the same time full of expectations for the combat effectiveness of the new warship, and couldn't wait to make a name for the US Navy, but he couldn't sit like that because there weren't enough of them.
However, the old battleship is also very strong, "Mr.
President, I completely agree with Major Wesley's development plan, once the battleship is built, it is completely possible to allocate the Pacific Fleet first, and then start to Asia." ” "I see, I still need to think about this matter, so let's stop here today."
The president needs time to think, and at the same time gather intelligence, so that he can make a judgment.
The meeting dissolved, and William Benson directly grabbed Wesley, "Young man, I'll invite you to dinner, and we'll talk again." ” General Pershing came over from the side, "It just so happens that I want to talk to him and have some food by the way."
William Benson didn't refuse, and now that the Navy got what he wanted, he didn't necessarily have to pull Wesley into the Navy, so the three of them went directly to dinner together.
After ordering at the table, William Benson said directly: "Can the battleship speed up the progress The cost is not a problem, and now our navy is completely impatient." ” "The heavy cruiser will be delivered soon, you can use it for training first, it's similar to the battleship, many parts are common, and the main gun fire control system is the same, but pay attention to secrecy" "You can rest assured about this, we are looking at it very closely now, and we will not leak the news at least until we get the battleship.
It has been a long time since the Great White Fleet sailed around the world, and Japan has once again posed a threat to us after defeating the Russian fleet, which our Navy does not want to see, and I hope that this time, Mr.
President, will adopt your plan.
William Benson said.
"It shouldn't be a big problem, after all, in the final analysis, it's still interests, now is the best moment to fight for interests in China, Britain and France can't take care of this, you see, Japan will soon jump out and make trouble."
On July 28, 1914, the war officially began, and Wesley, who was far away in the United States, did not care about it, but he was now getting busy, and one of his battalions was ready to be reviewed.
This review is a joint review of the army and navy, and the location is in their barracks, because it is close to the sea, so the review is very convenient.
The review is just a rhetoric, it is very important to check the combat effectiveness, and the president of the Army, as the heart of the Marine Corps, as a special experimental unit of the American Army, has also come here.
This assessment is very important to Wesley, if it succeeds, then he can form a brigade of marines, and at the same time the rank of colonel is at least, he is still sure, the United States at this time is very fond of promoting young officers, because the war is not far from them, and after the start of World War I, American businessmen are waiting for Wesley's prediction to succeed, the war will last for a long time. t1706231537: