Another World: Naval Storm

The spring breeze swept across the Onebaroa continent. Spring came in May. The roads in Eastern Europe that had been frozen for a whole winter began to unblock. The muddy roads were filled with soldiers and mules and horses who were advancing with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Millions of soldiers were fighting desperately on the long east-west front. The rumbling of artillery could be heard from behind them. The Sarmatian Sea was rippling with a deep blue, giving people a sense of sadness. The foggy city on the other side of the North Sea was still shrouded in smog, while Platinum on the other side was experiencing slanting wind and drizzle.

Drake Empire, Platinum Admiralty Design Bureau.

"Come on, gentlemen? What I want is the York-class battlecruiser! Not the improved and enlarged version of the Sachsen-class!" An office in the design bureau was filled with the shouts of the deputy commander of the Ocean Fleet. Many curious heads popped out in the corridor. Who on earth could be worthy of being called the national hero, Uncle Drake?

Leo's saliva and the strange words that the Drake people couldn't understand almost washed away the young man standing motionless in front of him, Hubert von Rida, a 26-year-old master of naval architecture from Kerry University and a first-class assistant naval designer who participated in the design of the York-class battlecruise.

As for why Leo didn't criticize the white-haired old man Goode next to him, it was because he didn't want to be criticized by another old man. Goode, the chief designer of the York-class battlecruiser, was a good friend of Brightman, the old principal of the Kerry Naval Academy. Although the old principal had retired long ago, he still liked to stroll around the Kerry Naval Academy with a cane. Leo had gone to see him twice and was beaten several times by the old man, whose personality became more and more irritable as he got older. He told him to concentrate on the affairs of the ocean fleet and not to come if he had nothing to do.

"Oh my God, the York-class ship you designed has a displacement of more than tons. Are you planning to burn the funds that the navy has worked so hard to get? Four twin-mounted 380㎜ main guns, 36 kerosene-fired boilers, and a maximum speed of 28 knots. I think there is no problem with the caliber of the main guns, but are you sure you are not imitating the Tarens with this maximum speed? I told you to cancel the underwater torpedo tubes a long time ago, and this time it's quite satisfying! The protection level is good, which is the style of our Drake battleship, but are you taking advantage of the navy with your construction cost?! 7000 million Imperial Gold Marks, and this is the cost of a single ship. Are you crazy? Or am I crazy?" Leo said angrily.

Unlike the Talen Kingdom, which has hundreds of years of history, the elite designers of the Drake Navy built excellent warships with limited funds and sophisticated craftsmanship. After the outbreak of the war, the designers' achievements were tested and they surpassed their counterparts in Talen. The Drake Navy designers became famous all over the world, and the Navy also won consecutive victories and astonishing war loss ratios. The two sides complemented each other.

With the previous successful design experience and huge amount of funds injected, designer Good took out many designs that were abandoned due to funding and imposed them on the York class. But unfortunately, this was not what Leo wanted. In 1918, the Royal Navy should have recovered its strength and would probably be stronger than before the war. A battle more tragic than the Battle of the North Sea was destined to take place in 1918!

"This is my masterpiece, Leo, please let it come into the world! It will definitely help you!" The eccentric old man circled around Leo trying to persuade him, but Leo was not moved at all. The York-class on the blueprint did not meet his strategic requirements.

"General Leo, according to the latest intelligence, the Tarens have added three secret models of battlecruisers and a battlecruiser called Wuwu on top of the three battlecruisers they are already building. If all of this is true, then we need to make some changes. This main battlecruiser with better performance can just deal with the Tarens!" Drake's ship design director Brusek pleaded for designer Good.

Brucek has a very good relationship with Leo because he admires Leo very much. The emergence of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers has astounded him. If Leo was not already an excellent commander, he would have planned to snatch him away and teach him all he has learned in his life.

"Mr. Brusek, we are racing against time with the Tarens. The York-class ship is very powerful, but it takes a long time to build. I am worried that the war will be over but the York-class ship will not be built and will be abandoned in the shipyard! So it is better to weaken its performance a bit!" Leo was not sure, but the war had lasted for more than three years. Both the Allies and the Central Powers were on the verge of collapse. It just depended on who would collapse first. He predicted that the war would end within the next two years.

Seeing the incredulous faces of the few people, Leo explained softly: "I know that in a state of war, all military industries are running at full capacity, and leaving the naval shipyard vacant is a serious waste, but the fact is that this war may not end until 1920. If we cannot complete the York class before the end of the war, the post-war empire's finances will definitely tilt towards people's livelihood, and the shipbuilding plan that consumes huge national strength will definitely be shelved..."

In May 1917, the war on the continent was fierce, brutal and bloody. Millions of gray beasts of the Russian Empire fought fiercely with the German-Austrian coalition forces in the Eastern European battlefield. The Tafa coalition forces and two Yemelika infantry regiments fought with a small number of Drak Army in Western Europe. The battles in secondary battlefields such as the Caucasus, Haimos and German East Africa were also stalemate. Although the situation was slightly advantageous for the Allies, no one dared to conclude that they would be the final winner.

When Leo, who was originally a person blessed by the goddess of luck, played the role of a prophet and predicted that the war might end in 1920, naval generals including the Minister of the Navy Marshal Apewen, Commander-in-Chief of the Ocean Fleet Marshal Lyon, and Vice Admiral Malawi of the Second Battleship Squadron were all shocked.

Although the young man did not understand strategy, he was a naval designer after all, and he knew some things through what he had seen and heard. He disagreed with Leo's point of view. The humorous Hubert whispered that Leo was the best strategist in the Drake Navy instead of Rasputin, the big D demon in the court of the Rakshasa Empire.

"Okay, Commander Leo, the design department will modify the York-class battlecruiser according to your requirements and strive to complete it by mid-1918!" Alfred Eckhardt, the Deputy Minister of the Navy in charge of shipbuilding, stepped forward and agreed on behalf of the design department.

"I know every designer wants to create something that will go down in history, but this is war! Everything depends on winning!"

Good was still a little dissatisfied, but the Deputy Minister of the Navy, Alfred, did not give him a chance to speak again. "In response to the Navy's request, the design department has come up with a total of three design plans for the Cologne-class light cruiser, namely the 1-ton DK2, the 3-ton DK, and the -ton DK..."