Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Li Che turned around and tapped her on the head: "What you're talking about will have to wait until the London Naval Treaty. At least in the Washington Naval Treaty, only the tonnage of capital ships was limited to no more than 35,000 tons and the tonnage of aircraft carriers to no more than 27,000 tons. There was no limit on the total tonnage of cruisers, only a rather rough provision that the tonnage of warships other than aircraft carriers and battleships should not exceed 1 tons. The distinction between heavy cruisers and light cruisers and the corresponding tonnage limits were the contents of the London Naval Treaty. You've confused the Washington Naval Treaty with the London Naval Treaty."

"I'm lucky I even know there's a naval treaty. If you hadn't transmigrated into my body and used my phone and computer to look up these things every day, do you think a normal girl like me would know these things? I'm not some 'someone' in your group." Zhu Miaoyun said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "In our pre-transmigration terms, you have to provide some emotional value to your girlfriend."

“Ah, yes, yes, yes.” Li Che nodded vigorously: “It’s already amazing that our Yunyun knows these things.”

"Of course! I also know that aircraft carriers are more powerful than battleships. Do you think we should just exchange some of the tonnage of battleships for aircraft carriers...?" Zhu Miaoyun didn't care whether Li Che's praise was perfunctory or not. She happily sat on his lap and blurted out all the ideas she had in her little head.

Li Che held the girl in his arms. He now deeply felt that it was really easy to tell whether someone loved you or not. Zhu Miaoyun was undoubtedly not very interested in these military topics, but because he needed them, the girl would also discuss them with him with great enthusiasm. Although she often made some mistakes, it was clear that the girl really wanted to help him in any way she could.

This reminded him of another world, where a guy in the group lamented that his girlfriend was working hard with him in a rented apartment in a big city. Most of their leisure time outside of work was playing games together. When she played games with him, she was not very good at the game and could not use the skills well, but she would pick up a backpack full of items in the game and give them to him, asking him with great interest if there was anything he needed.

That guy said that from that moment on, he knew that this girl was the one he was determined to marry.

"You're right, I'll relay these suggestions to the Navy Department when the time comes."

Li Che patted Zhu Miaoyun's head, his hand sliding down her long hair. He didn't explain to the girl that it couldn't actually be done that way. Before aircraft truly possessed the ability to decisively strike surface ships in the late 1930s, aircraft carriers were long considered "secondary capital ships" that could at most threaten cruisers. A country could not possibly entrust its national defense security to a weapon system that would only mature more than a decade later.

However, at this moment, whatever Zhu Miaoyun in Li Che's arms says is right.

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Before Li Che stood up to speak in the No. 1 meeting room of the Navy Department, he still felt that Zhu Miaoyun's body fragrance lingered on him. He could only shake his head violently like a rattle drum, and sighed in his heart about why those emperors in history, who did not seem stupid, were so prone to becoming tyrannical rulers.

For example, Emperor Daye's obsession with women and even disregard for human ethics was likely due to the allure of women. (I want to solemnly declare here that I am referring to Yang Guang, and have no intention of alluding to Emperor Daye of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shaoming. His Majesty's relationship with the Princess was completely innocent!)

The Anchorage Treaty will be officially signed today, and soon the news of peace will spread throughout the world via radio waves. For the vast majority of people in the world, regardless of the cause of this war, the temporary cessation of this world war is good news worth celebrating.

However, for the high-ranking officials of the various countries, especially the military personnel, and particularly for the two countries on both sides of the Pacific, everyone is well aware that this is by no means the complete end of the war. The contradictions between them have not been completely resolved because of this war. At present, it is just a mid-game break after everyone is exhausted.

Therefore, before the Anchorage Treaty was officially signed, the soldiers of the Eastern Tang had already begun to prepare for future conflicts. As for the future construction of national defense, the naval arms control treaty proposed by the Victorians during the Anchorage Treaty negotiations can be said to be of paramount importance.

The Eastern Tang government has not yet made any official statement regarding this naval arms control treaty, neither expressing support nor opposition. However, the navy has already begun preliminary internal discussions on matters related to negotiations on the naval arms control treaty.

Although Li Che had previously proposed the idea of ​​postwar naval arms control within the navy, the current discussion focuses on the specific scale that the Tang Dynasty's Royal Navy should maintain in the future.

This actually depends on the future defense strategy requirements of the Tang Dynasty.

After all, the troop strength required to defeat "foreign enemies" and regain control of Yingzhou in the future, as well as to restore the Old Port Pacification Commission, is obviously far from the troop strength needed to ensure national security at the very least.

Chapter 238 Internal Discussions on the Naval Treaty (2)

Li Che felt an unprecedented surge of enthusiasm at the meeting.

To be precise, the atmosphere was even somewhat volatile.

This is not surprising. Although everyone here today is wearing the standard uniforms of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy, some of them previously wore the uniforms of the Yanping Navy.

During the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial navy included the Ming Royal Navy and the navies of several subordinate vassal states. Theoretically, it was somewhat similar to the later Victorian Royal Navy and the self-governing navy.

Now, the Silla Navy has been basically wiped out in the war, and reconstruction has not yet begun. Even if the Silla Navy is rebuilt, its scale will be very limited, and it will be nothing more than a yellow-water navy that is not worth mentioning.

Originally, the Yingzhou Navy and the Yanping Navy were important auxiliary forces of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy. Both of these naval forces were equipped with first-class armored cruisers or second-class battleships before the Dreadnought era. After the Dreadnought era began, the Imperial Navy divided its tasks and functions. The Ming Dynasty Royal Navy was responsible for fleet battles and ocean escort, while the Yingzhou Navy and the Yanping Navy were responsible for many daily service functions and coastal patrols.

Therefore, these two navies have primarily equipped themselves with cruisers and destroyers over the past decade or so.

The Yanping Navy has now been fully integrated into the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. The more than one-year-long meat grinder war with the Colombians in the Western Pacific has also caused considerable losses and casualties to the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. Therefore, the integration of the original Yanping Navy can be said to have injected a fresh force into the current Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. Compared with ships and other technical equipment, the group of officers and soldiers brought by the Yanping Navy with rich experience in coastal and archipelago waters combat are a very valuable asset to the current Tang Dynasty Royal Navy.

Talent is not like products on an assembly line, which can be easily and continuously produced. It can be said that the merger of the two naval forces is of great benefit to the coastal defense of the entire Chinese sphere.

However, the problem is that... whether it is the merger between the two navies or the alliance that the two countries are currently planning, for the Tang Dynasty, in receiving the huge legacy of the former Ming Dynasty, it will naturally also have to bear the burden of the people of Yanping.

What is your intention?

That means that one day we will make Colombians shed blood like that!

Such political views may seem "too extreme" in the 21st century, but they are perfectly normal in today's world. Whether in terms of international politics or Chinese tradition, such a mentality of revenge is quite normal.

The Yanping leadership can understand that they are currently unable to make the Federation pay for its blood debts immediately, and the people on the island can also be appeased to temporarily suppress their hatred. However, all the forbearance will have to be fulfilled in the future. The current situation is that Li Zongdi has issued a "special bond" to the people of Yanping, using the national credit of the Eastern Tang as collateral and the promise of future revenge as interest.

Such political promises must be kept, because they represent the very foundation of the nation.

So when people are discussing naval tonnage, whether it's for the sake of future wars against the Federation, political alignment, or simply to get more military spending, those who are currently calling for the same tonnage as the Colombians are considered conservative. Some even say that such a treaty should not be signed at all!

Both Victoria and Colombia are predominantly Anglo-Saxon nations. If these two nations collude in the future, even if the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy were to acquire a tonnage comparable to that of both nations, it would still be at a significant disadvantage in terms of manpower when facing a combined force from Victoria and Colombia.

The impact of the Battle of the Java Sea is still fresh in the minds of all those attending today.

However, the people attending the meeting today were not just from the navy. Li Che was sitting in the seat of honor, and his navy personnel were seated to the right of His Highness the Crown Prince. To his left were a group of court officials and several representatives of farmers and merchants.

Compared to the navy, the officials of the imperial court were generally more enthusiastic about naval treaties, and their interpretations varied depending on their different departments, regions, or backgrounds.

Firstly, there is the economic aspect to discuss. By now, the war has led to severe currency devaluation. In terms of monetary value alone, before the outbreak of the war, building a capital ship of less than 500 tons would have cost about 600 to 250 million British dollars. With the exchange rate between the British dollar and the British pound at 2:1, such a ship would be equivalent to 300 to 3 million pounds. At the same time, the cost of the British battlecruisers of similar tonnage, the Lion and Tiger, was basically over 220 to 230 million pounds.

而现在一条4万吨的主力舰价格已经飙升到了2400万龙元，而维多利亚人现在最新的4万吨级的海军上将级战列巡洋舰的造价大概在650万英镑，如果按照战前的汇率来换算的话，大唐现在一条4万吨主力舰的造价正常而言应当在1,300万到1,500万龙元才对。

The fact that prices have now jumped to 2,400 million only shows that inflation in the country is higher than in Victoria, and that the economic problems and challenges faced are not insignificant.

Especially after the Lunar New Year, new currency will be issued in accordance with the new era name chosen by His Majesty the Emperor. With all these things combined, from a purely financial point of view, it is indeed not feasible to engage in an unlimited arms race. In fact, given the current size of the fleet and the fleets being built in the shipyards, it will be a huge burden for the country for the next 10 years.

There was also bad news from the naval shipyards, which came after someone in the navy had made a bold statement that they would never sign a naval treaty and would continue the shipbuilding race with the Colombians to the end.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the number of warships currently under construction on our side may not seem much less than the number of warships being built by the Colombians. This current peak in shipbuilding is actually built on the foundation of the stagnation of the naval shipbuilding industry after the Battle of the Java Sea in the Ming Dynasty, and it can be said to have overdrawn the maximum production capacity for the next few years.

This is not complicated to understand. In 909, the Victorians shouted the slogan of "8 ships in one year". In that year, the Royal Navy of Victoria started construction on a total of eight capital ships, setting an unprecedented peak in the history of the Royal Navy.

However, since then, the Royal Navy's capital ships have never had such a high production capacity, not even during wartime.

The reason is simple: warships are not built on the slipway in a year. Suppose you have 10 large dry docks in the country that can build capital ships. If you start construction on 5 ships this year, you can only start construction on a maximum of 5 ships next year. This is due to the limitation on the number of dry docks.

Besides the limited number of docks, a major reason for the slowdown in the construction of capital ships by the Victorians in the later stages of the war was the lack of shipbuilding workers. Shipbuilding is a labor-intensive industry, especially during wartime when the construction schedule for warships is very tight. Shipyards are basically operating in three shifts around the clock, which requires a large number of industrial workers. If the workers in your shipyard are busy building ships that were started earlier or busy repairing damaged naval ships, then the construction progress of your capital ships will be affected.

In fact, the construction progress of warships under construction in both the Tang Dynasty and the Federation has slowed down. After all, for both sides, the top priority is to repair the existing warships they have on hand.

However, at present, the Federation has more large shipyards than the Tang Dynasty. Even with its huge population advantage, the Tang Dynasty may not have an advantage over the Federation in terms of the reserve of naval shipbuilding workers.

Therefore, if both sides engage in a shipbuilding race, the Colombians can maintain their current peak production capacity for several years, while if China Datang wants to continue to place orders for major components this year, the number of warships it is determined to start construction on this year may be only half or even less than that of the Colombians.

In this respect, the predicament of the Tang Dynasty is quite similar to that of Letania.

Besides those who opposed not signing the naval treaty from the perspectives of finances and production capacity, there were others who felt that the navy didn't need so many capital ships at all. They believed that since the land has always been the foundation of the nation, and since the navy was able to defeat the Colombian battleships with torpedo boats in the past, why not just use torpedo boats in the future?

The tonnage of the navy's main warships is not important. It would be better to save more money and use it to equip the army. According to this person, even half or even one-third of the tonnage would be acceptable.

But obviously, the navy would not accept such a suggestion. Are you kidding me? I think 1:1 is not enough, and you want me to have only half or even less of the Colombian ships? Dismantle my capital ships and then I'll build torpedo boats instead?

I joined the navy to become a commander, not to take care of children in a kindergarten!

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The argument between the two sides went back and forth, and the scene became quite heated. Amid the fierce argument, Li Che looked up at his father. The Crown Prince's gaze had been fixed on him before that. The moment their eyes met in the air, with just a glance, Li Che had already completed a tacit exchange with his father.

Clearing his throat, Li Che stood up after an official from the Navy Department had just finished speaking. The people who were arguing quieted down when they saw the Crown Prince stand up, and the noisy meeting room fell into a brief silence.

Li Che first targeted the fact that the navy believed it could conquer the world with its Yellow River navy, that its torpedo boats were invincible along the coast, and that it only needed to retain 50% of its tonnage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the great powers of the world have been clashing for over a century in the deep blue ocean, their grudges and entanglements are difficult to judge."

However, naval historians have pointed out that it was on this blue sea that the ebb and flow of civilization and the change of hegemony over the centuries were laid, hence the old saying in Europe and the West: "He who controls the sea controls the world."

In the past, King Zheng led his warships to the Western Ocean, their sails billowing high over Singapore, and their warships arrayed in formation over Malacca. From the very first day that the dragon flag was raised on the masts of his treasure ships, all the nations of Southeast Asia submitted to him.

In the early winter of the seventh year of the Chongde reign (1628), also in the Strait of Malacca, Marshal Yang Wenli personally led the Nanyang Fleet to confront the British Fleet, which had just won a great victory at the Battle of Trafalgar the previous year. The battle raged for three days, ultimately forcing the enemy commander to raise a white flag on his mast!

Without a powerful navy, would our living space be as vast as it is today?

The Crown Prince's words naturally drew cheers from the navy. Some even exchanged glances, their winks conveying a silent message: "Our Crown Prince is reliable."

But they were too quick to celebrate. Today, after receiving instructions from his father, Li Che went all out, and he then turned his attention to the navy:

"By the time Emperor Yongning ascended the throne, our navy was already the first in Asia and the third in the world! At that time, Britain and Germany were at odds with the Leitanian naval law due to the Boer War. After Emperor Yongning took the throne, he personally led the Dragon Flag Global Fleet to visit Europe to mediate between Britain and Germany. Representatives of the great powers competed to yield to him. It can be said that the hearts of the world were united. The magnificent vision of thousands of sails racing and whales clearing the waves is still vivid in my mind."

Unexpectedly, in the short span of just over 10 years, Emperor Ming ruled with a frivolous attitude, the naval strategy changed several times a year, the naval construction did not know who the specific enemy was, and the strategic direction wavered between the two oceans, ultimately leading to the defeat at Java.

The naval officers keep saying that we must at least be on par with the United States, and some are even calling for withdrawing from the treaty and competing with the Colombians to the end. I would like to ask you all, what exactly are the strategic goals of our navy going forward? Is the navy's future development focused on fighting a decisive battle with the Federal Navy in the ocean? Or is it aimed at amphibious landing operations against Taiwan?

Can anyone tell me right now whether we have made progress and improvement in this regard compared to the Ming Dynasty, or whether we have reverted to the old ways?

The navy clearly did not expect that their own people, who had just finished attacking the other side, would now be turning their guns inward.

However, the question raised by Li Che was also very insightful: what kind of maritime force does the Navy intend to build itself into? If it cannot even answer the question of "who am I?", then what right does it have to shout "what do I want?"

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PS: The old emperor has initially chosen a few reign titles:

Conquest

yuanshuo

Motokari

Zhaoning

Jianxing

You can leave a message after your favorite year, and you can leave messages for different years, but you can only leave one message for each year.

If you have any good reign titles, you can add them here.

Chapter 239 Internal Discussions on the Naval Treaty (3) (Contains Important Notice)

Surprisingly, no one on the navy side could answer the profound questions raised by His Highness the Crown Prince.

This was certainly not because the Crown Prince had rendered the high-ranking naval officers speechless. It was simply that the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy was no longer the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy that had changed its name. Even looking at those former Yanping Navy officers sitting here, you should consider the internal unity of the navy when you speak, right?

However, sometimes internal unity, political correctness, and truly effective strategies within the navy are not necessarily aligned, and sometimes they are even contradictory.

Under such circumstances, anyone preparing to stand up and speak should think twice before doing so.

After all, given the current situation in Borneo and the actions of the American expeditionary force, there is a contradiction between some long-term goals and current strategic realities in the context of seeking revenge against the Federation. If we only focus on political correctness without considering actual strength, we may end up in the same predicament as Yuan Chonghuan's "five-year campaign to pacify Liaodong".

As everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, Yu Fugen, the former commander of the Yanping Navy and now the commander of the Royal Navy's Outer Fleet of the Tang Dynasty, was the first to stand up: "His Highness the Crown Prince is right. We must now clarify what our navy's primary combat mission will be in the future. I believe that in addition to maintaining the security of our own maritime sphere of influence and sea lanes, the most important task for our navy is to carry out operations to recover the Japanese archipelago when the time is right."

As soon as Yu Fugeng said these words, the expressions on the faces of the other naval officers visibly relaxed.

There is actually a contradiction between regaining control of the Japanese archipelago and making the damned United States pay for its blood debts in terms of naval development.

Because if the operation revolves around attacking the Japanese archipelago, then the navy is essentially fighting on its own doorstep. With this as the center, both the future design of warships and the arrangement of future naval tactics and strategies will obviously be different from the United States Navy's decisive battle in the ocean.

At this point, some people will definitely ask, "Can't we just choose to have it all?" But the premise of having it all is that your national strength has an absolute advantage over other countries. For example, the Ming Dynasty in a certain game called "The Great Ming Sea Power" started construction on 20 super-dreadnought capital ships three years before the outbreak of the world war. With such terrifying national strength and production capacity, the process of the war is actually not important. Even a Red Alert player could easily win by rushing in and attacking.

However, the Tang Dynasty clearly does not have such an advantage now. In fact, the advantage in industry and production capacity still lies with the enemy. Therefore, under such circumstances, the navy's strategy must be precise down to the smallest detail. If we want to defeat the enemy, we must make full use of the forces at our disposal.

Li Che nodded inwardly. Many of the men in the Yanping Navy also carried the burden of national hatred and had a blood feud with the damned invaders. Some people often make impulsive decisions under the drive of hatred, but being able to control one's anger is true strength. General Yu set an example and understood that one must take things one step at a time. Retaking the Japanese archipelago is one of the essential conditions for making the enemy "pay for their blood debts." At this moment, being able to endure for the sake of the country is indeed worthy of everyone's admiration and gratitude.

After all, the political promises his grandfather made to the Song Prince's Mansion and the people of Yanping had somewhat restricted his actions. If the former Yanping naval officers and soldiers, represented by Yu Fugen, had truly held onto this banner, the navy's strategy and future course choices would certainly not have been able to proceed along a pragmatic path as they are now.

Li Che cleared his throat and continued, "The negotiation of naval arms control treaties among multiple countries is actually a process involving the exchange of interests among all parties. Since one of our navy's main tasks in the future is to be ready at any time to retake the Japanese archipelago, our navy cannot put all its chips on the open ocean. Fighting around the Japanese archipelago means that we need to develop a standing and powerful navy based on our existing ocean fleet. However, as you all know, although the navy operates with small boats, small boats are not cheap."

Li Che's words resonated with many in the audience. Among the various warships equipped by the navy, small ships like destroyers, which may seem unremarkable, might appear to be much cheaper than the massive capital ships. However, if you compare them side by side, you'll find that the cost per ton of these smaller vessels is far more expensive than that of the larger ships.

To compare two typical warships from another world, the cost of a single South Dakota-class battleship in World War II was roughly equivalent to that of six Fletcher-class destroyers. Although the Fletcher-class destroyer was considered a relatively large ocean-going fleet destroyer in World War II, the combined tonnage of six Fletcher-class destroyers was still less than half that of the South Dakota.

Often in the navy's equipment inventory, many seemingly insignificant little things are actually the most expensive. Another typical example is the unprecedented Kirov-class nuclear-powered missile cruiser Project 1144, developed by the Big Brother during the height of the Cold War. Many people say that the Project 1144 nuclear-powered missile cruiser was designed to be large and impractical, an expensive dinosaur, and compared to the piers of World War II.

但实际上基洛夫级核动力导弹巡洋舰是非常有性价比的，因为这玩意的建造成本实际上只相当于4条956艇驱逐舰、16架图22M轰炸机或者是27架苏27战斗机，小时运营成本相当于三架图22M轰炸机。

Does that make you think this ship is cheap? After all, four Type 956 destroyers combined can't compare to one Type 1144 in terms of air defense, anti-ship capabilities, and anti-submarine warfare.

Some of the people sitting in this room at this moment have already begun to secretly calculate in their hearts that if they want to maintain a large enough navy in the future to cover the entire Japanese archipelago, then the cost of the new destroyers to replace the existing old destroyers alone will be enough to make many people gasp.

Not to mention that for large-scale amphibious landing operations, you also need to build a large fleet of professional amphibious warfare ships, including various transport ships and landing ships. The construction specifications of these transport ships and landing ships are certainly not as high as those of front-line combat ships, and the power requirements are also very low. They can use many cheap power sources or even fuels (such as reciprocating steam combined coal-fired power plants), and in terms of ship construction costs, they can be much cheaper than destroyers.

However, don't forget that personnel expenses are also an important part of the navy's budget. Not to mention that the marines in the Tang Dynasty are not an independent branch of the military, and the navy's budget also needs to be used for the marines.

Money is an easy problem to solve during wartime, but it is an unavoidable problem during peacetime. Reality is not like Nirvana in Fire, where Mei Changsu's Jiangzuo Alliance can easily have inexhaustible silver. What Mei Changsu never considered a problem becomes a difficult problem for the entire Ming Dynasty from top to bottom in Da Ming Dynasty 1566.

What you think of as political maneuvering?

True political maneuvering is grounded in reality, because anything that is not grounded in reality fails!

"Gentlemen, both blue-water and yellow-water navies are indispensable to us. For the Imperial Navy to develop healthily in the future, it must walk on two legs. We are not here to argue today. We should discuss how many small coastal combat ships we need to meet our needs for operations to encircle the Japanese archipelago, and how many ocean-going fleets we need to at least deter the almost inevitable external intervention forces that will occur at that time..."

Li Che's speech temporarily calmed the tense atmosphere in the meeting. Most of the officials in the Tang Dynasty came from the Ming Dynasty, and naturally, they brought some of the atmosphere from the Ming Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty court.

Li Che did not want a verbal argument to escalate into a full-blown physical fight under his very nose. The legends of the Ming Dynasty's violent brawls were even known to foreign allies. While this might be considered amusing to history enthusiasts, it would be an outright scandal under his watch!

Do you really think it's something to be proud of?

Li Che and his father exchanged another glance. His Highness the Crown Prince was clearly very satisfied with his eldest son's speech today. This kid was almost self-taught in many aspects of the navy. Although he still couldn't figure out how the kid had become so self-taught, he had done many amazing things since the time the kid was toddlers, so his Crown Prince was used to it.

As soon as Li Che finished speaking, Yang Yonglin impatiently spoke up: "Your Highness, in order to ensure national security, our main naval fleet must have at least 80% of the size of the US Navy's. That's the minimum. The US Navy's battleships have very strong specifications."

Yang Yonglin, who has now been promoted to the rank of Marshal, is undoubtedly a big shot in the navy, along with Sa Zhenbing. This veteran, who has dedicated almost his entire life to the navy, values ​​the construction of the navy's ocean-going fleet the most.