nucmednet Chapter 186: Lone Bravery
Chapter 186: Lone Bravery
"The Battle of the Skagerrak proved that the speed of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships could not keep up with the speed of the battlecruisers in actual combat, and the two sides could not form a whole to fight together. We currently have seven new and old battlecruisers, and they are obviously unable to fight against the Draken battlecruiser fleet." Everyone in the conference room understood Jefferson's words, but they had no good way to deal with it.
The Platinum public opinion uproar ended with the resignation of Drake's Navy Minister Holding. Leo Severns served as the commander of the First Reconnaissance Fleet and the deputy commander of the Ocean Fleet with the rank of Vice Admiral. This marked that he had begun to take control of the Drake Navy and the Ocean Fleet would be able to act more freely.
The Drak offensive against Talen was imminent, so the Grand Fleet Commander Jackson focused on the construction of the fast fleet. When Art said that a huge sum of money would be given to the Royal Navy, the first thing Jackson thought of was Liam's crippled First Battlecruiser Squadron.
"The Drakes are about to start building three battlecruisers, and the Drake Navy's battlecruisers' advantage will be further expanded. With our current strength, the First Battlecruisers Squadron can no longer undertake the task of blocking the Drake Battlecruisers' fleet!"
"General Jefferson, your concerns are also my concerns. But it doesn't matter. It's not time for us to surrender yet. The Royal Navy has also had multiple plans for the worst-case scenarios that the empire might encounter... I didn't expect that we would actually use these plans." Navy Minister Art looked relieved and took out a pile of papers from his briefcase.
"Before the war, when our military competition with the Drakians was at its most intense, the Navy Department secretly formulated a plan to raid the Sarmatian Sea. The plan was to destroy the naval forces of the Drak Empire's Mediterranean allies, use warships to bombard the coastal cities of the Mediterranean allies, cover the army's landing on the Mediterranean allies' territory, and open up a battlefield. "
"In order to implement this plan, Marshal Fisher ordered the Navy Design Department to design a Lonely-class cruiser equipped with large-caliber heavy guns that can move freely in shallow waters. This Lonely-class cruiser, used as a shallow-water heavy gunboat, has a standard displacement of 32 to 381 tons, a designed speed of 102 knots, and is equipped with two twin-mounted 150mm naval guns and six triple-mounted mm secondary guns. This warship is not suitable for naval duels, but it should be particularly useful for defending important ports, hubs, and coastlines. The cost is acceptable, requiring million gold pounds, and it was originally planned to build three ships. But after the Battle of Shipwreck Bay, the Navy Department canceled the plan to raid the Sarmatian Sea, and the Lonely-class cruiser was no longer designed and built."
The Lone Brave-class cruisers mentioned by Art were not built to be the main force for decisive battles at sea. They had to be able to adapt to the complex terrain conditions of Sarmatia. Their draft could not be too deep, and should be within 6 to 7 meters. They should be able to get as close to the coast as possible to provide artillery support for the land.
Although the Lone Brave class possesses amazing firepower and speed, its fragile armor protection and hull make it unable to face any battleship directly.
"I believe that the purpose of the Drakes' new battlecruisers is not to raid our heavily guarded Scapa Flow or Fog City..." Jefferson expressed his judgment, while his colleagues were still surprised by the price of the Lone Brave class. The figure of 150 million gold pounds made the senior naval officials in the meeting room of the Talen Admiralty silently happy.
As the world's universal currency, the gold pound was no longer as strong as it was before the war, and the decoupling from gold caused it to depreciate a lot. 150 million gold pounds was at most equivalent to 1910 million pounds in 100.
Admiral Jefferson, who was born as a technical officer, was sensitive to numbers. He did mental arithmetic in his mind, and the result made him smile bitterly. He then said to his colleagues, "It has to be said that this is a conspiracy of the Drakes. Whether the new warship of the Drakes is what we think it is a battlecruiser or a large light cruiser, we have to take some actions to deal with it. I am more inclined to believe that it is not a smoke screen by the Drakes. Large light cruisers are indeed the best choice for the Drakes at present. The empire's funds are almost empty, not to mention that after so many years of naval competition, the Drakes can't afford it either."
"Jefferson...please continue!" Art had a helpless expression on his face. He always had to give some face to his allies.
"I think this is a large light cruiser specially equipped to hunt down our cruisers in order to free up the combat power of the First Reconnaissance Fleet! Although we should pay attention to them, we should not regard them as real battle cruisers!" Jefferson's words made everyone in the conference room fall into deep thought again.
"Jefferson, you have some truth in what you said, but we don't have accurate intelligence and time is running out. We must decide on our countermeasures as soon as possible!" Second Sea Lord John Casopson frowned and then relaxed his brows, slowly expressing his opinion: "The Lone Courage class must be launched, because due to the arms race, we have overdrawn our national strength much more than Drake. Regardless of whether Drake is a battlecruiser or a so-called large light cruiser, we need a cheap warship, and the Lone Courage class cruiser is very suitable. The construction plan of the Lone Courage class should be restarted."
"This is indeed the best choice. I agree!" Before Art could speak, Jefferson couldn't wait to state his position, which made Art want to curse. Since you agree, why are you still talking so much nonsense? I thought you wanted to have an internal fight?
"Does anyone have any opinions? If not, then I will..." Art was about to announce the final result when Jefferson suddenly stood up and spoke again.
"I'm sorry, Sir Art, I have a few more suggestions!" Jefferson spoke freely under Art's cannibalistic gaze, "In order to save precious shipbuilding funds, I think the tonnage of the Lone Courage class should be strictly controlled. The length and width of the Lone Courage class, the weight of the superstructure, and the height of the hull should all be revised. The North Sea is not like the Sarmatian Sea without big winds and waves. I don't want the Lone Courage class to suffer the fate of the Sverrean battleship Vasa. Two of the six secondary guns should be reduced, and the remaining ones will be enough. Moreover, the speed of the Drake cruisers generally does not exceed 28 knots. We don't need such a high speed of 32 knots. The saved tonnage can be used to strengthen protection, at least to ensure that it will not sink after being hit by a heavy artillery."
"Are you done?" Art looked at Jefferson more and more annoyed, and asked, suppressing his anger.
"That's it!" Jefferson responded with a nod.
"Then let's start building three Lone Brave-class large light cruisers! Everyone, I don't want our information to be leaked as easily as the Drakes. Before the Lone Brave-class is launched, you must keep this secret. Whoever leaks it will be brought to a military court!" Art warned everyone fiercely, but his eyes kept looking at Jefferson.