World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Liu Yongfu finally spoke, his tone full of bewilderment: "President, I'm not questioning you. But we now have 'Bismarck-class' ships to build, shipyards to expand, and steel mills to upgrade. These things on the blueprints... are too advanced. Europeans are indeed playing with airplanes, but those are just toys for the rich. I saw a report at the Paris Air Show last month; the best planes can only fly a few dozen kilometers, barely enough to carry one person."

"So we must stay ahead of them." Chen Feng raised his voice an octave. "Chief Engineer Liu, do you remember many years ago? When we said we were going to build the 'Guangfu' (Revival) warship, everyone thought we were crazy. When we said we would deliver ten main warships in three years, even the Germans thought it was a pipe dream."

"That's shipbuilding! We have the foundation, the workers, the blueprints—"

"We also have blueprints for the aircraft," Chen Feng interrupted him, patting the pile of printed materials. "And they're the most advanced blueprints. What we lack now is the people and the time to turn them into reality."

Uncle Wang slowly asked, "Young Master, how much will this cost?"

Chen Feng pulled a budget sheet from his briefcase and pushed it to the center of the table.

"The first phase of investment: two million pounds. Of this, five hundred thousand will be used for the construction of the secret base, eight hundred thousand for equipment and materials, three hundred thousand for personnel recruitment and training, and four hundred thousand as a reserve fund for research and development."

"Two million!" Wang Wenwu gasped. "President, every penny of the eighty million pounds we just borrowed has a purpose. The army needs money to expand, the navy needs money to build ships, immigrants need money to settle, basic education needs money... This two million is enough to build five complete secondary schools, or to feed 100,000 immigrants for a year."

"I know," Chen Feng said calmly. "That's why I said it's an investment. It's insurance for the future."

Li Te frowned. "President, I understand the strategic value you're talking about. But why now? Why can't we wait until the Bismarck-class destroyers are finished, until our industrial base is more solid?"

"Because time waits for no one." Chen Feng looked directly into the Rear Admiral's eyes. "Li Te, have you studied the Japanese movements?"

"The Kongo-class, we know that. The British are building it for them."

"It's not just the Kongo-class." Chen Feng pulled out another intelligence summary. "The Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan expanded its aircraft manufacturing workshop last month. The Mitsubishi Group hired three aerospace engineers from France. They are secretly researching 'carrier-based aircraft'—although it's still just seaplanes, the direction is clear."

The sealed room fell silent once more. Only the monotonous hum of the ventilation fan could be heard.

Wang Wenwu's fingers tapped the table faster and faster, a sign of his rapid thinking. Finally, he stopped and looked up at Chen Feng:

"President, what exactly did you see? Or rather, what did you foresee?"

This question drew everyone's attention to Chen Feng's face.

Chen Feng remained silent for a long time. The light from the table lamp cast deep shadows on his face, making his expression unreadable.

"I see an era coming to an end," he said slowly. "An era in which warships dominate the seas is drawing to a close. Not tomorrow, not next year, but in the not-too-distant future—maybe ten years, maybe twenty. These iron birds will take their place."

He picked up a manual, opened it to a page with complex diagrams of air combat tactics.

"The future of naval warfare will be completely different. It will no longer be two fleets exchanging fire within visual range, but one side will send out aircraft hundreds of kilometers away, swarming enemy ships like bees. No matter how thick the armor of a warship is, it cannot withstand a half-ton bomb falling vertically from above. No matter how powerful the guns of a warship are, they cannot hit small targets moving through the clouds."

"This is too..." Li Te wanted to say "too absurd," but he swallowed the words back. He remembered the shock he felt when he first saw the blueprints for the "Guangfu" three years ago, and how those technologies that were once considered "impossible" had eventually become reality.

Liu Yongfu was still struggling: "But what about the technology? What about the materials? What about the engines? We can't even make car engines properly, how can we make aircraft engines? The precision requirements for the parts on these blueprints are higher than those for clocks, and our machine tools—"

"Therefore, we need a dedicated team to tackle this challenge." Chen Feng was well-prepared. "We will recruit the best mechanics, instrument technicians, and metalworking masters from across the country—no, from every place we can reach. High salaries, top-notch benefits, and confidentiality agreements. If we don't have enough machine tools, we'll import them from Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. Money is not an issue."

Uncle Wang asked softly, "Young Master, how confident are you?"

"Confident?" Chen Feng smiled wryly. "Uncle Wang, if I told you I don't even have a 30% chance of being confident, would you believe me?"

The old man was stunned.

"These blueprints are too advanced, so advanced that even I know that with our current industrial level, we may not be able to fully digest them within ten years," Chen Feng said frankly. "The 'first-generation Lanfang aircraft' that we are going to build may not even reach half the performance of these blueprints. It may not fly fast, it may not fly far, it may break down every few days, and even... it may crash and kill people."

His gaze swept over everyone at the table.

"But we must begin. Because if we don't begin now, five years from now, when others have started, we won't even have the chance to catch up. If we don't pay the price now, ten years from now, we may pay the price of national subjugation."

That sentence was so heavy that even breathing could be clearly heard.

Wang Wenwu took a deep breath: "Commander-in-Chief, you just mentioned 'insurance.' I don't quite understand, what kind of insurance is this?"

Chen Feng walked up to the world map and pointed to Europe.

"Europe is like a pile of dry tinder right now. The Anglo-German conflict, the Franco-German conflict, the Russo-Austrian conflict… any spark could ignite it. If—I mean if—this fire really starts, spreading throughout Europe, even the whole world, how will Lanfang protect itself?"

"We have a navy..."

"Not enough," Chen Feng shook his head. "What if both sides in the conflict demand that we take sides? What if they want us to open our ports, requisition merchant ships, or even directly participate in the war? What if we refuse, and their fleet sails to the mouth of the Persian Gulf?"

He returned to his seat and placed his hands on the table.

"We need a card. A card that everyone fears. Submarines are one, but these planes are another. Imagine this: when a foreign diplomat comes to pressure us, we can 'casually' show him that deep in our deserts, there is a weapon they've never seen before, capable of flying over their colonies, their ports, and their fleets before they even realize it."

"Deterrence," Li Te murmured.

"Yes, deterrence." Chen Feng nodded. "We don't necessarily have to actually use it, but we need to let them know we have it. Like nuclear weapons... like the sharpest sword, hanging on the wall is more useful than holding it in your hand."