World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Amazing," Schmidt said in heavily Ruhr-accented German. "In three years, from the laying of the first keel to today, you have built four of the world's most advanced battleships. This speed... Berlin couldn't do it, and neither could London."

"Because we have no other choice," Chen Feng replied in fluent German. "For a small country to survive, it has to outrun a large country."

Schmidt paused for a few seconds, then suddenly lowered his voice: "Mr. Chen, some people in Berlin are...uneasy about your speed..."

"So what was your answer?"

"I would say that Lanfang's engineers are the smartest and most hardworking group of people I've ever met." Schmidt took off his glasses and wiped the lenses. "They can deduce an entire process from a single blueprint, and they can summarize ten improvements from a single failure."

Chen Feng smiled: "Thank you for your fair words."

"But I also have a question." Schmidt put his glasses back on. "After the 'Pearl River' is completed, what else do you plan to build? A larger battleship? Or...?"

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was clear.

Chen Feng looked at the warship in the dock that was about to be launched. The sea fog was being dispersed by the morning light disc, and the outline of the ship was becoming clearer and clearer.

"We'll build enough," he finally said. "Enough to protect ourselves, enough to safeguard our homes, enough... to get justice."

At eight o'clock in the morning, the number of people on the viewing platform increased.

Besides government officials and technicians, there were more than two hundred specially invited representatives—model workers from the steel mill, veteran craftsmen from the shipyard, leaders from immigrant communities, and student representatives from schools. Wang Wenwu was explaining the warship's parameters to elders from several Arab tribes, with Elder Salman acting as the translator.

"Eight 380mm main guns, each shell weighing 800 kg, with a range of 36 km..."

"Maximum speed of 30 knots, 2 knots faster than the newest British Queen Elizabeth-class ships..."

"The thickest part of the armor is 360 millimeters, enough to withstand the main guns of all current warships..."

The elders listened in stunned silence. They had seen camel riders and rifles, but the steel constructs of this scale were beyond their wildest imaginations.

"How much does this ship cost?" an elder couldn't help but ask.

Wang Wenwu thought for a moment: "Excluding research and development costs, the cost of a single ship is approximately... eight million pounds."

Gasps of gasp filled the air. Eight million pounds was enough to buy the entire output of all the tribes in the Nej region for three years.

"Too expensive..." Another elder shook his head.

"But what it can protect is worth eighty times eight million," Chen Feng said as he approached in Arabic. "Elders, do you know why European powers were able to establish colonies all over the world?"

He pointed to the "Pearl River": "Not because their civilization is more advanced, not because their morality is higher, but simply because—they have ships like this. When their cannons are pointed at your village, you only have two choices: surrender, or die."

The elders fell silent.

"Lanfang doesn't want to become a foreign power," Chen Feng continued, "but we also don't want to be the ones with cannons pointed at us. So we must build our own ships and our own cannons. Only with a sword in hand can we choose not to draw it; if we don't have a sword, we don't even have the right to choose."

Elder Salman nodded slowly: "Mr. Chen is right. Three years ago, British gunboats patrolled outside the bay, and they could dock at any time and arrest people at will. Now? Now their captains have to send a telegram to request permission first."

The ceremony began at 9:00 AM sharp.

There were no lengthy speeches, no complicated procedures. Chen Feng walked to the microphone at the front of the viewing platform and said only one sentence:

"Three years of painstaking effort, four giant ships. Today, the last one returns to service. I hereby announce—'Pearl River', launched!"

The dock gates slowly opened, and seawater from the Persian Gulf rushed in.

At first it was slow, like a babbling brook. Then it sped up, becoming a rushing river. The sound of the seawater crashing against the dock walls was deafening, and splashes of water rose dozens of meters high.

The ship began to float.

First, the stern rose slightly, then the hull, and finally the entire ship detached from the supports and floated completely on the sea surface. Forty thousand tons of steel felt as light as a leaf at that moment.

"Cut the cable!" Ma Guodong shouted.

On both sides of the dock, workers wielded axes to cut the last few securing cables. The "Pearl River" slowly slid out of the dock and into the bay. Three tugboats that had been waiting outside immediately stepped forward to guide it to the deep-water berth.

There, the other three Bismarck-class ships were quietly anchored.

The Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, and today's Pearl River—four giant ships lined up in a row, their dark gray hulls gleaming coldly in the winter sun.

Thunderous applause erupted from the reviewing stand. Many were moved to tears—they had participated in the construction of these warships, from the cutting of the first steel plate to the tightening of the last bolt. These were their children.

Chen Feng watched this scene quietly, his face expressionless.

Wang Wenwu walked over and whispered, "Commander-in-Chief, General Li Te is waiting for you at the command center."

"understood."

The naval command center is located on the third basement level of the administration building, requiring passage through three steel blast doors. This is Lanfang's military brain, with nautical charts covering the walls and the latest wireless equipment and cipher machines on the tables.

Leeteuk was already waiting for him.

"Commander-in-Chief." Li Teli saluted.

"Sit down." Chen Feng took off his coat and handed it to Uncle Wang, then walked to the largest chart of the South China Sea. "Is everything ready?"

"Ready." Li Te picked up a slender baton and pointed to the location of Borneo on the nautical chart. "According to the 'Homecoming' plan, in the first phase, I will lead the task force forward. The fleet will consist of: two Bismarck-class ships, the Yangtze and Yellow River; two battlecruisers, the Guangfu and Fuxing; plus six Omaha-class cruisers and twelve Minekaze-class destroyers."

"Any other requirements?"

“No need.” Litt shook his head. “The firepower of this fleet is enough to crush the entire Dutch naval force in the East Indies. Their Far East Fleet has only five pre-dreadnoughts left, the oldest of which, the ‘Holland,’ was launched in 1898 and has a main gun caliber of only 240 mm. Our 380 mm guns can tear them apart from their range.”

Chen Feng stared at the nautical chart: "What about the second phase?"

"Three days later, the Huaihe will lead the transport fleet to depart." Li Te's baton shifted to Dubai Port. "It will carry the 1st Infantry Division, the 2nd Infantry Division, and the newly formed 5th and 6th Arab Divisions. A total of 87,000 men, fully equipped with heavy weapons. The fleet will be escorted by eight destroyers, with the Huaihe at the helm."

Have you assessed the loyalty of the Arab divisions?

Li Te put down his baton and pondered for a moment: "Commander-in-Chief, this may not be pleasant to hear—but I don't completely trust them."

To be specific.