World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Strategic Room, Dubai Presidential Palace, 4 a.m.

Chen Feng stood before a giant global map, holding three pencils of different colors. Red represented Britain, blue represented Germany, and black represented Lanfang. The map was covered with lines and symbols, like a frantic spider web.

The clock on the wall ticked away, its sound particularly clear in the quiet room.

The door was gently pushed open, and Wang Wenwu walked in carrying two cups of coffee. The foreign minister looked like he hadn't slept all night; his eyes were dark-circled, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"Commander-in-Chief, you're not asleep either?" Wang Wenwu handed over a cup of coffee.

Chen Feng took the coffee and took a sip. The coffee was strong and bitter, just right to wake him up.

"I can't sleep." He circled the North Sea region on the map with a red pencil. "By this time, the British fleet should have already left port."

"Our intelligence officers have just confirmed this." Wang Wenwu pulled a telegram from his pocket. "One o'clock in the morning, Scapa Flow. Jellicoe's entire fleet has set sail, including twenty-four dreadnoughts and six battlecruisers. Beatty's fleet left Invergorden even earlier, yesterday evening."

Chen Feng nodded and walked to the radio monitoring report table next to him. Dozens of sheets of paper were spread out on the table, covered with dense numbers and letters—these were segments of radio communications from various navies intercepted and deciphered by the Lanfang intelligence department.

"What about the Germans?" he asked.

"Telegram volume in William Harbour surged fivefold yesterday afternoon, then suddenly fell silent," Wang Wenwu said, pointing to one of the reports. "A typical sign of impending battle. They must have already left port, but are maintaining radio silence."

Chen Feng walked to the window and looked out at the still dark Dubai Port. The port area was brightly lit, and the night shift workers were still busy. The lights of the cranes were like the eyes of giants scanning the night.

"Two of the most powerful fleets in history are heading to the same sea," he whispered. "It's like two giants about to fight in a bathtub."

"Who will win?" Wang Wenwu asked.

Chen Feng turned around and walked back to the map. He traced his finger from Scapa Flow to Port William, and then from Port William to the central North Sea.

"On paper, the British have a better chance of winning. They have numerical superiority, geographical advantage, and experience advantage." He paused, "But naval warfare is the most irrational. A shell accidentally hitting an ammunition depot, a commander's momentary hesitation, a sudden fog... all of these can change everything."

He picked up a black pencil and drew several arrows in the Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean regions.

"Regardless of who wins, a large area of ​​the ocean will be vacant. If Britain suffers heavy losses, its power in Asia will be reduced. If Germany loses, its High Seas Fleet may never recover."

"So for us, a lose-lose situation is the best outcome?" Wang Wenwu asked.

Chen Feng nodded, then shook his head: "It's the best, but also the most difficult. It's like two people fighting; you hope they both get hurt, but not killed. Because if one side falls completely, the other side will have a free hand to deal with the bystanders."

He walked to his desk, pulled out a document, and handed it to Wang Wenwu: "This is a simulation I had the Strategic Research Office do. Three possible outcomes, three possible responses."

Wang Wenwu took the document and quickly browsed through it.

Scenario 1: A decisive British victory. The German High Seas Fleet suffers heavy losses or even annihilation. In this scenario, Britain will completely control the seas, and the postwar international order will be dominated by Britain. Lanfang will need to adjust its strategy, appropriately aligning itself with Britain while accelerating naval development.

The second scenario: Germany wins by a narrow margin. The British fleet suffers heavy losses. In this case, Germany will have a chance to regroup and may even break the blockade. Lanfang can deepen its technological cooperation with Germany, but it must also guard against the expansion of German ambitions after a victory.

The third scenario: mutual destruction. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but neither is completely defeated. This would create a power vacuum after the war, requiring time for the major powers to recover. This would be the golden window of opportunity for Lanfang's rise.

"Which possibility do you think is most likely?" Wang Wenwu asked.

"The third type," Chen Feng said without hesitation, "is also the most dangerous. Because two wounded giants are more sensitive and suspicious than healthy giants. They will be wary of any emerging power that might threaten their position."

He walked to the liquor cabinet, poured two glasses of whiskey, and handed one to Wang Wenwu: "So we can't just stand by and watch. We need to be prepared, to be the ones who clean up the mess after the storm."

Wang Wenwu took the wine glass: "How exactly do we do it?"

Chen Feng took three folders out of the drawer and spread them out on the table.

The cover of the first folder reads: "Navy - Ocean Program".

"Zhang Zhen submitted a new shipbuilding plan yesterday." Chen Feng opened the folder. "Based on our current Bismarck technology, plus improvements from the technical department, he designed a new battleship. Standard displacement is 45,000 tons, with nine 410mm main guns, a speed of 30 knots, and armor 15% stronger than the Bismarck-class." (This isn't from Chen Feng's computer; it's an upgraded version based on the Bismarck-class, which can be understood as a Nagato-class, but with a higher displacement.)

Wang Wenwu gasped, "This...this is stronger than any battleship we have right now!"

"So we have to build it," Chen Feng said, "but not now. Building it now will provoke everyone. We'll start construction quietly after the shelling in Beihai stops and everyone is injured."

He turned to the next page: "Furthermore, aircraft carrier research needs to be accelerated. Liu Qinian's wind tunnel tests are complete, and the carrier-based aircraft prototype can take its first flight next month. I want Lanfang to have its first real aircraft carrier within two years." (Lexington would be even faster based on a battlecruiser.)

"What about the money?" Wang Wenwu asked the most practical question. "One of these aircraft carriers costs at least 20 million dans. We are currently building four Bismarck-class carriers at the same time, and our finances are already very tight."

"I'll take care of the money." Chen Feng closed the folder. "The payments from the Germans, the 'labor resettlement compensation' from the British, and our surplus from normal trade... if we put it all together, it'll be enough to start preliminary research. Large-scale construction will have to wait until the post-war reconstruction orders come in."

He opened the second folder: "Industry - Technology Transformation".

Inside was a long list detailing the technologies acquired from Germany: Zeiss optical instrument manufacturing processes, Krupp steel smelting technology, diesel high-pressure injection systems, radio miniaturization solutions, and more...

Each item is followed by the responsible unit, the progress of the transformation, and the estimated completion time.

"The first phase of the harvest plan was very successful," Chen Feng said. "We acquired the technology. Now, in the second phase, we need to digest, absorb, and innovate upon this technology. Liu Qinian told me yesterday that our optics factory can already produce sights that are 80% of the quality level of the original German version. Give me another year, and we will surpass them."