46.Chapter 46: Everything to Win

Although Germany had as many as seven top-tier shipyards, that number rose to eight with the addition of Oscar's German Shipyard. However, it was impossible to accommodate the interests of every large shipyard; only those with a relatively closer relationship would be selected.

Wilhelm II nodded. Building five new-style battleships, while costly, was hardly a problem given the loans obtained from Oscar, the financial support of the imperial family, and the navy's original budget. Besides, the construction period for battleships was inherently long, and when spread out over each year, the expense was not too great.

After deliberation between Wilhelm II and Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz, of the five next-class capital ships, aside from the lead ship being built by German Shipyard, the other four were assigned to Navy Shipyard, Royal Shipyard, Vulcan Shipyard, and Weser Shipyard respectively. That made five in total.

Oscar naturally had no objection to this. German Shipyard only had eight large slipways to begin with. The Nassau-class battleships had already occupied four, and it was clearly impossible for the remaining four to swallow up all the new-style battleships at once. Giving a share to other shipyards freed up slipways for building other vessels.

As for naming the new capital ships, Wilhelm II ultimately chose the name "Helgoland." Thus, the German Navy's second class of dreadnoughts was officially designated the Helgoland-class battleships. In the end, five ships of this class were built, one more than in another timeline. The lead ship was Helgoland, the second Ostfriesland, the third Thuringen, the fourth Oldenburg, and the fifth East Prussia.

Seeing that the development history of the German Navy had been completely altered by his own hand, Oscar felt immensely pleased. Four Nassau-class battleships plus five Helgoland-class battleships fell just one short of the British Navy's Dreadnought, three Bellerophon-class battleships, three St. Vincent-class battleships, the Neptune, and two Colossus-class battleships. More importantly, the Nassau-class and Helgoland-class battleships of this timeline were far more powerful, giving them an almost overwhelming advantage over the British Navy's battleships. Once war broke out, the British Navy would pay a heavy price for it.

"Oscar, when can construction of the Helgoland-class battleships begin?" Wilhelm II asked.

"Father Emperor, I'm afraid it will have to wait until next year," Oscar replied.

"Next year? Why?" Wilhelm II was taken aback; he was eager to see the German Navy possess these imposing and mighty battleships.

"Father Emperor, Krupp Company is concentrating all its efforts on developing the 305mm 50-caliber Main Gun. They can hardly spare much strength to research the 343mm Main Gun right now. At the earliest, it won't be until next year, after a breakthrough with the 305mm 50-caliber Main Gun, that development of the 343mm Main Gun can begin. And increasing the gun's caliber is no easy task—it requires a huge investment of manpower and funds. Krupp Company's burden will increase as a result. So starting construction next year is undoubtedly the best option," Oscar explained.

Oscar wanted all the main guns equipped on the German Navy's battleships to be large-caliber, high-length-to-diameter-ratio guns. This would give the main guns far greater power, especially significantly improved armor-piercing capability. This made developing the guns more difficult and more expensive, and their service life would decrease. But Oscar believed that any means to strengthen the battleships' power and help Germany win the war was worth it, even if it cost a fortune. He would spare no expense. After all, who was he now if not so rich that he had nothing left but money?

The German Welfare Lottery Company had brought Oscar immense wealth. But if the German Empire were defeated, the wealth in his hands would inevitably attract the greed of others, or even be plundered. If things went wrong, he might not even keep his own life. So, to protect his wealth and, more importantly, his life, the best way was to help Germany win this war. To that end, Oscar would naturally give it his all.

"Starting construction next year and completing it in two and a half years—there's no problem with the timeline at all!" Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz said.

"Very well, then we'll start construction next year!" Wilhelm II nodded, not pressing the issue further.

"Father Emperor, during the construction of the Helgoland-class battleships, secrecy must be ensured. The British will do everything they can to gather intelligence on our battleships. We must be on guard against this. According to the intelligence we've obtained, the next few classes of British battleships all use 305mm main guns. If the British learn the specifications of our Helgoland-class battleships, it will likely provoke a strong reaction from them. That could disrupt the balance of power between us and make it harder for us to catch up to the British as quickly as possible," Oscar continued.

"Complete secrecy is impossible. But we can do our utmost to delay the British from learning the specific data on our Helgoland-class battleships. That will buy us more time," Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz said.

In the British-German confrontation, both sides had deployed a large number of agents to gather military intelligence on each other. These agents were everywhere. Keeping a secret completely was nearly impossible.

"Let our secret units get to work. Do everything possible to delay the leak of information as long as possible," Wilhelm II said.

Oscar nodded. Nothing in the world was perfect. After all, man proposes, God disposes. He had done everything in his power to strengthen the German Navy. But if even that wasn't enough to defeat the British and win this World War, then he could only say that the inertia of history was simply too great.

Of course, Oscar naturally hoped that through his efforts, Germany's military strength would become even more formidable, so that it could win the future World War. He had no desire to merely possess vast wealth, only to flee overseas after Germany's defeat, live in obscurity, and constantly worry about his riches being coveted by others. That kind of life was no life at all.