Commerce Raider

"Father Emperor, Your Excellency. I suddenly thought of something—our navy needs another kind of warship. If we can build a batch of them, it will be an excellent way to strengthen our navy." As this conversation was drawing to a close, Oscar suddenly said.

"Oh? Oskar, what kind of warship?" Wilhelm II and Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz were both intrigued. They too were desperately eager to strengthen the navy.

"Commerce raiders!" Oscar said.

"Commerce raiders? Your Highness, do you mean warships that attack the British sea lanes?" Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz frowned.

"Yes, Your Excellency. As the name suggests, commerce raiders are warships specially designed to attack the enemy's transport routes. They pose an especially fatal threat to an island nation like Britain. Though Britain's industry is developed, the vast majority of its supplies must be transported by sea. At the same time, all kinds of manufactured goods must also be shipped by sea to other places. Once our commerce raiders destroy their maritime transport lines, it will be a fatal blow to the British. Their industrial goods will be unable to leave the country, while the resources they need will be unable to enter. They may not even be able to bring back enough food to meet the needs of their own people. Under those circumstances, could they still continue opposing us? If they could not even secure food, then the British Empire would probably collapse before long!" A faint smile appeared on Oscar's face.

Strangling sea lanes was undoubtedly fatal to island nations. In another time and space, both the German Empire and the Third Reich had employed such tactics. However, lacking surface warships, they could only use submarines. Though they inflicted devastating losses on Britain, once the British increased their investment in escort vessels, the submarines' effectiveness became very limited. If Germany could deploy large numbers of commerce raiders in this time and space and sever Britain's sea lanes, it would help Germany swiftly win the war.

"That is not a bad idea. The navy has considered it as well. But Britain is not far from us, so there is no need to build specialized commerce raiders, is there? Ordinary battleships and cruisers can carry out this mission." Wilhelm II shook his head. In his view, the German Navy was desperately short of funding, and every penny had to be spent on the cutting edge; there was no need for waste.

"Father Emperor, ordinary warships can indeed carry out commerce-raiding operations. But we must not forget that the British also possess an enormous navy. Their battleships and cruisers may be inferior to ours in combat power, but they vastly outnumber us. If we send battleships and cruisers to carry out commerce-raiding missions, we will only fall into the predicament of being surrounded by them. Moreover, every one of our warships is precious. If we lose them because of this, it would be far too regrettable." Oscar explained.

Wilhelm II and Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Oscar's view.

"Your Highness, do you have any suggestions?" Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz asked. Clearly, Oscar had persuaded him. Although the navy's funds were now tight, if they could build warships that would help the German Navy defeat the British, then they should tighten their belts and build them. After all, everything they did had only one purpose: to win this war.

"Your Excellency, we need a battleship with high speed and powerful firepower. Its defensive capability should preferably be improved as well. That way, our commerce raiders will be relatively at ease when attacking enemy sea lanes. Once they encounter an enemy encirclement offensive, they can easily escape by relying on their speed advantage. If the enemy sends cruisers in pursuit, then even if those cruisers can catch up to our commerce raiders by relying on their speed advantage, charging into the powerful fire of our commerce raiders would simply be delivering battle results into our hands." Oscar smiled broadly.

"Indeed, such warships would have enormous advantages in commerce-raiding operations." Wilhelm II nodded.

"Father Emperor, I call this type of commerce raider a Battlecruiser—a warship that lies between a battleship and a cruiser. Its firepower is enough to rival that of a battleship, while its speed is no worse than a cruiser's. Its defenses are slightly weaker than those of a battleship, but far stronger than those of a cruiser. A cruiser's small-caliber guns simply cannot pose a fatal threat to it."

"Your Highness means that this warship called a Battlecruiser is one that enemy battleships can defeat but cannot catch, while cruisers can catch it but cannot defeat it." Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz said with a smile.

"Exactly. Of course, no matter how weak our Battlecruisers' defenses are, they will not be inferior to British battleships. British battleships pursue firepower and speed too excessively, so with their limited displacement, they can only neglect defense in order to improve firepower and speed. Therefore, our Battlecruisers' defenses can completely surpass those of their battleships. In that case, it may not be impossible for us to fight them head-on. Of course, in order to preserve our own strength as much as possible, Battlecruisers should still avoid duels with enemy battleships whenever possible," Oscar said.

The greatest purpose of Battlecruisers was to strike enemy sea lanes and bully medium and small warships such as enemy destroyers and cruisers, not to trade blows with enemy battleships in the battle line.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness's proposal is excellent. It has pointed out another path for the navy's development. Although I believe the decisive factor in naval warfare will still be capital ships defeating the enemy, the cooperation of Battlecruisers is likewise indispensable. It can give us greater advantages in war, as well as more cards up our sleeve," Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz said.

If, at the very beginning of the war, the German Navy's Battlecruisers were deployed to attack British sea lanes, they could not only weaken Britain's war potential but also strike at British morale, forcing the British to carefully consider whether they should join the war. This would buy Germany more time.

Wilhelm II nodded. "It seems Battlecruisers are also a type of warship our navy must possess."