With cajoling and threats, coupled with the cabinet government throwing its full weight behind it, British Parliament finally passed the bill to increase military spending by a narrow majority.
However, the 70 million Pound Sterling budget was cut down to 65.81 million. This was already considered good; it was common for budgets to be slashed in half by Parliament.
Perhaps feeling the threat from the Holy Roman Empire, the members of Parliament had been jolted by reality and shown a little mercy when wielding their sickles.
Even so, after all the procedures had been completed and the Navy had finished its bidding process and selected shipyards, it was already May.
Before Campbell could breathe a sigh of relief, more bad news arrived. There were not enough docks over 20,000 tons to begin construction on so many super-dreadnoughts at once.
"What? At a time like this, you're telling me there aren't enough docks that meet the requirements?"
Prime Minister Campbell roared.
He could not help being angry. Super-dreadnoughts displaced more than 20,000 tons at the very least; such massive hulks simply could not be built on slipways and had to be constructed inside docks.
But docks were not cabbages, especially docks exceeding 20,000 tons—they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
In the original timeline, right up until the outbreak of World War I, no one had ever been heard of laying down more than a dozen dreadnoughts at once. It was not that they did not want to; the main problem was that the hardware conditions were insufficient.
Even by World War II, the only people capable of simultaneously beginning construction on more than a dozen large warships were the Americans.
Faced with the prime minister's questioning, First Lord of the Admiralty Swinding replied with a face full