Naval Development Plan

The Tsarist Russian Empire's army reforms would begin in full after the war with the Ottoman Empire ended.

For now, the Tsarist Russian Empire Army would first make the necessary preparations.

These included reducing personnel and producing weapons and equipment.

Although the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire were still at war, everyone believed that there was absolutely no question they would win the final victory.

With the Tsarist Russian Empire's civil war over, the Ottomans would not have the slightest chance.

The Tsarist Russian Empire would soon launch a large-scale counterattack against the Ottomans.

There would be no problem ending the war with the Ottoman Empire before the year was out.

Besides the army, the navy also needed reform.

The Tsarist Russian Empire Navy's overall strength was now second only to the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy and the Gallic Navy, making it the third-ranked navy in the world.

That was in terms of the number and tonnage of its warships.

Even so, the gap between the Tsarist Russian Navy and the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy was enormous.

More importantly, in Mikhail's view, the Tsarist Russian Navy's current warships all had numerous problems, whether they were battleships, ironclads, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, or destroyers. Both their designs and their performance were badly outdated.

On top of that, the Tsarist Russian Navy's combat proficiency was relatively low.

It was therefore understandable that the Tsarist Russian Navy would suffer a crushing defeat in its war with the Japanese Navy a few years later.

The people of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets had indeed deliberately made things difficult for it, but the greater reason was that it had many shortcomings of its own.

Mikhail hoped to solve these problems at their roots.

Mikhail summoned Navy Minister Admiral Pavel Tyrtov and Chief of the General Staff Admiral Brusilov to give instructions on the navy's future development plans.

"At all the empire's naval shipyards, stop construction on every warship except those already half completed. All shipbuilding plans on which work has not yet begun are to be scrapped as well!"

Mikhail spoke bluntly.

Admiral Pavel Tyrtov was stunned.

During Nicholas II's reign, plans had been made to step up naval development.

He had even wanted to challenge the hegemony of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy at sea.

This had also been a response to the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' efforts to hem in the Tsarist Russian Empire everywhere and prevent it from gaining access to the sea and good ice-free ports.

Admiral Pavel Tyrtov had originally thought that, after becoming tsar, Mikhail would be even more aggressive than Nicholas II. He had not expected that Mikhail did not intend to increase investment in the navy.

This was not good news for the navy!

However, Admiral Pavel Tyrtov had been promoted by Mikhail.

He did not dare disobey Mikhail's orders.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Admiral Pavel Tyrtov replied.

"How many warships does the imperial navy have now?" Mikhail asked.

"Your Majesty, the imperial navy's current warships include battleships, ironclads, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, and destroyers.

"The battleships include three Petropavlovsk-class battleships, the battleship Rostislav, three Peresvet-class battleships, and the battleship Retvizan.

"The ironclads include the ironclad Peter the Great, two Alexander II-class ironclads, four Catherine II-class ironclads, the ironclad Gangut, the ironclad Navarin, the ironclad Three Saints, and the ironclad Sisoy the Great.

"The armored cruisers include two Dmitry Donskoy-class armored cruisers, the armored cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, the armored cruiser Rurik, the armored cruiser Rossia, and the armored cruiser Roarer, which is under construction.

"The protected cruisers include the protected cruiser Svetlana, three Pallada-class protected cruisers, the protected cruiser Varyag, the protected cruiser Askold, the protected cruiser Novik, the protected cruiser Boyarin, the protected cruiser Emerald, and six Rostov-class protected cruisers.

"The destroyers include Sokol-class, Catfish-class, and Whale-class destroyers."

Admiral Pavel Tyrtov could list the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy's assets as readily as his own family treasures.

For the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy to have built such a powerful force in such a short time was already quite an achievement.

It was simply that Mikhail had no regard for these old ironclads, pre-dreadnoughts, armored cruisers, protected cruisers, and destroyers.

The six Rostov-class protected cruisers were exceptions, of course.

Mikhail had personally taken part in designing these protected cruisers. In his plans, the Tsarist Russian Empire would continue building protected cruisers using the Rostov class as a model, or make improvements on that basis.

As for the other warships, they would all have to be scrapped and started over.

The ironclads went without saying; they were completely obsolete.

The world's leading navies had already entered the age of the battleship, and ironclads had fallen behind.

In Mikhail's eyes, however, the leading battleships of the day, including those being built in large numbers by the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy, were all pre-dreadnoughts with obsolete designs.

Mikhail instead hoped that the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy's next battleships could be built from the outset as dreadnoughts with an all-big-gun layout.

Only by overtaking on this bend could the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy have a chance of surpassing the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy in future naval battles.

Otherwise, any attempt to challenge the maritime hegemony of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy would be utterly unrealistic.

Moreover, the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy had too many models of armored cruiser, but far too few ships.

In Mikhail's plans, the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy would next build an advanced armored cruiser that could be mass-produced, making it the navy's main armored cruiser going forward.

After all, Mikhail clearly remembered that the Japanese navy was also equipped with eight advanced armored cruisers.

As for destroyers, they went even further without saying.

The destroyers currently in service with the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy were all small warships displacing only two or three hundred tons. These small warships were simply unsuited to ocean voyages. In future naval battles, they could serve only as harbor defenders.

Thus, in Mikhail's view, the Tsarist Russian Empire Navy was currently all show and no substance.

If it continued developing this way, challenging the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets' Royal Navy in the future would be out of the question. If things went badly, it might even follow the same old path and suffer a crushing defeat in the coming war with the Japanese.