Iron Cross

The formulation and discussion of the shipbuilding plan were attended by major officials from the Military Command, the Navy Ministry, the Ship Administration Headquarters, the Aviation Headquarters and the Combined Fleet, but no one expected that there would be a quarrel so quickly. Renichi Kusuka was very anxious at the table representing the United Fleet. He accompanied Horikichi to attend the meeting. However, because Horikichi and Foreign Minister Masayuki Taniya accompanied the German special envoy Kohl to the meeting, Renichi Kusuka read the speech on behalf of the United Fleet. The next step was to revise the idea, but unexpectedly, a dispute broke out between the Navy Ministry and the Military Command before they even opened their mouths. Kusaka Ren was too soft-spoken to suppress the situation, but he had to complete the task assigned by Horikichi, so he eagerly looked forward to the other party's appearance.

While I was anxious, a loud roll call finally sounded outside: "Marshal Admiral, Commander of the Combined Fleet Commander Horikichi has arrived!"

Roll call is also a real effort. On the one hand, you need to have enough energy, and on the other hand, you need to be familiar with the characters. It is very disrespectful to sing the wrong name or position. However, Horitiyoshi is in the spotlight now, and it is obvious that no one will mistake him. .

Everyone stopped immediately after hearing the argument. Kusaka Renichi and other officers stood up to greet him. According to the rules of the entire venue, the only ones who did not have to greet him were Fushimi Miyahiro Kyōou and Yamamoto Isoroku, but everyone never expected Yamamoto Isoroku. Liu unexpectedly stood up and looked at Fushimi Miya Hiroshi Prince with a half-smile, creating a situation where everyone was standing and Fushimi Miya was sitting alone.

Yamamoto's move made the latter very angry, and the situation was very passive: if he didn't stand up, someone would accuse him of neglecting the meritorious officials in two days; if he stood up, he would feel uncomfortable - why should he welcome his subordinates respectfully? The awkward situation lasted until Horikichi's footsteps appeared at the door of the conference room, and Fushimiyama reluctantly stood up.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm late." Horikichi was stunned when he saw this scene. Then he saw Yamamoto Isoroku's half-smiling expression and Fushimi Miyahiro Prince's angry look, and he immediately guessed it. What, first bow slightly to the two of them, "Your Highness and Minister, please take a seat."

After the two of them sat down, he followed suit, and then said: "Everyone, please take a seat."

Kusaka Renyi was wiping cold sweat. He had witnessed the entire scene just now. Unexpectedly, even a small matter like sitting up was vaguely filled with a strong smell of gunpowder. More importantly, the shipbuilding meeting was obviously led by the Military Command, but Minister Yamamoto passed it. This approach put pressure on the Chief of the Military Command, and the meeting was chaired by Narumi Inoue (Secretary of the Navy and Chief of the Naval Administration Headquarters). It was obviously a preemptive gesture - no one who could become the Minister of the Navy would be able to save fuel.

The Japanese naval system is very strange. The Ship Administration Headquarters as a whole is under the management of the Navy Ministry, but the fourth department, the Shipbuilding Department, is responsible for warship construction matters - the reason is for combat readiness. This is the expansion of the Military Command Department over the years. Typical example of functional erosion of the Admiralty. Yamamoto did a great job this time. He did not let the chief officer of the Fourth Department preside over the meeting. Instead, he asked Inoue Narumi, the top officer of the Naval Administration Headquarters and a close confidant, to preside over the meeting. His attitude of trying to fight for power was very obvious.

"Do I need to report to you what was discussed in the meeting just now?" Inoue Narumi turned to ask Horikichi.

"No, please just tell me the consensus you have reached."

Inoue Narumi nodded and instructed the staff officer in charge of recording to read it out.

"First, in view of the uneven implementation of the Maru-Go, Kai-go, Maru-Rin, Maru-Kyu, and Maru-Oi plans and the chaotic relationship, it is proposed to re-establish the Maru-Shin Plan..."

After the Imperial Council of Japan determined the "Imperial National Policy Implementation Outline" in 1940, in view of the inevitable war between Japan and the United States, and at the same time due to the large-scale expansion of naval armaments by the U.S. military, in order to make up for the lack of naval armaments and achieve a situation where it could compete with the U.S. military in the Pacific in the near future, The Japanese side successively proposed plans such as the (Marin) Arms Deficiency Supplement Plan, (Marukyu) Wartime Emergency Construction Plan, (Maruui) Additional Plan, etc., and then after the war started, they proposed plans such as the Maru Five and Kaizen Five plans, but there was no plan. To actually implement it, basically it’s all about changing again and again. The nearly one year since the United Fleet went abroad has been the period of least adjustment.

"Second, due to the improvement of the national situation and the increase in military expenditures, the Marushin Plan plans to use a budget of 9.2 billion yen, and the overall estimate is to complete 1.38 million tons of warships - excluding warships currently under construction."

Horikichi nodded calmly: The original military budget for the fifth plan was 6.24 billion yen, and the overall estimated tonnage to be completed was 1.15 million tons. Now it seems that the situation has changed again. Although this plan is better than previous shipbuilding plans A great improvement, but compared to the 60 billion marks proposed by Hoffmann per year (of course it cannot be all used for shipbuilding, but no less than 15 billion for shipbuilding), it is really pitiful. Moreover, judging from the fact that the scale of military expenditure has increased by nearly half and the tonnage has only increased by 20%, the domestic inflation index continues to rise.

"Third, pass a batch of old warship renovation projects, including: 1. Chitose and Chiyoda, two water-based aircraft carriers, were converted into light aircraft carriers, with a construction period of 7 months; 2. Shokaku was overhauled and installed with catapults imported from Germany. The construction period is 5-6 months; 3. Three 17,000-ton cruise ships (maximum speed 21 knots) - Asama Maru, Tatsuta Maru, and Kamakura Maru will be transformed into auxiliary aircraft carriers according to the German plan, with a construction period of 9 months; 4. Currently The drawings of the Shenying and Haiying have been modified according to aircraft carrier standards and transformed into auxiliary aircraft carriers, with an additional three months of construction period; 5. The Rijin was transformed into a water machine carrier (originally the successor of the Mizuho water machine carrier, Used for high-speed mine laying, currently mainly used for transporting A-type ships), the construction period is 3 months; 6. The Béarn is overhauled and transformed into a medium-sized aircraft carrier, renamed the Falcon, and the construction period is 10 months.”

Many people are puzzled by the United Fleet's motive for requesting five auxiliary aircraft carriers. Although several battles have proven that auxiliary aircraft carriers are useful, five ships seem to be too many. But Kusaka Renichi believes that two ships should serve as training ships. Three ships were urgently needed to accompany the fleet in operations, especially in integrated operations, but they were finally approved.

"Fourth, speed up the construction of existing warships, including: 1. Installing imported catapults on the Dafeng aircraft carrier and ensuring that it is completed before the end of December this year; 2. Using armored steel, prefabricated components and other equipment imported from Germany to ensure confidence The Noh battleship will be completed ahead of schedule by March 1944; 3. The Unryu-class aircraft carrier that has already started construction requires one to be completed in each of the spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons of 1944; 5. The construction of the Ibuki heavy cruiser will be accelerated to ensure that it is on schedule before December 1944. Completed; 6. The last two Agano-class light cruisers are required to be completed one each this year and 1944; 7. The construction projects of destroyers, spy ships, submarines, etc. are completed as required..."

Different from history, after the South Pacific Battle, the Japanese Navy cut off many messy renovation projects. At the same time, it did not need to repair existing warships (except for the scarred Yamato) because of the joint fleet expeditionary operations. Due to the return of a large number of skilled workers from the army after coordination between the sea and land, and the guaranteed supply of relevant materials after the gradual withdrawal of troops from mainland China, the speed of ship construction has been greatly accelerated, and the construction quality has also improved, especially the top priority Gale, The Shinano was built faster and with better quality than ever before.

But soon Horikichi spoke: "Let me interrupt, how many ships are involved in the construction of a submarine?"

"Small submarines (550-ton Lu-100) were originally planned to add 9 units, but all were later cancelled; medium-sized submarines (1,000-ton Lu-35) were originally planned to add 43 units, but only 4 have been completed so far. , it is expected that 4-5 more large submarines will be completed this year; including 72 2,200-ton I-15/16 types and 6 2,500-ton I-9 types, only 1-2 have been completed so far. About 3-4 ships have been started; there are also Type D submarines (1,500-ton I-361 type) and so on..."

"Cut it all off!" Horikichi explained, "I just accompanied the German envoy to the palace to meet His Majesty. Special Envoy Cole reported on the recent exchanges between the two countries. Germany has received 100 tons of gold from us (50 tons are abalone). The Sri Lankan government initially promised (the other 50 tons was Japan's repayment of the credit). Out of gratitude to the joint fleet for its cooperation in operations, the German side presented us with 10 German submarines, 750-ton Type VII submarines; it also stated that it could For our sale of German-made submarines, in addition to the VII series, they also include the 1,000-1,500-ton class IX and the 2,000-2,500-ton class XIV... Germany is willing to provide a special credit of 300 million marks for this."

"What about the price?" someone asked nervously.

"Because most of them are old ships that have been used, the asking price is very cheap. An early Type VII submarine costs 3 million marks, and a later one costs 3.5 million marks. The most expensive one does not exceed 4 million marks."

Inoue Narumi's eyes lit up: "It's so cheap!"

"Yes, it's cheap!" Everyone agreed in unison.

Officers who understand submarine warfare all know that the 750-ton Type VII submarine is stronger than the 550-ton Lu-100, but the production cost of the latter is about 5.5 million yen - based on the current equivalent of the Japanese yen mark, Building it yourself is almost half as expensive as buying it, not to mention that 10 ships are given as a gift, which is simply a cheap gift. If you consider that the construction cost and labor will not be occupied after purchasing, it is really great news.

But what they don't know is that the current cost of Germany's new VII submarine is 2.5-3 million marks. In other words, Hoffman not only used these old submarines for several years, but also sold them to Japan. The price is good, and more importantly, the focus of German submarine construction has shifted to Type XXI submarines. Keeping the old models is also a burden, so it is better to sell them to the Japanese.

After saying a few words, the atmosphere suddenly became lively, and many people were beaming with joy...