Building warships at a rapid pace has never been an easy game. It tests not only a nation’s industry, but also the strength of its treasury. A look at the military budget made this clear. Under the influence of the shipbuilding race, the Holy Roman Empire’s naval budget for 1904 increased by a full hundred million. Obviously, that much money could not all be used for ship construction. Building a dozen capital ships would not cost nearly that amount. Most of it would be spent on supporting facilities and naval expansion. Since the end of the European War, the Imperial Navy had been developing at high speed. In the struggle for military funding, the navy even joined forces with the air force in previous years to pressure the army. Although they did not succeed, the navy still managed to secure a larger share of the budget. With the arrival of the “super battleship era,” the navy had entered its golden age. Since 1900, the Holy Roman Empire’s naval academies had been expanding their enrollment. From a little over two thousand cadets per year, they gradually increased to more than three thousand. This was naturally incomparable to the army, which enrolled tens of thousands annually, but the navy’s demand for officers was far smaller than that of the army. The reason was simple. The navy’s primary strategic goal was to defeat Britain, not to maintain global hegemony. To achieve that goal, capital ships were the most cost-effective choice. Other types, such as battlecruisers, looked impressive but were not economical for a decisive battle. Cutting-edge technologies existed but were not reliable enough. For example, aircraft carriers and submarines. They were powerful, but only under specific battlefield conditions. No one could guarantee that Britain would be lured into a decisive battle in such conditions, and they certainly could not pin their hopes on British mistakes. If the battlefield ended up in the Atlantic, the rough seas alone would cripple carriers. They could force themselves to sortie, but the outcome would surely be tragic. Submarines were even more limited. They could not be too far from the battlefield or the war would end before they even arrived. The fact that they were unsuitable for a decisive battle did not mean these assets were useless. It should be noted that the Holy Roman Empire was also a colonial power. Although its overseas colonies were not the core of the empire and could be abandoned at any time, keeping them was still preferable. The fact that aircraft carriers could not go head to head with the British in the Atlantic did not mean they were useless in the Pacific. Sending them there to deal with the Japanese Navy or even the American Navy would be a good option. Submarines were even more flexible. With the Holy Roman Empire’s colonies spread across five continents, they could launch attacks anywhere in the world. Of course, such table-flipping moves were best avoided if possible. After all, the Holy Roman Empire was also a major maritime trading nation and just as easily targeted by others. Everything still depended on the naval showdown. If the fleet won the battle, it could take hegemony in an orderly manner. If the battle was lost, then there would be no choice but to break the rules and overturn the table. In truth, all the smokescreens Franz released were meant to conceal the secretly built submarines and carriers. Unlike battleships, carriers could be disguised as merchant vessels. They might look a bit unusual, but as long as no weapons were installed, they could fool amateur intelligence agents. Submarines were even easier to hide. They were small enough to leave the shipyard underwater and avoid detection entirely. Once in service, spreading them across the colonies would make it impossible for anyone to know how many submarines the Holy Roman Empire actually possessed. It could not be helped. The reputation of the Royal Navy was simply too formidable. It was not just others who doubted victory. Even Franz himself had little confidence. Aside from a group of self-hypnotized admirals in the Naval Ministry, almost no one in the world truly believed they could defeat the British. But politics was essentially theater. Even without confidence, Franz still appeared full of certainty on the surface. Times were changing. By the twentieth century, the struggle for hegemony was no longer a contest of military strength alone. It had become a competition of overall national power. If a direct confrontation could not solve the problem, then national power would decide the outcome. Defeat was not frightening. As long as there was the determination to fight again and again, Britain could eventually be pulled down. In fact, one of the main reasons the Holy Roman government dared to challenge Britain at all was that the Holy Roman Empire already stood on ground where it could not be truly defeated. As a land power, no matter how many times it loses at sea, as long as its homeland remains untouched, the foundation will not be shaken. Losing a naval battle is not a fatal problem. At worst, the Holy Roman Empire could withdraw to the Mediterranean, rest for a year or so, and then return for a second decisive battle. If the second attempt failed, there could be a third, a fourth, a fifth. It did not matter how many times it lost. Victory only needed to happen once. It was much like the Pacific War between the United States and Japan in the original timeline. Japan’s navy seemed unstoppable at first, yet it still managed to lose the war while winning battles. The gap between the Holy Roman Empire and Britain was not as extreme as that between the United States and Japan, but the Holy Roman Empire still had roughly a three-to-one advantage in industrial strength. Furthermore, Britain, being an island nation, lacked resources to sustain its own industry and relied heavily on imported raw materials, which made the advantage even more pronounced. Once the Empire initiated its second phase, it might not completely destroy British maritime trade, but it could certainly cause a major decline in trade volume. In the original timeline, German submarines severely troubled the Allies despite operating in a much smaller area. Now that Holy Roman submarines could roam the entire world, their destructive potential would only be greater. It has always been easier to destroy than to create. Shipbuilding could never keep up with wartime losses. Once the trade routes were disrupted, the British Isles would face food shortages. If the homeland began to suffer, it would not matter how strong the Royal Navy was. Either it would be worn down in battle or collapse from logistical strain. The tactic might look underhanded, but the strategy was perfectly legitimate. It was simply raw national strength, without any trickery. … While the Holy Roman Empire and Britain were racing against time in secret, Japan and Russia were racing against time in earnest, and far more intensely. The former two were engaged in a silent struggle, but Japan and Russia were fighting with real steel and real blood. To accelerate construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Russian government adopted an unprecedented three-shift system, running work twenty-four hours a day. But that did not make things easier. Construction was happening in Siberia, a desolate land where every kind of brutal climate could be found. Even though it was already April, many areas still dropped to more than ten degrees below zero at night, making construction completely unsuitable. But suitable or not, the work had to continue. In the Russian Empire there was no such thing as stopping construction in winter. If winter construction were impossible, the Trans-Siberian Railway would never have been built. The so-called beauty of the “frozen earth” was not an exaggeration. Many regions in Siberia were covered in snow that never melted throughout the year. Although the planners tried to avoid the harshest areas when designing the railway, many sections simply could not be avoided. Human ingenuity was impressive, and the engineers did manage to come up with ways to overcome the extreme climate. Yet human ingenuity also had its limits. The workers’ safety could not be fully guaranteed. Under the brutal night conditions, the introduction of the twenty-four hour rotation system actually led to a rise in worker mortality. Nighttime in particular became the deadliest period. It was not only the laborers at the front line who suffered. Many of the Russian soldiers assigned to supervise them also fell ill from the cold. However, no amount of hardship could shake the Russian government’s determination to race against time. Worker casualties were heavy, but the casualties among Russian soldiers at the front were heavy too. The sooner the railway was completed, the sooner the main forces could be moved, and the sooner victory could be secured. In the eyes of the Russian government, if their own soldiers could be sacrificed for the strategic goal, then a group of low-value French laborers certainly did not matter. The Russian government was anxious, but the Japanese government was even more anxious. Unlike the Russians, who acted like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Japan had to be extremely frugal. They had no choice. The money their financial backers provided had to be repaid, and it was high-interest debt. The less they borrowed, the better. A look at the equipment of the Japanese army made this obvious. Compared to the First Sino-Japanese War, there had been almost no real improvement. Many units were still using weapons captured back then. They truly carried thriftiness to the extreme. Fortunately for Japan, the Russian army’s equipment was not much better. It was slightly superior in firepower, but because of supply shortages, the Russians had to ration their ammunition carefully. In the Far East there was another saying within the Russian Empire. The region was called the “exile zone.” It was not only criminals who were sent there, but also the unlucky ones who lost in political struggles. If the officials stationed there were the losers of politics, then the troops garrisoned there were the marginalized elements of the Russian army. In terms of weapons, equipment, and daily training, they could not be compared with the main force, so their combat capability naturally ranked at the bottom of the Russian military. Facing such an enemy, the Japanese army, which had superior numbers, still failed to achieve the sweeping momentum they had expected. The Japanese government was understandably anxious. Even Emperor Meiji, who was usually composed and dignified, could not help cursing. At several consecutive imperial conferences, he harshly scolded the high command of the army. There was no way to stay calm. The army’s record was simply shameful. After besieging Lüshun Port for months, all they left behind were piles of corpses, and they were still stuck outside the outer defenses. According to the military, this was because the Russians had adopted the most advanced defense system of trenches, machine guns, and barbed wire, making it extremely difficult to break through. They had identified the problem, but what difference did it make? The answer was: none. The butterfly effect was powerful. As the trendsetter of land warfare, the Holy Roman Empire’s army influenced all others. Armies across the world could not help imitating it. The Russians, who were influenced even more deeply, were no exception. Thanks to generations of students who had trained in the Holy Roman Empire, its tactics gradually spread into the Russian army as well. This made the already formidable Lüshun Port even more terrifying. The Japanese army’s traditional bayonet charges turned into little more than mass suicide assaults. If nothing unexpected happened, General Nogi Maresuke was unlikely to become a national hero. The commander of Japan’s Third Army had just arrived at the front to replace his predecessor, who had committed seppuku in disgrace. The reason was simple. Nogi’s favored “human wave tactics” no longer held any threat against a fortress whose defenses were fully modernized. In Japan, a country that admired strength, failures were not worthy of worship. If he failed to accomplish his mission, Nogi’s fate would be no different from that of the man before him. Problems were not limited to the fighting at Lüshun Port. The battles in eastern and southern Manchuria also refused to unfold as the Japanese had planned. Although the Japanese Army gained the upper hand and forced the Russians to retreat, Japan also paid a heavy price. It is still difficult to determine whether they gained more than they lost. Unlike in the original timeline, Russia has experienced decades of major wars, and even the Russian forces stationed in the Far East have improved. The most obvious example is the overall quality of their officers, which is now significantly higher. With better equipment, more capable officers, and richer combat experience, their fighting strength has naturally increased. Expecting them to break under pressure was only wishful thinking. The Japanese Army had also been studying and absorbing new methods, but not as thoroughly as the Russians, who were directly imitating the Holy Roman Empire. Although Japanese morale was high, Russian morale was not low either. It was not because they enjoyed fighting, but because of pride. Losing to the Japanese was something the notoriously proud Russians simply could not accept. Even when outnumbered, their psychological advantage convinced them that they could win. They had no fear. In the original timeline, Japan’s victory depended heavily on its navy. Naval victories strengthened the resolve of Japanese soldiers and shook the confidence of the Russians. Now the war has only just begun. Although the Russians have suffered setbacks on various fronts, their morale has not yet collapsed. Japan’s losses are unavoidable, and the root cause is the government’s frugality. With insufficient military funding, it is completely normal for the army to lag behind the times. Influenced by traditional Bushido thinking, many Japanese generals believed that bravery could make up for weaker equipment and looked down on armies that relied solely on firepower. Under this mindset, limited resources were spent on maintaining the size of the army rather than improving weapons and equipment. Now that they have suffered for it and realized the importance of firepower, the army is too embarrassed to admit its past mistakes. As a prime minister who came from the army, Katsura Taro saw everything clearly and was growing increasingly concerned. The army leadership was reluctant to speak up not only because of pride. Fear of being mocked by the navy was only part of the reason. What they worried about more was that admitting mistakes would weaken their future influence within the empire. This problem was unavoidable because it was one of Japan’s long-standing traits: mistakes were not allowed. When an attendant handed over a battlefield report, Emperor Meiji’s expression darkened. Katsura Taro immediately realized that more bad news had arrived and hurried to remedy the situation. “Your Majesty, please do not be angered. Our opponent this time is Russia, so it is understandable that progress on the front line is slow. To speed up the advance, I propose that we purchase equipment from the British to strengthen our forces. Tanks and armored vehicles would be particularly useful since they perform very well when assaulting fortified positions. They are expensive, but we only need to buy a small number, so the cost should not be too high.” Russia and Austria were allies, and since the war between Japan and Russia had already broken out, the Austrian government naturally would not sell weapons to Japan. Under these circumstances, even though British army equipment was uncompetitive in both performance and price, Japan had no other choice. Aside from these two countries, the weapons produced by other nations were even worse. At this point in time, only the Holy Roman Empire had armored units organized at the divisional level. Other countries could field at most regimental-level armored forces. One reason was the cost: equipment was expensive, and maintenance even more so. The other reason was technological constraints, as key components could not be produced domestically. For a poor nation like Japan, this was even more true. Aside from acquiring a few armored vehicles for show, forming a large armored force was impossible. Otherwise, when the war broke out, they would not have found themselves unable to assemble even a single armored formation capable of breaching the enemy line. Emperor Meiji nodded and said, “Then purchase them. It must be done quickly, and it would be best to buy the British Army’s active-service equipment directly.” He was not entirely sure whether armored units could break through enemy defenses, but the experience coming from Europe suggested that they could. After all, the anti-French coalition had once used armored units to punch open the French defensive line before advancing deep into enemy territory.
[Previous | Table of Contents | Next]
Comments
Post a Comment