Ruler of the Ocean (1)
Meanwhile, Conrad von Hötzendorf, who had whimpered back from his audience with the Kaiser, had not lost everything. What **Shtal** had intended by establishing the **Austrian Agricultural Cooperative** was to force the nobility to defect to his side. Surprisingly, however, Hötzendorf held such a tight grip on the imperial military that very few high-ranking officers had actually turned. Furthermore, the polarization had naturally weeded out the fence-sitters within the organization.
"I ask the patriots gathered here," Hötzendorf said. "To whom does your loyalty belong?"
"...To His Majesty the Kaiser, General Hötzendorf. Why on earth do you ask such a thing?"
"I merely wished to 'confirm' something. Let me ask you once more. Who, exactly, is His Majesty the Kaiser?"
"The Kaiser is the Kaiser, why would you ask—ah..."
"No matter how the country turns, we must obey when His Majesty the Kaiser commands. That is our role as defenders of the Empire. Is the one we follow not His Majesty Franz Joseph, the representative of the Austrian nobility?"
This might not be so bad after all, Hötzendorf thought. The half-hearted opportunists who might have turned whistleblowers had already defected to Shtal's side. Now, only the 'true believers' remained in Hötzendorf's secret circle. This meant they could move more radically and devise far more meticulous plans.
Media, wealth, and even military power—compared to his days of struggling against **Karl Lueger**, Shtal now held every advantage over the traditional establishment, the ancien régime. Yet, Hötzendorf was no pushover either. Political struggle was no different from war. You gather your forces, and if that is still not enough, you drag in foreign powers. You sow internal discord, manipulate the economy, and do not hesitate to resort to the 'ultimate measure.' As always, it did not deviate a single inch from the way the Austrian nobility had fought for generations.
The **Austria-Hungary** Empire was enjoying an unprecedented economic boom, using its newfound wealth to steadily implement internal political and economic reforms. However, among the warring nations, cases like Austria-Hungary were exceedingly rare. Entering a war naturally drained a nation's coffers dry. Take Japan, for instance, which had been exporting low-quality goods at rock-bottom prices on Britain's behalf. This time, the situation was far more severe than during the Russo-Japanese War. Back then, the fighting took place in the Far East, far from the Russian mainland, allowing for a 'decisive short-term battle' that saved them at least some money.
"The Imperial Japanese Army has crushed the 3rd and 7th Divisions of the Chinese Army without sustaining any casualties!"
"The Imperial Japanese Army is the strongest in the world!"
"As expected! The Imperial Japanese Army is formidable!"
"And five Chinese divisions are swarming to strike Shandong tonight!"
"..."
Unlike the Sino-Japanese War of the original timeline, Japan did not yet possess the capacity to handle a massive, impoverished Chinese horde. On the other hand, what of China? Just like in the Sino-Japanese War of the original timeline, they were, in a word, a complete mess.
"...Let us propose a reconciliation to the Chinese. Tell them they can have the North Manchurian Railway. In exchange, at least **Qingdao**..."
"**Yuan Shikai** has no intention of listening!"
"Surely his war expenditures must be astronomical as well?"
"Look at the swarming Chinese troops! More often than not, they have rifles but no ammunition. No, they are lucky if they even have rifles! They are charging us with guandaos and bamboo spears!"
What did war expenditures matter to him? Yuan Shikai had been deeply impressed by the battles during the Hungarian Agricultural Revolution and had adopted its core doctrine: A single lion leading ten sheep is stronger than a single sheep leading ten lions! Thus, Yuan Shikai swept through major cities and rural villages, conscripting any young man he could find, handing them guandaos or bamboo spears, and throwing them onto the front lines. He had deployed ten sheep. The only problem was the lack of a single lion... But regardless, Yuan Shikai did not care.
"Your Imperial Majesty! At this rate, we will end up like Emperor Yang of Sui, who threw his entire army into Goguryeo!"
"Hehehe, 'Your Imperial Majesty'... Do you dare defy an imperial decree?!"
Since the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, China's pride had suffered a massive scar. In the long run, it was obvious that China would lose to Japan. In fact, even now, the casualty exchange ratio was an astronomical 1 to 87! It was mind-boggling how they could sustain a war with such a ratio. China was truly a nation that defied all logic. But what did Yuan Shikai care? This war was his sole justification for seizing the throne as Emperor, defying the public clamor for a republican revolution.
‘I just need to hold out for five years. Just five years!’
At any rate, the Far East was also locked in a war, pouring money into the ocean.
The situation was no more rational in the West.
"...If we keep pouring money down the drain like this, the imperial treasury will be completely depleted. Nay, have not the very young men who should be leading our nation vanished in vain before the spray of machine-gun fire?"
"Your Majesty! Our German Empire's industrial capacity is far superior to that of **France**. Once Ludendorff secures victory, we will extract reparations and territories from France more than sufficient to rebuild our nation!"
"Indeed. Germany's industrial base is vastly superior to France's! But look! Are those frogs not exploiting the poor natives of their colonies to sustain their war effort?"
The German Empire was sustaining its supply demands through its own industrial power. France, on the other hand, was exploiting vast amounts of resources from Africa, the Middle East, and Vietnam to keep its war machine running. Of course, those resources would run dry eventually. But waiting until then would be no different from mutual destruction.
"At last, the time has come for the **Kaisermarine**, our Imperial Navy into which we have poured hundreds of millions of marks every year, to set sail!"
The primary objective of the Kaisermarine was, of course, a naval blockade of France.
"However, Your Majesty, France's coastline stretches vastly from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. It remains uncertain whether the British will cooperate in the direction of Gibraltar, and our navy is still too small to enforce a complete blockade."
Of course, **Wilhelm II** was well aware that the Kaisermarine did not possess an overwhelming numerical advantage. But that did not matter. Just once. They only needed to disrupt France's supply lines for a very short period.
"The **Frankfurt** battle is currently a game of waiting to see who blunders first. Just once! We only need to induce a single mistake from the French army. Then, Ludendorff will handle the rest."
The French navy shared a similar sentiment. Of course, having been pushed back by the German navy, it was now virtually impossible for the French to attempt a counter-blockade—unless they could score a massive victory in a **Decisive Fleet Battle**.
"The German navy is no easy opponent. It is shameful to admit... but the German navy is powerful enough to hold the upper hand in the short term, even against the British Royal Navy."
Due to the successive blockades of the First and Second World Wars in original history, there was a widespread prejudice that the German navy was insignificant. However, the true strength of the Kaisermarine was formidable. It was an elite navy raised by the Kaiser, who had invested nearly thirty percent of the national budget annually for over a decade. Their hypothetical adversary was, naturally, the British Royal Navy. For the French navy, which was still stuck in the past and scattered across the globe, facing the German navy head-on was nigh impossible.
"We shall request the aid of the Italian navy as well. If we choose a battlefield advantageous to us, we have a chance of victory."
"Let us lure the German navy into the Mediterranean."
Whether Germany would take the French navy's bait or not—the future of France hung on this single question.
Did Tolstoy not say that all happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way? From the First World War to the Second World War, the reasons for the Anglo-American victory were clear, but one could point to hundreds of reasons for Germany's defeat. One of them was, of course, communication with their allies. Germany had always acted without communication, consistently operating under the naive assumption that 'our allies will handle it.' In contrast, the Anglo-Americans always maintained organic communication among their allies. This was one of the reasons why I constantly kept a close eye on Wilhelm II in this timeline.
"Director!" my assistant called out. "Word has reached us that the German navy is moving to intercept the French fleet and enforce a blockade!"
"...Once again, they act on their own whim without saying a word to us."
"Perhaps it is because the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy is a mere handful compared to the German fleet?"
"That may be true. But still."
I shook my head in exasperation at Germany's sudden, unilateral action. Why on earth did we have to obtain information about our own ally through spies we had planted in their country? That aside, the navy... To be honest, I didn't know much about naval warfare. It wasn't just because I was someone who only knew the political history of the First World War. Aside from a few deviants who looked at battleships the way others looked at suggestive figurines, most World War enthusiasts probably didn't know much about navies either. After all, far more people loved the Tiger tank than the Yamato battleship. Thus, I had practically left naval matters alone.
"Director, should we offer our support as well?"
"The German navy is practically the second strongest in the world; surely they can handle themselves?"
Still, it felt like a waste. While the United States and Japan had made astronomical fortunes just like our Empire, the largest share of their earnings came from the shipbuilding industry. Yet, despite possessing more than enough industrial capacity to develop a shipbuilding industry, our nation lacked a maritime tradition, leaving our shipbuilding severely underdeveloped. At this rate, we would probably get trounced by Italy. Or maybe even the Ottoman Empire? We were dreaming of becoming a superpower, yet our maritime industry was barely on par with **Greece**.
"We cannot simply abandon such a honey pot as the sea, but trying to claim it is outrageously expensive, and we know nothing about it... It is truly a chicken rib."
"Pardon, Director? Why the sudden mention of chicken ribs...?"
"It is an Eastern proverb. Something that is too savory to throw away, yet has little meat to actually eat."
I knew absolutely nothing about naval warfare. However, I tried to recall a few things that anyone with even a passing interest in history would know.
‘Missiles are incredibly powerful. But that's fifty years away. Hmm... Battleships are obsolete, and aircraft carriers are king? Yes, that's right. In the end, I have no choice but to bet on the aviation industry.’
An investment that could never fail. Even on the sea, my thoughts circled back to aviation. No matter how precious and expensive battleships were—so much so that they could barely be risked in actual combat—at least in this era, there was nothing else to fight with. Not only that, but even if they weren't cost-effective, nothing in the world possessed the devastating bombardment firepower of a battleship. Nothing had armor as thick, either.
‘Wait... What if we pack a battleship with anti-aircraft guns to make it the ultimate counter to aircraft carriers? An anti-aircraft battleship! The name itself sounds badass.’
...Though it would probably end up as a monstrosity comparable to a double-turreted tank.
"I believe the **Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative** is currently conducting research on bombers as well?"
"Yes, that is correct."
This would do. The important thing was that the era where aircraft dominated the seas was fast approaching. In the vast ocean, reconnaissance was always the greatest challenge. How could you attack or defend if you didn't even know where the enemy ships were? That problem would be perfectly solved by airplanes. The same went for their firepower. No matter how thick a battleship's armor was, battleships were prohibitively expensive. If a much cheaper airplane could fly through the sky and drop torpedoes, the battleship was finished.
"Let us sell aircraft to Germany."
"Pardon? Aircraft? Germany already produces airplanes domestically to some extent, so demand should be low."
On land, that was true. As long as bombers lacked sufficient firepower, airplanes were primarily used for reconnaissance. In a cramped theater like Germany, they were of little use. On the other hand, we had continuously advanced our aviation technology through endless battles in Russia and the Balkans. Our main enemy was Russia. At this point, the wider the front, the greater the utility of airplanes. The same would hold true for the sea.
"From payload capacity to range and speed... our aviation technology is unmatched, not just by Germany, but by anyone else in the world."
"But will Germany actually need them?"
"Indeed. On land, they might find little use for them. But on the sea?"
Following the invention of the **battle tractors**, the paradigm of naval warfare was about to shift once again—this time, guided by Shtal's hand.