Chapter 336: The Upgraded Bismarck

Dubai Presidential Office Strategic Room, 4 a. m.

Chen Feng stood before a massive world map, holding three pencils of different colors. Red represented Yingguo, blue represented Deguo, black represented Lanfang. The map was already covered with lines and symbols, like a crazy spiderweb.

The clock on the wall ticked, sounding especially clear in the silent room.

The door was gently pushed open, and Wang Wenwu entered carrying two cups of coffee. The foreign minister looked as if he hadn't slept all night, his eye circles darkened, yet his eyes were unusually bright.

"President, you haven't slept either?" Wang Wenwu handed over a cup of coffee.

Chen Feng took it, took a sip. The coffee was strong and bitter, just right to invigorate.

"Can't sleep." He used the red pencil to draw a circle on the North Sea area of the map, "At this time, the Yingguo fleet should have already set sail."

"Our intelligence just confirmed." Wang Wenwu pulled a telegram from his coat, "1 a. m., Scapa Bay. Jelic's Grand Fleet all set sail, including twenty‑four dreadnoughts and six battlecruisers. Beti's fleet left earlier, having departed Inver Gordon yesterday evening."

Chen Feng nodded, walked to the adjacent radio monitoring report desk. On the desk lay dozens of sheets, covered with dense numbers and letters—that were fragments of various navies' radio communications intercepted and deciphered by Lanfang's intelligence department.

"What about the Deguo side?" he asked.

"The telegram volume at Wilhelm Port surged fivefold yesterday afternoon, then suddenly fell silent." Wang Wenwu pointed to one report, "A typical pre‑battle sign. They probably have also set sail, just maintaining radio silence."

Chen Feng walked to the window, watching the still‑dark Dubai Harbor. The port area was brightly lit, night‑shift workers still busy, the crane lights like a giant's eyes scanning the night.

"Two of the most powerful fleets in history are heading toward the same sea area," he said softly, "like two giants about to fight in a bathtub."

"Who will win?" Wang Wenwu asked.

Chen Feng turned, walked back to the map. His finger traced from Scapa Bay to Wilhelm Port, then from Wilhelm Port to the central North Sea.

"From the paper data, the Yingguo side has a larger chance of winning. They have a numerical advantage, a geographic advantage, an experience advantage." He paused, "But naval battles are the least logical. A single shell accidentally hitting a magazine, a commander's momentary hesitation, a sudden dense fog… all could change everything."

He picked up the black pencil, drawing several arrows in the Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean regions.

"Regardless of who wins, the ocean will open up a void. If Yingguo suffers heavy losses, their power in Asia will shrink. If Deguo loses, the open‑sea fleet may never recover."

"So for us, a double defeat is best?" Wang Wenwu asked.

Chen Feng nodded, then shook his head: "Best, but also hardest. It's like two people fighting; you want them both injured, but not dead. Because if one side falls completely, the other will have a free hand to deal with the bystander."

He walked to the desk, pulled out a document and handed it to Wang Wenwu: "This is the simulation I had the Strategic Research Office conduct. Three outcomes, three response plans."

Wang Wenwu took the document, skimmed it quickly.

First scenario: Yingguo achieves a decisive victory. Deguo's open‑sea fleet suffers heavy damage or even annihilation. Then Yingguo will fully control sea power, and the post‑war international order will be led by Yingguo. Lanfang will need to adjust its strategy, suitably align with Yingguo, while accelerating naval construction.

Second scenario: Deguo narrowly wins. The Yingguo fleet suffers major losses. Then Deguo will gain a breathing space, possibly even break the blockade. Lanfang can deepen technical cooperation with Deguo, but must also guard against Deguo's post‑victory ambition expansion.

Third scenario: both sides suffer heavy losses, yet neither is completely crushed. Then a power vacuum will emerge after the war, and the great powers will need time to recover. This is Lanfang's golden window for rise.

"Which scenario do you think is most likely?" Wang Wenwu asked.

"The third." Chen Feng said without hesitation, "but it's also the most dangerous. Because two injured giants are more sensitive and more suspicious than a healthy giant. They will be wary of any emerging force that could threaten their position."

He walked to the liquor cabinet, poured two glasses of whiskey, handed one to Wang Wenwu: "So we cannot just watch. We must prepare, and after the storm, become the one who tidies up the aftermath."

Wang Wenwu took the glass: "Specifically, how to do it?"

Chen Feng took three folders from the drawer, spread them on the table.

The first folder's cover read: "Navy — Oceanic Plan".

"Zhang Zhen submitted a new shipbuilding proposal yesterday." Chen Feng opened the folder, "Based on our current Bismarck technology, plus improvements from the tech department, he designed a new battleship. Standard displacement 45,000 tons, Main Gun nine 410 mm, speed 30 knots, armor 15 % stronger than Bismarck Class." (Not the one in Chen Feng's computer; it's an upgraded version based on the Bismarck Class, can be understood as a Nagato Class, but with higher displacement.)

Wang Wenwu inhaled sharply: "This… this is stronger than any battleship currently."

"So we must build it," Chen Feng said, "but not now. Building it now would provoke everyone. We'll wait until the cannon fire in the North Sea ceases, until everyone is wounded, then we quietly start construction."

He turned to the next page: "Additionally, carrier research must be accelerated. Liu Qinian's wind‑tunnel experiments are complete, the carrier‑borne aircraft prototype can test‑fly next month. I want Lanfang to have its first true aircraft carrier within two years." (Lie Ke Xing Dun is based on a battlecruiser and would be faster.)

"Money?" Wang Wenwu asked the most practical question, "A carrier like this costs at least 20 million Lanfang yuan. We're currently building four Bismarck Class ships simultaneously; the finances are already tight."

"I'll solve the money issue," Chen Feng closed the folder, "the payments from the Germans, the 'labor relocation compensation' from Yingguo, plus our normal trade surplus… add them up, enough to kick off the preliminary research. Real large‑scale construction will have to wait until post‑war reconstruction orders arrive."

He opened the second folder: "Industry — Technology Transfer".

【9】 Inside was a long list, enumerating the technologies obtained from Deguo: Zeiss optical instrument manufacturing processes, Krupp special steel smelting technology, diesel high‑pressure injection systems, radio miniaturization schemes…

Inside is a long list, detailing the technologies obtained from Deguo: Zeiss optical instrument manufacturing process, Krupp special‑steel smelting technology, diesel high‑pressure injection system, miniature radio solution…

Each item was followed by the responsible unit, conversion progress, and estimated completion time.

"The first phase of the Harvest Plan was very successful," Chen Feng said, "We've acquired the technology. Now the second phase is to digest, assimilate, and innovate these technologies. Liu Qinian told me yesterday that our optics factory can already produce scopes at about 80 % of the German original's quality. Give me another year, and we can surpass them."