Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 69: The Captain's Report (Part 1)
The plane started to shake slightly, and Tan Renhao tightened the seat belt around his waist.
He was a little embarrassed about his fear of heights, and if others knew about it, they would definitely laugh at him.
As the most staunch believer in air superiority in the Imperial Navy, it would be a joke if he were still afraid of flying.
"Renhao, how do you feel about this trip to Japan?"
Nie Renfeng pretended not to notice Tan Renhao's embarrassment, and wanted to alleviate Tan Renhao's fear of flying through conversation.
Tan Renhao pretended to think, but in fact he was forcing himself to calm down and shift his attention to this problem.
Finally, after he calmed down, he said: "If I have to describe it in one sentence, it is this: war is imminent."
Nie Renfeng nodded slightly, motioning Tan Renhao to continue.
"It can be seen from the entire negotiation process that Japan has no intention of extending the arms treaty."
Tan Renhao quickly organized his thoughts, “Based on the naval strength they proposed.
The Japanese Navy actually only needs to fight in one direction, and the Western Pacific is their only defense zone.
Our situation is completely different. In addition to the Western Pacific, we also need to maintain sufficient fleets in the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic, the Eastern Pacific, the Caribbean and other regions.
Now, the strength of the Japanese Navy is about 70% of ours, which has actually led to the Japanese Navy having a numerical advantage in the Western Pacific.
At the same time, it forced us to weaken the naval fleets in other regions and do everything we can to maintain our slight advantage in the Western Pacific, or at least to keep a balance with the Japanese Navy.
If the size of the Japanese Navy reaches 85% of the Imperial Navy, then we will be forced to defend distant areas such as the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific and concentrate our forces in the Western Pacific.
Then, we will not be able to contain other powers at all, and the overseas territories of the empire will be in an unsafe state! "
Nie Renfeng kept looking at Tan Renhao. Although Tan Renhao was just a small naval captain, he showed great importance to him.
"That's the second biggest issue. If the Imperial Navy has to concentrate more than 80% of its warships in the Western Pacific, it will easily lead to conflicts and frictions with the Japanese Navy fleet."
Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, and when he saw that Nie Renfeng had no intention of speaking, he said, "Moreover, an over-concentrated fleet will become the most ideal target for attack.
If the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack at the beginning of the war, or even before it started, the Imperial Navy could easily be paralyzed.
The heavy losses will not only cause the empire to lose its sea control in the Western Pacific, but will also bring great difficulties to the empire in the early stages of the war, and even lead to the fall of the empire's overseas territories in the Western Pacific.
By the time the empire is ready for war, the situation will probably be extremely unfavorable to the empire."
"If war breaks out, do you think the Empire will win or lose?"
Nie Renfeng asked a very direct question.
Tan Renhao hesitated. He carefully observed Nie Renfeng's expression and then said, "Principal, I firmly believe that the Empire will win in the end. However, if we miss the last chance for development and suffer heavy losses when the war breaks out, then the Empire will pay a greater price for the war."
Nie Renfeng's facial muscles trembled slightly. As a senior naval general and a principal who had trained a large number of naval talents, Nie Renfeng knew his students very well. He knew very well what these words meant when they came out of Tan Renhao's mouth.
If even a naval captain like Tan Renhao can see the essence of things, then can the naval generals see it so clearly?
“The Empire has vast resources, whether it is mineral resources or human resources, the Empire is the most powerful in the world.
In addition, the Empire has the most complete industrial system in the world. Perhaps only the United States of America has the industrial strength to challenge the Empire.
In addition, the Imperial Navy has tenacious fighting spirit, glorious traditions, high morale, and a large number of talents.
These are the basis for the empire to win the war.
On the contrary, Japan has many shortcomings. Apart from basic heavy industries, many Japanese factories are still in the handicraft workshop stage.
According to the intelligence we have obtained, many Japanese aircraft factories even order aircraft parts from small workshops.
In addition, Japan does not attach importance to the status of women. Factories are mainly staffed by men, and women are not qualified to be workers, which inevitably leads to a shortage of labor in Japan.
Japan's resources are also extremely scarce, which is their fatal flaw. As long as they cannot obtain external assistance, Japan will soon be defeated.
However, these are not the crux of the problem.”
Tan Renhao spoke out his thoughts in one breath, and he didn't care that some things couldn't be said so directly.
"If the Empire suffered a heavy blow in the early stages of the war, for example, if the Imperial Navy lost its ability to operate in the Western Pacific, then Japan would take the initiative in the early stages of the war. It would take at least one to two years for the Empire to mobilize for war and restore its naval strength.
During this period, the empire will be in an extremely passive position and may even have to resort to some unconventional tactics to turn the tide of the war.
Not to mention the losses to the empire itself, if this led to countries such as the British Empire, the Kingdom of France, and the Russian Empire declaring war on the empire, the consequences would be disastrous.
Also, the attitude of the United States of America is worth considering, as it is the empire’s greatest enemy.”
Nie Renfeng let out a long sigh and said, "The British Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Russian Empire, and the Kingdom of Italy are in the same group with Japan.
During this negotiation, the British Empire fully supported Japan's demands.
If the German Empire and the Persian Empire had not also demanded to strengthen their naval power, we would most likely have been forced to make concessions.
In addition, these countries formed a secret alliance last year.
If a war breaks out between us and Japan, they will rush to declare war on us.
By then, it won’t just be a war between us and Japan, but a second global war!”
Tan Renhao looked at Nie Renfeng in surprise, but he quickly regained his composure.
Actually, this is nothing surprising.
In the last war, these countries were also the main members of the "Anti-Tang Alliance". If war breaks out again, they will definitely stand together again.
