Chapter 685 Developing Armaments (19th)

"Your Excellency Daniels, how many battleships are we building?" President Woodrow Wilson asked.

When the country is facing a crisis, only a strong army is the guarantee of safety. Especially the navy, whether it can keep the enemy out of the country depends on whether the navy can withstand the attack of the German navy.

"Your Excellency, in addition to the two 'Pennsylvania-class' battleships already in service, there are three 'New Mexico-class' battleships under construction, which are expected to enter service by the end of the year. Next year, we will have two more 'Tennessee-class' battleships Serving with three 'Colorado-class' battleships. Among them, the 'Colorado-class' battleships use 406mm main guns. This is larger than the main gun caliber of the largest German battleships. If you have these ten powerful battleships , Our navy also has a certain ability to protect itself," Daniels said.

"Can the 406mm main gun be able to deal with the powerful German battleships?" President Woodrow Wilson seemed very interested in this.

"Your Excellency, our 406mm main gun adopts British technology and is 45 times the caliber. In terms of power, it is about the same as the German 380mm main gun with 50 times the caliber." Minister Daniels continued.

"Why can't we equip a more powerful main gun?" President Woodrow Wilson frowned. If the battleships of the U.S. Navy can lead the German Navy in terms of combat effectiveness. This can really make him feel at ease.

"Your Excellency, with our own technology, we simply can't build such a large-caliber naval gun. If it weren't for the conditions when we sold the battleship to the British, the British probably wouldn't have provided us with these technologies. I think To create more powerful naval guns, we must thoroughly understand these technologies. Therefore, it is unlikely to be possible in a short time. However, I believe that we will be able to create more powerful naval guns soon ’” Secretary Daniels said.

President Woodrow Wilson nodded. He knew that these technical matters cannot be forced, and it would be unrealistic to become a fat man with one bite. The scientific and technological foundation of the United States is inherently worse than that of European countries. It is already very good to be able to catch up.

"We are building more powerful battleships, what about the Germans? They won't be idle either?" Secretary of State Bryan asked. After all, Germany received so much war indemnity in this war, it is impossible not to use it to develop armaments.

"There is no news about the next class of battleships from the Germans. However, it is not ruled out that the Germans are quietly building them. Therefore, the Admiralty has already begun to design the follow-up battleships. After the 'Colorado class' battleships, we plan to Build two 'North Carolina-class' battleships and four 'South Dakota-class' battleships. If you can catch up with the 50-caliber 406 mm service, you will use the new naval guns. If you can't keep up, you can only use 45 times the caliber 406mm naval gun," Minister Daniels continued.

Although each of these battleships required a large amount of military expenditure, for the sake of national security and strength, President Woodrow Wilson decided to persevere. Spending a lot of money to develop armaments is far better than paying them a lot of war reparations after being defeated by the Germans. Germany's vigorous blackmail of France and the Kingdom of Italy in this war has already scared the Americans. The war reparations of tens of billions of marks made the Americans very jealous while worrying. How wonderful it would be if they got these war reparations!

So far, Germany has received war reparations totaling 70 billion marks, equivalent to 14 billion U.S. dollars. At this time, the annual fiscal revenue of the United States is only more than 700 million U.S. dollars, which is already equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the United States for 20 years. Any country would probably be very jealous of this.

"In addition, Your Excellency, the Germans used aircraft in the two decisive battles at sea. And each time was more powerful. According to the information we have gathered, the Germans should be equipped with a large-scale airfield that can serve as an airport at sea. Ships. This enables their aircraft to take off and land at sea, thus launching attacks on warships on the sea. At least, judging from the current situation, the strength of such ships of the Germans is very powerful. In naval battles, There are already quite a few battleships sunk by German planes." Minister Daniels continued.

"The Germans are ahead of us again!" President Woodrow Wilson sighed.

"We must start research in this area, and we must find a way to catch up with the Germans. Otherwise, we must be the ones who suffer in the end!" President Woodrow Wilson said.

"Yes, Your Excellency. I have asked the intelligence department to focus on collecting information on the German aircraft carrier. However, the Germans have sealed it tightly, and there is not much useful information at all. Therefore, I am afraid we have to develop it ourselves. .This requires a lot of research and development funds." Secretary Daniels continued.

"Let's find a way to increase investment in this area! No matter how difficult it is, we must succeed in research and development. We can't fall too far behind the Germans. Otherwise, we will be the ones who fail in the end!" President Woodrow Wilson said.

"Yes, Your Excellency." Minister Daniels nodded. With the president's clear support, the next aspects of the matter will be much easier to handle. At least in terms of funding, there will be no problems.

"The armaments of the army must be vigorously developed. The Germans used a large number of tanks on the battlefield. It was those tanks that easily broke through the defense lines of the Allied forces. The American Republic cannot lag behind Germany in this regard. people," reminded President Woodrow Wilson.

"Yes, Your Excellency. We have obtained relevant tank technical drawings from the British. However, the British tanks are very bad, so our soldiers do not intend to imitate them, but develop them by ourselves after thoroughly understanding these technologies. Come out with more powerful tanks," said Secretary of War Garrison.

President Woodrow Wilson nodded again and again: "In this case, it would be great!"

The U.S. Army and Navy are actively developing their own strength to prepare for future resistance to German invasions.