Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat in his office with Adelbrand and Linde by his side. They both had reports in their hands about the ongoing conflict in Borneo and the preparations which the Reich was making for the eventual war with Japan.

Adelbrand seemed happier than usual, possibly because he had just taken another wife, which Berengar had attended the wedding as his best man. There was a smirk on the German Field Marshal's face as he handed over a document, which was a summary of the ongoing efforts to establish military bases in Australia, Hawaii, and the west coast of Lindheim. 

"As you can see, over the past year, we have made significant progress in the region you refer to as Australia. Though the natives initially proved somewhat difficult to remove due to the sparsity of their settlements, I can proudly say that we have now exterminated an estimated 82% of their total population. 

We have also invested a considerable sum in the construction of a large naval/air base in the northeastern corner of the continent, which acts as a refueling station for our fleets in the Pacific. Speaking of which, progress is underway for the establishment of a similar base within the island chain of Hawaii, and on the west coast of Lindeheim. 

According to reports from the field in each location, the natives are being purged at a significant rate. In an estimated two to three years, there will only be Germans inhabiting the regions. With the finished construction of the base in northeastern Australia, we now have three carrier strike groups permanently stationed in the east. One in Sri Lanka, one in Singapore, and one in Australia. With a fourth on the way in Hawaii.

You will be proud to know that the Kriegsmarine has become large enough to properly project force anywhere on the globe. We have ten carrier strike groups in total located around the world, each composed of a single carrier along with its complementary carrier air wing, which consists of 30 dive bombers and 12 fighters. 

One of our newest class of battleships, as well as two of our latest cruiser designs, protect the carrier of each strike group. A single Destroyer Squadron also guards the carrier for a total of six destroyers of our most modern variations, and two U-boats. There is also the matter of two supply ships which provide logistical support such as fuel, food, ammunition, etc. 

In total, this means we have ten carriers, ten battleships, twenty heavy cruisers, sixty destroyers, and twenty submarines spread out across the world's oceans. As for protection of maritime trade, we have delegated that role to a mixture of our older battleships, battlecruisers, destroyers, and plenty of U-boats.

Aside from the dedicated warships, we have manufactured thousands of Dominion-II class cargo vessels since their introduction, along with an estimated two hundred and fifty LCTs, which are more than capable of transferring multiple armored divisions and their supplies across the seas in a single journey."

The reason Adelbrand knew so much about the Kriegsmarine's capabilities, despite being an Army Field Marshal, was because Berengar had selected the man as his chief of staff. Other than the Kaiser himself, who acted as Reichsmarschall, which was his Empire's variation of America's commander-in-chief, Adelbrand held the most authority in the German Armed Forces. 

Adelbrand's work was cut out for him as he was in constant communication with Generals from the Heer, and Luftwaffe, as well as admirals from the Kriegsmarine. As for Linde, as director of Imperial Intelligence, whose foreign operations branch worked closely with the military, she knew all of this information by heart as well. Thus, it came as no surprise when the redheaded beauty added to the list of information. 

"In addition to what Generalfeldmarschall von Salzburg was speaking about, I am pleased to announce that our spies report that the Imperial Japanese Navy is severely lacking in the ships required to ferry their troops and resources from Japan to Borneo. As such, they have resorted to making multiple trips to compensate for their lack of transports. 

It would appear that Empress Itami has put a heavy emphasis on the manufacture and deployment of battleships and heavy cruisers. In terms of her battleships, she has seven or eight of them in total, with another batch on the way. As for cruisers, Japan has a dozen, maybe more, but no more than twenty. They also have thirteen destroyer squadrons for a total of 78 of such warships, and of course, as many if not more submarines. 

While it is true that our navy is far more vast, and capable, a significant majority of our ships are of older designs which are inferior to the Japanese warships. Luckily, all of our carriers strike groups, which will be the heart of our maritime operations in the upcoming war, consist entirely of our latest developments and are more than capable of taking on the Japanese Navy.

While the battle capabilities of the Imperial Japanese Navy are at a threatening level, it has become abundantly apparent by this invasion of Borneo that the enemy is completely lacking in means of transport and shipping. With a severe lack of dedicated landing craft and cargo ships being their largest concerns at the moment. 

I suggest removing some of the older warships from their current job of protecting the merchant fleet, and instead task them with forming into raiding flotillas who will be dedicated to harassing Japanese shipping and transport. This will inevitably make matters worse for Japan as they struggle to resupply and reinforce the Islands that we will most likely be fighting on." 

Berengar looked up from the reports in his hand and smiled as he questioned his trusted friend about his opinion on the matter.

"Adelbrand, you're in regular communication with the Admiralty. What do you think of my wife's suggestion?" 

Linde slightly frowned when Berengar did not take her advice at face value, but she allowed Adelbrand to speak his piece. The man merely smiled and bowed his head with respect before responding. 

"My Kaiser, I believe the Kaiserin is correct in her assessment. The fighting against Japan's warships can be left to our carrier strike groups. However, we have hundreds of submarines and dozens of destroyers of the old design lying about. Not to mention the ungodly sum of old battleships and battlecruisers we have, which are dreadfully lacking in Anti-Air capabilities compared to the newest warships.

I believe we can protect our merchant fleets with destroyers and submarines alone. However, if we were to dedicate these larger obsolete warships to attack Japanese shipping and transport, there's not much they will be able to do to stop them, short of chasing them off with their own battleships and heavy cruisers."

Upon hearing both his director of intelligence and chief of staff share their united opinions, Berengar nodded his head before handing the dossiers back to them and responding in agreement with their assessment. 

"Very well. We will begin the formation of dedicated raiding flotillas immediately. Adelbrand, select the ships you think are most qualified for the job, and send them to Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Australia to stand by and wait for the war to begin. If that is all, then you are both dismissed. There are plenty of matters at hand to concern myself with regarding this upcoming war."

After saying that, Linde and Adelbrand paid their respects before leaving the room behind. Where Berengar continued to work on organizing the fleets and the armored divisions for the sake of the eventual war with Japan, which was rapidly approaching. 

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