Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 56-4: Eastern Developments (Part 4)

Aboard the conning tower of the IJN Taihou, Vill-V is surveying a fleet exercise alongside Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku. The 1st Air Fleet is one of, if not the most modern Imperial Japanese Navy fleet currently at sea. Moving away from the older Kaga and Akagi aircraft carriers, which have been regulated to a training role, the 1st Air Fleet fields the newer Taihou-class and Unryu-class carriers. It has taken some effort, but Vill-V and Amaterasu have managed to get a personal fleet directly under their rule, commanded by none other than Yamamoto himself.

The fleet composition is quite large, and a powerful one at that:

• 1st Carrier Command

• 1st Carrier Division: Touhou, Ryuhou (Taihou-class aircraft carrier)

• 2nd Carrier Division: Chiyoda, Chitose (Unryuu-class aircraft carrier)

• 4th Carrier Division: Zuihou, Shouhou (Unryuu-class aircraft carrier)

• 10th Cruiser-Destroyer Squadron

• Cruiser Division 7: Ibuki, Takahashi, Nachi, Gokase (Yodo-class AA light cruiser)

• Destroyer Division 4: Nowaki, Arashi, Hagikaze, Maikaze (Harugumo-class AA destroyer)

• Destroyer Division 10: Kazagumo, Makigumo, Yūgumo, Akigumo (Yamagiri-class destroyer)

• Destroyer Division 17: Urakaze, Isokaze, Tanikaze, Hamakaze (Yamagiri-class destroyer)

While lacking in shelling and staying power in a straight-up match, the purpose of an Air Fleet isn't about going toe-to-toe with an enemy battleship fleet in the first place. Owing to the current armament status of the 1st Carrier Command, Yamamoto's Air Fleet can sortie 360 aircraft at any given time. The amount is more than enough to block out the sun and sink any contemporary fleet in one go. Still, Vill-V is clearly not content with just that. The designs for the Taihou and Unryuu carriers are not perfect in her eyes.

Currently, the Taihou-class is an aircraft carrier with an armored flight deck, a first for the IJN. She is not only expected to survive multiple bombs, torpedoes, or shell hits but also continue fighting effectively afterward with her complement of 60 aircraft. To make such a design feasible though, Taihou is very expensive, but not to the extent of that of the Yamato-class battleships. Still, an attempt has been made to make a simpler aircraft carrier design to fill in the required aerial power projection that is needed by Yamamoto's naval doctrine. Thus the Unryuu-class is born. Though the class carries the same amount of aircraft as the Taihou, her protection scheme takes a hit to make her both faster and cheaper to build. That said, in essence, the Taihou and Unryuu-class are still heavily improved designs, based on experience gathered from previous generations of fleet carriers like Akagi and Hiryuu.

Nonetheless, they could have been better, if not for politics and resource constraints. Vill-V could very much have given the two classes both armored and angled flight deck. New engines and systems too, but due to cost overflow, she has to settle for rudimentary radar and sonar. At least, they have been able to procure suitable, if somewhat modern aircraft, and experienced pilots. The A7M Reppuu, the successor to the A6M Zero, and the B7A Ryusei torpedo-dive bomber are the best propeller aircraft that Imperial Japan has on hand. When placed in the right hand, they will be able to do some damage thanks to their powerful weapon load-outs.

They should have been Vill-V's turbojet-powered aircraft design though. Vill-V has a jet program that is still stuck in the prototype phase due to, once again, politics and shifting military priorities. The Kikka is conceived as a perfect multirole design for a first-generation jet aircraft. They would have made for a fine carrier-operated plane, fully replacing the A7M and the B7A. This means simplifying logistics and improving lethality for their carrier groups. Yet, damn old coots disparage her hard work as an unproven tech and say no to jet propulsion. Unproven my ass, are they waiting for other nations to get to the jet era before procuring their own? By that point, it won't be Japan that makes it into the annal of aerial history. It's also quite hypocritical of them when they sign away on the procurement order for missile weapons, yet neglect the naval aviation branch.

While everything is ultimately designed by Vill-V, she is not proud to boast that the military picks the cheaper and shittier things instead. Still, Vill-V is ranting at this point, and it's taking her mind away from spectating the exercise ahead of her. It's the first showing of the 1st Air Fleet performing maneuvers, with its Air Wing conducting live-ordinance passes against targets floating and airborne. It's not just the pilots that are having fun dropping bombs and launching rockets, however, the Cruiser-Destroyer squadron also has their fair share of merriment. However, it will be a while before they get to test out their new weapons, which are armored box launchers carrying cruise missiles. Once again, they're much cheaper and easier to install than an actual VLS missile bay. Even the missiles they're carrying are quite rudimentary active-radar homing missiles. Vill-V has no doubt that they can still be quite effective, deadly even against their neighbors' naval forces, but that 50% hit rate on paper leaves much to be desired.

"Food for your thoughts?" Admiral Yamamoto asked.

Vill-V shakes her head, replying but otherwise still focusing on the visage of a B7A carrying out a torpedo attack against a dummy target. "Just bemoaning the stupidity of our military council, my friend."

Yamamoto smiles, saying. "Let me guess, it has something to do with our new vessels being subpar?"

"Got it on one." Vill-V sighed while fixing her magician hat. "Were I allowed to fully work my magic, we would have things like ship-borne AA missiles and sophisticated guided weapons that can even sink the Yamato with one strike. Yet, in the end, the old coots back home want the biggest guns and biggest ships, at the cost of everything else. It would be cost-effective, they said. It's to show the world the might of the IJN, they said. If they truly want something cheap and powerful all the same, I could have just built a bunch of missile boats to drow the ocean in missiles, but no, bastards love cannons."

The Admiral laughs. "Hah! That's a lot of things you've been keeping down, huh? Look on the bright side, at least some of them died mysteriously, making it so that the newcomers could accept a few aircraft carriers in their fleet formation. Given time, I believe we can steer the IJN onto the one true path of naval warfare."

"I just wish it would be fast enough." Vill-V said wryly, gazing at the homing torpedo dropped by the B7A striking a moving target.

"You think the growing Long Dynasty Navy will pose an issue for our current fleet?" Yamamoto asked calmly.

"The Chinese? Even our Kongou and Nagato-class got modernized to the point they can be called new classes of battleships, I highly doubt some surplus vessels from Belka would be able to sink any of our fleets. Nah, it's not the Chinese, nor the Ustians, that I am worried about. It's the Belkan Reich itself. So much has changed about them, yet, none of which can be gleamed. You weren't there at the Stockholm Conference, hence you wouldn't know how absurd the ease with which their Empress conducted herself. She basically admitted that at this point, Belka could feed the entire world and still have room to spare. To achieve that, one must have an overpowered industry and the full loyalty of their people. Belka seems to have those in spades, and I am deeply afraid that should an eventual confrontation occur, we may not like what we come to see."

The Japanese Admiral nods thoughtfully after hearing Vill-V's concerns. "A Jack-in-the-box situation, huh."

"Yep." Vill-V popped the p. "And now that I think about it, with how close the Chinese are now with the Reich, who knows what sort of tricks they have installed on those surplus vessels now?"

"Unfortunately, what we can only confirm are the number of vessels in the Dynasty's service. Even that, however, is changing monthly as the Chinese keep commissioning new vessels after a period of training in Belka. Due to our inept intelligence department, we don't even know whether or not they've received any refit to fit the contemporary era. What we do know at least, is that they don't have any battleship in service for now." Yamamoto said.

"Nevertheless, with how many surplus vessels Belka is giving away, one must wonder what the current strength of the Reichsmarine is. How many and what sorts of vessels do they have?" Vill-V added.

"I believe that the question will be one without an answer for the foreseeable future." Yamamoto smiled wryly. "Best we focus on the present for now."

"Build up our force and refit the old, am I right?" Vill-V asked.

Yamamoto nods in return, with them both putting a hold on their conversation one of their cruisers is about to test out the new missile system.

Unbeknown to any of the IJN elements in the quarantined test site, a lone but daring periscope is poking out above the waves. Barely outside the perception range of the patrolling destroyers, the owner of the periscope, a Chinese submarine, has been spying on the exercise for quite some time. To remain undetected, they have been staying at the very edge of the periscope's view distance. Though this doesn't give them much visibility on the entirety of the Japanese's maneuvers, the Chinese submarine still manages to acquire enough intel of the important bits, making it worth the trouble hiding out in the ocean for days.

When the IJN Ibuki launches her anti-ship missile at a decommissioned cargo ship, the spying submarine records everything down, including the subsequent explosions and misses. After the missile test, however, the commander of the Chinese submarine decides that they have enough data on hand, it's better to retreat rather than be greedy. His submarine is, after all, a purpose-built intelligence-gathering design with limited offensive capability. If they got caught, it would be their doom alongside the treasure trove of critical information they have painstakingly staked out.

... They can only stomach instant noodles and bread for so long. What they wouldn't do to get some braised pork with rice right now.