Ministry of Navy Headquarters, Tokyo, Yamato Empire. September 14th 1927, 11:00 p.m.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Marshal Admiral Osami Nagano, and Major Fukuokaka were pacing along the great corridors of the Ministry of Navy Headquarters.
"Have you already finished the design, Major?" Yamamoto glanced at Fukuoka who was trailing behind him.
"Yes, I'm sure that the Ministry of Navy would love the design I came up with."
"That's great. I hope we can convince the Ministry of Navy that in future wars, the aircraft carrier will dominate the seas. I hope I can get your help here, Nagano." Yamamoto's gaze flickered to Nagano.
"Don't worry Admiral, I too shared thoughts with your vision of naval warfare, and besides…I can't just let Admiral Shimada do whatever he wants."
"Good…"
The three entered a conference room and hurried to their seats. Looking across them was Admiral Shimada, who seemingly had a confident expression on his face. Beside him was Lieutenant General Shirogane Hirayama. Meanwhile, the Minister of Navy, Okamoto Ryo was seated in the middle of the conference table, glancing at the naval officers present in the room.
"To think that we will have a scheduled meeting late this evening. Let's get this over with. Shall we start the meeting?"
Everyone nodded.
"Very well," Minister Okamoto Ryo started. "This meeting was to discuss a new warship to replace the old warship, Kongou…"
"That's true, Minister," Yamamoto nodded his head in affirmation.
"But why?" Shimada interjected. "Why are you proposing to replace it with an aircraft carrier?" he shifted his gaze to Major Fukuoka, who trembled slightly from his piercing gaze.
"That's because…!" Fukuoka stopped, unable to formulate a response to justify the need for an aircraft carrier in his own words. He looked to Admiral Yamamoto, asking for help.
Yamamoto sighed and answered in his stead. "I believe I've said these many times. The aircraft carriers will be the main force in the future wars."
"Is this another one of your new naval doctrines?" Shimada scoffed as he looked at Yamamoto and Fukuoka with contempt and continued. "But, never once it has proved successful in an air attack, has it?"
"I'm going to correct you there, Shimada," Yamamoto objected. "If you look at the ongoing disputes over Africa, aircraft carriers have been proved effective by providing air dominance to an area from a country that lacks air bases installation in the region..."
"My point being," Shimada interrupted. "Has aircraft carriers been proven effective when it comes to naval warfare? Based on what you just said, they only act as aerial support to the frontlines on the ground."
"So to simply put it." Okamoto stepped in, stopping further arguments. "Replacing the Kongou with a newer battleship than Admiral Yamamoto's new and untested aircraft carrier proposal is just more logical. "
"Minister, not building an aircraft carrier is not an option. I would like you to consider the future." Nagano spoke up for the first time since entering the room. "If we want to focus on the future, the answer is clear. It would definitely be better to have an aircraft carrier."
Yamamoto and Fukuoka nodded their heads in agreement.
"What are you talking about, Admiral Nagano?" Shimada inquired as his eyes narrowed. "If we are going to build a new warship, the most important thing is to build a great warship that symbolizes the power of the Yamato Empire. An immense, elegant, and powerful warship...This is what the Combined Fleet really needs. And if I may add, the Ruthenian Empire boasts their naval fleet with their new battleships. I'm sure you've all heard its name. His Imperial Ruthenian Majesty's Ship Imperator Aleksandr IV Class Battleship with a displacement of over 60,000 tons. One of them is arriving in Port Arthur soon to serve the Ruthenian Pacific Fleet. Now that's a threat that the Yamato Empire should take seriously. To sink it, we must build a battleship better than it."
"Immensity and elegance are no match for war. It's like forging the largest, beautiful blades while everyone else is busy building machine guns. Also, the Ruthenian Empire, our nemesis, has also built a new aircraft carrier, His Imperial Ruthenian Majesty's Ship Petropavlovsk Class Aircraft Carrier. All the western powers have realized by now that the aircraft carrier is the key to the future war."
"But!" Shimada slammed his fist on the table. "We cannot deny the existence of the Ruthenian battleship. As long as it is docked in Port Arthur, the security of the Yamato Empire won't be guaranteed. If the Ruthenians really think that the aircraft carrier is the future, why did they build a larger battleship in the first place huh? Even kids know that naval warfare is a fight between the biggest and strongest warships. This is the tradition of our Navy since the Rutho-Yamato war!"
"I don't think this is the time for a bigger and stronger warship,' Yamamoto grumbled.
"So, are you saying that we don't need another battleship?"
"That's right! We don't," Yamamoto said.
Shimada stood up from his seat. "What did you just say?"
"Look, if we really have a lot of resources to build a huge and elegant battleship...why not spend it to build more aircraft carriers?"
"Attacking from the sky is the work of despicable people. It's a shame for the Imperial Navy that I'm proud of. The naval fleet attack is the navy's wish. And even if they send out hundreds of those flimsy planes, they'll be shot down easily."
Yamamoto sighed, not wanting to look at him. "You're behind times. The flimsy wire and cloth biplanes have been replaced already. Have you ever seen the new Navy Experimental 9-Shi Carrier Fighter? In the next five years, the way we fight the war will change radically. If you really want to have a big stupid naval gun battle, you can do it by sailing into the fight with your old battleship."
"Wait...what did you just...did you just insult a ship as a naval officer? Did you know what a sense of shame is?" Shimada shouted. "I demand that you apologize to the ship and its entire crew right now!"
Yamamoto didn't bother answering him.
"May I interrupt?" Shirogane Hirayama spoke up. Everyone went quiet and looked at him.
"As you please, Lieutenant General Hirayama.
"Actually, I have a proposal for a new warship. I've also prepared the model design for a new warship, may I present it?"
"Sure..."
Hirayama clapped his hand and the door suddenly opened, revealing an expertly handcrafted painted wooden model of the battleship being pushed on a pushcart towards them.
The model ship is large enough to allow most minute details such as her many smaller secondary guns, machine gun turrets, rangefinders, the ironically needed spotter planes on their catapult rails, and the tall fortress-like conning tower where the bridge and main top rangefinder sit upon that rivals the ship's massive angled exhaust funnel just behind it.
"Woah..." The Minister of Navy and Shimada gasped in awe as they approached the model warship.
"I call this design the Yamato-class battleship, 'Great Harmony'. The strongest warship must have an equally stronger name."
"I couldn't agree more," Shimada said, brushing his hand gently on the hull of the model ship. "Look at these curves."
As they were relishing their admiration of the model battleship, a sound of footsteps echoed outside the conference room. A man with short black hair and wearing a black Imperial Navy service uniform stepped inside the room.
"I apologize for the sudden intrusion. It's an emergency."
"What is it?" Shimada asked.
"Three Ro-33-class submarines sailing off the coast of Sakhalin have been reported to be sunk!"
The atmosphere changed suddenly when they heard that information. Okamoto and Yamamoto exchanged glances and looked at each other for a moment before turning back to look at the man.
"Three submarines? Who sank them?"
"Though it's not confirmed yet, the last transmission from Rear Admiral Mutsuko Sato said that they are being attacked by what is believed to be a patrol aircraft from the Ruthenian Empire."
"No way..." Yamamoto's face sank and became serious. "Those three submarines were tasked in an espionage operation near the coast of Sakhalin. We have to inform everyone, the Emperor and the military command."
"Agreed!" The Minister of Navy agreed. "This meeting is adjourned."
