Antwerp Airport Command.

Shire and Admiral Gephardt are discussing the development direction of the French Navy.

"Our destroyers have been influenced by the 'Green Water Navy' and have always been focused on miniaturization." Admiral Gephardt said with concern, "The destroyers we previously produced were only 800 tons, and it was only because of Argentina's order for 1000-ton destroyers that we had destroyers of this tonnage."

Shire had reviewed the relevant information and acknowledged that it was a disgrace for the French Navy.

In 1910, Argentina simultaneously ordered 1000-ton destroyers from Britain, France, and Germany. However, the French construction was slow and the trial performance was poor, leading Argentina to cancel the order.

Ultimately, France could only keep this 1000-ton destroyer for itself, which became the "Adventurer-class" destroyer, the most advanced destroyer France had during World War I.

(The picture above shows the French Adventurer-class destroyer, in service in 1914, with a standard displacement of 1000 tons.)

"The problem now is," Admiral Gephardt handed Shire the destroyer's data, saying, "many people are unsure whether the destroyers should continue to be miniaturized or become larger."

Shire had previously discussed with Wells about the future development of the navy being focused on destroyers but had not pointed out which direction they should develop, resulting in such differences within the navy.

Shire firmly said, "Of course, developing in larger directions is better, 1000 tons is far from enough, in the future, we need to develop 2000 tons, 3000 tons, and even larger tonnages."

"Why?" Admiral Gephardt was puzzled, "If so, what is the difference between them and light cruisers?"

During World War I, light cruisers were generally 4000 to 5000 tons, so in terms of tonnage, the two seem to overlap.

However, Shire knew they were not the same.

"General," Shire replied, "we all know that light cruisers, including larger-tonnage cruisers, primarily target enemy warships, right?"

"Of course," Admiral Gephardt nodded, "they cooperate with battleships in combat, using their speed advantage to seize favorable positions."

"Therefore," Shire said, "they are still primarily focused on armor and artillery, right?"

"What's wrong with that?" Admiral Gephardt looked at Shire in confusion.

Naval battles are primarily against enemy warships, what else could there be?

Shire did not answer but calmly looked at Admiral Gephardt and asked, "When torpedo bombers appeared, the function of warships would undergo corresponding changes, right?"

Admiral Gephardt responded with a "hmm," "Obviously, it should enhance anti-aircraft firepower."

"Just enhancing it?" Shire smiled without speaking.

Admiral Gephardt looked perplexed, "Then, what else?"

Shire replied:

"Today bombers carry torpedoes, one day we can also mount bombs on bombers."

"Although there is currently an accuracy problem, it will be resolved one day."

"As accuracy improves, doesn't it mean that fleets will often be sunk by enemy aircraft before even seeing their opponent?"

Admiral Gephardt was stunned.

Although it was hard to imagine, when he thought deeply, he felt that Shire was right.

At least in the special waters of the North Sea, which spans 643 kilometers wide, "Caproni" bombers with auxiliary fuel tanks could almost make a round trip.

And in the La Manche Strait, which is only 180 kilometers wide, there is no need to consider the range issue at all, even the short-legged "Camel" fighters could make a round trip.

So, can the enemy warships see their opponents?

Before they even saw their opponents, they would be spotted by French reconnaissance, followed by torpedo bombers and bombers attacking them fiercely.

At this point, Shire added, "If the enemy warships cannot even see the enemy warships, what is the use of heavy artillery and armor?"

Admiral Gephardt thought for a while and replied thoughtfully, "I understand, the main development direction of destroyers should be anti-aircraft, not anti-ship."

Shire nodded, this was the direction of naval development in the future.

Especially with aircraft carriers, battleships with various calibers of main and secondary guns would be useless.

Because the primary task of warships was not anti-ship, most naval battles wouldn't even see enemy warships. What was the use of so many main guns? They would be reduced to one or two naval guns for extreme situations.

Thick armor would also be useless.

The main attacks would come from the sky, not the sea, with bombers attacking the deck from above, or torpedo bombers launching torpedoes below the waterline. No matter how thick the side armor was, it would be useless.

Instead, various anti-aircraft firepower would replace them, with multi-layered anti-aircraft defenses providing protection for the aircraft carriers.

Of course, as the close escorts of aircraft carriers, destroyers also needed to consider anti-submarine and anti-ship capabilities, but they were secondary to anti-aircraft.

This was the reason battleships would be eliminated in the future; their main advantages of artillery and armor would be redundant and useless with the advent of aircraft carriers.

Therefore, it was inevitable for battleships to be replaced by anti-aircraft-focused destroyers.

(Note: During World War II, many warships had to remove their secondary guns to be converted into anti-aircraft guns due to changes in the battlefield and mission requirements.)

"So," Shire concluded, "the increase in tonnage of destroyers is completely different from that of cruisers, focusing primarily on anti-aircraft. Simply put, it is gradually replacing the weight of cruiser armor and artillery with anti-aircraft firepower."

Admiral Gephardt's face showed a mixture of excitement and worry. After a while, he sighed and said, "This is good news, but it's also bad news."

"Oh?" Shire asked with interest, "Why?"

Admiral Gephardt replied, "The good news is that if future naval battles develop as you say, our losses will be much less than those of Britain and Germany, giving us hope of catching up with them."

Shire nodded in understanding.

France did not have many battleships, while Britain and Germany each had dozens of them.

Once naval battles abandoned battleships, Britain and Germany would suffer greater losses.

Admiral Gephardt continued, "The bad news is, our navy's construction is almost at a standstill, and we have absolutely no resources to develop new destroyers."

After the outbreak of war, France had almost devoted all its funds to the Army, placing the Navy second, with only two destroyers under construction.

Shire did not hesitate and agreed to the matter.

"I think I can contribute in this area," Shire said, "I mean, the Bernard Group can provide funding for the Navy."

Admiral Gephardt's eyes lit up, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course," Shire replied with certainty.

This was a great opportunity to control the navy, how could he easily miss it?