The North PacificBoard

Following the 2058-2059 Naval Rearmament Bill, discussed mainly in private amongst the Öberkommando das Reichsmarine für Krieg, the Öberkommando das Reichswehr-Panzerkorps and Kaiserin Inferno von Bismarck, a bracket of 6 months was generated for new designs to be created, later approved in a two-week bracket, for the Reichsmarine. A specific focus, if not direct emphasis, was on Cruiser designs, as the Reichsmarine has, since the creation of the Warspite-class, a type of battleship meant to be utilized as a mobile no-fly-zone, been overly top-heavy, with ships as heavy as 100,000 tonnes (see. Inferno-class / H-39-57/58/59) and few and far between carriers for multiple usage. With a total budget extension of around 38 million Marks, the designs dubbed D-241C Ausf.D, D-358bis Abtlung. and CV6ED have been laid down, currently going under the Chapayev, Illyria, and Enterprise names until construction for them (2061, 2062) is finished. A grand total 15 ships are expected, 6 D-241, 6 D-358bis and 3 CV6ED. All 15 ships already have planned names and are already registered in the main databases of the Reichsmarine.

Shortly following, the Reichswehr - the majority population within the Rynese Armed Forces, or Rynensbundeswehr - have also received a budget increase of a marginal but deserved 5 million Marks, with which new weapons, aircraft, and other miscellaneous support equipment will be produced, designed, and then put to use. This is mainly due to an otherwise unimpressive, "tame" Illyrian Reconquest campaign, though the 'tameness' of it can be discussed at lenght. Due to the general consistency of the Reichswehr, the budget increase was slightly larger than the original estimate of 3.5 million, as the extra 1.5 million were specifically made as bonds to the production centers and companies to aid in the design of better, more capable weaponry to outfit the Reichswehr. In a similar topic, an extra 6 million upfront but 10 million overall increase was made for the Panzerkorps, the money being directed directly to the Öberkommando das Reichs-Panzerkorps for 'at their own need' expense. Panzerkorps Field Marshall Alexei Vorschlag, a well-known and well-respected Illyrian marshall, has spoken out, alongside his right-hand general Franz von Bayern-Pfalzgarten and Öberkommando official Trier von Richthofen, about the main points of expenditure for this newly allocated cash.

"(...) Due to the rather unimpressive performance of the Kampfwagenkanone 93B and the complete disaster that was the performance of the Panzerkanone Typen-74, as well as their preferred rounds - the Panzergranaten 3891.C for the Kampfwagenkanone and the Panzergranaten 441C for the Panzerkanone, we have decided to invest in a singular, standardized cannon and munitions types for the Gepard-Königstiger tanks, preferrably of 135 to 140 millimetre caliber, that will have improved shell arcs, better ballistics and penetrating power than what we currently have available. The otherwise incredibly impressive work of the Mark 2 Mythra's Cannon, the Kampfwagenkanone 90 Ausfährten C, has made us consider reverting back to this older weapon due to it's superior penetrating power, though it's shell arcs could most definitely be improved. The performance of these early-model Waffentrager heavy tanks, RDMT-72's, with their 145 millimetre Kampfwagenkanone T2, or Zaipen Gun, has also made us consider to revert to this gun, as it proved to be of extreme importance in the battlefield due to it's shock power, potent HE rounds, great armor penetrating capabilities, and ease of use. (...)" (Interview, Öberkommando das Reichs-Panzerkorps Trier von Richthofen, 2059-LATE, 'The Intricacies of the Rynese Armored Forces during the Illyrian Reconquest', 2060.)

"(...) As for the use of the Gepard tanks, we did not have much. Though fast, and with a very good reloading system and trained crews that could get the most out of them, the guns that the tanks had were underwhelming at best and really underperforming at the worst. The tanks proved to be very resistent to almost all kinds of fire expect extremely high caliber fire that hit directly under the turret ring starting at a 50 degree angle, which secured the hearts of the crews' inside to 'deal with the shells' by facing the tank directly forwards. This had a mild 'scare' effect on the enemy troops as we would soon learn after the Battle of the Late Astrakhan Line, where, once again, the Gepard tanks' ineffective fire proved to be a problem, and we had to resort to the 'support role' older tanks to break through as they were faster, quicker to turn their turrets, and also had much better guns in comparison to the Gepards. However, we would come to learn that the tanks were so large and the noise so overwhelming that one was unable to tell if the tank was coming or going, making the 'direct front' approach to dealing with enemy fire, at least for the Illyrian Reconquest, most definitely the best tactic employed, even if by error. (...)" (Panzerkorps Field Marshall Alexei Vorschlag, 2059-LATE, 'The Panzerkorps at the Battles of the Astrakhan Lines', 2059-V.LATE, 'Reichs-Panzerkorps - To Illyria and the Future', 2060.)

Moving on from the armed forces, we have some other news to talk about when it comes to the nations' budget adjustments for this year...