The evolution of sail wooden warships to pure steel warships is not overnight, and any country will be very cautious about militaristic heavy weapons, and only people like Xiao Letian who draw on pure white paper dare to use ironclad ships to form a navy as soon as they get started.

War is not child's play, the arms race is a nightmare for any country, and even if it is as powerful as Britain, it is cautious about reckless action in adjusting its naval strategy.

The money needed is too much, and how much would it cost if all the mighty British Royal Navy were to be replaced with ironclad ships, and how much opposition would they have to face at home? These are all questions that politicians must consider.

For example, the USS Constitution has been in service since the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century, and it is still a service honor ship of the US Navy until the 21st century, and it can still sail on the sea for more than 400 years.

And the steel battleship is not so lucky, no matter how meticulous your paint maintenance work, but the decay process of steel is irreversible, so it is already a miracle that the steel battleship can have a life span of a hundred years.

There are too many poor cost performance, and politicians are essentially businessmen, and any decision they make has to consider a question of cost and output. It's like a fixed bullet instead of a separate Mini bullet, and a rear-loading rifle instead of a front-loading gun, such a simple thing, but European countries have not completed the overall elimination and installation so far.

What is the reason? Could it be that they were all blind and could not see the bravery of the Prussian soldiers in the Austro-Prussian War? Could it be that they turned a blind eye to the excellent performance of the Mauser rifle? The answer, of course, is no, and the core consideration of politicians is money.

How much does it cost to carry out a large-scale refitting of rifles throughout Europe? Governing the country is the same as governing the family, and it is feasible to be careless? Can a 10-year re-outfit be the same as a one-year re-outfit can put the same pressure on the country's finances? In addition, will there be resistance from those high-ranking officials and dignitaries who eat the benefits of old-fashioned equipment? These are all questions that politicians must consider.

Why is it said that war is the driving force behind the progress of human science and technology? This sentence is really not wrong, and only when war starts, and only when the enemy's bayonet is pushed into your heart, can people let go of that bit of selfishness, that little bit of chicken intestines, and in order to survive, then squeeze out the national strength and climb the tree of science and technology.

In peacetime, do you dare to upgrade the military industry by storming the army? Grandma! If all the money is gone to the army, will the common people have one less piece of bread on the table? Will the capitalists hold one less banquet? The country's financial resources are limited, and if the military industry eats up the lion's share, the quality of life of the people will certainly drop by a great margin.

People are selfish, life is good, as soon as you, a politician, come to power, let us eat two pieces of bread and one sausage? If you don't fight to the death, it won't be over, and the scolding will scold you to death.

But during the war, the people's complaints were completely suppressed, in order to survive in order not to be bullied by the enemy country, let alone eat a few bites of bread and sausages, even if he drank bean soup every day, he had to donate the last copper plate to the country.

See, why is war the driving force behind scientific and technological progress? Because war brings fear, fear can greatly unite national strength, and national strength can promote the progress of science and technology and the popularization of science and technology.

Now the countries of Europe are like this, slowly replacing the rifles of the army, and the old-fashioned front-loading rifled guns are being dumped into Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America one after another, and then the financial and accounting personnel of the military departments of various countries are carefully calculating every copper plate, and then the regiment, division, and army are slowly changing their equipment.

Because the monarchs of all European countries, with the exception of Prussia, thought that there would be no more major wars, and even the conflict between France and Prussia, which the European countries considered to be a farce of thunder and rain.

Are the Prussians crazy? Just finished fighting a Prussian war, it's only been a few years, and they want to fight a full-scale national war with France? Please, don't be kidding, there are a few skirmishes on the border, we believe it, but the national war? Haha, let me laugh for a while......

It is precisely this absolute trust in peace that has caused the general laxity of war preparedness in the countries of the European continent at present, and only one Prussia is fighting the army, which is also an important decisive factor in the miracle created by Prussia in history.

Changing rifles can meet a lot of resistance, but what about changing ironclad ships? How much does it cost? And how much resistance will there be? Politicians have to consider these issues, and this is the huge difference between politicians and military strategists.

Molière was laughing maniacally, and yes, he was laughing madly, not madness, but an epiphany like that of an old monk, and before he gave up command of the battleship, the baton of the battlefield was given to Rear Admiral Bruce, and he himself took out another weapon, that is, a camera and a sketchpad.

The two lieutenants, one in the bow and the other in the stern, were operating two cameras to record the posture of the Zhiyuan from different angles, while Molière himself climbed the tall mainmast, huddled with the lookout, and began to sketch with the pencil in his hand.

In this era, photographic technology is not too mature, and shooting still lifes is a bit blurry, let alone war scenes in motion, so photography is always an aid, and the reliable pencil in the hands of these sketchers is still reliable.

In the rumbling cannon, Molière's pencil walked on the white paper, his mouth was chattering and underestimating, and the lookout next to him looked stupid, he didn't expect the commander to have this ability.

"The mysterious Chinese ironclad ship, the bow main gun is double-mounted, and the stern caliber is single-mounted...... Visual calibers range from 180 mm to 200 mm...... The artillery is arranged on the central axis, which can easily cover the 360-degree angle of the firing ......"

"As long as the battleship is properly positioned, the three large-caliber main guns are enough to form a concentrated fire state in any direction...... The sound of each salvo explosion was earth-shattering, and you can imagine what a spectacular sight it would have been when three shore defense roadbed guns, which should have been placed on the harbor batteries, were transferred to the ironclad battleship to fire a salvo......"

"The ironclad battleship of the Chinese is between 75 and 80 meters long, twelve or thirteen meters wide, and has a slender hull and fast speed...... There were no sails, and the two masts on the battleship were only to provide a platform for the lookout to observe, and there was a thick chimney in the center of the battleship......"

Molière muttered to himself as he painted, he used his expertise to analyze all the data of the Zhiyuan, he had already made up his mind, the Glory and the Piety could be sacrificed, but he and these materials must not be sacrificed, and they must escape before the battle is over.

"As long as this information can get back to Europe, what if I lose four warships? I don't care, I don't care about anything...... The battleship can be sacrificed, and these thousands of soldiers can also be sacrificed, but my life and this information cannot be sacrificed, absolutely not!"

"Every set of data on this naval battle must be sent back to Europe, and these slaps must be given to the dignity of all Europeans, and only in this way can those politicians make up their minds to upgrade their armaments......

"If not, I'm afraid that the whole of Europe will become a sheep under the whip of Prussia and China, Xiao Letian's evil plan, I Molière must expose him!"