Zhou Rui and Zhou Xiaorong were talking, when Song Limin, commander-in-chief of the Han and Tang Empire's border fleet, walked in, "Marshal, the second batch of 'Zhen'-class all-main gun battleships and 'Cang'-class battlecruisers have been equipped with officers and soldiers.

I am going to assign these 90 'Zhen' and 90 'Cang' class ships to the 7th and 11th formations respectively. ”

The "Zhen" class battleships and the "Cang" class battlecruisers mentioned by Song Limin were the capital ships with 410 mm main guns built by the six major shipyards of the Zhou family.

These two capital ships, influenced by several high-speed battleships in the lottery system, have been improved on the original design.

After the completion of the "Zhen" class full main gun battleship, equipped with 5 twin 45 times the caliber 410 mm main gun, the full load displacement reached 52,500 tons, the maximum speed of 28 knots, the cost of each increased to 39.6 million silver coins.

After the completion of the "Cang" class battle cruiser, equipped with 4 twin 45 times the caliber 410 mm main gun, the full load displacement reached 50,300 tons, the maximum speed of 31.5 knots, the cost of each increased to 38.8 million silver coins.

After the completion of the construction of the first batch of 90 "Zhen" class battleships with full main guns and 90 "Cang" class battle cruisers, the top officials of the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires believed that these two capital ships performed well in all aspects, especially the power of the 410 mm main guns of 45 times the caliber was quite amazing.

In addition, the heavy artillery branch of the Ganyang Arsenal has always been less than ideal for the development of naval guns with a larger caliber, so Zhou Rui waved his hand and asked the six major shipyards to build 90 more "Zhen" and 90 "Cang" class.

Within three years, Zhou Rui got a lot of warships from the lottery system, and they were all extracted by Zhou Rui and delivered to the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires.

Today, the main formation of the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires is still 12, but the scale of each main formation is larger than three years ago.

The first formation has 12 squadrons under its jurisdiction, with 48 Nevada-class full-main gun battleships, 48 New Mexico-class all-main gun battleships, and 48 Tennessee-class full-main gun battleships.

The second formation has 14 warbands under its jurisdiction, with 24 Fuso-class full-main gun battleships of the Dongying Kingdom, 26 Ise-class full-main gun battleships of the Dongying Kingdom, 48 Xianyuan-class full-main gun battleships, 30 Xiandao-class all-main gun battleships, and 48 "Jing" class full-main gun battleships.

The third formation has 12 teams under its jurisdiction, with 84 British Queen Elizabeth-class full-main gun battleships and 60 German Bavarian-class full-main gun battleships.

The fourth formation has 12 squadrons under its jurisdiction, with 96 British Revenge-class all-main-gun battleships and 48 German-class Bavarian-class all-main-gun battleships.

The fifth formation has 12 teams under its jurisdiction, with 72 British Nelson-class all-main gun battleships and 72 American Colorado-class all-main gun battleships.

The sixth formation has 15 warbands, including 60 North Carolina-class battleships, 60 South Dakota-class battleships, and 60 Nagato-class battleships.

The seventh formation has 7 battle teams under its jurisdiction and has 90 battleships with all main guns of the "Town" class.

The 8th Formation has 12 squadrons under its jurisdiction, with 48 American Iowa-class full-main gun battleships, 48 French Richelieu-class all-main gun battleships, and 48 German Bismarck-class all-main gun battleships.

The three all-main gun battleships of the eighth formation can actually be called high-speed battleships.

The Iowa-class battleship with full main guns is the largest first-class battleship built by the U.S. Navy, with a full load displacement of 55,710 tons and a maximum speed of 33 knots.

It is equipped with 3 triple 50-caliber 406-mm main guns, 10 twin 38-caliber 127-mm secondary guns, 20 quadruple 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, 60 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 catapults, 4 carrier-based aircraft, and is equipped with anti-air and sea-based search radars.

The broadside armor belt was up to 307 mm thick, the main deck armor was 222 mm, the main turret armor was 432 mm, and the crew was 1851 people.

The French Richelieu-class battleship, the largest and last first-class battleship in the history of the country's navy built by France, has a full load displacement of 49,850 tons and a maximum speed of 32 knots.

It is equipped with 2 quadruple 45-caliber 380-mm main guns, 3 triple-mounted 55-caliber 152-mm secondary guns, 6 twin 100-mm anti-aircraft guns, 48 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, 40 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 catapults, 3 carrier-based aircraft, and is equipped with anti-air and sea-based search radars.

The broadside armor belt was up to 330 mm thick, the main deck armor was 170 mm, the main turret armor was 430 mm, and the crew was 1550 people.

The German Bismarck-class battleship is a battleship built by Germany during World War II, with a full load displacement of 52,900 tons and a maximum speed of 30.8 knots.

It is equipped with 4 twin 381-mm main guns, 6 twin 150-mm secondary guns, 8 twin 105-mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 twin-mounted 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 12 single-barreled 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 quadruple 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 quadruple 533-mm torpedo tubes, 2 catapults, 4 carrier-based aircraft, and is equipped with anti-air and sea-based search radars.

The broadside armor belt was up to 330 mm thick, the main deck armor was 170 mm, the main turret armor was 430 mm, and the full crew was 2092 people.

Originally, the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires also had many other types of all-main-gun battleships, including dozens of captured all-main-gun battleships.

However, in addition to the all-main gun battleships equipped with the above eight main formations, some of the other all-main gun battleships of the Han and Tang Empire border fleets were assigned to various garrison fleets, and some were temporarily mothballed.

The ninth formation of the Han and Tang Empire's frontier fleets had 9 warbands under its jurisdiction and 110 British Hood-class battlecruisers.

The 10th Formation has 9 squadrons and 109 British Prestige-class battlecruisers.

The 11th Formation has 7 squadrons under its jurisdiction and has 90 battlecruisers of the "Cang" class.

The 12th Formation has 9 squadrons under its jurisdiction, with 36 Kongo-class battlecruisers, 48 traditional-class battlecruisers, and 30 order-class battlecruisers.

In addition to the battle cruisers equipped with the above four main formations, the other battle cruisers of the Han and Tang Empire frontier fleets were basically equipped with various garrison fleets.

After the second batch of 90 "Zhen" class all-main gun battleships and 90 "Cang" class battlecruisers joined the Han and Tang Empire's border fleets, the seventh formation will have 180 "Zhen" class all-main gun battleships, and according to the current rules for at least 12 capital ships of the Han and Tang Empire's border fleets to be organized into one team, the seventh formation can form 15 teams.

The 11th formation, which has 180 Cang-class battle cruisers, can also form 15 teams.

In addition, each main formation of the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires was also equipped with 60 large armored cruisers or heavy cruisers, 120 light cruisers and 120 destroyers.

Zhou Rui had no objection to Song Limin's proposal, "Old Song, then according to what you said, the second batch of 'Zhen'-class all-main gun battleships and 'Cang'-class battlecruisers' will be assigned to the seventh and eleventh formations!"

In this way, the two main formations can be reorganized into 15 teams each. ”

Song Limin then hesitated and said, "Dashuai, many large docks in the six major shipyards are currently vacant.

Although our Han and Tang Empire border fleet is already the world's first navy, the enemy that our Han and Tang Empire border fleet needs to face is the navy of five beast countries.

So I wonder if Dashuai has a new capital ship construction plan next? ”

When Zhou Rui heard this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at Song Limin, "Old Song, you are too greedy."

Together with the second batch of 'Zhen'-class all-main gun battleships and 'Cang'-class battlecruisers, only the 12 main formations of the Han and Tang Empire's border fleets now have more than 1,200 all-main gun battleships and more than 500 battle cruisers.

It seems that the navies of the five countries of Golden Lion, Red Tiger, Black Bear, Flying Leopard, and Silver Wolf combined, the number of capital ships is only so much.

You are even ready to let the six major shipyards continue to build more battleships and battlecruisers with full main guns, you really regard me as the God of Wealth. ”

"Hehe, Dashuai, you are originally the God of Wealth!

Although after five years of development, our Han and Tang Empire border fleets have the strength to independently resist the navies of the Golden Lion, Red Tiger, Black Bear, Flying Leopard, and Silver Wolf.

However, in the major shipyards of these five beast countries, there are still hundreds of capital ships under construction, and after these hundreds of capital ships are put into service, our Han and Tang Empire border fleets will inevitably be at a disadvantage in terms of the number of capital ships. ”

"Old Song, you don't have to fool me, it's not as serious as you say.

Even if the hundreds of capital ships in the major shipyards of the five beast countries are in service, the combined number of capital ships in the navies of the five beast countries is only more than 200 more than the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires.

Moreover, the capital ships of the five beast countries, in terms of overall quality, are much worse than the capital ships of the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires. ”

At this time, Zhou Xiaorong in the room said to Song Limin with some dissatisfaction: "Brother Limin, the cost of a 'Zhen' class battleship with full main guns will cost about 39.6 million silver coins, and the cost of a 'Cang' class battlecruiser will cost about 38.8 million silver coins.

The six major shipyards have successively built 180 'town' and 180 'cang' class, with a total cost of more than 14.1 billion silver coins.

What's more, the border fleet is subordinate to the border guards, and the border guards also have the army and air force, so they can't spend all their money on the border fleet! ”

Song Limin said with a smile: "How can the marshal spend all the money on the border fleet!"

Brother Xiaorong, you're joking.

Marshal, I just hope that the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires can always suppress the navies of the five beast countries. ”

Zhou Rui said: "Old Song, our Zhou family is not short of money, but the all-main gun battleships and battlecruisers of the border fleet of the Han and Tang Empires are indeed enough.

In the future, the six major shipyards will not continue to build new all-main gun battleships and battle cruisers for the time being, but I have already ordered the design bureaus of the six major shipyards to start designing aircraft carriers.

If the six major shipyards build capital ships, they will build aircraft carriers. ”

Song Limin frowned and said, "Marshal, can aircraft carriers really play a role in naval warfare?"

I still think it's more reliable to build capital ships and battle cruisers with all main guns. ”

"When more advanced carrier-based bombers and carrier-based torpedo aircraft are developed, aircraft carriers will become the nemesis of capital ships and battle cruisers with all main guns!"

Zhou Rui has always hoped to get the reward of the aircraft carrier from the lottery system, but unfortunately, so far, there is no lottery card that can open the aircraft carrier.

In fact, building an aircraft carrier that can take off carrier-based aircraft is not a difficult task for the six major shipyards of the Zhou family.

The reason why Zhou Rui has not let the six major shipyards build aircraft carriers is because Zhou Rui does not have suitable carrier-based aircraft in his hands, especially there are no carrier-based bombers and carrier-based torpedo aircraft with excellent performance.

Without carrier-based bombers and carrier-based torpedo planes with good performance, even if aircraft carriers are built, they may not pose much of a threat to the capital ships of all main guns and battlecruisers.

The warships of this world, due to the need to guard against flying beasts, are equipped with a lot of anti-aircraft weapons, and after the appearance of aircraft, the number of anti-aircraft weapons on each ** ship is even more.

Now Zhou Rui asked the design bureaus of the six major shipyards to start designing aircraft carriers, because although the lottery system did not drive aircraft carriers, it drove three carrier-based aircraft used by the US Navy during World War II.

F4F Wildcat fighter, 8.83 meters long, 3.58 meters high, maximum level flight speed of 512 kilometers per hour, maximum ceiling of 34,800 meters, flight range of 1,238 kilometers, equipped with 6 50 mm cannons, as a bomber to carry two 45 kg aerial bombs on the wings, crew 1.

The TBF Avenger torpedo attack aircraft, with foldable wings, has three seats, includes a pilot, a rear machine gunner and a bombardier and belly machine gunner, is armed with three machine guns and can carry one 907 kg torpedo, or four 227 kg bombs, or additional fuel tanks.

SBD dreadnought dive bomber, length of 10.06 meters, height of 3.94 meters, maximum level flight speed of 410 kilometers per hour, maximum ceiling of 34,800 meters, flight range of 1,244 kilometers, equipped with two 50 mm cannons, under the center line of the fuselage can carry an aerial bomb of no more than 726 kg and each side of the wing can also carry a 45 kg aerial bomb or depth charge, crew 2.

The performance of these three carrier-based aircraft, in this world, definitely belongs to the cross-era fighters.

You must know that the performance of the fighters of the Zhou Air Force is basically equivalent to that of the First World War in another time and space, and the aircraft of several beast countries are even inferior to the Zhou Air Force in terms of performance.

If these three carrier-based aircraft can appear on the battlefield of naval warfare, it will definitely be a nightmare for all enemies.

It's a pity that Zhou Rui only got 60 F4F Wildcat fighters, 60 TBF Avenger torpedo attack planes and 60 SBD dreadnought dive bombers from the lottery system, and he can only equip a few aircraft carriers at most.