Actually, there is one more test that has not been conducted.

Test the armor protection of the battleships of the Imperial Navy with the 460-mm cannon of the "Narrow".

Of course, it was certainly not for the battleship to be beaten, but for the replacement of the battleship with armor steel plates of the same quality, and only armor protection was tested.

To put it bluntly, it is to test the ballistic performance of 460-mm naval guns at various ranges.

Initially, the Navy planned to test the assembled 460-millimeter naval gun on the "Narrow-mindedness," and even put several thousand tons of armored steel plates on a landing ship, preparing to send them to a small island outside the port of Changqi, and then assemble them into targets for testing.

If this is the case, the "Sashiro" can survive for another ten days and half a month.

Later, during a search of Kure Harbor, the Imperial Navy found a 460-mm naval gun that had not had time to be installed, as well as several brand new barrels.

Critically, design drawings for 460-mm shells were also obtained.

Now, there is no need to use the "Saga" for testing.

The test was later arranged for the Empire to be carried out on an island in the northern part of the Turbid Sea, using a shore defense turret that had been abandoned for decades.

Although the results of the test were not released to the public until the twentieth anniversary of the end of the war, it is no secret that the Imperial Navy really wants to say it.

This 45 times diameter 460 mm naval gun, if you use a standard armor-piercing bullet weighing 1315 kg, the armor-piercing performance is only comparable to the Imperial Navy's 400 mm heavy bullet, or slightly better, compared with the 400 mm super heavy bullet, there is a significant gap.

The key is that the weight factor is too low.

Due to technical limitations such as metallurgy, forging and finishing, the bore pressure of the 460 mm naval gun is much lower than that of the L55 400 mm naval gun of the Imperial Navy.

With a range of more than 20 km, there is no accuracy at all!

In addition, the full charge life of the 460-mm barrel is less than 100 rounds!

Whether it is the performance of the 460 mm naval guns or the fragile armor of the "Saoyi", it boils down to the backward industrial technology of the Sagai Empire, so it has to expand the caliber of the main gun and increase the thickness of the armor to ensure that it can compete with the opponent's new battleships.

For the narrow imperial state, which was weak in industry, it was tantamount to digging its own grave.

To put it another way, if the resources of building 2 "Narrow" class are used to build aircraft carriers, the Narrower Navy will be able to add at least 2 fleet aircraft carriers when the war starts. If the Imperial State delays the start of the war by a year, there is even hope that there will be 4 more fleet aircraft carriers. If the battle is not defeated within a few months of the start of the war, then the resources used to build 2 super battleships can be used to build 8 fleet carriers.

Even if it is just the addition of 2 fleet aircraft carriers, the battle situation will be very different!

With 4 more carriers, the Narrow-Wing Navy even has a chance to defeat the Imperial Navy!

It is a pity that the narrow navy, dominated by Takano, chose battleships that were destined to be eliminated.

These are digressions, though.

Bai Zhizhan and Zhao Yu returned to the imperial capital on the night of the 15th, and went to the residence of the first assistant overnight, and Zhao Yu introduced the naval shipbuilding plan to Xue Yuanzheng.

Zhao Yu focused on the "South Zhuhai" class fast battleship, hoping that Xue Yuanzheng would come forward to cancel or postpone the construction plan of such battleships.

In order to allow the construction of the small aircraft carrier to start in time, Zhao Yu submitted the design document of the "South Zhuhai" class in early November, before going to the Imperial Kingdom of Sayi.

Because according to the wartime construction plan, the first grant to start construction was issued in June, so Liu Changxun did not have the right to order the cancellation of the construction work.

Only Xue Yuanzheng has this power.

Xue Yuanzheng didn't agree immediately, but said that he would seriously consider Zhao Yu's suggestion and let Zhao Yu hurry up and improve the next generation of main warships after he returned, mainly the design of large aircraft carriers, to ensure that after the completion of the second batch of "provincial" classes, construction can start immediately.

According to Xue Yuanzheng's meaning, there are only two batches at the "provincial" level.

It's not that this kind of large aircraft carrier is not good enough, after all, it has not yet officially entered service, and in the process of construction, the feedback from the Navy is not bad.

The main thing is not big enough!

Because survivability was put in the first place, the number of carrier aircraft of the "Provincial" class did not meet the standard, that is, after two consecutive full-deck attacks, there were no carrier-based aircraft available. According to normal standards, an aircraft carrier, as the absolute main force, must also retain fighters for air defense, at least one squadron, preferably two squadrons, after launching two consecutive full-deck attacks.

It should be said that the number of carrier aircraft of the "provincial" level of more than 90 planes is very reluctant to launch two full-deck attacks in a row.

According to this standard, the carrier aircraft should be increased by at least 10 aircraft, preferably by 20 aircraft.

The most straightforward way is to increase the size and displacement.

Anyway, for an aircraft carrier of tens of thousands of tons, even if the power system is not changed and a few thousand tons are added, the speed will drop by 0.5 knots.

In the sense of the Navy, it is better to redesign.

Zhao Yu has been dragging on this matter, not because he is lazy, but because he wants to wait for the first batch of "provincial" level to withstand the test of war and get feedback from the navy.

Actually, this is common sense in the design of warships.

The "provincial" level is certainly not flawless, but what the problems are, and how serious, will only be known after use.

In addition, feedback from the Navy is also important.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhao Yu advocated the construction of the third batch of "provincial" class and postponed the start of construction of the next large aircraft carrier by about a year.

In Zhao Yu's words, in the next three years, there will be no more powerful aircraft carriers on the battlefield than those of the "Xing Province" class.

The implication is that the "provincial" level is good enough to defeat all opponents it will encounter in the next three years, and there is no problem of falling behind and being beaten.

However, Xue Yuanzheng's attitude also reassured Zhao Yu.

Obviously, the construction of large aircraft carriers will certainly not stop.

Zhao Yu was also very knowledgeable, and after making the report and obtaining Xue Yuanzheng's instructions, he took the initiative to leave and did not stay to wait for Bai to stop the war.

"What do you think about this?"

"Lao Zhao is a wooden man, I used to say that his head was in the water, and he liked it the most, so he ......"

"It's not him, and what he says is a bit one-sided." Xue Yuanzheng let out a long sigh and said, "Although I am not a naval admiral and do not know much about the navy, as far as I know, battleships still have the value of existence, for example, the 'Yuejiang' on the side of the island has played a role in fixing the sea god's needle. Not to mention, there is already information that the Nuland Navy is building three types of fast battleships at once. ”

"The 'Yihua' class has started?"

Xue Yuanzheng nodded and said: "The news sent by the Sixth Bureau a few days ago shows that the first two ships have already started construction, and the other two have also been allocated funds and will start construction in January next year." The same Sixth Bureau intelligence, this post-treaty type fast battleship, definitely surpasses our treaty-type fast battleship. ”

Bai Zhizhan has already tightened his brows, which is not good news.

"These naval matters, you just go and discuss them with Liu Changxun."

Bai Zhizhan nodded, he had already thought that it was Liu Changxun who proposed to build the "South Zhuhai" class, and Xue Yuanzheng did not adopt Zhao Yu's proposal.

Zhao Yu is just the chief technical adviser of the Navy, and his voice is definitely not as strong as that of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. 8)