There is an advertising slogan, only buy the right one, not the expensive one. This sentence is true to a certain extent and within a certain range, but it is not universal.

Cost has been an important factor in countless wars throughout history, but it's almost a law that decision-makers tend to ignore costs for the sake of victory, or more importantly, core interests.

In other words, cost is the main factor without threatening core interests; When it comes to core interests, cost is no longer in focus.

In today's situation, the Spaniards, in order to completely crush the British who were against them, have begun to completely start destructive development at any cost. But whether the UK will do the same depends on the decisions made at the top.

Elizabeth I was cautious all her life, and she would not have resorted to such a pattern of drinking water to quench her thirst unless she had to. In addition, the BOT model I proposed is very applicable, and the Chinese people have responded to the call of the Queen of Glory for their livelihoods, so the whole of the United Kingdom has begun a frenzy of ship overhaul.

At Kennedy's suggestion and I, this time we adopted a mixed grouping system, which was different from the previous cruising grouping mode in which large and small ships were formed separately.

I propose that this mixed mode is also carried out in accordance with the tactics of modern naval warfare. Especially during World War II, before aircraft carriers dominated the sea, it was very common for battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to be mixed according to the ratio of 1:2:4.

The advantage of this mixed formation is that it can cope with any situation - the battleship, as traditionally in the formation of a battle line, is to hold the position so that the position does not be torn apart.

The cruisers came back and forth, providing fire output.

Destroyers are responsible for providing visibility, torpedo damage to the enemy, and anti-submarine air defense.

At this stage, there are no so-called submarines and aviation, so their main duty is to maneuver to disrupt the enemy and provide high-frequency minor damage.

We brought together light ships and equipped them with new guns with a high rate of fire, a high firing range, and moderate power.

In this way, all light ships, after the start of the battle, can form a dense network of highly maneuverable fire, providing effective fire cover for large ships in the rear.

Large-tonnage warships, on the other hand, are equipped with heavy guns - both range and power, which can support small ships in front of them at a long distance, forming a cross-fire network with them, covering the enemy in range.

In just three or four months, we have more than 500 remodeled warships! Of course, it is mainly small and medium-sized ships, and large ships are still more effective.

There was a guy named Old Charlie, who already had a merchant fleet under his command, and after receiving the queen's call, he made a calculation.

According to his existing assets, of course, ships, he would have to pay about 4,000 gold coins after taking the initiative to transform them, and if he participated in the battle, if there was no battle damage, he would have made a net profit of more than 8,000 gold coins by subsidizing it!

And if there is a war loss, according to the current standard of compensation, acquisition and dividends proposed by the royal family, his income will increase again!

A calculating man all his life, he immediately realized that this was a good opportunity to make a fortune! He auctioned off almost all of his possessions and more than doubled the size of his fleet! Moreover, all of them have been refitted, and now it is an armed merchant fleet capable of independently coping with small naval battles!

This is another benefit of ship refit - this time it is a major policy refit across the country, there will be a lot of preferential policies and one-time benefits in all aspects, there is no such shop in this village, I have to say that old Charlie's vision is really quite vicious!

Inspired by him, I asked Youxi to propose to the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company that a small part of the assets should be invested in the war preparations of the United Kingdom, and under the guarantee of the British crown, I was afraid that the returns would be higher than that of ordinary trade.

Youxi quickly took my opinion back to Amsterdam, and to his surprise, many major shareholders, including Morris, thought it was a good deal and were willing to make a larger investment to help Britain fight.

Of course, this is a purely commercial act, and in the Netherlands, where the spirit of deeds and trusts is very sound, since it is a joint-stock company, even King Maurice can only vote according to his own shares.

If you want to rely on executive orders to decide where the capital goes, then I'm sorry, please use the royal family's own funds, and the company's assets cannot be touched.

Even so, the hot money pouring into London made Elizabeth I's eyes and heart beat, she knew that the Dutch were rich, but she didn't know that the Dutch were so rich, so she turned her somewhat reddened gaze to me.

Because as far as she knows, I have a stake in the Dutch East India Company, and it is not small.

I smiled and said, "If you are like the Dutch, you give up your ambition to dominate Europe and the world, and concentrate on making money, you will be richer than them."

Elizabeth I's face was complicated, but I continued: "And it is good for me to hold shares in it—at least I can attract the money you desperately need, right?"

Elizabeth I was rather speechless, and I was telling the truth, and though there was no lack of resistance and threat, it was the truth, so she could only look at me meaningfully again and nodded.

I lowered my head to drink, pretending not to see her eyes.

With this funding, the speed and quality of the boat transformation has been greatly improved! I'm sure that the guns of one of our small and medium-sized ships definitely surpassed the top Spanish ship configuration!

Because these barbarians like traditional white-knuckle combat, they don't want to change, and as an opponent, I'm very glad that my opponents have this nostalgic and loyal quality, and I hope they will not forget their original intentions and stick to them.

Of course, for another way of naval warfare - white-knuckle warfare, we basically chose to give up. After all, you can't have both fish and bear's paws, and if you want to be perfect, you are doomed to nothing.

People talk about the barrel effect, and think that shortcomings restrict the lower limit of the whole. But I think that if you understand it the other way around, the longboard determines the height you can reach. Exploiting strengths and avoiding weaknesses and taking them by surprise is often more effective than following the rules.

But at the same time, I think that the meat should be hidden underneath and not exposed. Just like the art of war: it is far away and shows that it is near, near and shows it far, wants to show what it does not want, and can show that it cannot, this is the truth.

So I also privately suggested to Elizabeth I that it was best to carry out the transformation of these core ships in private, and if the transformation was carried out with great fanfare, the Spaniards would also come up with countermeasures, which I absolutely did not want to see.

Elizabeth I reacted positively, and not long after I made this suggestion, there was a scene of great flamboyance in the largest shipyards in London Docks – all of them adding sailors' cabins to them!

In this way, we want to let the Spaniards know that we are making up for our shortcomings and that we are ready to fight with the Spaniards at any time!

Elizabeth I was still a little worried, what if the Spaniards were not fooled?

In other words, what if they see through that our white-knuckle gear is actually a show?

I remember holding my glass and smiling, "With the lazy character of the Spaniards, when they encounter such a thing that they like, even if they have doubts in their hearts, they will take the initiative to understand it as a direction in their favor."

The queen nodded, and I continued: "They don't believe that a naval battle can be done entirely by artillery bombardment, and there is no precedent for such in history, so as long as we make a gesture, the Spaniards have no reason not to be fooled."

Isabella added, "We can also hire some foreign artisans and expand our influence, right?"

I smiled and said, "Of course you can, but it must be under our full control!" In other words, what we want them to bring out is what they want them to do, and that's perfect! ”

The queen's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Do you have any other suggestions?" Marquis. I really enjoy listening to you now, it's fascinating! ”

I put down my glass, bowed to the queen and said, "Where, where!" You've won a prize! ”

However, I still proposed: "Based on my experience, we can set up a virtual combat command at this time and constantly release our 'battle plan'." When the Spaniards get used to the news, things are completely under our control! ”

Elizabeth I wondered, "You mean...... Proactively release intelligence? ”

I smiled and said, "Exactly!" Instead of passively paying, it is better to take the initiative to treat. As long as we make the information true, the Spaniards can't help but believe it. And when they get used to it, then we have the upper hand and the initiative! ”

Elizabeth I stared at me for a long time, and suddenly said, "If one day, you will walk opposite me, then you must be an opponent who makes people sleep!"

Saying that, he sighed and said, "I sincerely hope that this one will never come!"

I smiled wryly, "Where did you think of this?" There is no such possibility! ”

Elizabeth I smiled and said nothing.

Unexpectedly, she became a prophecy, and this day really became a reality after a few years!

But now we're still working together to face a common enemy. At her request, I served as chief of staff in the so-called "command" that I proposed to establish, assisted by Jack Bravo.

In fact, this cunning man has long decided that he is no match for me than intrigues, so he is nominally the ***** of this command, but in fact he throws almost all the power - and all the obligations - to me, and he himself is the boss of the house, which makes me feel angry.

But it's also good for me, I can mobilize all my resources, which means that the inside of the UK is no longer defensible to me, which is extremely good for my future development!

And I will make full use of the energy in my hands to fight a war without gunpowder with the Spaniards!

In other words, the Anglo-Western naval Armageddon has completely kicked off to this day!