What worries Nikolai and Tiltov even more is that if only the Rurik (first generation) is crushed, it will be forgotten, after all, the Rurik (first generation) is a ship that started construction in 1890, although the construction period is a little slower, but after all, she was designed several years ago, and it is not a big problem to be surpassed by the latest design of the Germans.

The bigger problem is that the latest sharp armored cruiser Russia, which started construction not long ago last year, is also extremely outdated in front of the German design, with a larger tonnage, and although the layout of the 203-mm main gun is slightly modified by the nearly 14,000-ton Russia, the overall performance is not much stronger than that of the Rurik (first generation), and the speed has been increased to 20 knots, but compared with the new battleships of the Germans, there is still no advantage.

And it can achieve such performance with a displacement of 8,000 tons, so what if it is 14,000 tons, the same as the Russian one? Nikolai did not dare to think about it.

Thinking of this, Nicholas II asked very eagerly: "Cousin Jochen, can you ask your shipyard to send me a sketch of the design, and if it can really achieve the performance that your cousin said, then I will be more than happy to order one at your shipyard." ”

"It's not a big problem, anyway, in a few months, the four mine-strike ships built by our shipyard will be delivered to the Russian Navy, and then the shipyard will bring the design sketches together." Jochen says it's not a problem at all.

However, it is clear that Jochen underestimated Nikolai's enthusiasm for the navy, and after being poured cold water on Jochen, Nikolai was not interested in the rest of the trip, and returned to the East Palace after a hasty finish.

As a result, the next day Nikolai called Admiral Chekhachev, the Minister of the Navy, who had decided to build the Rurik (first generation), and the designer Kutnikov. After repeating Jochen's evaluation, the two of them scolded bloody, and the two didn't even dare to come out in the face of the angry crown prince.

When Nikolai finished venting and breathed a sigh of relief, Chekhachev said cautiously: "Your Highness, although it is difficult to believe. But if the Germans were really able to implement their design, then the Germans had already far surpassed the British in the field of cruisers.

The Orlando-class armored cruiser built by the British before was only installed with 2 234 mm naval guns and 10 152 mm naval guns on a hull of nearly 6,000 tons, with a maximum speed of 18 knots, and the defensive area of the main armor belt was not large. In general, the technical level is basically on the same standard as the Rurik.

So I don't think even the British today can basically realize what the Germans designed. ”

Fortunately, Jochen didn't hear this, otherwise he would have pointed out that the Orlando class started a full 5 years earlier than you Rurik, and the main gun arrangement did not use side gangways like you, and you are embarrassed to say that it is basically on the same standard? It is no wonder that the Navy was full of rice buckets and was beaten by the Japanese.

And Kutnikov on the side is the designer of the Naval Technical Committee, and Rurik's design is also approved by the Naval Council, and being scolded for his own design is equivalent to the entire Naval Design Committee being scolded, so he immediately explained: "Your Highness, if the design of the Germans is realized." Then it can be said that the tonnage utilization rate of the warships has reached an almost perfect point, and we make a horizontal comparison in the navies of various countries, and no country can do this, even the British are increasing the displacement of the ship to solve the performance problem of the ship. Therefore, it can only be said that the Germans are ahead of the world. ”

If Jochen had been there, he would have said that I would love to hear the last sentence, and then pouted at the designer's words.

The British have never been known for their innovation and single-ship performance in the field of shipbuilding technology, and the real strength of the British is cost control, as well as the digestion and absorption of new ideas.

Former. The British were often able to produce products with decent performance at a low enough price, and the large colonies of the British made them need a large number of warships to maintain. Therefore, the performance of a single ship is something that can be sacrificed, and the huge number and low cost are what the British are best at.

Although the performance of the British King George V, which is known as the weakest treaty battleship in World War II, is quite criticized, its price of 7 million pounds per ship is enough to despise the expensive things of other countries, and the Germans have become a big laughing stock in the eyes of later generations of military fans because the single ship of the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser costs more than 80 million marks, which is more expensive than the British King George V class when converted into pounds.

The latter, on the other hand, uses its strong shipbuilding industry and technology accumulation to quickly digest and assimilate these concepts and reproduce them in their own way.

But simply talking about the innovation of the design concept and the strong performance of a single ship? The British really don't have anything to praise for it.

The essence of the armored cruiser was first realized by the Italians. The Garibaldi class showed the great powers of the world a way, and that is how armored cruisers were designed! And the British mastered the design ideas of armored cruisers, and they began to master them after 1898 after learning from Italy.

The concept of dreadnoughts was also first put forward by the Italians, and in 1903 the Italian shipbuilder Victori? "The Ideal Battleship of the Royal Navy" published in Okubertini's Jane's Almanac of Ships.

This equipment has 4 twin mounts, 4 mounts of a single mount, a total of 12 305 mm unified type main guns, no secondary guns. The design concept of a 17,000-ton giant ship with a high speed of 24 knots and heavy armor of the battleship class using fuel oil as fuel, installing steam turbines, and arguably putting forward all the technical conditions of a dreadnought.

This also laid the direction of the future development of battleships.

Even the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which no longer exists, was more advanced in design than the second-class battleships of the same class in the British Royal Navy at the same time, and the first-class ships were less than half of the British in terms of design concepts.

So it's a joke to use the British design to prove that they are not backward, not to mention that the British are at least a little more advanced than you Russians.

Fortunately, it is now 1894, and the Russians estimate that they still do not know the information about the 14,000-ton protective cruiser Qiangsheng-class that the British have started, otherwise there is the largest and unworthy protective cruiser in history, and the Russians can even pat their chests and say that our design is obviously better than the British, because the British warships do not have waterline armor belts.

Of course, it is also possible to be slapped in the face by Garibaldi's design, it turns out that we are not even as good as the Italian who can't handle Ethiopia?

But the "professional" people such as the Minister of the Navy and the designers of the Technical Committee of the Navy said so, so the face of Nikolai, who was not a professional, finally looked a little better.

However, Nikolai still remembered the design of the Germans, and when Germany, a country that depends on the army, could lead the world in the field of shipbuilding technology.

"So if you can build the same warship by this standard?" Nikolai asked.

"I'm afraid it's difficult, Your Highness, even if we know the design standards of the Germans, it is difficult for us to imitate, because we don't know the specific internal structure, and the Germans must also have unique subsystems such as artillery, power, and armor, so even if we can build a ship with similar performance, we must need to significantly increase the displacement to solve the problem." Kutnikov replied.

Seeing that Kutnikov's words really hurt the face of the Naval Technical Committee, Chekhachev immediately added: "Your Highness, if we can buy a battleship from the Germans, then get the design drawings, and then copy it against the real thing, maybe we can solve this problem." If you have any problems, you can also ask for help from a technician from Germany. ”

"In other words, our own designers could not have designed such a battleship!" Nikolai was quite annoyed, but getting angry at the Minister of the Navy could not solve the problem, Nikolai knew this, calmed down his anger and said: "Then if you can get the blueprints of the Germans, are you sure that you can build the same ship?" ”

"Yes, Your Highness, if there is a German blueprint, our shipyard will definitely be able to copy it, and improve it on this basis, so that our warships are better than the Germans." Chkhachev replied.

He can only say this, if the imitation can't be completed, he, the Minister of the Navy, should not do it. As for how much equipment will need to be imported into Germany to be copied at that time, what difficulties will be encountered in domestic construction, and how much it will cost, this is not something that Chekhachev needs to think about now, now he just needs to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince not to be angry.

"Okay, then you go and express your intention to order to my cousin, and let my cousin's shipyard send us the design first." Nikolai said helplessly.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chekhachev immediately agreed.

"The Russian Navy wants to order armored cruisers from our country? It would be nice to be able to continue to work with your navy, but it is too stressful to send in the design drawings now, and the climate in St. Petersburg in winter is really not so comfortable. Jochen was a little surprised that the Russians had come up with an intention to order so quickly.

Chkhachev was not very comfortable with himself, so he asked Tirtov, who had worked with Jochen, to send the sketches to St. Petersburg as much as possible.

"Your Highness, I understand that this time period is indeed not so suitable, but you also have to be considerate, if we wait until next year, our navy budget will be spent by then, and if we can set the cooperation before the year, we will also adjust the budget in time." Tirtorf said earnestly.

"Well, since Your Excellency Vice Admiral does have difficulties, I can't refuse, I'll ask the shipyard to send the design sketch over first, and your navy will take a look at it before making a decision."

"Thank you very much Your Highness for your understanding."

A week later, Director Michel of the Royal German Shipyard arrived in St. Petersburg with the design of the armored cruiser by the shipyard's chief designer, Pooper. (To be continued......)