While Jochen was thinking about the way out of the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War, Makarov was also flipping through the three documents in front of him, and he was shocked by any of them.

As a technical officer, Makarov saw from these three plans that the German design level in the field of armored cruisers had indeed far surpassed that of Russia, and Makarov originally planned to order only one armored cruiser in Germany and then introduce a full set of design drawings according to the model of the Grom Bowie for imitation.

But after seeing the design scheme that the Germans came up with now, this idea was completely dispelled, and Jochen guessed correctly before, the Bayan was indeed an inferior knockoff of the Grombowie, because of its overweight, the Bayan's main outfit shrank to 152 mm, and the upper load shrank to 100 mm, and even then the speed was still not up to standard, and could only reach 19.8 knots.

Therefore, Makarov knew that these three designs, which were obviously at a higher level of technology, could only be repaired and modified on them when they were handed over to Russian shipyards, and finally a defective product came out.

Seeing that Makarov was thinking, Jochen asked straight to the door: "Your Excellency Makarov, I take the liberty of asking, how many of the 210 million rubles of the 7-year plan of the Pacific Fleet approved by His Majesty Nikolai this year can be used to buy armored cruisers?" As far as I know, your country is building battleships right now, and you need to take up a considerable part of them, right? ”

"As you said, Your Highness, the budget for the construction of 5 Borodino-class battleships alone is not a small amount, plus the purchase of some other small ships, the budget that can be used for armored cruisers is not much. We hope to be able to procure two armored cruisers, however, the price is ....... Makarov was a little reluctant to speak.

"I understand this, after all, 5 battleships are the backbone of the future Pacific Fleet, and it is inevitable to give priority to the construction of battleships. Your Excellency, please rest assured. Out of friendship between our two countries, we will definitely not let your country suffer in terms of price. Jochen agreed.

"It's great that Your Highness understands this, and I thank Your Highness in advance for your help to our country." Makarov immediately stood up and saluted before his right hand on his chest.

"Your Excellency is gracious, this is as it should be." Jochen also hurriedly got up and returned the salute, and after beckoning Makarov to sit down again, Jochen said, "Then are you satisfied with these three designs?" Which of these options do you prefer? ”

"Let's be honest. Your Highness, I am very satisfied with all three proposals, and your country's level of design and construction in the field of armored cruisers is indeed second to none. Makarov complimented.

"But if I want to say what I like, I personally prefer Option 2. Scheme 1 can be seen as a fire-enhanced version of the Grombowie, with a displacement of 13,000 tons, two twin 8-inch turrets on the side of the board, and the same armor and speed. The sideboard firepower has been increased to 8 8-inch guns, and the firepower has indeed increased significantly, but I think the power of the 8-inch naval guns is somewhat insufficient. Makarov analyzed.

Scheme 1 is actually a weakened version of the armored cruiser Blucher. The 6-seat twin turrets are arranged in a diamond-shaped shape, but because of the 203 mm guns and the speed is only 20 knots, all can be achieved with a displacement of 13,000 tons, which is indeed super by the standards of today's armored cruisers.

Of course, this is not the only design scheme for the super armored cruiser with a unified main gun caliber, Makarov doesn't know that the newly started armored cruisers in Germany all use the tail piggyback type, otherwise Jochen still has the design of adding a tail backpack turret on the basis of the Grom Bowie. and the two main turrets in the swollen part of the slump with a sideboard diagonal straddle layout, so that up to 10 main guns can be pointed at the side of the gun.

But Makarov was right. The 8-inch gun is not powerful enough, and the performance of the Russian-made 8-inch gun is indeed limited to the 100 mm armor of the shallow class, and the Germans said that they have a secret weapon, and the 210 mm gun is enough to easily get the 100 mm armor, but the Russians can't do it, so it is the right choice to pursue a larger caliber to increase the power.

"Plan 3 can be seen as a re-increase in the firepower of Plan 1. The two main guns in the bow and stern are replaced with 254 mm naval guns, the 254 mm guns are more powerful, although China's Pattern 1891 10-inch 45 times the diameter gun has a slightly slower rate of fire, but the addition of 8-inch guns can just make up for this defect, which is indeed a very good design. However, the design displacement is as high as 15,000 tons. I'm afraid we can't afford the price. Makarov said.

The No. 3 scheme is the largest displacement of the three schemes, in fact, the prototype is the second generation of Rurik, but in fact it is far inferior to the real Rurik II, because the real Rurik II used Pattern1908 type 10-inch 50 times the diameter of the main gun is far better than the current Pattern1891 in terms of rate of fire and power, and the 8-inch gun is used to make up for the lack of rate of fire of the 10-inch gun, which is also the idea of a former dreadnought second class main gun.

"Indeed, the estimated cost of this package will not be less than 1.7 million pounds, about 15.3 million rubles, which is indeed a little expensive." Jochen also nodded in agreement, of course, this price is quoted higher, and it is common sense that foreign warships are more expensive than their own use. However, the Russians are not wronged, and they probably will not accept this price.

Later generations said that the Russians' shipbuilding industry was at a poor level, and that they needed to import a large amount of equipment from abroad, coupled with the problems of military deduction, embezzlement, and bribery in the construction process, the price of a single shipbuilding in Russia was extremely high, and it was better to buy it from someone else than to build it yourself.

In fact, this situation does not exist, the Russians bought the crown prince from France for 14.004 million rubles, and the imitation Borodino class except for the lead ship Borodino, which is slightly higher, reaching 14.573 million rubles, the rest of the ships are cheaper than the crown prince, the Eagle is 13.404 million rubles, Tsar Alexander III is 13.979 million rubles, and the Duke Suvorov and Glory are both 13.841 million rubles.

Although it is indeed a little more expensive than the cost of a British and German warship of the same level, it will definitely make a profit if someone sells it to you, so it will still be more cost-effective for the Russians to build it themselves than to buy it from outside.

As for the saying that it is better to build than to buy, it is estimated that it started from the era of dreadnoughts, because the technical level of dreadnoughts is more difficult to build, and the price of the Gungut-class built by the Russians is indeed a bit outrageous, but at this time, in fact, the Russians have not purchased large warships from other countries.

If you look at the dreadnought transactions of other countries in the same period, you can see what kind of black-hearted price you will encounter when buying dreadnoughts from abroad. Argentina asked the British Armstrong shipyard about 24,000 tons of dreadnoughts for the price of the British at 2.42 million pounds, and it was precisely because the Americans' offer was lower - 2.2 million pounds that the Argentines finally submitted an order to the Americans, which was the Rivadavia class. The famous Cult Relic Agincourt, which had a week's worth of turrets, slaughtered the Ottomans with a single blow - £2,725,000.

But looking back at the cost of these powers to build their own dreadnoughts, you will find that the water is very deep, the super dreadnought Iron Duke-class cost 1.945 million pounds per ship, and the George V class (not the one in World War II) cost 1.961 million pounds per ship.

Got it, buy? If you don't kill you, you can be worthy of yourself?

So the Russians are not fools and pay 15.3 million rubles to buy an armored cruiser? It's 2 million more expensive than your own battleships.

"In contrast, the No. 2 scheme is more suitable, with a displacement of 13,000 tons, two twin 10-inch turrets, and 20 6-inch guns. The power of the 10-inch gun is sufficient, and the rate of fire of the 6-inch gun is superior, which is indeed very suitable. ”

Makarov thought for a moment and added: "As for the speed, since the speed of the Rurik and the Russians of the Pacific Fleet is low, and the speed of the Grombowie and Bayan is also 20 knots, there is no need to increase the speed of the new ship, and maintaining it at 20 knots is also more conducive to formation action, so it is more important to maintain strong armor protection." ”

The prototype of this design is the last generation of the U.S. imperialists' patrol Tennessee class, but the 3-inch gun profile guns on the Tennessee class were canceled, and all of them were changed to 6-inch gun guns, and all the secondary guns except the main guns were used gun silhouette guns, which was cheaper.

And 10 6-inch guns on each side really worked well in close proximity in battles between cruisers. Considering the hit rate of the Russian gunners, it would be nice to make up for it with the rate of fire of the 6-inch gun.

"That's how you decided? If there are some deficiencies or you have some other needs, we can let the designer make further changes. Johen asked politely.

"I think it's a pretty good solution, and considering the price, performance, and other factors, I think the design is already enough for our needs, and it will take a lot of time to modify it. If I can, I'd like to start a bespoke conversation with His Excellency Tirpitz about the design. Makarov has already decided, so he is not ready to waste any more time: "After we reach an agreement, I will immediately report back to His Majesty Xià to decide, which will also be conducive to starting work as much as possible." ”

Makarov's choice is also what Jochen is willing to see, as the Urayan fleet, it is most important to have stronger protection and be able to preserve combat effectiveness as much as possible in future battles with Japanese armored cruisers.

Even if the Russian armored cruisers could not win the battle at that time, as long as Essen could make a little decision at that time, directly abandon the slower Rurik and the Russian, and save the Grombowie, Bayan and the new two armored cruisers, it would still be able to make the Japanese uneasy.

"This is natural, I believe that Your Excellency Tirpitz and you will also be able to have a good conversation, and I personally very much hope to see this cooperation go very smoothly." Jochen said very sincerely. Can you not be sincere? The 13,000-ton armored cruiser would have to be sold to the Russians for 1.4 million pounds, which is a lot of profit even if the weapons system is removed.

Jochen, full of joy, stretched out his hand with a smile on his face and shook Makarov's hand tightly. (To be continued......)