"The Russians ordered large bearings from the Krupp company? Is it necessary to report this kind of thing to me ...... "just want to say"? Jochen looked at Tirpitz with a stern face, and suddenly reacted in his brain, and quickly changed the words that came to his lips to: "This kind of thing is a bit unexpected, don't the Russians themselves have the ability to build bearings for their dreadnoughts?" ”

"Your Majesty, judging by the specifications of the bearings that the Russians ordered from the Krupp company, the Russians really did not have the ability to make bearings for their dreadnoughts." Tirpitz, who had been shouting for 2 years in the face of the emperor's dreadnought, was finally led crooked by Jochen, and finally replaced the previous name of the new battleship with the name dreadnought.

"Aren't the Russians capable of making bearings for their former dreadnoughts? So the new battleships of the Russians are ready to be equipped with triple turrets? Yoheng said with a confused pretense of understanding.

"Judging from the size of the bearings, it is indeed possible that the large steel bearings ordered by the Russians from Krupp have 144 steel balls with a diameter of 152 mm and are equipped with 20 vertical rollers, which should be able to withstand the recoil of three 305 mm guns or two 350 mm guns." Tirpitz replied: "The information revealed by the initial contact between the Russians and Krupp indicates that the demand for bearings should not be less than 15, and there is no doubt that the firepower of the Russian dreadnoughts is quite strong." ”

Whether it is more than 9 305mm naval guns or 8 350mm naval guns, the firepower of the new Russian battleship is stronger than that of the Nassau class, the second class dreadnought of the German Navy, which has already been launched and is being outfitted, and even stronger than the new ship that has just started construction in the second configuration.

However, Jochen, who knew what the Gangu Special Class was like, was not worried at all, but he could not tell Tirpitz that it was impossible for the Russians to be equipped with naval guns above the 350 mm level, so he changed his way to show that the Russians were not afraid: "Based on the warships under construction in our country, a battleship equipped with 12 305 mm guns will not weigh less than 7,000 tons when launched." With the shipbuilding capabilities of the Russians, it is estimated that even the launching work will have to ask the British for help, and by the time they are completed, we will not have to worry about the caliber of the ship's guns. ”

Indeed, the Gangut-class weighed nearly 8,000 tons when it was launched, making it the largest hull ever launched in Russia. Sewer work or by John? The help of the Brown Company was done. And the procrastination and inefficiency of the Russians was perfectly demonstrated in the construction of the Gangu Grand.

After the launch of the Gangut class in 1911, the production of power equipment and turrets was delayed, which greatly slowed down the outfitting speed, and the turret was not produced until 1914, and the result was that the final delay was that the battleship of this class started in 1909 was not really combat-ready until the summer of 1915.

In this case, the Navy also came to the Technical Bureau of the Baltic Shipyard to find trouble. Originally, the Pattern1907 305 mm 52 times diameter naval gun designed and manufactured by the Obukhovsky plant fired M1907 shells, weighing 385 kg and having a muzzle velocity of 915 m/s.

However, the length and weight of the new shells were not determined at all at this time, and the design specifications of the ammunition depot of the guide zhì battleship could not be determined. It was only at this time that the design of the ammunition depot was revised. Fortunately, the Gangut class was still in the hull construction stage at this time, so it would have been modified if it had to wait for the water to be launched. I am afraid that when the time comes, it will become a farce of a large warship of a large South Asian country in the future that returns to the slipway after going into the water.

Tirpitz thought about the shipbuilding capabilities of the Russians, and suddenly came to his senses and decided not to dwell on the caliber of the Russians' naval guns. However, the Russians' preparation for the construction of new battleships must be taken seriously: "Your Majesty, the General Staff of the Russian Navy in 1906 opposed the shipbuilding plan of the then Minister of the Navy Billilev because Billilev wanted to build two new battleships instead of four. Judging from the Russians' demand for bearings, the Russians should be preparing to start construction of 4 dreadnoughts of the same class. , there is a high probability that each battleship will have 4 turrets. A fleet of this size would put us under pressure at sea in the Baltic Sea, especially when Russia had already fallen to the British, which was very unpleasant. ”

Historically, some have always liked to cite the sheer pace of German naval expansion as evidence of Germany's attempt to challenge British ambitions, but in fact a glance at the Russian and French shipbuilding programs shows how dire the situation the German navy had to deal with.

In June 1912, the Russian Duma submitted a shipbuilding plan for the reinforcement of the Black Sea Fleet submitted by the Navy. The proposal became law, and the Decree on the Allocation of Funds for the Black Sea Fleet planned to allocate 102.2 million rubles for the construction of 3 dreadnoughts, 9 fleet mine-strikers and 6 submarines.

If the strengthening of the Black Sea Fleet had nothing to do with the Germans, then the construction of four Izmail-class battleship cruisers in 1913 was a real threat that the German Navy had to face.

And the Russian Admiralty was not satisfied with this, in 1914 the Russian Admiralty submitted the second stage of the shipbuilding plan was approved by the Duma, to build 4 dreadnoughts for the Baltic Fleet and 2 dreadnoughts for the Black Sea Fleet, at an estimated cost of 500 million rubles, this plan was terminated due to the outbreak of World War I.

The French were also not idle, and in 1910 France began to build four Kerbel-class battleships at a rate of two per year, and then in 1912 three Breton-class superdreadnoughts at the same time. In the same year, the Naval Enlargement Act of Tongguò called for the construction of a first-line fleet of 28 dreadnoughts and 10 battle cruisers by 1920. Under the impetus of this bill, the following year, the French simultaneously started construction of four Normandy-class super-dreadnoughts.

In 1914, Britain, France and Russia spent 42.54 million pounds on shipbuilding, which was 4.12 times that of Germany in the same year, and more than twice as much as Austria-Hungary and Italy on the German side. Not to mention Britain, even if the Russian and French navies join forces, it will be enough for the Germans to drink a pot.

Therefore, at a time when the Anglo-German naval race was heating up, the news of the construction of 4 dreadnoughts in favor of the British made Tirpitz very stressed. Although the Kiel Canal would allow the main German naval forces to maneuver quickly on both fronts, it would not be a good thing for the German navy to re-face defensive pressure in the Baltic region.

Jochen understands Tirpitz's concerns very well that the German Navy is now fighting on three fronts, and in history, Britain, France, and Russia have reached a memorandum to form a "naval joint defense", with the French Navy in charge of the Mediterranean, the Russian Navy in charge of the Baltic Sea, and the Royal Navy in charge of the North Sea, and the Royal Navy, which is supported by France and Russia, can confidently and boldly transfer all the main forces of the Atlantic Fleet stationed in Gibraltar back to the mainland, thus forming an absolute numerical superiority over the German High Seas Fleet.

What Britain, France, and Russia could think of, the German Navy, which had already begun to consider the battle plan for the Royal Navy, could also think of, so Tirpitz was absolutely unwilling to see the strength of the French and Russian navies strengthened. The French Navy has not yet built dreadnoughts, but this does not mean that they will never build them, as evidenced by the fact that the Russians are now preparing to build 4 dreadnoughts.

"Isn't it expected that the Russians will build dreadnoughts? The Russian Baltic Fleet will inevitably be rebuilt, and your navy should be mentally prepared for this. Yochen asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the construction of 4 dreadnoughts by the Russians will not overwhelm us, and I believe that even after the completion of these 4 dreadnoughts, the strategic defense posture of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea will not change. Just 4 dreadnoughts could not change the fact that the Russian Navy lacked sufficient offensive forces in the Baltic region.

Since the Russo-Japanese War, it has been difficult for the Russian Navy to be rebuilt because of financial problems, so the operational policy of using small ships with mines for coastal defense has always been the only choice for the Russian Navy, and the conditions in the Gulf of Finland are indeed very suitable for defense.

In this case, there will not be much change in the defensive operational orientation of the Russian Navy. Therefore, in the Baltic region, the pressure on our defense is not too great. But the construction of 4 dreadnoughts will give the Russians enough strength to harass us, and even if it is difficult to inflict fundamental damage on us, we will not be able to completely leave it alone, and once we have energy on this side, it is very likely to affect our operations in the North Sea. Tirpitz said in a deep voice.

Jochen somewhat understood the Navy's concerns, if the Navy was preoccupied with the Royal Navy in the North Sea and the defenses in the Baltic Sea were indeed lax, the Russian battleships would be able to make the German Baltic coast uncomfortable with a few shots at any place, and the Navy would be burdened with the reproaches of the people and would be forced to concentrate on the British.

Historically, the Germans did the same to the British, and the German battle cruisers led by Hipper caused very little damage from the shelling of the British coast, but the reputation of the German battlecruisers can still be used to stop the night crying.

In order to change this situation, the Royal Navy Battle Cruisers, which were supposed to be liberated and used as a mobile force, had to become patrols to hunt down the German Battle Cruisers, and this is how the Battle of Dogger Sandbank was fought.

But a war with the Russian Navy would obviously weaken the German Navy in the North Sea, something Tirpitz had to avoid. (To be continued......)