Although Jochen wanted to stir up the situation in order to confuse the British, it was obvious that the British would not have only one means to accomplish anything, and the provocation of public opinion was just an appetizer, and the military promotion of the threat theory of so-and-so was also an indispensable trick.

"Sir White, for the new battleships of the Germans, it seems that the idea of the future battleships that you said back then that your Excellency Charlize said that the future battleships need to be matched with the first and second main guns, the first main gun is powerful, and the second main gun has a high rate of fire.

What do you think about the fact that the new battleships of the Germans abandoned the 10-inch class secondary guns that they had been using and installed a unified 6 11-inch primary guns on their new battleships? Vice Admiral Fisher, who had returned to England as Second Sea Lord, asked White about the design of a new battleship of the Royal Navy.

What do I think? I'm not Yuan Fang! Ah, wrong, I'm not German, how do I know what they think. Fisher's words were like questioning White's original point of view, which made White feel very unhappy.

Fisher, of course, did not come to find fault, but the new battleships of the Germans made him very interested.

The four battleships that the Germans originally started were not completed, and the British side also had a lot of conjectures about her: still Caesar? The style of the Frederick III-class battleships, which did not change much; Twin 260 mm naval gun turrets were continued to be added, and six turrets were installed in a diamond-shaped arrangement, in the same way as the secondary main guns of the newly designed battleships of the Royal Navy; Or simply like the Royal Navy's new battleships, with a mixed arrangement of primary and secondary guns.

However, when the new battleship built at the STT shipyard was undergoing powertrain tests in the Adriatic Sea, the British were surprised by the photographs taken by the crew of passing ships.

The battleship in the photo is still some time away from completion, and the superstructure, sighting equipment, and some bits and pieces have not yet been outfitted, but with Caesar? The exact same arrangement of the main guns of the Frederick III class, as well as the significantly larger turret and barrels, all show that the new German battleship has far superior firepower.

The arrangement of six 11-inch guns was a shame for battleships with only four first-class guns, and Fisher wondered whether the first- and second-class gun arrangements that were becoming popular within the British Royal Navy were really that practical. After all, the idea of introducing a second class gun on a battleship was also inspired by the Germans, and now the Germans themselves have abandoned the second stage gun and used it entirely.

More importantly, this arrangement of the Germans allowed Fisher to see the shadow of the new battleship he had always hoped to realize, so he ran to ask Sir White, the famous designer of the Royal Navy, without noticing that his words were somewhat offended.

"I don't think there is anything surprising about this new change of the Germans, the arrangement of the new battleships completely continued with the Caesar? Frederick III. There is nothing new in the design concept. The only change is that the caliber of the main gun has been enlarged, but this is not surprising.

I said back then that the use of 10-inch guns on battleships was insufficient in power, accuracy and range. The Germans, naturally, understood this as well, so it was only natural that the new battleship would enlarge the caliber of the main guns. White said disapprerovingly.

"Then do you think there are any advantages to this arrangement of the main guns of the Germans? Does the fact that the Germans did not install the second main gun, but only the first one, does it mean that the Germans did not consider the second main gun to be of little significance? Fisher asked, after him.

If the Germans were right, was the design of the new battleship equipped with two twin 12-inch primary guns and four twin 9.2-inch secondary main guns wrong?

However, as an excellent ship designer, White can naturally explain: "I think the Germans are probably just simply enlarged on the basis of the layout of the three-seat twin main gun, and they have not considered anything more." In fact, although the power of the main guns has increased, the decrease in the rate of fire does not make this design necessarily more effective than the German battleships that preceded it.

The Germans were not without experience in creating 12-inch guns, but now choosing 11-inch as the main gun for a new battleship was clearly a compromise on the rate of fire. But it seems to me. This was a failure, the 11-inch gun was not as powerful as the 12-inch gun, and the rate of fire was not as good as the 10-inch gun, so this design was simply an unwise choice.

The projection of 6 11-inch guns was insufficient, and the broadside firepower of our new battleship design was 4 12-inch 1st class guns and 4 9.2-inch second class guns, which were superior in power and projection to the new German battleships. Of course, I'll admit that the total weight of the 6 turrets does require a larger hull to be able to load. But in terms of practical use, the price paid is worth it.

However, it must be admitted that the new German battleship, equipped with 11-inch guns, was a real first-class battleship. There is no doubt that it has the ability to fight the first-class battleships of the current countries of the world. ”

Although White said this, Fisher still did not give up and continued to ask: "Although the current rate of fire of the first-level main gun is not ideal, and the second-level main gun is needed to make up for it, but in my opinion, if it can reach 8-9 first-level main guns, then the projection volume can basically meet the demand." If we, like the Germans, adopt a unified first class of guns, let's bring the number to 8 guns. Then we don't need a secondary main gun. ”

After hearing this, White immediately smiled and said: "Your Excellency, your idea is impossible to come true, the Germans have already elongated their battleship hull with 3 main turrets, and if we want to be like them and install 4 main turrets, then the length of the hull will be even longer."

And this is a battleship. Not cruisers, we can't use an excessively large aspect ratio in order to maintain stability, and we have to install thicker armor. In addition, firing 8 main guns together will produce a huge impact, and in order to withstand this impact, we need a stronger hull

This will lead to a sharp increase in the amount of water discharged. And our main gun is 12 inches, and the displacement of the battleship that meets your requirements will be close to 20,000 tons. Not to mention whether we can build such a battleship, even if we do, her speed will be unbearable. ”

Hearing White's words, Fisher felt a sense of powerlessness, and his ideas were completely rejected by professionals, seeing that his ideas were hopeless until there was a breakthrough in technology.

"In addition, from the analysis of the photos, the tonnage of the new battleship of the Germans will not exceed 15,000 tons, that is, it is similar to our Dignity-class battleships, with 6 11-inch naval guns installed on such a hull, and it does not seem that the speed is not very slow, plus the German battleships have always used heavy armor, this type of battleship should not have much endurance. A short-legged battleship also did not meet the needs of the Royal Navy, so it did not make much sense to us. White gave the final conclusion.

"Thank you for your explanation, Sir White, so I won't bother you." Fisher stood up and thanked him.

"It is my pleasure, Your Excellency Fisher." White also stood up and responded.

Although he didn't get the answer he wanted most on this trip, the evaluation of the German battleship from White would allow the Royal Navy to implement its next plan.

It didn't take long for the Admiralty to "suddenly discover" that the cruising range of the German Navy's capital ships was relatively short, and there were even barracks on the shore for soldiers to live in at the fleet's anchorage, indicating that the living conditions on the ships were not very good. This "great" discovery was immediately interpreted as "the capital ships of the German Navy were specially designed to fight against the British." ”

And the German Navy no longer used 260-mm naval guns, but 280-mm naval guns, apparently in order to be able to have the ability to threaten the capital ships of the British Royal Navy!

This conclusion was not kept secret within the Royal Navy, but was immediately disseminated to all walks of life in Britain, and immediately set off a round of German threat theory.

The Germans lay down their guns again, and the lack of range should obviously be interpreted as the main task of the navy to protect the coastline of coastal defense operations, and a large number of French and Russian battleships also did not sail too far, and I did not see the British make the same interpretation.

However, explanations are useless, and with the help of some, the British have fallen into a strange circle of thinking: if the German battleships had a large range and perfect living facilities, then their purpose was to compete with Britain for colonies; If the German battleships had a short range and did not have well-developed living facilities, then they were specially designed to fight the British "near their doorstep".

If Germany concentrates on the construction of cruisers, then it is in order to cut off the lines of communication of the British; If Germany concentrated on building battleships, then it was for the annihilation of the main British fleet.

In short, no matter how the German designers designed, as soon as Germany builds new warships, then there will be only one object for which it will fight: Britain! They don't care whether the other side is building warships out of the normal needs of their own homeland defense, in short, as long as you build ships, you are a threat.

This argument is indeed the same as that of some of the nations that Jochen heard later generations shouting about the ships being built in the shipyards of other countries.

However, the British Royal Admiralty is not the only trick, the Earl of Selborne also has a trick in his hand to promote the German threat theory, and the two moves together are a powerful combination punch.

The "rigorous" Admiralty decided to conduct a "detailed" and "credible" investigation. (To be continued......)