Located on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, the Baltic Shipyard was founded in 1856 as one of the most important shipyards in the Russian Empire, and across the Neva River is another famous shipyard, the Admiralty Shipyard, founded in 1704.

The two shipyards now built the battleship Navarin, the great battleship Sisoy, and the Admiral Ushakov-class coastal defense battleship, respectively.

These battleships were not even dreadnought in Jochen's eyes, at best they were just remnants of the old ironclad era, not to mention the Brandenburg class, even the Electorals were confident enough to say that they were better than them. Today, however, Jochen was not here to see the battleship, accompanied by Nikolai, but to see Nikolai's new toy, a cruiser larger than the Brandenburg class.

But it didn't make sense for Jochen, because he knew that the Russians had started construction of a larger 13,000-ton cruiser of Russia this year, and the British had also started construction of two 14,000-ton Qiangsheng-class protection cruisers.

But so what? It was just as much a shame in front of Popper's new German Navy outfit, not to mention the bold rear piggyback design.

And the thing in front of him is even less worth mentioning, and he doesn't need to go up to see it, Jochen knows what this armored cruiser is.

"The armored cruiser Rurik, which started construction 4 years ago, is now basically completed, and will be able to join the Navy next year, and will be sent to the Pacific Fleet at that time, and then she will be the largest warship in the Far East." Nikolai's tone was full of pride, and there was a child who seemed to be eager to show off when he got a new toy.

Rurik (first generation) armored cruiser, Jochen looked at this thing with disdain, the tonnage is not small, the standard displacement is nearly 12,000 tons, the firepower is also good, 4 203 mm 35 times the diameter of the main gun and 16 152 mm secondary guns, the armor value is also great, the side armor belt uses Crusoe steel armor, the thickest point is up to 254 mm. It's cool to say, but when you actually see her, you know what it means to meet someone is not as good as being famous.

The battleship, which was built in 1890, actually had three Barker-type sail-mounted masts, well, if it wasn't for Jochen's intervention, the Germans would probably have this on their small cruisers, and considering that the Russians demanded that this thing have a range of more than 10,000 nautical miles, Jochen would no longer be bothered with sails.

Led by Nikolai, Jochen walked on the deck of the Rurik (the first generation) and complained in his heart as his cousin, who loved the navy, introduced the "powerful" battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy.

"Germany has developed extremely rapidly in the field of cruisers in recent years, and the two cruisers of your Far East Fleet are now called masterpieces by many people, and the cruiser that your country has just sold to the Japanese was also in the limelight during the war. I have heard of His Highness Joachim's naval attainments, so I am eager to hear what His Highness has to say about the Rurik, so that we can learn from them. Tirtorf, who was accompanying him, spoke on the sidelines of Jochen's visit.

Nikolaye, who was on the side, turned around and looked at Jochen with interest: "I almost forgot if you didn't mention it Tirtov, cousin Jochen, you are also from the navy, and you also have your own shipyard, tell me what you think." ”

"Do you really want me to say it?" Yoheng was a little tempted to excuse himself, and he really wanted to say that he was still finding fault everywhere.

"Of course, I can only hear reports from the designers of the Admiralty, and it is rare to hear the evaluation of naval officers from other countries." Nikolai said, and then added: "If you have any opinions, don't scruples, don't scruple if there is a problem with the design, you can only change it if you find a problem." ”

It's very generous, but if it really makes a mess of the Rurik, Nikolai won't make a face with me, but Tiltov and the others will probably suffer.

Anyway, if you have to put your face up and let me hit it, then I'm welcome, only when it hurts to be beaten, I don't know how to change, Jochen thought secretly. And if the Russians can realize that their design and shipbuilding capabilities are scum, then ordering from outside has become the best choice for the Russians.

Jochen didn't care about the proceeds of an order for one or two warships, arms deals have never been just about money, arms deals are often very political, and not only that, arms deals often represent a very close economic relationship between the two countries. Therefore, most of the Russian warships in history were made by the legal system, and most of the Japanese were British.

Therefore, if Germany can become the main supplier of warships purchased by the Russians, it will not only weaken the influence of the French on Russia, but also further develop trade between Germany and Russia.

When the Russians' attention shifted to the Far East, the French's attempt to get Russia to help share the pressure from Germany went bankrupt, and the Russians' strategic center of gravity shifted eastward, which would undoubtedly be in line with the British, so the Germans could breathe a sigh of relief when the Russians and Britain were fighting openly and secretly in the Far East.

However, Jochen was not prepared to play the role of a second emperor to advocate the theory of misfortune, and the best way to want the Russians to put the main force in the Far East was to start with the navy.

Helping the Russians get Arthur is only the first step, and if the Russians can be provided with first-class ocean-going ships, are the Russians ready to leave these ocean-going ships in small ponds like the Baltic or the Black Sea?

And now is a good opportunity to sell, and more importantly, the entry point is the cruiser, although Jochen can guarantee that the Brandenburg class can easily destroy these rags of the Russians in the actual engagement, but without the Battle of Tsushima, who knows that the large-caliber guns are actually not powerful. Maozi, who admired the aesthetics of violence, was certainly not interested in the little pipes of the Germans.

The cruisers were different, and in the Battle of Toshima and the Battle of Daitogou, the combination of armored cruisers and rapid-fire guns was now the focus of research for the navies of all the great powers. Nikolai now came to ask himself, apparently interested in the performance of a German-made armored cruiser that had been tested in real combat.

Then I'll open up to the Maozi today, Joheng thought, and then began to criticize: "Then I'll say it directly, and ask Your Excellency the Lieutenant General to bear with me if it doesn't sound good." ”

As soon as they heard this, Nikolai and Tiltov chuckled in their hearts, is this person really ready to criticize him fiercely?

They were worried, and Jochen began: "First of all, the speed of the voyage, the greatest result in this Sino-Qing War was the first guerrilla fleet composed of 5 high-speed warships of the Japanese, the Japanese organized these ships into a fleet, and used them separately, so the high-speed fleet had a very high initiative, and the disadvantage of the Qing fleet in speed was extremely passive in the engagement.

The speed of this Rurik is only 18 knots, which is not slow, but the Japanese Navy's Yoshino has a speed of 22.5 knots and the Izumi has a speed of 19.5 knots, so Rurik has an absolute advantage in tonnage, but in the event of a conflict, the initiative is not in the hands of Rurik.

If it's just a matter of speed, it has a huge tonnage and powerful firepower, and it can calmly deal with the battle like the two ironclad ships of the Qing Navy's Dingzhen. However, the Rurik apparently did not have the same level of armor as the Dingzhen 2nd ship.

Although the exact damage is not known, we have received information that the Dingzhen No. 2 ship was hit by more than 100 shells during the engagement, and the side of the hull was full of bullet marks.

Although the Rurik had waterline armor up to 254 mm thick, the height of its armor belt was obviously insufficient, and the overall protection area was not enough.

The main reason why the Hequan was able to perform well in the Battle of Dadonggou was that we reduced the thickness of the hull armor belt from the original design of 100 mm to 60 mm during the transformation, and the defensive power was not significantly reduced after the use of new armor plates, but the excess weight was used to expand the armor area above the main armor, so as to minimize the damage of high-explosive shells to these areas.

Another problem is the layout of the artillery, she actually uses a two-sided decentralized arrangement, which makes her lateral firepower only 2 203 mm naval guns and 6 152 mm naval guns, as a 12,000-ton battleship is simply a waste of tonnage.

The same tonnage can fully achieve lateral fire up to 8 doors 8 inches, 8 doors 6 inches, and a perfect cruiser with a speed of 21 knots comes out!

It can be said that the Rurik was outdated at the beginning of its design! ”

Listening to Jochen's words, Nikolai and Tiltov's faces became darker and darker, and by the time Jochen finished speaking, Nikolai's face was already ugly and could be angry at any time.

Seeing the crown prince's expression, Tirtov hurriedly asked Jochen as if he was about to be in trouble: "Your Highness Joachim, would it be too much of an exaggeration for you to say this?" With a displacement of 12,000 tons, it is simply impossible to achieve so much armament and power! ”

"Your Excellency, do you think this kind of thing can be joked about casually? I can tell you that the German Navy's upcoming 8,000-ton armored cruiser can achieve lateral fire with 6 210 mm guns and 4 150 mm secondary guns, cover all the hull in the middle of the hull with a thickness of 100 mm main armor belt, and can reach a speed of 21 knots, this design is from the designers of my shipyard. ”

Just revealing some basic numbers doesn't cause any leaks, so there is no need for Jochen to hide it. But it was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Nikolai and Tirtov. If the German Navy is really ready to build such a cruiser, it means that such a design can be realized, then that is to say, the Germans have achieved a complete crushing of the Rurik with a displacement of nearly 4,000 tons less! RS