"This is a perfect battleship!" At the berth of the British shipyard Earlehull, Shuzo Aoki finally saw the first-class protective cruiser recommended by the British to Japan!

This Edgar-class cruiser, formerly known as the George, was originally intended to equip the British Navy, but with a series of accidents, the Japanese fleet, which had suffered huge losses, urgently needed to replenish its strength, so the British directly resold the battleship that had just been completed and had not yet been put into service to Japan! And the cost of this warship with a displacement of up to 7,300 tons and the cost of returning to it is as high as 550,000 pounds!

"One 9.2-inch gun at the bow and one at the end, and 10 6-inch guns on either side. And at your request, 12 6-pounder guns were replaced with 12-pounder guns, and the protective armor of the gun emplacements was increased. After some improvements, the ship's firepower and defense have increased to a certain extent, but the range has decreased. Sir Watts on the side introduced.

"If Beiyang gets a Mainz-class armored cruiser, will the George be able to match the opponent?" Aoki Shuzo asked tentatively, after all, the news from the country made this matter more likely!

"The George's core module will not be destroyed by the 6-inch rapid-fire gun, but it is doubtful that it will be able to block the 280MML40 main gun. IT SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM IN A SHORT TIME, BUT AFTER A LONG TIME, I'M AFRAID IT'S HARD TO SAY, AFTER ALL, YOUR COUNTRY'S 260MM GUNS CAN'T PENETRATE MAINZ'S ARMOR EITHER. And the medium-caliber rapid-fire gun did not work well against the Mainz, which had a huge area of the armor belt. "Sir Watts is still very honest.

"Still, I believe in the warships and technology of the British Empire." Shuzo Aoki looked at Sir Watts, who was slightly embarrassed, and said euphemistically.

The war continued, and if the war was to be won, it was necessary to regain superiority at sea, and even if they were shy in their pockets, the Japanese gritted their teeth and regained the strength of their fleet. And in order to compensate for losses and cope with a possible increase in warships in the North Ocean. The purchase of a cruiser of the first rank was the first hand of the Japanese coping!

Watts's words were transmitted to the country by Shuzo Aoki intact, and this information obviously caused an uproar in the country! Many people feel that the price paid by Japan to balance its maritime power is too great!

"Since your fellow Army personnel think that the cost of the navy is too high, you should have the sappers build a pontoon bridge connecting Korea and Arthur. If I could, I would give all the military expenses of the Navy to the Army! Ito's words completely overwhelmed the grumbling generals in the army.

And the existing fleet is not enough, and after buying one, it is still not enough, so what to do? The answer given by Hirofumi Ito is simple! Keep buying! Until that's enough! But this world is big, but there seems to be only one place where you can buy a boat!

The German Munich-class armored cruisers were naturally excellent, they proved their strength with the record of the British and the blood of the Japanese Navy, although the Japanese wanted to buy it, but Germany did not sell it! Russia was able to do the same, and the French, thanks to Russia's diplomatic efforts, closed the door to Japan. What's more, because of the Sankei ship, Japan was not interested in the French battleship! Italy did not have newly completed warships, and at the same time Italy did not want to offend Germany and Russia. Then the only option is the UK!

I have to say that the British are still very interesting to their little brother! The day after the Japanese government offered to continue the purchase of warships, the British government withheld the Blancou ordered by Chile. The cruiser Enkaraka, which had only been launched on September 9, 1893, was outfitting, after the incident in May 1994.

(The author doesn't know when the cruiser arrived in Chile, but according to the events from the launch of the general second-class cruiser to the service, the process is about 1 year, so for the time being, the battleship is still in the United Kingdom, and it is about to be completed but not delivered to Chile.) ）

The British acted as intermediaries to coordinate negotiations between Chile and Japan on the purchase of the battleship. The British had a big face, and in the end this second-class protective cruiser, which was of the same type as Yoshino but significantly stronger than Yoshino, changed owners! The Japanese government finally bought back the battleship for a whopping £390,000!

And the Japanese government, which has two new dome cruisers, still feels a little bottomless, and before the official delivery, the Japanese are still considering whether they can replace these two battleships with one battleship! For example, the Centurion-class second-class battleships now deployed in the Far East are a good choice! After all, the price of these two battleships is equal to one battleship, and the latter has obvious advantages in firepower and defense, and the speed is not slow!

But this time, the British said they couldn't play anymore, or they didn't want to continue to take the blame for Japan! Some time ago, Britain and Russia and Germany had a very unhappy quarrel because of the Japanese issue! If you dare to sell a second-class battleship in active service at this time, wouldn't it be uncomfortable?

As a godfather, there is a limit to helping his godson! (For example, in history, when the Three Kingdoms intervened to return Liao, the British decisively shrunk!) Didn't you see that the British sold you the first two cruisers on the sidelines? Didn't even row the battleships in service directly! Instead, choose a battleship that is almost complete and has not yet entered service!

But even so, the British tried their best to meet the needs of the Japanese, and the larger ships were really nowhere to be found, so they had to find smaller ones! After rummaging through the shipbuilding lists of various shipyards, the British finally found another small ship!

The second-class protective cruiser, named the Brave, was part of the Apollo class. With a displacement of 3,400 tons, an output of 9,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of 20 knots, and the firepower of two 6-inch guns, six 4.7-inch guns and eight 6-pounder guns, this battleship was completed in 1894 and was also intended for the British Navy, and the result was directly assigned to the Japanese Navy!

So after some effort, the Japanese spent almost 1 million pounds to order 3 cruisers! Some people may ask, does the Japanese government have so much money? The answer, of course, is yes, people have been preparing for this war for more than ten years! There are about 150 million yen in the military budget and budget alone! At that time, the ratio of the pound to the yen was about 1 to 9! It is also possible for the Japanese government to come up with 1 million pounds. What's more, with the support of the United States and Britain to buy Japan's foreign debt, as long as it can win, everything will be fine!

The Japanese not only purchased a large number of warships, but also replaced all the guns of the first-line main battleships with new rapid-fire guns. And after the replacement of guns, the combat effectiveness of these old ships also soared!

And after having a lot of new ships in hand, the Japanese Navy is also angry, and the Takachiho, which originally belonged to the guerrilla fleet in history, has been difficult to enter the eyes of the Japanese Navy's top brass, and the speed of this battleship in the 80s is too slow! So the new fast fleet is completely composed of 3 new ships and 1 Yoshino! After suffering a setback, the Dongying Demon Sword stood up and walked to the battlefield again!

"Ready to go?" Ruprecht said as he looked at Hipper, who had come to leave behind him.

"Yes, the Mainz has been handed over to the Beiyang Naval Division, and I will go to Arthur with the ship. I'd love to teach those Japanese dwarfs a lesson! Hipper said with high spirits.

"You are very optimistic, remember, second, after the battle of the fleet, you must persuade Yang Yonglin to follow our pre-formulated strategy. Thirdly, the battleship must not fall into the hands of the Japanese. Mainz's fame comes from the slaughter of the Japanese fleet, so you get the idea. In addition, this is also the meaning of His Majesty the Emperor and the Admiralty. The prince said solemnly.

"There are only two outcomes for Mainz: victory and sinking, there will be no third outcome!" Hipper said. A battleship that can be said to have opened a new history of the German Navy could not fall into the hands of its former enemies!

"So what's the first point? You seem to have forgotten the most important point! ”

"Do your best to keep you and your men safe! This is just an experiment, and in the future, you and your fleet will take part in a battle at sea that can change the whole world! Every officer and sailor of the German Navy is the most valuable asset, more precious than the Mainz! Ruprecht said earnestly.

"This sounds exciting, but it's too far away, can you do something real?" If Ruprecht is generally before the king, then this one is obviously an exception, even if he is noble, and even has received more than ten years of royal education and edification, Ruprecht seems to be farther away from the word king! And as the adjutant who accompanies him, Hipper is also very casual in private.

"In 3 years, how about the first mate of a certain cruiser?" Ruprecht asked. "As long as you can come back!"

"Are you kidding?" Hipper's face was a little embarrassed and he said.

"Whatever you want!" Ruprecht waved his hand to signal that the other party could leave.

And just after the armored cruiser Mainz left the formation, lowered the Black Eagle flag of the German Navy, and raised the dragon flag of the Northern Fleet, the first German transport ships loaded with supplies and personnel of the Blue Army have also arrived in Vladivostok.

Leading the Blue Legion this time was an old subordinate of His Royal Highness the Prince, Feng . Lieutenant Colonel Calyput, this guy had fought with the Prince and the Prussians, and had also led the infantry to charge against the French platoon guns in the Franco-Prussian War, and his performance was generally good, with rich experience in actual combat, and at the same time he was more sensitive to new things. As a lieutenant colonel, it is absolutely fine to command a force of no more than 3,000 men.

The conflict between Germany and Japan did not disperse the war clouds that permeated the Far East, and after the crisis was over, it was time to come back! When the three cruisers ordered by Japan finally arrived on the Japanese mainland, the countdown to the Sino-Japanese War was re-entered, but unlike history, the war, which was supposed to break out in July, was postponed by two months! During this time, both Beiyang and Japan are doing their best to prepare.

However, unlike in history, it was not only the Qing and Japan that were preparing to meet each other this time, because of some accidents and under the deliberate guidance of Ruprecht, Russia and Germany intervened in the situation in the Far East earlier than in history, and at the same time the means were more intense!

"I've made a different Jiawu, what will happen in the future, it's really exciting!" Ruprecht said this in his heart as he watched the armored cruiser Mainz leave.

A 3000-word update, it's also a chapter and a half, everyone looks at the side of the effort to update, can you give more support?