"It's been a long time, and the most fundamental purpose of this meeting is to announce the establishment of the Naval Armament Department." When Wilhelm II announced his decision, the three senior Admiralty officials realized that the crown prince was ready to dismiss the meeting, and they rose to take their leave. And when Ruprecht was about to flash people, he was left behind, and then went to the crown prince's study with Prince Heinrich.

"What is there to analyze in this war? A second-rate navy defeated a third-rate navy. I'd love to see Nikki's face now, and he must be in a good mood after being beaten up by the Japanese in the Far East. Crown Prince William gloated.

"Your design of the Asama is indeed very good, but I feel that it is not enough, not only the takeaway battleship, but also the four Mainz-class armored cruisers we are building. We need better warships. As a next-generation fast armored cruiser. ”

"This plan was supposed to be delayed for a long time, but because now the political situation has changed, and the Americans are willing to pay for us, so I want to speed up this plan, I know you must have an idea, tell me about it!" Wilhelm II said with some excitement.

The inertia of history, looking at the performance of the emperor in front of him, Prince Ruprecht sighed in his heart, the so-called nature of the country is easy to change, Wilhelm II still has to take the original path, and the naval dream in his heart has not only not weakened with the passage of time, but has strengthened on the contrary!

However, the situation is somewhat different now and historically, because of the conflict between the United States, Britain and Japan, the United States and Japan will become mortal enemies in advance, and the relationship between the United States and Britain is enough that they will not improve for 20 years. Then if the United States is at least neutral, then Germany is more likely to win the First World War, if it can win, at least its own throne can be retained, but what to do in the future?

"Forget it, let's talk about it later, history is developing in a good direction after all, isn't it?" The prince decided to put this matter aside for now, and he now had another very important thing to do - to build a battlecruiser with some experimental nature!

"There are indeed some ideas, the tonnage of the Mainz-class armored cruisers is not big enough, the speed is not fast enough, and the firepower is not strong enough, these are problems, but as long as you can solve the problem of money, then everything is not a problem." I have a pretty good relationship with the crown prince, and it doesn't matter if I make some innocuous jokes.

"You know the Deutschland, right? In terms of planning, we intend to give him a speed of more than 19.5 knots, which seems to be quite fast now, but it will soon fall behind the times, and more importantly, the existing power system will soon fall behind. ”

"There will be no breakthrough in steam turbines in the short term, but we can consider improving the boiler, kerosene mixed boiler, the same mass of heavy oil has a higher calorific value, and the transportation is also more aspect, usually the battleship can use coal when cruising, and at high speed when the oil is added. After using the new kerosene mixed boiler, the weight, system and cost of the boiler under the same power will be greatly reduced, which is a good choice from the perspective of cost performance. Prince Ruprecht said.

"But there is no other oil-producing area on the European continent except Romania, so it is nothing in peacetime, but if it is wartime, I am afraid it will be a little difficult." Prince Heinrich, who was sitting on the sidelines, said. In times of war, the country's natural resource endowment should be taken into account. Germany does not have oil fields, Austria has a little, but it is a drop in the bucket, the only oil field is in Romania, and subject to the sad geographical environment, Germany's control of the sea is very poor, and the road to purchase is likely to be cut off, so it is necessary to be cautious about using heavy oil as fleet fuel.

"So we must win over Romania, their national strength is not worth mentioning, but the fuel they have is very important, and the fuel is only used at high speeds, the actual consumption is average, we can build up fuel reserves to cope with the consumption of short- and medium-term wars. Of course, the most important thing is that the mixed burning of kerosene on battleships is a trend! Inevitable trends. Prince Ruprecht said. Crown Prince William nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"The problem with power is that the existing steam engine plus a kerosene boiler, and the specific layout of the battleship can be seen as a Caesar. An elongated version of the Emperor-class battleship. A total of 3 twin 12-inch guns, the power is increased, and the armor is moderately weakened to 9 inches. If you feel that the weight and cost are still unacceptable, you can cut the armor of the Gun Gallery. You can think of this class of battleships as a high-speed version of the German-class battleships. Our speed requirements are more than 23 knots, and the tonnage may reach about 18,000 tons. "Prince Ruprecht said the specific indicators of the battleship.

"It's a very good battleship, and if you can explain the detailed plan, I'll be convinced by you." At this time, the crown prince calmed down.

"Steam turbines and kerosene boilers can be used first on large cruise ships, with fewer operators and a cleaner environment that will satisfy passengers and reduce labor costs, with just a little policy tilt."

"Building a 18,000-ton warship is really difficult for Germany now, after all, our Deutschland is only 15,000 tons. But it doesn't matter, this risk can be borne by the Russians for us, and a large number of experimental problems of equipping kerosene mixed boilers can also be handed over to the Russians. The prince said with a smile.

"Restoring relations with the Russians again? The magic of money is so great. Crown Prince William teased.

"No, no, no. It was my battleship that was so good that under the threat of those steel behemoths, they decided to send me money. The prince corrected.

"Looks like you're busy again." After taking a sip of coffee, the crown prince continued to ask, "So what about the Japanese?" It seems that the trade between Bavaria and the Japanese is about to be severed completely. That's a loss. ”

"It's a political necessity, and although the American military is terrible, the United States is better suited as an ally of Germany than Japan. And as a condition for the alliance, some overtures are necessary. Of course, this is in exchange for the equal benefits of the Americans. ”

"As for my loss? I'm going to get it back from the Russians! The prince said unconcernedly. Because he knew that the pressure on the Russian Far East Fleet from these 4 Asama-class cruisers was really too great! The Russian Navy must build a presence that can compete with this fast fleet, and now with American financial support, the Russians can actually ignore the French when it comes to arms purchases.

Thanks to the boy who loves to read historical novels, bighill1982, Fang Zhan 2004, and the sea has a side for the reward~~~! As well as book friends sxw010, Wan Jianxin, Bai Yi is burying love, quitting smoking this year, and winning midnight monthly pass support~~~! Ask for subscription, ask for tips~~~! If there are more subscriptions today than yesterday, then tomorrow three will be more !! (To be continued.) )