On December 8, 3011 in the Tang calendar, in the palace of Merseca, the capital of the British Empire, August, the prime minister of the British Empire, said to Emperor Penelope in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, news has come out from the Sharad Empire, the Admiralty of the Sharad Empire has officially tendered to various shipyards in the Sharad Empire, preparing to build eighteen super dreadnought battleships and eighteen battle cruisers at the same time. ”

Emperor Penelope frowned and asked, "Is there any specific data on these two warships of the Shalad Empire?" ”

Prime Minister August then said: "Your Majesty, the super dreadnought battleship designed and built by the Admiralty of the Sharad Empire is called the Bull class, with five twin 45 times caliber 356 mm main guns, 305 mm side armor, a design speed of 21 knots, and a design displacement of 28,700 tons, while another battle cruiser is called the Woodpecker class, with four twin 45 times caliber 356 mm guns, 216 mm side armor, a design speed of 27 knots, and a design displacement of 30,500 tons. ”

Emperor Penelope nodded slightly and said: "It seems that the Bull class that the Sharad Empire is about to build is no longer inferior to our General Gelman class in terms of performance, and the Woodpecker class is also comparable to our fast class battle cruisers, by the way, how is the development of the 381 mm caliber naval gun?" ”

Prime Minister August shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to develop a 381 mm large-caliber naval gun, it will take some time for the scientific research department. ”

"The scientific research department hurry up, the Admiralty has confirmed that the six super dreadnought battleships of the Baron fleet of the Liuyun Empire are equipped with a caliber of 381 mm, and our Royal Navy Yingluoba, as the world's first navy, the next level of super dreadnought battleships, the caliber of the main guns must be 381 mm."

At this time, Prime Minister August hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, do you need to adjust the number of General Gelman-class and fast-class ships, and wait for the successful development of 381 mm large-caliber naval guns, and then build more super dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers?" ”

Emperor Penelope pondered for a moment and said, "If our Royal Navy wants to dominate the world's seas, we need not only the strongest battleships, but also a larger number of battleships. ”

Prime Minister Auguste couldn't help but gasp when he heard Emperor Penelope mention the "Final Four Standard".

The four-power standard proposed by the Imperial Admiralty of Yingroba means that the strength of the Royal Navy of Yingroba should not be lower than the naval power of any four naval powers combined, that is, the strength of the Royal Navy of Yingroba, which is at least equal to the combined strength of the second, third, fourth and fifth navies in the world.

Prime Minister August coughed and said: "Your Majesty, the difficulty of the top four standard is too great, if it is implemented according to this standard, the size of our Royal Navy of Yingluoba will have to at least double, which is almost impossible, and the empire's finances cannot bear it at all." ”

Emperor Penelope smiled and said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, I want to change the standard of the top four slightly, in the future, the number of super dreadnought battleships of our Royal Navy of Yingluoba, as well as the number of battle cruisers, can completely maintain the standard of the top four, as for other types of warships, they do not need to maintain the standard of the top four, but they must also maintain the advantage in numbers." ”

Prime Minister August smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, even if you just maintain the number of super dreadnought battleships and the number of battle cruisers to the top four standard, the pressure on the empire's finances is too great, although the Sharad navy, which is only ranked second in the world, has lost nine super dreadnought battleships one after another, and only three remain, but in the shipyard of the Sharad Empire, there are still eight knight-class super dreadnought battleships under construction, And the Sharad Empire will soon build eighteen more super dreadnought battleships and eighteen battle cruisers, not to mention the Noomi Navy that ranks third, the Monia Navy that ranks fourth, and the Gisk Navy that ranks fifth. ”

Emperor Penelope suddenly shook his head and said, "Prime Minister, the Gisk Navy should be excluded and the Baronial fleet should be added." ”

Prime Minister August's smile was even more bitter, "Your Majesty, it has been ascertained that the baron fleet should now have sixteen super dreadnought battleships, six of which originally belonged to the Sharad navy, and eight battle cruisers, the strength of that baron fleet is stronger than the Gisk navy, and if you measure it with the current strength, that baron fleet can even rank second among the world's navies." ”

The Royal Navy of Yingroba has twenty-four super dreadnought battleships in service, plus the Royal Anglopa Royal Navy's current 36 dreadnought battleships, 60 former dreadnought battleships and 72 ironclad battleships, so in terms of the size of the navy, the Royal Navy of Yingroba still ranks first in the world.

The corners of Emperor Penelope's mouth curled slightly, "It is precisely because it is difficult to maintain the four-strong standard of super dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers, so it is challenging, I know the situation of the empire's finances, and I will not let the empire's finances collapse for the sake of a four-strong standard, I will take out a part of the royal family's funds and invest in the construction of super dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers, Prime Minister, don't forget, twenty-four General Gelman-class super dreadnought battleships and twenty-four fast-class battlecruisers, But half of it was built at my expense. ”

As soon as Prime Minister Auguste heard the meaning of Emperor Penelope's words, he knew that it was impossible for Emperor Penelope to change his mind, "Since the royal family can also invest some funds, then the minister has no objection to the four-strong standard set by His Majesty, and if our Royal Navy Yingluoba can really maintain the standard of the top four, then our Royal Navy Yingluoba will become a well-deserved world naval hegemon, and it is the only one." ”

Emperor Penelope couldn't help but smile with satisfaction when he heard Prime Minister Auguste agree to the criteria set by him for the top four, "By the way, doesn't the entire Shalad Empire have a total of thirty-six docks of more than 30,000 tons?" Since the Sharad Empire still has eight Knight-class super dreadnought battleships under construction, how can the Sharad Empire build eighteen Bull-class super dreadnought battleships and eighteen Woodpecker-class battlecruisers at the same time? ”

"Your Majesty, according to the information obtained by the Admiralty, several shipyards in the Sharad Empire are preparing to renovate some of the twenty-five thousand ton docks so that they can be used to build Bull-class super dreadnought battleships and woodpecker-class battlecruisers."

Emperor Penelope nodded and said, "This method can also be used as a reference by our domestic shipyards." ”

After a pause, Emperor Penelope asked again: "Have you found out where the warships owned by the baron's fleet were made?" ”

Prime Minister August shook his head and said: "It still hasn't been found, not only our Yingluoba Empire hasn't found out, but other countries haven't found out, and the island shipyard claimed by Su Yi doesn't seem to exist at all." ”

Emperor Penelope frowned and said, "Let the Admiralty and the intelligence department continue to increase their search efforts, so many warships, and even super dreadnought battleships with 381 mm main guns, will not fall from the sky!" I'm very interested in that island shipyard! ”