"So, I think that in order to be able to completely suppress the Japanese Asama-class armored cruiser formations, we need a more formidable armored cruiser formation, and the third product of the Bavarian Ship Design Bureau is very good! It seems to me that this is no longer a cruiser or a battleship, but should be given a new name, which we can call a battlecruiser or a fast battleship! ”

If the traverser were here, he would have been taken aback by Makanov's answer! And sighed, "Ah, it turns out that this is how the title of this plane battlecruiser came out!" ”

"Mr. Vice Admiral, then you think we need a couple of new armored cruisers. Or what you call a battle cruiser? Roger Stevensky on the side thought for a moment and asked.

"If that Spanish battleship is completely repaired, then we need at least four! Otherwise it will be difficult for us to match the Japanese armored cruisers. ”

Makanov made this view, but he took into account the poor quality of the Russian navy, and the naval battle of the Sulu Sea not only caused tons of damage to the ambitions of the Americans, but also made the Russians realize their own problems in the quality of personnel. The will to fight is not strong enough, and the middle and low-ranking officers lack subjective initiative. Some of the senior officers are mixed, others are mediocre, and a small number of enterprising officers are dragged down by the first two and cannot be used.

Makanov recognized the various institutional and personnel problems in the Russian Navy, but he did not have the conditions to change them. Then the only way is to strengthen the equipment, if you don't have that Spanish battleship, then 3 against 4 is okay, but if you add the Carlos, it's different! 3 to 5! That's twice the difference. Of course, the Russians still have the Bayan, but the Japanese also have 2 second-class protected cruisers. Moreover, the gap between Bayan and his ilk and those giant beasts of more than 10,000 tons is too large, and its role is very limited.

If you think about it again, Japan may get more and stronger armored cruisers, then this is not the end of the matter! So Makanov's opinion is to simply buy 4 ships at once, which can not only break the diplomatic relationship, but also fight against the Japanese cruiser formation, and if necessary, join the battle line and fight the opponent! And this suggestion, the officers on the field also agreed, and the only question is, what about the money? 4 battleships, each with an average of 1.8 million pounds, that's 7.2 million pounds! It's going to kill someone! Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte is expected to jump off the building in fright?

"Actually, our cost is not so much, the Americans have already paid more than 3 million pounds for leasing our battleships, and the price of 1.8 million pounds is not impossible to fall. From an economic point of view, it is a good deal for us to make up for the financial gap of new ships with three obsolete warships. ”

"And after this war, the United States and Britain and Japan are completely at hostility, and in order to deal with the common enemy, the Americans can only support us. So we will have better conditions to get a loan, and now we are not the only French to choose from! Damn the French, they took away the fruits of victory that belonged to us with money! "Makanov didn't forget to curse the damned Frenchman until the end.

Makanov's words were supported by most of the people present, even those aristocratic officers who were messing around, no way, Makanov's qualifications were old enough and his level was high enough to be regarded as a pillar of the Russian Navy. The future Russo-Japanese War and naval battles will depend on him. On some non-critical issues. Everyone is still willing to give him a face, after all, most of the people in this room may have to work under him in the future.

"From a military point of view alone, you are very right, and I support us buying more advanced ships from the Germans, but the problem is that even if we don't have any financial problems, we will still crowd out our ships that we would otherwise use for other projects. Everyone knows very well that if we were to spend a lot of money on additional warships, the original plan would be disrupted. So how to solve the contradiction in this? "Roger Stvensky asks a very sharp question!

"yes, it's a very serious problem, we're going to redesign our naval expansion program, and I'm more worried about what we're going to do if the Japanese get the first thing before we're ready?" Makanov raised another, more serious problem.

In the eyes of the Russians, the Japanese are too unparticular about fighting, they don't declare war before the opening of the film, they don't say anything, as long as they are ready, they will start fighting directly without saying a word! (Nonsense, wait until you're ready, and then fight?) And now for both countries, Japan is preparing completely faster than the Russians. The reason is very simple, Japan can now expand its armaments and war, and the Russians must first do a good job of infrastructure construction.

So, from the point of view of the overall strategy, the Russians will certainly not be fully prepared, and the entire deployment will be even worse. The navy is divided into two very distant bases, and the army will have a certain advantage in numbers, but the supply situation will be very worrying. Moreover, the army will be scattered in various places in the northeast, and it will be easily broken by the Japanese troops coming from Korea.

Of course, the navy is not in charge of the army's affairs, but there is still no good way for the navy to solve its geographical disadvantages and to formulate a strategy in light of Japan's new situation. After all, there have been too many changes, the enemy's situation has changed, and the expansion of their own naval armaments has also changed, so the direct result is that the original plan is invalid, let's reformulate it!

So now the question is, who will make the decision on such a big matter? Naturally not from the Admiralty! This kind of thing must be told to the Russian emperor, and then let all the Russian masters determine it. Don't talk about the plan or anything, let's settle the matter of the battleship first.

Looking at Parodin's offer for a new ship from Germany, the tsar was also very entangled, the Russians would not stop entering the Far East, and they had to defeat the Japanese, who were stronger and stronger. And to defeat the Japanese, you need to buy German battleships, you need more money! There is no problem with all the previous inferences, but the final result makes His Majesty the Tsar very entangled! Now the tsar even thought about it, if the other party can be cheaper, it is okay to sell a daughter, anyway, there are a lot of German genes in the tsar's bloodline.

"Let Parikin keep the price as low as possible, and he can agree to the Germans in other ways in exchange for a reduction in the price of the battleship." In the end, His Majesty the Tsar came up with such a solution!

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