With the announcement of the 3992 national defense budget of the Imperial Chinese Navy at the press conference of the Office of the Imperial Defense Department of the Chinese Empire, approving the construction of four super-dreadnought "Fu" battleships and four super-dreadnought "Ice" battlecruisers, the reactions of all countries in the world were mixed, but they were undoubtedly deeply shocked. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Nani? The Imperial Chinese Navy has started to build super-dreadnought battleships again? ”

"Yes, His Majesty the Emperor! The Chinese Empire openly declared that the performance of the Fury-class battleships was by far the most powerful battleship in the world, with a displacement of nearly 50,000 tons, 12 16-inch 50-diameter main guns, and a speed of 24 knots! There are also four Ice Ocean-class battlecruisers, equipped with the same main guns, and the speed is 27 knots! ”

Knowing that after the emperor heard the news, his legs suddenly weakened, and he was almost scared to pee.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, this is just the data of the propaganda of the Chinese Empire, and there is a lot of moisture!" Ito Hirobumi comforted the Emperor Mingzhi, but his heart was also extremely shocked.

Knowing that the emperor realized that he had lost his temper, he sighed: "Although there is moisture, it is not estimated to be large, this is the strength of the Chinese Empire, and we can't reach it!" ”

By now, knowing that the emperor had regretted being an enemy of the Chinese Empire.

The whole of Japan was subjected to the economic sanctions and military blockade of the Chinese Empire, which led to the misery of the people, the depletion of government revenues, and the desolation of the whole society, which made the future bleak.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, there is no way back for us now."

Ito reminded that he hoped that the emperor would cheer up, otherwise it would affect many officials and make them lose their fighting spirit.

Knowing that the emperor smiled helplessly, and now that he could only break the jar, he asked rhetorically, "Do you have any suggestions?" ”

Ito Hirobumi replied: "The Imperial Navy's current eight dreadnought-type battleships are no match for the super dreadnought battleships of the Chinese Imperial Navy, and for today's plan, we can only use the strength of the country to build our Hanoi-class battleships!" ”

Knowing that the emperor shook his head and said, "How many times have we built warships with the strength of the whole country, how can we have the money to build Hanoi-class battleships?" ”

"Yes!" Hirobumi Ito took a deep breath and said, "Declare to the United States, use customs duties as collateral, and at the same time give the Yokosuka Naval Base concession to the American Navy!" ”

"Baga! Are you going to betray the country? "Knowing that the emperor was suddenly furious, how many years have passed, Japan has finally gotten rid of its semi-colonial status, how can it betray the country again.

Ito Hirobumi knelt down and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, if any minister has the slightest way, he will not do this. In fact, we have no way out, the relations between the Entente and the Central Powers are becoming more and more tense, and the war may suddenly break out in the next moment, and our current naval strength will be destroyed by the Chinese Empire at the first time. But the Entente wants us to play the vanguard, and it is clear that we will be sent to death, and only if we completely fall to the United States, then the United States will help us! ”

Knowing that the emperor saw Ito Hirobumi kneeling, he was also taken aback and quickly calmed down.

In order to defeat the Chinese Empire, do you have to be an American dog?

Oh, yes! There is no choice!

"I'm tired, you can take care of it!"

Knowing that the emperor turned to leave, Ito Hirobumi was dumbfounded.

Nima, this is the rhythm of asking him to carry the black cauldron!

Sure enough, it's the emperor, it's yin and ruthless enough!

Although Ito Hirobumi guessed the emperor's tricks, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the Japanese Empire, without regrets.

Later, Ito returned to the Prime Minister's Office and summoned the U.S. Minister to Japan, and after many days of negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement between Japan and the United States.

Japan handed over all the tariffs to the United States and transferred the Yokosuka naval base to the American Navy, which was politically subordinate to the United States and militarily willing to be America's younger brother and pawn.

In exchange, however, the United States would need to provide Japan with a huge low-interest loan of at least $200 million to help Japan boost its economy and build the Hanoi-class superdreadnought battleships.

The White House, Grant, Roosevelt and others were discussing the huge military pressure brought by the Chinese Imperial Fury-class battleships and Bingyang-class battlecruisers, and the negotiating terms from Japan suddenly made them much easier.

"I propose to agree to Japan's terms, because if you get Japan's tariff rights, you will control Japan's finances, and if you get the Yokosuka naval base, you will be tantamount to adding an insurance. Although the Japanese Empire is our ally, we are not very relieved, after all, the Japanese are also Asian, and they have worshiped the ancient Chinese Empire for a long time, and there is a possibility of rebellion at a critical moment. But now if we get the Japanese tariffs and get a naval base near the Japanese capital, that will ensure that Japan doesn't turn back. ”

"I agree with Roosevelt! Planting a nail in Yokosuka is tantamount to creating a threat in the inland waters of the Chinese Empire, which will greatly reduce the maritime military pressure on the American Navy in the eastern Pacific. Ensuring that Japan was not defeated by the Chinese Empire was the key to preventing the Chinese Empire from attacking the United States with all its might. ”

Previously, Roosevelt spoke, and there were very few people who supported him.

But now that Roosevelt has become Grant's successor, both the military and the political, all kinds of smugglers have been slapping Roosevelt, and as long as Roosevelt's proposal is put forward, it will be supported by a large number of people.

Roosevelt smiled bitterly in his heart, the difference between before and after was really heaven and earth, and he couldn't stand it.

But he likes the feeling, high up, and it would be better if he could be the president of a dictatorship.

Roosevelt looked at Grant with hot eyes, Grant was old and in poor health, and sooner or later he would retire, and then the position of president would naturally be his own.

Grant saw Roosevelt's fanatical eyes, so he said, "Then we will build a steel fortress in Japan to ensure that it will never be destroyed by the Chinese Empire!" ”

Grant agreed, and Roosevelt was overjoyed.

Next, when Grant was tired, Roosevelt personally arranged for it.

Recently, Grant has been sleeping longer and longer, and everyone understands that Grant is really not good, so he attaches more importance to Roosevelt as his successor, as if he has treated Roosevelt as the new president.

Roosevelt soon signed an order agreeing to Japan's terms.

As a result, Japan and the United States reached the Edo Treaty, and the United States got its wish by obtaining Japan's tariff rights and Yokosuka naval base, and strengthened its control over Japan.

At the same time, Japan has finally become the younger brother of the United States, and the disadvantage is that the United States has since dictated the Japanese military and political affairs, and the advantage is that the American market is completely open to Japan, and Japan can get any military, civilian, technical, and financial help from the United States.

As far as the Japanese Navy is concerned, there has never been a perfect naval industrial system, because the Entente bloc is mainly white Europeans and Americans, and there is still a gap between the Japanese, so it will not completely open up all kinds of high technology to Japan, so that the Japanese Navy has always been able to import warship parts and components from European and American countries, and cannot achieve independent production.

Originally, Japan was poor, and the cost of importing various parts of warships from Europe and the United States was extremely high, which overwhelmed the Japanese.

Now that it has become a slave of the United States, the Japanese Navy can finally use the low-interest loans of the United States to purchase a full set of production equipment and technology from the United States.

Japan's labor is cheap, and building warships on its own soil is half the price of ordering warships in Europe and the United States, which makes Japan have the ability to build Hanoi-class battleships on its own for the first time.

Of course, the Japanese Navy did not have the money to build the Hanoi-class battleships into battlecruisers, because the latter was more expensive and the Japanese Navy did not have that much money. As a result, the Japanese Navy regarded the Hanoi-class as the first locally-built supercrossbow-class battleship.

This super-crossbow-class battleship is the name of the Japanese Navy's local translation of the Chinese Empire's super-dreadnought-type battleship, which is the super-dreadnought-type battleship tailored by Japan, and its combat effectiveness is between the super-dreadnought battleship and the dreadnought-type battleship.

The main reason for this situation is that the power system is not up to standard.

The Japanese Navy relied on the United States for technology, but the current steam turbine power in the United States was not enough, and even the American Navy itself had to use battlecruisers to pass off as battleships.

The 40,000-ton Hanoi-class battleships of the Japanese Navy could not reach the speed of at least 25 knots that a true super-dreadnought battleship should have, so they had to settle for the next best thing and reduce the speed of the Hanoi-class battleships to 21 knots of the Dreadnought-class battleships.

Since the Japanese Navy's current military preparations are for home defense, the requirements for speed are not high, and the 21-knots Hanoi-class battleships, with 14-inch guns and 12-inch armor, are barely suitable to resist a possible attack by the Imperial Chinese Navy in the coastal waters.

Every large-scale shipbuilding operation of the Chinese Empire Navy deeply stimulated the nerves of the Imperial Japanese Navy and frightened Japan from top to bottom.

Similarly, for the U.S. Navy, the pressure on the Imperial Chinese Navy to build ships is also extremely huge.

The same Pacific Ocean, with the Chinese Empire in the Western Pacific and the United States in the Eastern Pacific, has a long coastline that requires a strong naval force to protect.

In particular, in the direction of Ezo Tail, the main force of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy is stationed at Pearl Harbor, which is very close to the western coastline of the United States, threatening the security of the entire western region and forcing the American Navy to strengthen its naval forces in the Pacific direction.

Three years ago, when the Chinese Empire announced the start of the construction of the super-dreadnought-type battleship Thor battleship, the American Navy was forced to build four Mississippi-class battleships to deal with it.

In fact, the Mississippi class was not a battleship, but a battlecruiser with reduced armor weight in exchange for increased power.

However, even with the significant reduction in armor weight, there was still not enough space to install more heavy oil boilers, so a triple gun had to be removed, so that the Mississippi class actually had only three triple 15-inch 50-diameter guns.

Since then, the shipbuilding design of the American Navy has changed dramatically, no longer learning from the Chinese Empire to install four triple main turrets, but to three triple main turrets, and one turret has been eliminated at the rear, so that the space and displacement saved can be used to increase power.

Now, before the Mississippi-class battlecruisers were completed, the U.S. Navy was once again forced to start construction of a new class of super-dreadnought battleships to counter the Fury-class battleships of the Chinese Empire. During the same period, the Chinese Empire also began construction of four Bingyang-class battlecruisers, so the American Navy also had to start building four battlecruisers as a counterpoint.

Grant resolutely refused to admit defeat in this regard, and Roosevelt, who had just become vice president, also refused to admit defeat, and the two quickly approved a new round of naval shipbuilding budget for the American Navy.

This time, the American Navy was forced to build four South Carolina-class battleships and four Wyoming-class battlecruisers.

In fact, the four South Carolina-class are still battlecruisers, but the power of the steam turbines has increased, making the armor of the South Carolina-class thicker than that of the Mississippi class, and the steel plate material is much better than three years ago, which has greatly improved the armor defense capability, but compared with the armor thickness of the Imperial Chinese Fury-class battleships of the same period, it is still a lot worse.

However, the American Navy Arsenal also has merit, that is, they have once again succeeded in manufacturing a 16-inch 50 times diameter shipboard main gun barrel, although the life span is not as high as that of similar barrels in the Chinese Empire, but for the United States, it is already a huge surprise and glory.

Even the British Empire, the French Empire, and the Tsarist Russian Empire sent congratulatory telegrams one after another, congratulating the United States on its successful development of a large-caliber naval gun with a 50-fold barrel.

For a long time, the Chinese Empire has been ahead of Europe and the United States in gun barrel manufacturing technology, so that in previous naval battles, the 45 times the body of the European and American navies often suffered a big loss of 50 times the body of the Chinese Imperial Navy.

Because the British were too rigid, they did not imitate the Chinese Empire's barrel sleeve cannon technology, and always used the British traditional wire winding technology, so that the British Empire's naval guns were always 45 times the diameter, and suffered a great loss in the naval battle with the Chinese Imperial Navy.

The Americans are different, they are good at learning, and they can put down their self-esteem, secretly study the Chinese Empire's tube sleeve cannon manufacturing technology, after years of hard work, finally succeeded, developing a 50 times the diameter of the large-caliber barrel.

The U.S. Navy plans to install the MK92 main guns on the South Carolina-class and Wyoming-class battlecruisers, and the British Empire, the French Empire, and the Tsarist Russian Empire are also very interested, and have imported MK92 naval guns from the United States, and then installed them on their own super-dreadnought battleships.

The MK92 naval guns, to a certain extent, offset the impact of the Chinese Empire's start of construction of Fury-class battleships and Bingyang-class battlecruisers, and gave the Entente bloc hope of fighting the Chinese Empire at sea.

The British Empire then announced the start of construction of four Nelson-class battleships, the French Imperial Navy to start construction of six Denton-class battleships, and the Russian Imperial Navy to build six Nicholas I-class battleships, all of which used MK92 16-inch 50-diameter guns imported from the United States.

Why did the British Empire build only 4 ships, while the French Empire and the Tsarist Empire built six.

This was mainly due to the fact that the steam turbine technology of the Entente bloc was not up to par, and in the end it could only reduce the weight of the armor and build the super-dreadnought battleship into a super-dreadnought battlecruiser. As a result, the Entente had to use battlecruisers for future decisive battles of the main fleet, which could only be filled by numbers due to insufficient protection.

Therefore, under the pressure of Britain and the United States, the French and Tsarist Russian empires can only tighten their belts and increase the number of constructions, and at the same time, it is also because the French and Tsarist Russian empires have been pitted by the Chinese Empire before, and they are far behind in the number and tonnage of capital ships.

For both the French emperor and the tsar, both emperors wanted to save face, so they could only tighten their belts and invest huge sums of money in building ships.

When the news came back to the Chinese Empire, Li Weiguo was immediately happy.

The entire Entente bloc was led by the nose by him, spending huge sums of money and manpower to follow the Chinese Empire in a large-scale naval arms race.

The end result will be either a large-scale arms race, or a world war will break out.

And the Entente bloc used battle cruisers to pretend to be battleships, and in the event of a decisive battle, it would definitely suffer a big loss.

Whichever way the Entente Group chooses, it will be very painful. (To be continued.) )