After the war of invasion of China ended in failure in 1915, Terauchi Masayi and other high-ranking Japanese politicians changed their original hard-line and arrogant policy toward China to a soft hand, and tried to set up agents in China and control the Chinese government by means of money and peaceful infiltration, so as to achieve the goal of controlling China. This policy has been decided a long time ago, but just now Nishihara Kamezo heard a strong smell of blood from Katsuta's words.

"Our plans now need to be adjusted." Master Katsuta saw the doubts in Nishihara Kamezo's heart and explained, "Shina is too big for Japan, and the current Shina government is not enough to command the whole country, so our control of the Shina government is only one aspect of the annexation of Shina. ”

"I know, you mean that a divided and turbulent China is more in line with Japan's interests." Nishihara Kamezo understood the meaning of Katsuta's plan, "If you want to conquer the world first, you must first conquer China, and if you want to conquer China, you must conquer Manmeng." Manchuria-Mongolia is the lifeline of Japan, and the split of China is the best chance for Japan to get Manchurian and Mongolian. ”

"This is also the reason why Terauchi-kun was willing to risk the world's condemnation instead of sending troops to Siberia during his lifetime." "It's a pity that there are so many stupid guys in the country who can't see this, or don't want to see this. ”

Thinking of the talent and foresight of Masachi Tsuchi, Nishihara Kamezo couldn't help but sigh again.

"Now China is on the verge of splitting." "For us, it's both an opportunity and a challenge. ”

"Yes, with my understanding of Duan Qirui, that is, he can complete the unification of China and establish a strong China government, and at that time, I am afraid he will not easily accept our control." Nishihara Kamezo said.

"Exactly." "We have a relationship with him that uses each other, and he knows this very well, and this is stronger than his son. ”

"Duan Qirui's influence on the China Navy is limited, but his influence on the China Army is more than that of Yang Shuoming, China is different from Japan, it is not a naval country, and the influence of the Navy on the government is far less than that of the Army." Nishihara Kamezo said, "But that Yang Shuoming has strong financial resources, has the support of the Americans, and also has a strong army in his hands, and it is difficult to distinguish the victory or defeat in a short period of time in the battle between them." ”

"As long as they fight. No matter who wins in the end, there will be a very big loss of strength. At that time, the government of China will not have the strength to resist us. "Now that the Shina Navy has posed a real threat to Japan, the Japanese Navy needs time to get more powerful warships to deal with them. ”

"Yes, we have a strong shipbuilding industry and excellent design talents, and the people of China do not have them to buy such a battleship from the United States, but it is impossible for them to build such a battleship themselves" Nishihara Kamezo said this, and his face suddenly appeared with an extremely confident light, "There are some things that can not be bought with money"

At this moment, in a design room of the fourth department of the Japanese Ship Administration Headquarters, the two people are engaged in a heated argument.

"Judging from the data we know now, the battle cruiser design of the Shina Navy is very advanced, and it can almost be regarded as a kind of fast battleship" Kikuo Fujimoto, who had just come to work in the fourth department of the ship administration headquarters, pointed to the simple drawings on the table and said, "This design represents the future development trend and is worthy of our reference."

Those sketches depict none other than the Glory-class battlecruisers of the Chinese Navy.

"The battleships and battlecruisers of the China people are designed with triple main guns, although it is conducive to strengthening the defense, but its projectile dispersion is too large, and the hit rate is very affected, which has been proven in naval battles" A trace of anger flashed in the eyes of the director of the planning department, Hiraga Jean, "Our latest first-class battleship must not adopt such a design"

Hearing that Hiraga Jean was still stubbornly insisting on his opinion, Fujimoto Kikuo couldn't help but be very annoyed, but he still forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and did not attack.

For the famous "Pinga do not let" of the Ship Administration Headquarters, the newcomer Fujimoto Kihisao can be regarded as a teacher.

It is difficult for Kikuo Fujimoto to understand why Hiraga turned a blind eye to the merits of such a mature design, which had already been battle-tested in the Battle of the Celtic Sea, and had to adopt a twin-mounted turret arrangement of "pure British blood". ,

In all the naval battles that took place in World War I, from the Battle of Falkland and the Battle of Dogger Sandbank to the Battle of Jutland in Britain and Germany, the battle cruiser proved to be of great value, and the Japanese Government revised the new imperial defense policy promulgated in 1907 and put forward a new plan for the "88th Fleet." According to this plan, the Japanese Navy will not only experience great changes in the number of warships, but will also experience innovation and leaps in naval shipbuilding technology.

As early as February 1911, Britain handed over a complete set of drawings for the battlecruiser "Kongo" to Japan, and on this basis, the Japanese side began the construction of the "Super Crossbow" class ships. Nine months later, the first Japan-built superballista, the Hiei, was built at the Yokosuka Naval Yard, and in order to train the experience of private shipyards, the subsequent "Haruna" and "Kirishima" were also handed over to the Kawasaki Kobe Shipyard and the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard respectively, which was also the first time that a Japanese private shipyard built a capital ship.

From 1909 to 1911, the "New York" class battleships equipped with five twin 14-inch guns and the "Nevada" class battleships equipped with triple turrets appeared in the US Navy's shipbuilding program, while the British Navy was building "King George V" class and "Iron Duke" class battleships equipped with five twin guns. The battleships of various countries have shown a trend of becoming larger, increasing their speed, and strengthening their main guns. In this environment, the Japanese side used the drawings of the "Kongo" class battlecruisers to "turn them into battleships" and built four "Fuso" class battleships equipped with 12 main guns for the first time. During the construction of the "Fuso" class battleships, the Japanese Navy consulted the British Vickers Company, and among the plans provided by the Vickers Company, there was a design plan for a triple main gun. If this plan can be realized, the Fuso-class battleships will be equipped with triple main guns for the first time in the Japanese Navy. The advantage of using a triple main gun was that it could strengthen the defense, but the projectile dispersion was too large and the hit rate was not high, so it was rejected by the Japanese Admiralty. After repeated discussions by the Japanese Navy's Ship Administration Headquarters, it was finally decided to adopt a 14-inch main gun, six twin turrets, and a configuration along the centerline of the hull. However, what the Ship Administration Headquarters did not take into account was that as the number of turrets increased, the armor belt that needed to be defended was also extended, and the No. 3 and No. 4 turrets and their ammunition depots crowded in the middle occupied part of the boiler and main engine space, resulting in the low speed of the "Fuso" class battleships and the excessively long parts that needed to be protected. For example, the main armor belt of the "King Kong" class battlecruisers only accounts for 33 of the length of the waterline, while the "Fuso" class battleships actually account for 60, and the "Fuso" class is 9.2 meters shorter than the "King Kong" class.

Although the Ship Administration Headquarters later made some improvements to the "Fuso" class battleships, the "Fuso" class battleships and later the "Ise" class battleships that blindly pursued the number of turrets were still unsuccessful designs. The reason why the Ship Administration Headquarters is aware of its shortcomings but still pursues the number of main turrets is related to the progress of the shipbuilding of its main hypothetical enemy, the United States. Because starting with the first class of battleships of the "New York" class with 14-inch guns, the US Navy built new ships at an average rate of two ships per year: 2 ships of the "Nevada" class (planned in 1911), 2 ships of the "Pennsylvania" class (planned in 1912-1913), 3 ships of the "New Mexico" class (planned in 1914), and 2 ships of the "Tennessee" class (planned in 1915). The Japanese shipbuilding industry simply does not possess such a powerful shipbuilding capability, so the Japanese Navy wants to make up for the "lack of quantity" with "qualitative superiority". However, it was not a long-term solution to compete with the U.S. Navy by simply carrying more main guns, so in the third year of Taisho (1914), the Japanese Navy began to discuss plans to upgrade the main guns of battleships again.

At that time, the Japanese Navy considered adopting two options, 15-inch and 16-inch main gun calibers, and 15-inch was the newest main gun caliber for British Navy battleships. Considering the factors of the main gun development and ship construction cycle, Japan may have fallen behind by the time the gun of the same scale was produced, so the Ship Administration Headquarters finally decided to upgrade the main gun to 16 inches in one step. At that time, Japan already had the experience of making its own 12-inch and 14-inch guns, so it was also full of confidence in the manufacture of 16-inch guns. Vice Admiral Kaizo Yamamoto of the Shipbuilding Headquarters served as the chief designer of the "Nagato" class battleship, the first ship of the "88th Fleet", and Hiraga Jean, who was known as the "god of Japanese design", also participated in the design of the "Nagato" class, and the main gun of the "Nagato" class was trial-produced by the Kure Naval Factory, and because the gun was finalized in 1914 (the third year of Taisho), it was named the "three-year 45 caliber 16-inch gun". ,

Since the Ise and Fuso classes were still based on the blueprints of British warships, the Nagato-class, which was entirely designed by Japan, was regarded as "the first class of warships of pure Japanese origin". Since Japan did not know at the time that the U.S. Navy had built Maryland-class battleships with 16-inch guns and Republic-class battleships under construction for the Chinese Navy, the Nagato-class was primarily designed to surpass the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleships in terms of firepower and speed.

In the spring of 1916, the design of the "Nagato" was completed, and at this time, the United States announced its ambitious naval shipbuilding plan, planning to build 16 capital ships equipped with 16-inch guns, with a total tonnage of up to 800,000 tons. Once this plan is realized, the Japanese Navy will have no place in the Pacific. So in July 1918, Hiraga Jean began the design of the second type of battleship of the "88th Fleet" based on the blueprint of the "Nagato" class, that is, the "Kaga" class battleship. The Kaga-class battleships were basically a large-scale version of the Nagato-class battleships, with a twin turret added behind the chimney and a flat-deck version of the Nagato-class long bow ship.

In terms of power, the US Navy's battleship "New Mexico" was the first capital ship to adopt the electric drive method of steam turbine driven generator, which attracted great attention from the Japanese Navy's Ship Administration Headquarters. According to the data released by the US Navy at that time, the "New Mexico", which adopted this drive method, obtained the result of an output of 27,000 shaft horsepower and a speed of 21 knots with this power method. After calculations by the Ship Administration Headquarters, it was found that if the "Kaga" class also adopted the same drive method, it could achieve the effect of 70,000 shaft horsepower and knots. While maintaining maximum speed, the cruising range is 2500 nautical miles; It has a cruising range of 7,000 nautical miles at 14 knots. On the other hand, if the steam turbine acceleration and reduction gear drive method like the "Nagato" class is adopted, its output power is 95,000 horsepower, and the top speed can be reached, but the cruising range is 1,500 nautical miles less, only 5,500 nautical miles.

After repeated trade-offs, the Ship Administration Headquarters decided to pursue maximum speed at the expense of endurance, so the traditional drive method was adopted. The "Kaga" is planned to use the "Parsons" type steam turbine manufactured by the Kawasaki Kobe Shipyard, and the "Tosa" will use the steam turbine built by the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, which is modeled after the third-rate steam turbine of the American "Westinghouse" company, after Japan ordered four units from the United States for use on the "Nagato" class battleships. However, the Ship Administration Headquarters still did not give up the idea of trying new power, and Hiraga Jean duly proposed the "turbine-electric" drive method, that is, using one generator and two electric motors from General Electric of the United States, but after testing, it was found that the generator-motor unit was expensive, and the weight was much larger than the gear reducer.

Hiraga Jean was born in Tokyo on March 8, 1878, his father Momozaemon was a naval comptroller, his brother Tokutaro was a naval officer, influenced by his family, Hiraga Jean was very interested in warship design, in July 1901, Hiraga Jean graduated from the Tokyo Imperial University University of Engineering Shipbuilding Department Chief, entered the Navy as a shipbuilding technician, in 1902 participated in the towing of the "Musashi" and "Yaeyama" on the reef near Nemuro Port in Hokkaido, due to Hiraga Jean's meticulous and precise calculation ability, it played a great role in the off-reef towing operation, Since then, Hiraga has made a name for himself. On January 27, 1905, he was appointed to England to study at the Greenwich Naval Academy, and returned to China on January 26, 1909.

Born in Ishikawa Prefecture on January 12, 1881, Kikuo Fujimoto graduated from the Shipbuilding Department of the Faculty of Engineering of Tokyo Imperial University in 1911. In 1917, he went to England as a shipbuilding supervisor to study shipbuilding technology. In 1920, he returned to Japan and joined the Fourth Department of the Ship Administration Headquarters, where he participated in the design of the Nagato-class battleships, the Kaga-class battleships, and the Amagi-class battlecruisers in the "88th Fleet" program.

In the Ship Administration Headquarters, Jean Hiraga and Kikuo Fujimoto often quarreled. Hiraga has adhered to a tough attitude of rational principles and personal convictions, and has not only always argued with reason in the face of the demands of the military leadership, but also did not easily compromise when communicating with other departments such as military construction (artillery, torpedoes), machinery (engineering), and electrical engineering. And although Fujimoto Kikuo's resume is similar to that of his predecessor Hiraga Jean, he is very different from Hiraga Jean in terms of design ideas. Kikuo Fujimoto is passionate about adopting new technologies, and has studied how to defend against attacks by new weapons such as torpedoes, submarines, and aircraft, often coming up with new ideas that have never been heard of before. As a result, there was a deep contradiction with Hiraga Jean, who insisted on classical design. ,

And this time, the contradiction between the two is concentrated in the design scheme of the "Amagi" class battlecruiser.

The designer of the "Amagi" class battlecruisers was also Hiraga Jean. Compared to the battleships of the "Kaga" class, it can be seen as a version of the battlecruisers of the "Kaga" class. The main armor belt and defensive deck armor of the Amagi class were thinner than those of the Kaga-class battleships (which is understandable, since the original design required battlecruisers). In terms of the defense method of the "Amagi" class, Hiraga changed the British structure of the previous Japanese battleships, canceled the horizontal armor belt that covered the main engine room and extended below the waterline on the broadside, and at the same time tilted the main armor belt of the broadside inward by 18 degrees to achieve higher resistance at the same thickness. According to Hiraga's design, the Amagi-class battle cruisers will also adopt the "wheel-electric" drive method he has always dreamed of, and will be able to achieve 105,000 shaft horsepower and 28 knots.

The adoption of the "wheel-electric" drive was Hiraga's personal wish, but this time it was opposed by Kikuo Fujimoto, who preferred the new design, and the Ship Administration Headquarters, out of distrust of the "wheel-electric" drive, finally rejected Hiraga's opinion, and the "Amagi" class would still use the traditional drive method.

At this time, Fujimoto Kikuo did not know that the influence of the beam he had formed with Hega Rang would accompany him for the rest of his life.

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