At the Tongzhou test artillery range, accompanied by Liu Xuezheng, director of the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, Li Weiguo ascended the lookout.

There is a row of high-powered telescopes that can clearly see the test range several kilometers away.

"Let's get started!"

Liu Xuezheng saw that Li Weiguo couldn't wait, so he immediately dialed the phone number of the shooting range and ordered to start the test gun.

The artillery used for experiments today is a large-caliber shipborne main gun developed by the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, which has a caliber of 330 mm and a diameter of 45 times, and uses the highest grade No. 17 special steel of the Chinese Empire, which took two and a half years to develop.

The reason why they began to study large-caliber artillery was mainly stimulated by the French Empire, and their Paris cannon plan was originally very secret, but with the exchange of artillery and shipbuilding technology between Britain and France, this secret was also exposed, which immediately attracted the attention of the Chinese Imperial military. Li Weiguo personally ordered the research and development of large-caliber artillery as soon as possible, and handed it over to the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, with Liu Xuezheng in charge of research and development.

However, the original target issued by Li Weiguo was to complete the development of 343 mm 50 times the diameter of the gun within three years, this difficulty is not ordinary, Liu Xuezheng led the technical team to tackle key problems day and night, and now two and a half years later, only 330 mm 45 times the diameter of the artillery has been developed.

Li Weiguo did not blame anyone for this. If the shipbuilding project represents a country's highest comprehensive industrial strength, then the artillery building project represents a country's highest engineering processing technology.

When Li Weiguo started his business, the first thing he paid attention to was lathe technology, which created the most powerful mechanical processing industry technology accumulation in the Chinese Empire, so that the Chinese Empire could surpass the British Empire in a short period of time, and built a powerful 305 mm 50 times diameter artillery before the British Empire, which gave the Chinese Empire a advantage in the three Sino-British wars. The French discovered this secret earlier than the British, so the French secretly developed the Paris cannon program.

After the Chinese Empire won the war with advanced artillery technology, it was not in a hurry to develop more powerful artillery, Li Weiguo also once thought that the 305 mm 50 times diameter main gun could be used at least until after 1900, so he did not pay attention to this aspect anymore, until the French secretly successfully developed the 343 mm 40 times diameter cannon, only to remind Li Weiguo that history has changed greatly, and a large number of future technologies brought by Li Weiguo will affect the whole world to undergo great changes.

It was precisely because Li Weiguo knew that he was careless, so he did not blame anyone, but hurriedly remedied it and regained the advantage.

This time, I came to watch the test gun in person, not only because Li Weiguo liked it, but also because he attached great importance to this project.

After all, the French have transferred the technology of the Paris cannon to the British Empire, and the British Navy, equipped with a 343-mm 40-diameter main gun, will pose a serious threat to the Imperial Chinese Navy, and soon the United States and Japan will be equipped with this kind of large-caliber main gun, so the Chinese Empire must also speed up the process of large-caliber main artillery.

Originally, the arms race of the main gun that exceeded 305 mm (12 inches) in history would have occurred after 1900, and by the time of World War I, it would soar to 16-inch guns, and now it is only 1880, and the caliber of the main guns has soared to 13.5 inches (343 mm).

Every time he thinks of this situation, Li Weiguo smiles bitterly.

However, it is also good that the European and American powers are developing large-caliber main guns, and with the technology of the 1880s, it is very difficult to develop large-caliber main guns, which will become a huge gold-swallowing hole and accelerate the collective weakening of the entire European and American world.

So this also provides an opportunity for Li Weiguo, since Europe and the United States are developing large-caliber guns, then simply the Chinese Empire will provoke an arms race in this regard, if Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries before the First World War built 18-inch or even 20-inch guns, it is estimated that they will also be exhausted, and then the game will be more interesting.

Since European and American countries have taken the initiative to dig holes for themselves and find their own death, then Li Weiguo has no reason not to help!

Thinking of this, Li Weiguo was suddenly happy again!

At this time, everything was ready on the test range, and Liu Xue was hurriedly reminding Li Weiguo not to be shocked by the sound of cannons.

"Test gun begins!"

"Armor-piercing shell test! Three-second countdown! ”

"3-2-1-fire!"

There was a loud bang, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day.

In the stands a few kilometers away, the ears of Li Weiguo and the others felt numb with shock. The soldiers and test technicians who operated the artillery fire at close range, even though they had cotton balls stuffed in their ears, felt dizzy.

Ten seconds later, a giant armor-piercing projectile weighing 500 kilograms hit the armored wall at a distance of 15,000 meters.

"What kind of armor? How thick? ”

Hearing Li Weiguo's inquiry, Liu Xuezheng hurriedly replied: "Back to Your Majesty, it's Krupp steel armor, 320 mm thick!" ”

"Krupp steel armor? Only 320 mm thick? ”

Li Weiguo was suddenly unhappy.

"How do you do that? I remember that a 305 mm 50x diameter gun could easily penetrate 300 mm thick Krupp steel armor! ”

Liu Xuezheng suddenly smiled bitterly and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty doesn't know, it was five years ago!" At that time, the level of Krupp steel armor was still very poor, but now it is different, the strength of Krupp steel armor has been greatly improved, and our 305 mm 50 times diameter main gun can only penetrate 250 mm of the latest Krupp steel armor at a distance of 10,000 meters! ”

"What?"

Li Weiguo was taken aback, he had been patronizing eating, drinking, and flirting with his sister recently, and he didn't notice that the Germans' Krupp steel armor was developing so rapidly.

Yes, I don't know that the Chinese Empire is constantly improving, and European and American countries are also constantly improving. The Chinese Empire was able to create powerful special steel armor, and the Germans would not wait stupidly, but would also strengthen the study of Krupp steel armor. By this reasoning, aren't the French, the British, and the Americans all in the midst of rapid progress!

This is the power of heritage!

The essence of the Chinese empire lies in farming, building houses, and playing political intrigues, which are difficult for European and American countries to match. Similarly, the accumulation of science and technology in Europe and the United States for hundreds of years, this is their heritage, and it cannot be easily replaced by the Chinese Empire after 20 years of development.

After realizing this problem, Li Weiguo immediately frowned and said: "So in five years, the Germans' Krupp steel armor has improved so rapidly, so how far have the British reached in this regard?" ”

Liu Xuezheng thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, the British have extremely strict control over their latest steel, and the minister doesn't know what the specific strength is. However, we are allies with Germany, and we have obtained the most advanced Krupp armor in Germany, and I believe that the British Victor armor will not be stronger than the German Krupp armor, at most at the same level. ”

The same level?

Li Weiguo immediately thought of the British Navy's completed Sovereign-class battleships, the thickest armor belt is as high as 457 mm, and the thinnest part is 305 mm, even if it has the same level of protection as Krupp armor, the Dreadnought-class battleships under construction by the Chinese Imperial Navy are only equipped with 305 mm 50 times the diameter of the main gun, and it is estimated that they can no longer penetrate the armor defense of the Sovereign-class.

Historically, during the Anglo-German naval arms race, because the main guns used by the British Navy were built with steel wire layer by layer winding, this technology was still very accurate below 45 times the diameter, and when it reached 50 times the diameter, the accuracy of the main gun was greatly reduced, so the 305 mm main guns of the British Navy were almost all 45 times the diameter. On the other hand, the German Navy adopted the set of guns to easily increase the diameter of the main gun to 50 times the diameter, and the accuracy did not decrease but increased, which pressed the British Navy. So after two years of testing the 50 times diameter 305 mm gun, the British Navy felt that it could not do anything to the Germans, so it immediately gave up the 305 main gun and jumped directly to the 343 mm gun, overwhelming the Germans with the caliber.

Nowadays, the situation faced by the Chinese Empire is very similar to that of history, the British also found that they could not reach the level of the Chinese Empire after struggling for a long time with a 50 times diameter 12-inch main gun, so they simply gave up the 305 main gun and switched to the French Paris cannon technology, raising the caliber to 343 mm at once, and also holding on to overwhelm the Chinese Empire with a larger caliber main gun.

It seems that the ability of Westerners is still underestimated!

Since Li Weiguo knew that he had made a mistake, he naturally had to correct it in time.

In the next test, Li Weiguo was no longer in the mood, he only thought about the 12 Dreadnought-class battleships currently under construction in the Chinese Empire, and the 305mm main guns they carried seemed to be a bit outdated, and they had to be replaced in time!

"By the way, how much does your 330mm cannon weigh?"

"Back to Your Majesty, the cannon weighs 65 tons!"

"If it's a triple, what about the weight of the ship?"

"If you go on the ship, you need to consider the weight of the gun mount, automatic lifting machine, turret, etc., according to the weight distribution of the previous 305 main guns, a set of triple naval gun system has a displacement of about 600 tons!"

Li Weiguo was suddenly anxious, and immediately canceled the trip to watch the test gun, and immediately returned to the Forbidden City, and at the same time summoned Wei Han to urgently enter the palace to face the saint.

During this period, Li Weiguo inquired about the service time of the 330-mm 45-diameter main gun, and Liu Xuezheng promised that the absolute test would be completed within half a year and meet the service standards.

Not long after returning to the Forbidden City, Wei Han returned to the capital from the Dagukou shipyard, and Li Weiguo immediately summoned him.

"How's the Dreadnought-class battleship progressing?"

Wei Han hurriedly replied: "The minister personally supervised the construction, and all the progress was very fast!" Six of them are almost finished! ”

Don't be quick!

For the first time, Li Weiguo was unhappy because of the fast construction progress!

"Stop now, I have a new idea for the Dreadnought-class battleship!"

Wei Han was stunned for a moment, and without waiting for him to ask, Li Weiguo gave his reason and told him about the conversation with Liu Xuezheng at the test site.

It is almost an iron law that any battleship, from the day of its construction, is basically obsolete.

But Wei Han also did not expect that the armor protection capabilities of the British would improve so quickly. In this way, it may be difficult for the 305mm main guns installed on the Dreadnought-class battleships to penetrate the armor protection of the British ships.

"Your Majesty wants to replace the 305 main gun with the 330 main gun? Are you sure that the British would really install 457 mm armor? ”

Li Weiguo suddenly frowned and said, "What do you mean?" ”

Wei Han replied: "I think that since the empire can release false information to mislead the British, it is difficult to guarantee that the British will not release false information to mislead us!" Your Majesty, do you know that the installation of 457 mm armor means occupying a displacement of more than 6,000 tons, plus the weight of the artillery, the weight of the power engine room, the weight of the superstructure, the ammunition depot, the fuel tank, the personnel cabin, the supply compartment, etc., if the British are carrying 343 mm guns, even if they only carry 4 guns, his total tonnage will have to be more than 16,000 tons, and if the speed is guaranteed to be at least 16 knots, it will definitely not be possible without a displacement of 18,000 tons! ”

Wei Han analyzed it from a professional point of view, and Li Weiguo was also suddenly enlightened, it seems that the British are also hiding the real data of their warships!

Ya is also learning to be smart!

Li Weiguo thought for a while and said: "Regardless of whether the other party is true or not, we must use the worst possible to evaluate the problem!" Only in this way can we ensure that future wars are won! ”

The arms race has always been like this, both sides are gamblers and have to evaluate the worst possibilities. It is precisely because of this that the arms race can easily bring down a country. It's like the United States in history announced the Star Wars program, and the Soviet Union knew that it was a huge pit, but it had to jump into it, because the Soviets were not sure whether the Americans were joking or not, so they could only think about the worst, and as a result, the Soviets were completely dragged down.

Now Li Weiguo can't afford to lose! If the British battleships were really equipped with 457 mm Victor armor and their protection capabilities were greatly improved, then the 305 mm guns of the Imperial Chinese Navy would be difficult to penetrate this armor, so they had to replace the main guns with larger caliber and more power.

Wei Han then said: "To replace the 330mm main gun, some design and parameters need to be modified, so that the additional displacement has to be taken into account, I am afraid that the six Dreadnought-class battleships that are currently being built at the fastest speed will be dismantled, because the hull keel of these six battleships has been formed and cannot be modified!" If you dismantle and renovate, I am afraid that it will take half a year, and the strategic pressure brought by this half a year, has Your Majesty considered it? ”

Li Weiguo thought for a while and said, "It's okay, this will stimulate the enemy even more!" Just do it! Re-modify and redesign in the shortest possible time! ”

"Obey the order!" Wei Han received the order, quickly returned to the shipyard, gathered the designers and engineers, and remade the Dreadnought-class battleship!

The six Dreadnought-class battleships that were making the fastest progress had to be dismantled and rebuilt, while the other six Dreadnought-class battleships that were making relatively slow progress could be rebuilt as they were made, increasing their displacement and offsetting the extra weight of replacing their large-caliber guns.

At the same time, the British Imperial Navy was deeply entangled.

At this moment, the British Empire is also starting construction of twelve battleships at the same time, preparing to install 4 triple 343 mm main guns, and the caliber of the secondary main gun must also be increased, the original 16,000-ton hull is simply not enough, and must be increased to 20,000 tons, and in this way, the British steam engine power system has to double the boiler and five chimneys, and finally calculated, the displacement is more than 22,000 tons, and the extra tonnage is not budgeted.

This made the British Imperial Navy, which was already underfunded, suddenly have a pain! (To be continued.) )