Not only Li Zhaoshui was worried about the current naval equipment, but even Lu Weimin repeatedly urged Zhang Wei to purchase a certain number of new battleships to equip the navy as soon as possible, in case of a joint attack by European countries, the Xia Empire would suffer heavy losses. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Zhang Wei originally wanted to wait for the system to be upgraded before equipping the navy with new battleships, but he didn't expect Li Zhaoshui to rush so much.

After urging many times to no avail, Li Zhaoshui pulled Lu Weimin into the palace again, and he must persuade Zhang Wei to equip the navy with new battleships.

Li Zhaoshui said: "Your Majesty, you said at the beginning that you would equip the navy that went to Argentina with new battleships after they returned, and now they have all returned to China for more than two months; Besides, now the Central Fleet has 1 Xia-class battleship, and the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet don't even have King-class battleships, and only rely on a few Lanfang-class battleships and a few battlecruisers to support the façade. ”

Lu Weimin asked: "Your Majesty, why have you been delaying equipping the navy?" There must be a reason. “

"Hehe, as long as I am in charge of the empire, what else do you have to worry about? Are you still afraid of their sneak attack? My main aim was to show weakness and, more importantly, to see the attitude of the European powers towards the Empire. Zhang Wei is not worried about the threat of European countries, let alone their sneak attack, now that the empire's economy is recovering, people live and work in peace and contentment, as long as the speed of immigration keeps up, he is not worried about anything, even now he has no psychological pressure against the whole of Europe.

Li Zhaoshui said: "Your Majesty, it's really not okay to equip a few Xia-class battleships first, I don't want new battleships." Li Zhaoshui set his goals very low.

"It is a pure waste to equip too many Xia-class battleships, and they will not be sold in the future, just like those Lanfang-class battleships, they will become chicken ribs, or they will not be equipped, or they will be equipped if they want to be equipped, and they will also stimulate the warship race of European countries."

"Does Your Majesty have any ideas?"

Zhang Wei said: "Of course I have my own ideas, I plan to equip a battleship with 356mm main guns, named Shang-class, originally I planned to delay it for another 2 months to equip you, since you are in such a hurry, then equip a batch first, but the number will not be too much, you will also be responsible for selling them all, and then the empire will be equipped with Western Zhou-class or Dongzhou-class battleships, and if there is a war against Europe, it will be equipped with Chunqiu-class battleships, so you don't worry so much about the navies of European countries." “

Lu Weimin said: "Your Majesty, the empire will definitely have a big decisive battle with the European countries, and the empire will continue to sell battleships to the European countries, which is a serious act of capital and enemies, and I do not support Your Majesty's decision." “

Zhang Wei explained: "Only by continuing to sell battleships to the Europeans will the empire be reduced by the hostility of the European countries, and so that they can fully engage in internal fighting, which will be of great benefit to the empire." “

Lu Weimin said: "Your Majesty, through the sale of these battleships, in exchange for a large amount of useless gold and silver, is the empire still short of gold and silver?" Strategic materials are the most important, so I still oppose this kind of enemy behavior. Besides, even if they sell battleships, it will not reduce their hostility to the Reich, and the Reich's support for Germany has put Britain, France and Russia at a disadvantage, otherwise Britain, France and Russia would not be so closely united now, and after the Reich's aid to the Ottoman Empire, he is also a restless master, continuously creating friction in various places, I am really worried that the war in Europe will come in advance, and the Reich is not fully prepared for war. “

Li Zhaoshui said: "Your Majesty, Chief of the General Staff, I really hope that one day European countries will use the battleships sold to them by the empire to have a showdown with the empire, and that will be lively." “

Zhang Wei said with a smile: "Yes, I am also looking forward to it, as long as the Empire's artillery shell technology, especially the technology of armor-piercing shells and new grenades, is not leaked out, even with the same equipment, European countries are not opponents of the Empire, not to mention that the Empire will be equipped with more advanced battleships at any time; So please rest assured the Chief of the General Staff. ”

"Since Your Majesty is confident, I will not say more, but I am firmly opposed to the continued export of advanced army equipment; The last time the new howitzer was exported to Germany, I was worried for a long time, and I can't do something stupid like this again. Lu Weimin insisted on his point of view.

"I know that army equipment is different from naval equipment, so I have always advocated the export of naval battleships, and the army equipment exported is also conventional weapons. After the sale of this class of battleships, the empire will no longer sell new battleships to the outside world, waiting for the outbreak of war in Europe. “

Li Zhaoshui asked eagerly: "Your Majesty, what class of battleship are you going to equip this time?" How many ships are ready to be equipped? ”

Zhang Wei said: "I want to equip Nevada-class battleships, named Shang-class battleships, with a total of 8 ships, 2 each for the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet, and 4 ships for the Central Fleet; At the same time, the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet will maintain 2 Xia-class battleships each, and the Central Fleet will not be equipped with Xia-class battleships; All the Lanfang-class battleships were handed over to the Qin State to form the Qin State Naval Fleet. ”

Li Zhaoshui said: "Your Majesty, there are only 12 battleships in the three major fleets of the empire, and the number is still too small to defend the vast sea frontier of the empire; In addition, the number of battle cruisers was insufficient, which was very unfavorable for the fleet's forward reconnaissance. I suggest that each fleet be equipped with one more Taiwan-class heavy cruiser and two Hainan Island-class light cruisers, and each fleet should form a mixed fleet to facilitate patrolling and reconnaissance. ”

Zhang Wei thought about it for a while and said, "Okay, just follow your wishes, and add 3 cruisers to the mixed fleet; The patrol tasks of each fleet should still be mainly aircraft patrols, supplemented by fleet patrols; From the island of Sri Lanka to the Maldives islands all the way to the island of Madagascar, no battleships are stationed, and all battlecruisers, cruisers and destroyers are arranged to be responsible for patrolling; Battleships existed only as a deterrent; After a period of stability, after the Cam Ranh Bay and Subic Bay naval bases are built, I will give you 6 more Western Zhou-class battleships as a reserve force for the Central Fleet; In addition, as long as you sell 1 Shang-class battleship, I will equip you with 2 Western or Eastern Zhou-class battleships. ”

The number of Shang-class battleships equipped was only 8, which could not satisfy Li Zhaoshui, and if there was a war, it would still not be enough, but fortunately, Zhang Wei promised to continue to increase the number of battleship equipment.

The main parameters of the Shang-class battleship:

Standard displacement: 27,500 tons with full load 28,400 tons;

The length of the ship is 177.7 meters, the width of the ship is 29.6 meters, and the draft is 9.9 meters

Main engine output: 26500 horsepower; biaxial;

Maximum speed: 20.5 knots, endurance: 15,700 nautical miles / 10 knots

Armament: 10 x 356 mm/45x main guns (two twin and two triple turrets), 21 x 127 mm secondary guns; 16 127-mm high-level dual-purpose guns;

Armor: main armor belt 343-203 mm, horizontal protection 76 mm, main turret 457 mm, command tower 406 mm;

Crew: 1,374 people

The Shang-class battleships were designed with armor protection (known as "key protection"); It is equipped with 10 14-inch guns, two twin and two triple gun turrets, and a symmetrical bow and stern arrangement.

Although the Shang-class battleship still had many technical shortcomings, it existed as a deterrent force and was already a very good battleship at that time.