How to build an American version of a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship?

Or more precisely, how to build a fast battleship that reaches or even exceeds twenty-four knots?

Qin Lang didn't know the answer - he didn't know it for the time being, this was not the area he was familiar with. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 But he knew what to do: make more phone calls, send more telegrams, and send a team of investigators.

Before the whole project began, it was necessary to find out whether the country had the capacity to build the kind of fast battleships he envisioned now, and in the years to come.

The history he knew, did not provide a reference answer. This is an era of rapid development of shipbuilding technology, and countries like Britain and the United States only need a few short years to build new warships that could not be built in the past, that is, if they want a kind of warship that will appear in ten or even fifteen years to be born ahead of schedule, they will encounter technical problems of one kind or another, and it will take more time and money to solve them.

Of course, money is not a problem that can be solved, but in the United States, money itself is the biggest problem: perhaps the British shipbuilding plan could be used to persuade the distinguished senators to allow the Navy to build new warships, hoping that they would add hundreds of thousands or more dollars to increase the speed of such warships by four knots? This will undoubtedly be an extremely challenging task.

Qin Lang didn't want to invest too many resources in the fast battleship he envisioned, it was just a personal hobby, and there was little romantic feeling of multi-turret doctrine left, in essence, he was still an arms dealer who believed in pragmatism, and if he had to invest so many resources, he would rather persuade Washington to build a few aircraft carriers.

Although in this era, backward and virtually non-existent navigation and communication technologies limit the range and combat efficiency of carrier-based aircraft, and aircraft carriers are also of little use, at least, even if they do not have a shipbuilding contract, Umbrella can sell carrier-based aircraft.

In any case, business is always the most important thing......

Qin Lang stopped thinking again. He had wasted too much time on a series of less important issues. The same goes for Winkler and Fletcher.

The argument should be over.

"Gentlemen, I have a suggestion." Qin Lang spoke, so Winkler and Fletcher stopped at the same time and turned their heads to look at him. After a few more seconds, he made a suggestion: "Perhaps we should leave these technical matters to the Admirals of the Naval Council." ”

The reaction of the lieutenant commander was quick. "You're right, Mr. Qin, it's useless for us to argue here."

He was tired of arguing. Winkler's stubborn belief that the new battleship had to have the firepower and armor to counter the ships the British were about to build, rather than build, was completely oblivious to the realities that the U.S. Navy had to face, especially the most important one: price.

The price of a warship built in full accordance with his vision would certainly lead Congress to once again veto the plan submitted by the Navy, or to drastically cut it, and Winkler could not have failed to see this risk, his attitude could only tell the truth, his purpose was only to satisfy his own unrealistic delusions, not the actual needs of the Navy.

Then there is no need for the debate to continue.

In fact, he was already thinking of ways to end the argument without damaging the relationship, but thankfully, Qin Lang ended their pointless game at the right moment.

No matter what the petty bureaucrats of the ship-building department have to say, they can only keep their mouths shut now.

He didn't dare to go against Qin Lang's will.

Fletcher has fully figured this out.

In fact, this is not good news, for their mission, this means that Winkler will unreservedly favor Umbrella, and maybe he will follow Qin Lang's request to include the new submarine under construction in the assessment report, write a whole paragraph of good words, and recommend that the Navy buy this weapon.

Maybe he'll mess things up.

The lieutenant colonel of the Navy was worried about the prospects of his mission. It wasn't long before he began to regret accepting Winkler's suggestion to visit Qin Lang - even though he had been happy less than thirty minutes earlier.

He decided to leave, but he waited for a few minutes, until he thought the time was ripe, and then said goodbye to Qin Lang on behalf of the assessment team.

Qin Lang didn't keep them, he just insisted on sending the three guests out of the Pentagon, and made a phone call before leaving the office, so that when they arrived at the gate of the building, a brand-new car was already waiting there.

Neither Fletcher, MacArthur, nor Winkler had ever seen a car like it, it was massive, perhaps eighteen feet long or seven feet wide, with a half-length power compartment, a hardtop box body with a metal casing, and widened wheels, a spacious and comfortable rear seat that could easily seat three adult men, and judging by the sound of the engine, it had unrivalled power.

"Oh my God," even the two naval officers couldn't react a little now. "What is this?"

Qin Lang smiled, very satisfied with the effect caused by this car. "Ford Motor Company's latest product, four-wheel drive, fits a V-shaped eight-cylinder engine with a cylinder volume of 408 cubic inches, uses a lot of custom-made handmade parts, and only one has been built so far."

"It looks like it's supposed to be expensive." For the first time, the three members of the Panel reached agreement. They don't understand cars, but they're not blind.

Then they were blind.

"It should cost 12,000 dollars to manufacture."

Fletcher took a breath of cold air. "So, it's a special gift?"

"Yes," Qin Lang nodded. "Think so."

However, this car is not really a gift, and the cost is more than a little, it is an experimental platform built by Ford according to his requirements, a tool to be used to test and improve Umbrella's car and engine technology, but it is not much more useful than that - the high manufacturing cost and failure rate make it impossible to put it into mass production for the time being, and unless there is a technical team responsible for maintenance and maintenance, or has extremely high repair skills, and is willing to spend tens of minutes on each trip to deal with failures, Otherwise, no user will be able to use it properly.

So Henry. Ford saw it as a big nuisance, a useless waste made by some big boss who likes to dictate to his company on the far West Coast. However, since it didn't cost him a penny to build this car, and Qin Lang allowed him to install the extremely tempting V8 engine on the car of his own design, he didn't raise any more objections, but just threw it to San Diego as soon as the mission of this experimental platform was over.

Maybe Mr. Ford wanted to know how Qin Lang would deal with this hot potato, maybe he wanted to see Qin Lang's embarrassed expression, but his wish was obviously impossible to come true.

Qin Lang left the car, completely refurbished it, and rearranged the interior, ready to entertain those important guests who deserved Umbrella's attention. At the same time, a team of technicians drawn from the mercenaries is called up, and then all the problems are no longer a problem.

According to these mercenaries, it was no more difficult to care and maintain than an armored car, and no one fired at them when it was repaired, and not a single furious senior non-commissioned officer yelled at them.

In short, they were in a good mood, so they maintained the car well, and Qin Lang could put it into the scheduled task.

And this is the first time it has been put into service.

Of course, the three members of the assessment team didn't know this, and they naturally misunderstood Qin Lang's intentions.

"Mr. Qin, are you going to ......?" Fletcher touched his forehead. If Qin Lang was going to use a little common business trick, the gifts he chose would be too expensive, and at the same time, the quantity would be too small.

Three people, a frighteningly expensive car, it's just deadly.

The lieutenant colonel's head began to hurt.

It was only at this time that Qin Lang pulled him back again.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel, but it's not a gift." "It's just that I think you need a suitable vehicle to get the job done, so I've decided to lend it to you," he said with great sincerity. ”

Fletcher's headache lessened a bit, but it wasn't completely gone: he liked the car, but it was too conspicuous to attract attention and too easy to get him into trouble.

"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Qin." He tried to push it off, "Still, I don't think any of us will drive a car." ”

This reason is reasonable, but it does not have the desired effect.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel." Qin Lang approached Fletcher a little closer, "I have prepared a very good driver for you, and at the same time, he is also your guide and guard. ”

Fletcher was still hesitant, full of hope that Qin Lang would be able to provide another vehicle that was not so eye-catching.

His wish still did not come true.

"Lieutenant Colonel." Qin Lang walked in a little more, "Please don't refuse." ”

Fletcher looked at his two colleagues, not knowing whether they wanted help or advice, but MacArthur and Winkler turned their heads away at the same time - their thoughts were not the same as those of the lieutenant commander, who could not resist the temptation of a one-of-a-kind luxury car, and were afraid of attracting attention, so they decided not to say anything.

Realizing that he was the one who was going to take the main responsibility, Fletcher ended up making a difficult decision.

He accepted Qin Lang's kindness.