With regard to Russia, Bismarck first established a "goodwill" German-Austrian alliance, and then invited Russia to join it, so that Petersburg no longer expected an alliance with France. At the same time, Bismarck implicitly supported Russia against Britain on the "Eastern Question" involving Turkey, in order to eliminate the opportunity for the two flanking powers to encircle Germany in unison. For France, Bismarck encouraged it to develop into Africa and Asia, thus clashing with British colonial interests. With regard to Britain, Berlin made it clear that it had no intention of intervening abroad, and at the same time assisted Britain in containing France and Russia in Egyptian affairs and the Black Sea straits in exchange for London's friendship. In this way, Britain, Russia, and Austria all have certain contradictions, and they will need Germany more than they need each other, so that Germany will become the most important intermediary in the affairs of the great powers. Its international image was seen as positive, and its rapid economic growth and industrial progress were not seen as a threat to peace.

But Bismarck's system had its drawbacks: it was an eternal dynamic equilibrium that required an extremely high level of understanding to operate. Bismarck believed that the strength of one side led to the fear of the other, and that the completion of German reunification would inevitably bring about a deterioration of the external environment, which could not be fundamentally solved. There is no better way out for Germany than to restrain its forces and adjust its alliance to the changing situation. In other words, Berlin must always be accompanied by insecurity, and it is impossible to achieve absolute "relief", which most leaders cannot endure. In addition, the "Iron Chancellor" was a classical statesman who, for most of his time in the cause of unification, only needed to convince King Wilhelm I and a few high-ranking generals, but lacked the will and experience to deal with public opinion and its representatives. Bismarck even consciously simplified the representative form of government and the constitutional provisions of the German Empire, so that he could grasp the affairs of the state completely by the wisdom of one person. But by the '80s, the new business class had become a powerful social force, demanding to emulate Britain and France, seize overseas colonies, and control the voice in Parliament. At this time, Bismarck, who was still grasping the direction with his pre-70s experience, was a little overwhelmed.

In 9073, the Reichstag of the German Empire adopted the first 10-year post-independence naval development plan, aiming to build a defensive fleet with cruisers, torpedo boats, and shore defense ironclads as the core to protect German interests in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Bismarck was sympathetic to this plan, but was always opposed to the premature creation of a British-style navy. Aside from economic considerations, this is still based on his rejection of the notion of "absolute security" – that the countries with the strongest armies are simultaneously pursuing the first or second strongest navy, which will make all the surrounding nations feel incomparable pressure and unite to counterbalance them before the worst comes. Berlin, on the other hand, did not have the geographical advantage of England, and in the event of a conflict, France and Russia could immediately invade German territory by land, which would be a disaster.

So, in what ways does Germany protect its interests abroad? If a future war were to take place between it and France and Russia, the existing cruisers and torpedo boats would be sufficient to pose a threat to the enemy's maritime communications, and Germany could take advantage of its proximity to Great Britain and continue to send merchant ships to the Atlantic, using Britain as a transit point and geographical cover. And if the war was between Germany and Great Britain, it could liaise with other second-rate naval powers that signed the Treaty of Paris in 9056 (which enshrined the principle of freedom of navigation) to form an "armed neutral alliance" to contain the Royal Navy in the same way that other European nations resisted Britain during the American Revolution. It even put an end to British encroachment on Germany's overseas interests "once and for all".

Bismarck believed that Germany's most vital security interests are within Europe, and as long as it can avoid forming a check-and-balance alliance against Berlin in Europe, Germany's prosperity and strength will be guaranteed, and its world influence will be unsought. Without continental security as a foundation, the "world power" is nothing more than a picture. There is no such thing as unconditional and absolute security. In a closed system of several large powers, a rapid rise in one country's security index is bound to provoke fear among other countries, which in turn leads to alliances of checks and balances. In view of this, it is necessary to clearly identify the core interests that have a bearing on the survival of the country, and to allocate resources strictly around these interests, so as to avoid the dangers brought about by thinking about the wrong. There can never be a policy that can guarantee long-term security without adjustment, a security route conducive to the survival of the country must be both restrained and flexible, and there can never be an abstract optimal in statecraft.

In Bismarck's view, the situation facing the Qianguo is much the same as that of Germany, and the main reason why Britain and France support the Qianguo in developing their navy is to use the Qianguo to resist Russia's expansion, so the current position of the Qianguo in East Asia is similar to that of Prussia in Europe in the past, and they are in a favorable position where they can make a fortune by taking advantage of the contradictions between the great powers As soon as the military strength (especially the navy) of the Qianguo went beyond the needs of confronting Russia and Japan and became able to threaten the interests of the great powers in the East, the great powers would turn to seek alliances to contain the Qianguo.

In Bismarck's view, Lin Yiqing was obviously not a good "broker" -- he eagerly went to Europe to buy warships and artillery, and was eager to expand the military strength of the Qianguo and defeat Japan and Russia behind it, but he did not seem to have thought that if the Qianguo really defeated Russia one day, that day would also be the beginning of the disaster of the Qianguo.

Bismarck began to think of his meeting with Lin Yiqing, and he was still hesitating to remind the man of the mistake he was making, and he did not know that his own fate had taken a different path.

Ansaldo shipyard, Genoa, Italy.

Lin Yiqing looked at the battleship "Lepanto" that was undergoing artillery installation work, and sighed with emotion for a while.

What he didn't expect was that Italy, as a second-class power in Europe, would be able to build such a powerful warship.

The battleship "Lepanto" (Lepanto) reached a staggering displacement of 16,154 tons, the length of the ship was 124.7 meters, the width of the ship was 22.3 meters, the draft was 9.6 meters, the main armament was 4 431 mm main guns, 8 152 mm secondary guns, the power system used vertical composite engines, twin propeller drive. When it was completed and launched in March 9083, it became the fastest capital ship in the world at that time, with a maximum engine power of 11,780 kilowatts and a range of 16,530 kilometers at 10 knots. Together with the sister ship "Italy", she is one of the largest and strongest ships in Italy.

A feature of the "Lepanto" is the absence of broadside armor, but the armor deck is bent almost down to the waterline and is fully compartmentalized. The ship's armor was concentrated in the center of a huge oval gun mount, which was set at an angle to the hull, on which two rotary platforms were mounted, each containing two 431-mm cannons. The ship's four chimneys are connected by a narrow flyover. The front of the flyover is connected to a small command bridge. A mast stands in the center. Construction of the Lepanto began in 9076 and was designed to carry a large number of troops in case of emergency, when Italy was threatened by France on one side and the Austrian navy on the other. However, by the time the "Lepanto" and its sister ships were built, these tall and graceful warships had already exposed the shortcomings of insufficient armor and slow rate of fire of their guns (one shot of the main guns every fifth minute), and could not meet the requirements of face-to-face combat with enemy ships. As a result, the main deck of the "Lepanto" is now equipped with more light rapid-fire guns.

Combined with the scene he saw in the naval battle of Incheon Bay, the current Lin Yiqing has a deeper understanding of this kind of ironclad giant ship with twin large-caliber main guns.

Lin Yiqing's visit to Europe this time was to enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, so the first country to visit was Italy, after learning of Lin Yiqing's visit, the Italian Royal Government attached great importance to it, King Umberto I sent Prime Minister Francisco? Crispi went to greet the envoy, and while offering great hospitality, he also arranged for Lin Yiqing to visit the famous Ansaldo shipyard in Italy, hoping that this "two-sleeved and golden-winded" envoy could "give proper consideration" to take care of the business of the Italian shipyard when ordering ironclad ships.

But the Italians didn't know that Lin Yiqing already had another idea about the ironclad at this time, that is, before new progress was made in naval technology, the combat effectiveness of this large ironclad ship equipped with a slow rate of fire and a large caliber main gun with a huge weight was not as good as he had imagined before.

After the Battle of Lisa, "caliber for quantity" became the mainstream, and the battleship "Lepanto" in front of him and the "Longwei" class ironclad ship, the capital ship of Qianguo in active service, were all products of this idea, but Chen Wei pointed out the shortcomings of this type of warship in his letter to Lin Yiqing, and boldly inferred that "quantity for caliber" would replace "caliber for quantity"; at that time, Lin Yiqing did not fully believe the assertion of the young Chen Wei, but the experience of the Battle of Incheon Bay made Lin Yiqing have to admit that Chen Wei's opinion was very reasonable.

In the Battle of Incheon Bay, although the "Yongwei", which had only one twin 305-mm main gun turret, hit the Japanese ships many times, the results were not many because of the slow rate of fire of the main guns, but the results of the 140-mm secondary guns were much greater. Moreover, in the battle with the Japanese ship, the Japanese ship's shells hit the main battery of the "Longwei" many times, although because the armor of the battery was strong, blocking the shells of the Japanese ship, but the shrapnel and the rapid-fire weapons of the Japanese ship caused great casualties to the gunners of the "Longwei", once after the main battery was hit, although the main gun was not damaged, but the gunners of the two gun groups were all injured and could not fight, and after replacing all the gunners, the main guns were able to fire again. An enemy ship was able to scrap two gun crews with a single shell, a situation that can be said to be very dangerous in naval warfare.

As a matter of fact, when quelling the coup d'état in North Korea, Ding Yuting and Zhang Chengdu suggested dispatching the "Kaiji" or "Yangwu" class armored cruisers to fight against the Japanese ships, because these two types of armored cruisers had fast speed, fierce firepower, and strong armor, and they could guarantee victory. However, Lin Yiqing wanted to test the actual combat effectiveness of the "Longwei" class ironclad ships, and insisted on going to Korea to fight against the Japanese ships by insisting on using the two ironclad ships of the same type, "Longwei" and "Pingyuan," as the main force. Although the second-class "Longwei" class ship completed its combat mission and won praise in China, Lin Yiqing clearly saw the shortcomings of this second-class ironclad ship and was not carried away by the victory.

Soon after the Battle of Incheon Bay, Chen Wei wrote a letter to Lin Yiqing, putting forward the idea of modifying the design of the three subsequent ships of the "Longwei" class, suggesting that the only twin main turret should be cancelled and replaced with three single-mounted turrets, with two earrings at the bow of the ship, each equipped with a single 305 mm main gun, and a single 305 mm main gun at the stern. The main thing is that the rumor-clearing officer may use this to launch an impeachment) and financial constraints (modifying the design to add a main gun means adding more money), or stick to the original design without making any changes. But when it comes to the purchase and construction of new ironclad ships, Chen Wei's new ideas can be turned into reality.

Now for this young man who has become the little disciple of the famous British ship designer Barnabe, Lin Yiqing can be said to rely on it very much.

Lin Yiqing's gaze couldn't help but turn to Chen Wei, who was strolling under another slipway with a beautiful British girl in tow.

He already knew the name of the English girl, her name was Anne? Tennison Dane Cotter.

When Lin Yiqing first heard the name "Tennison-Daincott", he still couldn't believe it, when he learned that she also had an older brother named Eustace? Tennison-Daincott, it can be said that he was taken aback.

As a military fan and half of the BB party who is familiar with the history of the world's navy, Lin Yiqing can be said to be very familiar with the name Tennison Daincott!

In his original historical plane, Tennison Daincott (full name Eustace?) Henry? William? At the age of 18, Tennison Daincott was recommended by the famous shipbuilder Sir Reid to intern at the Armstrong-Whiteworth shipyard, and later entered the naval architecture department of the Naval University in Greenwich. Under the guidance of Sir Watts, who succeeded Watts as the shipbuilding director of the plant, he completed the design of the Brazilian battleship "Rio de Janeiro", the British battleship "Agincourt", which would later be known as the "One Week Turret Battleship", and the "Admiral Torare" class battleship of the Chilean Navy, and succeeded Watts as the director of the British Admiralty Shipbuilding Bureau.

Tinnison-Daincott had already begun to design a variety of ships while working at Armstrong. After serving in the Admiralty, the ships designed mainly included capital ships such as "Sovereign", "Shengwei", "Hood" and "Nelson", large light cruisers of the "Brave" class, aircraft carriers such as "Fury", "Hundred-Eyed Giant", "Eagle" and "Athletic God", cruisers of the "Hawkins", "Linxian", "C", "D", "Enterprising" and "County" classes, destroyers of the "R", "S", "V" and "W" classes, submarines of the "J" and "K" classes, as well as shallow water heavy gunboats, escort ships and gunboats. Merchant ships that can be converted into seaplane carriers, and almost all types of ships. His original techniques such as inclined armor, anti-mine bay cabins, and the use of low-manganese structural steel are all famous, and it can be said that he was the chief designer of ships at the peak of the British Royal Navy in World War I, and his designs played a pivotal role in the development of ships around the world.

Since Lin Yiqing met Chen Wei, from the letter written by Chen Wei, he had a faint feeling that this child named Chen Wei might be associated with the boat!

Now that he can get together with the sister of the future shipbuilder, it seems to represent some kind of omen!

This child may be like himself, a butterfly that changes history!

"Mr. Lin is watching us." Anne looked at Lin Yiqing who was standing on the slope, and said to Chen Wei a little shyly.

"There's something bad about you, my beautiful Annie, he may have noticed," Chen Wei shook her hand lightly, his voice full of concern, "I often mention you in my letters to him and my sister, Anne, so he cares about you very much. ”

Listening to Chen Wei's words, Anne's face turned even redder.

As Chen Wei said, Anne's complexion today is a little bad.

By all standards, Anne was a handsome girl, and her appearance fell into the category of what is usually called attention-grabbing. It is noticeable, perhaps, because there is something about her pale face, pale blue eyes, long chestnut curly hair, small nose, and closed lips that suggest a repressive and self-controlling force that is not common in a young woman of eighteen or twenty. She would have been very beautiful. But today, if it weren't for the shortcomings of her oval little face. This disadvantage is the lack of blood on the face. There was not a little red to stain her waxy white cheeks, no brown to remedy the lifeless pale of her eyebrows and eyelashes, not a single blink of gold or brown to adorn her dull chestnut hair. Even her clothes have the same deficiencies; The lilac tulle seemed to fade and turn a dull gray, and the ribbon that knotted around her neck had turned the same pale gray.

The reason why she became like this was because of a small turmoil between her and Chen Wei. (To be continued.) )