Fisher's derivation is quite exciting, but there is another question that cannot be explained, how can such advanced technology be developed just behind closed doors? It was not until later that Li Hui's fabricated history was transmitted to Europe, and this "mystery" was finally "solved", and many genius scientists gathered together to promote each other, far more able to promote scientific and technological progress than most people who do not have overseas exchanges once in their lives, this view may not necessarily be correct, but because of the strong elite consciousness implied in it, it was widely accepted by the elites of various countries, so even the legend with Momen was widely recognized, and Li Hui's big lie successfully deceived the whole world. Of course, that's another story

After realizing that there seemed to be some digression, Fisher coughed twice to hide his embarrassment, and then cut back to the point, "Whether this is true or not, their industrialized population is definitely limited, and the reason why they can force the empire into such a situation now is actually a great accident. The main reason is that the world's naval science and technology has just reached a special period of new technology blowout, and they have grasped the right direction in advance, and boldly adopted various new technologies to create such a monster as Haitian-class patrol; However, our British Empire tended to be conservative because of its long-term lead, and preferred those mature technologies when designing warships, and as a result, the gap was suddenly opened by the Chinese. ”

"But after all, our industrial strength is there, and it is not difficult to catch up with China, and even if there is still a gap in the performance of warships, as long as it passes the special period when warships are already lagging behind on the slipway, we can use the numerical advantage to make up for it." Fisher said confidently, and at the same time once again advised the prime minister, "Now the empire should immediately negotiate peace with China, and wait until a few years later, when we have better warships and some problems within the navy have been solved, then it will be time to take revenge!" ”

William White keenly saw the opportunity to cheat the funds, and immediately patted his chest and said, "The Haitian-class patrol performance is indeed excellent, but it is not so advanced that it is impossible to catch up, I have estimated that as long as we boldly make use of all the new technologies we have mastered, we can design a new type of cruiser with performance that surpasses the Haitian-class cruiser, but this is the cost."

"That's fine, as much as you want, as long as you can design a warship that meets the requirements." The Marquess of Salisbury immediately stated, regardless of whether William White was bragging.

However, the face of the Marquis of Salisbury still did not improve significantly, because even if William White could really design a more awesome warship, it would be at least three years later when it was built, and he would not be able to catch up with this war at all, so would he really want to sue for peace with China? However, the public sentiment in Britain is now raging, and if he dares to say this, I am afraid that he will be ousted immediately

The Marquis of Salisbury, who was really unwilling, couldn't help but ask the two experts again, "With the current warship alone, we really have no chance of winning at all?" ”

"It can't be said that there is no chance of winning, but it is certainly not big, and even if we win, it will definitely be a miserable victory, and it is impossible that we will have enough strength to force the new Chinese government to agree to conditions that will allow us to recover our losses." , Fisher said the results he deduced based on the information he currently has, and was about to persuade again, but saw the Marquis of Salisbury wave his hand without hesitation, "John, don't persuade you, this is impossible!" The dignity of the British Empire cannot be trampled on! ”

But how can a lost battle preserve its dignity? It's just that tens of thousands of young people died in vain! Fisher retorted unceremoniously by standing up, being pulled twice hard by William White before sitting back in a huff.

The Marquess of Salisbury already had some faith in Fisher's judgment, but the military must serve politics, not the other way around. However, it is always good to have a little more chance of winning, or a little less to lose, the Marquis of Salisbury considered his tone for a moment, and asked Fisher again, "On the premise that you clearly want to fight, John, do you have any good advice?" ”

Although Fisher was very dissatisfied with the prime minister's disregard for the lives and deaths of the officers and men of the navy, he still did his best to minimize some losses and put forward some valuable suggestions

"First of all, no matter how important the colony is, it can't be compared with the mainland, so we must first ensure the security of the homeland, after the dispatch of the Grand Fleet, it is impossible to continue to maintain the strength of more than two naval powers, but at least it must be no less than the strength of a single naval power, so as to prevent some countries from taking advantage of the opportunity to attack." Fisher's words were endorsed by the Marquess of Salisbury, and then the two began to count the current home of the British Royal Navy, with mixed results.

The Royal Navy is still so large that no other naval power can match it in terms of tonnage. However, due to the refusal of the parliament to increase naval funding, the speed of the replacement of the ships of the British Royal Navy is not satisfactory, taking the capital ships as an example, although there are eight Sovereign-class battleships alone, and two more advanced Majestic-class battleships are about to be completed and put into service, but there are still a large number of old ironclads that have long been seriously outdated and continue to remain in the Royal Navy's combat sequence

In line with the idea of waste utilization, Fisher put forward the proposal of leaving the old warships to defend the mainland, and sending newer warships such as the Sovereign class to deal with the Chinese Navy, "The three naval battles that broke out in the past two years have proved the importance of the speed of formation, if the old ironclad is sent out, it will only seriously drag down the Sovereign-class battleships and other new-style warships with faster speed, it is better to stay on the mainland and use them to guard the coastal waters can still be competent." And there are more quantities and tonnages on paper, which is also more suitable for scaring people"

The Marquis of Salisbury was convinced when he heard this, but he didn't know that Fisher actually had another purpose in saying this.

Since he thought that this war would inevitably be lost, Fisher's goal was naturally to reduce the losses of the Royal Navy as much as possible, with Britain's world's largest shipbuilding industry, the loss of warships would not actually make him feel very distressed, and could even become an opportunity to accelerate the replacement.

But the loss of personnel is not so easy to replenish, even if the British Royal Navy has a mature talent training mechanism, on the premise that it has already lost almost the entire Far East Fleet, another greater defeat will be a little unbearable. (To be continued.) )