As for Reed, of course, he questioned the idea of unprotected design based on his own knowledge, but his overly heated rhetoric also aroused suspicion of his intention to provoke the controversy. He has avoided face-to-face interactions with other ship design professionals, and generally avoided talking about the Admiralty's warship design policy when in front of them. However, in front of the public opinion circles or the uninformed audience, they are extremely bold and talkative, so much so that sometimes they say some illogical or unrealistic over-the-top words. Later generations have commented that after leaving the Admiralty and ceasing to dominate the design of British capital ships, he has been flaunting his prestige and his comments on various warship designs in public, hoping to one day be re-accepted by the Admiralty. Therefore, it is no wonder that Barnabe, who has some insight into his thoughts, is obsessed with this.

This controversy is somewhat similar to the debate over "captains" a decade ago. But fortunately, the difference is that this debate has not been elevated to the level of a political partisan battle, as was the case last time, leading to a bad decision. At the same time, the merit of this debate is that, although there is some speculation and speculation, both sides are basically arguing on the basis of facts. In addition, the Admiralty itself proved that the design of the Indomitable was safe and compliant, and that it did not evade the problem as vaguely as it did when designing the Captain.

From this time on, the design method of centralized defense and unprotected end became the design trend of British battleships. In June 9073, Barnabay was in a report to Houston? When Stewart described the Indomitable, he envisioned her serving in the waters around Europe. Combat missions can be carried out in the English Channel, the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. So. In the context of such a task. Warships should have speed and ignore endurance, that is, the main source of power is the steam engine. He said that warships equipped with sails such as the "Manaka" and "Perseus" can indeed use the wind power to save coal on long voyages, but if the sails are removed, the weight saved under the same displacement can make the armor thicker by 50 percent, and the crew can be saved by half.

But the Admiralty gave him a counter-advice. However, it is to appropriately reduce the combat effectiveness in order to improve the long-range performance. The Admiralty's idea was that the ship should be suitable for use outside Europe, which led to 12 requirements for the hull design, including "passage through the Suez Canal with low coal-fired loading"; "Limit the maximum width and draft so that in the future warships can use existing dockyards in Portsmouth, Chatham, Malta and even Mumbai". Since warships are to sail around the globe, the Admiralty felt that in the context of this mission, sails should be equipped. In addition, because the ship needs to perform ocean-going missions, it is estimated that it will not be able to dock on time and scrape the bottom. Therefore, it is also recommended to wrap the bottom of the ship with a copper hull to delay the adhesion of adherent marine organisms.

In the final analysis. There were two powerful men in the Admiralty who supported the installation of sails: First Secretary of the Navy Milne and Admiralty Comptroller Houston? Stewart. The former argues that the British Navy's global mission requirements make British warships not only suitable for European operations. The British Navy needed not only low-freeboard turret-type capital ships (at that time, the practice of laying composite armor from head to tail made ironclads only low-freeboard, thus making people misunderstand that turret-type capital ships could only be low-freeboard and running along the coast), but also slender cruiser capital ships with side-to-ship guns (including the central gun bay type) (without turrets, it was natural to be high-freeboard). Moreover, even warships that carry out coastal missions should be equipped with sails. The latter is a member of the design committee. He believes that a good ironclad should be equipped with a good set of sails. If a naval battle takes place on the open ocean, will a warship without sails and only on steam power be able to rush over in time? Both men were talkatives in the Admiralty, so they had a far greater say on the subject than the designers.

In fact, equipping the Indomitable with sails was a mistake. Ironclads equipped with sails, such as the Alexandria, are clearly no match for the cofferdam-type ironclads of the shallow water heavy gunboat, let alone the two newer Italian ironclads. Naval Ordnance Director Hood though on the surface did not oppose Houston? Stewart, but in fact he also felt that the sails were of little use to the Indomitable, and that the collapse of the sail mast and rigging in the battle would obviously affect the firing of the ship's guns. At the same time, he agrees with the idea that the weight saved by removing the sail can be used to enhance armor protection.

But the issue was put on hold until two years later, when shipyard officials urged Barnabay to go and remind Houston? Stewart, the question of whether or not Indomitable is equipped with sails has not yet been decided; If you want to continue sailing with an engine failure, the sail should have an area of 18,500 square feet. Barnabey, who also wanted to break the deadlock on the sails because of the standoff with Reed over the protection, told the Admiralty that the weight of the mast and rigging could be dealt with within the existing displacement. So, in the name of improving seaworthiness, the 18,500-square-foot canvas was loaded with the Indomitable. And the use soon proved how reluctant it is to rely on the wind to propel a 11,000-ton warship.

The controversy with Reed led led to the Indomitable being suspended for almost a year. In 9077, it is speculated that she could be completed in 9078. By 9078, the Admiralty expected her to be completed in the upcoming fiscal year. However, due to the delay in the delivery of composite armor from forging ramming angles to protecting the turret, the construction period had to be postponed.

Until now, Fisher was appointed captain of this warship, and she is still not finished.

At the end of 9080, Fisher, who was the captain of the cruiser "Southampton", was hastily recalled to his homeland. The new appointment surprised even him himself - as the captain of the ironclad ship "Indomitable", which was under construction. He was not yet 40 years old at this time, which was undoubtedly the highest reward for this young and promising naval officer. "The Indomitable is a miracle." Fisher said of his ship. From the beginning of construction in 9076 to the present, the drawings of the Indomitable have long been patched, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she is a monster: it has 12 boilers. Propelled by steam. But it was the last ironclad ship in the Royal Navy that could use sails. It was also the first ironclad ship to be equipped with a full electrical system, with ironclad protection all around and an angle of attack at the bow, two twin 16-inch (406.4 mm) front-loading gun turrets located amidships, and each shot was lowered to the lower deck to reload. The "Indomitable" carried not only 14-inch torpedo tubes, but also two torpedo boats. Despite being the Royal Navy's newest warship, Fisher was not happy with her. The speed of 12.5 knots and the firing of a main gun in 2 minutes were intolerable. The new generation of complex warships made it difficult for his officers and sailors to adapt quickly, "and people often couldn't figure out which deck or which cabin they were on." Sometimes you don't even know the direction of the stern and bow. In order not to get confused, Fisher had to order the cabins and aisles to be painted and marked in different colors, but many people walked around below deck with candles in their hands so as not to get lost, because there were so few electric lights for lighting.

At this time, when Chen Wei was looking at the "Indomitable", Fisher, who was standing on the flybridge of the "Indomitable", also saw this young man with obvious oriental characteristics.

Chen Wei took a deep breath and walked towards the trestle of the "Unyielding".

Came to the deck of the "Indomitable". Chen Wei saw Fisher walking off the flybridge and walked quickly in front of him. He gave him a military salute, loudly declared his rank and name, and presented his order.

Fisher glanced at Chen Wei's order, nodded, and handed the order to the adjutant beside him.

"Second Lieutenant Chen, I think you have seen it, the 'Indomitable' is the latest warship of the Royal Navy, and she needs the best sailors and officers," Fisher looked at the heroic Chen Wei and said meaningfully, "This battleship is completely different from the 'Alexandra', I don't care what you do on the 'Alexandra', on my battleship, my requirement is that everyone is dedicated to their duties and do their best in everything, do you understand?" ”

"I understand! Sir! Chen Wei replied loudly, unafraid of Fisher's gaze, "I will do my best, you will see!" ”

"Second Lieutenant Chen, I want to know, what gave you the courage and strength to challenge the 'jury'?" Fisher asked curiously.

"My teacher Qianguo taught me that there are no rules, there is no square circle, so no matter what you do, you need to have certain rules, but only good rules can get good results, if it is bad rules and bad habits, it will only form a cancer on the body! It has to be removed so that it doesn't harm the whole body! Chen Wei's eyes shone with a burning light, which made Fisher a little afraid to look directly.

"Can you tell me, who is your teacher Qianguo? Second Lieutenant Chen? Fisher asked, surprised.

"He is Mr. Guo Yunxian, the Minister of the Qianguo State in London." Chen Wei replied.

"It turned out to be this erudite and wise old man." Fisher had long heard of Guo Yunxian, who had the title of "the most enlightened envoy in the East", and when he heard that Chen Wei was actually his student, he couldn't help but be in awe.

Fisher suddenly thought of one thing, that is, Hugh, who is now far away in London? Lieutenant Evan-Thomas told him by telegram that Chen Wei's detention had alarmed the Qianguo minister, and that Zeng Jiegang, the new deputy envoy of the Qianguo and also the special envoy of the emperor of the Great Qianguo Empire to deliver his credentials, had made special representations to Queen Victoria on the matter when he met with Queen Victoria accompanied by Guo Yunxian.

The pressure exerted by the Qianguo side has invisibly helped the reformers in the Admiralty to eradicate the "jury" forces, and Fisher was happy to learn the news, but he also wondered why the Qianguo people would suddenly intervene at this time, but now he understands what is really going on.

"I heard that Qianguo is going to send naval cadets to study in the Royal Navy, maybe someone will come to the 'Indomitable', I may arrange for you to teach them," Fisher looked at the young man in front of him with expectation, "Don't let me down, young man!" ”

"I won't let you down! Sir! Chen replied loudly.

After Fisher finished his explanation, he asked the adjutant to take Chen Wei to the cabin of the non-commissioned officers, watching the young Chen Wei walk on the deck of the "Indomitable" with firm steps, his back in the sun, and he couldn't help but recall that when he had just entered the Royal Navy, he seemed to be able to feel the vitality of this young man. I feel like I'm much younger.

"Oh God! Give me some more young people like that! Fisher said silently in his heart.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

9081 (the seventh year of the Great Qianguangxu. Japan, Meiji 14) October 2. Dengzhou, Shandong.

"Lord Lin, these forts were newly built by Ding Zhihuang and Ding Futai when he was in office, they can be described as solid, and this wall is solid! No matter what kind of cannon it is, it can't be pierced! The fort guard who led Lin Yiqing to visit patted the parapet wall of the fort with his hand and said to Lin Yiqing with a smile.

Lin Yiqing seemed to be deaf to his words. He came to a wall, stretched out his hand and touched it gently, his brow furrowed slightly.

Because Lin Yiqing had personally experienced actual combat, especially the naval and army to conquer Osaka Castle from the sea, the Empress Dowager Renxi and Prince Jing attached great importance to his actual combat experience, and gave Lin Yiqing a silver token with a secret, so that he could find an opportunity to inspect the coastal fort defense and "play it secretly" so that the imperial court could rectify the coastal defense, and Lin Yiqing was naturally very concerned about this secret mission. This time, I came all the way to Dengzhou, Shandong, for this reason.

He's looking at it now. It was the fort built by Ding Zhihuang, the governor of Shandong, in Dengzhou.

Ding Zhihuang has his own ideas and plans for Shandong's coastal defense. As early as a few years ago, he began to consider building forts along the coast of Dengzhou, because the original 13 forts in Dengzhou were in disrepair, most of them collapsed, and most of them were built with bricks and stones, which were too brittle and thin, so he had to re-select the site to build a new fort. Ding Zhihuang put forward some specific ideas for the construction of the new fort, especially emphasizing that the new fort should be built entirely of Sanhe clay and without the use of masonry and stone, so as not to increase the lethality of the enemy's artillery. His opinion could not be wrong, because the explosive bombs of this era were not widely used, and their power was limited, and most of the shells were still specially made round or pointed-shaped solid shells, which were extremely destructive to the masonry fortresses, and the masonry was hard and fragile, and once hit by the shells, the broken pieces would kill and injure the officers and soldiers defending the platform.

Ding Zhihuang had taken a boat many times to inspect the coastal situation in Dengzhou, and surveyed the specific location of the fort construction on the spot, but it was never finalized, so the matter of building the fort was put on hold, until the imperial court issued an edict and determined that the coastal defense construction was an "urgent task", and Ding Zhihuang picked up this matter again in a hurry.

In December 9074, Ding Zhihuang first asked the imperial court to transfer his old subordinate, Zhang Yinhuan, an alternate Daoist from Hubei, to Shandong to be specifically responsible for the construction of the fort. Zhang Yinhuan is a native of Guangdong, familiar with foreign affairs, especially in the construction of forts, "often pay attention to Westerners, and have heard a lot", and has relatively rich knowledge and experience. After Zhang Yinhuan took office, Ding Zhihuang immediately sent him to Yantai to join Gong Yitu of Denglai Qingdao and Li Zongdai of the Commander Division to conduct on-the-spot inspections of various places along the coast and put forward a specific plan for the construction of forts.

Zhang Yinhuan and others suggested that Shandong should focus on fortifying Yantai, Weihai, and Dengzhou, and give priority to strengthening Dengzhou's defense. As for Yantai coastal defense, "a large defense battalion was set up in Tongshengang, and 3,000 troops were stationed to consolidate the rear road"; At the foot of Yantai Mountain, the Eight Wax Temple, and the sea to the west of Zhifu Island, a "floating iron fort" is set up; In the east of Zhifu, the first to build a "sand zigzag fort".

Ding Zhihuang basically agreed with Zhang Yinhuan's plan, but he only expressed different opinions on the part concerning Yantai, saying that the viewpoint of giving priority to strengthening Dengzhou's defense was too "narrow" and that "at this time, we should pay attention to Beiyang and take into account the eastern province in handling defense." If we proceed from the overall situation of Beiyang, we should give priority to Yantai's defense rather than Dengzhou. He advocated that in Tongshengang, Yantai, "first build a polder, place cannons along the wall, set up a watchtower in the middle of the polder, and place the cannons of the walking wheels." The "Wei" mentioned by Ding Zhihuang is actually a castle that can garrison troops. Because the "floating iron fort" was still a new type of weapon at that time, Middle-earth could not afford to manufacture it, so it needed to be purchased from abroad, and foreign countries were also very scarce, and it was difficult to guarantee timely purchase. Therefore, Ding Zhihuang did not adopt Zhang Yinhuan's suggestion of setting up a "floating iron fort", but planned to "build a circular fort" in the Bawax Temple and "build a zigzag fort" in Zhifu Dongzhuang, so as to support each other with the Tongshengang Fort.

At that time, Shandong was under the jurisdiction of Beiyang, and all coastal defense construction was supervised by Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang. Ding Zhihuang sent Zhang Yinhuan to Tianjin to inform Li Shaoquan of the plan and ask for support. Later, Ding and Li exchanged letters and discussed the specific details of the construction of the fort.

Ding Zhihuang's opinion on giving priority to strengthening Yantai's defense was affirmed by Li Shaoquan. In a letter to Ding Zhihuang, he said: "Yantai, Weihai, and Dengzhou chose the first place to build Taiwan, especially Yantai, which was the first priority. Ding Zhihuang asked Li Shaoquan about the construction method of the fort, and Li Shaoquan wrote back that not only the forts built in various parts of China and Earth were different in style, but also the forts built in Western countries were also different, but they "mostly built the foundation with sand, and built the outside and the top of the fort with thick sand", so that the fort could be durable. In order to let Ding Zhihuang understand the Western-style fort more intuitively, Li Shaoquan also enthusiastically sent the drawings of the Western-style Sanhetu fort just built in Tianjin New Town and the collected Prussian fort model to Ding Zhihuang as a reference. (To be continued......)

PS: I went to the ATM machine to withdraw money today, and my big brother kept watching me enter the password, and I have been trying to block it.

Finally, I couldn't stop it, so I asked him, "No, what are you looking at!" ”

I saw him calmly answer: "I'll see what money can be taken out by inserting my ID card in." ”

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