Inside Jiangnan Shipyard...... Perhaps now it can only be called Jiangnan Factory, because in the past 10 years, this factory, which has built a large 4,000-ton dry dock and two 2,000-ton docks, has never manufactured a single warship, and the shipyard used to have thousands of workers, but now there are less than 200 people, mainly engaged in manufacturing wooden hull ships to make a living.

A few days ago, two rusty iron-hulled ships of the Nanyang Navy Division were towed to the dock, and today Lu Jianzhang and Qi Fengyi are leading several officers to climb up and down the shelves on the periphery of the battleship.

"Jianzhang, aren't you Nanrui in charge, you haven't painted this ship for a long time, and the armor on the side of this ship is rusty!" Qi Fengyi didn't forget to give his opinion as he walked, he was originally a teacher on the training ship "Junhe", these two German-made iron-hulled ships were the treasures of the Nanyang sailors, and they had not yet had a chance to get on board.

Lu Jianzhang smiled and touched his mustache, "Brother Qi, this period is not something that I can manage, Guo and Yuan, the two eldest masters, are willing to spend this money, and this brush will cost at least more than two hundred taels of silver!" ”

"Jianzhang, do you think this matter is strange...... Why did this Lord Lu borrow the battleship of the sailor! It stands to reason that Qin sent out a patrol to find a China Merchants Steamship Bureau to pick up a big ship, which is much more comfortable than this ship! "Qi Fengyi is a coarse and delicate character, he and Lu Jianzhang also met in the army at the beginning because of the brawls of his soldiers, but they are also all the way, and they have no scruples about talking about it.

When Lu Jianzhang heard this question, he also stopped, looked up at the blue sky, and after a while, he said: "Brother Qi, I also feel strange about this matter, but I happened to go to see Qin Tianmin Lord Qin yesterday, but I heard him mutter, this time to rectify the navy, it may be related to himself!" ”

"I am ......" Qi Fengyi muttered with some surprise, "A while ago, when I went to Weihaiwei Beiyang Military Port on business, I heard that I was building a warship, and many people in Beiyang were also discussing this matter...... Could it be that the adults are afraid that they will rob Qincha halfway...... This seems unlikely! ”

"Brother Qi, aren't you guessing, I have always looked down on the Japanese people, and they have the courage to rob Qincha's ship!" Lu Jianzhang smiled, revealing an expression of disbelief.

At this moment, someone next to him suddenly interjected, "Lang Zhai (Lu Jianzhang's table), you have completely underestimated my ability...... Do you have any concerns about the current strength of the Navy? Compared to my water master, you have an analysis! ”

Lu Jianzhang and Qi Fengyi followed the voice, indeed Lu Hong was standing at the bow of the ship with Qin Tianmin and Rong Qing, and the two of them were still in the same round just now, and when they suddenly saw Lu Hong, they couldn't help muttering in their hearts, but fortunately they didn't say anything bad......

The two walked a few steps closely, and Lu Jianzhang bowed his hand, and then replied: "My lord, as an officer of the naval division, I naturally pay attention to the recent situation of the navy, and listen to the brothers in Beiyang talk about it, saying that it is said that this has purchased a large number of warships in recent years, especially the two ships Yoshino and Akitsuzhou, which are expensive to build, and both use British fast guns!" ”

"My lord, when I met with Haim, the liaison officer of the British Far East Fleet a few years ago, I also heard that I was carrying out a large-scale transformation of the battleships, and the old warships were all equipped with new fast guns...... The British also appreciate this kind of fast artillery, and I think the imperial court should also let our sailors change to new cannons as soon as possible! Qi Fengyi on the side also immediately expressed his opinion!

For the answers of these two people, Lu Hong is still quite satisfied, for a Manchu political axe that lacks media in China and does not attach importance to diplomacy in the world, it is not easy for Lu Jianzhang and Qi Fengyi to understand these news, but it is obvious that they lack a sufficient sense of crisis for the urgency of the current situation, like other Chinese people!

However, he immediately decided to take advantage of the topic, "The possible surname that Qi Fengyi mentioned just now is not big, but it is a possibility, the Japanese attacked Taiwan 20 years ago and occupied Ryukyu 15 years ago...... Now the situation in North Korea is unclear, and if something happens, it will inevitably cause chaos, so the two of you on this ship are very attentive and train diligently! ”

"Yes!" The two immediately responded loudly, and Lu Jianzhang scratched his head and said: "My lord, in fact, there are still good players in the Nanyang Naval Division, and it is difficult to pick out good soldiers on the two ships of Nanrui and Nanchen...... If you have a heart, I am drafting a list these days, all of which are good soldiers I know, and it would be a lot more convenient if I could recruit them to escort the Qincha! ”

I didn't expect Lu Jianzhang to be really dedicated, Lu Hong was naturally very satisfied, let him do a good job of the roster, this matter, send Qin Tianmin to do it, there is no problem! However, the topic to be talked about at this time is obviously not the problem of this soldier, but the 210mm Krupp heavy gun in the terrace gun enclosure of the bow of the NARI ship at this moment!

Lu Hong can be said to be completely ignorant of the gunnery used in the Nanyang Naval Division in this era, and he naturally wanted to come today to see the two battleships that went ashore for repair, to be honest, after some on-the-spot inspection, the situation of the iron-hulled battleship manufactured by the German Volkeng shipyard really disappointed him.

Originally, I thought that these two steel-armored ships mentioned in the mouths of the officers of the Nanyang Naval Division, but now it seems that the so-called steel armor is wrought iron armor at all, and after his on-site measurement, the central part should have been the position of the thickest armor, and there was only 1 and a half inch of wrought iron armor, and the other parts were all one-inch armor, and even the deadly command tower was also one-inch armor, this thing...... It can't resist a 100mm caliber gun at all, and it can deal with the conical warhead of the Haqikais machine gun! This is really a fake iron-hulled ship.

Although compared with the old wooden hull, the iron hull has many superior surnames, but the two ships of Nanrui and Nanchen are actually not armored ships at all, and their protection is ...... That's really weak!

However, now I can only look at the pot and rice, at least, through these two warships, maybe I can control a small military force, although at present, it will not be in my own name, more under the banner of Wang Renkan, the minister, but this is already a very significant progress.

Thinking of this, Lu Hong pointed to the front main gun of the battleship, "Lang Zhai, you were teaching as a sailor before, you should be able to use this kind of heavy artillery, if you train diligently, how much hit rate can Nanri's cannon achieve?" How long does it take to get a shot? ”

"Hit rate ......" Lu Jianzhang obviously didn't adapt to this term at once, but after thinking about it for a while, he immediately understood Lu Hong's problem, of course he knew artillery, and at that time, he also specially asked the British instructor for advice in the Sailor Academy, and conducted professional study.

"My lord, this is a German-made 8-inch gun, with a pipe diameter of 32 times, a maximum range of 6800 meters, a charge of 50 kilograms, an armor-piercing projectile weighing 140 kilograms, a high-explosive shell weighing 130 kilograms, if it hits, 2000 meters can penetrate 8-inch armor, the naval division participated in the Beiyang exercise a few years ago, and our gunners scored 3 shots!" Speaking of this, he suddenly stretched out his head and looked at the extra thing on the front main gun with some surprise!

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