January 9, 1898, London, England, Cabinet of Ministers, Office of the Admiralty.

"Well, where did you see in the morning...... ...... here"

As the new British Admiralty Lord David Beatty was immersed in the mountains of papers on his desk, the door to his office was suddenly pushed open!

"Oh, hell! Those dog mongrels in the House, do you believe it, Your Excellency the Secretary of the Admiralty? They actually rejected the budget for the last four 'Duncan' classes?! What the fuck!! ”

Listening to the bitter scolding of his chief of staff, Admiral David Betty didn't even blink an eyelid.

"Hey, John! You are a noble naval officer, remember to maintain your manners at all times. ”

John Fisher, Chief of the Naval Staff, snorted, "Look at your messy tabletop, I don't think you're in a position to lecture me on etiquette." ”

The Admiralty Chancellor coughed slightly embarrassed before asking.

"Well, let's close the subject, my dear Mr. Chief of Staff! Why did you have time to come to me today? ”

Fisher closed the door and waved his hand, "If it weren't for the Navy's new ship construction plan, I really want to go back immediately, see...... Even if you run to that ship casually, it's much cleaner than here, and you should really reprimand your secretary. ”

"Oh, leave it alone, this moldy place is long overdue, don't talk about you, I don't like it either."

David Betty shook his head as he walked over to the coffee table and made a cup of coffee for his chief of staff, "Also, Miss Cady was pregnant last week and took a leave of absence. ”

"Oh, I was rude." After thanking him, Fisher took the Admiralty's coffee.

"Hehe, I've heard about the 'Duncan' level too."

The Admiralty also made himself a drink, sipping a fragrant Cuban coffee, and continued.

"But we can't change it, can we? What the parliamentarians and gentlemen said is not wrong, the navy has built a large number of Sovereign and Dreadnought-class battleships before, and a lot of money has been wasted, it would be good to be able to add 4 new Duncan-class ships, and your ship-building bill should wait until next year. ”

Hearing this, Fishel, the chief of staff of the Navy, suddenly sat down on the sofa and sighed.

“…… Speaking of battleships, hehe, the Russians' ocean-going fleet last year was really 'out of the limelight'. ”

Although he knew that the admiral on the other side was diverting his gaze, Fisher, who was also interested, still couldn't help but tease together, "Hmph, I heard that the Russian sailors on the ship haven't bathed for several months, and when they arrived in Hakodate, the port side almost didn't agree to let this stinky fleet into the harbor!" ”

"Yes, it took a week for dozens of Russian ships to clean the marine flora and fauna at the bottom of the ship, and I am really worried that their boatmen will scratch the hull." David Betty scoffed.

"Now the Russians' stinky pig fleet should be famous all over the world, and Nicholas II of St. Petersburg must be very proud, right?"

"Hahahaha-"

"Hahahaha-"

"Whoa—" the aged Admiral stretched, after a short laugh, "I'd rather focus on the Yankees in the lower Western Hemisphere than the Russians." ”

Fisher scratched his head and wondered, "What's the matter, Mr. Admiral, isn't the war between the United States and Spain already over?" ”

"Hey, the end? No, far from it. ”

David Betty smiled wryly, "Are you really willing to be an American?" If it weren't for the sudden turn of public opinion across Europe, Spain would never have been able to hold on without the unanimous support of all countries. ”

"The American threat?" Fisher said indifferently, "So what, do you think that the poor naval power of the Americans can threaten the security of the British Empire?" ”

David Betty shook his head and said, "I have carefully analyzed the 'American cowboy' published in the Times, and the data published on it is true and credible. Can you imagine Fisher? Last year, the United States produced more than 10 million tons of steel, and judging from the various industrial capacities alone, they have indeed posed a real threat to Britain...... As long as they want to. ”

"So what, is there really going to be a Copenhagenized war against the United States?"

Fisher took a sip of his coffee and frowned.

"I know that some time ago, someone in the naval fleet of North America submitted such a bill."

"Hahahaha-"

Hearing this, Secretary of the Navy David Beatty couldn't help laughing, took out two slightly crumpled cigars from the drawer under the desk, handed one to the chief of staff, and then lit the same for himself, "Don't worry, that's to scare the Yankees, some time ago, the U.S. political axe changed the Alaska border with Canada without authorization, and several young people in the American Command were just arrogant and angry." ”

"Hehe, I really don't want to fight another reading war with the Yankees......" Fisher let out a long sigh and laughed to himself.

"It was a disaster. But then again, since it's already a threat, don't you just ignore it? In terms of industrial potential, the United States is really becoming more and more like a behemoth, and our strategy needs to change, right? ”

"Strategy? No, it's not something we need to worry about. David Betty pulled out a few drawings from the folder next to him and threw them in front of the Chief of Staff, "Look at this, that's what we should be paying attention to, Fisher!" ”

After taking the Admiralty's drawings and flipping through two pages, Fisher's originally nonchalant expression became serious.

"It's ...... Drawings of the warship designs of the Serisians, I heard that these Eastern nouveau riche had installed a wireless telegraph system on each of their warships...... Oh my God, they removed the ramming angles and torpedo tubes, the turrets arranged on the central axis...... How did their naval guns come in triple? The drawings are very comprehensive, Mr. David, how did you manage it? ”

"No, this is not the original ship drawing, it is just a sketch copied by Engineer Wright after being invited to visit their 'Dreadnought' ship, the data may not be accurate, but the general construction will not be wrong."

The Admiralty squinted his eyes and then spat out the cigar smoke in his mouth and said slowly.

Navy Chief of Staff Fisher said while looking at the drawings, "According to the data released by the Orientals, this 'Dreadnought' has reached a displacement tonnage of nearly 17,000 tons when fully loaded, which is more than all the warships in active service in the Empire. ”

"That's not all, judging from their design," David Betty's eyes became serious, "the layout of the guns completely abandons the previous frets, and the central axis is arranged while unifying the caliber. It must be said that the Seris were ahead of us. ”

Fisher pointed to the triple 11-inch naval guns on the drawings and said, "Four triple guns? That's twelve main guns, and the firepower is also stronger than the five twin ten main guns of the Duncan class. Why don't we use a triple main ship gun like them? ”

"The Imperial Naval Research Institute once developed this kind of triple gun system, but after testing, it was found that the triple gun installed in a turret was very unstable, and even interfered with each other when firing a salvo, especially the scattering phenomenon is difficult to solve." David Betty shook his head.

Fisher's leaning right hand knocked on the coffee table and frowned, "Is it very serious?" ”

"Well, it's not optimistic! The scattering within a distance of 10,000 meters of shelling exceeded 600 meters. The Admiralty Chancellor nodded in the affirmative.

"600 meters?!" The young chief of staff of the Navy asked in surprise, it was clear that Fisher himself knew what such a scattering error would mean for his own fleet in a naval battle.

After a moment of daze, Fisher asked again, "But, Mr. Betty, I heard that it seems that our German neighbors have adopted such a design?" ”

"It's not the same," David Beatty shook his head, "the Navy's intelligence officers have carefully observed this kind of German warship in Kiel Military Harbor, and according to their observations, the Vicchersbach-class German [***] ships with this triple gun design have used the tactics of delayed shelling during artillery training. ”

"Changing the coordinates of the shot while constantly measuring the range and observing the landing point?"

"Shoot at intervals, good tactics!" Fisher was surprised, "But did they solve the scattering problem?!" ”

"Fisher, do you really think I'm a jack of all trades, in fact, I don't know." The Admiralty Minister shifted his seat and smiled bitterly.

The young Chief of Staff was dumbfounded.

David Betty sighed, "I'd rather they solved this problem so that those lab bastards could look up at the outside world." We've asked Ceris about it before, and they've even agreed to sell us the technology. ”

Looking at the expectant face of the chief of staff in front of him, the Admiralty Secretary shook his head and laughed at himself, "But the guys from the political axe actually thought that the other party's offer was too high, and directly rejected the deal, and also thought that the design of the triplet itself was flawed......"

"What a bunch of bitches!" Navy Chief of Staff Fisher couldn't hold back his curse.

Admiral David Betty shook his head and smiled bitterly, and began to comfort his colleagues around him, "Don't worry too much, some researchers think that their caliber has reduced the technical barrier, 11 inches is still too small after all!" ”

"The caliber is inferior to the 12-inch guns of the 'Duncan' class...... But their rate of fire is also much faster, isn't it? ”

Fisher glanced at the Admiralty next to him and sneered.

"Judging from the results of the previous naval battle, large-caliber naval guns are still irreplaceable."

David Betty frowned and thought, "But the rate of fire of the cannon is also very important, judging by the results of the Qing Navy alone......"

Fisher shrugged, "Isn't that still a matter of victory!" ”

"yes, it looks like this naval battle is really chaotic now," said the Admiralty Secretary in distress, "and the newly developed 'Duncan' class is even close to reverting to their long-abandoned ramming design!" ”

"To hell with the cedar ramming, just don't let the bow get into the water in front of a large number of rapid-fire guns."

Chief of Staff Fisher sighed and waved his hand, "I am more concerned about the hull welding technology that the Germans just introduced from Seris, don't you think that the technical exchanges between China and Germany are too frequent, Mr. Betty?" ”

"The officials of the Admiralty have also noticed the problem you mentioned, and from a technical point of view, welding can indeed effectively reduce the rivet link, shorten the ship-building cycle, and greatly improve the surname of the warship itself."

Looking at his colleague in front of him, David Betty said slowly.

"Oh my God! So what are you waiting for, hurry up and buy the welding technology back! Fisher looked at the Admiralty beside him, not knowing what the other party was still hesitating.

"Could it be that the Germans or the Serisians are asking too much?!"

"Well, the Germans are like a hen that lays golden eggs, and they refuse to sell this technology to the outside world. The Orientals did not offer any exorbitant prices, but their demands were equally difficult for the Cabinet Axe. ”

The Minister of the Navy shook his head and explained, "The other party has asked us to give up our support plan for the political axe. ”

"Stupid! Don't they know that by doing so, we are restraining the expansion of the Russians in the Far East? ”

Fisher stood up with a frown, and refilled a cup of coffee for himself and the Admirals beside him.

"We're helping them!"

David Beatty shook his head and said, "The outcome is not yet certain, and although the Germans refuse to sell the technology, the Far East Minister to Serris, Sir Dounale, is coordinating with their political axe in this regard." Judging from the reply from the knight, he himself was confident that he would persuade the other party to join the empire's system of dealing with Russia. ”

"Oh, I hope so......" Fisher shrugged, hopeless in response.

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