"Why only two torpedoes? Can't put a few more? ”

"Why are you running so slowly? Can't run a little faster? ”

"Why doesn't such a good ship have even a cannon on it? What's the deal with only two machine guns? ”

“……”

Without the excitement of seeing the submarine, the naval officers harshly criticized the warship, which was substandard everywhere, in the conference room. It's good that you have an opinion, submarines are a completely new branch of the world's navies. How to use it, how to equip the weapon system, what the performance parameters look like, it is indeed necessary for these navies who drive large ships to express their meaning. Because only these officers who have been on the big ships for many years will know the weaknesses of these big warships, although they are also trying to make up for these weaknesses.

But don't be angry with me if you have any opinions, I'm just an intelligence liaison officer. Li Zhenhua was on fire, and Lao Tzu was only responsible for security and checking the actual combat effect of the submarine to judge whether the next action could be carried out. I don't know what the submarine is going on even more than you, what are you all doing at me?

Even Wu Deren said unhappily: "Lao Tzu is the commander of the navy, why does Lao Tzu have such a fleet under him, and Lao Tzu, who is the commander, will not know?" As he spoke, Wu Deren slammed his hands into fists on the table.

"The submarine is still in the testing stage and has not been incorporated into active service in the Navy. In other words, they are still just test samples belonging to weapons laboratories, so why should they tell you. Li Zhenhua glanced at Wu Deren, and asked the guards around him to call the design: "If you have any opinions about the submarine, you can discuss it with the chief designer of the submarine." But pay attention to your attitude. People don't talk to me so well. ”

As the chief designer of the submarine, Holland did not know that his submarine had caused an uproar. He was also on the bridge when the submarine attacked. So he also saw the four clusters of red, and Horan breathed a sigh of relief. His dream came true. Submarines - the ultimate weapon in naval warfare. But he also found a problem, so after the exercise, he went back to his cabin to think about ways to improve it.

Two torpedoes that had been loaded in advance, but the distance between the alternating attacks was too long. Although it was hit by two torpedoes, it was judged to be sunk during the exercise. However, for a warship of more than 10,000 tons, unless it hits a key part, it will not be able to participate in the battle with serious injuries at most. without sinking. The point is that this time, because the entire fleet did not know that it would be attacked from underwater, the submarine was given two opportunities to attack. Once the submarine is used in actual combat, it is very difficult to launch a wave of attack after the end of a wave of attacks. Other words. Once the previous wave of attacks failed to sink the enemy ship, it is basically impossible to make up for another one. Speed is a problem, but it is estimated that it is difficult to solve in this short period of time, because the power of the electric motor is only so large. Moreover, after the torpedo is fired, the submarine will have to carry out the prescribed maneuvers. to avoid damage to the submarine from the shock wave from the explosion. At this time, the attacked ship can take advantage of the high speed to get out of the attack range of the submarine. In addition to these, there are problems with the submarine itself. The hull, which is already almost 600 tons, needs to be improved in terms of space utilization, for example, a torpedo tube can be designed at the stern, for example, the front torpedo compartment should be equipped with several more torpedoes. For example, how to design the anti-roll structure to make the submarine more stable, such as the Qing Emperor proposed a snorkel that allows the submarine to pump air in the semi-submersible state......

"Mr. Holland, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and the Chief of the General Staff of our Navy invite Mr. to the conference room." The guard assigned to Holan gently opened the door and said to Holland, who was crawling on the table to write and draw.

As Holland's bodyguard, he will also be a servant, helping him arrange his life-related matters. Every scientist and engineer should have at least one guard like them. In addition to helping them with their daily chores, so that they can devote themselves to their scientific careers. Of course, only these guards knew that they had another task, which was to deal with these people as soon as they were out of the control of the Qing Dynasty. As long as these people work in peace. Money and beauties are satisfied, but if they can't be used by me, they can't be left to the enemy, this is the unanimous opinion from Guangxu to the courtiers.

Huo Lan, who was thinking about it, heard that the commander-in-chief of the Qing Navy and the chief of the general staff had an invitation, and he immediately stood up excitedly. You know, when he was in the United States, it was almost impossible to meet these high-ranking generals. So he immediately began to organize his outfit.

John? Philip? Holland, the originator of the submarine dual propulsion system. He began working on submarines at the age of 18, and in 1878 he built the submarine "Holland-I". However, his fate was bumpy, and the "Fenian Society", which had supported him, saw that Holland had been testing submarines all day, but had no idea of using them for combat, so they lost patience with him, and secretly transported his third submarine with the "Fenian Crash Point" one night. In fact, it's not that he doesn't want to use it in combat, it's that he thinks that his current design can't be used in combat. Later, with the support of his friends, he found Captain Zalinsky, an artillery captain, who was already the highest-ranking officer he could find, and with him he founded a submarine company and cooperated in the development of his fourth submarine, which was named "Zalinsky". When the submarine was first launched in 1886, the slipway collapsed and the entire boat was destroyed. In 1893, France built the "Gustav? Zid" submarine. The creation of this then-state-of-the-art submarine prompted the U.S. Department of the Navy to hold a submarine design competition, which gave Holland a chance to turn around.

But at this critical moment, his drawings were stolen. Although he was angry, he was not discouraged. He did not give up his ideals, he decided to use his own money to build and fulfill his dreams. It's just that although he is rich and clean, he can't withstand someone's deliberate sabotage. Constant accidents caused Horan to squander his entire fortune in less than a year, and finally accepted the money of a wealthy man from the East for his dream and came to the East.

With nearly unlimited funds and a complete set of research institutions that cooperate with him, even everything in life is arranged by special people. Finally, last year, Holland, who was able to concentrate on the study of submarines. Last year, when he turned 55, he finally succeeded in building a 15-meter-long submarine with a 33-kilowatt gasoline engine and a battery-powered electric motor. The submarine has a twin propulsion system. When sailing on the surface, it is powered by a gasoline engine, which can reach a speed of 7 knots per hour and a range of 1,000 nautical miles, and when diving underwater, it is powered by an electric motor and can reach a speed of 5 knots. The range is 50 nautical miles. The boat had a crew of five and was armed with a bow torpedo tube and two guns, one with the muzzle forward. One gun has its muzzle backwards, but the aiming of the gun depends on manipulating the submarine itself to aim at the target. The boat is capable of launching torpedoes underwater, navigating smoothly on the water and diving quickly. Flexible. This is the sixth submarine designed by Holland.

After success. The original design was 400 tons, but in order to further increase the endurance and diving time, it was further enlarged, and the double pressure-resistant shell structure was adopted, and the engine was changed to a newly developed diesel engine with higher power. In the end, these two practical ships were built for combat testing.

It has a displacement of 380 tons above the surface and 545 tons underwater, with a length of 32 meters and a maximum width of 5.2 meters. Equipped with two 433 mm torpedo tubes (forward only), but only one torpedo on each tube. Surface diesel and underwater electric power systems. Two-axle three-blade propulsion, surface navigation of 10 knots, endurance of 1500 nautical miles. It has a range of 5 knots, a endurance of 100 nautical miles, a maximum safe depth of 25 meters, and a maximum depth limit of 40 meters. These are the basic parameters of the two mackerel-class submarines in front of you.

As for not being able to load a few more torpedoes, it is because the use of internal space needs to be improved, and because there is no safer way to reload. Otherwise, if a torpedo falls during reloading, it may cause an explosion and blow up the submarine. As for the slow speed, then you should go to the power lab and let them come up with a more powerful engine. These two points will be refined in the future design. But if you want to load the cannon, you have to go to your emperor, because he is the one who changed the cannons on the ship to machine guns. This was Holland's answer to the questions of the admirals.

In fact, for the installation of cannons on submarines, Guangxu recalled what he knew and saw in the movies and televisions, and basically never heard of the cannons on submarines that worked. As for the mention that in low-intensity naval battles, artillery would be better used than torpedoes, Guangxu disdained this. Not to mention battleships and cruisers, even a destroyer is not something you can deal with with as a submarine. It's hard to use submarines to fight frigates, and even if you do, the last thing to be killed will be the slower submarine. Therefore, there is no need for cannons on submarines, and it is more cost-effective to exchange the weight of cannons for a few more torpedoes. As for the two machine guns, they were used to keep the submarine on guard after it surfaced or to shoot the crew of an enemy ship overboard.

As for the tactics of the submarine, Horan didn't think it should be something he thought it should be. All he needed was to listen to these admirals and make better design improvements to his submarines. Holland was a little excited, no matter how poor Qing Guo was, but he was responsive to his design needs, and now he was discussing submarines with him professionally as a naval commander.

For these senior generals, Holland not only knew everything about submarines, not only to explain the generals' doubts, but also put forward some ideas for the improvement of submarine technology. Even the two cargo ships under their feet are detailed. These two ships, disguised as cargo ships, are actually support ships for submarine ocean-going operations.

Considering the fact that the speed of the submarine is too slow, it is not conducive to launching a surprise attack in the open ocean. Therefore, these two 5,000-ton cargo ships were modified as auxiliary vessels specially designed to support submarine operations. The two ships spent a year refitting at the Naha shipyard, moving the huge boiler room and steam engine to the front of the hull in order to create an internal dock more than 50 meters long inside the hull. Specialized support vessels loaded with hundreds of tons of diesel, fresh water and supplies are the secret weapon of the submarine force, and it is with it that the submarine force is able to carry out transoceanic operations.

The discussion in the conference room was still going on, Li Zhenhua quietly pulled Cheng Cheng aside, handed him a telegram and said, "This is the second encrypted message issued by the General Staff Headquarters, which has just been received." It said that if this submarine exercise is successful, the telegram will be handed over to you. It's up to you to plan the next move. ”

Cheng Cheng took the telegram and turned around and went back to the Longyin. Because it's only on the Dragon's Roar that you have this special codebook. When he finished translating the telegram, the first thing he did was to call back all the officers and return to their respective ships, and then went into the command cabin with Wu Deren to discuss. No one knew what the two had discussed. However, the Pacific Fleet then sailed south and stopped at Keelung. In the distance, the two submarine support ships continued to sail to the southwest.

And on this day, a 10,000-ton cargo ship departed from Shanghai. It was surprising that the freighter was escorted by an old armored cruiser, the USS Nelson. The people on the docks were speculating about what was on board, and no one knew, not even the workers, who knew that it was loaded with heavy boxes until the ship was gone. And in the warehouse of Shunfeng Logistics on the dock, a telegram was transmitted through the airwaves.

In Beijing, the British minister Ogener anxiously paced back and forth outside the Palace of Heart Cultivation. Ever since the British government announced that it would resell the warships ordered by the Qing State to Japan, he stayed in the legation with peace of mind. Waiting for Guangxu's summons. But for three days, I didn't hear that Guangxu had the intention of summoning him, and even the ministers of the Qing State had no intention of summoning him. At first, he thought that the Qing Kingdom was going to discuss ways and means to deal with it, so he didn't care.

But at this moment. After announcing that it would deliver the warships ordered by the Qing State ahead of schedule, Germany again announced that it would speed up the construction of the other two warships, and explicitly asked the shipyard to complete the construction at the same time as the warships were delivered from Britain to Japan. This was a signal from the German side, and it was not just that Germany was going to sell the other two warships to the Qing state. Rather, Germany showed an attitude of hostility to Great Britain. Reminiscent of the two newest German heavy cruisers for the Far East. If Germany intended to sell these two warships to the Qing as well, the British Empire's plan to weaken the Qing to support Japan would be frustrated because of Germany's plan to sell them.

Although Ogner also believed that the British Empire needed to strengthen its power in the Far East, he also recognized that the rise of the Qing Dynasty would have a non-negligible impact on the British Empire's power in the Far East. Supporting Japan to challenge the Qing Dynasty and letting the two countries restrain each other is a way, which can be a good way to make the British Empire right and left. But how big Japan is, and how big the Qing country is, can't they tell the difference? Japan itself did not have the confidence to challenge the Qing Dynasty, and perhaps it could have this ability for a while because of external imports. And what about in the future? The Qing Kingdom would surely crush Japan with its huge territory and population. Unless the Qing state can be broken up into a number of small states, but is this possible? China's history has long been told to everyone. That's impossible.

The day after the British announced the resale, the largest semi-official newspaper in the Qing Dynasty, Shi Wu Bao, publicized the matter in a large way, and in the following week, there was a large article about what the British Empire had done in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing people became angry with the British Empire, and the information received from the consulates in various places made it clear that the British factories in China were beginning to be unable to borrow money and recruit new workers, and even the former workers resigned. Not only that, but now the British company in Chinaland is starting to not even be able to buy materials. The Chinese would rather leave the material moldy in warehouses than sell to British companies that bought it at a high price. This year, the British raw silk manufacturing industry in Shanghai will be weakened across the board.

Supporting Japan is one way, but isn't supporting the Qing Dynasty a way? The Qing people pay attention to gratitude and morality, so what is wrong with letting the Qing country be the spokesperson of the British Empire in the Far East. The fools in Congress have made a big mistake, but as a minister, he still has to fight for the best interests of his country, which is the duty of a foreign official.

I didn't think that this wait was a week, and I didn't wait for the will of the Qing Emperor to summon me for questioning, this was already abnormal. In the past, every time I entered the palace to see His Majesty, I was warmly received by the waiter, even when I was waiting for the reception, the tea and dim sum never stopped. But since the announcement of the resale, he has been pushed aside for the third time, and he doesn't even have a glass of water. In particular, after he found out that Germany had begun to speed up the construction of new ships, Guangxu met with the German minister for three consecutive days, which showed that there was a problem. If the Qing Emperor had only summoned the German minister, he might have been able to accept it, but he would have to express his support for the Qing in Germany. But when the head of Deutsche Bahn in China and Zhan Tianyou, the chief engineer of the Qingguo Railway, were summoned together, this had to worry Ogna. But today is the third day in a row that he has asked the inner palace to see His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, but he has not been received. However, when the German minister and the head of the Deutsche Bahn company left in China in high spirits, the French minister and the head of the French railway company were received before the minister of the British Empire, who had arrived earlier. This is infuriating, and it is a contempt for the British Empire. Ogner did not continue to wait in front of the Heart Cultivation Palace, he came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing State, and he wanted to protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"You want to protest?" The porter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looked at Ogener in surprise: "The adults have been summoned by the emperor to play right, and now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is finished, and the porter does not wait for Ogener to speak, and closes the door very rudely." Shut Ogna out.

Ogna hurried back again, and before he was halfway there, a shocking news came out. Tomorrow, the Qing Kingdom will hold a signing ceremony with Germany and France for the construction of the railway. It was over, Ogner said to himself, and just because of the two warships, Britain gave up the brightest jewel in its crown. (To be continued......) u