I can't think of it, I can't think of it. Guangxu looked at the warship model in front of him and sighed deeply, it turned out that it was so complicated, so troublesome, and so difficult to build a main warship.

In June, I started the design of the new warship, but three months have passed and I haven't even started to write! Guangxu was in a hurry, but that was all his hopes for the future, so Guangxu personally went to inquire about the progress. Startled by the question, McKinson was still crouching in front of the big pool, repairing the model of the wooden boat in his hand with a small file.

The bow of the current ship is straight into the water, and the design concept of the Atlantic bow proposed by Guangxu is not widely adopted. In order to use this kind of floating bow on a warship, it is necessary to calculate and experiment on the arc and angle of the drift, in order to achieve the most ideal degree and minimize the friction of seawater on the hull. The new bow means a new hull, which in turn involves more calculations and experiments. The good news is that after three months of calculations and tests, the hull has been largely finalized. Guangxu let out a sigh, fortunately he didn't tell them about the concept of bulbous nose and square tail rudder, if he did, he wouldn't have to do it for another year just to calculate and test?

Guangxu affirmed McKinson's work, and repeatedly emphasized: Don't reduce the necessary calculations because of my urging, but still try to speed up as much as possible. On the premise of ensuring quality, speed up the progress.

When the first Siberian cold wind blew through Yanjing City, the chief designer of the Ship Design Office of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of the Qing Dynasty, Oleg? Laborious? McKinson, at last, came up with his first blueprint. But when Guangxu rushed over to take a look, he pulled down his face on the spot.

Four triple 40L/305mm main guns are distributed in the front and back, tall bridges, slender hulls, using the latest steam turbines and oil-fired boilers that have just been successfully trial-produced, and using two chimneys distributed on the left and right. The maximum design speed is 18 knots. Guangxu is very satisfied with these data, but the reason why Guangxu pulls down his face is because of the amount of drainage.

To support the recoil of the salvo of the main gun, it was necessary to strengthen the keel and related supporting parts. And because the triple gun has not yet been successfully trial-produced, McKinson, who was responsible for the design of the battleship for the first time, increased the thickness of the keel and related support parts to the greatest extent for the sake of insurance. In this way, the weight of the hull has increased substantially, and in order to support such a large weight, it is necessary to enlarge the hull again, plus the weight of the armor, so that the standard quasi-displacement of the warship still on paper has reached 21,000 tons, and the full load displacement is as high as 25,000 tons.

"Britain's newest battleship is only 16,000 tons, and you'll have 20,000 tons. If the Qing Dynasty has such a strong industrial capacity, you still want to do it. Guangxu was furious: "The latest 40L/305mm naval gun, the Qing Dynasty and Ben have no ability to develop it, you just asked me to buy it from the UK, do you think the UK will sell this technology?" I told you that you want to unify the caliber of the main gun, but you don't even have a small-caliber rapid-fire gun, do you want to use the main gun to shoot torpedoes? Or let the crew go to torpedo with saliva? ”

Faced with the enraged emperor, McKinson really didn't know how to reply. There was silence throughout the design room. McKinson actually knew that it would be difficult to design such a large warship, but he took it for granted that it must be the request of the emperor of a big country. And as the emperor himself, he will also use all the power of the state to complete it for his own needs, maybe it will not be built in one or two years, but after three or five years, the possibility of this realization will be very great, and the emperor will be able to use almost infinite resources and strength. But this design made the most obvious mistake, the absence of a small-caliber machine gun. Although it was his first time designing a capital battleship, this mistake was also unforgivable.

McKinson, who had been staring at Guangxu for a few minutes, finally replied with a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, it was my mistake not to design a small-caliber machine gun. But in order to ensure a salvo of 12 naval guns of 40L/305mm, such a large hull was necessary. ”

Must have such a large hull? Guangxu looked at the drawings in a daze. Let's not talk about the Qing Dynasty, I'm afraid that Britain doesn't have such industrial capacity at present! However, if the construction and testing of the experimental ship cannot be completed as soon as possible, then the subsequent construction of the main battleship will definitely be delayed. Once all the warships ordered by Ben around the world have returned to China and completed maintenance, it is difficult to estimate when they will launch a sneak attack on the Qing State under his surname. As a result, the delay in the construction of warships will certainly greatly affect the situation of the Qing Dynasty naval battle in the future......

Even if the current navy is rearmed, it will not be the one that was well-trained before the First Sino-Japanese War. Even if they have a more powerful fleet than the Qing State, but the sailors who do not have enough actual combat experience will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the fleet. However, the CIA said that the CIA had also sent back accurate information that the construction of two warships had already begun at the Yokosuka shipyard, the only one intact in the country. Although no specific data has been obtained, it is certain that these two warships will play a surprise role in the future Qing war. If the Qing Dynasty did not have the strength to restrain it, then the Qing fleet might lose due to this sudden change in the naval battle.

Although the General Staff Headquarters has conducted tactical exercises with the naval forces of both sides, it is 80 percent certain that the inexperienced navy will be victorious. However, the Qing navy was not a British navy and could not withstand losses. If you lose half of the ships in the war, it will be no different from the defeat of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, this deduction was based on the result of gathering all the three major fleets of the Qing Dynasty and meeting them with all the main forces. As for the results of the tactical deduction of launching a sneak attack without warning when the three major fleets of the Qing State were not assembled, the General Staff has not yet handed them over. But when Guangxu asked, the expressions of the general staff members had already told Guangxu that the result of the deduction was very bad. Unless, the Great Qing State took the initiative to attack.

It is said that it will take two years to complete and deliver the warships, and it will take three years to return them from various countries, plus maintenance and necessary familiarity with the relevant sea areas. Even if the Great Qing State sent spies to sabotage, it would be delayed for a year at most. Four years, even if the progress of the Qing Dynasty's self-built ships is not delayed, the time of four years is already very tight, and if it is delayed again, the new ships will definitely not be able to participate in the war. Besides, exposing the Qing spy organization in exchange for time is a trick that has no way to be used. In this way, there is no need to build new ships, but to turn to external procurement.

Guangxu couldn't think of a reason for a while, he sat aside and drank a sip of tea: "Let's discuss." ”

As soon as Guangxu's words came out, the accompanying officials of the General Staff and the Admiralty began to discuss. There are people who say that they buy it, and some people say it directly, even if they don't buy it, they can beat the dog all over the ground to find teeth. Those who can review the drawings with the emperor are all core figures, and everyone understands the current combat power of the Qing Navy. The chaotic discussion soon led to a more unified idea: external procurement. The number of ships purchased tends to be two.

"Deng Shichang, you are the Minister of the Navy. What about your opinion? Guangxu asked.

"Wechen thinks that it should be based on external procurement. Two ships are enough. Deng Shichang said with certainty.

"And what about the chief of staff?"

"Procurement of four ships." Wang Shizhen said after inviting McKinson out of the room.

"Why?"

"Wei Chen thinks that in the war against the Qing Dynasty, we must maintain the absolute superiority in the armed forces of the Qing Dynasty, plus the experience advantage of our Qing navy. Only after the war can we save more power. In this way, after the war, the Qing Dynasty had enough strength to deter the Tsarist Far East Fleet. If we had suffered excessive losses in naval forces in the war against the Tsarist Dynasty, it would have been difficult for the Qing Dynasty after the war to ensure the balance of forces against the Tsarist Far East Fleet. If Tsarist Russia suddenly attacked at this time, the Qing navy would be in danger, and the Qing country would also be in danger. ”

Guangxu looked at Wang Shizhen and chose him as the chief of staff, which was correct. His vision has gone beyond the Qing Dynasty War and saw the situation faced by the Great Qing State after the war. Guangxu nodded: "Is there any disagreement, just say." ”

"Wechen has." Wang Shizhen stood up: "Weichen is worried that we have nowhere to buy four warships. ”

The corners of Guangxu's mouth twitched, and he just talked nonsense for a long time.

Tang Shaoyi stood up: "In Weichen's opinion, it may be a little difficult to buy four ships before the war, but two ships are still possible. As far as Weichen knows, when Germany was building warships for our country, Germany itself started to build two. Your Majesty, let's see if you should contact the Germans first. ”

"Let's get in touch first, but we can't put all our hopes on someone else. The reason why all countries not only gave warships to our Qing Dynasty this time, but also gave them at the same time, is that they want to provoke a war in the Far East. In this way, the great powers can reap the benefits of this and also have the right to speak in the Far East. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty still had to build its own warships. So what do you think of the experimental ship this time? ”

Wang Shizhen's Deng Shichang thinks that the construction of such a large warship is not feasible. It should be converted to a 7,000-ton battleship such as the Dingzhen II battleship, which is not only an experimental ship, but also a first-class experimental construction capability.

But Cheng Cheng, chief of staff of the Navy, didn't see it that way: "Wechen thinks that even a 7,000-ton battleship is a battleship. The difficulty and requirements of its construction should be beyond the reach of the current industrial capacity of the Qing Dynasty. When the construction of cruisers is the first priority, the requirements for cruisers are not as high as those of battleships, and then the construction of battleships is discussed. ”

Build a cruiser first! This sentence reminded Guangxu. Battleships are the largest weapons ever built by mankind and a symbol of a country's industrial capacity and the highest science and technology. Regardless of past or present lives, the most advanced and cutting-edge technology must first be applied to the military to build the most powerful force. And the most powerful force in the world today is nothing more than battleships, so it is really unrealistic to directly start the construction of battleships with such a weak industrial foundation of the Qing Dynasty, even if it is the Dingyuan class. Then the cruiser is different, it does not have to rush to the front line to fight, like the battleship, and fire at the enemy. The cruiser was only used as a supplementary means of attack on the battleship, so the requirements were not so high. Even if you can't build a heavy patrol, a light patrol is still no problem.

After figuring out this truth, Guangxu asked: "Wu Deren, in your opinion." What would be the result of attacking a Dragon-class battleship with a 152mm naval gun. ”

"No serious damage will be done, and the Dragon's Rank can continue to fight. It's like Dingzhen was shot more than 200 times. ”

"And what about a 203mm naval gun?"

"Well, that's a bit of a hassle. Maybe the surname of the sunk is not big, but the possibility of hitting the battleship to withdraw from the battle is still quite large. ”

"Let McKinson in at once, I have some new ideas. Let's discuss it together. ”

With the arrival of McKinson, Guangxu proposed a completely new concept of a light cruiser. Four triple 203mm fully protected naval guns were used, with a knapsack structure. With the newly measured new hull, it is best to reach a speed of 24 knots and a displacement of about 10,000 tons. In order to ensure that the speed and displacement are within the industrial capacity of the Qing Kingdom, the European concept of comprehensive protection is not adopted, but key protection is used. It is to strengthen the armor protection capability at important components such as ammunition depots, command towers, and turrets, and leave all other secondary parts unarmed, so as to ensure that the shells penetrate without exploding. However, in order to increase the anti-sinking surname, a small watertight cabin structure is adopted. That is, to set up more small watertight cabins. In this way, even if a few are damaged, it will not affect the continuation of the warship. If necessary, some of the range will be sacrificed. Also, raise the angle of the naval guns to increase the range, and try to do it, I can hit you and you can't hit me. No matter how bad it is, you have to run to win.

As soon as Guangxu put forward this concept, it attracted a lot of admiration from everyone, this is an invincible warship. If such a battleship could be realized, it would be a killer of all cruisers in the world, because no cruiser would carry such firepower. The firepower of the battleship is much stronger, and as long as it can hit a single shot of this thin warship, it can bear it, but the range of the battleship is long and the speed is fast, even if the battleship encounters it, it can only avoid it. Therefore, everyone present, including McKinson, agreed with Guangxu's idea.

However, given the current industrial capacity of the Qing Dynasty, it is still difficult to realize even this kind of warship. It doesn't matter, the test ship is used for experiments. Using this warship as a specimen, a smaller warship was built first. The main gun was changed to four 152mm fully protected naval guns.

According to McKinson's rough calculations, the smaller warship is about 8,000 tons at most. This standard is still achievable, so there is nothing to say. Let's start designing.

Before leaving, Guangxu made a special explanation: if possible, install one or two twin 102mm naval guns on both sides of the ship, and try to have turret protection as much as possible.

Soon, a week later, the drawings came out. But there was a problem at the construction site. Originally, for the sake of secrecy, it was planned to build this experimental ship on Guangxu Island, but McKinson firmly disagreed. Because Guangxu Island does not have enough processing capacity, if there is a problem with the materials transported to the island and need to be modified, it must be sent back to Fengtian, which is not a little delayed.

In a hurry, Guangxu compromised. Following Guangxu's order to renovate the No. 1 dock of the Huludao Shipyard in a fully enclosed manner, all the workers who will participate in the construction of this warship will be screened, and the development progress of the Guangxu Island triple naval gun will be accelerated. The experimental ship will be built on Huludao, but all the outfitting work will be carried out on Guangxu Island for the sake of secrecy. All departments must coordinate well with each other, and the experimental ship Guangxu has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to unconditionally guarantee the progress.

What about the dock built on Guangxu Island, you can't let him be empty for more than a year, right? Guangxu remembered another weapon of naval warfare - submarines. In the interval between the preparation of materials for the experimental ship and the modification of the dock, McKinson began to design submarines. In the design of the submarine, Guangxu did not give any opinions, but only emphasized safety first, in addition, it was completely played by McKinson.

Guangxu still repeatedly told Wu Deren that the crew of the submarine will work in a small box without light and darkness for a long time, and there are high requirements for people's mental endurance. Let Wu Deren pay attention to whether there are suitable officers and men in the Pacific Fleet.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, my old Wu will pay attention. If there is nothing wrong with the emperor's side, I, Lao Wu, will go back to the fleet first, and let those rabbit cubs practice their long-range artillery level. Wu Deren is the only person who is not a minister in front of the emperor, and Wu Deren is still grinning: "If the emperor can do it, do you see if you can add some shells to the Pacific Fleet now!" ”

Guangxu's face darkened: "Get out." ”

A month later, the first keel of the experimental ship was laid in the No. 1 dock of the Huludao Shipyard, where all the renovation work was completed. (To be continued.) )