The third expansion of armaments by the Imperial Chinese Navy and the large-scale shipbuilding operation immediately stimulated the European and American powers.

In order to prepare for the war against Russia, the Chinese Imperial Navy is just a supplementary bill of the 33rd Fleet, so who is the bill of adding a 99th Fleet with 200 million dragon coins this time?

The Imperial Chinese Navy has become the second navy in the world, so his opponent is about to come out, except for the British Navy, which has been on the first throne for hundreds of years, does not think about anything else.

The first batch was the construction of eighteen 20,000-ton battleships, which immediately made the British Navy nervous.

Houses of Parliament in Downing Street, London, British Prime Minister Arthur? Balfour immediately summoned the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, the Foreign Secretary, the Admiralty Fisher, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Andrew? Bernal? Several people came to discuss the matter.

"Tell me what you think?"

Balfour asked first, and several of them looked at each other as if they were looking at him, and finally his eyes were on Fisher.

"Then I'll talk about it first!" Fisher immediately said: "The great expansion of the Chinese Empire's navy is obviously due to the recent tensions between Britain and China over the Hong Kong Island issue. According to my judgment of the Chinese Emperor's ability to do things, the Imperial Chinese Army is undoubtedly very strong, and they are confident that they will be able to recover Hong Kong Island in a short time, and recover the Tibetan Province and the Yunnan border areas occupied by us. However, their navy is not as elite as ours, and only a few dozen warships of the Pacific Fleet can fight with the British Navy, and the other ships such as the Home Fleet are already aging, and the captured Russian warships are unreliable. Under these circumstances, the Chinese Empire would certainly consider that in the event of a war between Britain and China, they would be unable to defend themselves against a number of overseas territories, such as Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and Guam in the Pacific. As a result, the Chinese Empire began to massively expand its navy, which proved that it could no longer withstand the pressure of domestic public opinion and intended to resolve the territorial dispute in the next three to five years. ”

Balfour nodded and said, "That's right, so what do you do?" ”

Fisher thought for a moment and said: "The quality of the officers and men of the British Imperial Navy is unquestionable, but since the steam warship became the main combat weapon of the Navy, the officers and men of the Imperial Navy have not had any actual combat experience. On the other hand, the Imperial Chinese Navy has experienced the Sino-French Naval Battle of the Majiang River, the Sino-French Naval Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Sino-Western Caribbean Naval Battle, the Sino-Russian Eastern Ocean Naval Battle, the Tsushima Naval Battle, the Torres Strait Naval Battle, and the Coral Sea Naval Battle. At present, the only advantage of the Imperial Navy is that we have a 42:18 numerical advantage in terms of capital ships, and the warships exported by the Imperial Navy to other countries are much more advanced than the warships used by the Imperial Navy itself, and under the premise of the same number, we are not the opponent of the Chinese Imperial Navy. And the Imperial Navy is spread all over the world, and its forces are scattered, and it is impossible to exert all its numerical superiority, and I estimate that we can not have many warships that can be used to suppress the Imperial Chinese Navy. In this case, if the Imperial Chinese Navy catches up with us in numbers, then I can tell you with certainty that we will lose our position as the first hegemon. ”

Fisher's words immediately made everyone worried, and Balfour sighed: "I really shouldn't have helped the rise of the Chinese Empire in the first place, but now we have raised a huge enemy." ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Andrew said suddenly: "In any case, we also occupy the land of the Chinese Empire, and we just give up Hong Kong Island and return it to them." ”

Balfour was dissatisfied: "Give them back Hong Kong Island, so where will the face of the British Empire go?" ”

Andrew said: "It is clear that this large-scale shipbuilding operation of the Chinese Empire is aimed at the Imperial Navy, and they are preparing for war, just as they did against Russia.

At this time, the Foreign Secretary Landsdowne said: "The emperor of the Chinese Empire is very good at playing diplomacy, at first they used Russia to force them to retreat, and then they used us to defeat Russia, and now they are very close to Germany, and he is ready to unite with Germany against us." ”

Lancesdoorn paused and continued: "If it were me, I would not have turned against the Chinese Empire for the sake of a Hong Kong Island." You know, even if we defeat the Chinese navy, but in Asia, India, Burma, Afghanistan, Singapore, and Malaya, we may be attacked by the Chinese Imperial Army, and the Russian army of two million has not won against them, do you think we have a chance of winning? ”

Balfour sighed: "Why haven't I thought about it? It's just that the old men in the House of Lords regard the dignity of Britain as more important than their lives, and the Duke of Landos has donated 2 million pounds to support the military to wage war against China. ”

"The Chinese Empire has risen, just as the United States rose thirty years ago," Andrew said. Although it started later than the United States, the Chinese Empire has its advantages, a huge economic aggregate, a huge labor and consumer market brought by a huge population, coupled with a huge land area and resources, and the dual development model of absorbing the resource economy of the United States and the German science and technology economy to develop their economy, I think it is not an exaggeration for them to say that they will catch up with the United States in 20 years. In particular, China, after several wars, has received a large amount of war reparations and overseas colonies, which will accelerate their strength. ”

Lansdorn nodded and said, "We can't contain China anymore, so we should treat China like the United States, and it's not too late to turn enemies into friends." ”

Balfour didn't seem to listen, looked at Fisher, and asked, "Do you think we have a chance of winning?" ”

Fisher said confidently: "No country can defeat us, the question is how determined we are, as long as the funds are sufficient, with our shipbuilding capabilities, as long as we keep suppressing the Chinese Imperial Navy." ”

Balfour asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Fisher looked at several people, so he said: "They build ships, we also build, they build eighteen battleships in one go, then we will build twenty or more in one breath, as long as we maintain our numerical superiority, the Chinese Empire is not our opponent." ”

Landsdown asked, "But such a huge armament is bound to lead to an arms race, which will bring down our economy." ”

Fisher said: "Although the Chinese Empire has developed rapidly in recent years, it is a pity that their industrial base is inferior to ours after all, and they cannot withstand the consumption of the long-term arms race. ”

Balfour nodded, "Sounds like a good suggestion!" ”

As soon as Andrew heard Fisher's question about the money, he immediately lowered his face and said, "The idea is good, but the funds are also indispensable!" ”

Balfour asked Fisher and asked, "How much do you think can be spent to deal with the great naval expansion of the Chinese Empire?" ”

Fisher thought for a moment and said: "The Chinese Empire is ahead of us on the 20,000-ton battleship, and it has set off a naval revolution, they have completed a Shengong, and with the test data, they can build eighteen Shenbow-type battleships on a large scale. And our Navy has just begun to build the Dreadnought, and there is no test data yet, so we dare not build more than twenty Dreadnought battleships in one go. ”

Balfour frowned, "You mean we have to wait at least a year before we can start building a new concept battleship?" ”

Fisher nodded, noncommittal.

Balfour was immediately dissatisfied: "That can't be done! We are a year late to each other, and there is no guarantee when the intrepid you developed will complete the sea trials, we can't delay it for a long time, it won't take three years for the Chinese Empire to complete the expansion plan, they have always liked to play sneak attacks, what if there is a surprise attack on the Empire? I don't allow that to happen. ”

Fisher then said: "There is another remedy, and that is to massively build ordinary battleships in service in order to compensate for quality with quantity." However, in that case, our newly built warships are already outdated when they were designed, and they may be even more obsolete by the time they enter service, which may cause huge economic losses to the Empire at that time. ”

Balfour looked at Andrew and Lansdowne, who had no objection, and said, "I think it's possible!" How much money do you need? ”

Fisher roughly calculated and said: "Against the eighteen new concept battleships of the Imperial Chinese Navy, we need at least twenty ordinary battleships, and against their heavy cruisers and light cruisers, we need ten first-class cruisers and twenty second-class cruisers, and at least a hundred new torpedo boat destroyers, which will cost roughly fifty million pounds." ”

Balfour said: "Fifty million pounds is 250 million dragon coins, and the Chinese Empire has allocated 200 million dragon coins, and we have 50 million more dragon coins than them, which is in line with the identity of the empire." ”

Andrew suddenly frowned and said, "But this year's budget has been overdrawn!" ”

Balfour smiled and said, "Don't worry! The fat men in the shipyard would have been glad to help if they had been given £50 million to build a ship. They went out to convince members of Congress that they should have little difficulty. ”

After some deliberation among several senior officials, the tone was set, and Britain absolutely could not bow to the Chinese Empire and would never give in.

After the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer persuaded Parliament to be free of course, while the Foreign Secretary expressed great dissatisfaction with the expansion of the Chinese Empire's naval power and demanded an explanation from the Chinese Empire.

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire explained that it was only a response to the threat from the Chinese Navy, saying that more than half of the existing warships of the Chinese Empire were old and outdated, and the captured Russian warships could only be used for coastal defense, so the Chinese Imperial Navy needed to replace a large number of warships.

The British Foreign Office could not fault the explanation of the Chinese Empire.

Upon his return to the Admiralty, Fisher immediately urged the Naval Engineering Administration to speed up the construction of the Dreadnought, and at the same time, after much discussion, Fisher and Admiralty officials came up with a plan to deal with the expansion of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

In August 1903, under the pretext that the Chinese Empire's intention to expand its navy was unclear, the British Parliament passed the British Navy's Naval Supplement Act of 1903, which planned to provide the Admiralty with a funding of 50 million pounds for the construction of ships.

As a result, the British Navy's response led to the outbreak of a large-scale naval arms race between China and Britain.

In early September, Fisher and his naval colleagues completed the naval expansion program with great confidence and speed, and drew up a series of blueprints for naval armaments.

Among them, in terms of battleships, the British Admiralty approved the construction of 12 Edward VII-class battleships, 4 Nelson-class battleships, and 6 fast-class battleships.

In terms of cruisers, the British Admiralty approved the construction of 12 first-class cruisers of the Crown class, and 8 second-class cruisers including 8 Goddess of Justice class, 9 Eclipse class, 4 Pride class, 3 Helmmes-class, and 11 third-class cruisers Compass-class.

Eventually, Fisher and his officers used various means to secure a portion of the slipway. In the end, only seven Edward VII-class battleships, two Nelson-class battleships, and two fast-class battleships were finally under construction by the end of 1903. Among them, the Rapid class battleship was built by the British for the Chilean Navy, because the Chilean Navy disliked the Rapid class, so it was resold to the British Navy, and the Chilean Navy took the money to China to build new ships.

In terms of cruisers, the Crown-class first-class cruisers have a displacement of up to 14,000 tons, which is a thoroughly large armored cruiser, because they occupy too much of the slipway, so only 8 ships have been started, and the tonnage of second-class cruisers and third-class cruisers is small, and civilian ordinary shipyards can also undertake construction, so they can all be started.

The seven Edwardian VII-class battleships all had a displacement of 16,000 tons, and the main guns carried four 305 and four 233, as well as ten 152. Such an artillery system looks very ferocious, but in fact this class of ships has been criticized for not using a unified 233mm secondary gun, and the fire control system between 305 and 233 is not universal due to the difference in the impact and splash points of different shells. The firepower was fierce, but Fisher demanded a high speed of 19 knots, and as a result, the battleship's armor was only 228 mm thick, making it a huge hidden danger. In fact, this is nothing more than a test ship that Fisher has planned for a long time, in order to further evaluate the advantages of a unified main gun caliber and accumulate experience for the construction of warships in the future.

The Nelson-class battleships with a displacement of 18,000 tons, carrying four 305 and 10 233 guns with main guns, are more ferocious than the Edward VII class, and this class of battleships is closer to the heavy firepower standard of the Dreadnought, which is also one of Fisher's tests.

The last two Rapid Classes were used to fill the numbers, and the Admiralty bureaucrats had to make some money anyway, and even Fisher had to compromise with them, otherwise he would not be able to stay at the Admiralty.

It can be said that the eleven battleships that started construction because of Fisher's need to accumulate experience, coupled with the British Admiralty's [***], caused their combat effectiveness to lag far behind the nine Xia Dynasty-class battleships under construction in the Imperial Chinese Navy. Because the British Navy did not have the foresight of the Chinese Navy, these eleven battleships have become obsolete scrap metal from the day they were built.

Speaking of the British cruiser construction program, the British first-class cruisers were actually large armored cruisers before the Chinese Empire, and the current heavy cruiser standard.

The Crown-class first-class cruiser has a displacement of 14,000 tons, which is actually improved on the basis of the Hunter-class heavy cruiser built by Britain for China, with a slight increase in caliber, armor and speed, and a comprehensive suppression of the Hunter-class, which can be equivalent to the Windcatcher-class heavy cruisers of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

However, what the British did not expect was that the other nine battleships of the Chinese Empire were actually battle cruisers, specially designed to deal with various styles of British cruisers, and even the 254 mm armor thickness of the Western Zhou-class battlecruisers exceeded the 228 mm of the Edward VII-class battleships.

It can be said that the British Navy's plan to expand the warships of the Imperial Chinese Navy was not targeted at all. This can't be blamed on Fisher, after all, he is just a mortal and has to do things step by step, and the Chinese Empire, under the "vision" of Emperor Wang Chenhao, stepped on the shoulders of giants and directly used the results, which made the Chinese Imperial Navy walk in the forefront of the world from the very beginning.

The navies of China and Britain have launched a large-scale arms race, and it is clear that the neighboring countries cannot stand alone.

France, on the other side of the English Channel, had to be wary of the expansion of the British navy, and the already tense relations between the two countries forced France to allocate additional funds to build warships, and always maintain its naval strength at about 75% of Britain's. The German Navy's large naval process also began to accelerate, through the order of warships to the Chinese Imperial Navy Shipyard, the Germans obtained shipbuilding technology from the British, so the German naval shipyards also began to rise, the German Navy goal in 1905 to maintain the total naval tonnage at the level of 50% of the British level, so also large-scale appropriation for the construction of ships.

The United States is even more nervous, with Britain on the left and China on the Pacific Ocean on its right, and now that China and Britain are engaged in a large-scale arms race, the US Navy is caught in it, and it is naturally full of crises.

In particular, the United States was worried about the maritime threat from China, and the United States had no choice but to further unite with the Chinese Imperial Navy, intending to use the Chinese Navy to counter the threat of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

As far as the economy is concerned, although the economy is recovering quickly, after all, the country is tired of small forces, how can it come up with so much money to build eighteen battleships at once.

For this reason, the navy has only temporarily kept its head in obscurity and openly made overtures to Britain and the United States, expressing its willingness to re-establish a quasi-military alliance with Britain and establish a political and economic alliance with the United States.

At this time, Britain had no threat from Russia in the Far East, and hoped to use the word to contain China, which was consistent with the thinking of the Americans.

As a result, Britain provided technology to the capital, and the United States provided funds to the capital, and the economy was able to recover rapidly, and the military strength began to grow.

(To be continued)