"You're well-informed." Scrooge smiled and said, "This is a bit of a trade secret, but the German government has always been our friend, and we have always had no secrets about our friends." The model of the ship is over there, and you can check out the battleship under construction in a moment. ”

It is true that relations between the MacDonald consortium and Germany were once quite good, but even at the best of times, it does not say that there is nothing to keep secret. This is, of course, just a nice word. In addition, Tirpitz also knew that Scrooge had an implicit meaning when he said this, that is, he did not see the Germans as competitors in the shipbuilding industry. Tirpitz was a little uncomfortable with this meaning, but he also knew that this was the reality now, and that Germany was now able to gain a very small market share in the export of warships. Since the war between the United States and Spain, the U.S. Navy defeated the Spanish Navy by an incredible margin, and the sales of U.S. warships have increased dramatically, although they are not comparable to Britain, but they are no longer comparable to Germany. In the past, the Germans were able to get a little order from the international market, but now, basically, they can no longer get orders for the capital ship class, and even such orders for armored cruisers are pitiful. So much so that German shipyards can hardly get orders to build warships of more than 10,000 tons. Although Germany's shipbuilding industry can still be maintained by building civilian ships, the difference between building civilian ships and building warships is still very obvious.

Scrooge turned to an engineer-looking man who was following him, and said, "Mr. Brown, please take us to see the model of that ship." ”

"Yes, Mr. MacDonald, please come with me." Mr. Brown replied, and then he led a few people around the booths of several civilian ships in front of him and came to the military display area in the back.

Brown walked all the way to one of the largest models and stood still, then turned back to Scrooge and Tirpitz proudly and said, "Look, this is the most advanced battleship in the world we're building for the Brazilian Navy." ”

It is not an exaggeration to say that this battleship is the most advanced in the world. It was a huge ship with a standard displacement of up to 27,000 tons, thousands of tons heavier than the largest battleship in the hands of the British today. The battleship was equipped with seven twin 12-inch gun turrets. In terms of firepower, it can be said that it is completely heartbreaking. At the front of the warship, there are two turrets mounted in a piggyback position, three turrets in the tail with pyramidal security, and two turrets placed back to back in the middle of the warship.

"With so many naval guns installed on this ship, won't this be too long for the warship? In this way, the thickness of the armor may not be guaranteed. And with such an aspect ratio, won't stability when sailing and shooting be a problem? I even doubt that its 14 guns can fire at the same time. After staring at the model for a long time, Tirpitz immediately raised his question with a frown.

"There's some truth to what you're saying." "But you have to understand that different countries have different requirements for warships. The ship's length-to-width ratio is relatively large, which naturally affects its seaworthiness, but it also increases its speed a lot. Its buyers were Brazilians, and the Brazilians didn't need it to fight in the rough North Atlantic, especially in the North Sea, so near-seaworthiness was not the most lethal problem. Of course, if it were the US Navy, then such a ship would definitely not have been ordered. As for the stability of firing guns, it is actually not a problem. Because we equipped the ship with large anti-swing fins, it was absolutely not a problem for all the guns to fire a salvo on the same side. As for the defense, you guessed it right, the ship's defense could not withstand the attack of its own artillery, only the attack of those armored cruisers and other guns. However, this was not a disadvantage for its buyers, and the ship had some great advantages that made the Brazilians willing to order such a warship. ”

"What's the plus?" Tirpitz asked.

"Your Excellency, Lord of the Admiralty, think about what kind of opponents the Brazilian Navy will have to deal with, and if it were the navies of other South American countries, this ship would be more than capable of defending against the old battleships or armored cruisers that those countries are equipped with. If we deal with some of the latest battleships purchased by some countries, then because we have equipped such warships with the latest artillery aiming and control systems, the long-range firing accuracy of the guns has greatly increased. With the advantage of speed, it can also open up and engage the enemy at a greater safe distance to destroy the enemy. Well, Your Excellency the Lord of the Navy, you also know that in fact the battleships exported by various countries are much inferior in defense than the battleships used in their own countries. A 12-inch gun is enough to destroy these targets at long distances.

What's more, the ship has absolute initiative in battle, and even in the face of a new battleship from a naval power, it can use its superior speed to compete with it. Let's use an analogy, the British; Sending a fleet to expedition to Brazil, the Brazilian Navy has almost no chance if it is fought hard. But with this ship it was completely different, this ship could run at speeds of 27 to 28 knots, and in the British Navy, all the ships that could beat it could not outrun it, and the ships that could keep up with it were not its opponents. In this way, the Brazilians were able to use the ship to avoid the main forces of the British and go to the British routes to hunt the British merchant fleet. The British couldn't have a battleship to escort every merchant fleet, could they? In this way, the logistics of the British would be affected by Yan zhòng, and the plans for the expedition would naturally not work. ”

Scrooge's main intention in talking about these things was not to explain how his shipyard had built such a multi-turret cult artifact, but to instill in Tirpitz a new concept of warships, that is, the battle cruiser that was once very popular.

Speaking of which, the battle cruiser was originally created by the British in the original history to hunt down which cruisers were on the mission of breaking diplomatic relations. So the British designed it so that the armor could withstand the shelling of the cruiser, the speed was slightly faster than that of the cruiser, and the firepower was the same as that of the battleship.

Originally, the British thought that this thing should be a little cheaper than a battleship, but who knows, in order to achieve high speed, this thing needs a lot more power than a battleship, and the price is higher than that of a battleship. Then such an expensive thing was only used as an escort policeman, and the British felt that it was not worth it, so they took it to the front guard of the battleship, and incorporated it into the battleship to carry the front, and then, there was no more.

After the British made the battlecruiser, the Germans also made some of this thing, and the usage, learned from the British, and also used it to defend the battleship. To be honest, in Scrooge's opinion, this is not the most suitable thing for the battlecruiser, and if you want to ask what the battlecruiser is best suited for, it must be used to break relations and bully the merchant fleet.

Of course, the British could also use this thing to protect the shipping routes, but this thing is too expensive to be arranged everywhere across the ocean. There are so many British people and routes, where can they be protected? Therefore, Scrooge deliberately fanned the wind at this time, in order to provoke the Germans to come out with such an attack ship. And then the British, naturally, Alexander, and then ...... One qiē is so wonderful.

Sure enough, Tirpitz stopped talking, as if in earnest thinking, and after a while he said to Scrooge, "Mr. MacDonald, the view you have just mentioned is very interesting. In this way, even in the face of a naval power, weaker countries can use such warships to contain them, so as to achieve their own strategic objectives. ”

"Yes," replied Scrooge proudly, "so that the strong cannot bully the weak." The world is much more peaceful, so our company has always put making money in the second place and achieving world peace in the first place in the production and sale of weapons. ”

"And Mr. MacDonald, can we Germany order one of these warships from you as well?" Tirpitz asked, "Of course, the order must include the associated technology transfer." ”

"The Germans are our friends, and they buy warships to keep the peace. That's certainly fine. "As for technology transfer, as long as the price is negotiable, there should be no big problem." It's just that the ship, to be honest, was not suitable for German use. The boat's seaworthiness in high sea conditions is really not good. ”

"So we need to make some improvements to the boat." "We need better seaworthiness, more range, more speed," Tirpitz said. ”

Hearing this, Scrooge frowned, thought for a moment and replied: "Your Excellency, to fulfill your request is equivalent to redesigning a ship, and on the basis of this ship, such a requirement cannot be met in any case. This will naturally lead to an increase in costs, and we will probably have to weaken our firepower, at least we will not be able to equip it with the ship's turret for as long as a week. ”

"We have a lot of confidence in McDonald's ability to do that." "I believe that our collaboration will make this world a better place." ”

With that, Tirpitz began to admire the other military products of the Morgan MacDonald shipyard again, and his eyes fell on a submarine placed next to the battleship. R1058