The development of any new affair requires a process, and the same is true for ironclads.

In the Crimean War in the fifties, the primitive and rudimentary ironclad ships participated in large-scale naval battles for the first time, which attracted the attention of the navies of various countries to the ironclad ships, and set off a wave of large-tonnage ironclad ships at the end of the fifties, and led to the large-tonnage ironclad ships successively commissioned by the maritime powers represented by the United Kingdom around 1860, which was represented by the British Courage.

During this period, the nascent Imperial Navy also began to catch up with the pace of naval powers, and began to develop and build ironclad ships, and its representative work was the female snail class offshore ironclad.

The American Civil War that began in 1861 once again set off the attention of various countries to ironclad ships, but to be honest, although there were many ironclad ships involved in the American Civil War, their combat mode still stayed at a relatively primitive point.

Before 1866, although the navies of various countries had generally attached importance to and developed ironclad ships, in fact, before that, the perception of ironclad ships by the navies of various countries was still in a relatively primitive stage, and there was no mature application tactics, and even what kind of ironclad ships should be developed was not very clear.

During this period, and even throughout the sixties, the development of ironclad ships by the navies of various countries was still in the exploration stage, so we can see all kinds of ironclad ships being built.

It was not until the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary between China and Britain in 1866 that a decisive battle between the ocean-going fleets between ironclad ships really broke out.

This naval battle directly set off the technical improvement of the Imperial Navy's future ironclad ships, and directly affected the development of the Imperial Navy's subsequent ironclad ships.

The most obvious impact is: The Imperial Navy, in its determination to develop 10,000-ton ironclad ships, abandoned the 180-millimeter naval guns. As a result, they chose to equip a larger number of 250 mm guns, and completely abandoned sail power. A closed main gun turret was used, and the side side guns were protected by a breastwork, and the top was connected to the protective structure of the superstructure.

This series of changes was directly affected by the naval battle at the mouth of the Pearl River.

And the British, on the other hand, are rumored to have begun to change the design of the new generation of ironclad ships.

However, the details of the naval battle at the mouth of the Pearl River between China and Britain have not been made public, and the experience of large-scale naval battles in these years is a military secret, and it will not be actively publicized and announced to the outside world. Countries can also get some information from the few words that have been circulated.

If the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary caused some changes in the future development of ironclad ships between China and Britain, then the Battle of Lisa in the Austro-Prussian War added another fire to this change.

The scale of the Battle of Lisa was much larger than the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary, and both sides had a large number of ironclad ships, and the details of the naval battle were also circulated.

For a time, V-shaped wedge tactics, ramming tactics, and the uselessness of naval artillery flooded the global navy!

The tactics of the Italian and Austrian navies at the Battle of Lissa were very similar to those of the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary, as well as the detailed battles.

For example, in naval battles, both sides found that neither shell could bring fatal damage to the other's ironclad ships. It is not possible to decide the outcome of a naval battle.

In addition, the V-shaped wedge tactics and ramming tactics used in the Battle of Austria were similar to those of the Chinese and British navies in the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary.

At the beginning, the British Navy used the V-shaped wedge tactic, while the Chinese Navy used the active ramming tactic.

More crucially, both naval battles were won by ramming and sinking the enemy's main battleship.

In the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary. It was the Chinese Navy that sank the British Resistance.

In the Battle of Lisa, the weak Austrian Navy sank the Italian Navy's flagship 'King Italia'.

The two naval battles, which were fought just over three months apart. With very similar tactics, processes, and results, it has set off a great naval discussion around the world.

This effect is much more influential than a single naval battle.

How the navies of other countries reacted to this change is unknown, and within the Imperial Navy. It once again set off a climax of discussion about the new ironclad ship and the tactics of the future navy.

And this discussion is also more sure of the correctness of a series of changes in the previous navy, and there were many admirals before the 10,000-ton ironclad ship. That is, the design of the Chiyou-class ironclad ship was disputed, and it was considered that eight 250 mm guns were inappropriate.

It was normal for them to have such fears before, with a hull of 10,000 tons, equipped with eight 250-mm rear-loading guns, and also with a rotating closed turret, the weight of which was very massive.

In order to maintain the center of gravity, the freeboard of the Chiyou class must be lowered to a very low level, and the low freeboard will affect the seaworthiness, especially the ocean-going seaworthiness.

However, some admirals believe that such a sacrifice of the seaworthiness of the Chiyou-class ironclad is not worth the loss, because it is difficult for such a Chiyou-class to fight the enemy fleet in bad sea conditions.

However, after the outbreak of the Battle of Lisa, the Italian and Austrian navies once again proved that the existing naval guns, especially those with a caliber of less than 200 millimeters, were not sufficient.

If there is only one naval battle at the mouth of the Pearl River that cannot be used as a reference, then the addition of a naval battle of Lisa is enough to prove that the existing naval artillery is seriously insufficient.

The impact of the Battle of Pearl River Estuary and the Battle of Lisa was not limited to the Imperial Navy, but also profoundly affected the British Royal Navy.

According to some gossip, the British have already begun to build new ironclads, and the new ironclads are very different from the original traditional ironclads.

Not only was the turret design adopted, but it was also prepared to abandon the sails altogether, and it was expected to use pure steam power, but the detailed design, such as tonnage, what guns were to be used, the layout of the ship's guns, and the speed of the ship were not clearly known.

At the same time, there is also news that the British are very dissatisfied with the performance of the rear-loading rifled guns, not to mention the high price, and the performance is unstable, the failure is high, and at the same time, they will also play with martyrdom every once in a while, and now the British have approved the newly commissioned ironclad ships to be equipped with front-loading rifled guns, and even plan to convert the rear-loading guns on the ironclad ships that have already been in service into front-loading rifled guns.

As for why the British would **********, Lin Zhe said that he was quite puzzled.

But the reality is that whether it is a historical time and space, the British really did it! (To be continued.) )