When Leshchenko was talking about the power system earlier, Nikolai could barely understand what he meant, but in the back, as the old man spit out a large list of professional terms like a machine gun, Nikolai was completely cloudy and foggy, and he couldn't understand it. After a while, the Russian emperor finally couldn't bear it anymore, he waved his hand with a displeased face, and said, "Okay, Mr. Leshchenko, don't tell me about the details anymore." I only want to know what the difference is between this German ship and the armored cruisers of the Great Powers that were built at the same time. ”

Leshchenko was stunned for a moment, and then reacted that Nikolai was not a professional battleship designer, and almost all of what he said just now was playing the piano to the cow. He coughed, sorted out his thoughts, and replied again: "Your Majesty, this design of the Germans has almost made the ultimate use of tonnage, not only us, but even the warships designed and built by Britain and France are far from being comparable!" The armored cruiser "Russia", which we started construction last year, has a design displacement of 13,675 tons, a speed of 20 knots, and is equipped with 4 203mm main guns and 16 152mm secondary guns. The two "powerful" class armored cruisers that the British started construction last year, with a design displacement of 14,200 tons, were only equipped with two 234mm main guns and 12 152mm secondary guns, which were even worse than our "Russia". And this design of the Germans, with a displacement of 3,000 tons less than the 'Russia', achieved the firepower of 8 210mm main guns and 8 150mm secondary guns and a speed of 20 knots, and the waterline also had a large area of 150mm armor, which is simply unbelievable! (In fact, the Qiangsheng class is faster, reaching 22 knots, but since it has not yet been completed, Mao Zi does not know the detailed data.) However, even so, the tonnage utilization rate of the British Qiangsheng class is very limited. ）

Seeing that Nikolai was still at a loss, Leschenko paused, and then explained: "Let's put it this way, the three elements of a battleship are firepower, armor and speed. If under the same tonnage conditions, the Germans can be equipped with 2 times the main gun of ours, the coverage area of the broadside armor can be 1.5 times that of ours, and the speed can be the same as ours. Its tonnage utilization rate is far from being comparable to the warships built in our country! Judging from the new ships completed by Britain and France in recent years, under the premise of the same tonnage, even their warships are far from reaching the performance level of the German design. Although they are better than us, they must be far behind Germany in terms of firepower, protection, and speed. ”

In the last few sentences, Nikolai finally barely understood the meaning that Leshchenko wanted to express. He nodded slowly, did not speak, but his heart was shocked inexplicably, and the tide was surging. The German Navy, which has always been infamous, secretly designed such superior combat ships; Its performance surpassed that of Russian warships, and it could not even match the warships designed by the traditional maritime hegemon Britain! Although Nikolai wanted to question the feasibility of this design, he was a layman in the design of ships, and maybe he was not as good as the boy in front of him; Second, this teenager has also given the clearest answer to Leshchenko's questioning. In this kind of arms sales between countries, there is absolutely no possibility of nonsense, especially if the other side is a German, who has always been known for his rigor and conservatism.

Do you want to buy ships in bulk from the Germans?

A gust of night wind blew, cool and refreshing, and Nikolai's hair moved; Seeing Qingying's clear eyes, he took the initiative to avoid the gaze of this nephew. Nikolai looked solemn, and he and Leshchenko glanced at each other, and they both saw in each other's eyes the deep desire and hesitation between each other.

According to the original plan of the Maozi Navy, the Pacific Fleet is indeed the main development object after them. However, based on the relationship between Russia and France, Russia originally planned to fully introduce France's shipbuilding technology, and did not think that it would have any intersection with Germany. But who would have thought that the Germans would come up with such a superior warship, which was better than that of Britain and France, which immediately made Nicholas II feel a little dilemma.

If we insist on importing shipbuilding technology from France, the relations between Russia and France will be further enhanced, but in this way, the performance of the warships built will be greatly reduced compared with the German warships. Using such ships against the Japanese navy, which fully adopted British warships, it is still unknown who will win or lose. And if you buy a battleship from the Germans, the performance of the warship is not to be said, but how can the French explain it? Since the signing of the Franco-Russian alliance, France has faithfully fulfilled its obligations under the treaty; To this day, France has invested a great deal of capital in Russia, and now the development of the Russian economy depends entirely on this money to make money; If Russia turns its arms out this time, it will inevitably anger the emotions of the French, and then affect the domestic economy, which has managed to stabilize with great difficulty. The sale of warships has always been accompanied by the export of international relations!

Nikolai slowly sat back in his chair, his face solemn and silent for a long time. This kind of feeling that the palms and backs of his hands are full of meat, and the fish and bear paws are incompatible, and he has encountered a lot of them in the past six months since he became the emperor; But each time it was a struggle for him to balance it. After thinking for a long time, Nicholas II still couldn't make up his mind, and when he saw Leshchenko next to him, he couldn't help asking: "Major General, what do you think?" ”

When it comes to the field he is in charge of, Leshchenko's thinking immediately comes alive. He thought for a moment, and then whispered in Russian: "Your Majesty, the battleships designed by the Germans have an almost strange toughness in performance; Although the Germans could not have lied to us, the possibility of their calculations being wrong was not non-existent. Only when the German battleships are completed will they be able to determine whether they will be able to achieve all the performance data written on paper! Nikolai frowned and said, "You mean, we still have to wait and see?" ”

Leshchenko said: "This design of the Germans is all based on the capital ship that they started construction last year. For the sake of insurance, before the battleships they built last year complete sea trials and draw conclusions, it is better for us to wait and see cautiously, and it is not appropriate to directly introduce the shipbuilding skills of the Germans. We can order one from the Germans first and look at the form first. As soon as something goes wrong with the battleship that Germany started last year, we can immediately call off the contract and demand compensation from Germany; And if the performance data of German battleships is really devoid of moisture, then I personally think it is feasible to replace some of the French battleships in the plan with German battleships, after all, the temptation to double the firepower of the main guns is too great! ”

After listening to this, Nikolai pondered for a moment, then nodded slowly. Although this is only a compromise proposal, it contains Leshchenko's understanding of battleships; Buy one first, it's easy to talk to both the Germans and the French, and besides, this battleship will not be bought at a loss! He thought for a moment and asked, "Rear Admiral, how much is left of our naval budget this year?" ”

Without hesitation, Leshchenko immediately replied: "Returning to Your Majesty, this year's budget for our navy's shipbuilding has been filled by three domescent cruisers, and there is no surplus amount for shipbuilding. Among them, we will start construction of two 6,800-ton Pallada-class protective cruisers in December, and prepare to order a 3,860-ton Svietlana protective cruiser from the Le Havre shipyard in France. If the budget for these 3 cruisers, which have not yet been ordered, is canceled, 11.6 million rubles can be freed up. ”

Nikolai shook his head slightly, and said categorically: "The cruiser ordered from France cannot be cut down, it must be kept." This is not only a naval issue, but also a political one, and we must not abandon the orders of France in order to buy German warships. Leshchenko paused only and then said: "Then cancel the budget for 2 Parada-class protective cruisers." In this way, 9.7 million rubles can be saved, which is enough to buy the Germans' large patrol; And the combat power of that large patrol is twice that of the 2 Parada-class protective cruisers. But to do so would be to aggrigate the workers at the Galierny shipyard. ”

"That's not a problem. Anyway, the order has not yet been placed, and the cancellation of the budget for these 2 cruisers is not a big deal. Now Count Witte doesn't have much money left in his place, so let's do it for now. Nicholas II waved his hand, then turned to Qingying and said, "Little Etel, for the sake of Cousin Willy's face, I promised you this time, and decided to buy one of these armored cruisers for the time being." In a few days, Shu Huang will notify you, and you will ask your shipyard to take the official contract documents to the Admiralty. ”

Qingying's face was solemn, and she said yes respectfully. Although he only sold 1 boat, he had a little regret, but he also knew that Nikolai was worried about it now. The performance data planned by this design has gone beyond the cognitive boundaries of Maozi's designers; Moreover, the existence of the Russian-French alliance also made Mao Zi unable to let go of his hands and feet to order warships from Germany. However, Qingying was not worried about this at all. In a few years, when the new German warships were completed; Maozi saw the superiority of German battleships, and was he afraid that he would not continue to order from Germany? As long as Maozi has a few conscientious patrols in the Far East, once a war with Japan starts, the waters around Japan will never have a peaceful day!

"By the way, there's one more thing." Qingying stood up from his chair and said softly, "I hope that your country can keep the performance of this battleship secret, especially the speed. With the exception of Shu Xiao and Mr. Reshchenko, it is better not to have a third person who thinks that she can sail faster than 18 knots. ”

Nikolai said hesitantly: "Little Ettel, are you afraid that after the British learn about the specific performance of this ship, it will be detrimental to Germany?" Without waiting for Qingying to explain, he reached out and touched Qingying's head, and said with a smile: "I, the Russian Empire, also don't want Britain to know the specific performance of the Imperial warships, so you can rest assured." ”