After the war, the empire had a vast overseas territory and colonies in addition to its own territory. For example, the territory of North America across the Pacific Ocean, and the African colonies across the Indian Ocean. and new territories far away in the Mediterranean. In the event of war, the Reich Navy's sea lines were most likely to be attacked by the German Navy.

Emperor Long Yufei was also aware of this problem, so he specially summoned Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Navy, Admiral Xu Haihai, commander of the 1st Fleet, Admiral Lu Haipeng, commander of the 5th Fleet, and Admiral Zhao Xingkai, director of the Logistics and Equipment Department, to study this issue.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in this world war, the Empire has gained the light of its overseas colonies. However, this also makes the pressure on the Imperial Navy even greater. In the future, if war breaks out, the Germans are not stupid, they will inevitably take the Empire's sea transport offline. When the time comes, we will face even greater challenges and threats. In particular, the routes from the Reich mainland to Europe, and from North America to Europe, were especially vulnerable to German attacks. We have to have a solution. Long Yufei said.

Long Yufei's words made the expressions of several generals present heavy. Before, they were not aware of this problem and focused their main efforts on the construction of battleships, which was the key to defeating the German Navy. I didn't care about this point raised by Long Yufei. Now, Long Yufei raised this question, and he was a little dumbfounded.

"This question is indeed worthy of our attention! If the Germans take advantage of our logistical transportation lines, this will undoubtedly have an extremely negative impact on us. In the future war, the main battlefield will be Europe. The empire was so far away from Europe that even if we could build a railroad from the empire itself to Eastern Europe, the capacity of the railways would be far from comparable to that of the sea. The threat of the Germans on the sea transport line will be a great blow for us! Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Navy, said first.

"陛xià. The Germans have always been inferior to us in the performance of their warships. The speed of the battleships is even more incomparable to ours, and if we send some destroyers and light cruisers to protect the transport lines, it will not be so easy for the Germans to succeed! Admiral Lu Haipeng, commander of the 5th Fleet, said. The defense zones of the 5th Fleet are the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It can be said that the main force against the Germans. And the 1st Fleet is the reserve. In the event that the strength of the 5th Fleet is exhausted. The 1st Fleet will reinforce the 5th Fleet. Otherwise, the main task of the 1st Fleet was to ensure the security of the Empire's overseas territories and sea transport lines. Therefore, Admiral Lu Haipeng needs to first solve the German threat to the sea transport lines. Otherwise, the combat strength of the 5th Fleet and the army units deployed in Europe will be greatly constrained.

"The speed of the German warships did not need to be too fast, they only needed to be faster than the merchant ships. Or rather, it is faster than the battleships of the Imperial Navy, then we have nothing to do with them. What should we do as soon as the Germans build a battleship that is faster than the Imperial Navy's and firepower is stronger than the cruisers of the Imperial Navy? Long Yufei said.

"This. This should not be possible. The Germans had just begun to develop their navy, how could they have such tactics? Admiral Xu Haihai, commander of the 1st Fleet, was a little incredulous. After all, in front of the Chinese Navy, the German Navy was like a toddler.

"Humph! Don't believe it, this is information that the Reich* MIA has spent a lot of effort to get from the Germans. The German Navy's Director of Shipbuilding, the former British Admiralty, Charles Murphy. Sir Adam had officially proposed this tactic to the German Emperor, and had given it the figurative name 'Breaking the Engagement'. The main target was the Empire's sea transportation lines. Long Yufei said. Fortunately, the Empire's military intelligence bureau was the first to learn about the situation, otherwise, it would have been unprepared. If the empire doesn't do well, it will suffer a big loss. Once the sea lines of transport were threatened, the Empire's European allies, as well as the Empire's armies deployed in Europe, were left without adequate supplies. It will be attacked by the Germans with all their might. It was almost impossible to defeat the Germans by relying only on those troops. At that time, the situation in Europe will be completely erosive, and it will also be a crushing defeat for the empire. Even if you rely on a strong national strength, you can remain undefeated and defeated. However, after losing Europe, and even half of Africa. It is even more difficult for the empire to maintain its position as a maritime hegemon.

"Are these Germans really going to do that? The British and Germans were able to wear a pair of trousers. General Zhao Xingkai, head of the Logistics Equipment Department, widened his eyes. The Germans carried out a broken warring words. It will undoubtedly pose a great threat to China.

"Think about it! Once the advanced warships of the German Navy entered the vast ocean and attacked the Reich's sea lines. What a threat this poses to the Empire! Long Yufei continued. After defeating the British, the Imperial Navy had the mentality of being the best in the world. If this goes on for a long time, it will definitely not work. Therefore, Long Yufei also plans to take advantage of this matter to beat them as follows. Let them know that although the Imperial Navy has controlled the sea power of the world, it is not without enemies. If you don't pay attention, you will still be inflicted losses by the enemy. Long Yufei didn't want everyone to regret it when the time came, which meant that the empire would pay a heavy price.

"Your Majesty, did the MIA know the specific performance of the Germans' shipbreakers? In this way, we will be able to make up for and prevent it-for-tat! Navy Minister Wei Yong said. Since the Germans wanted to destroy the Empire's sea transportation lines, the Reich had to find a way to protect the sea transportation lines and strangle the Germans' shipwrecks.

"The MIA has no way to get more definite information!" Long Yufei said.

This made the senior officials of the Navy even more worried. After all, after Long Yufei's narration, they had already felt what kind of threat the war would pose to the empire.

"However, there were only two ways to deal with the Germans. One was to blockade the coast of the Germans, so that the German warships could not leave the port. Or blockade the North Sea and the English Channel, so that the British warships can only toss in this small pond in the North Sea. The second is to build special warships to encircle and suppress the Germans' broken ships. The first method, which is what the 5th Fleet needs to do in the next few years, is to use the main force of the 5th Fleet to build a defensive line in the English Channel and the North Sea to block the German Navy. The second option is to build a warship that is more powerful than the Germans' shipbreakers. This kind of warship must have a strong advantage in firepower and speed. In this way, it will be possible to hunt down the Germans' shipbreakers! Long Yufei said.

The giants of the navy all nodded as if they had lost something, and Long Yufei's hint made them seem to understand something.

"Your Majesty, the Navy will come up with a battleship design plan within three months, specifically for the Germans!" Navy Minister Wei Yong said. With the Empire's current design capabilities, it doesn't seem like a problem to achieve that kind of target.

"Hmm!" Long Yufei nodded, he was also thinking about whether the empire should build a few battle cruisers. In this way, the security of the Empire's sea transportation lines can be guaranteed. It's just that the skin of the battle cruiser is too thin, and once it enters the battle line for a decisive battle, it will undoubtedly be a disaster. In Long Yufei's memory, the Battle of Jutland had proved this. At the same time, the cost of a battle cruiser was even more expensive than that of a battleship, and the construction of a battle cruiser was somewhat more than worth the loss.

With the capabilities of the Imperial Navy, a month later, the Minister of the Navy, Marshal Wei Yong, submitted a design for a new warship. This battleship, named Heavy Cruiser, was only slightly slower than the Light Cruiser of the Imperial Navy in terms of speed. The firepower is more powerful than that of the light cruisers.

"Your Majesty, this heavy cruiser of the Imperial Navy, 118 meters long, 15.2 meters wide, 5.7 meters draft, full load displacement of 9,500 tons, the main guns are three twin 280 mm guns, and on the side there are four twin 155 mm secondary guns, as well as some 105 mm naval guns and rapid-fire guns. The speed of the battleship was 24 knots, which was only one knot slower than the maximum speed of the 'Nakshatra-class' cruisers. The protection is also more powerful than the 'Nakshatra-class' cruisers! Marshal Wei Yong said.

Long Yufei frowned, the firepower of this battleship was very powerful, and it was already the same as the two battleships originally built by the Imperial Navy. However, the maximum speed of 24 knots did not satisfy him. After all, the Germans' shipwrecks will definitely work on speed. At a speed of 24 knots, it is not an advantage.

"The speed of the battleship was still too low, and the most advanced oil-fired boilers and steam engines were used on the battleship. In addition, three twin 280-mm guns are too wasteful, only a 210-mm gun is sufficient. This kind of heavy cruiser does not have to confront the enemy's battleships, but only needs to deal with broken ships. In order to pursue speed, the shipwreckage is not strong in terms of defense. The 210 mm guns were enough to penetrate the defenses of the Germans. As long as they were ahead in rate of fire and accuracy of fire, the heavy cruisers of the Reich would be able to suppress the broken ships of the Germans! Long Yufei put forward his own suggestions for improvement.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Marshal Wei Yong nodded.

Combined with Long Yufei's advice, the design of the first heavy cruiser of the Imperial Navy was completed, and construction began in mid-1855. (To be continued)

ps: The first update arrives, ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes and recommended tickets! Thank you to the book friend Little Tiger's dog dad, special forces major general, yebaoyin, and I came for Dimont for the monthly pass! R580