"Call back, the British have no faith, and the lessons of the past should not be forgotten. The German ironclad ships are quite good. ”

In the telegraph room in the yamen of the governor of Taiwan, Liu Xian paced slowly, thinking about what he should say. Li Hongzhang came to ask about the three tattered British and two brand-new Saxony-class ironclad ships, and Liu Xian chose the latter without hesitation. But there are really a lot of problems with the Saxony-class ironclads.

Even if Liu Xian really knew little about warships, as one of the vast naval forces in later generations, the First Sino-Japanese War was an eternal hatred in the hearts of many people. He was trying his best to recall the memories of the past.

"Asked if the central open air battery could be converted into a turret. If so, that is, the artillery will be halved, and a pair of units can also be combined. "Liu Xian really doesn't understand the navy, so he can only add the words 'artillery room armored fort' to the back.

"Four chimneys are too many, and if you are hit in wartime, you will not be good. It can be reduced to two, preferably one. ”

"In addition, I have heard that the Saxony-class ironclad ships are used for the defense of the German coastal waters, and the support of the army is the first, and it may not be suitable for the deep sea. If in the coming day, our naval division and the enemy will fight on the Hanhai Sea, the wind is high and the waves are urgent, the hull of the ship is swaying, and I am afraid that the huge cannon will be vacant. ”

The Germans could not have started with the development of deep-sea ocean-going decisive ironclad ships, Liu Xian still remembered some information about the Saxony class, which was designed and built under the guiding ideology of the German military that 'the naval fleet should first provide support for the army's operations'. It is conceivable whether it is suitable for ocean-going operations or not.

This is absolutely/noted, after all, if the Beiyang Naval Division buys battleships in Germany, these warships will always sail back to China. Although at that time, whether the Qing Dynasty still existed was still an unpredictable thing.

"Remember, the ship draft. The Suez Canal must be accessible. If not, order to change! Liu Xian almost forgot about this. In later generations, the Suez Canal could easily pass through the giant ships of more than 100,000 tons. But that's the result of several expansions. Now how deep the draft of the Suez Canal is, Liu Xian does not know at all.

If not even the draft of the Saxon class. It would be fun to drive the two warships back to China, and to go around the whole of Africa, through the Cape of Good Hope.

Liu Xian's 100 warships ordered by the Beiyang Naval Division in Europe are very powerful. Because he was so confident that none of those warships could reach the hands of the Manchus. The eight warships he had ordered in England had all been launched and were being tested, and although Liu Siam would have to pay a further £30,000 in silver for them, it was probably certain that the ships were ready. Just wait for Lin Yongsheng, Huang Jianxun and other internships to end, and then they can drive back to China on a warship.

Liu Xian had already sent a full 800 sailors, led by Du Chun and Wang Fuyou, to England by steamer. At that time, the European Office will wave a cheque to recruit some sailors and naval officers from Britain and Germany, plus a group of naval officers 'imported' from the United States in a timely manner, as well as the three cargo ships brought by Maisheng Foreign Company, and prepare sufficient manpower and material resources, so that the fleet can go straight to the east.

Some people may not understand why there are still American naval officers. Didn't I already say that. The United States is now an empty shelf, people are going all out to develop the economy, and the army and navy are all goods that cannot be put on the table. Can Maisheng prepare enough naval officers for Liu Xianam?

And the fact is that Maisheng is precisely because the United States does not attach importance to the Navy. in order to prepare enough US naval officers.

At the end of the American Civil War, the US Navy had 700 ships and 5000 guns. With 6,700 officers and 51,000 soldiers, it was the highest among the world's navies at that time. But only five years later. Its shallow-water ironclad gunboats were mothballed, and warships converted from merchant ships were either sold or scrapped. Most of the river ships were also decommissioned. By the end of 1870, only 500 ships large and small, armed with 52 guns, remained in service. While this reduction of the navy does show that the Americans focused their efforts on domestic affairs after the war, namely the pacification of the western regions, the industrialization of the northeastern regions, and the reconstruction of the southern regions.

Within the United States, it is generally believed that under the conditions of a situation in which Europe is evenly matched [many contradictions between Britain and France, Britain and Russia, Germany, France, Russia and Austria], and the vast Atlantic Ocean with 3,000 nautical miles, the United States is absolutely safe. The vast majority of U.S. government officials, including many naval officers, expected the United States to shift to a strategic defense strategy of the early 19th century: coastal fortifications to protect coastal cities from enemy attacks and to deter enemy invasion of ports.

Moreover, the U.S. Navy of this period was also capable of the above plans. Its mothballed shallow-water gunboats could be reused to fortify the harbor, and its cruisers could be used to raid enemy merchant ships. During the Civil War, wooden propeller cruisers, built to capture Confederate trade raiders and ships that had crossed the blockade, were now converted into sail ships. Their slender hulls were designed in the style of a fast boat, and the engines were produced under the supervision of marine engineer B.F. Isherwood, director of the Navy's Bureau of Marine Engineering. This is the first time that hot vapor technology has been used. The first American ship of this class, the USS Vanpanu, reached a speed of 18 knots for the first time during sea trials in 1868, which was an absolute advantage at the time. Not a single U.S. Navy ship will be able to catch up with it for at least the next 20 years.

Subsequently, American warships chose sails as power. Until now, the United States did not have purely steam-powered ironclads, either large or small. Because the sail-powered U.S. Navy is struggling to save on what little military spending it has. Seven years have passed since 1868, and the U.S. Congress, in anticipation of no war in the near future, has allocated only barely enough funds to maintain the staffing and on-sail capabilities of the existing ships. The tight budget has severely limited the daily operations and officer establishment of the Navy. As long as it was not an exceptional case, the officers were ordered to sail with sails, and if they started the steam engine, they had to fill it out in the logbook with a red pen and indicate the reason. With old ships being scrapped and no new ones in service, the Navy needed fewer officers. Promotions have come to a near standstill, and throughout the U.S. Navy, officers in their thirties and forties have become common. In the past few years, only 10 cadets who have graduated from the naval academy have been appointed, and the rest have been given a severance pay and ordered to change jobs.

Therefore, in less than two months, Maisheng & Co. found 120 retired US Navy officers and military academy graduates who were willing to come to China to pan for gold and realize their ideals, even though the current US environment was very unfriendly to China. But many military academy graduates choose the latter without hesitation between merchant ships and warships.

Liu Xian is quite confident in this. In the Beiyang Fleet in history, isn't there an American named Majifen, who has been working for ten years and has been promoted to the first mate of the Zhenyuan ship.

At least 90 graduates of naval schools in the United States are 'unemployed' a year. Maisheng Foreign Company wants to complete the business handed over to them by Liu Xian, and it should not be too simple. Although most of the 120 Americans were low-ranking officers and inexperienced cadets, Liu Xian never thought of hiring a large number of foreigners to serve as the top echelons of the Nanyang Fleet.

Now most of these people have been gathered in one place by Maisheng and are learning Chinese.

After the 800 sailors were transferred, the navy veterans under Liu Xian were almost drained and are now slowly recovering from their blood. Liu Xian is not afraid of wasting money, high-quality anthracite, and the Qin army is as numerous as a mountain. Even if the steam engine on the ship is worn out, as long as it can be trained, it is worth it. After the new recruits are put on the ships, they spend 20 days of the month floating on the sea, and the Nanyang Fleet has a limited number of warships, but the territory is very large, and the warships are frequently dispatched, and it is believed that the 'ripening' will be very fast.

Tianjin, Governor Yamen.

Li Hongzhang looked at Liu Xian's call back and nodded with satisfaction. Sure enough, it's reliable! Zuo Zongtang's group may be more professional, but their understanding of foreigners is too shallow. The most direct point is the Suez Canal, which is estimated to be known by few people in Fuzhou, let alone remembered it.

"Zhongtang, what Liu Hou said is true. We can show this to De Celestial first, and then leak the news to Hurd. As long as HD can reduce the price, we have a reason to let the Germans follow the price reduction. ”

Zhou Fu read Liu Xian's reply again, and what he paid attention to was not Liu Xian's opinions on the Saxony-class ironclad ships, but the idea of helping Li Hongzhang bargain at the end of the telegram.

It's very simple to 'pay back on the ground'. But the weight that came out of Liu Xian's mouth was far greater than Zhou Fu. As for Zhou Fu himself, he is more professional in this regard.

"The formation of a naval division is not just two giant ships that can achieve things. There must also be a corresponding ship! Li Hongzhang smiled, Zhou Fu wanted the Germans to reduce the price again, and of course he Li Hongzhang was willing. How can a naval division have ten warships, right? In addition to two large ironclad ships, there must be at least two small ironclad ships, then cruisers, gunboats and other supporting warships, and then torpedo boats, training ships, transport ships, all available, this is a navy. Although the cost of the large ironclad ship is huge, it is not a big deal in terms of the total price of the entire naval division construction and land supporting facilities.

Li Hongzhang is preparing to set up naval ports in Weihai, Shandong and Lushun, Liaodong, but there are no facilities yet, so it can be said that they have to be built from scratch. The imperial court took out five million taels of silver, and the Huaijun family also got three million taels, and eight million taels of silver was so huge, but it was far from enough to be used on it.

Let's not talk about raising soldiers, and now there is not a single soldier in Beiyang. But there were ...... forts, docks, warehouses, barracks, docks, and repair shops, and there were more places to spend money, and a sailor school had to be built.

The total was only eight million taels of silver, and the British were going to take a third of it when they opened their mouths, and it was only three warships. With the greed of the British, Li Hongzhang absolutely spent the six million taels of silver in the imperial court, and it would be good to be able to buy a fleet. It's no wonder he's willing to do it!

"Zuo Jinliang promised to transfer those people? The old man heard that in the shipyard school, the crown of all beings, the first three people were Liu Buchan, Lin Taizeng, and Deng Shichang. Can you transfer Beiyang and defend Beijing and Tianjin today? ”

"Lord Zuo put these three people into the list of Liuyang. But whether or not to give me the Beiyang is not something that outsiders can guess. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the Biquge www.biquge.info () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to read. (To be continued......) R1292