In the office of Lin Daxin, the governor's mansion, Lin Daxin asked Li Kun, the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, "How about sending information about our shipyard to foreigners?" ”

Li Kun showed a smile and said, "Headmaster, the information has been revealed. ”

Lin Daxin smiled and said, "You have to give those countries a hope, otherwise the game will not be fun." ”

In the British Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, England, in the Prime Minister's office, the tired British Prime Minister Arthur? Balfour, after packing up his personal belongings, glanced around the familiar office, shook his head helplessly, turned around and left the office, and then left 10 Downing Street directly with his personal belongings.

Affected by the defeat of the Eight-Nation Alliance, especially the huge losses of Britain in this war, and the loss of many important colonies in Asia, Arthur? The Conservative Cabinet formed by Balfour fell, and Arthur? Balfour also stepped down as prime minister.

Soon after, Britain's new Prime Minister, Henry? Campbell? Banner, who took over the British Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street, became the new owner of the Prime Minister's office.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? As soon as Banervin took office, he found his office with the British Secretary of War, Henry Wiley, the Secretary of the Admiralty, Fisher, and the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Balfour left the post of Prime Minister, and I was appointed to form a new Cabinet in a desperate situation, but I still need the support of a few people to get the British Empire through this difficult time. ”

Henry Wiley, Fisher, and Lansdorn looked at each other and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, it seems that the new prime minister will not move the positions of the three of them.

The three immediately asked the new Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin expressed his heart and fully supported the new prime minister's work.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin couldn't help but smile and nodded. Although he formed a new cabinet, it was like the position of Minister of War and Secretary of the Navy. They were all appointed by the King of England, and he had no right to change them. In order to make a substitution, the king must support him. And the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis of Lansdowne, is an eight-faced man with huge influence in British politics and among the aristocracy, so Henry? Campbell? Bannavin chose to win over these three powerful ministers in the British military and political circles.

Now it seems that the effect is still good, after all, the three of them are not fools, and after changing the boss, of course they have to move closer to the new boss.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin said to the three people: "This war between the Eight-Nation Alliance and Lin Daxin has shown us the role of new weapons in the war, especially the dreadnought battleships and aircraft that shine in this war. Therefore, the next step for Britain will be to invest heavily in the development and construction of a variety of new weapons, including dreadnought battleships and aircraft, in an effort to regain its position as the world's hegemon. ”

Admiral Fisher said: "At present, the only one of our British Navy's dreadnought battleships, the Dreadnought, has been commissioned, and the other three modifications of the Dreadnought, known as the Bellerophon-class dreadnought, have been laid in the shipyard and construction has begun. According to our intelligence, the Northeast Navy has 13 dreadnought battleships, of which 6 Dragon-class dreadnought battleships are not much different from our Dreadnought, but the Northeast Navy has 7 provincial dreadnought battleships with a larger displacement. Although the speed is similar to that of our Dreadnought, but it has a main gun between 15 inches and 16 inches and a range of 30,000 meters, our navy must design a dreadnought battleship with a larger displacement and a larger caliber of main guns in order to compete with the Northeast Navy. However, it is a pity that our latest 45-caliber 13.5-inch naval gun has not yet succeeded, and we don't know when we want to make a 15-inch or even 16-inch naval gun. ”

13.5 inches is 343 mm and 15 inches is 381 mm. 16 inches is the main gun caliber of the Super Dreadnought battleship of the Northeast Navy with a caliber of 406 mm, and the British did not know that the Super Dreadnought battleship of the Northeast Navy could be faster. Four of them could even reach a high speed of 31 knots, otherwise the face of Admiral Fisher would not have been so calm. However, Fisher also received an intelligence, so he was not very worried about the 7 provincial dreadnought battleships with a larger displacement.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin said without hesitation: "The Navy must speed up the progress, and must do its best to design a warship that can be compared to the provincial dreadnought battleships of the Northeast Navy. Can we develop a 45-caliber 13.5-inch naval gun with a firing range of 30,000 meters? ”

Fisher replied, "The basic layout of the Bellerophon-class is very similar to that of the Dreadnought, and can be seen as a follow-up to the Dreadnought. The firepower configuration is exactly the same, except that the 4-inch secondary gun is used instead, and the 3-inch secondary gun is installed on the Dreadnought, and the thickness of the main armor belt on the side waterline of the hull is reduced by 1 inch, and the longitudinal watertight compartment of the hull is strengthened. With a standard displacement of 18,800 tons and a full load displacement of 22,359 tons, the Bellerophon class is slightly larger than the battleship Dreadnought. In addition, we have developed a 45-caliber 13.5-inch naval gun, and the firing range can only barely reach 30,000 meters, and the shooting accuracy at this distance cannot be guaranteed, but ......"

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin asked, "But what?" ”

Fisher paused and continued: "But we may not be in a hurry to build dreadnought battleships with larger main gun calibers, our British intelligence department has paid a huge price, and finally got an important piece of information, the shipyard under Lin Daxin has begun to build a new batch of dreadnought battleships, and these dreadnought battleships are all dragon-class, not provincial-level with a larger displacement." ”

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin wondered and asked, "If Lin Daxin's shipyard can build more advanced provincial dreadnought battleships, why should they build less powerful dragon-class dreadnought battleships?" ”

A smile appeared on Fisher's calm face at this time and said: "Intelligence shows that the seven provincial-level dreadnought battleships of the Northeast Navy have huge defects, and the performance of large-caliber main guns of more than 15 inches is very poor. After firing a few shots, the barrel had to be replaced, and the technology of installing the main gun in three companies was not mature. The hull of the provincial dreadnought battleship could not withstand the salvo of such a large-caliber main gun, anyway, the provincial dreadnought battleship had a lot of problems. Therefore, the Northeast Navy under Lin Daxin chose to continue to build Dragon-class dreadnought battleships with smaller displacement and smaller main gun calibers. ”

When several people in the prime minister's office heard this, they couldn't help but smile in surprise, the 13 dreadnought battleships of the Northeast Navy have been pressing on the hearts of all British people like mountains these days, if this news is true, then the British Navy may not be able to catch up with or even surpass the Northeast Navy in a few years.

"Is the message accurate?" Nearby Foreign Minister Lansdoorn asked.

"It's true, our British intelligence officers saw with their own eyes the dreadnought battleships under construction inside the Weihaiwei shipyard, according to the laid keel. As well as the number of all aspects, they are similar to the Dragon-class dreadnought battleships, and the fact that the provincial dreadnought battleships have zài defects will definitely not be fake news, otherwise Lin Daxin would not let people continue to build the Dragon-class dreadnought battleships. Fisher said categorically.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin thought for a moment and said: "In this case, then our British Navy can step up the development of larger-caliber naval guns on the one hand, in preparation for the construction of larger dreadnoughts in the future, and on the other hand build dreadnoughts on a large scale, this time only 3 Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships were built at once, I think the number is too small." The Navy should build more dreadnought battleships to counter the threat to the Northeast Navy. ”

Fisher nodded and said: "My subordinates also think so, at present, in addition to the Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleship that our Admiralty has already begun to build, we have also designed another dreadnought battleship. St. Vincent's Grand Class. The dreadnought battleships of this class were an improved version of the Bellerophon-class and were similar in appearance to the Bellerophon-class battleships, with the main difference being the 12-inch 50-caliber main gun. to increase the power of the cannon and make it longer. It can barely reach 28,000 meters, although the shooting accuracy is somewhat low at 28,000 meters. But in this way, even if you encounter the defective provincial dreadnought battleships of the Northeast Navy, you can also contend with it, and it is very likely to win. But our 12-inch 50-caliber main gun, the barrel life is poor, compared to the mature 12-inch 45-caliber main gun, the firing accuracy is also slightly reduced. ”

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavon asked, "How much do the Bellerophon and St. Vincent classes cost?" ”

Fisher replied: "The Bellerophon class that has already begun to be built cost about £1,600,000 each, and the St Vincent class costs about £1,700,000, and the St Vincent class is £100,000 more expensive because of the 12-inch 50-caliber main gun." If we build more dreadnoughts on a large scale, we can build some of these 2 classes at the same time. ”

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin picked up the pen on his desk, calculated on the paper and said: "The Ministry of Finance can allocate a batch of 20 million pounds of special funds to the Navy, I think this money can be used to build another 5 Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships, and at the same time build 6 new St. Vincent-class dreadnought battleships, this is only the first phase of special funds, in order to regain the status of naval supremacy, the second, third, fourth, and even more special funds will be allocated to the account of the Admiralty, I don't know our shipyards, Can there be so many dockyards for the construction of so many dreadnoughts at the same time? ”

Fisher was overjoyed when he heard this, knowing that the special funds refer to the money allocated to the Admiralty budget every year, and with the support of the huge funds of the British Empire, it will not be too far away for the British Navy to regain the position of the world's naval supremacy.

Fisher said excitedly: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, you can rest assured that our British shipyards can build enough docks for dreadnought battleships, even if these 11 dreadnought battleships are added, it is equivalent to building 14 dreadnought battleships at the same time, and our dockyard is more than enough." ”

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Bannavin nodded and said: "Then it's decided, a special fund of 20 million pounds, I will immediately ask the Imperial Treasury to call your Admiralty, the construction of 5 Bellerophon-class and 6 St. Vincent-class must be paid attention to, in addition, your Admiralty will do its best to develop naval guns with larger caliber and longer range, build larger dreadnought battleships, and our cabinet will fully support the Navy's large-scale shipbuilding program." ”

Fisher said sternly: "Our naval officers and men will definitely live up to the expectations of the empire, and we will definitely regain the position of naval supremacy as soon as possible, and strive to completely defeat the Northeast Navy in the next war, and avenge the dead officers and men of the imperial navy." ”

Although the war between the Eight-Nation Alliance and Lin Daxin has ended for Britain, Britain has suffered so much in this war that how can the British, who have always been the world bosses, swallow this breath, and have just signed an armistice agreement with Lin Daxin, and most people in Britain here have begun to think about preparing for revenge.

The other 3 people in the office listened to Fisher's words, and they had no objections, Britain suffered such a big loss, it must not be finished, and the armistice agreement only heralded the beginning of the next war with Lin Daxin.

Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banervin turned to Henry Wiley, the British War Secretary, and said, "The Imperial Research Institute has begun to develop aircraft for combat use, as well as a large number of new army equipment, such as tanks and armored vehicles, and your army's current mission is to strengthen the army forces of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, and Australia." ”

British colonies such as India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma are directly connected to Lin Daxin's current territory, and they are always under the threat of the Dingbei Army, while Lin Daxin has taken over German New Guinea and is already across the sea from Australia.

Australia was a British colony from 1788 to 1900 until last year, that is, in 1901, Australia's colonial rule ended and became an independent federal country, but Australia's nominal head of state is still the British king, and even Australia's army is under the command of the British War Department and the Admiralty, and Britain also has a navy and army stationed in Australia.

Henry Wiley nodded and said: "In order to deal with the threat of the Dingbei Army, our War Department has decided to form more colonial troops in India and other places, and station 150,000 regular troops of the British Army in four colonies including India. In Australia, the Australian Army will also be urged to build more troops, and our regular army of the British Army will also have 20,000 troops in Australia. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you Chen Yiding, I don't have a nickname for the reward, thank you for the brother who voted for the vote