In the early morning, the Baltic Sea is filled with mist, and a round of sun rises slowly from the junction of the sea and sky in the east, and the colorful glow is dazzling. It's February, and the port of Kiel, which borders the Baltic Sea, is still wrapped in a cold winter; The sea breeze was howling, freezing and biting, and there was no warmth in spring.

As Germany's most important port of entry into the Baltic Sea, Kiel is not only a commercial hub with a busy cargo schedule, but also a home port for the German Navy in the region. Due to the extensive expansion of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, which connects the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, no ships can pass through it; In order to guard against the strong Russian fleet and avoid being unable to respond in time to unexpected situations, Germany left behind a sizable navy in Kiel. In the well-defended inner military port, dozens of warships of various sizes are neatly docked in their berths; And now, a new member has been added here.

The hull is huge, the body is strong, the bow is extended, and the mast is high...... A large number of physical features are blended together to form the unique appearance of the German capital ships. The thick and solid broadside armor and the majestic head and tail gun groups show the world its empty capital; The three gray chimneys on the amidships of the ship, which stand majestically like giant trees of Fuso, not only reflect its strong power, but also demonstrate its unique identity in the German Navy and even the world's navies. Although its low freeboard makes it less powerful than its counterparts in other countries, its low-key appearance brings him extremely powerful combat power, and its performance data is beyond the reach of Britain, France and Russia!

"General Alfred, the battleship you see now is the great masterpiece of the century of our German Empire - the armored cruiser of the decisive battle of the fleet!" On a viewing platform in Kiel Harbor, Qingying, who already had a golden velvet whisker on her lips, pointed to the huge gray figure not far below and introduced to the man next to her, "The successful completion of this warship has made Germany take a big step forward in the process of challenging British maritime supremacy!" ”

The man turned his head, revealing a dignified face with a middle-of-the-way beard, and said with a smile: "Although I only returned to China from the Far East the day before yesterday, the Daimyo of the Battle Patrol has already been famous for a long time. To tell you the truth, Your Highness, when I first heard about such a ship, I was really taken aback. The armored cruiser is obviously synonymous with thin skin and big stuffing, vulnerable to the artillery fire of the capital ship, and now an armored cruiser for the decisive battle of the fleet suddenly appeared; The only thought I had at the time was, could the sun have risen out of a rat hole today? ”

Qingying glanced at Tirpitz and said: "The design of battleships has always been amorphous, and every kilogram of weight is in the hands of the designer, and they can use the weight wherever they want; As long as it does not violate the laws of physics, they can design any ship of a thousand oddities. The reason why the current navy is divided into battleships, cruisers and other conventional types of ships, and its firepower, armor, and speed are also changed in a small range, is nothing more than that the British are one step ahead and already have a set of successful experiences suitable for them; And the glory of the Royal Navy was so dazzling that everyone followed suit. However, China's national conditions in Germany are different from those of Britain, and the level of shipbuilding is much higher than that of Britain, which can be said to have both strength and demand; In this case, why can't we break the traditional pattern and create a new type of ship suitable for the development of our German Navy? ”

Tirpitz nodded slightly, looking at the huge figure of the ship docked in the berth not far below, and his heart was full of emotion. Since he had succeeded his old boss, who had been neglecting affairs for a long time due to illness, he was worshiped by Kaiser Wilhelm as the new Minister of the Navy; The elevation of core authority allowed him to consult relevant information, and finally had a comprehensive understanding of this alternative armored cruiser used in fleet decisive battles. And when he truly appreciated the essence of the decisive battle, his amazement at Qingying, the initiator, also reached an unprecedented level.

This class of ships takes "appropriate large-scale warships" as the theoretical core, low freeboard as the guiding foundation, and 11-inch main guns 1 inch smaller than the major powers as the method of action, realizing the irreproducibility of the ship in other countries; With Germany's excellent ship design and subsystem level, this paradox-type battleship integrating firepower, protection and speed has finally been completed, and its tonnage and cost have not been malignantly improved!

Through careful planning of the cabin and reduction of the power volume; The ship successfully shortened the length of the core module to less than 78 meters; This not only allows it to greatly save the weight of the armor by reducing the area and the protective force remains the same, but also avoids the large-scale ship type, which is successfully controlled at 126 meters long, 22 meters wide and 11.6 meters deep, saving a lot of structural weight. These two items are almost the most important reasons for curbing the vicious rise in tonnage. In the end, with a standing displacement of 12,300 tons, the ship achieved the firepower of 4 283 mm L42 guns, 10 150 mm L40 guns, a speed of 20 knots and a 250 mm thick waterline armor; And its 250 mm main armor is not just a small strip, but a real 3.5 meters high, and covers 65% of the battleship's waterline, and its protective area is still thicker than even the battleships of other countries in the same period! The ship can not only serve as the vanguard of the main fleet, sweeping away the enemy's armored cruisers and small cruisers, but also can directly join the battle line in the decisive battle of the fleet; Its 11-inch main gun firepower is enough to effectively inflict damage on enemy capital ships, and its own 250 mm thick main armor and 65 mm rear dome armor can also save its own life!

"Strictly speaking, such ships should no longer be called armored cruisers. Its firepower protection is at the level of a battleship, and its shape and appearance are the same as that of a battleship, and it only has an additional speed of 2 knots, so it may be more appropriate to call it a high-speed battleship. However, in order to confuse the adversary into believing that there were only a few battleships that we could fight a decisive battle, the Navy still retained the title of armored cruiser. Qingying wrapped her fur coat tightly and explained.

Tirpitz sighed: "Your Highness is really a genius born for my German navy. I have worked in the Navy for more than 30 years, and I think I have reached a point where I have reached a fundamental insight in this field; However, since I became His Highness's teacher, I have truly understood what it really means to be an idea and innovation. What I did before was only some minor repairs under the original ship framework system: either subdividing the watertight cabin, or adding some double bottoms, but Your Highness, you really grasped the essence and core of this. In comparison, the results I've made before are nothing to mention. ”

Being so praised by the father of the German navy, Qingying felt a little confused in his heart, the reason why he was able to jump out of the cage without a leaf of obscuration was entirely because he had a lot of experience and knowledge from later generations. He coughed and lowered his voice, "Actually, this is only the most basic stage of the decisive battle. Although the design was excellent, the firepower was slightly weak, and the 4 main guns were limited in their impact on the enemy, which was not the result I expected. ”

Tirpitz sighed, lowered his voice, and said, "I understand. Yesterday I went to see His Majesty, and he told me all the inside story of the improved version of the battle parade that we had started the year before and which we had now launched. He turned around, his eyes swept around, and after making sure that there were only two people within a radius of a hundred meters, he groaned in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "The so-called combat torpedo tower is just a small trick used to deceive the world, and it is not your real purpose at all, Your Highness!" But I'm curious, if you want to do that, Your Highness, just let the designers design it like that, why do you have to pretend like this? Even if you do that, it won't necessarily have much impact, right? ”

Qingying's eyes flashed with surprise, he didn't expect Tirpitz to be so impatient, and he went directly to William to get to the bottom of it. Faced with Tirpitz's question, he shook his head slightly and said, "It's better to be cautious in this matter." If we do so, we will be able to paralyze countries such as Britain and France; Improving the performance of warships in inconspicuous places is the most important thing for the German Navy to do. Speaking of this, the corners of Qingying's mouth hooked up a smile, and she said softly: "But this kind of change and decisive battle is still not my ultimate goal!" ”

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Hearing Qingying's words, Tirpitz could no longer remain calm. He turned his head around with difficulty, and said in a tone full of lamentation and helplessness: "Your Highness, after the battle torpedo tower, do you still have any crazy thoughts about not giving people a way out?" ”

Qing Ying sneered a few times and said, "Since there is a decisive battle and a decisive battle, then naturally there is a true fleet decisive battle armored cruiser. At present, we only have one turret-type torpedo tube on the side of our modified and decisive battle patrol, and the density of torpedo projection is too low. In this year's installation design, I plan to further enlarge the tonnage on the original basis, and turn the two diagonally arranged single-mounted torpedo towers on the broadside into duplex; And this True Fleet Decisive Battle armored cruiser is the ultimate body form of the Decisive Battle Armored Cruiser family! ”

Tirpitz opened his mouth and let the cold wind like ice blades and iron sand pour in, and exclaimed: "Your Highness, do you want to ......?"

Qingying said leisurely: "Not bad at all. I can't wait to see the reaction of Britain, France and other countries after the transformation of these 15,000-ton True Fleet Decisive Battle armored cruisers! ”

(PS: Regarding the idea of the decisive battle, the author is here to worship the great sage and ancestor GO229, thank you + admiration)