"Vittorio Cuniberti, my friend. By the time you read this letter, I have already embarked on my journey home, please forgive me for not saying goodbye. In the near future, I will command the warships designed by you and me to fight for my homeland. If you can, I would like you to pray for me in a church in Rome. Before I leave, my assistant, Mr. Yan Boxun, will hand over to you the design and planning of the battleship that I have not yet arrived in and completed, and you will complete it with him, and if I survive this war, I hope that we will have the opportunity to continue to work together. Looking at the letter left by Xu Jie, Vittorio, who was still angry at Xu Jie's farewell just now, finally relented. He looked up at the young man recommended by Xu Jie in front of him, and then looked at the box full of sketches for the design of the new warship. Vittorio had a hunch that perhaps a new peak in his life might be approaching.

"Mr. Vittorio, this is the drawing that the teacher asked me to hand over, please take a look at it first. If there are no opinions, the new warship will be designed on this basis. Yan Boxun opened the box. It was placed on the table in front of Vittorio.

"It's a lot like an enlarged version of Garibaldi's Improved, the product of scaling a Tier 2 battleship into a Tier 1 battleship, with enhanced fire protection and speed." Vittorio looked at it for a moment and said.

Indeed, in Mr. Xu's opinion, the improved version of Garibaldi has been very perfect, and the main gun firepower arranged in the central axis has increased the utilization rate of the main gun. The turretized secondary gun increases the rate of fire of the gun and increases the range of the secondary gun. The water-tube boiler and hardened armor were still continuated, and the flying shear head and the absence of torpedoes were also retained. Yan Boxun took out a comparison table and continued: "Garibaldi's improved version of the battleship PISA-class, with a standard displacement of 9,300 tons, a full load of 10,500 tons, and a size of 126 meters long, 18 meters wide, and a draft of 7.25 meters. Its main armament is to equip three twin 40L 10-inch guns on the central axis. Four twin 6-inch guns were arranged at the four corners of the battleship. The main armor belt is 8 inches thick, and the upper armor is 6 inches thick. THE THICKNESS OF THE HEAD AND TAIL ARMOR IS UP TO 100MM. The armor of the main turret is 10 inches thick, and the armor of the secondary gun is 6 inches thick. The conning tower is 10 inches thick. It has a maximum output of 18,000 horsepower. The normal speed is 20 knots, the output horsepower is 21,000 horsepower under strong pressure ventilation, and the maximum speed is 21 and a half knots. The standard coal load is 900 tons, and the range is 10 knots and 3000 nautical miles. Then we look at the new ship. ”

"The standard displacement of the new ship is 14,000 tons, and the full load displacement is expected to be more than 15,000 tons. The main dimensions are 141 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 8.29 meters draft. Its main armament is three 3 3-pack 40L10-inch turrets arranged on the central axis of the hull. Three twin 6-inch guns were placed on each side of the hull. THE MAIN ARMOR WAS UP TO 10 INCHES THICK, THE UPPER ARMOR WAS UP TO 8 INCHES THICK, COVERING MORE THAN 75% OF THE HULL LENGTH, AND THE BOW AND TAIL ARMOR WAS 100MM. THE TURRET PROTECTION IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE PISA CLASS, AND AT THE SAME TIME, A 30MM LAYER OF HIGHLY ELASTIC STEEL HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE UNDERWATER PART OF THE HULL. This design was the first of its kind and was intended to counter a possible torpedo strike. Together with the watertight compartments, the underwater protection system of the battleship is formed. The normal power output is 17,000 hp at a speed of 19 knots, and under strong pressure ventilation it is 19,000 hp at a speed of 20 knots. The maximum coal carrying capacity is 1500 tons. The range is 10 knots and 4000 nautical miles. Yan Boxun pointed to the list in his hand and said.

"I have a question, why is the gun ring of this 3-mounted 10-inch turret exactly the same size as the gun ring of the 2-inch 12-inch turret? Is it just a coincidence? Vittorio asked, pointing to the drawings.

"Naturally, it will not be a coincidence, in fact, Mr. Xu took into account the replacement of guns in the new ship plan, and now use 10-inch guns first, 9 10-inch guns can provide a high projection. And at the right time, the artillery was replaced with a twin 12-inch gun. Yan Boxun explained.

"But whether it is a 10-inch gun or a 12-inch gun, there is nothing to be done in the face of hardened armor, I once discussed with Xu, the current naval battle mode is to penetrate the non-key protection area to make the opponent's battleship flooded, and at the same time use a large number of picric acid high-explosive shells to suffocate the opponent. Under this principle, I personally believe that the 12-inch gun is inferior to the 10-inch gun, and now the rate of fire of the 12-inch gun is somewhat slow, while the rate of fire of the 10-inch gun has reached 2 rounds per minute, and the new turret can reach 3 rounds per minute. And now the 12-inch turret, even the rapid-fire 12-inch guns of the French, has only one shot per minute. The projection is too bad. Vittorio said with some dissatisfaction. …,

"Of course, today's 12-inch guns are not effective against hardened armor, and I have seen reports that the warheads of artillery shells often shatter when they hit the hardened layers of hardened armor, resulting in the inability of the projectile to penetrate the armor. But this problem is not irreparable. Before leaving, Mr. Xu provided an idea, first, add a mild steel cap in front of the warhead, and use this layer of mild steel to deal with the hardened layer to protect the warhead, and second, the fuse delay should be longer. Ensure that the shell passes through the armor before exploding, and thirdly, use passivated explosives for the charge, and do not use picric acid as a high charge. Mr. Xu meant to take ** explosives and add a wooden sleeve between the charge and the projectile body. The fourth is to reduce the charge and strengthen the structure of the projectile. According to this line of thinking, the new armor-piercing shell should be able to deal with hardened armor. Yan Boxun said.

"It seems to be feasible to look at this principle, but it is difficult to say what kind of shells can actually be made." Vittorio is not very optimistic about the prospects, because he knows that the projectile body and the fuse are small things, but this is a test of a country's industrial level. Especially the fuse, it is not possible to blow up early or not at all. "However, the design of this gun replacement if necessary is still very good, my design bureau will continue to refine this plan and submit it to the Admiralty at an appropriate time, but I want to ask, will the Beiyang Fleet of the Great Qing Kingdom go back and order this battleship?"

"If Mr. Xu can live until the end of the war, and he is still a high-level Beiyang officer, the Beiyang Naval Division will definitely order this type of warship." Yan Boxun said.

"Well, I think the owners and shareholders of the Italian shipyards will be very happy to make another profit." Vittorio said with satisfaction.

Vittorio and Yan Boxun were busy planning for the new warship, while at the same time, Xu Jie, Lin Yongsheng, Lin Yingqi and others were sailing on the vast sea. The road back to China is long, long but not boring. What they need now is to make a final plan for the Sino-Japanese War, which will begin this year.

"The first step in this return is to find ways to leave the Nanyang Naval Division, especially the 8,000-ton ironclad ship Zhenhai in Beiyang, if the Nanyang Naval Division can join, this will be a great help for future operations, the Guangdong Naval Division and the Penghu Naval Division one is Li Hanzhang's, and the other is Liu Mingchuan's. Naturally, they will help me Beiyang. And the Guangdong Navy Division and the Penghu Navy Division, a total of 6 1,500-ton dome armored clippers, is also a large combat power. Can be used as a reconnaissance and auxiliary only. Xu Jie said.

"I'm more concerned about when the 30,000-ton warships under the command of Lord Luang Weili will arrive in my Beiyang? With these 3 giant ships, we don't have to be afraid of the Japanese, if not, even if the Qing Navy is in one place, it will be an absolute disadvantage. Lin Yongsheng asked anxiously.

"I asked Lord Luang Weili before I left, and the earliest time to set sail is in August, and with the time for return and correction, it would be good to be able to enter the battle in November." Lin Yingqi said.

"If this war breaks out, it's best after November this year." Lin Yongsheng said.

"I'm afraid it's unlikely, looking at the situation, it is very likely to break out around August, we have to find ways to survive the 3 months or so, and in order to keep it secret, the return voyage of the 3 ships is under the guise of the Italian Navy's round-the-world voyage, and some things on the scene must be done enough, so the world may be longer." Xu Jie vetoed.

"In fact, if the Japanese knew that our Beiyang Navy had purchased new 10,000-ton warships, it was very likely that they would not dare to compete with our Qing Dynasty. I, Beiyang, can surrender without a fight! Lin Yongsheng stated his assumptions.

"Then the Japanese will definitely wait for a few more years, and then wait for the strength to surpass our Beiyang before starting a war, a battle that cannot be avoided sooner or later, and it is better to fight early than later. You also know where the cannons of these warships in Beiyang come from, and they are all old bottoms accumulated by the Huai army and overseas Chinese in Nanyang for decades. Now everyone is pressing, if Japan develops for a few more years, my Beiyang has no stamina, and the imperial court does not give money to people, what will I use in the Qing Dynasty to resist the attack of the Japanese? It is also a good idea to solve the problem as soon as possible. Xu Jie said earnestly.

"In this case, we will naturally repay the country with death. Respect Lord Xu's orders. Lin Yongsheng and Lin Yingqi stood up and saluted.

From chapter 161 onwards, it entered a state of war. What are you waiting for? Support it~~~