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The Xinhua Navy Shipyard is located in a bay ten kilometers north of Manila. Since the start of construction of the shipyard, it has become a military exclusion zone! With a battalion of the Xinhua Army stationed nearby, plus the guards in the shipyard, it is even more difficult for outsiders to infiltrate the shipyard than to ascend to the sky!

Many of the new Chinese navy's warships, including half of the Shark-class cruisers of the Navy's Fourth Fleet, were built in this shipyard. Although this shipyard cannot be compared with the shipyard in Xinhua City in terms of scale, gradually, it will become a special shipyard for the navy, and the shipyard in Xinhua City will be converted to civilian use, mainly producing civilian ships.

The 'Shark-class' cruiser is the first cruiser of the Xinhua Navy, and the advanced performance of this kind of warship has been tested in previous naval battles! In the past few years of naval battles, not a single 'Shark-class' cruiser has been sunk, and even if it suffered heavy damage, it was eventually returned to the shipyard for repair! The four major fleets of the Xinhua Navy have a total of 48 'Shark-class' cruisers.

When designing the 'Shark-class' cruiser, Long Yufei positioned this kind of warship as an over-the-top warship of the Xinhua Navy. The advantages of the 'Shark-class' cruisers are very obvious, such as their high speed and long range of naval guns, and by taking advantage of these two advantages, the navy of the new Chinese country is invincible in naval warfare, defeating the strong with the weak. However, the disadvantages are also very obvious. The defense of the battleship was too low, and the firepower was too weak. If the speed advantage is lost. The 'Shark-class' cruisers are vulnerable. Although the 'Shark-class' cruisers are still able to guarantee an advantage in speed, no one can guarantee how long this advantage will last. Technology is constantly advancing. The navies of various countries are also developing rapidly. Especially with such a maritime hegemon as Britain! Long Yufei believes that the excellent performance of the 'Shark-class' cruiser has attracted the attention of the British! Now the British are tolerant of Xinhua everywhere, in order to buy time, and when the British have a way to deal with the 'shark-class' cruisers, I am afraid it will be time for Britain and Xinhua to go to war! When the time comes. Relying only on the 'Shark-class' cruisers, it may be difficult for Xinhua to win. This requires that the Xinhua Navy needs more advanced and powerful warships. To ensure that the Xinhua Navy continues to maintain its superiority!

Originally, Long Yufei wanted to design a battleship powered by a steam engine and clad in iron armor! Such a battleship is the battleship he expects! Only then. Xinhua is poor and white. The industrial base is almost empty, and it is even more difficult to build a large steam engine for ships than to ascend to the sky. After several years, especially the scientific research team led by Long Yufei himself, this problem has been initially solved! The first ironclad ship of the Xinhua Navy has also been officially completed! Of course, the specific performance can only be obtained after sea trials!

December 23, 1838. On Christmas Eve in the West, King Long Yufei of Xinhua was anxious about the generals of the General Staff. and the commanders of the Navy's four fleets, gathered at the naval shipyard in Manila to watch the trial of the first ironclad ship of the Xinhua Navy. As the fleet commander of the Xinhua Navy, they will be the ones who will use these warships in the future, and it will be very useful for them to command operations in the future!

"Brother Wei, what kind of thing are you talking about this ironclad ship? Is it really made of steel? As soon as the iron guy is in the water, he can't just sink down? Second Fleet Commander Lu Haipeng said to Wei Yong. He was already a brigadier commander, but his temper still hadn't changed.

"You kid, will Your Majesty give us the kind of battleship that sinks as soon as it sinks? Wait and see, it will surely blow our minds! Rear Admiral Wei Yong, commander of the First Fleet, said with a smile. He was very confident in Long Yufei. At the beginning, everyone thought that the number of guns of the 'Shark-class' cruisers was too small, and even the sixth-class warships of the navies of Western countries could not compare. As a result, many naval battles have shown that the 'Shark-class' cruisers are the most powerful, and even the second-class battleships are no match for the 'Shark-class' cruisers. Presumably, even against the enemy's first-class battleships, the 'Shark-class' cruiser can be defeated, but it will take a longer time!

"Yes! I think the performance of the ironclad will definitely be much stronger than the 'Shark-class' cruiser! Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn't have called us all back with great fanfare! Brigadier General Liu Xu, commander of the Third Fleet, said with a smile.

At 9:15 a.m., Long Yufei rushed to the shipyard with Lieutenant General Niu Meng, chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Zhao Yi, deputy chief of the General Staff and director of logistics and equipment, and Major General Sun Hao, director of operations.

After the salute, everyone went to the dock where the new warship was docked, led by Zhao Xingkai, the director of the shipyard and the second son of Vice Admiral Zhao Yi. Vice Admiral Zhao Yi's two sons are good, the eldest son, Zhao Xingchuan, is now in charge of the development and production of army weapons for the Xinhua Army, and the younger son, Zhao Xingkai, is in charge of the design and construction of the navy's warships. Both now also hold the rank of brigadier general. If it weren't for Zhao Yi's mental and physical strength to keep up, Long Yufei would have planned to pick one of these two people to pick up Zhao Yi's class!

Soon, everyone came to the dock! A battleship painted white, imprinted in everyone's eyes! This battleship, with a somewhat strange appearance, only has a thick mast, but there is no sail hanging on the mast. In addition, in the middle part of the battleship, there was a thick chimney. This makes the generals who are accustomed to the 'Shark-class' cruisers very strange! After all, if there are no sails, the battleship will not have enough power, let alone fight at high speed on the sea, it is impossible to even sail!

"Everyone! This is our new warship! This is a brand new battleship! Epoch-making battleship! Although there are still many shortcomings, after improvement, this will become the main warship of the Navy in the future! Long Yufei said to everyone with a smile. He himself looked at the new warship, and he was also very eager! After several years of hard work, the ironclad ship was finally built in his hands! The navy of the new country will once again widen the gap with the West! This will be a strong guarantee for Xinhua National to be invincible!

"Your Majesty, why does this battleship have no sails? Is it powered by a steam engine? Rear Admiral Wei Yong asked, he knew the situation of some new warships, so he took the initiative to ask.

"That's right. This is a battleship, it does not rely on sails, and the power is provided by a steam engine! Long Yufei said with a smile.

"Doesn't that mean that the battleship will be able to sail at maximum speed, whether it is against the wind or downwind?" Wei Yong asked.

"That's true in theory, yes!" Long Yufei nodded. Of course, when the battleship is sailing against the wind, it is affected by the wind resistance, and the speed is definitely slower than when it is downwind. However, the impact will not be as great as that of a sail battleship!

The other fleet commanders also had their eyes shining. In naval warfare, it is very important for a sail warship to occupy a downwind position. Otherwise, there is no way to play the advantage in speed. And the disadvantages of the 'Shark-class' cruiser are so obvious, once they are close to others, they will die! Therefore, in every naval battle, they desperately tried to force the downwind position! If there were new steam-powered warships, there would be no such problem!

"However, there is a flaw in using steam as a power! That is, the voyage is limited by the amount of coal burned! If the coal runs out, the battleship will not be able to run! Therefore, in naval warfare, priority must be given to planning and planning, so as not to happen! Long Yufei said.

"Your Majesty, this problem can be solved. It's a big deal, when you go to war, just bring some supply ships loaded with coal! Brigadier General Liu Xu said with a smile.

"In addition, the logistics department also has to store coal in various military ports! In this way, you will be able to replenish the battleship anytime and anywhere! Lieutenant General Zhao Yi, Minister of Logistics and Equipment, said.

"Xingkai, let's introduce the performance of our new warship!" Long Yufei said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhao Xingkai nodded.

"This battleship is a new type of warship powered by a steam engine designed by His Majesty! Named the 'Xia class' cruiser, this is the first ship, and it is also the test ship 'Xia Yu'. The 'Xia-class' cruiser has a total length of 75 meters, a width of 8.8 meters, a draft of 4.2 meters, and a displacement of 1,800 tons! Powered by two large steam engines with a power of eighteen hundred horsepower! The battleship had a maximum speed of 14 knots (15.5 knots during sea trials) and a cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles. Armament, the bow and stern of the 'Xia-class' cruisers were respectively deployed with two 155-mm naval guns, 35 times the caliber, and a maximum firing range of 7,000 meters. On each side of the battleship, 6 105-mm naval guns and two 75-mm naval guns were deployed! In addition, steel plates up to 20 mm thick are installed in the middle engine room of the battleship, as well as on the front and rear decks, which can effectively resist the shelling of enemy warships! Zhao Xingkai introduced to everyone.

"155mm naval guns? The maximum speed is 14 knots! It's just great! In this way, even if you encounter the battleships of foreign devils again, you can easily destroy them! Commodore Lu Haipeng, commander of the Second Fleet, exclaimed.

The rest of the fleet commanders also seem to be very satisfied with the performance of the 'summer' cruiser!

There is no doubt that, judging by these performances, the combat power of the 'Xia-class' cruisers has far surpassed that of the 'Shark-class' cruisers! Powerful firepower, continuous and stable speed, and outstanding defense will make this battleship an excellent battleship, greatly ahead of the world's level! Of course, the construction of the 'Xia-class' cruisers was not cheap. The cost of each 'Shark-class' cruiser was 60,000 yuan, and the cost of the 'Xia-class' cruiser was raised to 300,000 yuan each, which is a fivefold increase! (To be continued......)