In the days that followed, Qingying returned to the palace education life of more than a year ago, juggling between boring schoolwork. To Qingying's surprise, William really didn't pursue his private meeting with that person, as if that person was not his political enemy at all. The only thing that made Qingying feel awkward was that he was forced to write letters to a delicate girl named Sanya every day, and this feeling of being inhuman made him feel quite strange for a long time.

One evening a month later, Qingying came to William's study and gave him a routine report on the day's studies. Unlike usual, William had an extra blue paper on his desk. In addition to the customary iron cross symbol on the head of the document, there is a vivid black vulture intaglio; Coupled with the trident in the center, which symbolized sea power, Qingying suddenly understood what this thing was.

Seeing Qingying staring at his desktop without blinking, his eyes revealing a faint fanaticism, William's eyes moved downward, and he already realized in his heart. William was relieved to think that Qingying and himself were equally obsessed with the way of the naval fleet; The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and then he pulled out another page from the drawer and pushed it flat to Qingying.

"According to this year's plan, Congress will allocate 75 million marks for the purchase of 1 battleship and 5 cruisers for the Navy. Among them, the battleship is a sister ship with the H-1, which started construction last year, with 6 283-mm guns and 13,200 tons of displacement; The cruisers, on the other hand, consisted of five ships of the 1st class, which were used to protect the Empire's overseas colonies, disrupt trade and fight against the French Navy. The data of the former is no longer a secret to you, so the piece of paper I have given you depicts the appearance and performance of the new protective cruiser. William tapped the table with his sound right hand and said with some smugness.

Seeing that William had broken his mind so quickly, Qingying couldn't help but laugh dryly. In his previous life, he was a German and staunch BB party, who regarded flat-topped aircraft carriers as heretical barbarians and abandoned them like mustards, and especially loved the era when battleships dominated the seas during the First World War. For the high seas fleet that sank into the sand and folded halberds in history, Qingying was particularly lamented; After crossing, there is a strong heart of correction and improvement in his chest. Now that William has thrown the information over, Qingying is naturally happy; He thanked his cheap daddy, then took the page and read it quietly.

The night sky is soothing, and the moonlight is bright. The cool evening breeze blew in through the windows, taking away all the hot sensations on my body. Looking at his second son, who had grown up much more than a year ago, a subtle and complicated look flashed in William's eyes, like envy, appreciation, love, and annoyance...... There was a little bit of jealousy. As for what happened in Qingying during his more than a week in St. Petersburg, William also got some information through the two bodyguards who were placed next to him. This guy only stayed in the Winter Palace for 10 days, and he captured the most shining Yaoyu Jinglu of the Romanov Dynasty; If she could have his face back then, how could she throw herself into the arms of that person? Thinking of the beautiful figure that still makes him unforgettable, William suddenly regretted it in his heart; When Qingying was still in St. Petersburg, he should have asked him to find out how she was doing......

Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a familiar and clear voice speak: "Judging from this cross-sectional armor diagram, the newly started cruiser this year seems to be a first-class protective cruiser?" ”

Hearing this voice, William's eyes froze, and he instantly recovered from the nostalgia of the past, and couldn't help but laugh at himself in his heart. Counting the time, she has been married to that person for almost 20 years, and she has also gone through 15 years of ups and downs with her current wife, and she has 5 sons and 1 daughter around her knees. Now, I am not confused by the old age, and the gray hair on my head is gradually growing, and I have come to this point, what do I still think about those unrealistic things?

He exhaled a cloudy breath before he spoke, "That's right, it's the protective cruiser." As early as half a year ago, the Navy submitted a budget request to Congress, saying that it needed to build five new protective cruisers to protect the colony, assume the vanguard of the fleet, and play a role in disrupting the enemy's sea lines of communication in the war. With this in mind, the Admiralty finally settled on this plan. Its performance, as you can see, has a design displacement of 6400 tons, a speed of 20 knots, is armed with 4 210-mm guns, and the thickness of the dome part is 40 mm. Compared with the same type of ships in service in France, the ship has an incomparable absolute advantage in firepower. ”

After a long while, William still didn't hear Qingying say anything, he looked forward with some doubts, but found that the young man in front of him looked regretful, and his face was full of regret, and there was no trace of expected praise in it. Seeing this, William was greatly surprised, and couldn't help but ask, "What's the matter, Etter, do you think there is anything wrong with this design?" In order to carry out overseas cruising missions, the freeboard of the ship is set relatively high, and a considerable amount of hull structure armor is consumed; Coupled with the fact that it was armed with 4 210 mm guns, it is understandable that there was no armor protection. ”

Qingying sighed in her heart, a bitter look on her face. Although it solved the problem of the German Navy's warship design ability, its tonnage utilization rate has been greatly improved compared with history; However, in terms of the concept of the ship, it still needs to be guided by oneself as a traverser. In his previous life, he had a complete set of materials about German cruisers in his hands, and this time, after seeing the superstructure of this style drawn on the drawings, Qingying already knew that this was probably the Victoria Louiser-class protective cruiser in German history.

Historically, in order to safeguard its overseas colonial interests, the German Navy approved the construction plan of five 6,400-ton protective cruisers in 1896. Due to the butterfly effect caused by the Qing Dynasty, Germany's naval fever was stimulated in advance, and the appearance of these warships was a year earlier than in history. Although the performance of these protective cruisers has been greatly improved compared with historical facts after solving the problem of structural strength redundancy: not only has the number of main guns increased from 2 to 4 in history, but the speed has also increased by about 1 knot, this kind of ship is not what Qingying wants. He paused and said, "Yes, I think the Navy should cancel this budget and rebuild the warships that Germany really needs." Because the protective cruiser is completely outdated at the moment! ”

"Outdated? Ettel, I must warn you that you can't talk nonsense without a basis. You must know that now the great powers of various countries, including Britain, France, the United States and Russia, are building a large number of protective cruisers, and you say that the protective cruisers are outdated, what basis is there? William said lightly, and there was already a hint of dissatisfaction in his words. Since Bismarck's ouster, no one has dared to speak to him in such a categorical and unquestionable tone in front of him, not to mention the arguments of these words that even he, a quasi-professional, does not understand!

Qing Qing's speed slowed down, but he still said to William in an unwavering tone: "Back to my father, it is their business for the British and French powers to build protective cruisers, and it does not mean that I, Germany, will also build this kind of warship behind them. Protective cruisers are indeed an obsolete product at the moment, and if five such warships are built, it will be a complete waste of Germany's precious shipbuilding funds. In this year's shipbuilding budget, battleships accounted for only 21 million marks, and the other 54 million marks were all cruisers' budget; It's a shame to spend such a large sum of money on the construction of such a protective cruiser! ”

William said in a loud voice: "Then you say, what are the outdated defects of the protective cruisers?" ”

In the face of William's questioning, Qingying did not retreat; He must correct the German Navy's erroneous decision this time. After adjusting his thinking, Qingying immediately spoke: "These days, I have carefully sorted out the history of the development of naval warships, and the reason why the protective cruiser is outdated will start from the historical background of its rise. ”

"In a battle at sea, every warship is inseparable from two elements, one is artillery, and the other is armor. Powerful cannons can be used to quickly destroy enemy ships, and excellent armor allows you to preserve your strength under enemy fire. The battle between the two long contradictory cards of cannon and armor has been going on for more than 300 years in the history of naval warfare, and the protective cruiser is a specific product of the atmosphere of the era and technical limitations that was born from the struggle between these two. Qingying whispered intently, explaining the entire cause and effect to William in detail.

PS: Since the author is a BB party, this article will focus on the navy; Through gradual steps, a high seas fleet is created that is completely different from historical facts.