The Japanese Navy is now equipped with a total of eight armored cruisers, including two 'Asama-class' armored cruisers, one 'Yakumo-class' armored cruiser, one 'Azuma-class' armored cruiser, two 'Izumo-class' armored cruisers, and two 'Kasuga-class' armored cruisers. The "88th Fleet" planned by the Japanese Navy consisted of eight battleships and eight armored cruisers as the main force.

Most of these armored cruisers have thick armor, although not as perverted as the armor of battleships, but the side armor is still 170 mm, the deck armor is also 62 mm, the turret armor is 152 mm, and the conning tower armor is up to 356 mm thick. The displacement is as high as more than 9,000 tons, close to 10,000 tons. As for the armament, it is even more powerful. The Japanese Navy's armored cruisers were usually armed with two twin 203 mm guns and a large number of secondary guns, and they also had a speed of more than 20 knots.

The Northern Navy was equipped with the exception of the 'Longteng-class' battleships, the 'Northern Seven-Provincial' light cruisers and the 'A-class' destroyers could not use their main guns against these armored cruisers, unless they used lightning strikes after approaching. However, the secondary guns of the armored cruisers of the Japanese were not vegetarians, and it was not so easy to get close to the effective range of torpedo firing.

Under such circumstances, it was imperative that the Northern Navy be equipped with a warship capable of restraining the armored cruisers of the Japanese Navy. Of course, in Wu Haoxuan's mind, the battleship that can restrain the armored cruiser is naturally the battlecruiser. With the firepower of a battleship, the speed of a cruiser, and at the same time a battleship with stronger defense than a cruiser, this is undoubtedly a well-deserved cruiser killer.

Of course, what Wu Haoxuan wanted was definitely not the thin-skinned battlecruiser of the British Navy, and the Battle of Jutland would be head-on. The battle cruisers of the British faced the battle cruisers of the German Navy and were only beaten by the hanging. The battle cruisers of the German Navy, although not as perverted in defense as the battleships, were much more formidable than the battle cruisers of the British. Especially from the 'De Fllinger-class battle cruisers', it is a combination of three elements: high speed, heavy armor and heavy artillery. It can be said that this class of battleships can no longer be called battle cruisers. Rather, it would be more appropriate to call it a fast battleship.

However, the battle cruiser that Wu Haoxuan is currently planning to build is not a 'D-Fllinger-class' battle cruiser, this kind of huge battle cruiser with a full load displacement of more than 30,000 tons is not needed by the Northern Navy. What Wu Haoxuan wanted to build was a battleship similar to the battlecruiser 'Seydlitz'. It's just that the main gun of the German Navy's 'Seydlitz' battlecruiser in history was a 280 mm gun, and Wu Haoxuan was going to replace it with a 305 mm gun. However, the number of main guns was also changed from a five-seat twin to a four-seat twin. That's the case. Although two main guns were missing, the firepower did not weaken. At the same time, the guns located between the chimneys in the middle of the battleship were eliminated, which made the layout of the battleship more compact and convenient for defense.

Before Vice Admiral Sa Zhenbing, commander of the Northern Navy, and Vice Admiral Cheng Biguang, deputy commander, were ready to leave for Germany, Wu Haoxuan summoned them to Shengjing City and personally handed them the design drawings of the 'Longyao-class' battle cruisers. They were asked to place orders with the Germans when they arrived in Germany. These two 'Longyao-class' battle cruisers were also built so that the Northern Navy would have greater superiority in the future.

"This is the battleship that I intend to ask the Germans to build for the Northern Navy. It was a completely new battleship, with the firepower of a battleship, the speed of a cruiser, and the defense of all the armored cruisers of the Japanese Navy. Wu Haoxuan said.

Sa Zhenbing and Cheng Biguang immediately began to study the drawings. They were all professionals, and they quickly understood the advantages and main role of this class of warships. Originally, they were still worried. The Northern Navy did not have armored cruisers, how could it cope with the eight armored cruisers of the Japanese Navy. But unexpectedly, Wu Haoxuan seemed to have considered this a long time ago.

The 'Longyao-class' battlecruiser is 195.6 meters long and 27.8 meters long. The draft is 8.9 meters, the standard displacement is 22,400 tons, the full load displacement is 26,500 tons, two steam turbines are used, 67,000 horsepower, four-shaft propulsion, the maximum speed is 27 knots, and in the case of overload, it can even run a speed of about 29 knots. The endurance also reached 10,000 nautical miles 12 knots, which is more than twice as high as the original 'Seydlitz' battlecruiser. It is armed with four twin 305 mm 50 caliber guns, with a knapsack turret design with two front and two rear. 12 155-mm 45-caliber single-mount guns, 12 88-mm rapid-fire guns, 100 mm to 270 mm for waterline armor, 25 mm to 65 mm for deck armor, 150 mm for watertight bulkheads, 350 mm for turret frontage, 350 mm for conning tower armor. All the armor is made of the new armor of the Krupp factory, and the defense is much stronger than the old armor used by the armored cruisers of the Japanese Navy.

"Four twin 305-mm guns with a speed of up to 27 knots. Although the defense is not as strong as the 'Ryuteng-class' battleships, it is also much stronger than the battleships of the Japanese Navy with old armor. If we equip two more of these battlecruisers, plus two 'Dragon-class' battleships, we can compete with the Japanese Navy. Sa Zhenbing's face was happy. After all, although the combat power of the 'Longteng-class' battleships is strong, the number is too small, there are only two. The Japanese battleships were six in full, including two of the newest 'Katori-class' battleships, three 'Shikishima-class' battleships and one 'Fuji-class' battleship. In addition, the Japanese Navy has two 'Satsuma-class' battleships under construction. Once completed, the Japanese Navy would have eight battleships.

Fortunately, the battleships equipped by the Japanese Navy were all old-fashioned former dreadnoughts. Such battleships, with two-stage main guns, simply cannot be compared with dreadnoughts with powerful firepower. With the strength of the 'Dragon-class' battleship, one to two, it is not a problem at all. If the two 'Ryuyao-class' battlecruisers were to join in, they would be able to defeat the Japanese Navy's battleships in one fell swoop.

"Young Marshal, this time, we will be more sure of the decisive battle with the Japanese Navy in the future!" Cheng Biguang also said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded: "The 'Longyao-class' battlecruiser may have no problem dealing with the old battleships of the Japanese. However, if it is not a last resort, do not throw it into the battleship duel. The main role of this kind of battle cruiser is to hunt down the enemy's armored cruisers and light cruisers, as well as to carry out communication breaking operations. ”

This is also the reason why Wu Haoxuan improved the endurance of the 'Longyao-class' battlecruiser in the design. The original 'Seydlitz' battlecruiser had a measly 4,000 nautical mile endurance. This, of course, to fight the British in the North Sea, was already enough. After all, both sides belong to the battle at home, and it is easy to supply and so on. But if the Chinese navy and the Japanese navy go to war, it will be different. Both the Ryuyao-class battlecruisers and the Northern Seven light cruisers would be tasked with cutting off Japan's sea lines, which would require them to have a high endurance.

In addition, in Wu Haoxuan's memory, the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers ordered by the Japanese from the British before World War I also completely inherited the British Navy's battle cruisers. Although the displacement is as high as 27,500 tons, the speed is also as high as 27 knots. However, the defense was not very strong, with only 203 mm at the thickest point of the side armor, 70 mm at the thickest part of the deck armor, 230 mm of frontal armor for the main turret, and 254 mm for the conning tower.

Compared with the Northern Navy's 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers, the Kongo-class battlecruisers were undoubtedly much weaker in defense. The 305 mm 50 x caliber guns of the 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers can easily penetrate the gun's main gun proof or conning tower armor of the Kongo-class battlecruisers at a distance of 12 kilometers. The 356 mm 45 times caliber main guns of the 'King Kong-class' battlecruisers may have to shorten the combat distance to about 10 kilometers if they want to penetrate the armor of the 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers. In the Battle of Jutland, the German Navy's battleship 'Seydlitz' was able to withstand the 381 mm main gun shells of the British Navy's 'Queen Elizabeth class' battleship at a distance of 10 kilometers. Of course, this has something to do with the early explosion of the main artillery shells of the British Navy. But it also shows the strength of the defense of the battleship 'Seydlitz'.

The defense of the 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers was no worse than that of the 'Seydlitz' battlecruisers. Therefore, a battlecruiser of this class could face the old battleships of the Japanese Navy head-on. Even if the Japanese were to equip the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers in the future, the 'Longyao-class' battlecruisers would be able to confront them and not fall behind in the slightest.

However, the cost of the 'Ryuyao-class' battlecruisers was also quite staggering, as high as 45 million marks, which was much higher than the British Navy's 'Indefatigable' battlecruisers of 1.52 million pounds, and even more than the 40 million yen of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers that the Japanese would build in the future.

Of course, you get what you pay for. The more money you spend, the better the quality will be. The Longyao-class battlecruiser will become one of the main ships of the Chinese Navy in the future, and after modernization, it will even serve until World War II, serving as an air defense mission for the aircraft carrier fleet and providing fire support for the landing operations of the Marine Corps. It can be said to be one of the warships with the longest service life in the Chinese Navy. (To be continued......)

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