"After interfering in the affairs of Liao, Russia became more thirsty for territory in the Far East; They dreamed of dominating all the northeastern regions of the Qing Dynasty in order to achieve their goal of colonizing Yellow Russia and seizing ice-free ports. Whether it is to expand its strength in the Far East or to seize ice-free ports, a strong Far Eastern Fleet is indispensable for Russia. Now Russia has entered the threshold of industrialization, and the country's financial resources have increased greatly compared to the time of Alexander II, and they have been financially allowed to build a strong navy in the Far East. It can be predicted that in the next few years, in order to dominate the Far East and obtain the coveted ice-free ports, Russia will certainly greatly expand its naval strength in the Far East! ”

Jodik paused and continued: "Russia has just entered the threshold of industrialization, and there is a large technical gap in the frontier field of precision industry; And the main warship is the complete embodiment of the country's most cutting-edge industry. If Russia chooses to build its own warships, then the ships it will build will be expensive and of inferior quality compared to the first-tier powers. It would not be a problem if such a warship was deployed in the bathtub of the Black Sea, after all, the Turks were even more unbearable; But if you want to line up in the Far East and compete with your navy, you will not be an opponent at all. Therefore, in order to obtain a powerful fleet, Russia must introduce foreign shipbuilding technology, or order warships directly from abroad; And buying a ship is always the best shortcut to improve the strength of the navy. ”

"Not bad. Shipbuilding is a skillful job, and with the industrial level of the Russians, they can only bully the Ottomans, the sick men of Europe, by making some dilapidated shore defense ships in his Black Sea bath. To create a similar exhibit that can compete with the main warships of the British Empire is a dream! However, I still do not understand what is the benefit of the British Empire in your country in building warships for Russia? Prentis on the side spoke. He glanced at Cecil, but met the latter's cold and fierce gaze, and was as silent as a child caught red-handed stealing candy.

Jodic smiled kindly at Prentis, then continued, "This gentleman just said that's exactly right. Against this background, Russia's purchase of foreign ships has become inevitable. And in order to realize their ambitions, Russia needs a large number of capital ships, and the list of foreign military purchases will definitely not be small. Even if Germany refuses to build warships for Russia, then Russia can still find France! France is an ally of Russia, and there are contradictions and conflicts with your country on the seas and in the African colonies, and if Russia asks France to help them build warships, the French will certainly do everything they can to help. At this point, he paused, and then said in a deep voice, "Rather than let France build a batch of excellent ships for Russia specifically for your country, it is better to let Germany also share this cake; Once the Russian warships are built by Germany, then the performance of the warships is up to us! ”

Hearing the last sentence of Yoddick's words, Cecil's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly understood everything in his heart. Germany's purpose in building ships for Russia this time is clearly to push Russia eastward and ease the pressure it is under in Europe. In order to achieve this goal, they will even try to encourage Russia to develop the Far Eastern Fleet. As for who the target of Russia's eastward advance was, Germany didn't care at all, anyway, it wasn't them themselves facing the Russian attack! Now in the face of criticism from the British, I have found such a bullshit excuse that the so-called "can inhibit the performance of the Russian Navy's warships" to prevaricate! The Russians are not stupid, if the German-made battleships are inferior in performance, then will they still buy them from Germany?

As soon as he thought of this, Cecil snorted coldly, and said in a strange manner: "Your country has gone around such a big circle, it turns out that it is all for the sake of the British Empire, this sincere heart, but it is really touching!" However, I seem to have heard that your country was able to make a deal with Russia precisely because of the excellent performance of the warships built by your country, right? With a design displacement of less than 11,000 tons, it was equipped with 8 210-mm main guns and 8 150-mm secondary guns, which was enough to form a crushing advantage over all active cruisers of the British Empire! ”

Jodik felt a pang in his heart, the reason why he never mentioned the specific performance of the warship before was to weaken the sense of existence in this area as much as possible, so as to reduce the adverse impact on the Russian ship sales. But I didn't expect the British to be so well-informed, the contract had just been signed for less than a week, and the British even knew the tonnage and artillery of the battleship! However, before coming here, Jodik was completely prepared for it, so why was this little change not in his expectation?

His face was as usual, and he said unhurriedly: "Mr. Prime Minister, what you said is not wrong at all. The Russians would not have ordered us if the German battleships had been of inferior performance. However, you should know that in addition to the design performance of the battleship, there is a more important design concept in it. The most intuitive feeling is that at the same level of skill, there are some warships that your country wants to face, and some warships that your country does not want to see! The firepower of the ship we sold to the Russians was indeed very strong, but the price paid was that her protection and speed were not satisfactory; And this style of warship is exactly the enemy that your country wants to face the most! ”

Jodik's mind raced, always grasping the clear main line in his mind, and continued: "Your navy is invincible in the world, and it has absolute numerical superiority over the Russian navy; Therefore, your country will not be afraid of any kind of head-to-head confrontation, and only worry about not being able to catch the enemy's warships. And this ship sold by Germany to Russia happens to belong to the type that cannot be run! If your fleet discovers it, it will be surrounded and sunk without any suspense. This is what I have just said, and that Germany's move to build ships for Russia is beneficial to your country. If Germany had really been wholeheartedly helping Russia, we would not have built such a powerful ship for the Russians at all, but would have designed a ship with relatively weak firepower and extremely fast speed, in order to disrupt your country's maritime communications. Which of these two types of warships is more threatening to your country, I don't think I need to say anything more, right? ”

Cecil's pupils shrank slightly, and for the first time there was a look of surprise in his eyes. As a politician, he only knew a little about the navy, and he didn't expect that there would be so many doorways in the design of ships. He turned his head, turned his inquiring gaze to Prentis next to him, and said, "Is there such a thing?" ”

Prentis nodded lightly and said, "As a Royal Navy Colonel, I can tell the difference." Compared with the technical skills in ship design, the design concept is obviously more important, it is the soul and core of the entire warship. Now the tonnage of the fleet of the Royal Navy has long exceeded the amount prescribed by the standard of the two powers, and is almost the size of the standard of the third power; There is no country on the planet that dares to go head-to-head with the Royal Navy in terms of maritime power. As a result, the Royal Navy's work has shifted from maintaining sea power to securing sea lines of communication. If Russia were to develop fast cruisers to threaten the Empire's maritime shipping, we would have to mobilize a large number of forces to carry out the search; This is an extremely cumbersome task, which is time-consuming and laborious to do, and no one can guarantee that these fast warships with high endurance will be captured. On the other hand, once the Russian warships are all turtle ships with large targets, they will only be able to engage in a fleet decisive battle with us, which is even better for the Royal Navy! As for the Russians' boats, we can't even use a finger against them! ”

Seeing that Cecil still had doubts on his face, Prentis explained again: "The warship that Germany has built for Russia this time happens to be the type of enemy ship that the Royal Navy is most willing to see. It has a half-load displacement of only 10,700 tons, but is armed with 8 210-mm main guns and 8 150-mm secondary guns; In order to achieve such a powerful firepower configuration, the protection and speed of the battleship must have been greatly sacrificed. If the Royal Navy were to build this armored cruiser, it would never have been able to reach a speed of more than 18.5 knots even if it had maintained a minimum of defense, and this speed would not pose any threat to our maritime shipping at all. ”

PS: There is another chapter in the evening to ask for some recommendations and collections