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The British ambitiously developed the navy, and all kinds of advanced warships were launched like dumplings, which also attracted the attention of the Chinese Empire. The Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau used a powerful force to obtain relevant information about the British Navy, which made Vice Admiral Luo Hongtao, director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, very worried, and made a special report to the Emperor Long Yufei as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, this is the construction plan of the British Navy obtained by the Military Intelligence Agency. At present, the British Navy has a total of 18 warships under construction, including six Nelson-class warships that have just been launched. The Nelson-class battleship, with a displacement of about 7,500 tons, had a firepower of three twin 8-inch guns and eight 6-inch secondary guns on each side. In terms of firepower, it is on par with the 'Eastern Zhou-class' warships of the Imperial Navy. The maximum speed of the 'Nelson-class' battleships is 15 knots, which is comparable to the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy! Lieutenant General Luo Hongtao said.

"It seems that the British's 'Nelson-class' battleships are indeed the fierce rivals of the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy. How many 'Nelson-class' battleships did the British plan to build? Long Yufei asked. The strength of the Imperial Army has become the world's number one. But the navy, compared to the British navy, is only in the middle of the middle. In order to defend the interests of the Empire, especially the vast overseas territories, the Empire must develop its navy vigorously.

"According to the information we have received, in addition to the 6 'Nelson-class' warships that have been launched. The British also planned to build six 'Nelson-class' warships. After commissioning, the British Admiralty evaluates the ship if its performance is satisfactory to the British Admiralty. The next six will start construction! Lieutenant General Luo Hongtao replied.

Emperor Long Yufei's brows were tightly furrowed. If the construction of the second batch of 'Nelson-class' warships of the British also began, then the British would have 12 warships of this class, which is twice as many as the 'Eastern Zhou-class' warships of the Empire.

"Majesty, in addition. The British were also designing more powerful warships. It's just that such a battleship should remain on paper, and the British have not yet begun to build it. But. In terms of British shipbuilding strength, it is estimated that soon they will start building more powerful warships! Lieutenant General Luo Hongtao reminded. These are all information obtained by the agents of the Military Intelligence Agency, who spent a lot of energy. For this. There are also certain sacrifices.

"Hmmm! I know! Long Yufei nodded. The British desperately developed the navy, which gave him great vigilance. Although, because of his appearance, the development of the navy of the Chinese Empire has always been at the forefront of the world. However, in terms of scientific and technological strength, there is still a certain gap compared with the UK. After Britain had already faced up to the Chinese Empire as a formidable adversary. The Chinese Empire was already able to feel the strong pressure from the British. In terms of the number of naval warships, the Chinese Empire was already at a disadvantage. If you want not to be left behind by the British. The Chinese Empire had to work quality.

Subsequently, Long Yufei sent people to General Niu Meng, chief of the General Staff, General Zhao Yi, deputy chief of the General Staff and director of logistics operations, Li Decheng, prime minister of the cabinet, and Lin Zihao, foreign minister. Long Yufei has already felt the urgency of time, the empire is on the navy, and there must be a big move.

After several people came to the palace, Long Yufei asked them to circulate the report submitted by the military intelligence agency. After reading it, the faces of several people were not very good-looking.

"Your Majesty, now it seems that the British simply harbor wolf ambitions! We must speed up the development of the Navy. If the Empire is unable to defeat Britain in future naval battles, the Empire's overseas interests will be seriously threatened! Prime Minister Li Decheng said with a stern face. Although, as prime minister, he is resistant to military expansion. However, he also knew what to do when the security of the empire was threatened. After all, the current empire has a large number of interests overseas. The islands of the South Seas, as well as the territories of Australia and North America, would be almost impossible to hold without the protection of a strong navy.

"Your Majesty, the British are clearly preparing for a war against the Empire, and if their navy has achieved overwhelming superiority, then war is bound to break out. When the time comes, the empire will face a serious challenge. For the sake of the Empire, we need to prepare early! Foreign Minister Lin Zihao also said.

Long Yufei nodded and looked at General Niu Meng, Chief of the General Staff, and General Zhao Yi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Logistics and Equipment. The construction of the Imperial Navy is also currently under the supervision of the Ministry of Logistics and Equipment.

"Your Majesty, strengthen the development of the navy, this is not to say, even if we smash the pot and sell iron, we must also strengthen the strength of the navy. Otherwise, we'll lose even more! General Niu Meng, Chief of the General Staff, said.

"Well, since you all have this attitude, then, let's do it! General Zhao, let the people from the Navy's battleship design department hand over the final drawings of the 'Qin-class' battleship to me! Long Yufei said. The Qin-class battleship is the next main battleship of the Imperial Navy after the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleship. It is also a large warship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons. Because this is the first time that the Imperial Navy has designed a large warship of tens of thousands of tons, there are a lot of problems that need to be overcome in the design process, and the design process has also taken a lot longer.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Admiral Zhao Yi nodded.

Three days later, Admiral Zhao Yi, Deputy Chief of General Staff and Minister of Logistics and Equipment of the Empire, placed the final drawings of the 'Qin-class' battleship in front of Long Yufei. A naval warship design engineer introduced this epoch-making warship to Long Yufei.

"His Majesty, a 'Qin-class' battleship, has a total length of 127.6 meters, a width of 21.3 meters, and a draft of 8.4 meters. The standard displacement is 10,000 and 400 tons, and the full load displacement is 10,000 grain and 1,000 tons. The power is 16 round boilers, two three-expansion reciprocating steam engines, the main engine power is 15,000 horsepower, two-shaft propulsion, the maximum speed is 17 knots, and the endurance is 6,000 nautical miles/10 knots. The main gun is a three-seat twin 280 mm main gun, with a layout of two in the front and one in the rear. In addition, there were 6 155-mm secondary guns and 4 105-mm secondary guns on each side. The armor near the waterline was 300 mm, the deck armor was 60 mm, and the armor of the main gun turret and bridge was 300 mm. "The navy's warship design engineer estimated that it was the first time he saw Long Yufei, so he was a little nervous, and when he introduced it, he stammered. However, the more I talked about it, the smoother it became. The 'Qin-class' battleship was the brainchild of the Imperial Navy's design department for two years, and it was finally finalized after several large-scale modifications.

Long Yufei nodded, he was quite satisfied with the performance of the 'Qin-class' battleship. Compared with the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships, there has been a breakthrough improvement. The 280-mm gun is not a little more powerful than the 210-mm gun. If it hits the enemy's capital ship, it is estimated that it can be scrapped with one shot. In fact, the large-caliber main guns were also a major factor limiting the development of the Imperial Navy. To make large-caliber naval guns, there are extremely high requirements for cannon steel, and before, the steel produced by the empire has always failed to meet the requirements. It was only recently that there was a breakthrough. In addition to the 280 mm gun, the Imperial Arsenal was also actively developing a larger caliber 305 mm gun. It is estimated that it can be used in the next class of battleships of the 'Qin-class' battleships.

"Chief of Staff, what do you think?" Long Yufei asked.

"His Majesty, the 'Qin-class' battleship, judging from these numbers, should be very powerful, completely destroying the British's 'Nelson-class' battleship. Even if the British were more advanced warships, they should be able to compete. The Imperial Navy should indeed have this kind of warship as much as possible! General Niu Meng, Chief of the General Staff, said.

Compared with the British Navy's 'Nelson-class' battleships, the 'Qin-class' battleships are no longer of the same class at all.

"How much does the 'Qin-class' battleship cost?" Long Yufei asked. The performance of the battleship is important, but at the same time, the cost is also very important. If it is too expensive, it will not be able to equip much at all, and thus it will not be able to form a strong combat force. The Imperial Navy wanted to purchase all 'Qin-class' battleships, and a large part of it depended on the cost. After all, the empire spends money like running water now, and the funds that can be used for the construction of warships in the navy are really not much.

"Your Majesty, the cost of the 'Qin-class' battleships is six million Chinese yuan each!" The design engineer replied.

"Six million dollars? It's not cheap! Long Yufei frowned. The cost of the Eastern Zhou-class battleship is only three million Chinese dollars. The cost of the 'Qin-class' battleship is twice that of the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleship. However, from the point of view of performance, a 'Qin-class' battleship should be able to single-handedly take on two 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships. At least, the 280-mm main guns of the 'Qin-class' battleships can easily shred the armor of the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships when bombarding. The 210-millimeter main guns of the 'Eastern Zhou-class' battleships, unless they are within three thousand meters, cannot penetrate the armor of the 'Qin-class' battleships at all.

"Your Majesty, although it's a little expensive, it's definitely worth the money!" General Niu Meng, Chief of the General Staff, hurriedly said. He hoped that Long Yufei would not deliberately reduce the number of battleships built because the cost of the 'Qin-class' battleships was too high.

Long Yufei nodded, in terms of a certain Cheng dù, the 'Qin-class' battleship is indeed excellent value for money.

"How many 'Qin-class' battleships did the Navy build?" Long Yufei asked.

"Your Majesty, the navy naturally hopes that the more the better. If the two fleets can each have 6 'Qin-class' battleships, the strength of the Imperial Navy will be comprehensively improved! (To be continued......)