The newest battleship of the British Empire was sunk by an old mine, and who was the happiest? Naturally, it was the Germans across the sea from England! The Germans never imagined that they would be so close to victory, and in the eyes of many German naval officers, the majestic Grand Fleet was so fragile, and the British battleship, which was tall and mighty in appearance, was actually a useless look! This gave the Germans a double confidence! It was quite puzzling when Germany learned that the British could arrange 10 13.5-inch guns with only about the same tonnage as the Longxing, and although the German navy's designers repeatedly assured that this was definitely a bargain made by the British at the expense of some of the performance indicators, the German navy still expressed concern about the fact that these tubes were thick enough and many. And now, finally, there is no need to worry, because the British themselves proved that some of the characteristics of this battleship are inferior to the dreadnoughts of the first generation!

But some people are excited and start to think about what changes this will bring to the British people. And Scheer and Hipperle are two of them, and after being happy about the British Imperial Navy, they began to think about how the British Royal Navy would develop in the future. After some analysis, the two found that this matter was not a good thing for the British Navy.

What does it mean that officers are always ready for the last war? That is to say, in general military development, people will refer to past combat examples to formulate their own future equipment development plans, but with the passage of time, many techniques and tactics are improving. Maybe after you study for a long time, you will find that by the time the war comes, all the things you have prepared will be outdated. For example, the Maginot Line in France in World War II was such a product, the French spent a lot of money to build a line of defense according to the model of World War I, and then knelt directly in the face of German tanks and aircraft and high-quality infantry.

The British Navy did have many problems, and in wartime, the German Navy, which had been systematically strengthened and more strategically active, would face extremely serious challenges. And the navy, unlike the army, may be able to decide victory or defeat at sea in a matter of hours. In the event of serious losses, the British Navy did not even have time to replenish. The construction period of the main battleship is also at least more than a year. When it's ready, maybe the daylilies will be cold!

And now, the British, apparently, have a chance to correct themselves. When it became clear that a large number of warships might not be suitable for future battles, the British would certainly make some adjustments. And in Scheer's view, this adjustment may not be very long, because the British have a good reference. That is, the Australian-type fast battleships ordered by the British in China and the American standard battleships on the other side of the ocean. These two battleships are absolutely classics even in the eyes of the Germans.

Needless to say, the former. The Germans themselves bought 2 of them. Moreover, Turkey was encouraged to buy 2 ships, which shows that the Germans were still very confident in this battleship. As for the standard type battleships of the Americans? The Germans commented that it was not too brilliant in design, but it was very practical, and the Americans traded large tonnage and low speed for strong protection and firepower, and this battleship was definitely good in a fleet battle. For the superior navy, as long as they do not die, a decent arrangement can gain an advantage, but the German navy may not be able to. The lack of quantity must be compensated for by sophisticated design.

If it is said in the original plan. SCHEER THOUGHT THAT THE GERMAN KAISER-TYPE BATTLESHIPS ARMED WITH 8 350MM GUNS COULD EASILY BLOW UP THE BRITISH GEORGE-V-TYPE BATTLESHIPS, SO FAR THIS IS THE CASE. If the British adopted the design of the Chinese or the Americans, then the Caesar-type battleships would at most be a draw with the other side, the Americans' 10-gun battleships had more firepower, the Germans had a bit of an advantage in protection, and the quality of both sides would be pulled back to a level, and even if the British could not maintain too much numerical superiority, then the superiority over the German Navy could still be guaranteed, after all, the quality went up.

"EVEN IF IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, THE BRITISH'S BATTLESHIP PRODUCTION PLAN HAS COME TO A TEMPORARY HALT DUE TO THE PROBLEM OF GUIDELINES, BUT BY MODIFYING THE OLD BATTLESHIP, THEY CAN STILL OBTAIN A CERTAIN COMBAT POWER, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE STILL 3 BATTLESHIPS THAT ARE BEING OUTFITTED AND NOT YET COMPLETED, THROUGH A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME AND MONEY, THEY CAN COMPLETELY MAKE THE PROTECTION OF THIS BATTLESHIP LESS UGLY, AND NOW, THE BRITISH HAS EQUIPPED THESE STEEL BEHEMOTHS WITH 10 343MM HEAVY GUNS, AND OUR PLANS MUST ALSO BE ACCELERATED." In his letter to Tirpitz, Scheer expressed a deep sense of concern.

Hipper's worries are more realistic, the reason is simple, since the Chinese Republic delivered two fast battleships to Britain and Germany, people's slipways are empty again! And from the current point of view, it seems that the Huaxia Navy has no plans to update the fleet, and with the Changxing Island shipyard in Shanghai. With the establishment of a number of large shipbuilding bases such as Zhoushan Shipyard and Taipei Shipyard and the gradual development of Huaxia industry, in the past three years, the shipbuilding capacity of the Huaxia Republic has been improved, so that this scale is not even clear to the Germans now, because all the civilian slipways in it can be converted to military use when necessary.

"If the British put down their face and order 2 more Australian-type fast battleships from the Republic of China, our advantage in the Indian Ocean will be lost. In the face of the elite British Navy, even with the same warships, I do not think that the Turks will be able to defeat the British, and if there is a big defeat of our army in the Indian Ocean, once this fleet is freed to join the Grand Fleet, then the fast fleet of the High Seas Fleet will be in an extremely disadvantageous position, after all, our fast fleet has only about 6 warships. Hipper, in private, complained to Scheer more than once. I hope to add at least 2 more fast battleships.

However, Scheer thinks that Hipper's worries are a bit redundant, because from the current point of view, the focus of the British's rectification plan should be the battleship, because the battleship does not have much requirement for speed, whether it is to increase protection or increase underwater mine protection, it is better, and the increase in weight is nothing more than a speed drop point, and it is not a big problem. But if you change it to a fast battleship like this, the speed will drop a lot. What else is a quick method? The selling point of the fast battleships of the avant-garde fleet is their high speed, and when the speed comes down, they are not suitable for avant-garde combat.

After many exchanges with Tirpitz. Scheer believes that the plan to upgrade the warships of the High Seas Fleet must be accelerated! According to the original German plan, the composition of the German fleet in the next few years should be as follows: 4 Nassau-class battleships and 2 improved Helgrand-class battleships, which will use Austro-Hungarian 12-inch 45L main guns. THEN THERE WERE FOUR CAESAR-TYPE BATTLESHIPS ARMED WITH EIGHT 350 MM GUNS AND A DISPLACEMENT OF 26,000 TONS. These 10 battleships formed the battleship formation of the German High Seas Fleet. In terms of fast battleships, Germany also had 2 fast battleships armed with 12-inch 45L guns. Von der Tannen and Moltke. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE 2 FAST BATTLESHIPS GOBURN AND SEDLITZ ARMED WITH 8 350MM GUNS. In addition, Germany had 2 "universal battleships" with a speed between battleships and fast battleships. All this constitutes the so-called 2+4+2+2 pattern of Scheer.

After such a planning. Germany could have at least 16 capital ships of various types around 1912. Originally, this plan was basically sufficient, although the British had a numerical advantage, but considering the containment of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean sub-battlefields, the British numerical advantage was not too large. And again, consider the qualitative superiority of the German Navy. The German High Seas Fleet was confident of engaging its adversary. But now the situation has become very bad, and the amount of strength that could have been almost equal in 12 years now seems to be a little insufficient!

Historically, there has been a great deal of volatility in Germany's shipbuilding plans before World War I. Let's take a systematic look at the start of the construction of German dreadnoughts, in 1907 the Germans started construction of 4 Nassau-class battleships and 1 Blücher-type armored cruiser (on Conwy, Blucher is counted as capital ships, here I have still counted as capital ships. In 1908, the Germans started construction of three Helgland battleships and two battlecruisers (von der Tann and Moltke). In 1909, the Germans started construction of 1 Helgland battleship and 1 Caesar-class battleship, as well as the battlecruiser Goeben. By 1910, the Germans had started construction of three Caesar-class battleships. In 1911 the Germans started construction of 1 Caesar and 3 Kings, plus a Sedlitz. And in 1912 it was 1 King-class battleship and 2 Dvlinger-class battlecruisers. In 1913 there were only 1 Bavarian and 1 Hindenburg-class battle cruisers. It is an all-time low.

By the time the 14-year war was about to begin, the German Navy still couldn't find the right shape. The number of battleships under construction remained small, only 2 battleships. 1 Bavaria-class battleship and 1 Saxony-class battleship. In 1915, when the Germans found that their navy was far from enough, they began to start construction of the second Saxony-class battleship and the three Mackensen-class battlecruisers in a panic, but at this time most of Germany's resources had been put into land warfare, whether it was the Saxony-class battleships or the Mackensen-class battlecruisers, which were not completed in the end, and this part of the whole was the existence of the German Navy! Only 2 of the 4 battleships with 15-inch guns were served, and none of the 4 Mackensen-class fast battleships was completed! It is a pity that the Germans have found the right way, but they are not able to complete it.

The pace of construction in Germany from 1907 to 1915 can be described in these figures: 5-5-3-3-5-2-2-4. In the most critical years of 1913 and 1914, the German Navy did not have the strength to eat and hold on, and failed to seize the most difficult time to develop itself, which led to the decline after the war in 1914, it can be said that after the king started construction in 1912, Germany was confused because of the stimulation of the British and the lag in the development of large-caliber artillery, and directly jumped 15-inch guns, which delayed the armament process. And this plane, although the Germans have greatly compensated for this problem, is still entering a period of thinking, and they are thinking about what Germany will do if the British strengthen it.

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