After the German Navy entered service from the 'Brandenburg-class' battleships, it started a crazy explosion mode. By the end of 1861, the German Navy would have 24 battleships. Similarly, the Chinese Navy, which shouted the slogan that Germany built one battleship and the Reich built two ships, also entered the explosive mode. Although from the second half of 1858 to the first half of 1859, the Reich built only eight battleships, the Reich Navy plus eight 'Eastern Han class' battleships was still twice as large as the German Navy.

And, from 1860 onwards, the Imperial Navy's shipbuilding and commissioning will be even more rapid. In the first half of the year, eight battleships of the 'Zhongtang-class' battleships will enter service one after another. In the second half of the year, it was the eight battleships of the 'Late Tang class' battleships. Moreover, starting with the 'Late Tang class' battleships, the caliber of the main guns carried has been increased from 343 mm to 356 mm. Don't underestimate that the caliber of the main gun has only increased by thirteen millimeters, but the weight of the shells has increased by dozens of kilograms, and the firing range has also increased a lot. This will make the firepower of the 'Late Tang class' battleships more powerful than the 'Early Tang class' battleships and the 'Middle Tang class' battleships.

In a sense, the 'Late Tang-class' battleships are already very different from the battleships of the two stages in front of them. Unlike the 'Middle Tang class' battleships, it is just an enlarged improvement of the 'Early Tang class' battleships.

The 'Late Tang class' battleships were followed by eight 'Northern Song class' battleships and eight 'Southern Song Dynasty-class' ∈ ♀ battleships that the Imperial Navy would serve in 1861. On the 'Northern Song Dynasty-class' battleships and 'Southern Song Dynasty-class' battleships, 356 mm main guns will still be used, and they are all three-seat triple guns. Such a turret layout. It can save space and tonnage as much as possible, and apply the limited tonnage to the defense of the battleship. This makes the ship's defenses stronger. The reason why the Imperial Navy used triple main guns from the beginning of the 'Eastern Han class' battleships. A big reason for this is to think about it. This is also the reason why the battleships of the Imperial Navy were stronger in defense than the battleships of the German Navy, even if they were almost the same in tonnage.

At the time when the Germans were preparing to build the battleships of the 'Helgolan class'. Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Imperial Navy, also sent the design drawings of the 'Ming-class' battleship to the Imperial Emperor Long Yufei. This is a first-class super battleship built by the Imperial Navy after the 'Tang-class' battleships and the 'Song-class' battleships. It also represents the most powerful force of the Imperial Navy. In the Reich's projections, war was most likely to break out after 1861, when the German Navy had 24 battleships and the Reich had 48 battleships. However, the Imperial Navy still hopes to build the most powerful battleships in the first class to dominate future naval battles. The 'Ming-class' battleships came into being. The Navy requires the 'Ming-class' battleships to have more powerful tonnage, more powerful firepower and defense than the 'Southern Song Dynasty-class' battleships, and in terms of speed. The speed of the 'Ming-class' battleships was also to be above 24 knots. It can be said that with many current technologies, it is not possible to build such technologies.

However, the Admiralty is confident in the technology of the future. Many new technologies are being developed and are expected to be developed soon. When the time comes. The 'Ming-class' battleships are just right for use.

The 'Ming-class' battleship is 188 hours long, 28.5 meters wide, and has a draft of 9.9 meters. The full load displacement is thirty-five thousand tons, five times the number of 3 triple 381-mm 45-caliber main guns, 14 155-mm secondary guns, 6. 88 mm single-mounted guns, with a maximum speed of more than 24 knots. The turret, bridge, power compartment and waterline were heavily defended, and the armor thickness was more than 343 mm. No doubt. Such a battleship is undoubtedly a well-deserved super battleship. Whether it's firepower or defense. No battleship in service can compare with it. Similarly, the cost of this class of battleships is staggering. The Imperial Navy's 'Early Tang' battleships cost only 15 million Chinese dollars. The cost of the 'Sino-Tang-class' battleships was 16 million Chinese dollars. The cost of the 'Late Tang class' battleships was 18 million Chinese dollars. The cost of the 'Northern Song Dynasty-class' battleship was 20 million Chinese dollars. The cost of the 'Southern Song Dynasty' was 22 million Chinese dollars. But. However, the cost of the 'Ming-class' battleships was as high as 28 million Chinese dollars, which was almost twice that of the 'Chu Tang-class' battleships and more than twice that of the 'Eastern Han-class' battleships. Such a high cost made Emperor Long Yufei's head a little painful. The empire is rich, but the empire can't support such a large-scale construction of ships as the navy!

"The 'Ming-class' battleship deserves to be a super battleship. However, the cost is inevitably too high! In addition, the Admiralty also requires that construction be started at 16 ships a year, which will cost 448 million Chinese dollars. If I approve the plan for the construction of battleships of this class, I guess the Chancellor of the Exchequer will strike immediately! Long Yufei shook his head.

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have received, the Germans are also planning to build powerful battleships. According to preliminary estimates, the caliber of their super-battleships will not be inferior to the 'Ming-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy. So, the empire needs to keep on top! Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Navy, said. Although he, as Minister of the Navy, no longer went to the front. However, he was in charge of the construction of the battleship. It was his responsibility to build more advanced warships for the Imperial Navy.

"Even if the Germans were to build super-battleships, I don't believe they would start building eight super-battleships in a year. Build up to four, this is already the maximum capacity of the Germans! "Long Yufei knew that the Germans would build super battleships, but the Germans' financial resources were inferior to those of Germany, and it was absolutely impossible to build eight super battleships in a year.

"Uh......" Marshal Wei Yong was suddenly speechless.

In fact, the information he obtained was also that the Germans planned to start construction of four 'Helgoland-class' battleships within this year.

"In this way, the construction of four 'Ming-class' battleships will start in the first half of this year, and if the Germans do build super battleships, depending on the number built by the Germans, it will increase." Long Yufei said. The Reich wanted to ensure superiority over the German navy, and since the slogan of the Germans to build one battleship, the Reich built two. Then, at this time, it is natural that there will be no retreat. Anyway, the Reich had much more money than the Germans, and even if it was to build twice as many battleships, the Reich would be able to afford it.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wei Yong nodded. He was already very satisfied with being able to build four 'Ming-class' battleships first, and then build more 'Ming-class' battleships in the future. In this way, the strength of the Imperial Navy will increase by leaps and bounds. In the future decisive battle at sea, the 'Ming-class' battleships will inevitably be able to play a decisive role.

"The new battleships of the Imperial Navy must be prepared for mine protection! Although the Reich was ahead of the Germans in the use of torpedoes. However, the Germans are also catching up! Long Yufei said. In terms of battleships, the Reich was much stronger than the Germans. But he believed that the Germans would not fail to understand this truth either. So, the Germans will do it the other way. The torpedo is undoubtedly an excellent weapon. Torpedoes played a crucial role in the defeat of the British Navy by the Imperial Navy.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Marshal Wei Yong nodded.

"That's right, Your Majesty. We have received information that the Germans have begun construction of heavy cruisers, and although the exact performance is not known, it must be modeled after the 'Yangtze River-class' heavy cruisers of the Imperial Navy. The Admiralty feared that the Germans would use such warships to strike at the Empire's sea transport lines, posing a great threat to the Empire. So, the Admiralty plans to build a heavy cruiser of a new class. Marshal Wei Yong continued.

"Well, the Admiralty will take care of it!" Long Yufei nodded, the decisive battle between the empire and the Germans, the safety of the sea transportation line is very important. If the sea lines were to be attacked by the Germans, the consequences would be devastating.

Subsequently, the Imperial Admiralty presented design drawings for the construction of the 'Songhuajiang-class' heavy cruisers. Compared with the 'Yangtze River-class' heavy cruisers, the 'Songhuajiang-class' heavy cruisers had a larger displacement of 11,000 tons, and the main guns were still three triple 210-mm guns. However, the defense and speed of the battleship increased considerably. The maximum speed of the heavy cruisers of the 'Songhuajiang-class' reached 28 knots. The Imperial Navy will build eight 'Songhuajiang-class' heavy cruisers at one time, namely the lead ships 'Songhuajiang', 'Nenjiang', 'Ussuri River', 'Suifenhe', 'Tumen River', 'Yalu River', 'Liaohe' and 'Luanhe'.

After the 'Songhuajiang-class' heavy cruisers, the Imperial Navy saw an increasing likelihood that the Germans would threaten the Reich's sea lines. As a result, the empire once again built a first-class heavy cruiser, which was the 'Haihe class' heavy cruiser. The displacement of the 'Haihe-class' heavy cruisers is 12,000 tons, and its performance is slightly higher than that of the 'Songhuajiang-class' heavy cruisers, and it is still built in eight, which are divided into the first ships 'Haihe', 'Taohe', 'Daheihe', 'Fenhe', 'Weihe', 'Yihe', 'Yalongjiang' and 'Daduhe'.

This brought the number of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Navy to 24, and these heavy cruisers became a powerful weapon to ensure the Empire's sea transportation lines. After the start of the war, the Imperial Navy also built the 'Daduhe-class' heavy cruisers, but when the 'Dadu-class' heavy cruisers were just put into service, the Imperial Navy had already won the naval battle. After the victory, the Imperial Navy's demand for heavy cruisers was no longer so high. So much so that as soon as the 'Daduhe-class' heavy cruiser was put into service, it was converted into a submarine hunting warship. (To be continued......)

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