The black clouds hung low, and the night was as deep as thick ink. In the imperial study in the Imperial Palace in Berlin, the middle-aged Wilhelm in a coat is quietly working on the throne, although his energy is still as vigorous as when he first came to the throne, but the years have left an indelible mark on this body. The clock ticks, the fire crackles; After a while, with the creak of the door being pushed open, a long figure appeared in the room, and then walked slowly in front of him.

"I wonder what my father called me late at night, and what was it for?" Qingying said with some confusion.

Looking at the handsome and handsome face in front of him, William's eyes showed a complicated look, as if reminiscing. It seems to be admirable, it seems to be satisfied. It was like anger. After a while, he slowly spoke, "Ettel, do you remember? Nine years ago, on the same dark night as today, in the same place as today, you proved that my lead duck was a completely achievable design. It was only after that incident that Germany really embarked on the path of naval development; And from then on, you really replaced Friedrich and came into the sight of my other prince. ”

Today, Qingying has traveled to this world for quite a long time. Hearing William's words, recalling his efforts to change the German Navy, Qingying also felt a lot in his heart, and said softly: "Yes." Before you know it, it's been almost 10 years. ”

"You've never let me down since. Whether it's your own academic growth or the ideas you have in your head for the ocean of the future, I am extremely pleased and amazed. Out of absolute trust in you, I have given you all the power that the Second Man of the Reich has, hoping that you will make good use of it and contribute to the take-off of my Germany. Speaking of this, William's expression gradually became solemn, and his words became cold, "But this time, why did you use this power in your hands to suspend all the budgets for the new battleships built this year, and also rejected the amendments to the naval law proposed by Alfred?" When Alfred told me about it, do you know how I felt? Now I'm going to give you a chance to explain and tell me exactly why you're doing this! ”

Qingying nodded slightly and said, "Even if my father doesn't ask, I need to explain the truth of the matter to my father." So let's start with the first question. At present, in the face of larger and better armored cruisers, the navies of the great powers began to equip battleships with the same second-class guns as the main guns of armored cruisers to deal with it; However, due to the relatively fast rate of fire of the 11-inch main guns, our Germany chose to increase the number of main guns to strike at the enemy's patrols. This was supposed to be a response based on our own situation, but after deciding to add the main gun, we discovered a hidden problem that could change the current landscape of naval warfare. ”

William said suspiciously, "What's the problem?" ”

Qingying said slowly: "According to the artillery fire test conducted by the Admiralty and the Krupp Military Industry Institute, it was found that the fire density of 8 11-inch guns was enough to form a fairly effective projection on the target; And if this number is increased to 10 guns, it will be more ideal to deal a very good blow to the enemy. In addition, with the major technological breakthroughs in the new rangefinder developed by Zeiss at the request of the Admiralty and other fire control devices for solving data, the distance of future naval warfare will greatly exceed the current 4,000 meters, and even reach 7,000 meters. In this way, German battleships with all-heavy guns and state-of-the-art fire control equipment had an absolute advantage in the battle with battleships equipped with secondary guns! ”

"Since our main guns on the ship are of the same type, the ballistics are the same; When striking at the target, it is only necessary for the central fire control room to calculate one set of data according to the position of the target and the trajectory of our artillery, so that all our artillery can adjust the level and elevation angle according to this set of data, so as to carry out a salvo bombardment of the target. And according to the tests we have done, the hit rate of this type of shooting is several times higher than that of individual turrets! On the other hand, those battleships in other countries equipped with secondary main guns, due to their mixed two main guns, the single-port firepower is 4+4, and at most a salvo of 2 turrets can be formed, and this dispersed firepower is inevitably the result of 1+1 less than 2. Considering the rate of fire of the 12-inch guns of various countries that can survive at most 1.5 rounds per minute, and the dispersion disadvantage of the second-stage main guns caused by the longer combat distance, its comprehensive destruction is completely different from that of our battleships equipped with 8 or 10 unified 11-inch guns. Qingying pouted and said. For him as a traverser, Qingying is very clear about the disadvantage of being equipped with a second-level main gun, in addition to the factor of inconsistent fire control he just mentioned, school shooting is also an extremely serious flaw.

In normal naval combat, even with the most advanced fire control equipment, it will be impossible to achieve accurate observation and aiming due to various errors; Therefore, the method of adjusting the firing parameters of the artillery according to the distance of the previous round of shells has become a crucial part of the artillery battle. Due to the huge difference in power between the main and auxiliary guns of all-heavy artillery battleships, there is a clear difference in the height of the water column that can be clearly discerned even at a very long distance; Therefore, it is only necessary to measure the gap between them and the target, and the correction can be achieved and the next round of shooting can be prepared with confidence. For a battleship mixed with a second-stage main gun, due to the small difference in the power of its first-class and second-stage main guns, its impact point will be difficult to be identified by observers in the fierce battlefield; In the event of confusion, the corrected design parameters are still an incorrect value, and it is impossible to find the target in the next round of shooting. The final result of the mixed secondary main gun is likely to be to shoot countless rounds of salvos without even missing bullets, which is undoubtedly a disastrous situation in naval warfare!

"In other words, our battleships with more main guns are much stronger than the same type of ships of the Great Powers that are equipped with secondary guns?" William shook his dazed head and asked.

"To be precise, it is the absolute advantage of having crushing! At present, the combat distance of naval warfare is still about 4 kilometers, but the German warships with advanced fire control can attack the enemy at a distance of 6,000 or even 7 kilometers; Then, with a volley of unified fire control from 8 to 10 main guns every less than half a minute, it was enough to inflict a devastating bombardment on the enemy. With the use of all-heavy 11-inch guns and advanced fire control, our German battleships were able to obtain extremely long effective range and extremely high hit rate, which is already a great advantage! Qingying said with a smile.

"Since the Empire's new battleships are so powerful, why do you want to interrupt this year's battleship construction budget?" Hearing Qingying's summary, William was not happy and angry, and slapped the table and said loudly, "The British have started construction of four more 'Edward VII' class battleships with a displacement of 15,600 tons this year, but you told me that the Imperial Navy will not make any moves this year?" ”

Qingying shrugged his shoulders and said, "I also want to let this new type of ship with full heavy main guns join the sequence of the German Navy as soon as possible, but it is really because the technique does not allow it." The new fire control equipment, including the 3.5-metre baseline rangefinder, was only a list of design features, and the real thing was still a work in progress, and it was estimated that it would not be until after Christmas 1905 when it was actually built and put into active service. And advanced fire control is the soul of all-heavy artillery, without fire control, the effectiveness of this battleship will be greatly reduced. ”

William's eyes widened, and he said angrily: "You idiot, who told you that the fire control must be synchronized with the battleship?" Wouldn't it be better for you to build the ship first, and then install it when the equipment is ready? ”

"But in addition to this factor, the artillery, power and armor also require us to wait another year before starting a new ship. At present, the 47 times diameter 283 mm main gun that Krupp military industry has begun to develop, can increase the muzzle velocity of 332 kg shells to 880 m/s in an instant, and its ejection kinetic energy is 16% higher than our existing 45 times diameter gun, and the rate of fire can still guarantee 2.5 rounds / min. There is no reason why we should not choose the latter. For this gun, Krupp gave a service life of 1906, while the construction period of a large battleship in general was 3 years; Therefore, if the construction of battleships starts this year, there will be an embarrassing situation of ships waiting for guns for more than one year. ”

Qingying glanced at William, who was still angry, and continued, "In terms of power, it will take more than one year for the new reciprocating steam engine to adjust its stability to meet the needs of equipping large battleships. This kind of thing allows our battleship to jump from the early 18 knots to 20 knots, and this extra 2 knots is very advantageous in both pursuit and escape situations. In addition, the most important thing is Krupp armor. At present, the Krupp military industry is carrying out a defensive and defensive secondary hardening of their armor (which is historical), and although this kind of thing has been trial-produced in the laboratory, it will not be able to be put into mass production this year. Our warships of the German Empire have always focused on defense, should we abandon all the foundation we have always adhered to for the sake of progress? That's why I decided to postpone the budget for the construction of battleships by one year. ”

Hearing Qingying mention the problem of Krupp's secondary hardened armor, the anger in William's heart finally subsided a little. If it is not a big problem to allow ships to wait for guns and warships to sail 2 knots less in peacetime, the use of inferior armor is unacceptable to William. He snorted, his face softened slightly, and said, "You have successfully persuaded me on this issue." But there's a second one, why did you reject Alfred's revised Second Naval Law? ”

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