If you can't have the vision and courage to surpass your opponents, then following your opponents is also a good choice, although you can't overtake your opponents, but you won't be left too far behind. This is true for those who lag behind in any era, and it is better to follow closely if they cannot outperform their opponents. What the Russians are doing now is to follow in the footsteps of the Chinese Navy as a follower in naval construction, and the United States is also adopting the same strategy.

When the Huaxia Navy started construction of 4 battleships in Italy and Germany at the same time, the Russians immediately realized that their fleet was completely obsolete overnight, and under the efforts of the Admiralty, they obtained a large budget from the Ministry of Finance to renew their fleet like a robbery, and the 4 dreadnoughts and 4 quasi-dreadnoughts were a response to the Huaxia Navy, and it was a kind of follow-up. It can be said that the decision of the Russians was very decisive. However, when the Chinese Navy continued to build battle cruisers and fast battleships, the Russians had a trace of hesitation, and this concern was not only due to financial pressure, but also a conflict of naval combat ideas.

The Russian Navy did learn from the French when it was not strong, that is, to build an ocean-going cruiser to destroy the other side's lines of communication, and in Xu Jie's plane, this strategy extended until the Russo-Japanese War. The Russians have 5,000 to 6,000-ton protective cruisers one by one, although the protection is tragic and the firepower is also poor, but the speed and endurance are not mentioned. Even the 3 10,000-ton armored cruisers, the Rurik, the Grombowie and the Russia, are only 10,000-ton broken ships, but it's a pity that they have such a large tonnage. The combat effectiveness is very tragic.

Unfortunately, the Russo-Japanese naval battle was fought in the narrow waters of the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. In addition, the Japanese began to come out to block the Russian fleet at the Port of Arthur. These things, which were supposed to kill all sides on the communication line, did not have the slightest effect. And in this plane, whether it was the battle between the fast fleet commanded by Xu Jie and Makanov's Far Eastern Patrol Detachment in the First Sino-Japanese War, or the many battles between the two sides in the Sino-Russian War. The cruisers of both sides were built for the purpose of decisive battles. And the fight between the two sides was also very bloody.

It stands to reason that if this trend continues, after the Chinese Navy builds a large number of new battle cruisers and fast battleships, the Russians should catch up and build a fast capital ship to compete with the Chinese Navy, but when the matter comes, there are discordant voices in the Russian Admiralty. A part of them believed that the Russian Navy should not continue with the original strategy, they believed that the construction of fundamentalist battleships should be maintained, and the pace of construction of cruiser classes should be relaxed. And this faction was headed by Rozdvinsky. And their words do seem to make sense.

"The Russian Navy had to devote the vast majority of its resources to the construction of battleships. Many actual battles have shown that the Russian armored cruiser group is often in a suppressed position in the fight against the Chinese navy, and the armored cruiser is too easy to lose. Rozdvinsky said slowly.

"What is the reasoning? Because you can't beat it, don't you make it? To know the way, in the Far East. In all wars. The armoured cruiser formations of the Imperial Navy were always the most attended, and the battles experienced were the bloodiest, and although we failed, the problems caused by the disparity in strength between the two sides at that time, we should catch up, not cower. "Without waiting for Vice Admiral Rozdvensky to finish speaking, Rear Admiral Essen, who had been commanding the armored cruiser, retorted." Moreover, previous wars have proved that the combat effectiveness of our armored cruiser lead ship is actually no less than that of Beiyang armored cruiser. It's just that there are fewer of them. ”

"Major General Essen, please don't interrupt others. Your rebuttal doesn't hold up at all, because you don't even listen to what the other person is saying. Lieutenant General Rozdvinsky said angrily. The fundamental reason why the Imperial Patrol fought desperately with the superior Chinese Navy Patrol Fleet was not the armored cruisers, but the fact that we could not gain an advantage in a regular naval battle, and could only hope for guerrilla warfare to wear down the opponent. General Makanov, you are the greatest admiral of the Reich and at the same time the de facto commander of the Far Eastern theater of operations, can you answer me a few questions? "Rozdvinsky can reprimand Essen, but in the face of the respected Makanov, he must be respected.

"Of course, Lieutenant General Rozdvinsky, I am ready to answer all the questions you ask, I know everything." Makanov nodded, and the other party could ask questions.

"If Admiral Essen's armored cruiser formation had won a victory over the Chinese naval patrol fleet in a naval battle for various reasons, do you think the outcome of the war would have changed?" Rozdvinsky asked.

"We will deal a serious blow to the sea transport lines of the Huaxia Navy, but we can't do anything about the Huaxia Navy. Even if we inflict heavy damage on the opponent's fleet of cruisers, even if we sink several of the opponent's fleets, it will still not change the outcome of the entire naval battle in the Far East. Makanov said after a moment of contemplation.

"General, how can you say that? If we can win that naval battle in the East China Sea, the Huaxia Navy will be powerless against high-speed warships, and we will be able to avoid the opponent's Ninghai-class battleships and completely cut off their sea transportation lines. The other side has air power over the sea, but it cannot use it, and it is difficult to say whether the war will be won or lost in the future. Essen was first shocked by Makanov's answer, and then fiercely retorted, without showing any mercy because the other party was his immediate boss.

"Let me explain the reason for this newly promoted general." Rozdvinsky looked at Makanov, and the other party did not mean to object, so he cleared his throat and continued. "I have carefully studied Admiral Essen's operational reports and the logbooks of the various warships, and I think Admiral Essen must have read them. I won't list the specific data, but I just want to state a few of my own findings. ”

Rozdvinsky was not as inactive as history claims, and simply by virtue of his ability to mix a new warship with an old one (the latest one was the Eagle-class battleship that had just been launched, and the older one was the 8,000-ton cruiser Asimonov, which had been commissioned since 1885), and the demoralized and logistically tragic fleet from the distant Baltic Sea to the Far East, it was possible to confront this man who was definitely a good hand in terms of organizational skills and a grasp of the navy, and perhaps not enough to respond to the situation, But it's okay to do an analysis. And this is something that Essen, who has just been promoted to major general, simply cannot compare.

"The theory that the so-called armored cruiser can get rid of the other side by virtue of its high speed advantage is just a fabrication of two kinds of people, one is the kind of person who only knows the road and looks at the data without considering the actual combat, and the other person is the person who knows that the road is impossible, but has some special purpose and advocates it." As he spoke, Rozdvinsky glanced at Major General Essen, the meaning of which was self-evident, Essen was the second kind of person he was talking about!

"It is true that armored cruisers have a speed that exceeds the speed of the battlefleet, and it is possible to escape from pursuit with a speed of 2 to 4 knots, but in the overall situation, the idea of relying on speed to gain a chance of survival in a long sea engagement is not advisable. In addition, as long as the battle will cause damage, even if the non-key protection part is destroyed, it will still cause water ingress and deceleration, on the whole, it is okay to escape once by relying on speed, but it is not feasible to avoid the opponent's blow by high speed all the time. Moreover, the current power group consumes too fast fuel at high speeds, and the fuel is insufficient, and the guerrilla war will naturally not be able to continue. Rozdvinsky said calmly.

"And the second point, I think General Makanov knows better than me, that is, the so-called guerrilla warfare is just General Makanov's choice in desperation, maybe General Makanov already knew the result when he gave this order, but because of various reasons, maybe political reasons, maybe a little luck in his heart, General Makanov still agreed to the cruiser attack." Rozdvinsky looked at the stunned Essen and said with a smile.

"That naval battle in Japan has already broken the backbone of the Far Eastern Fleet. The decisive battle strategy painstakingly planned by General Makanov failed, and under the blow of the three Ninghai-class battleships of the Chinese Navy, the team led by General Makanov suffered heavy losses, although there were enough torpedo boats to consume, but in the decisive battle, the Far Eastern Fleet still failed. Having lost the ability to fight a decisive battle at the last point, General Makanov may feel that it is much better to cause some trouble to the other side than to do nothing in the military port, so there is General Essen's sortie, but in the eyes of the discerning person, the defeat of the decisive battle has already determined the outcome. No matter how wonderful the fight is, it won't help, General Makanov, is that so? Rozdvinsky looked at Makanov with a solemn face and said.

"That's the case, if you can't win the decisive battle of the main fleet, relying solely on breaking the diplomatic battle will only make the opponent's losses greater, and the loss will be better, that's all. After the Battle of Hachinohe, it was true that the Far East Fleet had lost its chance to win, but the purpose of the Navy was definitely not just to stay in the harbor as an existence fleet, it needed to fight, even if it didn't help, it was far stronger than being an existence fleet. Makanov said calmly. Calmly as if he were stating a fact.

"Okay, now we can judge the reasons for the failure of the Far East Fleet, the combat effectiveness of the main fleet is too low, which has caused helplessness in the face of the three Ninghai-class battleships of the Huaxia Navy, which has already decided the outcome of the war. The Fast Fleet could not rely on high speed to evade the enemy's attack as it appeared on paper, which led to the complete defeat of the Far Eastern Fleet, so the key to the naval battle was whether the decisive battle could be won, whether the Imperial Navy was planning to build 8 new battleships or joining forces with the Dutch, all of this was to create the best possible opportunity for the Navy to destroy the opponent in the decisive battle. Instead of letting General Essen command his cruisers to play hide and seek with each other. Rozdvinsky said unceremoniously.

"So, what we mean is simple, that is, the Admiralty can increase the budget for capital ships, but we need to be cautious when it comes to fast ships. At least we can't learn from the Huaxia Navy, which built 4 dreadnoughts as soon as construction began. Rozdvinsky paused and continued. If there are no objections, I think we can adjourn. (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )