The almost frenzied naval competition between Britain and Germany undoubtedly attracted the attention of the whole world.

Before 1906, there was a calm and peaceful atmosphere between Britain and Germany. Although the rapid development of German trade has largely crowded out the overseas markets that originally belonged to Britain, the national right-wingers in Britain have from time to time instigated a fervent anti-German wave; Despite the apparently targeted "good agreement" between Britain and France, Germany responded with a sudden increase in military spending; On the whole, however, the two great powers at Europe's top power remain on a semblance of intimacy, and seem to be as close as they were in 1870 against Napoleon III. The sudden shipbuilding competition between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is tantamount to announcing that the competition between Britain and Germany has officially moved from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. While the Great Powers were amazed at the sudden change in Anglo-German relations, they also noticed the direct trigger for this situation—a new capital ship equipped with full heavy guns, completely different from the previous battleships equipped with secondary guns!

At this moment, the first class dreadnoughts of Britain and Germany were unreservedly displayed in front of the world in a fully completed manner: 8 doors of 305 mm or 10 doors of 283 mm of broadside firepower, waterline armor up to 280 mm thick, and a speed of more than 20 knots, all of which formed an overwhelming advantage over any of the capital ships in service of the great powers! Although veteran naval experts still have doubts about the true performance of this all-heavy gun, after all, the naval battles that have broken out in the previous decade have proved that the amount of projection is the key to victory or defeat at sea; However, the almost crazy large number of British and German soldiers proved the absolute value of this new warship in an unquestionable manner. Britain, which has dominated the seas for 300 years and led countless naval reforms, has been the object of emulation by countless navies, and the German navy, which has always kept a low profile. This time, they also began to build a large number of ships at an unprecedented speed. This was true for the Germanic people, who were known for their conservative rigor. It is undoubtedly a move that can only be made with 120% absolute confidence!

Seeing this situation, the Americans on the other side of the ocean could not help but tears of relief. There is no other reason, because at the moment in the shipyards of the United States, exactly 2 new dreadnoughts with a full heavy gun design are lying down.

In July 1898, with the victory of the Battle of San Diego with the twilight empire of Spain, the young and powerful U.S. Navy was confident from top to bottom. Under the leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was far-sighted and ambitious, the U.S. Navy quickly completed the transformation from a coastal defense fleet to a strategic role in the ocean-going decisive battle navy, and began to eagerly draw on the experience of naval construction and ship design from the European powers. But. Because of the gap between the size of the US Navy and the traditional powers such as Britain and France, and the visceral timidity of an emerging naval power in the face of the old powers, the Americans are particularly fond of being unconventional in the design of warships, in order to quickly narrow the gap in naval navigation with the British and French powers through these "tricks and tricks." After an unsuccessful attempt at "overlapping turrets", the Americans finally gambled on a chance of success in the idea of all-heavy artillery.

When the Italian designer Couni Bedi proposed the idea of an all-heavy artillery battleship in 1903, it quickly became popular in the U.S. Navy, which was bent on change and unfettered by conventional thinking. In 1905, Congress approved a budget for the construction of two new battleships equipped with full heavy guns. And in the design of the ship, the John Cowboys, who are far from the European continent behind closed doors, also have a commendable shining point. Although the layout of the overlapping height of the first and second main turrets of the early American dreadnought was an unsuccessful design, so that the battleships built later returned to the normal layout, through this period of experimentation, the U.S. Navy gained valuable practical experience that the muzzle storm did not cause damage to the main turret below. Based on this experience, the Americans boldly adopted knapsack main guns on their newly started battleships of the "South Carolina" class. Its 4-seat twin-mounted 305mm L45 heavy guns are arranged along the central axis in front 2 and 2 in the rear, which is definitely a cost-effective design that is better than the dreadnought!

Originally, the Americans were still worried about whether their brand-new ships would suffer the fate of paying tuition. The dreadnought race between Britain and Germany, which was fought like thunder and lightning, completely dispelled the concerns of the Americans. Now they only hate that they didn't take a big step in the first place: the South Carolina class with reciprocating steam engines had a speed of only 18.5 knots to ensure firepower and armor, while the Germans had begun importing Curtis-type steam turbines from their own American company as the main engine of their warships a few years ago! Stimulated by the large number of dreadnoughts in Britain and Germany, the U.S. Congress also successfully passed the next round of shipbuilding plans: two cutting-edge warships equipped with 10 305 mm guns, waterline armor up to 279 mm thick, and a speed of 21 knots will be built in 1907, and she will have all the qualities of a dreadnought.

The naval competition between Britain and Germany naturally attracted the absolute attention of the rest of the European powers.

As the only ally of Germany who could rely on its loyalty and did not fear that it would defect to the enemy, Austria-Hungary had the absolute support of Germany. Not only did they get a detailed design plan for the dreadnought from Qing Ying a long time ago, but they also received the measured data obtained by the German Navy through a large number of scrapped gun barrels, and deeply understood how huge the long-range hit advantage of all-heavy artillery warships would have in naval battles. Vice Admiral House, who had been promoted to Chief of the Naval Staff, made an impassioned speech in the peculiar parliament of the dualist monarchy, preaching to the large number of Hungarian parliamentarians who were not interested in the navy at all the importance of the navy and the great benefits that its development would bring to the empire as a whole.

Under the dual impetus of the industrial giants, who had tasted the sweetness of the previous naval development, and the Crown Prince Ferdinand, who had been an unswerving supporter of the navy, Vienna and Budapest reluctantly approved the plan for the navy to build three new dreadnought battleships in the next three years. However, in terms of budget, the Hungarians, who had been living in the heart of Central Europe, did not relax at all about these naval warships that were far away from them but could burn a lot of money, which greatly constrained the design and construction of Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts. In desperation, the Austro-Hungarian military could only cut the design drawings left by Qing Ying: the number of main guns was changed from 9 to 8, the design speed was reduced to 20 knots, and the thickness of the main armor was also cut to 280 mm. After the completion of the slimming of the original Austro-Hungarian dreadnought, the standard displacement fell to 16,200 tons, and its price was finally enough to meet the amount allocated by Congress.

Austria-Hungary's dreadnought plans undoubtedly stimulated Italy, a traditional Mediterranean power. Although Italy and Austria-Hungary were both members of the Triple Alliance within the framework of Germany, and it was reasonable that there should be no fighting, the two countries, which had been fighting since the days of the Italian War of Independence and still had territorial disputes, apparently regarded each other more as their imaginary enemies than as their allies. After receiving the plan for Austria-Hungary to start the construction of dreadnoughts, the Italians were shocked to find that due to their sluggishness and laziness in the development of the navy, the Austro-Hungarian fleet, which had been completely suppressed by themselves, had surpassed their own strength in cutting-edge ships! The six Habsburg-class battleships were as heavy and lean as dwarven warriors, and the existing main fleet of Italy could not take advantage of them at all; If you add this new type of all-heavy artillery battleship, then it is Italy itself that will accompany the last seat in the Mediterranean!

Fearing a repeat of the Battle of Lisa 40 years earlier, the Italian Navy quickly began to sprang into action, and the outfitting of four Queen Elena-class battleships was greatly accelerated, and the design of the dreadnoughts was among their top priorities. In order to gain an overwhelming advantage over the Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts, the Italian dreadnoughts in the Italian plan will be armed with 12 305 mm guns and have a speed of more than 22 knots. The Italian Navy, which has been leading the world in shipbuilding since the era of ironclad ships, is confident that this new type of battleship can be successfully built; The two countries, which were nominally allies of each other, began to compete with each other in secret, setting off a different kind of competition in the small Adriatic Sea.

The naval expansion of Austria-Hungary and Italy inevitably affected France. According to the mutual agreement reached in the Anglo-French Entente, Britain was to concentrate the entire main force of the Royal Navy in the North Sea to deal with the threat of the German navy, and the situation in the Mediterranean was to be fully entrusted to France. Although the rapprochement with Britain had allowed France, which had spared the threat from the sea, to focus more on building up their army, they were unlikely to be indifferent to the naval expansion of Austria-Hungary and Italy, with their large overseas colonies and their dependence on shipping in the Mediterranean. It is true that Austria-Hungary and Italy do not trust each other, but it is also true that they are allies; The French must plan ahead and be prepared to face two enemies at the same time in the Mediterranean!

The French Navy, which had abandoned the new school since 1899, immediately adopted a large-scale shipbuilding plan, and six Danton-class battleships with a displacement of 18,300 tons began to lay keels in major French shipyards. However, unlike in history, the French Navy, which was affected by the large number of dreadnoughts built by Britain and Germany, did not mix the main guns like the historical Danton, but replaced the 6 twin 240mm guns on the side with a single 305 mm, realizing the official upgrade from the previous dreadnought to the dreadnought. The giant wheel of history has quietly turned a small fork here. (To be continued......)