The autumn breeze blows the dust leaves on the streets of London.

"According to our information from Berlin, the Germans began to carry out disturbing modifications of their strange cruisers equipped with combat torpedo towers. The combat torpedo turret that fired the torpedoes was removed and replaced by the most orthodox artillery turret; And the most terrifying thing is that these turrets that replace the torpedo towers are equipped with the same firepower as the front and rear main gun models on the ship! In the mansion at 10 Downing Street, Fisher said with a gloomy face, with a hint of urgency and anxiety in his words, "In addition, the Germans have removed the gun shaft and the bridge of the amidships, so that their newly refurbished main gun turrets on the broadside have a good range of fire from the other side, just like their Deutschland-class battleships. In this way, these armored cruisers undoubtedly have the firepower of the dreadnought, which is undoubtedly extremely unfavorable news for the Royal Navy! ”

British Prime Minister Asquith sat quietly in his main seat, his pale gray eyes glinting, and he didn't know what he was thinking. After a while, he said to the self-infuriated Fisher, "John, how much of a threat can these modified demons pose to us?" ”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the situation facing the Royal Navy at the moment is not optimistic. Because once the Germans completed the transformation of these cruisers, it meant that they had four more small dreadnoughts equipped with 8 11-inch guns and a speed of more than 20 knots; Although the other 3 ships were slightly less powerful, the density of fire of the 6 11-inch guns should not be underestimated in the decisive battle of the fleet. In the face of Asquith's inquiry, Fisher gave the other party a reply in the most concise words. His face was as gloomy as water, and he spoke with uncontrollable anger. "Through the message sent back by our intelligence officers at the shipyard site. The modification of the Germans went exceptionally well: without any changes to the hull structure. After dismantling the torpedo tower, it was directly installed with the main gun turret. It can be seen from this that the Germans must have been prepared at the very beginning, and in the case of the torpedo launch tower is not easy to use, they can directly replace it with the same armament as the main gun firepower, and upgrade it to a battleship equipped with full heavy artillery firepower in one fell swoop! ”

Asquith frowned slightly, and did not say anything more for a long time. Because he had to deal with the navy all day long, he was also infected with some of Fisher's ideas in the naval field. When it comes to measuring the strength of a ship, the British Admiralty is always looking at its speed and firepower. The importance of armor protection has always been second-rate: therefore, when Fisher spoke about the firepower and speed of the Battleloadout, both Asquith and Fisher chose to ignore its armor protection, and instead included it in the category of "powerful warship". Although the firepower of its 8 11-inch guns and the speed of 20 knots were still some way behind the British dreadnoughts, the Germans conjured up 4 ships out of thin air at once, which was enough to make Fisher and Asquith frightened and worried!

"How's the situation on the Russians' side?" After a long silence, Asquith slowly spoke, "Half a year ago, the Royal Navy had comprehensive contact with the Russian Admiralty in the field of technical exchanges, and provided them with all the drawings of the St. Vincent-class battleships free of charge. More than half a year down. Russia should start restarting their Baltic Fleet construction plans, right? ”

"Your Excellency, the plans for the reconstruction of the Baltic Fleet of the Russians are also lagging behind. Since the Ottomans ordered a dreadnought from Germany. This has led to a sharp increase in the pressure on Russia in the Black Sea region; In order to ensure that their fortress of Sevastopol would not be attacked by the Ottomans for a Crimean landing, the Russians poured a large part of their naval budget into the Black Sea. According to the latest budget for the expansion of the Navy approved by the State Duma, the number of dreadnoughts to be built in the first batch of the Baltic Sea has not only dropped to three, but the start of construction has also been delayed until next year. With such a small amount of force, it was simply not possible to contain the German Navy in the Baltic Sea. Fisher said with some gloom.

"What about the French, they should be able to help us on the seas, right?" Asquith Road.

Fisher shook his head slightly: "The situation of the French is slightly better, but the overall situation is also not optimistic. Italy and Austria-Hungary have each passed their respective naval expansion decrees, and will start construction of two Count Cavour-class and one Radetz-class dreadnought, respectively, next year; Together with the 1 Dante-class and 2 Radetz-class that they have already started, the French will have to start a large number of dreadnoughts next year to guarantee their vested maritime superiority. More crucially, France is massively expanding its land forces to relieve the pressure on them on land from Germany and Austria, which will inevitably slow down the construction of the French Navy, making our situation in the Mediterranean increasingly severe due to the pressure of Italy and Austria. Once war breaks out, we must also keep a Mediterranean fleet of elite ex-dreadnoughts in Alexandria. ”

"Unreserved technical assistance to the Russians and the French is necessary." Asquith suddenly spoke, and his words contained an undeniable firmness, "The Russians can contain the German fleet in the Baltic Sea, and the French can help us stabilize the Mediterranean pattern; To help these two former mortal enemies is to continue the rights and interests of our British Empire! John, have all the technical materials of the Giant-class battleships we started this year been handed over to the French and Russian naval departments? ”

Hearing Asquith's words, a hint of pain flashed in Fisher's eyes, and then he nodded slightly.

In 1907, in order to counter the German equipping of 305 mm L45 guns on the Nassau and Helgoland-class battleships, the British Admiralty decided to increase the barrel length of its current 305 mm guns to L50 in order to gain firepower superiority over German battleships. However, this did not satisfy Fisher's strong ambition to overtake the German battleships. Half a year later, with the unsatisfactory accuracy and barrel life of the British 305 mm L50 gun in the development process, Fisher urgently asked the domestic arms department to develop a larger caliber gun for equipping warships. In this case, the 343-mm L45 naval gun was included in the key development goals of the British military industry in 1908; The British Admiralty also used this gun as a model to redesign their Giant-class battleship.

Unlike the previous 6 Bellerophon and 3 St. Vincent, all the main guns of the new Giant class are arranged in a knapsack position along the central axis of the hull, so that all its main guns can fire at the same side. Due to the increase in the weight of the twin 343 mm main guns, the number of main turrets in the Giant class was reduced from the previous five to four under the premise of controlling the cost; The reduction in the number of turrets also allowed the tonnage and cost of warships to be effectively controlled, allowing the British government to get some respite under the weight of the shipbuilding race.

The new battleship had a standard displacement of 19,600 tons, a speed of 21 knots, and was equipped with eight twin 343 mm (13.5 in) L45 guns along the central axis, with 300 mm of waterline armor at its thickest point. Through the innovation of the turret arrangement, the British increased the broadside firepower from 8 305 mm to 8 343 mm in one fell swoop while the cost of the battleship remained basically unchanged, achieving a leap in combat effectiveness. Overjoyed, Asquith immediately pushed Congress to pass a budget for the construction of four Giant-class ships in 1908 and approved the construction of the New Zealand, the last of the Indefatigable battlecruisers. Originally, the drawings of this kind of battleship were classified as absolutely secret, but in order to strengthen the Franco-Russian restraint on Germany, Britain still completely handed it over to its two old rivals.

"If the next class of battleships of Russia and France can be modeled on this, it will be enough to make a big difference to the current situation; And in the face of such ships, armed with 13.5-inch guns, the Germans' batch of armored cruisers converted from cargo will be vulnerable. Asquith spoke slowly, his words containing a faint sense of helplessness and exhaustion; The new class of battleships, which had been designed to counter the German start-up ships that had been built at the same time, were now forced to give them additional combat missions.

"Actually, the Giant-class is not our ideal standard capital ship. According to the information sent back by our intelligence officers in Berlin, the two battleships that the Germans had started this year also increased the power of their main guns, so it was necessary for us to re-increase the number of main guns to 10 on the next class of battleships in order to gain a firepower advantage over the Germans. The initial design of the designers was to add a twin main gun turret to the amidships, so that the 10 twin 13.5-inch guns could play the most ideal striking effect. Fisher began.

"10 13.5-inch guns? Her broadside firepower is already more than 80% higher than the previous St. Vincent class, right? Asquith was taken aback when he heard this, but his face did not have the expectation and fanaticism of Fisher, but instead showed a slightly melancholy expression. He looked at the resolute face in front of him and said, "John, can you limit the cost of this kind of ship?" If the price is too high, Britain's finances are too much to afford! ”

Fisher nodded slightly, a rare smile in his eyes, and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency." I've leveled the greedy shipyard capitalists, and the fierce competition will keep their bids to a minimum: the super-dreadnought won't cost more than £2 million, and even the perfect cats with eight 13.5-inch cannons can contract with the shipyard for pounds. By next year, the Royal Navy will be able to usher in a golden age of leaps in strength! (To be continued......)

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