The breeze blew, cool and cold, and William's spirits lifted, and a hint of surprise had crept up on his face.

Although these designers were conservative and stupid last year, they only knew that Lu Dao used tonnage to solve problems; But it is undeniable that their expertise in many professional skills is truly impeccable. Once enlightened, the ability that erupted was surprising even William, an emperor with eyes above the top. If the new battleship can really reach a speed of 17.5 knots, then whether it is a tactical maneuver or a pursuit and evacuation, it is much better than Brandenburg at 16 knots! (In fact, in ship design, details such as compartment layout and dimensional strength are just cumbersome, not very difficult.) As long as there are ready-made standards to rely on, and the designers dare to pile things on the ship, the performance of the battleship will be extremely strong. The historical Bavarian class is the pinnacle of the German bastard designer's masterpiece, which has achieved a perfect balance in tonnage, firepower, protection, speed and cost, but unfortunately they woke up too late. ）

After a while, William suddenly thought of a crucial question, and said to Tirpitz: "What is the estimated construction price of this ship for the Navy?" I guess it shouldn't be low! ”

"Uh, well, about 21 million marks." Tirpitz replied with some humility.

William frowned slightly, as if he didn't expect that this ship would be so much more expensive than the Brandenburg class! The four Brandenburg-class battleships cost a total of 62.886 million marks, and the average cost of a single ship is only a little more than 15.7 million marks, and the cost of the new ship has directly increased by one-third on this basis!

William pondered for a moment, tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table next to him, and asked, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Tirpitz hurriedly explained: "The sharp increase in the cost is inseparable from the large number of new equipment used in the new ships: the most direct factor is the use of turret structure, which greatly increases the displacement of the battleship. The old turret design had only a simple superstructure; The new turret design has added a large amount of equipment for ammunition delivery, which occupies a large amount of the original load-bearing steel armor. In order to maintain the structural strength of the battleship, it had to be compensated elsewhere. Not to mention that the armor protection of the turret has also been significantly strengthened. The main battery above the Brandenburg class had only a hemispherical 120 mm gun cover, while the new battleships were equipped with turrets with frontal armor up to 250 mm thick. According to the calculations of the designers, the design displacement of the battleship increased to 13200 tons, with a full load displacement of more than 14600 tons; Therefore, 21 million marks is already a very cheap price. ”

"Your Majesty, please think carefully, is it cost-effective for the original turret structure, or is it cost-effective for the turret-type structure to increase the cost by one-third, but the main gun delivery volume is increased by 400%?"

William's heart was blocked, and he took a long breath, and his gaze at Tirpitz softened. He patted Tirpitz on the shoulder and said, "Alfred, your navy is doing a good job. ”

"Your Majesty has a good reputation. Thanks to the strong support of the industrial sector, the design of this new ship has successively overcome several technical difficulties; The navy merely blended the achievements of industry with the design of ships, and the hardships were far less than those of the experts and scholars in the industrial field who stayed in the laboratory for the sake of Germany. In the face of the Kaiser's sincerity, Tirpitz also revealed some true feelings, "Personal reputation and interests are just clouds of the past; I have only one ideal, and that is for the booming Germany to replace the dying British Empire as the only maritime power on the planet! ”

"Good, good, good!" William said three good words in a row, and the joy in his eyes was undoubtedly revealed, "My German Navy is in the ascendant, and what I want is the high-spirited spirit of a middle-aged officer like you!" Those philistines, when they mention the name of the British Navy, are afraid in their hearts, believing that their military appearance is powerful and invincible; As everyone knows, our Germany's steel production has surpassed that of Britain, and the capital ships built with the industry of our German Empire are worse than Britain's? ”

When William said this, it meant that the design of the battleship was approved; Although he had expected such an outcome, Tirpitz was relieved. After a pause, he took another sheet from the pile of drawings and handed it to the Kaiser, who looked at him suspiciously, and saw that a new battleship was drawn on it, which was clearly different from the previous one.

"Wait a minute...... William muttered to himself, taking the first drawing in front of him and examining it carefully. In comparison, the ship depicted in the latter picture is thinner than the battleship depicted in the first, and the main turret in the amidships has been replaced by a chimney. Thinking of a new type of ship in the naval world recently, the things depicted on this picture are already about to come out.

"Armored cruisers?" William looked at Tirpitz and said with some uncertainty.

Tirpitz glanced approvingly at William and complimented him from the bottom of his heart: "You can see the type of battleship by just a picture; His Majesty's attainments in the navy are really getting deeper and deeper. Not bad, it is the armored cruiser that the navies of all countries are beginning to pursue! ”

William's heart fell to the ground, his face flashed with pride, but his mouth was still humble: "Where and where, I also guessed casually, which made you laugh." "With the foreshadowing of the new battleships, the Kaiser's need for the second map was far less than the first; He glanced at it cursoryly and said, "Alfred, give me a brief introduction." Tirpitz nodded slightly, and began to tell something.

As long as we explore the causes of this Dadonggou naval battle, we will come to a conclusion: the Qing and Japan were not actually prepared for a decisive naval battle here. The reason why the decisive battle of the main force broke out here was that when the two sides discovered each other's fleets, they were already in an extremely close position, and the decisive battle was inevitable. If a reconnaissance detachment can be independent of the main fleet, sail and cruise, and discover the opponent's fleet as soon as possible, then the main fleet can calmly choose whether to engage or retreat, and thus take the initiative in the battle into its own hands.

A protective cruiser like Yoshino would be able to do more than just reconnaissance, but the task of the reconnaissance fleet is more than just the strength of the enemy fleet.

In most cases, your reconnaissance fleet will also have to defeat or drive away the opposing reconnaissance ships, and avoid the enemy's front-line ships from approaching your main fleet in order to block information. Once the front-line fleets of both sides entered the stage of artillery engagement, it was easy for a protective cruiser such as the "Yoshino" with no waterline armor to enter the water and slow down after being hit. If you're lucky, you can escape from the battlefield under the cover of your teammates, but if you're unlucky, you might sink and capsize. In this case, it was very necessary to equip the cruiser with waterline armor. In view of this, armored (armor) cruisers with waterline armor came into being, and for a time became the favored object of the navies of various countries.

These Tirpitz were only mentioned in passing, because he knew that Wilhelm must have known about it, and in the face of the Kaiser's inquiry, he quickly jumped to the topic: "According to the design, the birth of this armored cruiser will become the nemesis of all protective cruisers." With a design displacement of 10,000 tonnes and a design power of 16,500 hp, she will be able to reach speeds of up to 20 knots if nothing else. In terms of firepower, she is equipped with 4 240mm main guns, 10 150mm secondary guns, 10 88mm rapid-fire guns, and 3 torpedo tubes, which is enough to easily kill any Dome cruiser. Finally, her waterline also has 150 mm thick hardened armor and a 25 mm thick torpedo longitudinal partition, the former can easily withstand the bombardment of its own artillery, and the latter can greatly absorb the impact of the explosion when it is torpedoed. ”

PS: There's another chapter tonight.,Ask for some collections.