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"Your Majesty, can the 'Xia-class' cruisers start to be built in batches?" Rear Admiral Wei Yong, commander of the First Fleet, asked. The performance of the 'Xia-class' cruisers, he was very satisfied. If all the 12 'Shark-class' cruisers of the First Fleet can be replaced with 'Summer-class' cruisers, the strength of the First Fleet will increase several times. When faced with a more formidable enemy, the First Fleet is even more confident!

"The cruiser 'Xia Yu' is just a verification warship! There are a lot of new techniques on it, and these techniques are all ahead of the world! It takes a period of time to determine whether it can be applied on a large scale! However, this time will not be too long, it will take about half a year! When the time comes, the 'Xia-class' cruisers will be built in batches! Long Yufei said. Even in Western countries, it will be more than a decade before there will be steam warships. At present, the pace of Xinhua has greatly surpassed that of Western countries. But there is still a lot of uncertainty.

For example, the 'Xia-class' cruiser is not a real ironclad ship at all, but it is just a wooden battleship with steel plates inlaid on the shell. This is still fundamentally different from an all-steel battleship. At least in terms of defense, it is far from being comparable to a real ironclad. In addition, the "Xia-class" cruisers still use steel plates in key parts, and the superstructure and waterline are not covered with steel plates. This makes the defense of the battleship not so strong. This is mainly because: The power of the steam engine was not enough, and if steel plates continued to be installed, the displacement of the battleship would be further increased. The speed will also be slowed down. Because of technical reasons, it is difficult to recreate a steam engine with higher horsepower. Therefore, Long Yufei had no choice but to take this compromise approach! Of course, even so, the defense of the 'Xia-class' cruisers has been greatly improved, and they will not be as vulnerable as the 'Shark-class' cruisers! Even if it is against the battleships of Western countries, it is fully qualified!

"Your Majesty." How many 'Xia-class' cruisers are to be built? Do we have a part in the Second Fleet? Brigadier General Lu Haipeng, commander of the Second Fleet, asked. At first, he didn't pay attention to the so-called ironclad. However, when it was known about the performance of the 'Xia-class' cruisers. I immediately became interested in this kind of battleship! Although the performance of the 'Shark-class' cruiser is good, it can only use the performance of the battleship to fight the enemy at a long distance. The distance is too far, and the hit rate of the Xinhua Navy will not be high, and it can't give him that hearty feeling. If it were a 'Xia-class' cruiser. Maybe it's a different story entirely!

"The cost of the 'Xia-class' cruiser was as high as 300,000 Chinese dollars. Large-scale construction will also take up to a year. Therefore, the preliminary plan is that 12 'Xia-class' cruisers will be built to form a fleet! When the time comes, the candidate for the commander of this fleet will also be selected from among the four of you! Long Yufei said. Summer-class' cruisers will not be built too much, in the number of 12 units. It's quite a bit.

"12 ships, that's too little! Your Majesty. Didn't the 'Shark-class' cruisers also build 48 units? Brigadier General Lu Haipeng muttered.

"However, the cost of 48 'Shark-class' cruisers is not as good as 12 'Summer-class' cruisers! Don't be disappointed, the 'Xia-class' cruiser is just the first ironclad we built, and the more advanced 'Shang-class' cruisers are already being designed! When we have made a breakthrough in our technology, we will start building! As long as the new country is not destroyed, our navy will not stop advancing, and will only become stronger and stronger! Long Yufei said.

This made the four fleet commanders breathe a sigh of relief. After all, everyone wants to give priority to their fleet to the 'Xia-class' cruisers. But there were only 12 cruisers of the 'Xia class'. And it seems that Long Yufei does not plan to disperse these 'Xia-class' cruisers. Therefore, one can only pin one's hopes on the follow-up more powerful ironclads. The 'Xia-class' cruiser is already so strong, and the follow-up 'Shang-class' cruiser will definitely be even stronger!

"Your Majesty, you're ready to board the ship!" Zhao Xingkai said to Long Yufei.

"Hmmm! Let's go, let's get on the ship! The sea trials are about to begin! Long Yufei said.

The group passed the gangway and boarded the cruiser 'Xia Yu'. Except for Long Yufei, everyone looked around like a curious baby! Some people are interested in the steel plates laid on the deck, and from time to time they stomp on them, as if to test whether the steel plates are strong or not. Lu Haipeng was more interested in the 155mm naval guns on the deck. The caliber of the 155-mm naval gun is larger than that of the 105-mm naval gun, and the weight of the shells is much heavier, and the power is naturally not on the same level. This makes the attack power of the 'Xia-class' cruiser at least twice that of the 'Shark-class' cruiser!

"Your Majesty, can you sail?" Zhao Xingkai asked.

Long Yufei nodded. Previously, the cruiser 'Xia Yu' had already carried out a preliminary sea trial. This time, the main thing is to let the admirals of the Navy see the performance of the 'Xia-class' cruisers.

"Boom!" The steam engine on the cruiser 'Xia Yu' began to operate, driving the propellers. The hull of the ship began to tremble, and the thick chimney emitted puffs of black smoke. Soon, the ship began to move, at first, slowly, but as the power of the steam engine continued to increase, the speed of the battleship became faster and faster!

"Ha Lu Ha! It's really exciting, this is the real battleship! Sure enough, it's much faster than the 'Shark-class' cruisers! The commander of the Second Fleet, Lu Haipeng, smiled. His character is like this, bold and uninhibited.

The maximum speed of the 'Xia-class' cruiser can reach 14 knots, and the 'Shark-class' cruiser is about the same speed when the wind is smooth. Of course, under the same hydrological conditions, the 'Shark-class' cruiser cannot be compared with the 'Xia-class' cruiser in terms of speed! If Xinhua can build a more powerful steam engine, then the speed of the warship will be able to rise even further! Of course, it's not easy. Powerful steam engines with high requirements in terms of materials. Cylinder walls are subjected to extreme pressure. Although Long Yufei knew the formulas of some alloys, it was not easy to manufacture them. Materials science is not so simple, you have to take it step by step!

After that, the cruisers of the 'Xia class' underwent shelling tests. The power of the two 155 mm guns on the foredeck and the two 155 mm guns on the rear deck of the battleship made everyone very satisfied. Six 105-mm naval guns and two 75-mm naval guns on both sides are twice as numerous as the 'Shark-class' cruisers, which makes the 'Xia-class' cruisers even more powerful!

The sea trials of the "Xia-class" cruiser took half a day to end. When Long Yufei and the generals got off the ship, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Still, everyone was excited. The appearance of the 'Xia-class' cruiser made them more confident in the future of Xinhuaguo!

The South China Sea is an important waterway between the East and the West. Since the rise of the Maritime Silk Road, the East and West have established close commercial and trade relations through it. And as a result, pirates were born as a very promising profession. Of course, most pirates will not end well, and the best outcome is to make enough money to go ashore and launder and live a rich life. There are almost no others who can transform and build their own country like the pirates of Flying Fish Island!

After the founding of Xinhuaguo, it began to vigorously develop industry and commerce. At the same time, Xinhua imported a large number of machinery and equipment to the West, and exported industrial products as well as traditional products such as silk, ceramics, rubber and sugar. As a result, trade in the South China Sea is becoming more and more prosperous. This also makes the pirates of the South China Sea live more and more nourishing lives!

According to incomplete statistics, there are as many as a dozen ships plundered by pirates in Xinhua every month. The loss is more than millions of Chinese dollars. Some of the pirates, who were still humane, only robbed money and goods on merchant ships. And some pirates without humanity often kill all the people on the merchant ship, and then rob all the ships and goods. The rampant piracy has seriously hindered Xinhua's foreign trade, which is extremely unfavorable to Xinhua's industrial and commercial development!

Previously, the main enemies of the new Chinese were the Spanish and Dutch, and there was not much energy to focus on these pirates. Compared to Spain and the Netherlands, which were mortal enemies, these pirates were only a minor problem. But now, these small problems are becoming more and more serious, and Xinhua must also pay attention to it!

Just when the cruiser 'Xia Yu' was conducting sea trials in Manila Bay, a merchant ship of Xinhua was attacked by pirates in the central waters of the South China Sea! The owner of the ship was a small businessman who had worked hard all his life to save enough money to buy a merchant ship and start the trade from Manila to Singapore. However, the sudden appearance of pirates directly made the mood of small businessmen fall to the bottom. If this merchant ship is plundered by pirates, then his life will be completely finished!

"Hurry up! Faster! Those damn pirates are coming after you! The little merchant shouted in horror as he looked at the approaching pirate ship.

"Boss, our speed can't compare to that of a pirate ship! Their boats are lighter and faster! Our ships are full of cargo, the draft is too deep, and the speed is much slower than theirs! The captain replied.

"So what are we going to do?" The small merchant is no longer in charge.

"Hopefully, host, these pirates won't be ruthless! If they only want the cargo on board, that's fine! If they're going to kill for money, then we're really finished! The captain said. (To be continued......)