Xu Jie and Leo waited in the living room for an hour before the Brin master found time to meet the two. When he saw that Xu Jie was a yellow person, especially a yellow person without braids. His look of surprise is no less than that of Columbus's discovery of the New World!! After staring at Xu Jie for about 30 seconds, Brin, who reacted, said embarrassedly: "It's really not quite such an advanced battleship designed by an Oriental." And so young. Welcome. "Thank you, it's a pleasure to come to your private home and talk to you about the construction of a battleship." Xu Jie smiled unhesitantly. Then the three of them were seated separately.

"Young man, your Dome Cruiser is quite well designed. Excellent firepower and good speed. Well, exactly what we in the Italian Navy need. I can already see a fast fleet of cruisers of this type invincible in the Mediterranean. The days when the Mediterranean was ruled by the French and the British are over. Brin said with some excitement.

"Dear Mr. Brin, I think you're biased in that statement." Xu Jie said carefully. "The navy of a country should consist of a variety of balanced warships. The status and significance of different types of warships are different. It is unrealistic to want to dominate the seas with a single type of warship. ”

"But friend, you're on the right track. The construction of high-speed, high-firepower warships such as dome cruisers for broadside engagement will be the trend of naval warfare in the future. The old battleships, with their heavily armored armor and incredibly slow guns, will be worthless. Just like the Mongol cavalry that swept across Europe back then. In the face of the Mongol cavalry, which was dominated by light cavalry, the Teutonic heavy cavalry of the Germanic people was worthless. And today you design a ship that will lead the way in future naval warfare. The Italian Navy should pay more attention to firepower and speed, as in the case of the Italian-class, which was built a few years ago. Du Lin was not angry at all at Xu Jie's disagreement, but continued the previous topic.

"But, Master Brynn, I've mistaken a notion for you. The Dome cruiser as a consumable and the battleship as the backbone of naval warfare are not at all the same concept. The Dome Cruiser is a consumable. But armored cruisers and battleships were the Navy's most precious resource. For a country like Italy, the loss of any one of the cruisers and battleships was a weakening of the navy. Xu Jie said sternly. Historically, the Italian Navy was among the top four navies in the world, and the precious dome cruisers in the eyes of the Qing Dynasty and Japan were basically a big road cargo in the Italian Navy. In the long list of capital ships, pick a random name and at least one Dome cruiser. Therefore, it is not at all an exaggeration for the Italian Navy to list the Dome cruiser as a consumable. But battleships were different. Except for the deep-pocketed United Kingdom. The loss of a battleship by any other country is a serious weakening of combat power.

"Consumables and pillars? Well, very interesting insights, continue. Brin was clearly interested in that statement.

"We want to have a deeper understanding of naval warfare. As one of Italy's leading designers, you must know that the Kingdom of Italy spent an average of 5 years building Italian-class battleships. If you count the design time, it took 10 years from the design to the final service from 1875. These expensive, lengthy ships weren't designed to fight in naval battles like dome cruisers fought each other. How to protect yourself as much as possible, how to balance the vitality of the battleship, the relationship between speed and defense is the only way to build a battleship. Xu Jie said while looking at the other party's face.

"But the Italian Navy has first-class firepower. As long as it hits, the opponent's battleship will not escape its doom. And our ships have first-class speed, which is very difficult for the opponent to hit. Finally, I would like to explain that the dome armor design of our warship can completely resist the blows of the other side," Brin said with some dissatisfaction.

"In naval battles, both sides have equal opportunities. You can hit your opponent, and your opponent can hit you in the same way. Just 2 to 3 knots faster than your opponent guarantees the probability of withdrawing from the battlefield when the battle is unfavorable, but it does not guarantee that you will not be hit by shells in an engagement. Moreover, with the progress of the times, the installation of a large number of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns has greatly increased the probability of battleships being hit in naval battles. Even if it is impossible to penetrate the important parts of the protected ammunition depot, hoist, and turret, it is enough for the waterline to be beaten into a sieve to cause the battleship to tilt sharply and then sink out of control. Xu Jie continued to insist. …,

"Kid, what you say is true and reasonable, but you know that the tonnage of a warship is limited, and how to hit the enemy more effectively is what the designer must do. In order to better combat the enemy, firepower is a must, and in order to better seize the favorable shape of the battlefield, speed is also needed. As for protection, if a navy can be in an advantageous position, relying on sufficiently strong firepower has every chance of destroying the opponent in a relatively short period of time. Bryn said with a wistful look.

"What a veteran." Xu Jie said in his heart. He is familiar with the history of the development of armor and artillery, and he clearly knows that before the invention of steel-faced iron armor, whether it is wrought iron armor or steel armor, it is powerless in front of armor-piercing bullets. At that time, even wrought iron armor up to 14 inches thick could be pierced by armor-piercing shells in the face of large-caliber artillery. Therefore, the thinking of the Italians at that time was that instead of adding armor to be penetrated, it was better to strengthen firepower and speed to ensure that they could penetrate the opponent and reduce the number of shells. This theory was still marketable before 1890, but once the Harvey armor and Krupp armor appeared, the competition between armor and ammunition immediately reversed. Before the invention of the mature hood armor-piercing shell, even the armor-piercing shell of a 12-inch heavy gun could hardly penetrate the 8-inch Harvey armor (there was basically no one in actual combat)

"But armor technology is advancing, you know, my country's Dingyuan is installed with steel-faced iron armor, and there is a wooden layer buffer behind the armor, and the protection is no longer comparable to simple wrought iron armor or steel armor. At the same time, with the advancement of technology and the mass popularization of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns, proper protection has become necessary to block the rain of medium-caliber shells. If you still ignore protection or have no protection, you will not be able to use the opponent's heavy artillery. Even a large number of rapid-fire guns of a cruiser would have been enough to sink a battleship protected by a waterline. Xu Jie paused slightly and said. The heavy artillery relied on in the past, because the rate of fire has not been substantially improved, is now not as threatening as a large number of rapid-fire guns to light protection warships. You must also know the direction of the development of the Navy. ”