February 5, 1900. On this day, a total of four 20,000-ton slipways were laid down at the Germania shipyard and Kiel shipyard in Germany, as well as the Ansaldo shipyard and the Renaya shipyard in Italy.

"This is the beginning of a new era, the new battleships built by the great Second German Reich will be the most reliable guarantee of your country's sea power, at this moment, your country's excellent design and the precision industry of the German Empire have been perfectly combined, it and its sister ships will be works beyond the entire era, and their appearance will inevitably lead to a reshuffle of maritime politics in the world." After attending the ceremony of laying the keel of the new warship, Tirpitz said to Gu Weijun, the Chinese minister to Germany.

"I believe that with the construction of the new warships ordered by our country, the relations between the Republic of China and your country will be further developed, and this is the first time in 20 years since the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan that your country has once again ordered a first-class capital ship for our country. It's a day to remember. Although I don't know much about the navy, I do know that the arms trade is different from other trades, and this kind of trade that goes beyond commerce can prove that the friendship between the two countries has reached a higher level. Gu Weijun said with a smile.

For Tirpitz, winning the order for the latest battleship of the Huaxia Navy was undoubtedly the most meaningful thing he did last year. This is true both in terms of naval construction and in terms of diplomatic relations. In terms of naval construction, by obtaining work on the construction of new warships. The German Navy finally had access to the most advanced warship design concept in the world. And before that, this was the preserve of both the Italian and Northern fleets.

As early as 1890, the world-famous Re (Baidu) Naya-class dome cruiser was born. Its powerful firepower and super high cost performance overshadowed all the second-class dome cruisers of the time. As the ultimate improved version of the modified warship, the Guiyuan class was even more powerful in the Sino-Japanese War, even if it fought against the British 7,000-ton Edgar-class first-class cruisers. Subsequently, the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers and the PISA-type armored cruisers played a decisive role in the decisive battle, sending the once huge Japanese combined fleet into the rolling waves of the Yellow Sea.

Subsequently, Dante-class battleships and King-class battleships experienced the Spanish-American War and the Sino-Russian War. In the Spanish-American War. The Spanish fleet, led by the Dante-class battleships, crossed the Atlantic and defeated the American fleet, which had 4 battleships and a dozen cruisers, on the doorstep of the United States. It has revived the majesty of this declining maritime empire, although it is a return to the light. During the Sino-Russian War, the Beiyang Fleet, which was fighting at home, suppressed the powerful Russian Far East Fleet to death. Even if the Russians had such a good general as Makanov, they could not return to the sky, and after a series of bloody battles, the remaining capital ships of the Russian Far East Fleet were less than a hand. And the North Ocean did not lose a single capital battleship.

Xu Jie and his team's warship design level has been tested in previous wars. It has already established an unshakable position in the naval field, and its partnership with Italy makes it difficult for good design to come out. And this time, Germany finally seized the opportunity, because the construction was too difficult, the Italians gave up the optimal solution proposed by Xu Jie.

"Since the cowardly Italians did not dare to try, then the laurels of this era must fall on the heads of the Germans!" When Tirpitz handed over Xu Jie's plan for a 12-gun battleship to Wilhelm II, the emperor, who was extremely fanatical about the navy, said excitedly, and after learning that the design was in the hands of Mr. Xu in Huaxia. The German designers, who had previously complained about the reliability of the triple turret and problems with the design of the hull, quickly quieted down. Unconsciously, designers from all over the world have formed a blind obedience to the "Xu's design" that wins all battles. Warships that have stood the test of war are enough to break all doubts. What's more, this is made for Huaxia, if there is a problem according to the design, it will also be paid by Beiyang, and it will have no impact on Germany.

In this way, the battleship with a displacement of up to 23,000 tons equipped with four triple main guns officially started, (two triple turrets in the bow carry the layout, and a three-company turret in the stern is lowered to a deck layout) 16 6-inch secondary guns are all turrets. (pseudo-turret, without dressing room) THE THICKNESS OF THE SIDE LINE ARMOR IS 280MM AND THE INCLINATION IS 19 DEGREES. (THERE IS ALSO A 60MM LARGE INCLINATION DOME ARMOR BEHIND THE MAIN ARMOR, AND THE HORIZONTAL PART IS 60MM.) THE UPPER DECK IS 30MM HORIZONTAL. The main armor belt is 3.8 meters high. THE THICKNESS OF THE UPPER ARMOR IS 150MM, THERE IS NO TURRET ARMOR, AND THE NOSE AND TAIL ARMOR ARE 150MM. TURRET FRONTAL 350MM. TURRET 320MM TURRET 200MM ON THE SIDES AND 180MM IN THE REAR. The design speed is 20 knots. Design power 28000 hp. The hull is 170 meters long, 28 meters wide and has a draft of 9.4 meters.

Some people rejoice and some people worry. The Italians, who also produced new battleships for the Beiyang on this day, were not so happy, because they suddenly found out that the battleships they built were actually not the most advanced! Actually, it's nothing, you can't always have the most advanced warships, even the British Royal Navy does not dare to say that its warships have always been the best, in fact, the British Royal Navy has very few warships that can be called the first in the world.

On Xu Jie's plane, the strongest battleship in Nelson's era was the Spaniard's Trident 4-tier artillery deck battleship. The first ironclad ship in the world was the French Samurai-class, and by the eighties of the nineteenth century, the Courbet-class of the French was no worse than the warships of the British Empire. The monarchy was not necessarily stronger than the German Brandenburg, inferior to the French battleships with turret main guns, and not as majestic as the American Indiana class, with turret-based 13-inch and 8-inch guns enough to kill the larger Majestic class. And in the era of dreadnought, when the queen showed off her might, the German Bavaria and the 12-gun iron turtle of the American imperialism still held the queen on the battle line. As for the battle patrol, during the 1st World War, the German Lütsov was the swan song of that time!

However, the Italian people and navy were still dissatisfied with the fact that the world's greatest power had slipped through their fingers, and Italian newspapers and public opinion accused Vittorio of abandoning the construction of the strongest battleship for personal reasons, and ceding this honor to the Germans. Vittorio, who had been regarded as the pride of Italy since 1890, was criticized for the first time in 10 years, but Vittorio did not defend himself against these accusations, except that Vittorio explained his choice this way at a naval hearing.

"Italy does not have too many resources to experiment with the design concept of a certain warship, in 1890, a hot (Baidu) Naya type protective cruiser was only about 300,000 pounds, and a Garibaldi-class armored cruiser was about 600,000 pounds, a Dante-class battleship was more than 1 million pounds, and now, the normal selling price of the 10-gun battleship ordered by Huaxia in our country has reached more than 1.5 million pounds, and the battleship we build for Huaxia will be the same type as our own battleship, This can effectively reduce costs. None of us will know how well this ship will perform until it is finished and put into the war, so I would rather choose a more conservative design for some designs and techniques that are beyond my knowledge. ”

And then Vittorio expressed his concerns: "In actual combat, the walk of Dante's triple 10-inch main gun is not ideal, although Mr. Xu said that the problem of walking too big can be avoided through gunnery, but it has not been tested in actual combat, so I dare not take risks." The use of a knapsack turret with a full-axis layout of the main gun can indeed maximize the side-chord firepower, but the high gun position has a certain impact on the stability of the ship. And in order to avoid the situation where the two turrets are too close together and the two turrets are destroyed by one shot, the distance between the turrets must be ensured, which lengthens the hull and further increases the tonnage. At its worst, the tonnage of this battleship was conservatively estimated at 23,000 tons, and the construction of such a large warship was undoubtedly a very big challenge for the Italian shipbuilding industry. ”

There is another reason, which Vittorio did not say, and that is that the ability of Huaxia to pay made Italian shipbuilders somewhat dissatisfied, and when Italian battleships did not open the market, they could sell them at a low price in exchange for reputation. But when this brand has risen, the major shipyards began to calculate the amount of money that Huaxia could pay. They can't be blamed for this, the merchants are just chasing profits, and when they heard that a 23,000-ton battleship with 12 12-inch guns would only pay 1.4 million pounds, they gave up.

In this way, the Germans obtained the most powerful design of their contemporaries at a low price, while the Italians, after weighing up, chose a more conservative warship, and the two countries could be said to have their own needs. The Huaxia Navy, on the other hand, received the first batch of 4 new warships. And these battleships have a resounding name in the newspapers of China - dreadnoughts! Well, this is Xu Jie once again plagiarizing the creation of the British.

And the construction of these four warships did not affect only China, Germany and Italy, and an invisible supercurrent quickly swept the entire world. All countries that have appeals to sea power have set their sights on these new warships, and I have to say that Xu Jie's leap forward is too big. From the 14,000-ton Ninghai-class battleships to the 23,000-ton battleships. It is a subversive change in design concepts and combat methods. The suffocating tactics that emphasize the amount of projection and the separate way of fighting the artillery are swept closer to the garbage heap, and the all-heavy artillery and unified fire control and greater tonnage arm this steel behemoth! Before it was born, it has shocked the world! (To be continued.) )