With the arrival of April 1889, the **-class dome cruiser completed all the preliminary work and won the praise of the Italian Navy with its excellent price-performance ratio and diverse combinations. To this end, under the vigorous operation of Master Brin. The Italian Navy terminated the construction program of all other types of dome cruisers and began to produce the ** class dome cruisers in full force. At the Italian Royal Navy shipyards in Arsenale and Spezia, construction of a total of 4 Type ** cruisers began. Because the construction of other dome cruisers was cancelled, the Italian Navy had ample funds to arm these four **-class dome cruisers. Under the impetus of Brin and Commissioned Leo and others, the Italian Navy decisively chose a high configuration. All four ships use a 15,000-horsepower main engine with gun emplacements in the bow and stern. Under Xu Jie's construction, Brin decisively adopted the turret designed by Xu Jie, with a single-mounted 8-inch gun at the end and one at the end. The expected rate of fire is 30 to 40 seconds per shot. In this way, the **-class dome cruiser has a top speed of 22.5 knots and 2-door 8-inch and 4-door 6-inch side firepower. In terms of firepower, defense, and speed, it stabilized any dome cruiser of the same tonnage at the time. As the designer of the **-class dome cruiser, Xu Jiehe commissioned Leo to become famous overnight. It has become a rising superstar in the Italian shipbuilding industry. Some people can work and Brin admires. The two received an extremely high status among the designers of the Italian Navy. And with the collection of relevant intelligence by the intelligence departments of various countries, some details about the **-class dome cruiser have also been put in front of the navies and designers of various countries.

"I heard that the Italians have come up with a new ship?" Fisher said to William White, who was looking at the drawings.

"It should be said that this is a very good battleship, although it cannot fight against the main warship of the Grand Fleet in a head-to-head confrontation, but it is still a sharp dagger, and it can pose a serious threat to the transportation lines on which the British Empire depends." William White put down the drawings in his hand and helped his eyes, and said with a straight face.

"Do you think the boat will live up to the design targets? It always feels like its tonnage is a bit on the small side. Fisher asked.

"There should be no problem with the performance of this ship to achieve the above, and the most successful thing about the designer named Xu Jie and the designer who commissioned Leo is that the whole battleship does not have a trace of excess weight. They spent every pound of weight on strengthening the overall performance of the ship, discarding useless angles of attack and torpedoes that did not do much, and at the same time optimizing the internal structure of the ship, which is certainly more resistant to damage than our current ships with large divisions. William White said sternly.

"You mean, this time the Italians went ahead of us?" Fisher said with a frown.

"Taking into account the relatively backward industrial base of the Italians, the performance of this ship is on the same level as the new Dome cruiser that we are about to build. Of course, the ** class may be a little higher, but the sparkle of the design ideas on this boat cannot but attract our attention. If I could, I would like to meet the designer from the East. Sir White said with a smile.

"Thank you for the introduction, I think I can use my service in the Mediterranean Fleet to give you a ride." With that, Fisher stood up and said goodbye to White.

An hour later, the British Admiralty.

"Sir White thought that this battleship of the Italians was quite good, and the basic design standards could be met. Your Excellency Lieutenant General. Fisher said straight to the point.

"This is not good news for the Royal Navy." Lord George Tryon shook his head and said.

"In this bathtub in the Mediterranean, warships like the Italian Navy do not pose much of a threat to the Mediterranean Fleet." Fisher didn't say nervously.

"Do you know why I can become a vice admiral and you can only be my subordinate?" George Tryan said dissatisfied. "Because you never look at this from a global perspective. You see, the British Empire's navy had to protect not only the Mediterranean, but also the Atlantic, Indian and Far East!! Lord George said with some annoyance.

"The Royal Navy's Grand Fleet is not afraid of any challenge. As early as Trafalgar, the British Royal Navy and Lord Nelson had already demonstrated to the world Britain's irrefutable domination of the oceans. Fisher said impassionedly.

"Young man, you have a lot to learn. You don't understand enough naval strategy. The Royal Navy not only had to ensure control of the world's oceans, but also to maintain tens of thousands of nautical miles of sea transport lines. If it could only ensure that the sea was not used by other powers, and that the resources of the colonies around the world could not be transported to Britain itself, then Britain was not far from defeat. George said dissatisfiedly tapping his pen on the table. …,

"Do you mean that the French, as well as the Russians, who are popular with the ideas of the new school, will be interested in this new ship?" Fisher suddenly realized.

"It is so, if France or Russia were to buy a large number of such dome-armored cruisers from Italy, or to buy drawings altogether, I think the Royal Navy would have to buy a lot of fast warships. And you know, in order to round up an assault ship, our side has to put in 4-5 times more warships. I don't want to use General Drake's tactics against the Royal Navy. George Tryan said with some annoyance.

"It seems that we need to talk to the Italian side. At the very least, there are a few restrictions on the export of this type of warship. Fisher is also aware of the severity of the problem.

"From the current point of view, the confrontation between the French and the Germans on the European continent will not affect us much. But the giant bear from the Arctic posed a certain challenge to the British Royal Navy. Although the Russian fleet could not gain sea supremacy, it was troublesome enough to build a large number of attack ships. Also, if I'm not mistaken, this ship could be a huge shock to Armstrong Shipyard's overseas orders. The capitalists are going to suffer some losses. Speaking of this, George Tryen smiled.

While the British were worried about their shipping lines, the Italians were excited about the money that was pouring in. 1 month later, the top 3 in South America, Argentina, Brazil and Chile have already expressed interest in this type of warship. The Spaniards, who are preparing to revitalize the navy, have already arrived, ready to negotiate the purchase of relevant technology and arrange production at the Spanish shipyard in Bazin. Although the arrogant Gallic rooster and the huge polar bear did not make much of a move on the surface, the military attache of the Russian embassy in Italy had begun to secretly contact the Spezia shipyard and the Italian Admiralty. The French, on the other hand, prudently chose to continue gathering information and continue to wait and see.