"THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT CAME OUT, THE COMBAT EFFICIENCY OF THE NEW AUGER-HUNGARIAN 350MM HEAVY GUN IS MUCH HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE 12-INCH HEAVY GUN, ALTHOUGH THESE GUNS ARE SIEGE GUNS AND NAVAL GUNS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT, AT LEAST THE ANGLE OF FIRE AND MUZZLE VELOCITY CAN NOT BE COMPARED WITH THE REAL NAVAL GUNS, BUT WE CAN FIND SOMETHING FROM IT, THIS TIME THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN SOLDIERS ARE VERY PRAGMATIC. There are some things I think you need. A day later, Siperl came to Scheer's study with the materials he had put in order.

"First of all, Austria-Hungary used a reduced charge to simulate the situation of a low elevation angle design. THEY WERE TESTED SEPARATELY ON VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL TARGETS, AND IN THE FACE OF VERTICAL TARGETS PROTECTED BY HEAVY ARMOR, THE 350MM CLASS GUNS HAD SOME ADVANTAGES OVER THE 305MM GUNS. But that's not the point. ALTHOUGH THIS ADVANTAGE IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR US TO MAKE UP OUR MINDS TO DIRECTLY DEVELOP A 350MM GUN. ACCORDING TO OUR ESTIMATES, AT A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 15 KM, A GUN WITH A MEDIUM MUZZLE VELOCITY OF 350 MM WILL HAVE A VERTICAL PENETRATION DEPTH OF ABOUT 50 MM HIGHER THAN THAT OF A 305MM 50L GUN. Siperl thought for a moment and said.

"What is really meaningful lies in the following points, first of all, for the destruction of the light protection zone, the shells weighing 600+ KG are obviously much stronger than the shells of less than 400KG, and in the case of the same armor that cannot be stopped, the damage caused by the 12-inch gun may not even be the average of the 14-inch gun." (History is true, in the Battle of Jutland that year, the Queen's 15-inch cannon allowed the Von der Tann to enter 700 tons of water with a single shot!) ）

"On the other hand, the strike efficiency of larger caliber guns against horizontal armor exceeds that of 12-inch guns several times. Because the muzzle velocity is relatively slow, the trajectory is more curved. So they have a higher chance of hitting horizontal armor than they do to vertical armor. IN THE SIMULATION, THE 350MM HEAVY GUN CAN EASILY DESTROY ABOUT 60MM HORIZONTAL ARMOR AT A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 15KM. As for whether the larger thickness can withstand it, we are still investigating. And even if the horizontal armor blocks the shell, it can still cause the horizontal armor to crack. This, in turn, had a fatal effect on the lower compartments. Sippel said as he handed over a copy of the data.

"FORTUNATELY, OUR BATTLESHIP IS TOPPED BY A 25MM STEEL PLATE. THERE IS ALSO A 50MM THICK DOME ARMOR UNDERNEATH, AND I THINK OUR HORIZONTAL PROTECTION IS BASICALLY ENOUGH. Scheer said with a sigh of relief.

"It's not that simple, according to our tests, if it is two layers of armor, the design with a thin top and a thick bottom is not as good as a design with a thick top and a thin bottom, for the simple reason that the latter can still block the opponent's fragments with the lower layer even if the upper armor is broken. But the former's first thin layer of armor will not have much effect. Although it will shatter the quilt cap. But horizontal armor is homogeneous and non-hardened, and the cap is of limited significance. Siperl shook his head and said.

(The layout of the armor is a complex issue, and the author consulted the sources.) At least this is true in the face of bombs dropped at large angles. The 2 bombs were not capped, and there were no problems with horizontal protection composed of homogeneous armor. As for the shells, I didn't find any relevant information, so let's leave it at that. ）

"The best way to do this is to get a layer of thick enough armor directly on the battleship. Then add a layer of structural steel behind it as an anti-cracking layer. Single-layered horizontal armor of large thickness was superior to either of the previous two designs. The structural steel at the back prevents the backplate from collapsing. Of course, if we have the money, I think we can replace it with homogeneous steel armor. Sippel said.

"Larger-caliber artillery and reinforced horizontal armor? Is that the conclusion we came to? As if it weren't a big deal. I don't think it will be of any greater significance other than to convince Mr. Admiralty to develop a larger caliber gun. Now Berlin should be discussing plans to build new warships. And the fast battleships that are in the limelight seem to be the most important part of the next batch of ship-building plans. Scheer said meaninglessly. The goal of convincing Tirpitz to design a larger caliber gun had been achieved, and even Siper's words were enough at first. And what Seeper went on to say clearly had other meanings

"Now, we are faced with a choice, or rather a fog. The fast battleship was not as good as one might think, and he had a trap that was difficult to avoid in terms of price-performance ratio. If you're not careful, you might get caught up in it. So I hope you will be able to convince the Navy. Minimize the proportion of fast warships. Siperl said carefully.

"In future naval battles, vertical protection of sufficient thickness will no longer be able to protect a battleship. He needs thicker horizontal protection, and horizontal protection is undoubtedly very heavy, for example, a battleship has a main armor belt with a height of 3.5 meters, which is basically enough to withstand shells. But if you want to increase horizontal protection, let's say that the width of the horizontal protection of this battleship is 28 meters. THEN INCREASING THE THICKNESS OF THE HORIZONTAL ARMOR BY 1MM IS EQUAL TO INCREASING THE VERTICAL ARMOR BY 4MM! Taking into account the horizontal destruction of shells, the weight of the armor will continue to rise. If the tonnage of the battleship is certain, then the firepower and power will inevitably be compressed. Sippel said.

"And then?" Scheer is a little bit of a second monk who can't figure his head. Now that he suddenly doesn't know Cippel himself, when did this guy become interested in battleship design again? Could it be that he is going to switch to shipbuilding instead of sailing again?!

"And then? As a result, if the ship had to increase its speed, it would need to install more boilers and turbines, and more armor would have to be added to protect it. In the end, your battleship can only have two ways to choose, or build a protection that can only be regarded as average, fast, firepower can be called scum, and the cost is expensive. Or, even if the noodles are added with more water, the water is added more, and the noodles are kept on paper! In his words, Sippel expressed his concern about the Navy's future options.

"But now it seems that this problem is not very serious, although the Longtai-class battleships are more expensive, but the firepower has reached 75% of the Longxing-class, and although the armor protection is poor, it can block 12-inch guns. However, the speed has increased by about 3 knots. From the current point of view, the Longtai-class battleships undoubtedly have a great advantage. If you only have these reasons, I don't think it's likely that we will be able to convince the Admiralty. Scheer said with some embarrassment.

"The scenery of the Longtai-class fast battleships is just a flash in the pan. Think about what I told you just now, in the face of the vertical penetration depth of the 12-inch cannon that is not high and the horizontal penetration depth that is poor. Naturally, the Longtai class can be taken into account in terms of tonnage at the same time, but what about later? With the installation of larger caliber guns, ensuring horizontal protection will greatly increase the weight! Once a certain value is exceeded. There must be all trade-offs in terms of Battleship 3 performance! And the Admiralty required the speed of the warship to be at least 25 knots. This multiplies the amount of power required! And the increase in power not only means the power weight, but also means that the battleship needs to be stretched to accommodate more boilers, and the elongation of the hull involves an increase in the weight of the structure and the increase in the protection required! It's going to be a nightmare! Siperl said anxiously.

And throughout history, looking at the 1 World War 1 naval warships, there is indeed such a problem. The layout of the Seydlitz is similar to that of the Caesar, which is only 172 meters long. But the length of the Seydlitz's hull reached 200 meters! Nearly 30 meters more! The latter means that the Sedlitz is at least 20 meters longer than the Caesar in terms of armor belt length! The firepower is one level lower than the Caesar class, the former is 12-inch 50L, and the latter is 11-inch 50L. AS FOR PROTECTION, IT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, CAESAR'S PROTECTION IS A WHOLE PIECE OF 350MM ARMOR WITH A HEIGHT OF MORE THAN 3 METERS, WHILE THE SEDLITZ IS ALL 230MM EXCEPT FOR THE NARROW ONE AT THE WATERLINE! In terms of endurance, the Caesar is also much higher than the Seydlitz, the former running 4,700 nautical miles at 19 knots, while the latter is running 4,700 nautical miles at 14 knots! The total price of the two sides is roughly the same. The final result is that the Seydlitz can't stop Caesar if it wants to run, but if it is a fight, please refer to Invincible and Lütsov for the result!

AS FOR THE SUBSEQUENT BATTLESHIPS, LÜTSOV WAS EXPENSIVE TO BUILD COMPARED TO BAVARIA, AND THE PROTECTION WAS 50MM WORSE THAN THAT OF BAVARIA. In terms of firepower, it is even worse than 2 streets. A 26,000-ton warship costs more than a 28,000-ton one. As for the unfinished Mackensen, the cost is even more staggering. In order to save tonnage and cost, Mackensen didn't even have dome armor! But even so, the tonnage has reached more than 30,000! As for the price, it will be an astronomical amount! But combat effectiveness, running into Bavaria is still the rhythm of being killed! In other words, once the fleets of the same size on both sides meet, the battlecruiser can only choose to run or slaughter one-sidedly in the face of the battleship.

"I CAN BE SURE THAT WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY, WHEN THE 350MM CLASS ARTILLERY IS EQUIPPED, ALL FAST WARSHIPS WILL REACH A LIMIT, AND AFTER HIGH SPEEDS AND BARELY ABLE ARMOR, THE MAIN GUN FIREPOWER WILL DROP TO A LEVEL THAT WE CANNOT TOLERATE! And if we want to continue to have a ship that is quite good in all respects, then the tonnage and cost of this ship will reach an almost unacceptable level. I don't want my fleet to be a crispy fleet, every battleship of the German Empire is incomparably precious. We need to have fast warships, but there must be trade-offs in the choice of tonnage and speed. In addition, we need the navy to have a larger slipway, and the ability to pass through the Kiel Canal must also be improved, which will directly determine the performance limit of our warships! Looking at the silent Scheer, Siperl finally lost some patience.

"Can you tell me, when did you switch to shipbuilding? I can guarantee that what you just said is definitely not at the level you should have, or even that of any German designer I know. I have only seen the forward-looking and prescient nature of these words. And this man is in the Far East! Scheer said suspiciously.

"Well, well, I'm a few days behind you, but before we arrived, we received a secret telegram, supposedly as a report on the Imperial Far East Fleet's support to the Huaxia Navy, and part of it can be seen with my permission. Due to the high level of secrecy, it was impossible for this content to be transmitted by telegram. I was skeptical at first, but when I saw that the Austrians' test and predictions were consistent, I decided to believe it. Siperl said with some embarrassment.

Thank you for the monthly pass support of the book friend Day Sleeping Animal~~~. (To be continued......)