The arms race is one of the most terrifying races in the world, and once the two sides have begun, it is very difficult to stop. Unless one of them is squeezed out of everything and can't play anymore, the winner will be decided. An arms race does not necessarily lead to war, but it can still bring down a huge empire, and one of the most important reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union in history is that the Soviet Union can no longer play, and even if it cuts spending in other areas, it will not be able to compete with the powerful NATO.

And in this time and space, once the arms race between Britain and Germany began, it could not be stopped. Historically, this has been the case, and now the Germans are more confident in themselves, and naturally they will not stop. And the British were also pushed into a corner. Unless we acquiesce in the eventual rise of Germany, we can only grit our teeth and persevere, and it is precisely because of this that Churchill's series of vigorous measures can be carried out. The British Empire distrusts everything except the sword in its hand! They want to prove that the glory of the British Empire for hundreds of years cannot be tarnished! And the Poseidon Trident will destroy any enemy who dares to challenge!

And Germany will not give up, to be honest, since Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy, it has chosen a path of no return against the old colonial empire to the end. While the Germans' mighty High Seas Fleet was holding its longsword at the throat of the British Empire, French and Russian sabers were already aimed at the Germans' chests and waists. Both sides must not relax, whoever admits defeat will die!

Britain and France competed from the beginning of the dreadnought. The British Dreadnought and the German Nassau were launched almost simultaneously. Later, after the 14-inch artillery was released, the British began to engage George V. And the Germans also began to get Caesar-class battleships, and the actions of both sides can almost be described as front and back, and when Churchill came to power. After directly planning to build a 15-inch carrier, the Germans realized that this would be a new challenge for them!

The tonnage of dreadnoughts has gone from just over 20,000 tons to around 25,000 tons, which has put some pressure on German shipbuilders. And now the British directly set the 15-inch carrier plan at about 30,000 tons, which made the German Navy feel Alexander. The Germans wanted to build a larger 15-inch battleship, but the difference between the ideal and the reality was too great, and if the German battleship wanted to have firepower that could overwhelm the British. Even with 10 15-inch guns, the tonnage of this battleship will be at least more than 32,000 tons! The leap was bigger than the leap from the Nassau-class battleship to the Caesar-class!

Historically, there was a period of hesitation when the Germans got the king. The Germans were still hesitant, even though by 1912 the German High Seas Fleet was sure to have 16 capital ships of all kinds. Among them, there were 6 ships of more than 23 knots. But the Germans knew that their enemies were much stronger. The British built a total of 2 class dreadnoughts according to the design of the Chinese. However, there are a total of 8 dreadnoughts of these two levels, although the caliber of the guns is a little smaller, but the armor protection is excellent.

At the same time, in terms of battle cruisers, the British also had 6 battleships already in service and order, of which 2 were textiles of the original Longxu class, another 2 were high-speed simplified versions, and 2 were Australia and New Zealand. Quantitatively. In 1910, the British Rapid Fleet was already the same size as the German Home Fleet, the Rapid Fleet, in 1912. And the British ordered 2 more from Huaxia! There is also a Lion and a Queen Mary on the slipway! Even taking into account the fleet of the Turks, Germany was 2 years behind the other side!

After the inventory of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers. The rest is super dreadnought, although the time of the Bold gave the Germans a breath of relief, but according to the current progress, these behemoths equipped with 13.5-inch guns are still as many as 10 after all, and even if these battleships are considered to be improved, the time for their formation of combat effectiveness will be around 1912. By 1912, the British had at least 26 battleships! If the warships ordered in Huaxia can be completed, it will be 28 ships! And Germany has only 16 ships! Of course, Germany also has opportunities to increase, but the balance of power between the two sides cannot be changed. (Historically, the British and Imperialists fought a 27-18 balance of power.) Of these, the 18 included Blucher and Goburn. ）

IF EVERYTHING REMAINS THE SAME, THEN THE COMBAT POWER OF THE GERMANS IS PROBABLY ONLY ABOUT 6% OF THE BRITISH, AND THE BRITISH STILL HAVE 10 SUPER DREADNOUGHT BATTLESHIPS EQUIPPED WITH 343MM GUNS AND AT LEAST 4 BATTLE CRUISERS OF THE SAME CLASS OF ARTILLERY, WHAT DO THE GERMANS HAVE? The Germans had only 8 battleships with 14-inch guns, and even in terms of single ships, the British battleships had 10 main guns, while the Germans had only 8 battleships, and if you count the barrels, the Germans may only be half as large as the British! Although the German battleships are better protected, how can you fight such a big gap? (Of course, at this time, no one except Xu Jie knew that there was a problem with the British's shells.) ）

"Before 1914, I would like the Imperial Navy to have 21 capital ships of various kinds, which means that in addition to the ships currently set, we will need 4 additional battleships and 1 fast battleship! The British won't stop, and neither can we! We need a new type of ship that must be even more powerful than the Caesar-class! The Caesar no longer has an advantage, we must re-establish the quality advantage! Scheer wrote in his report to Tirpitz.

Tirpitz was deeply impressed with Schell's opinion, he believed that the German Navy needed to be further expanded, but when it came time to discuss it specifically, he was confused, how to get this new generation of warships? Whether to continue the 14-inch gun to the end or continue to use the 15-inch gun, to be honest, although the Germans also set up a project for the 15-inch gun. However, due to the difficulty of research and development, the specific service time of this gun is still to be determined. According to German estimates, it will not be done until at least between 1913 and 1914, right? And this is still their own estimate, if it is not done by then, what will the German Navy fight? A battleship without a turret is in the shipyard? This is too risky! So big that even Tirpitz, who had always believed in attack, was unwilling to take it.

ACCORDING TO THE ANALYSIS OF RELEVANT TECHNICAL PERSONNEL, IF THE GERMANS WANTED TO DEPLOY 10 350MM GUNS ON THE BATTLESHIP AND ENSURE ADEQUATE PROTECTION, THE TONNAGE WOULD BE AT LEAST 30,000 TONS. And if 8 15-inch guns are used, the tonnage may be lower. And the combat power of the latter will be higher. The prospect is tempting, but the reality is more backbone. Although the Germans could consider the 3-pack installation, the front-line officers compared the Nassau-class walk with the walk of the Longteng provided by Huaxia and found that the 3-pack turret seemed to be relatively large even if they were fired separately, and it was difficult to coordinate the shooting. Four shots at a time and five rounds at a time were more troublesome for observation, and from the point of view of gunnery, the German front-line officers and soldiers were unwilling to find this trouble for themselves, and the factory did not have a good impression of the overweight three-pack assembly. It is a bit difficult to produce.

One may ask, the Turkish fleet and the German Far Eastern Fleet are also armed with triple turrets, so how can this problem be solved? The Germans will secretly tell you that these turrets are made of Italians! Don't forget, the Italians' new dreadnought is a mix of a duplex and a triplet! And the turrets of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the Turkish battleships, were directly COPY the designs of the Italians!

Tirpitz decided to build 4 new battleships to make up for the lack of regular battleships, these 4 battleships will be equipped with 10 350MM main guns, have the same protection as the Caesar-class, and the standard displacement is about 30,000 tons, these battleships will be named the King-class! In addition to being the most formidable battleship of the German High Seas Fleet for the next three years, this class of battleships will also serve as a technical reserve for the future Bismarck-class battleships with 10 380 guns. Construction of the Prince Bismarck-class battleship, which can be regarded as the culmination of German naval expertise, will begin around 1913, and the King-class will begin in 1911 at the latest.

In addition to this, Tirpitz agreed to Hipper's request to strengthen the fast fleet by starting construction of another fast battleship after 1912, and if all went well, by about 1914 there would be 21 capital ships on the German mainland. And 2 or 3 Bismarck-class battleships will be commissioned around 1916, and it depends on whether additional fast battleships will be added by then. After all, according to the current cost, the king class is at least around 2.6 million pounds, and Prince Bismarck is likely to break the 3 million pound mark! This is already a very heavy burden on the German government!

"The war should not be later than 1915, and if it drags on any longer, the enemy's strength will grow much faster than ours, and Russia has now recovered, although judging by the fighting in the Far East, the Russians are indeed not as terrible as we think. But the Russian army, armed by the British and French, will definitely cause us great trouble, and besides, the expenditure on the navy is somewhat high, and although I would very much like to make the Imperial fleet stronger, I must not forget our enemies on land, and I hope that the money we have invested in the navy will be worth it. Wilhelm II explained this to Tirpitz more than once, so Tirpitz knew very well that before the war in the future, it was almost the limit that Germany could muster 21 warships on its own soil, and it was unlikely that there would be more.

Originally, Hipper once again proposed to transfer the Spey fleet back, but Tirpitz once again rejected the proposal, because on the whole, if the Spee's fleet could contain about 6 British capital ships, then the support for the mainland would be stronger than the fleet's return voyage. After all, in his opinion, two battleships controlled by the Turks would not be able to accomplish this difficult task in any case. The Spee fleet must be nailed to the death in the Indian Ocean!

Thank you to the book friend Dramekyo for the monthly pass support ~~~~. (To be continued......)