"It is clear to all the elders and cabinet ministers that the key to defeating China lies in the navy. Since the strength of the Chinese navy has increased greatly. Then, in the same way, the Imperial Navy also needs to be strengthened accordingly. We will be responsible for communicating with the other veterans to ensure that the Navy's plan for the construction of new warships is approved. Gonbei Yamamoto said.

Rokuro Yashiro, Suo Shimamura and Gentaro Yamashita all had happy faces. The promise of Yamamoto Gonbei undoubtedly gave them hope. Although, now Japan is in a difficult situation. But for the Japanese Navy, it was undoubtedly their best era. Japan is concentrating its national efforts on developing its navy, so that they can get all their resources.

"Is there a plan for the future capital ships of the Navy, whether it is planned to build battleships or battle cruisers?" Gonbei Yamamoto asked.

"My lord, we already have four 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers. On the side of the battle cruisers, it was enough. In the future, we need a powerful battleship to deal with the battleships of the China. Therefore, we need to build a powerful battleship in the future. As for the drawings, we have already prepared them, so please take a look at them. Yashiro Rokuro said hurriedly.

Subsequently, two officers of the Admiralty laid out the design drawings of the battleships of the next class planned to be built by the Japanese Navy on the table, and Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo immediately surrounded them. However, after seeing the appearance of this class of battleship, both of them couldn't help but gasp.

The battleship planned by the Japanese Navy was a huge battleship with a flying scissor bow and Nagafune Island. The most unbelievable thing is that there are six twin-mounted main guns on this class of battleships. It can be seen how strong the firepower of this battleship is.

"Yashiro-kun, this battleship. Has it been tested? Will there be problems with the installation of so many cannons? Elder Heihachiro Togo asked.

"My lord, it has been carefully tested by the designers, and there will be no problems. The reason why so many main guns were installed on this class of battleships was to completely suppress the 'Yongxing-class' battleships of the China Navy in terms of firepower. The 'Longxing-class' battleships of the Chinese were armed with four twin 343 mm guns, while our next class battleships were armed with six twin 356 mm guns. That's the case. We will have an overwhelming advantage in future wars. "said the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Gentaro Yamashita.

This battleship was named the 'Fuso-class' battleship by the Japanese Navy. According to the Japanese design scheme, this battleship is 205.1 meters long, 28.7 meters wide, 8.7 meters draft, and has a standard displacement of 30,600 tons. The battleship uses 24 large oil-coal boilers and two steam turbines, with a maximum power of 40,000 horsepower and four-axis propulsion. The maximum speed reached 22.5 knots. It is armed with six twin 45-caliber 356 mm main guns, 16 50-caliber 152 mm single guns, eight 40 x caliber 80 mm single guns, and six 533 mm underwater torpedo tubes. In terms of armor, the side armor is 305 mm, the deck armor is 65 mm, the turret armor is 280 mm, and the command tower armor is 305 mm.

From the design drawings of the 'Fuso-class' battleships, you can see the shadow of the 'Kongo-class' battlecruisers. In fact, the Japanese Navy chose to design and build the battlecruiser "Kongo" by the British. For the purpose of introducing the latest capital ship design and construction technology, trainees were sent to the United Kingdom to study. The design of the Fuso-class hull designed by Japan was improved with reference to the drawings of the Kongo-class battlecruisers. The protection is stronger than that of the King Kong class, and the design speed is 22.5 knots. Two main gun turrets were added to the middle and rear of the hull. Six twin main gun turrets are arranged on the longitudinal central axis of the hull: turrets No. 1 and No. 2 are knapsack in front of the bridge; The third turret is behind the fore mainmast and the first chimney; The fourth turret is between the second chimney and the rear mainmast; Turrets No. 5 and No. 6 are piggyback-mounted behind the rear mainmast. The boiler compartment was divided into two parts, front and rear, by the main gun turret in the middle of the hull. The main gun is the same twin 356 mm main gun as the King Kong class, and 16 152 mm gun silhouette secondary guns are arranged in the long bow tower. The disadvantages of the arrangement are: the space in the power compartment is limited, the defense part of the heavy armor belt needs to be extended too long, the muzzle explosion will sweep the whole ship when the main gun is fired, and the impact on the superstructure and mutual interference when the guns are fired. Because it was the first time that the Japanese Navy tried to design and build a super dreadnought-class battleship on its own, the overall layout, construction technology and experience of the Fuso class lacked a lot. Overall, it's not ideal.

But even so, once the 'Fuso-class' battleship is completed and put into service, it can be called a very powerful battleship. At least, the twin-mounted main gun, which has as many as six seats, looks so powerful. It is half more than the four twin main guns of the 'Longxing-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy. In fact, if so many main guns were fired at the same time, the huge recoil would cause the 'Fuso-class' battleship to shake violently, which would seriously affect the accuracy and speed of the shot. In addition, the excessively long hull and relatively small displacement made the armor of the 'Fuso-class' battleships relatively weak, not to mention that compared with the 'Longxing-class' battleships of the Imperial Navy, even the armor of the 'Longteng-class' battleships was stronger than that of the 'Fuso-class' battleships. Of course, because the main guns of the 'Fuso-class' battleships were of huge caliber, the armor of the battleships of the Imperial Navy might not be able to withstand the main guns of the 'Fuso-class' battleships in the case of mutual bombardment. But in the same way, the main guns of the battleships of the Imperial Navy were also able to tear through the armor of the 'Fuso-class' battleships.

"How many battleships of this class does the Navy plan to build?" Gonbei Yamamoto asked.

From the design, it can be seen that the cost of the 'Fuso-class' battleships is definitely not low. For those six twin 356-mm guns alone, Japan had to import them from Britain, which was undoubtedly a huge amount of money.

"My lord, we plan to build four 'Fuso-class' battleships, the first ship will be named 'Fuso', the second ship will be named 'Yamashiro', the third ship will be named 'Ise', and the fourth ship will be named 'Hyuga'." Yashiro Rokuro said.

If the Japanese Navy could have four 'Fuso-class' battleships, once these battleships were commissioned, the Japanese Navy would be able to completely dominate them. In the future decisive battle, it can even defeat China in one fell swoop.

"Four? There are too many of them. I'll try my best. Yamamoto said with a solemn expression.

"I'll leave everything to you." Rokuro Yashiro, Suio Shimamura, and Gentaro Yamashita all bowed down to Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo. The Japanese Cabinet, although nominally in control of Japan's political situation. However, everything needs to be agreed upon by the senators first. Otherwise, even the cabinet will not be able to do anything.

Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo went separately to meet with the Japanese elders and enlist their support. Two days later, the Japanese senators convened a meeting of the senators. Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo officially proposed the construction plan of the next capital ship of the Japanese Navy. This plan, unsurprisingly, was opposed by the other patriarchs. After all, this is a military expenditure of nearly 200 million yen! This is also because it was built by the Japanese themselves, which can save a lot of money, and only the reason why key components, such as artillery and power systems, need to be ordered from the British. Otherwise, the cost of construction will probably skyrocket.

Japan's economic situation has deteriorated dramatically. Since the beginning of this year, China has increased its raw silk exports and started a price war with Japan. For the Chinese Empire, the export of raw silk was only one of many exports, and even if it did not make any money, it would have little impact on the Chinese Empire. On the other hand, in Japan, raw silk is already Japan's flagship export product. Once the export of raw silk does not make money, Japan's economy will deteriorate.

Therefore, Inoue Shin and Matsukata Masayoshi fiercely opposed the Japanese Navy's plan to build a new first-class warship. The veterans of the Japanese Army, Yama Aritomo, Oyama Iwa, and Katsura Taro, were also very disgusted by the Japanese Navy's behavior of making inches of inch. After all, in order to support the development of the Navy, the Army has automatically reduced military spending to a very low level. If the Japanese Navy still wants to work part-time with new warships, won't it make the Japanese Army unable to get any military spending?

However, Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo have repeatedly claimed that the addition of four capital ships to the Chinese Navy will make the Japanese Navy face a greater threat. If we want to defeat China, we must strengthen the construction of the navy. But even this could not convince the senators to fully agree with the plans of the Navy.

In the end, Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo had to settle for the next best thing. The four battleships planned to be built in the 'Fuso-class' were cut into two. As for the remaining 'Ise' and 'Hyuga', they are waiting for the right time again. If Japan's finances can improve, then the two battleships can be started. Otherwise, you'll have to keep waiting.

At the end of October 4609 (11) of the Yellow Emperor Era, the Japanese cabinet passed a resolution to increase the cost of naval construction. Over the next two years, Japan's financial award will contribute 100 million yen to the construction of two 'Fuso-class' battleships, which will enable the Japanese Navy to close the gap with the Chinese Navy. Of course, even 100 million yen is under great pressure on Japan's finances. Fortunately, the Americans on the other side of the ocean came to Japan's aid at a critical moment and provided Japan with an emergency loan, which greatly reduced Japan's financial pressure. After all, China's growing navy also poses a threat to the United States. It was in this way that the Americans expressed their protest against the accelerated development of the Chinese Empire's navy. (To be continued.) )

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