In September 1859, Emperor Long Yufei went to the Imperial Naval Base in Zhoushan, where he secretly inspected the submarine forces of the Imperial Navy. This was the first mass-produced submarine of the Imperial Navy, although now there are only two. However, the officers and men of the Imperial Navy had already begun to use these two submarines to explore tactics. Then the two submarines were passed to compensate more naval officers and men.

Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Imperial Navy, Admiral Xu Haihai, commander of the 1st Fleet of the Navy, and Admiral Liu Xu, chief of staff, accompanied Long Yufei to inspect the submarines. In the beginning, the Admirals of the Imperial Navy did not care about this hidden underwater weapon. However, when the two submarines used actual combat to tell them what the consequences of belittling the submarine were, the generals were speechless.

Taking advantage of the darkness of night, the two submarines covertly approached a 'Donghan-class' battleship of the 1st Fleet and released torpedoes less than 500 meters from the battleship. The four torpedoes quickly swooped down on the battleship 'Emperor Guangwu of Han'. The Imperial Navy's 450-mm medium torpedo was capable of reaching speeds of up to 25 knots. At a distance of several hundred meters, these torpedoes only take a dozen seconds. It was almost impossible for a battleship with a length of more than one hundred and forty meters to avoid torpedoes in a dozen seconds.

Even if the lightning protection facilities of the battleship 'Emperor Guangwu of Han' are very good, once it is hit, it will be damaged. If several torpedoes had been hit in succession, the battleship "Emperor Guangwu of Han" would have sunk.

Marshal Wei + ↘ Yong, Minister of the Imperial Navy, and the generals of the 1st Fleet were speechless one by one. The fact that a small submarine could have such a great power was completely beyond his expectations.

"Guys, what do you think now? Is it still the same as before? Now submarines. It can only carry 450 mm medium torpedoes. However, it is predictable. It won't be long before these submarines will be able to carry more powerful 533-mm heavy torpedoes. Once a dozen submarines lay in ambush at the bottom of the sea. What would be the result of launching an attack on enemy warships in its path? Long Yufei's face was longing. For wolf pack tactics, he is very much looking forward to it. The Imperial Navy had to have not only superiority on the surface, but also underwater. Although, there is no information yet that the Germans have begun the development of submarines in this area. However, the empire had to be on guard.

"Your Majesty, it's us who underestimated the submarine. In the past, we used cruisers and destroyers to carry out lightning strikes, but the battleships on the surface had to get close to the enemy ships before they could release torpedoes, and in the process. Lightning strikes will be hit by heavy fire from enemy ships, and even if they succeed, the risk is very high. If it is a submarine, it will be able to approach the enemy ship from under the water, the success rate is undoubtedly much higher, and the risk is much lower! Marshal Wei Yong, Minister of the Navy, said.

Long Yufei nodded, although the Imperial Navy was now a well-deserved overlord of the sea. However, he did not want the Imperial Navy to be arrogant and unwilling to accept new technologies. That's the case. I'm afraid it won't be long before the decline of the Imperial Navy. Wasn't the reason why the Empire was able to challenge the British Empire's maritime supremacy in the first place was because the Imperial Navy took the lead in the steam warships, making all the British sail warships rubbish? Right now. The surface warships of the Imperial Navy were undoubtedly the first in the world. But again, there is no guarantee that the Germans will not think of any other way to challenge the Empire's maritime supremacy. In such a situation, the empire can only keep improving itself.

"陛xià. The submarine is small, but it is powerful. If the range can be a little longer, the Empire's naval bases in Europe and the world can come in handy! Admiral Xu Haihai, commander of the 1st Fleet, also said. Right now. The Empire's naval bases are densely populated all over the world, and the Empire can use these military bases as a basis for submarines. Once the Reich's submarines were deployed to Europe, it would be a nightmare for the Germans, who were developing their navy vigorously. Besides, the naval base of the Imperial Navy in the British Isles could directly threaten the Germans.

A submarine of the Imperial Navy, codenamed 'Squid'. The displacement is 220 tons above the water, 290 tons underwater, 30 meters long, 3 meters wide, 4.8 meters high, and 2.4 meters draft. The maximum depth of the dive is 50 meters. Propelled by two 40-horsepower diesel engines and two electric motors, the maximum speed is 10 knots at the surface and 4 knots underwater. The surface range is 500 nautical miles, and the underwater range is 30 nautical miles. It is armed with two 450 mm torpedo tubes, capable of carrying six torpedoes. Such a range and the power of weapons are indeed not too powerful for the current battleships and even super battleships. However, when larger ocean-going submarines appeared, a huge change would take place.

"The empire needs to put more effort into the development of submarines. Efforts should be made to develop submarines capable of conducting ocean-going operations at an early date. In addition, it is necessary to come up with a practical plan for countermeasures against submarines. I hope that the submarine will serve not only as a spear for us to attack the enemy. At the same time, we must have a shield in our hands that can defend against enemy submarines! Long Yufei said. He has already joined the Imperial Academy of Sciences and began to develop sonar and related technologies. Once developed, the Imperial Navy will equip all types of destroyers, cruisers, or build a separate class of frigates dedicated to anti-submarine use. In this way, the anti-submarine capabilities of the Imperial Navy can be greatly increased.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The admirals said one after another. The Imperial Navy has always had the idea that it is necessary not only to have powerful weapons, but also to have sharp weapons to counter them. In this way, the Imperial Navy will be able to be invincible.

In addition to submarines, the Imperial Navy was also intensively developing fighter jets on ships. The Air Force has already begun mass production of fighters and bombers. With Long Yufei's intervention, the navy also invested a lot of money in the development of dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft that could attack sea targets. And, prepare to carry these fighters onto the battleship. In this way, the Imperial Navy will have a strike force from the surface of the sea to the sky and then to the underwater. Once the Trinity attack force is formed, the German Navy will be completely thrown away by the Reich, and it is impossible for them to confront the Reich and challenge the Reich's maritime supremacy.

For the current development speed of the Imperial Navy, Long Yufei is still very satisfied. It is expected that the war will probably break out in two or three years. By then, the power of the Imperial Navy will be much greater than it is now. It's not just that the number of battleships will be much larger, but at the same time the tactics of the Imperial Navy will change dramatically. Long Yufei believed that once a war broke out in the future, the Imperial Navy would definitely be able to achieve victory. Once the navy gained sea supremacy, the Reich would be able to blockade Germany completely. And then slowly strangled the Germans to death!

In the second half of 1859, the German Navy's 'Kaiser. Frederick III's class of battleships entered service, and these massive battleships with a displacement of 25,000 tons and five twin 343-mm guns made the German Navy the second largest in the world after the Imperial Chinese Navy. Four 'Caesars. The Frederick III-class battleships and four Brandenburg-class battleships gave the German Navy eight new battleships, and the number of battleships was already equal to that of the Spanish Navy. However, the combat power of the battleships far exceeded the four 'Qin-class' battleships and the four 'Western Han-class' battleships of the Spanish Navy.

It can be said that the German Navy, with the exception of the 5th Fleet of the Chinese Navy, is no longer afraid of other countries.

Kaiser Wilhelm I, despite his worries about the future of the navy, was in the 'Caesar. The last of the 'Frederick III' battleships, the 'Caesar. He was still present at the commissioning ceremony of the battleship Barbarossa. Moreover, at this ceremony, he once again delivered a speech on the future prospects of the German Navy, calling on the officers and men of the German Navy to train hard and give full play to the performance of these cutting-edge warships to defend the maritime interests of the German Reich in the future.

On November 22, 1859, Vice Admiral Philipp, commander of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, led the main force of the German Navy out of Wilhelmshaven and into the North Sea. At this moment, the sea conditions in the North Sea are very poor, with high winds and rough waves. It can be said that the climatic conditions in the North Sea are very harsh, and they are very unsuitable for a decisive battle at sea. But in the future, the decisive battle between the Imperial Chinese Navy and the German Navy is very likely to unfold in the North Sea. Therefore, the navies of both countries need to adapt to this kind of weather.

As early as 1856, the Imperial Navy's 5th Fleet, as well as the 1st Fleet, which had traveled thousands of miles, conducted live-fire exercises in the North Sea to train sailors in gunnery. Now the German Navy has joined in. Moreover, Beihai is on their doorstep, and it is undoubtedly much easier for them to train if they want to.

Stand 'Caesar. On the battleship Frederick III, Vice Admiral Philip was full of pride. The battleship at its feet has a displacement no smaller than the 'Tang-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, and the power of the 343-mm main gun is not weaker than the main gun of the 'Tang-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, and there is even an extra main gun. The only weakness is probably defense. The 5-seat twin 343mm gun was used in the 'Caesar. The Frederick III-class battleships were more elongated and narrow, which made the defenses of this class relatively weak. Also, on the speed, 'Caesar. The Frederick III-class battleships had a top speed of only 18 knots, which was only one knot faster than the Brandenburg-class battleships. It is three knots slower than the 'Tang-class' battleships of the Chinese Navy, and even one knot slower than the 'Eastern Han-class' battleships. This makes 'Caesar. The combined combat power of the 'Frederick III' class battleships was slightly inferior to that of the 'Don class' battleships.

Of course, the naval officers and men of both sides were on the same page, and the German navy was also a little worse. Therefore, this time, the main force of the German Navy went to sea for exercises in order to increase the combat strength of the fleet. (To be continued......)

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