"It's finally finished, it's really not easy." On March 18, 1903, standing on the viewing platform of the Genoa shipyard in Italy, Lin Yingqi couldn't help but sigh. The dragon power-class battleship built by Italy for the Chinese Navy was the earliest to start, and it was also the least technically difficult, but the completion time was the latest! The fast warships built by Britain and Germany for China started at least half a year late, but they were completed ahead of schedule. And the efficiency of the Italians is indeed a bit flattering. And there are also the most problems, from the unqualified parts at the beginning to the various delays in the later construction period, which made Lin Yingqi, who was in charge of the producer, think hard.

In more than 2 years, Lin Ying started to use a variety of means, including threats, bribes and inducements, and finally got all the relationships from the Italian Admiralty to the employees of the Italian Navy shipyards, and finally, the lead ship of the Longquan-class battleship was finally completed, and he could finally board the battleship.

"General Lin, if my guess is correct, I'm afraid this is the last capital ship ordered by the Huaxia Republic in our country, right?" Count Vittorio walked up and said.

"I'm afraid so. It is impossible for a strong country to support its own navy by buying warships from other countries, and when he spends his childhood, he will use his own strength to build a fleet for the protection of his own rights and interests, although the Republic of China may not order large warships from your country anymore, but the cooperation and friendship between us will continue. Battleships and light weapons design bureaus continue to be a shared asset for both countries. Lin Yingqi said.

"Your country is in a very good environment, once you can defeat Russia. Whether it is East Asia or Southeast Asia, it will be your country's first sight. Your country has sufficient resources, manpower and ambition. Perhaps the next British Empire will appear in the East. And what about Italy? Constraints in all aspects lead to the lack of all hardware resources for development. And we are surrounded by powerful countries, and if we are not careful, we will lose everything. Where do we go out? Can the fleet of the Royal Italian Navy really guarantee calm in the Adriatic? Count Vittorio shook his head helplessly.

"Alright. General Lin, let's take a look at the warships built by the Kingdom of Italy for your country, and although there have been some twists and turns, I can vouch for it with my reputation. This battleship is a collection of the most advanced shipbuilding skills of the Kingdom of Italy, and it will perform no worse than the warships built by your country in England and Germany. After a moment, Vittorio said with a smile.

"Because only one of the five turrets is a turret, the ship can use a lot of weight for other things. From the point of protection. It is a little taller than the Longxing-class battleships built by your country in Germany, and the sidechord armor is 12-inch hardened armor with a 14-degree inclination, and the height reaches 4 meters. The main horizontal armor was connected to the upper part of the main armor of the battleship. THE THICKNESS REACHES 90MM. The length of the main armor belt coverage reached 65%. IN THE REAR OF THE HULL, THE PROPELLER SHAFT AND THE WHEELHOUSE HAD HORIZONTAL ARMOR PROTECTION, THE HORIZONTAL PART WAS 90MM. The wheelhouse also has vertical armor of the same thickness as the main installation. ”

"THE FRONT OF THE BATTLESHIP IS 80MM ARMOR FOR DEFENSE AGAINST MEDIUM-CALIBER ARTILLERY. The front of the turret and the command stand are 13-inch armor, the sides of the turret are 8-inch armor, and the rear is 7-inch. The armor of the turret was 11 inches thickest at its thickest. THE SECONDARY GUNS WERE ALSO WELL PROTECTED, WITH 14 6-INCH SECONDARY GUNS PLACED IN THE TURRETS OF THE 150MM FRONTAL DEFENSE. The proudest thing is the underwater protection of the dragon power. Because a twin turret is used. Therefore, the average depth of underwater protection reaches about 6 meters. Of course, at the cost of the bottom line of the ship, the bottom of the hull is used with a double bottom, and in some places a triple bottom. ”

"As for the firepower? Although it is possible to exert the fire of 10 main guns only at a certain angle, the accuracy is very good, and it is good to walk. I think that if conditions permit, the firepower of Longquan will not be worse than that of Longxing. The number of 6-inch secondary guns is 14, and it is equipped with 6 twin turrets and 2 single turrets. In addition to this, there are up to 18 12 anti-mine guns. The torpedo tubes were 2 x 18-inch torpedo tubes. ”

"The ship was powered by 12 kerosene boilers and eight oil-fired boilers, which drove four Parsons-style steam turbines. It can provide a power output of more than 30,000 horsepower. Let this battleship with a displacement of up to 22,000 tons run at a speed of about 22 knots. Count Vittorio introduced.

At this moment, accompanied by the noisy drum music, the whole ceremony officially began. The director of the Andolsha shipyard after the release of an enthusiastic speech. Count Leo and Lin Yingqi were entrusted to complete the handover procedures for the battleship on behalf of the officials of Italy and the Duchy of China respectively. After the formalities were completed, the officers and men of the Chinese Navy walked up the gangway to the Longquan-class battleship. The whole ceremony was finally completed, but the long-awaited reporters did not want to give up this opportunity, they surrounded Lin Yingqi and Vittorio, trying to get some explosive news from their mouths.

In response to questions such as "Is Huaxia satisfied with this battleship?" After such a crown question, an Italian journalist caused an uproar with a seemingly casual question.

An Italian journalist named Piero asked: "Do you have any plans after accepting the battleship?" When are you going to return home? ”

"We do not plan to return to China, at the latest in June this year, the battleship Longquan will cross the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic, pass through the Danish Strait into the North Sea to join his foreign brothers, and the battleship Longquan will complete the marshalling with the Longxing-class battleships, the Longtai-class fast battleships and the Longxu-class battlecruisers! And in the Beihai area, a formation training will be carried out! Lin Yingqi said.

"Oh my God, these are 4 dreadnoughts! This is a powerful presence that can destroy a country's navy! I'm already imagining the mighty shores of 4 steel behemoths built by the most advanced technology of industrial civilization in the waves of the North Sea! Piero exclaimed, and then immediately took out a pen and paper and quickly recorded.

"Why did you choose to conduct combat training in the North Sea? Where will your fleet choose to call at its home port? A German reporter squeezed over and hurriedly asked.

"If there were no accidents, it would have been the Kiel military port. Our shells were ordered in Germany, where it was more convenient for us to replenish. Lin Yingqi paused and continued: "In the future, we may have to fight in the ocean, in order to improve the ability of officers and soldiers to adapt to harsh sea conditions, we specially chose Beihai. If we can adapt to the rough North Sea, I think we can also adapt to the sea conditions in the South China Sea or Southeast Asia. ”

At the same time, the Chinese fleet will also arrive at Portsmouth Military Harbour, the main anchorage of the British Imperial Fleet, for a goodwill visit. After all, the two countries have dealt with the aggressive Japanese and the greedy Russians together, and the relations between the two countries will remain in a good state in the future. Lin Yingqi said with a smile.

Xu Jie's order to Lin Yingqi to throw out this explosive news at this time had a profound intention, on the one hand, to show the closer proximity of China and Germany, and at the same time to express dissatisfaction with the British leaning towards the Netherlands and Russia. At the same time, in order not to deteriorate relations too much, the Chinese fleet would still visit Britain as a gesture of goodwill. The second aspect is that, as Lin Yingqi said, the officers and men of the Chinese Navy need to adapt to the harsh sea conditions, and if a fleet can adapt to it in the North Sea, then most of the sea areas in this world can adapt to it. The rough waves and dense fog of the North Sea are definitely the great enemy of the navies of various countries. Moreover, because of the principle of proximity, some problems can be immediately maintained at the shipyard.

But the most critical issue Lin Yingqi did not say, that is, all the Chinese Republic dreadnoughts will be equipped with new fire control systems and new Zeiss optical lenses in Germany. In this plane, Germany has restricted the export of strategic materials such as optical lenses, and it will no longer be like Xu Jie's plane, and the French battleships use German Zeiss lenses. Therefore, Germany demanded that all equipment related to fire control must be installed in Germany or China, and warships built in Britain and Italy would also rush to Germany for refitting.

I have to say that this information is even more shocking than the delivery of Longquan-class battleships, and for a while, the entire European and even the entire world was attracted by these 4 powerful battleships! Especially when the German Admiralty confirmed Lin Yingqi's remarks, Europe was completely boiling. In addition to China and Germany, the most concerned about this matter was Britain, and the arrogant British expressed great dissatisfaction with China's obviously politically significant approach. However, when the Chinese minister to Britain presented evidence of the cooperation of the British Royal Navy with the Russian and Dutch navies, he said: "The unfriendly and irrational behavior of your country has compelled the Republic of China to consider the safety of its own technology. Answering the reproach of the British Foreign Office official. At the same time, it was also said that the Chinese fleet would visit Britain in order to mend the relationship that still needed to be maintained.

And the second concern is the Russians, and the Russians are even worried that this fleet, which is entrenched on their doorstep, will one day suddenly reach the Baltic Sea? After all, now Russian warships are either stepping up construction at major shipyards, or they are undergoing sea trials! In addition to the military port protected by a large number of shore guns and mines, I am afraid that this fleet may go around the Russian territorial waters that day!

However, these are all superficial influences, and the real deep impact is what Lin Yingqi did after coming to Italy, as Count Vittorio said, Italy, as a "poor man's imperialism", is a second-rate standard among the European powers, and its fragile army is not only compared with Germany, France, and Britain, but also with second-rate countries such as Austria-Hungary and Russia. If it weren't for the mountainous environment of northern Italy, which is too easy to defend, the current Italy would have been carved up long ago!

The only thing Italy can get its hands on is not industry or money, but a powerful fleet deployed in the Mediterranean! The French needed to juggle both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Austria-Hungary was a coastal defense fleet, and the British Empire began to shrink to the mainland to deal with the growing power of Germany, and since there were no tigers in the mountains, then the monkeys became kings!

Thank you for the support of Brother Kongchen, thank you~~~. (To be continued......)