If the mantra of the Chinese when they meet is that you have eaten or not, and the British like to discuss the weather when they meet, then in the second half of 1900, the first thing they asked after a meeting among the various naval powers in the world was, have our fast warships been designed? Of course, different countries have different ideas about the definition of fast warships, but in the end there are two kinds, one is the British battle cruiser ordered by the Republic of China in the UK. Emphasis on speed and firepower. The other is a German-style fast battleship, (there are also German-style battle cruisers, but the Germans themselves are called armored ships.) Although these are all warships ordered by Huaxia, other countries still lack recognition of the nascent Huaxia, and they would rather build a country to distinguish between the two types of warships.

What Xu Jie and others did not expect was that the reaction caused by the appearance of the battlecruiser was greater than that caused by the dreadnought battleship that appeared half a year ago, if the appearance of the dreadnought battleship was just to make the hearts of those naval powers or the big powers with sea power move in their hearts, then the reaction caused by the appearance of the battlecruiser was not only the great powers rushing to it, but also the medium-sized maritime countries such as Austria-Hungary, Chile and Argentina in South America, and so on, also showed great interest in the modified warships.

And this made Xu Jie very puzzled, in his plane, when the battle cruiser first appeared, Britain and Germany were doing it, and then Japan bought 4 ships, and the Russians planned to do it, but it didn't come out. The Americans, the French, and the Italians didn't feel anything at all, so how did the situation change when they reached their own plane? This question made Xu Jie puzzled. I was depressed for days.

And later, with the collection of various intelligence, Xu Jie finally understood the reason why fast warships are popular all over the world! Actually, the reason is very simple. Different times have different situations. In Xu Jie's plane, whether it is French or Russian. Their cruisers were not at all the product of a decisive battle at sea. Whether it is the French patrol that started construction after 1900, or the Russian man-made Rurik Grombowie or the protective cruiser represented by the Varyag, they are all ship-breaking ships at sea, and the three 10,000-ton patrol ships commanded by Essen in the Russo-Japanese War are not quite large, but they are a large ship-breaking ship in their bones, and they can't fight a tough battle at all.

However, with the arrival of Xu Jie, the outfits and patrols of various countries in the world began to design a decisive battle at sea. No longer pursue you can't catch up with me, but pursue you can't beat me! The Chinese fleet was armed with Garibaldi and King-class armored cruisers, while the French and Russians also drummed up armored cruiser collars. The British and Germans followed suit, and the Americans, having been beaten by the Spaniards, decided to follow in the footsteps of the "victors." "So the armored cruisers got bigger and stronger. If you install an 8-inch gun as the main gun, the current new patrol is installed. I'm embarrassed to go out and say hello to others, the 10-inch gun is qualified, and the 11-inch gun is powerful!

The Navy's ship purchase plans are constantly changing with demand, so what's the point if the new warships you buy can't suppress the opponent's new warships? So the armored cruisers of the navies of various countries are getting bigger and stronger! But in the case of the immaturity of cap-piercing shells and the prevalence of hardened armor, the countries suddenly found that their new ships could only suppress their opponents, but they were not sure enough to sink them. In other words, it is easy to win. Killed. Either there is not enough firepower, or there is not enough speed.

And this situation was not radically changed until the advent of battle cruisers. The speed of the armored cruiser and the firepower comparable to that of the battleship made this new type of battleship a nightmare for armored cruisers of various countries. Once caught. You can't run away, you can't beat you to death. And the battleships of their own side could not retain their opponents because of the speed problem. Such a warship is simply flawless in the navies of various countries!

With this kind of existence that can solve the existence of the opponent's huge patrol formation once and for all, all countries have begun to consider their own battle patrol plans. The choice of battle patrol planning has two directions. Russia and France were the first to respond, and the pressure on the friends was the most urgent. On the one hand, the relationship between France and the British and the Germans was not good. On the other hand, the owners of these new warships are the distant and rising countries of the Far East. The country is going to war with the Russians in the future! They are the countries that most urgently need to solve the problem of designing new warships.

After a brief shock, the French Admiralty agreed that its armored cruiser lead ship actually had the elements of a battle cruiser - a speed equal to or slightly higher than that of a cruiser, powerful firepower, and the ability to evacuate in the face of a battleship.

The French said that in the future, France will also start construction of a full-heavy artillery central shaft layout, using kerosene mixed boilers and new steam turbines for fast warships. And claimed that neither the design of Huaxia nor the work of the Anglo-German shipyard was actually anything remarkable. The French will definitely do better.

The Russians are not so calm, the reason is very simple, the French are rich, and as the creditors of the world, they still have a lot of money. (Historically, starting in 1900, the French built a dozen or so 10,000-ton armored cruisers, which were equipped with less than 8-inch guns and were originally planned to be used to break diplomatic relations, and became useless when the British and French allied against Germany.) But it can also reflect the financial resources of the French) But the Russians are different, in order to cope with the first phase of the expansion plan of the Chinese Navy, the Russian Admiralty has thrown out the first phase of the plan of 8 capital ships in the eyes of the Ministry of Finance that can kill people.

And now, in the face of the second wave of the Chinese Navy's expansion plan and the new battle cruisers, the Russians have only two choices, either continue to follow and die in this big gamble called sea power, or give up the idea of sea power in the Far East. Either choice is not pleasant. The Russians know that with the launching of a large number of battle cruisers of the Chinese fleet, the cruiser lead ships of the Russian Navy will become vulnerable, and the armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov that were once mass-produced have become toy-like existences.

Where to go, the Russians hesitated. The disastrous outcome of the First Sino-Russian War took a sharp turn for the worse in Russia's economic situation, with huge military spending and huge indemnities squeezing out the already modest coffers of the Russians. It is no longer possible to describe the situation of the Russians by saying that they are tightening their belts. If it weren't for the support of France, it would be difficult for the Russians to say whether they would dare to continue to fight with China!

Far from the chaos of Europe, there is a great power quietly watching the moves of the great powers. And this country is the United States, after experiencing the crushing defeat of the Spanish-American War, the United States has not recovered from this blow, not so much that this war has had a great impact on the American economy, not that the US Navy has no chance to rebuild since then, but that the shadow on the hearts of Americans is too great. Even Mahan thinks this has a greater impact than the burning of the White House by the British Army.

The defeat to Britain is understandable, after all, they are the first power in the world, the great empire on which the sun never sets, and they are still descendants of the British, but the Spanish Navy that was blocked at the door of the house was beaten by a burst of radar, although the naval battles of the Spanish-American War were actually directed by European countries, Spain was just a big hand to fight, but ordinary Americans would not think so, in addition to thinking that the navy was cowardly, they had more of an instinctive fear of the sea. The United States is undoubtedly a powerful land power. But for the oceans, the Americans no longer have sufficient self-confidence.

And the lack of self-confidence soon manifested itself in naval armament. At this time, the Americans had given up confidence in a head-on confrontation with a maritime power, and in the eyes of the Americans, it was impossible for the United States to gain an advantage over such a maritime power as Britain, France, and Germany for a long time. In this case, if the decisive battle of the fleet cannot be won, then it can only find another way, and the armored cruiser, which is admired by the major second- and third-rate naval powers, has become the new favorite of the US Navy. The thinking of the US Navy is very clear, since I cannot control the sea, then I will not let the other side take advantage of the advantages brought by the sea, and the US Navy at this time has gone astray, a bit like the green water naval thinking of the French back then.

But with the advent of the battle cruisers, the United States found itself in a predicament again, and the once promising armored cruisers immediately seemed outdated, and now the Americans were quite embarrassed, and did they fall to the ground to break the road to the dark, or did they redefine the idea of a decisive battle for the fleet? The Americans are confused, after all, the Americans are not stupid, if the battle cruiser is used in the broken diplomatic relations, it will be overkill!

And among the major powers, only one was tepid for battle cruisers. And this country is Italy, which is located in the bathtub of the Mediterranean, and when Minister Brin is asked why we don't build our own battle cruisers, Mr. Brin gives him a blank look and says. In this tub of the Mediterranean, except for Italy is France, (well, the Austro-Hungarian Navy let this dude ignore it——! There was no room for breaking diplomatic relations, and the Italian navy had no choice but to fight for victory in the decisive battle of the enemy fleet in the Mediterranean, because behind it was our homeland. This sentence has explained Italy's naval policy very well, for hostile countries, either win the first war and win, or directly lose control of the Mediterranean, such a thing as breaking diplomatic relations is not used in the narrow sea at all!

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