Historically, the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War has intensified the social contradictions in Russia, and the poor performance of the navy has made it the best target for criticism by various forces. The new Duma, which emerged after the 1905 revolution, insisted that the navy needed to carry out major administrative reforms, while the tsar and the navy top brass insisted that there was no need for any reform.

The Duma vetoed all shipbuilding plans in the Navy, and the new battleships fell victim to political struggles. Until 1908, Tsar Nicholas II decided to forcibly push forward with the reconstruction of the Navy despite the opposition of the Duma. Under these circumstances, the Duma was forced to give in and reach a certain compromise with the Navy, which had been operating dismally for four years, and finally began to rebuild.

The Battle of Tsushima in the game affected the history of Russia, and although the "Revolution of 1905" still happened, it was not as violent as it was in history. Historically, the navy was forcibly rebuilt in 1908, but in 1906 the navy was approved to build four ships because the navy was not defeated at the Battle of Tsushima.

Compared with the new concept of dreadnoughts, the design and construction capabilities of Russian shipyards were extremely insufficient, so the Admiralty launched a tender from major domestic and foreign shipyards. Soon the Russian Admiralty received 51 design proposals from 27 shipyards at home and abroad, from Italy, France, Great Britain, the United States and even Germany, but only 6 of the 27 shipyards were Russian.

The Russian Admiralty was interested in the Italian company Kunibetti's proposal, but when it became known that the Italians had installed the 120-mm secondary gun in the turret instead of the gun profile that the Russians had hoped, and insisted on not making changes to the design, the Russians immediately put it behind them.

The next thing that came into the eyes of the Russian Navy was the plan of the German Blom and Foss, but the Russians proposed that these battleships must be built in Russian shipyards, and the Germans were of course unwilling to accept it, so the two sides parted happily. The Russian Admiralty decided to use the purchased German design to re-modify the original design of the German company in accordance with Russian standards. The Baltic shipyard accepted the task.

In the process of revising the design by the Russians, the British John? The Brown shipyard provided a lot of help, and the British found merit in the rejected proposals, including many of the features of the Kunibetty proposal. The revised design gives the impression that the new battleship is a kind of warship between a battleship and a battlecruiser, which is often referred to as the "Baltic battleship".

This design scheme highlights the unprecedented firepower: all four triple main turrets are arranged on the longitudinal centerline of the hull. One main turret at the front and rear of the hull, and two turrets at the amidships. This is in contrast to Dante, who was built in Italy at the time? The layout of the battleship Aligh Ichheri was similar.

The warship's 305 mm guns fired more broadside salvo firepower than any British or German battleship of the same period. The battleship was designed with an icebreaker bow so that it could move freely in the Baltic Sea even in the winter freeze. Due to the use of lighter Yarrow boilers instead of the previously commonly used Belleville boilers, the speed of the ship was also outstanding, reaching a speed of 24 knots, which was 2-3 knots higher than that of most dreadnoughts of the same period.

The modified scheme had an obvious weakness: too much armor protection was sacrificed to ensure high speeds, and the thickness of the broadside waterline armor was 229 mm. Compared to the world's major battleships of the same period, the armor belt in most parts of it was 25-76 mm thinner. And from this point of view, it seems to be an intermediate ship type between battleships and battlecruisers. To prevent torpedoes or mines from causing significant damage to the battleship, the ship has a double-layer hull. And all the way to the deck.

Historically, the construction of new types of battleships began in 1909, but due to the inefficiency of the Russian shipyards themselves and the fact that they were building a completely new type of battleship, the construction of the new battleships was difficult and progressed slowly, and even came to a standstill in 1910, because the navy was not satisfied with the strength of the hull and the construction process of the battleships under construction, and believed that they could not meet the design requirements at all.

The construction of new battleships for the next two years was intermittent, and during this period. The Duma's persistent efforts finally paid off: the shortcomings of the shipyards were improved, and the poor administrative system of the Navy was finally improved to a certain extent.

After solving a series of problems. The construction of new battleships continued, but it was during these two years that the dreadnoughts of the world's naval powers also developed rapidly, and Britain began to build super-dreadnoughts armed with 343 mm guns, thus destroying the firepower advantage that Russian dreadnoughts expected at the start of construction.

All four battleships were launched in 1911 and underwent sea trials, and the first to enter service, the "Sevastopol", joined the naval combat sequence in 1914. The other three were also commissioned in December of that year, which was the famous Russian Gangut-class battleship.

Although the Russian navy suffered a lot of losses in the Battle of Tsushima, it was a victory anyway, so in the game the Tsar proposed a ship-building plan in 1906 and it was approved. The Russians, having synthesized various schemes, had blueprints for the Gangut-class battleships, and also purchased some supporting technologies. But again there was a dispute over where the new battleships would be built.

The tsar believed that it should be built at the shipyards of the country, accumulating technology for Russian shipyards, but was opposed by the Duma. The Duma considered the inefficiency of the country's shipyards to inevitably delay the delivery of battleships, and it was at least 1911 that they were actually put into service. And the Japanese dreadnoughts and Invincible-class battleships will soon be put into service, and the superiority of the Russian Pacific Fleet is gradually being lost, and by the time four battleships are put into service, it will be too late.

Tsar Nicholas II began to hesitate, he already knew about the battle of Tsushima, and he still had lingering palpitations. If it weren't for the help of the new warships of the Chinese, Russia would have lost the Battle of Tsushima, and the Russian Pacific Fleet would really not be able to resist after the new Japanese warships were put into service.

The Tsar has already ordered four Invincible-class battlecruisers in Cam Ranh Bay, and the warships are currently being launched for sea trials and will soon enter service with the Pacific Fleet. Even so, the tsar was not very reassured, and the Japanese government ordered one dreadnought and four Invincible-class battlecruisers in the first batch, and soon more battleships were in service, and the Russians did not have an advantage.

To win the war with the Japanese, it was necessary to put the newly built four battleships into service as soon as possible, and the tsar was persuaded by the Duma. After Russia decided to build these four battleships abroad, the major foreign shipyards began to compete again, but the earliest launch of sea trials was not until 1909, which was too late, and the war with the Japanese might have ended.

The Tsar agreed to build abroad in order to buy time to fight the Russo-Japanese naval war, and if he could not participate in the Russo-Japanese naval war, what was the point of building abroad. Just when the tsar couldn't make up his mind, the Admiralty gave him a brilliant suggestion, that is, to build a new type of battleship in Cam Ranh Bay, on the condition that the warships of Cam Ranh Bay be hired to join the Russian Pacific Fleet before the new battleships were put into service, and if the dreadnoughts and Invincible-class battlecruisers in Cam Ranh Bay were damaged, these four battleships could be used as collateral.

There is one dreadnought and two Invincible-class battlecruisers in Cam Ranh Bay, and the construction of two Invincible-class ships will begin as soon as the Russians' order is fulfilled. If Cam Ranh agreed to the Russians' terms of employment, the Russian Pacific Fleet would have one dreadnought and eight Invincible-class battlecruisers, and the Russians would have an advantage even if the new Japanese ships were put into service.

Chen Hao originally didn't want to participate in the struggle between Japan and Russia anymore, and let the two countries fight to the death, but Russia's conditions made him tempted. The Gangut-class battleships of the Russians had weaknesses, but at the same time they also adopted a large number of new technologies, and if the Russians provided design drawings and supporting technology for him to build, the Cam Ranh Bay shipyard would have the experience of building large battleships, which would be of great help in building its own new dreadnoughts.

The Russians ordered a ship for £2.8 million, while Cam Ranh Bay made a profit of £200,000 each because of the need to import steel for the construction of warships. The price Chen Hao paid for this was to help the Russians fight, and before these four battleships were put into service, the capital ships of his fleet were to be merged into the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Although the Russians said that they would take four battleships as collateral, the value of this battleship was certainly not as good as Chen Hao's fleet. After the two Invincible-class battlecruisers built by Cam Ranh Bay are put into service, there will be one dreadnought and four Invincible-class, which are no worse than the Russian battleships, and if the four warships are lost, this mortgage is basically meaningless.

Chen Hao didn't want to make the Russians' money, but he wanted battleship technology very much, and after hesitating for a long time, he agreed. However, he told the Russian representatives that if any of his five capital ships were lost, he would deliver one less battleship to the Russians. The Russian delegates were asking the Tsar, who said that he could agree to this condition if Chen Hao's capital ship in Cam Ranh Bay was completely subordinate to command.

Of course, the tsar would agree that even if the four newly built Russian battleships were put into service immediately, the combat effectiveness would not be guaranteed due to the lack of qualified sailors. The capital ships of the Cam Ranh Bay Fleet are no worse than these four battleships, and they are all controlled by the naval forces that participated in the Battle of Tsushima, so there is absolutely no problem in terms of combat effectiveness.

The Invincible-class battlecruisers cost only a few hundred thousand pounds cheaper than the new Russian-built ships, and if the Cam Ranh Bay fleet loses its capital ships, along with sailors, it is not something that hundreds of thousands of pounds can buy. This cooperation with the Russians is cost-effective, and Chen Hao is relatively at a loss, but for the relevant technology of the new dreadnought, he can only pinch his nose and admit it.

The two sides had been communicating in telegrams, and after reaching a preliminary consensus, Chen Hao soon left Guizhou and returned to Cam Ranh Bay, ready to further discuss the details of cooperation with the Russians. (To be continued......)