"Yes......"

In the Hanyuan Palace, Young Master Li wrapped himself comfortably into the soft sofa, squinted his eyes and nodded secretly, after a large number of miscellaneous military experiences and lessons of later generations compiled by himself, coupled with these years of experience and training, Chief of Staff Chen really exercised, and saw through the big problems that occurred in the large-scale battle of Natuna at a glance. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

Judging from the course of naval battles, whether it is the quality of officers and men or the quality of equipment, our side is not inferior to those old naval countries with a history of several hundred years, and even slightly surpasses them in equipment, but the two Vladivostok-class heavy cruisers and the two Jinghai-class light cruisers have only achieved the result of sinking one Dutch cruiser, which is not very satisfactory.

Ye Zugui's tactics at that time were opposed, after the two British cruisers broke away and adopted the flank attack tactics, he used two speed Jinghai-class tremors to deal with the correct, in addition to political factors, the naval battle is not everyone stopped you and I cannon, but the two sides are constantly moving chalk, especially the contest between the cruisers, in addition to competing with artillery, but also need to compare speed and maneuverability, in this regard, the superior Jinghai class is obviously correct for entanglement of the British ** ship in the British and Dutch fleet.

The only regret is probably that he knew that the task force was coming, but he did not take the initiative to feign retreat, close the distance between him and the task force, give the enemy a surprise attack, and strive to completely annihilate the Dutch cruiser.

This is just a small flaw, it has something to do with his meritorious service, and it can't be said to be a big mistake, after all, he couldn't be sure how long it would take for the task force to arrive at that time, and it was right to force the distance to sink one ship first.

It's just that although he imagined it, and from the very beginning, he was prepared to sink at least one of the opponent's cruisers as quickly as possible, but in the end, after the arrival of the task force, the Chinese ships launched the latter wave of attacks, and finally solved the Camacho.

The main reason for this lively and small result "is that the navy lacks a warship that has the ability to make a final decision and can accompany the cruiser at high speed."

Battleships are still the absolute main force in the navies of various countries, unless the engine, structure and materials and other factors restricting aircraft are solved in ten years, otherwise the battleship will still be a country's anchor in the sea" This is an indisputable fact, but the big disadvantage of the battleship with the ability to make a final decision is that the speed is too slow, even if Li Melter has a world-leading combination of fuel and steam turbines, but it is not realistic to raise a 20,000-ton battleship to the speed of a cruiser, Because the displacement of the battleship first gave way to armor and firepower.

Moreover, in order to make the main gun more accurate and reduce roll in high sea conditions, the battleship type was also shortened and thicker, taking the Zhonghua ship as an example, the experiment had been completed and the thick main armor had been installed, and the length of the hull was only less than ten meters longer than that of the Jinghai class, which in itself limited the increase in speed.

Li Mo calculated that in order to increase the speed of the wide and stubby Chinese ship to the level of the Jinghai class, it would be necessary to increase the power of the current boiler and steam turbine by at least four times!

This is an unrealistic fantasy under the various pieces of technology at the moment.

But the problem is that the yard-millimeter main gun firepower that is generally equipped with large armored cruisers in various countries is already somewhat insufficient. Because as the naval battle of the Dafu Islands has been studied by various countries, it is an indisputable matter that the armored cruisers are getting larger and larger, "At this time, unless a large number of 2 Tian mm naval guns are used in a flat manner, as was the case in the Dafu Islands, it will not be possible to achieve much success at all."

But judging by the Battle of Natuna, the scale of the battles that broke out between the cruisers in the future will not be very large, and they will often be a contest between several ships.

The pursuit of speed" maneuvering, coupled with the fact that the concept of long-range strikes began to prevail, caused a decline in the accuracy of shooting" In this way, even if the yard millimeter naval guns can hit a few rounds, they cannot cause fatal damage, for example, the two ships of the Bird Suli and the Manzhouli have observed 11 hits, but in the end they still need the Chinese ships to finally solve the problem. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

The sea area currently controlled by China is too vast, so the construction of cruisers is even more important than battleships, and as the Russian Navy begins to move, Britain has also regarded itself as a thorn in the side, "the navy that may face many problems such as sea transportation warfare and sabotage warfare in the future" urgently needs a warship that can have the ability to make a final decision on battleships, but can also have high speed like cruisers" and high maneuverability.

Historically, Sir Fisher had the same problem after designing the dreadnought, so he finally came up with what he called the perfect cruiser, the type of ship that changed the equipment structure of cruisers in various countries.

Some military fans of later generations believed that the battle cruiser was a product of a specific time and specific conditions, and it was brilliant but also failed, but Li Mo believed that the reason why the battle cruiser was finally abandoned was not because of design problems, but because of deviations in tactical thinking.

The problem is also out of the word "fight to" side by side!

Because when the commanders of the navies of various countries need a decisive battle, they often think of the heavy guns of the same caliber as the battleships on the battle cruiser, and add them to the main formation to bombard the battleship, which is especially obvious in the Battle of Jutland, and Fisher originally designed the battle cruise, but was only ready to put it into a sabotage attack and attack the opponent's cruisers.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the design idea of the battle cruiser, but the executor pursues the number of heavy artillery too much, and tries to suppress the enemy's blind use, which causes the battle patrol to quickly fall and restrict the problem of the battle patrol or the structure and speed, how to place a large number of heavy artillery is a headache, but the birth of the Chinese ship, and after a year of torture tests, the naval design department has mastered a large amount of data and information, according to McKinson's rhetoric not long ago, they already have the ability to design and build a generation of capital ships!

Power is the second problem, after the small water tube boiler technology was sold from Master Li, it has become popular in various countries, but the steam turbine and the first generation of oil-fired boiler technology are still highly secret.

Unlike the later generation of Sir Fisher, who used steam turbines and stuffed thirty-one medium-fired boilers into the belly of the first-generation Battle Cruiser Invincible class, and finally made 41,000 horsepower, making the Invincible class battlecruiser with a standard displacement of 17,000 tons barely reach 26 knots, the power combination that Young Master Li has at this moment is a dream level in any country.

According to the standards of the invincible class, the third-generation oil-fired boilers that have entered the end of the design only need 20 units, plus four high-power steam turbines, so that the requirements for combat patrols are initially met in terms of speed.

But the big problem is stuck in the ship's guns!

The battlecruiser was called this because it was equipped with heavy guns for battleships, but at present, the 305-mm naval guns in his hands were still imitations of Italy, and the range and accuracy were good, but they could not be improved in speed.

For cruisers, "the speed of the ship's guns is crucial, and many people will pay attention to the caliber, number, range and other data of the cruiser's main guns, but often ignore the key of the rate of fire!"

From the perspective of the Battle of Natuna, the battle between cruisers did not follow the strict linear tactics of battleships, and everyone often fought each other in high-speed movement, which required a strong and dense firepower output.

Because no matter what kind of naval artillery, unless Young Master Li immediately comes up with the artillery radar at this moment, the accuracy will be greatly reduced with the increase of speed, so if you want to win in the speed battle, you must first solve the speed of the naval artillery and cover the opponent with dense projectiles, which is one of the reasons why he made the Jinghai class first.

But now the armored cruisers of various countries are getting bigger and bigger, whether it is a 152 mm naval gun known as a water pipe, or a 203 mm naval gun, the power is no longer enough" and Li Mo also "predicted" early, to this result, so a few years ago he ordered the development of a 305 mm naval gun, but the results were not ideal, although the sample gun came out, the speed can reach two rounds per minute, but the accuracy and the life of the body tube chamber are miserable "This is mainly caused by processing technology and materials, So he was hesitant to make up his mind to build battleships and battle cruisers.

Master Li's golden finger, coupled with the development model that rides on the shoulders of various countries, "after adding the assembly line production method, the recognized requirements are much smaller, so he has made a heavy industry system comparable to that of Europe, but it is only comparable, at this moment, Europe's top strong millimeter naval guns are also trapped in materials and other problems, not to mention that there is still a little vain himself at the bottom."

However, after listening to Li Mo's lamentation and dissatisfaction with the heavy naval guns, Chen Ping also frowned, and the kind of cruiser that he just proposed carrying the main heavy artillery "The speed is comparable to that of the Jinghai-class is indeed a good way to solve the weak combat effectiveness of the cruiser, but he also has little way to solve the problem of naval guns" This is related to industrial processing capacity and material research, "You can't get it in a day or two, and sometimes it even takes a little luck."

Tang Xiao had thought about using the body tube and medicine room of the Italian naval gun before, but there were still problems with compatibility, not to mention that the Italian naval gun was already much weaker in these two aspects, so he gave up.

Large-caliber naval guns have become a big problem that plagues the current generation of battleships built by China, and Master Li does not want to waste money in the wave of iron frenzy in the pre-dreadnought era, so he has been suppressing the voice of the navy calling for the construction of battleships.

But now, it was not expected that the cruiser also encountered this problem!

"Your Majesty, I also asked Pierre and McKinson about the progress of the 305mm naval guns before, and they gave me a compromise suggestion."

"Oh? What is recommended? Li Mo immediately pricked up his ears.

"Pierre suggested that you can use ten inches, that is, 254 mm ......naval guns first," Chen Pingxu told the words of the current chief artillery expert of China, and said: "He said that when developing 305 mm naval guns, they also promoted the development of 254 mm naval guns together, and from the current point of view, the progress is much higher than that of 305 mm naval guns, and because the projectile is a little smaller, there is no problem with the speed of two rounds per minute, and it is even possible to break through three rounds per minute!" "And he also said that from a European point of view, the 254 mm naval gun already belongs to the 250 to 300 class of naval guns, although there is still a gap in power compared to the main 305 mm naval gun, but it is much stronger than the 203 mm naval gun, and if the body tube is lengthened to fifty times, coupled with our exclusive armor-piercing shell and type propellant technology, it can completely tear apart any large armored cruiser of the current countries, and even restrain any battleship of the Polaris and Old Man Star class! "And McKinson also confirmed this, so he also suggested that when we build cruisers, we should consider the use of 254-mm naval guns......"

"Really!" As soon as Chen Ping finished speaking, Li * stood up abruptly and excitedly, and his eyes had been on the 305mm capital naval guns. I really didn't care too much about the 254 mm naval guns that were rarely used in the memory of later generations, and at this moment I listened to the words of the two designers brought by Chen Ping, and my heart suddenly became happy, as long as the speed, accuracy and life meet the requirements, even if the projectile power is a little smaller, it doesn't hurt!

Thinking of this, Li Mo immediately rushed to the table and began to write down some data and requirements about the battle patrol, of course, Master Li would not pay Sir Scheer to equip the invincible class with a perverted six-twin main gun, he chose the popular three-seat triple layout in the later generations, with two in the front and one in the back, and at the same time left enough space for the future to carry a sea reconnaissance aircraft for the first time.

Nine 2U mm guns, even if the power is only seventy percent of the 305 mm naval guns, the power is also extremely terrifying, and with its own fire control system, "it is enough to ensure accuracy, if the speed can reach three rounds per minute, then any cruiser in front of it is slaughtered."

And the weight of the four-mm naval gun itself is light, and the triple installation is only a little heavier than the double-linked 305-mm naval gun, so in this way, you can use more weight for armor, the 230 mm main armor requirements are much weaker than those of battleships, but it can make all 203 mm naval guns desperate, unlike the invincible class, which only has a thin layer of 152 mm main armor, and even the Jinghai class can be chartered closer In order to ensure the speed of the cruiser, Li Mo chose to add two boilers, The use of 22 boilers with four steam turbines not only leaves a lot of room for fuel and increases the cruising range" but also allows for a more compact layout.

Low speed requirements of 10,000 knots, while also preparing for the four-oar, two-rudder layout that McKinson had proposed. Let this imaginary warship have absolutely perfect maneuverability and speed capabilities for this year.

Of course, all this is still a hypothesis: "Whether it is possible to combine so many tactical requirements and equipment will also test the ability of designers such as McKinson."

However, Chen Ping, who was standing on the side and looking at the data and suggestions listed, as well as the design concept, tactical requirements, and operational use of this type of warship, had already brightened his eyes, and he couldn't wait to rush to the Navy Design Department to personally supervise the follow-up design work.

Time, just as Li Mo and Chen Ping continued to communicate and line by line of data passed little by little, and then when the two of them summed up all the naval experience and needs, densely filled with a few pieces of paper "to determine the type of this creative warship, Li Mo still used the unique establishment of the Chinese Royal Navy after thinking about it."

"Heavy cruiser."

Because according to the navy's examples, whether it is a heavy patrol or a light cruiser, it is not a capital ship, and there is no need to get involved in the decisive battle of the capital ship, so to a large extent, it is avoided that the admirals will use it as a battleship in the future.

But these words are a different scene in Chen Ping's eyes, because Young Master Li is obviously pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger again, and he is still patrolling!

If the 150/254 mm naval guns can really meet the design indicators mentioned by Pierre, in addition to the lack of armor, this firepower is stronger than any of the current main battleships of various countries.

Even if the Chinese ship encountered it, it could only watch it rush past in front of it, without the slightest fatness.

"Yo? It's getting dark, and it's been a day before you know it. After Li Mo put down the pen, he checked it several times and found that it was dark outside, so he quickly folded the paper and stretched: "By the way, where is McKinson?" After a while, I have to ask Da Zhuang to send him over in person, so that their design department can study it first, and don't hold on to it at that time. ”

"......What about Huludao," Chen Ping hurriedly said: "The comprehensive ship design and experimental base there has been built, and he is leading people there to accept it, and I heard that he is reluctant to leave." "That's good......" Li Mo patted his belly, found that it was already grunting, and said with a smile: "Yuanshou, we haven't had two drinks for a long time, right?" Let's go, it's just right today, I'll ask someone to call Li Enfu and Yan Fu again, let's have a few drinks......"

Li Mo got up after laughing, and found that Chen Ping didn't even have a kind word, so he couldn't help but be surprised: "Well......, Yuanshou, you are ......, you're welcome?" "The emperor invites you to dinner, it's too late for me to be a minister, how can I refuse." Counselor Chen rubbed his hands, licked his face and asked, "Your Majesty, is Qiaoxi Niangniang cooking today?" Or Luo Niangniang makes seafood ......"

"Shameless!" , Master Li directly threw out a middle finger, it's a waste to invite you to eat, and I'm going to let Niangniang cook it herself!

"The more this guy looks at it, the more shameless he becomes!" , Young Master Li hung a black line on his head, grabbed the watch on the table to look at the time, and was about to sneer a few more words, when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside the hall, and before he could speak, Du Dazhuang had already rushed in with red eyes.

"Your Majesty!"

"Something's wrong!"

"Yanchang oil well was attacked at two o'clock this afternoon, and a company protecting the oil well was killed by two hundred people, and ............" Du Dazhuang clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and said word by word: "They were all recorded!" ”

"Smack!"

Li Mo smashed his beloved watch.