From the bottom of his heart, Li Fushou is still very optimistic about the two world's most advanced first-class ironclad warships ordered by the Qing court in 1880 at the Volkeng factory in Germany, which are the famous Dingyuan and Zhenyuan warships.

The heavy cruiser in his mind is based on the Dingyuan ship as a template, on this basis, reducing the displacement, focusing on strengthening speed and firepower (reducing the caliber, using a new type of hydraulic re-entry artillery), it is a very good heavy cruiser.

In this day and age, these two ships are excellent in terms of firepower and armor, and can be ranked among the second class capital ships in the British Imperial Navy.

The first-class capital ship is naturally a steam ironclad warship of more than 10,000 tons, and if the Qing court wants to buy it, there is no problem, and the naval powers such as Britain, France, and Germany are willing to sell it, but the price is very touching, at least it must be more than doubled from the current level.

Just two warships can't turn the sky upside down, let alone create a naval power.

In 1879, due to the shock of the Ryukyu Incident, the Qing court finally made up its mind, and in order to deal with the invasion of the Qing Dynasty's maritime frontier by Britain, France, Japan and other countries, it decided to spend a huge amount of money to purchase warships from the foreign powers, earnestly prepare for coastal defense, and began to form the Beiyang Fleet and the Nanyang Fleet.

The "Dingyuan" ship and the "Zhenyuan" ship are 7,000-ton first-class ironclad ships commissioned by the Qing court to be built by the Volkeng shipyard in Tanterbury, Germany, of which the Dingyuan ship cost about 1.4 million taels of silver, and the Zhenyuan ship cost about 1.42 million taels of silver, both ships were launched and outfitted in May 1882, and the completion was imminent.

Germany attaches great importance to the relationship with the Qing court, and the price of the two ships built for the Qing court is very sincere, and the price charged is almost the cost price, and if the warship of the same class is customized in Britain, the price will increase by 40% on this basis.

It is important to make one point clear here;

Entering the era of steam ironclad battleships, the world's naval powers are in the new stage of naval tactical exploration, and the classification of ironclad battleships is very vague, just roughly divided into 4000 tons, and there is no detailed division of destroyers, cruisers, battleships, etc., and they are willing to call anything.

Ironclad warships of more than 1,000 tons are willing to be called light cruisers, ocean-going destroyers, or ocean-going cruisers.

For example, battleships are divided into first-class ironclad battleships, second-class ironclad battleships, third-class ironclad battleships and cruiser battleships.

The 7,000-ton Dingyuan ship belongs to the category of second-class ironclad ships, and those below 6,000 tons and more than 4,000 tons belong to the third-class ironclad battleships, which is roughly divided in this way.

The difference between a steam ironclad battleship and a heavy cruiser is the caliber of artillery, and the specific criteria for division are different and inconclusive.

It will not be long before the navies of the great powers will form a unified consensus and divide the battleships with a main gun caliber of 280 mm (including 280 mm) into the ranks of heavy cruisers.

Therefore, at this stage, the combat effectiveness of the formidable heavy cruisers is not inferior to that of the battleships.

There are many doorways in the construction of ships, mainly the balance between protection, firepower and speed, according to the needs of each country, it is important to say, it is not easy to say which is better or worse, the right one is the best.

The main task of the British battleship is the decisive battle in the ocean, so the first focus is on firepower, the second is on protection, and the third is the turn of speed.

Due to the fact that the German battleships were slightly inferior in the level of their own large-caliber naval guns, firstly, they paid attention to protection, secondly, they paid attention to speed, and thirdly, it was their turn to firepower, which was a helpless choice.

The topic also returned to the Dingyuan-class battleships, and the heavy cruisers in Li Fushou's mind were modeled after the Dingyuan-class battleships, and were appropriately modified and strengthened.

The data, performance, weapons and equipment data of the Dingyuan-class battleships are as follows;

It is 94 meters long, 18 meters wide, 6 meters draft, with a normal displacement of 7,220 tons and a full load displacement of 7,670 tons.

The ship adopts 2 horizontal three-cylinder reciprocating steam engines and 8 circular coal-fired boilers, with a maximum coal carrying capacity of 1,000 tons. Among them, the Dingyuan ship has a power of 6,200 horsepower and a speed of 14.5 knots, and the Zhenyuan ship has a power of 7,200 horsepower and a speed of 15.4 knots.

The total weight of the armor belt of the two ships is 1461 tons, the armor of the ironclad fort is 355mm thick on the waterline, the armor under the waterline is 305mm, the armor of the 305 gun mount is 304mm thick, the gun shield is 15mm thick, and the armor of the command tower is 203mm thick.

It is equipped with 4 German Krupp 305mm breech guns, one twin turret on the port side and one on the starboard side.

Note that this is a twin 305 mm turret on the port side and a twin 305 mm turret on the port side and the right port side, which are not arranged along the central axis of the hull and use hydraulic transmission to transport shells and powder packs.

The secondary guns are equipped with 2 German Krupp 150mm breech secondary guns (one at the bow and one at the end), 4 75mm Krupp guns, 8 37mm five-barreled Haggees machine guns, 1 57mm Haggekis rapid-fire gun, 1 47mm Harggees rapid-fire guns, and 3 14-inch torpedo tubes (one on each side and one at the stern, equipped with 21 torpedoes).

In addition, it is equipped with two carrier-based torpedo boats, which have a displacement of 16 tons, a length of 19.5 meters, 110 horsepower, a speed of 15 knots, and are equipped with one 37mm Habkes gun and two 14-inch torpedo tubes (one on the left and one on the bow).

Seeing these data on paper, you can know that the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships are indeed very strong, and the German-made 305 mm breech main gun is vigorous enough and amazingly powerful.

Although so much has been said, only by comparing it with the most advanced first-class battleships in the world can we understand the true level of the "Dingyuan" class ironclad battleships.

Taking the "Indomitable" class ironclad ship with the most novel style, the thickest armor and the largest main gun caliber listed in the British Royal Navy in 1881 as an example, it was listed several years earlier than the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan of the Qing Dynasty, and it was an out-and-out first-class battleship.

The ship is 104.85 meters long, 22.9 meters wide, 7.77 meters draft, standard displacement of 10,880 tons, full load displacement of 11,880 tons.

It is powered by two steam engines with a power of 8,407 horsepower and a speed of 14.75 knots, 12 coal-fired boilers, equipped with four main guns with a caliber of 406 mm, capable of firing 764 kg of shells, and capable of penetrating armor up to 584 mm thick at a distance of 914 meters.

The speed of the two is about the same, and the 406 mm main guns of the British "Indomitable" class battleships are compared with the German-made 305 mm main guns of the "Dingyuan" class, the latter is the out-and-out younger brother, showing the difference in the level of German and British naval guns.

The secondary guns of the Indomitable class battleships were armed with six 20-pounder breech guns, two 355-mm underwater torpedo tubes and two torpedo launchers of the same caliber.

The "Indomitable" class has the most heavily protected armored fort in the world today, and in the middle of the warship, with armor thick to 508 to 609 mm thick, a 33.5-meter-long and 22.9-meter-wide ironclad fort is enclosed, which encloses the engine room, boiler room, ammunition room and other vital parts.

What kind of level is this?

Frontal bombardment of one's own armored fort with the 406 mm main guns of the battleships of the "Indomitable" class will not be penetrable at a kilometer away, and there is a high probability that it will be able to block it within a kilometer without causing serious damage.

Because the Indomitable class battleship also had an armored deck that ran through the entire ship, it was located below the main deck below the waterline, and was 76.2 mm thick.

The 406 mm main gun shell must first penetrate the armored deck of the whole ship, and then break through the 508~609 mm thick armored fort located below the waterline, so as to cause serious damage to the engine room, boiler room and ammunition room and other vital parts.

Compared with the "Unyielding" class, the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan two ships are a little brother, whether in terms of tonnage, weapons, or armor protection, they are not comparable, the displacement gap of three to four thousand tons is not play, and the cost is doubled with a turn is also worth the money.

You get what you pay for, and Tong Su is not bullied.

It must be known that the "Indomitable" class is not the strongest ironclad ship in the West, and the Italian "Durio" class ironclad is even stronger than the Indomitable.

This is because Italy is poor and weak, and it regards the "Durio" class ironclad ship as a treasure of the town, and would rather spend a lot of money than to build it.

However, the British Empire was different, the "Indomitable" class battleships and similar ships of the same class were built in large quantities, and the home fleet alone had already lined up as many as 6 battleship fleets, spreading out densely on the sea surface, which made people feel chills down their spines.

Overall

In terms of the level of naval equipment in the world today, although the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships are also relatively strong, they are not the strongest, and they can only be regarded as quasi-first-class when they are full.

This quasi-first-class will not last long, and after the advent of the dreadnought-class battleships of the British Empire, the era of steam ironclads will come to an end.

In order to accurately grasp the pulse of the steam age and make accurate decisions, Li Fushou supplemented a large amount of knowledge about naval ships and the development of the steam industry, and had a clear understanding of the current technical level.

The heavy cruiser construction plan submitted by Geng Guigui has a construction displacement of about 4,800 tons, which is far from Li Fushou's requirements, and the plan is too conservative.

"Alas...... It's hard! ”

Li Fushou let out a long sigh, his stern face showing a composure that was not commensurate with his age, and he stood up and walked to the window to look into the distance.

At night, the city of the Red River Valley has fallen into a deep sleep, only the lights are shining, and the most dazzling is a river of bright lights that runs through the east and west, piercing the darkness and bringing light, which is the street lamp of the central street that never goes out all night.

After more than seven years of rebirth, it has finally created the great scene it is today.

In terms of wealth alone, Li Fushou can squeeze into the top 30 in today's world (feudal monarchs all own the entire country, and this can not catch up), which can be regarded as a success and has stepped into the pinnacle of life.

In terms of personal influence, it can be said that it is a great influence in Queensland, and its influence covers the entire Australian territory, and it has a lot of important influence in each state.

But that's about it

At the world table in today's turbulent world, there is no mere earl position, at best, he is just a petty feudal nobleman, bullying the old "sea coachman" at sunset.

To really attract the attention of the European continental powers and take it seriously, I am afraid that it will have to wait until after the reunification of Australia, this time.........

The cool night breeze blew, making Li Fushou feel comfortable from body to heart, and the thoughts in his mind became more active.

If today's world is like a poker table, there are only a dozen or so countries that can sit at the table.

Among them, the British Empire at that time was worthy of the banker, in the world table has been sitting in the bank for more than 100 years, the rules on the table are formulated by the British Empire, the cards played are controlled in his hands, of which the big and small kings and 4 2s are all buckled in the hands of the banker.

The Grand Ace is the Indian subcontinent, the pearl of the British colonies, which has an inexhaustible supply of products and human resources, and can play a decisive role in the current era of predominantly agricultural society, combined with advanced technology and maritime supremacy in the hands of the British Empire.

The little trump card is the European marriage policy of the British royal family, through which it can mobilize a large group of younger brothers in Europe to follow the ass of the British Empire and wave the flag, giving the rightful justice and moral high ground.

The four 2s are the Royal Navy's fleet, which is in the hands of the British Empire and controls the world's sea power, including the Home Fleet, the Far East Fleet, the African Fleet, and the American Fleet, which are used to exert global influence.

So it's an unfair game, where the dealer is always in control of the overwhelming power, playing the dual role of arbiter and rule-maker, and when necessary, leading a group of juniors to beat up unsightly players, such as France, such as Tsarist Russia......

The rule at the poker table is the European Balance Policy, and by extension, the World Balance Policy, and anyone who violates this basic policy will be severely beaten by the bookmaker, whether it is a relative or not.

At the table are 10 players from Tsarist Russia, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Manchu, Ottoman, the United States, Brazil and Fuso, competing in the world as countries with significant influence in their respective regions.

Among them

The French, having just lost a handful of big ones, silently licked their wounds while reaching out to Indochina, trying to exploit the colonies to feed themselves and recover as soon as possible.

Germany, under the majestic gaze of England, was forced into the time of the sage, and there was no hope of continuing to participate in the game for a short time.

can only sit there with a lot of resentment and draw small circles, there is nothing to do about this predicament, William I, who is eloquent and ambitious, and Bismarck, the iron-blooded prime minister who is touted to the sky, is also helpless, and is forced to enter the skill cooldown time.

Tsarist Russia stud on the table in a row, hit the Ottoman Empire twice (the 9th and 10th Russo-Turkish War), the last time was forced by Britain and France to spit out all the chips, a big defeat, this time although the Ottoman Empire won again, but was still ordered by the dealer British Empire to spit out most of the gains, and took Cyprus as a punishment, Tsarist Russia's face was swollen.

Don't ask why, Europeans, including the British, are so unkind to the Eastern Slavs that they have to be ordered to spit out the chips they win.

The irascible Russian woolly bear was beaten all over his head, turned his head to blackmail the Manchu Qing sitting south of him, and succeeded in blackmailing four times without much effort, and bought more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land, which made his greedy desire out of control.

The Ottoman Empire in the West and the Manchus in the East sat at the card table, praying in their hearts that everyone would not see themselves, dreaming of self-deception.

They did not understand the rules and did not play such cards, so they were so panicked that they could only play dead with their eyes half-asleep and half-awake, hoping to escape the catastrophe by pretending to be dead.

In fact, because of their huge size, all the European powers had their eyes on these two giants, including the little Fuso country and the unpopular American cowboy, and they all had ulterior and vicious thoughts about them.

As for Italy and Brazil, which are neither strong nor have a weak international influence, they sit at the table just to look good, and their role is to peek at the cards of the people next to them, and then please tell the British Empire to show their existence.

The Citigroup cowboy sat hard to draw circles, he had been isolated by most of the world, and could only desperately flatter the British Empire, and the British Empire loved it, and the bitterness in his heart can be imagined.

Other second- and third-rate European powers, such as Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, and Norway, do not have the right to sit at the table, and can only stand on the edge of the table and occasionally press it.

Queensland was in the middle of a crowd of spectators, including Canada, Scotland, Australia, South Africa, and a host of colonial nations, silent, ready to stand up and beat up a player at the behest of the British Empire.

While watching the game from the outside

Queensland stabbed the Dutchman in the dark, and the British Empire, sitting at the table, snapped his nose and continued the following game as if it had never happened.

The British Empire behaved coldly, neither encouraging nor punishing, as steady as an old dog for more than 100 years.

The other players were a little moved when they heard the commotion, but when they saw that the dealer was indifferent, most chose to sit back and watch.

Only the French were slightly agitated and took all of Indochina in their hands.

This is today's international reality, full of absurd tacit understanding.

Be in the middle of it

In addition to feeling awe, Li Fushou had fanatical ambition in his heart, and he set a small goal for himself; Within ten years, he can be qualified to stand on the periphery and watch the battle with the old gods there, and occasionally press it, not just a spectator.

This means that Queensland must have the strength of a second- or third-rate country in Europe.

Li Fushou couldn't figure out the true attitude of the British Empire towards Australia, so he didn't dare to act rashly, and the bottom line in his heart was to form a northern federation mainly in Queensland, with all the powers of a semi-independent country.

Of course, the spiritual leader is still Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and there is no doubt that this land is still shrouded in the glory of the British Empire.

At this stage, if you want to completely break away from the influence of the British Empire, hehehe...... Completely unrealistic.

It really woke up the tiger and dealt with the daring Queensland.

If nothing else, a slight mobilization of the power of the Royal Navy of the British Empire can block the forces of the Red River Valley, led by Queensland, and cut off all its foreign trade, which is the end of the world for the Red River Valley, which is extremely dependent on international trade.

"Master, it's late at night, why don't you rest?" With gentle words, Mrs. Gu Liuyan came to her side.

Li Fushou woke up from thousands of thoughts, and said slightly apologetically holding the jade hand of his wife Gu Liuyan; "Oh, ma'am, why did you come to me late at night, you are now pregnant with a child and a month old, but don't have to move the fetus."

"Thank you for your concern, I feel relieved, and I insist on taking a walk and exercising every day for a while." Gu Liuyan's eyes were as tender as water, and her large poop belly had been highlighted, she happily touched her stomach with her hand and said; "I know that the master is entangled in everything every day, and he has to consider the livelihood development of millions of people, and he shouldn't have done more beaking, but now you often stay up late to make people feel uneasy, don't hurt your body."

"Thank you, ma'am, then let's go and rest." Li Fushou took Gu Liuyan's little hand and walked towards the back hall.

The night was deep and silent, and it was already late at night.