After the ceremony

A large number of military and political officials flocked to the slipway of the heavy cruiser "Qinglong", where intensively trained shipyard technicians were under construction, and a huge hull had taken shape, which looked spectacular.

The ship was put on the slipway in May to cut the first keel steel plate, and it has been four months since it was built, and it is expected to be launched and outfitted around Christmas Day on December 25 at the end of the year, with a slipway construction period of seven and a half months and a launch outfitting period of six months, and the actual delivery to the Borneo fleet after June 1884.

in accordance with the equipment plan;

The first two "Green Dragons" and "White Tigers" were all equipped with the Borneo Fleet as the pillars of the fleet to deter the surrounding areas, of which the "Green Dragon" was the flagship of the Borneo Fleet and the ship of the fleet commander He Fang, which was personally commanded by him.

The captain of the "White Tiger" has already been designated as Wu Gang, a graduate of the British Naval Academy in Manchester, and the former captain of the "Haiyan"; in the encounter off the coast of Jayapura, he joined forces with Zhang Daoru, the captain of the "Puffin," and adopted the tactic of "lone wolf double assault" to deal a heavy blow to the Dutch landing ship group, forcing it to abandon its original landing plan and move to the unnamed bay overnight.

As a result, the Royal Netherlands Army's landing target was changed from Jayapura to Moresby, more than 2,000 kilometers away, which had a huge effect on the original situation of the war.

In the subsequent 1st and 2nd naval battles in Malacca, the "Haiyan" played an important role, achieved outstanding results, and performed extremely dazzlingly.

Therefore, in the fiercely competitive selection of the captain of the heavy cruiser "White Tiger", Lieutenant Commander Wu Gang was able to defeat a group of colleagues and was selected after passing five hurdles and six generals.

The final candidate was the earl Li Fushou, and Lieutenant Colonel Wu Gang was inexplicably grateful for this, which is another story.

Subsequently, the third ship of this class, the "Suzaku", will be equipped with the Shangri-La fleet, and the "Suzaku" will serve as the seat ship of the fleet commander Li Jie, under his personal command.

The fourth ship of this class, the "Xuanwu", was equipped with the Queensland fleet, and the "Xuanwu" was personally commanded by the captain of the fleet, Geng Guigui.

on the slipway

The hull of more than 100 meters long is extremely spectacular, giving people a strong visual shock, and the heavy waterline armor belt is currently being hoisted, and the new type of black reinforced armor steel imported from the United Kingdom gives people a very solid feeling of being dense and heavy.

These Harvey steel plates are all of the finest quality, and there is no need to doubt their quality, because the second 10,000-ton battleship to be built for the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Victoria's accession to the throne will be put on the slipway in October, almost at the same time as the "Blue Dragon" class heavy cruisers, and the new reinforced armor steel plates used are the same, and the same batch of 5,500 tons will be purchased, who knows which ship it will be installed on?

After years of technology accumulation, Hongshan Shipyard has tempered the team of technicians through the construction of "Qinglong" class heavy cruisers, realized a leap in the ability to build top warships, and is now full of confidence in the construction of 10,000-ton first-class battleships and is preparing to show its talents.

"Hahaha...... This behemoth is my Lao He's ship, brothers don't need to be envious, you will have it in two years. He Fang stretched out his hand and stroked the cold steel armor plate, which was more than a foot thick, and he couldn't stop laughing.

The usual elegant demeanor on weekdays has long been left behind, and I can't touch it enough in my hands.

During this period of time, the war at the front has completely stopped, and He Fang has been staying in the Hongshan Shipyard for more than two months, and he has to go to the slipway every day for half a day.

Thinking that one day, he would be able to drive this mighty and majestic warship to gallop across the sea and frontier, and his heart was intoxicated.

"Lao He, don't be stinky and beautiful, as for showing off like this?" Geng Guigui was also greedy when he looked at it, and he went to the shipyard every once in a while.

"Hey, hey, hey...... If that's the case, then I'll send a report to the Earl, requesting that your "Xuanwu" be deployed to our Borneo fleet, and it's a big deal that we will knock down the Spanish colony of Luzon as a gift to the Earl, for the sake of the sincerity of our Borneo fleet, I don't think the Earl will refuse. ”

"Don't be delusional, no one can take away my "Xuanwu". Geng Guigui didn't dare to make this bet with him, no matter who said the sky, he would never risk his beloved ship.

"Old Geng, you're bored, what about the blood of the soldiers?"

"Don't come to this set, Lao He, the radical method doesn't work for me, you really want to exchange...... Then the captain of the coast guard will do it for you, I will go to the Borneo fleet, and I can still fight Luzon, so I will ask you if you can do it, right? ”

"Don't mind...... I don't have an eye for your official position! ”

"I'm sincere, will you change it?"

"Of course I won't change it, I'm doing a good job in the Borneo fleet, and one day the war will break out again, our Borneo fleet will still be the first-class main force, I really have a bad head to change it with you."

"Hey...... Don't daydream, these 4 big guys came out of nowhere, I dare to say that no one in the entire South Pacific region will dare to challenge our fleet in 10 years, where is the war? ”

"Huh...... It's hard to say, it's hard to say......"

He Fang laughed dryly and didn't answer, he knew in his heart that the Earl was aggressive...... Well, the ambition to expand the territory is not unavoidable after digesting Borneo and Shangri-La.

Secretly speculating, it is about 5~8 years.

Like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they were blackmailed by Lao Maozi, who lost 1.5 million square kilometers of land without firing a single shot, and could only shrink their heads and grit their teeth and endure it.

Even the Ottoman Empire, known as the sick man of West Asia, has experienced 10 bloody Russian-Turkish wars in more than 100 years, and only after defeat will it cede land and pay reparations, regardless of the casualties of tens of thousands or 100,000, there is no possibility of blackmail success without a single shot.

The British went through two wars in Afghanistan to occupy the Kingdom of Afghanistan, and after two Anglo-Burmese wars, they spent a lot of money to occupy most of the coastal areas of Burma, and their control over the vast inland areas of Burma was almost equal to zero.

In the Qing-French War that was in full swing, the Huwei Left Army sent by the Manchu Qing Dynasty once again repelled the attack of the French Expeditionary Force and won the third Battle of Shanxi, forcing the French Expeditionary Force to suspend the land war.

The fragility of the democratically elected government lies in the fragility of the democratically elected government, which has been largely defeated and the French people's anger due to successive setbacks in the northern part of the Indochina Peninsula.

Then again

Although He Fang did not know where the Earl would expand in the future, Luzon was undoubtedly a soft persimmon, and the weak Governor's Office of the Dutch East Indies was also a soft persimmon, and as long as he did not enter the Indochina Peninsula and provoke the sensitive nerves of Britain and France, he could choose one of these two soft persimmons.

Who it is, it depends on which one bumps headlong without opening his eyes.

The Dutch had suffered enough before, and it is estimated that they have a deep shadow on the Queenslanders, and as long as they are not too excessive, they will endure it anyway.

Relatively

Spanish pirates are quite rampant in the South China Seas, and they belong to the foolish people who dance horizontally on the edge of the cliff, and they are likely to be lucky enough to win this prize.

Geng Guigui was stirred by He Fang's mysterious smile, and guessed in his heart...... He must have some ideas, but it is not appropriate to declare them.

As one of the top scholars and one of the most strategic visionaries in Queensland, Geng Guigui sincerely admires He Fang's rich knowledge of Chinese and Western learning, and he is not adulterated at all.

"Is it ......?"

Figuring out the will is a necessary quality for high-ranking military and political officials, Geng Guigui glanced at him thoughtfully, and thought about it seriously in his heart.

It didn't matter who he was, he wandered around the slipway with his hands behind his back, and he didn't dislike the deafening sound of rivet guns and the endless sound of "clanging" steel, even if it was a whole day, he would not feel the slightest bit bored.

Li Fushou and several high-level government officials came from the bow of the boat talking and laughing, and immediately greeted He Fang when they saw him; "Brother He, speaking of which, you are a real expert, tell us the difference between riveting and welding?"

"Your Excellency the Earl commands, who is willing to do it."

Li Fushou waved his hand and said with a smile; "Brother He, just call Yuan Ding, they are all brothers of their own family for many years, and they have supported each other to do a career together, so they don't need to see each other so much."

"Then I'll take the liberty of it, Lord Yuan Ding and a few brothers, please take a look......" He Fang said, pointing to the long rivets on the hull; In my opinion, today's welding process is not mature, and it can be applied more to the manufacture of cargo ships, because the steel plate they use is relatively thin, and can be welded through and welded firmly.

But it is not possible to apply it to the manufacture of warships, the hardness of the new armored steel plate is very high, and the thickness reaches more than one foot, and each armored steel plate weighs several tons.

Mounted on the outside of the hull, it not only has to withstand the erosion of the harsh marine environment for many years, but also has to withstand the explosive impact of large-caliber heavy artillery, which can be as high as 100,000 pounds per unit area.

This is a huge challenge for today's immature welding technology, which still relies on the traditional riveting process to undertake this heavy task.

Warships pay attention to reliable combat power, and they will not easily try new technologies in manufacturing, which may cause unpredictable operational risks to warships, so every detail must be cautious and cautious, and consider and consider.

The advantages of welding are that it is fast, low cost, and less labor, which is suitable for civil cargo ships built in large quantities.

For the manufacture of warships in various countries, cost has never been the first point to consider, and its construction difficulty is much higher than that of civilian freighters, and reliability and durability should be the first place, so as not to lag back in the battle, and we cannot afford to pay such a painful price. ”

These words were reasonable, Li Fushou nodded frequently when he heard this, stretched out his fist and pounded the steel plate hard, not even making the slightest sound, but shook his hand painfully; "Insiders look at the doorway, laymen look at the excitement, there is our brother He, a great talent who has learned Chinese and Western talents, we will understand."

"Lord Yuan Ding is too modest, you are the glory of the bright moon, how can we compare with the fireflies?"

"Hehehe...... You're not a fireflyer, and I'm afraid the fire in the port of Muda is not far behind. ”

"Lord Yuanding, it seems that this fire has a deep memory for you!"

"Not to mention the deep memory, according to the follow-up civil affairs official report, the port of Saimuda was in ruins, almost no intact walls still stand, a fire in the port burned more than 1,000 meters of soil all pottery, thick ashes are more than two meters deep, the army of the grandson fought really hard, no wonder the Dutch defenders of the fort were so frightened that the two forces surrendered immediately......"

Speaking of this, Li Fushou was silent, and shook his head with a wry smile.

The military only thinks about achieving the objectives of the campaign, and does not consider the reconstruction of towns and towns and the recovery of society after the war.

As the first Kalimantan 2nd Division to receive the honorary title in the whole army, people now say "Tiger Division", but the original number is rarely mentioned.

Lord Earl made some casual comments, if he heard the ears of the Tiger Master, it might cause a lot of damage to the fragile little mind of the "Tiger Master".

Li Fushou immediately changed the topic and asked some light things; "Brother He, I heard that you have been in the Honghe Shipyard for the past two months, and you haven't gone over to He Fang Town, you haven't gone to the pasture, and you haven't returned home, should you take the time to go back and have a look?"

"Lord Yuanding, there is an old housekeeper over there to take care of him, the dog He Jiaju, He Jiajin is already over 20 years old, and he has achieved some success, and the relevant matters can be handled roughly properly, I don't need to be distracted elsewhere."

"That being said, you can't ignore it."

"In my mind, the Blue Dragon is more important than everything, and there are a lot of things involved in the construction work, and I want to witness his growth process and participate in every detail of the construction process, rather than revising it after the fact. Speaking of this, He Fang pointed to the chimney in front of him and said;

"In the original design, there were two chimneys, but after my many calculations, the 12 boilers of the "Qinglong" burned together at full strength, and the huge smoke and dust produced by the two chimneys were stretched, which was easy to cause poor power output.

Therefore, I propose to modify it to three chimneys, one chimney for every four boilers, and install a hot water recovery device on the side wall to use hot water pipes to deliver heat to the living compartment and enhance the combat capability in cold areas.

This was not taken into account in the original design.

In the process of laying the armor plate, I recommend that steel riveting and welding be applied at the same time, laying the armor plate in the traditional riveting way, and applying the welding process around the perimeter, which can improve the fit of the armor plate, so as not to damage the rivet structure due to wave invasion or ship impact, so that the friction damage will be caused by looseness, although it adds an additional process, but improves the reliability.

In addition, for example, the angle design of the bow anchor chain compartment, the adjustment of the officer's cabin, and the arrangement of the combat cabin, we, as the users of the warship, can put forward more suggestions for improvement, and participate in the construction period of the shipyard to carefully build this great heavy weapon.

This is a hundred-year plan, and it cannot be ignored.

In comparison, why do some children have a lot of affection? ”

Hearing this, Li Fushou solemnly hugged his fists and saluted; "Listening to your words, it is better to read for ten years, and Yuan Ding has been taught."

"How dare you, from a private point of view, the Qinglong is a partner who will get along day and night in the future, and from a public point of view, this is just a lowly duty." He returned the salute with a fist.

Li Fushou patted him lightly on the shoulder, didn't say anything, everything was silent.