"Huh...... Compared with Queensland, which has a Blue Dragon-class heavy cruiser, these countries are really not enough. ”

He Fang smiled proudly, the look on his face was bright, fully demonstrating the strong confidence and leadership charm of a strategic naval commander, he paused and continued;

"Austria-Hungary was a traditional European land power, and did not have a deep naval tradition, and did not pay much attention to the costly naval construction, and did not have a high priority in the military sequence, and lagged much behind other European powers.

In response to the unification and rise of Italy, the first steam ironclad battleship in the modern sense of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the Dragon-class armored frigate built in 1861, which had a displacement of 3,000 tons, and was originally equipped with 10 48-pounder smoothbore guns and 18 24-pounder front-loading rifled guns on the broadside, and later replaced with 10 178-mm main guns, which are still in service with the army.

Starting with the Dragon class, the Austro-Hungarian Navy also entered the era of ironclads.

To commemorate the victory in the Battle of Lisa, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began construction of the ironclad ship Lisa in 1867. The "Lisa" class ironclad ship adopts the design of the central gun chamber that was born recently, and 12 229 mm main guns are arranged in the central ironclad gun chamber, with a displacement of 7,000 tons, which meets the standard of the first-class ironclad ship of that year.

It can be said that the Lisa was the ancestor of the Austro-Hungarian ironclad battleship, and its design specifications have influenced the construction of ships in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the present day.

In 1882, the ironclad ship "Tiegotov" was commissioned.

The ironclad ships of this class have a displacement of 7400 tons and have six 283-mm guns as their main armament. The class is still a central chamber type ironclad, but it has a number of innovations.

First, the caliber of its main guns has finally reached the level of a third-class battleship, and because it is still an ancient racked artillery, its main gun firepower has barely reached the world's third-rate level.

Second, this class of ships is the first Austro-Hungarian capital ship equipped with torpedo weapons, catching up with the development trend of the world's naval capital ships, which can be said to be long overdue.

Third, it adopted some designs similar to gun profiles in order to facilitate the firing of the main gun, which had a profound impact on the development of the Austro-Hungarian capital ships, which was also a design drawing that had been discarded by the naval powers of Britain and France, but it was the latest design in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

From this point alone, it is 20 years behind the level of the world.

In 1884, Austria-Hungary built an ironclad heavy cruiser with 305 mm guns and a rotating turret design at the beginning of the year and in August.

The "Grand Duke Rudolph", built at the beginning of the year, has a displacement of 6,800 tons and is equipped with three 305-mm main guns and six 120-mm secondary guns.

The "Grand Duchess Stephanie", built on the slipway in August, has a displacement of 5,000 tons and is equipped with two 305 mm main guns and six 150 mm secondary guns. These two ironclads were the first Austro-Hungarian capital ships to be armed with 305 mm guns and the starting point for Austro-Hungarian armored heavy cruisers.

However, compared with our 8,800-ton "Qinglong" class cutting-edge heavy cruisers, the traditional ironclad ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whether they are newly built heavy cruisers, are all scum that can be swept into the garbage heap of history, far behind the trend of cutting-edge warships in the current era, and their combat effectiveness is even more incomparable.

The main guns of the Austro-Hungarian Navy warships still use the traditional framed guns, and the design still retains the two tall sail masts in the front and rear, and the top speed is only a pitiful 16.5 knots, which is still the result of the joint efforts of the ship's power and sail mast when the wind is favorable.

In the case of the most powerful in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the "Grand Duke Rudolph", the armor belt of the battleship was only 253 mm thick on average, and it was not the latest bulletproof armor Harvey steel.

The maximum speed of our "Qinglong" class heavy patrol can reach 22.5 knots, the high freeboard is adapted to the harsh sea conditions in various sea areas, the fire power of the three twin-mounted 280 mm hydraulic re-entry main guns is extremely fierce, and the thickness of the main armor belt reaches an average of more than 400 mm, which is the level of a British first-class battleship, and the defensive power is two levels higher than that of the "Crown Prince Rudolph" heavy cruiser.

Moreover, the Qinglong-class heavy patrol is equipped with four twin 150 mm secondary guns, four twin 95 mm secondary guns, and four twin 37 mm French Haqikis secondary guns.

In terms of the combat effectiveness of a single ship, an 8,800-ton "Qinglong"-class heavy cruiser is enough to be worth four large-displacement ironclad ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it won the battle.

Lord Yuanding

Please believe that this is not my blind optimism, but based on rigorous sand table deduction and data analysis, beyond the details you can't see, the Harvey armor steel and dense compartment anti-sinking design that we paid a high price have played a qualitative role in the overall improvement of the combat effectiveness of the battleship.

As for Spain, a traditional naval power, it is now just a broken house, although it has barely entered the era of ironclad ships, but the fleet is more traditional sail warships.

These fragile wooden battleships, coated in copper skin, had already proven themselves in the last round of the East Indies naval battle, and they were as delicious as Christmas turkeys, and they were nothing more than a number of the great exploits of our Queensland Navy, and they were not threatening in any way.

As for the top three South American powers, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, they themselves do not have the ability to build ironclad battleships, and they have also not been tested by cruel wars, and the powerful warships they buy are more like mascots to decorate the façade.

At this point

There are many similarities between the three South American powers and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but the three South American powers face a much better national security situation due to their remote location in South America. ”

Speaking of this, He Fang seemed to think of something, sighed with a heavy heart, closed his mouth tightly and stopped talking.

Li Fushou gently patted him on the shoulder very understandingly, conveying encouragement through this subtle movement.

No one can do anything about this situation, the god thunder of another dimension is not a joke, it will make you annihilate in minutes.

"The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan two ships ordered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty from Germany, have they been delivered in the near future?" Li Fushou asked.

Due to the outbreak of the "Qing-French War", these two powerful warships were temporarily detained in the shipyard by neutral Germany, and their future fate is unknown.

Now that the war is over, it's time to lift the lockdown.

He Fang had a long-lost smile on his face, and it could be seen that he was really happy; "With the blessing of the Emperor and the Queen, and the blessing of the ancestors, the two giant ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan have recently arrived at Dagukou in Tianjin and officially joined the Beiyang Navy. With these two 7,600-ton giant ships sitting in the Beiyang Naval Division, its strength is second to none in East Asia, far from being matched by Fuso and other countries, and there is no need to worry about the coastal sea! ”

"Great."

Li Fushou was also pleased with the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division, which reached its peak in 1884 because of the joining of the two giant ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, which was enough to ensure the safety of the Manchu Sea for 20 years.

The premise is ...... It will not challenge European powers such as Britain and France.

While the two were chatting leisurely, Li Fushou glanced at Dai Yingcai, the director of political affairs (formerly the black-clothed guard), standing not far away, as if he had something important to tell.

Li Fushou's heart sank, he knew that Dai Yingcai would not show up in public if he had nothing important, let alone find here, it seemed that something serious had happened.

The outskirts of Qinglong City

In the elegant and deep Longhu Palace, the guards are heavily guarded, the surrounding area is full of open posts and secret sentinels, and the patrols leading fierce German dogs are constantly coming and going, and a bird does not want to fly over without a special pass.

Large study

"Tell me, what's going on?" Li Fushou sat down with a grim face and asked in a cold voice.

"Report to my lord, there has been a big incident in Borneo, and the new governor of Henan has brazenly ordered the troops to invade Lanfang Country, and has now occupied most of the area, which may cause serious consequences for the direct destruction of Lanfang Kingdom."

Dai Yingcai didn't dare to slack off, now that the majesty of the old man is getting heavier, he feels a lot of pressure standing in this big office.

"Hmm......" Li Fushou's tone was too high, and he could hear a strong sense of dissatisfaction, and said in a stern tone; These damned Dutchmen didn't stop, and after regaining the upper hand in the Aceh War, they set their sights on Lan Fangguo, wasn't it enough to endure hardships? You tell me about this from the beginning, don't add your own subjective assumptions. ”

"Master, don't you dare."

Whether it is the Black Guard or the Political Intelligence Department, the department in charge of Dai Yingcai is the eagle dog and eyes and ears of the Red Fort, so Dai Yingcai does not call him "Lord Earl" like other government leaders, but calls "Lord" like the pro-guard, in order to show his subordinates.

He raised his sleeve and gently wiped a layer of cold sweat from his forehead, and cautiously replied;

"Back to my lord

The Dutch have always pursued the elimination of the indigenous kingdoms and forces of the East Indies, and over the past 280 years, dozens of large and small indigenous kingdoms and separatist forces have been eliminated, and the East Indies have gradually been divided into a whole colony.

They had been eyeing the Lan Fang Kingdom established by the Chinese for a long time, but the sudden East Indies War disrupted the deployment of the Dutch East Indies Governor's Office, and the annexation plan was delayed.

Now, the Queensland forces have landed in Borneo, forming a chaotic situation in Borneo, among which the Lanfang country, which is of the same origin and the same species and culture as us, is the weakest, and it is like a man's back to the Dutch, and it will be eliminated quickly.

In the eighth lunar month of 1884, the Dutch took advantage of the funeral of Liu Sheng, the last chief of the late governor of Lanfang, and sent troops to occupy Dongwanlu.

In addition to driving the Liu family out of the General Control Hall, the Dutch also tore off the Huang Guoqi of the General Commander and threw it on the ground, a humiliating move that angered the Lanfang people, and the locals, led by the leader Liang Luyi and the deputy commander of Lanfang, Li Yuchang, fought back and drove the Dutch out of the Lanfang capital.

Although the Lanfang people have achieved a temporary victory, the general trend has gone, and the disparity in strength between the enemy and us is huge, so the current situation is precarious.

Li Yuchang sent a special envoy to Sanmarinda to ask for help, and the political intelligence department was located in Sanmarinda, and the agency was the first to learn of the incident, and notified the headquarters with a secret language and urgent telegram, I rode a fast horse to report the news, and asked the master to show me how to deal with it urgently. ”

Lan Fangguo asks for help?

The corners of Li Fushou's mouth hooked a dangerous arc, this political system that has existed for nearly a hundred years has long been transformed into a hall of words of the Liu family, the Liu family has held the highest power for three generations, flattered the Hulan people, and helped suppress the Chinese resistance group, which is really unsightly.

I remember more than three years ago

Li Fushou sent Tian Shan, deputy director of the Secretariat, as a special envoy to secretly meet with Liu Sheng, the ruler of Lanfang Kingdom, to express the intention of the two sides to work together against the Dutch, and if they could gain a foothold in Lanfang Kingdom, it would have a great impact on the spice trade route, which was vital to the Dutch.

As a result, Liu Sheng refused the request to join forces without hesitation, showing no compatriotism.

The mediocre Liu clan elders in his country even clamored to tie up Queensland's envoy Tian Shan to the Dutch, and his servile face was extremely disgusting.

Now the birds are all good and the bows are hidden, and the rabbits are dead and the dogs are cooked.

Li Fushou was ashamed to be in company, he waved his hand and said; "You go down, continue to closely monitor the domestic situation in Lanfang, monitor the movements of the Dutch, and report important situations as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Dai Yingcai bowed in response, and then quietly left the large study covered with a thick woolen carpet.