After sending the director of security, Pang Xuehai, away, Li Fushou separately instructed Fan Zhongzhai, the head of the secretariat, to do a few things, and then let him leave as well.

Only Li Fushou and Major General He Fang were left in the west study, Li Fushou was not in a hurry to talk about things, but opened the cigar case and asked; "Brother He, I know you also like this bite, do you have one?"

"Yuan Ding is so generous, but He is unfair!"

"Not to mention, talking to Brother He is a long knowledge." Li Fushou complimented, He Fang clasped his hands into fists and said; "Don't dare", after the two looked at each other and laughed, one person lit a cigar cigarette, and really enjoyed the clouds, like a fairy.

In the military

There are only two people with handsome talents, one is Major General Mo Rufeng, commander of the Army Expeditionary Force in Africa, and the other is Rear Admiral He Fang, chief of staff of the Navy, and these two people have common characteristics;

Mo Rufeng is a person from a person, He Fang Jinshi was born, once did a term of Qipinzhi County, and studied at the Royal Manchester Naval School in the United Kingdom, both of them are the pillars of learning through China and the West, learning rich five cars, talented eight buckets, with a broad international vision, strategic vision is quite outstanding.

With such a great talent, why did he disappear in obscurity in his previous life?

I can only blame the lack of suitable soil for survival, either growing crookedly or dying, in the rotten and rigid system of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it is strange to be able to grow towering trees.

However, China has not lacked talents since ancient times, especially in the late Manchu Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

After chatting for a while, Li Fushou asked as soon as he spoke; "Brother He, it's just that your fiefdom is not carefully managed, now that there is no war in the South Pacific, you can just live a happy and leisurely life, how do you think of going to Europe to study again, I don't think the Royal Navy of the British Empire has much to learn, right?"

"Yuan Ding, this is wrong!" He Fang's face was straight, he took a deep breath with a cigar in his hand, the strong aroma of tobacco was permeated, and he carefully organized the language and said;

"The present world

With the wave of the second industrial revolution dominated by internal combustion engines and electrification, new technologies, new technologies, and new tactics emerging one after another, the main ships of the navy, which are the culmination of industry, have undergone tremendous changes in the rapid development of science and technology.

This kind of change is not limited to the technological development of the main ironclad ships, but also extends to the change of naval tactics and strategy, which in turn affects the maritime strategy and national strategy, and profoundly changes the world's military strength.

From the standpoint

The dominance of the Royal Navy of the British Empire cannot be broken for the time being, but Germany, France, Italy, and the United States have all appeared a lot of interesting innovative design ideas for ships, which are worthy of in-depth study.

For example, the popular arrangement of main guns along the central axis, dense longitudinal compartments, new technology boilers, piggyback main turret concept, five-turret or even seven-turret firepower ironclad ship concept, the Italians even fantasized about using ironclad battleships to carry tens of thousands of troops across the Mediterranean Sea and put troops on the coast of Ethiopia in Africa.

Are there any references to these novel forward-looking ideas?

I think there is, and it is necessary to cite it in the naval strategy and tactics that suit us through scientific analysis and rigorous argumentation, which will inevitably cause a 1+12 effect.

The emergence of the "Majesty" class ironclad battleships has led the trend of arranging the technology of the world's capital ships along the central axis, completely eliminating the outdated design of the waist gun room, and sweeping an entire generation of ironclad battleships into the garbage heap of history.

It can be seen from this

If we fail to keep up with the latest trends of our time, millions of pounds of shipbuilding may be wasted, and only backward ships and tactics will be built, hoping to win the decisive battle at sea for decades to come.

Instead of envying the fish in the abyss, it is better to retreat and close the net.

The powerful fleets of the world's naval powers have never been built in just a few years, but have been tempered for decades, and have been tempered for decades, from naval tactics and theory, shipbuilding industry, fleet and personnel echelon construction, weapons industry to base logistics, and other aspects to continue to invest heavily, so as to build a strong navy.

Our naval power looks good in the South Pacific at first glance, but it is just a younger brother in the concentration camps of European bigwigs, crushed into slag in minutes.

Recognizing reality and accurately positioning the Coast Guard has always been my requirement for the Coast Guard, and it has always been implemented in the training of grassroots officers.

We can't be arrogant because we bully some soft persimmons, in the vast world ocean, there are many, many stronger than us.

Yuan Ding, you have always emphasized that those who do not seek a hundred generations are not enough to seek a moment, and a certain person thinks and practices it.

During this study trip to Europe, I hope to lead some young naval officers to broaden their horizons, lead some young technicians to further their studies, accept the influence of the world's most advanced ship construction concepts, and grow into designers who can independently design the main ironclad ships.

It is not possible to build a car behind closed doors, and in the process of growing up, you must invest a lot of money, energy and attention, there is just a proverb; Rome was not built in a day. ”

A heart-to-heart long conversation made Li Fushou feel a lot of emotion;

I am not alone, on the thorny journey of building a dream home for overseas Chinese, there are many like-minded people with lofty ideals who are making unremitting efforts to move forward step by step.

This feeling made him feel a heartfelt warmth in his heart, so he nodded and said; "I understand the truth that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and I think of Brother He working hand in hand with me, this way is not lonely!

Fortunately, fortunately, I hope that Brother He Dapeng will spread his wings for 90,000 miles and break out of a new world.

In that case, then I will not keep you, you can bring the materials of the fleet and the White Creek Naval School, and this money will not go from the navy's funds, and all the funds will be allocated by the internal government.

Hehe...... I only hope that you will return as soon as possible and regain the banner of the navy, and I am much more relieved to have you. ”

Major General He Fang said with a slight smile; "Yuan Ding don't have to worry, although my Queensland Navy is not a strong sorghum in Europe, it is in the South Pacific, which is an acre and three points of land, it is still an out-and-out little overlord, looking at the surrounding situation, the ability is unintentional, the heart is powerless, and there will be no existence that can threaten us in the short term in two or three years, so you can rest assured."

"What if the situation between the North and the South changes dramatically, and the Royal Navy of the British Empire intervenes in the war?"

"This situation is possible, the decisive battle is mainly on land, and the navy is mainly to avoid the battle and protect the ship, so it is not appropriate to fight hard." Speaking of this, He Fang spread his hands helplessly; "Even if the Third Battlefleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire stationed in the Indian colonies sends a small part of the troops, it is not something we can compete with, and the wisest choice for children and adults to fight is to find a suitable place to hide."

"Well, that makes sense, what if it's the French expeditionary fleet?"

"This possibility is extremely small, in case of a confrontation between the two sides, it mainly depends on the attitude of the British, the British can support us directly to the tip of the needle, if the British attitude is ambiguous, it is best to deal with it properly, fighting but not breaking is the best policy."

"What about the Germans?"

"The Far East Fleet of the Germans has just been formed, and the capital ships in charge are only two cruisers, and there is no stable port of call, and the strength is far inferior to ours, but considering the strong position of the German Empire in Europe, it is advisable to be polite and courteous, and give the other side enough respect to win goodwill."

"Fusang urgently customized 4 fast cruisers in the UK, the lead ship" Fusang "has been launched and outfitted, and is expected to return to China in the middle of next year to join the Fuso Navy sequence, according to the speed of the British man-made ship, all equipped is two or three years, this is a big threat, what do you think? ”

"Yuan Ding, in terms of naval strategy alone, these cutting-edge fast cruisers of Fusang cannot pose any threat, and our "Brave" class cruisers have been launched into service one after another, and they are developing We are also developing, and they are more powerful than them. Speaking of this, He Fang paused, he could keenly feel the Earl's jealousy of the Fusang Kingdom.

Although I don't know where it came from, He Fang carefully considered it and said; "With the current national strength of Fuso, it is impossible to pose a threat to us before the end of this century unless it is full of military force.

But it is difficult to say about the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Fusang people have a kind of desperate ruthlessness, and our boss's homeland is afraid everywhere, corruption is rampant, and deception has become a trend, and it has shown an obvious scene at the end of the imperial dynasty, which is worrying!

There is nowhere to repay the enthusiasm of our overseas children, and if we care too much, it will cause the court to be afraid of all the publics, thinking that we have some ulterior motives?

If you don't do anything, you can't do it! ”

Li Fushou empathized with He Fang's complicated feelings, and he could only let out a long sigh, and the two looked at each other speechlessly.

The "Permanent Plan" for the development of naval armaments began in preparation in 1884 and was approved in 1885, but due to financial constraints (mainly four battleships for the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne), it was not until the end of 1886 that a small initial grant was received for the import of related materials and equipment.

The official large-scale construction began in April 1887, when a joint bidding enterprise composed of the Red River Valley Shipyard and the Songjiang No. 1 Shipyard won the order, and the initial construction of three ships began, of which the Red River Valley Shipyard built two, namely the No. 1 ship "Brave" and the No. 3 ship "Stubborn", and the Songjiang No. 1 Shipyard built the No. 2 ship "Indomitable".

By mid-November 1888

The three ships have already been launched and outfitted separately, and the "Brave", which is the first to start construction, will be delivered to the Navy before the end of the year and will enter service with the Borneo fleet.

The "Indomitable" and "Stubborn" are scheduled to be added to the fleet in March and May next year, respectively, with one each for the Shangri-La fleet and one for the home fleet, in order to strengthen the fleets.

The second round of cruisers has been built on the slipway, which is basically entering service at a rate of 2~3 ships a year, and it is expected that a total of 12 "Brave" class cruisers will be completed within 4 years.

By the end of 1890, together with the war reparations of the "Naniwa" and "Takachiho" fast cruisers, a total of 14 cruisers and four heavy cruisers were formed, and the naval force was enough to protect the sea frontier for thousands of miles.

It should be noted that;

After repeated arguments by the navy and the efforts of the two navy officers, the original 3,600-ton "Brave" class light cruiser plan was fine-tuned, mainly by adopting the new British coal-fired boiler technology, and the planned eight coal-fired boilers were increased to 10, and the power was increased by 32.2%.

On the other hand, the protection has been strengthened, the longitudinal compartment technology and plane armor (referring to the deck armor belt, which is used to protect against vertical strikes of heavy bombs. As a result, the displacement increased by more than 570 tons, bringing the total displacement to 4,230 tons.

According to the plan

The "Brave" class light cruiser is an ocean-going escort high-speed cruiser, equipped with two twin 280 mm long-barreled main guns, one in the bow and one in the stern, arranged along the central axis, with a high-trunk outboard floating bow to deal with complex sea conditions, the application of multiple compartments, the strengthening of the armor belt design, and the increase of the sinking resistance of the main battle ship.

The ships are equipped with four 150 mm secondary guns, six 95 mm Miss Australia secondary guns, eight 37 mm French Habekai rapid-fire cannons, and two triple torpedo tubes.

The original design speed was 26 knots, and after the plan was fine-tuned, the displacement was increased by 570 tons to the level of 4230 tons, and the protection force was enhanced by 78%, because the coal-fired boiler with the latest British technology was applied, and the power reserve was enhanced, and the speed did not decrease but increased, and it ran out of a high speed of 29.6 knots in the trial voyage, and almost touched the edge of 30 knots.

The construction of naval ships has always been a gold-swallowing beast, and every bit of performance growth is piled up in pounds, and the direct consequence of this is that the unit price originally planned to be built was 245,500 pounds, and now it has soared to 312,000 pounds, which is close to the 7,600-ton "Dingyuan" class giant ship customized by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Germany, and the entire ship construction plan is worth up to 800,000 pounds.

According to the four-year plan, the annual expenditure has increased from about £750,000 to £972,000, putting enormous pressure on the Red Fort's finances.

The huge effort paid off, and the "Brave" class light cruiser program canceled the word "light" and became the "Brave" class cruiser program after fine-tuning.

After a comprehensive assessment

The combat effectiveness has increased by 47.6%, which is almost half of the position, that is, one ship is equivalent to the strength of one and a half battleships in the original plan, ranking among the best naval cruisers in the world, if not the first, but also the second.

The Queensland Fleet sits on the shoulders of the world's naval hegemon, the United Kingdom, the design of the ships is from the hands of the British master designers, the construction technology and standards are all learned from the British, the ship's combat regulations and damage management and other items are also fully copied, sitting on the results of the condensation of hundreds of years of combat experience of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, the performance of the warships is undoubtedly extremely good, and the combat level has also reached an excellent level.

Although it cannot be said to catch up with the British Royal Navy, it is significantly higher than the world land powers such as the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary.

On the occasion of parting

Li Fushou seized the time to ask for advice and humbly asked questions about the navy's strategy and tactics, which made Rear Admiral He Fang deeply gratified and carefully answered them one by one.