This time, the ceremony of the battleship "Qingdao" held in Beilun Harbor was particularly solemn because of His Majesty's personal presence, and the wharf was crowded like a sea, the soldiers of the Royal Praetorian Guard were neatly arranged, the colorful flags fluttered, and the cheers were boiling to the sky.

After Li Fushou led a group of important ministers to arrive, the lively atmosphere of the scene reached its peak, and the shouts like mountains and tsunamis made people's blood boil.

Amid the sound of military music, the ceremony officially began.

Li Fushou had a pair of sunglasses on his nose, looked at the naval officers and men standing neatly on the battleship "Qingdao" and nodded with satisfaction, and said to Admiral He Fang, the Minister of the Navy beside him; "Brother He, are you still satisfied with this big guy?"

"Back to Your Majesty's words, Weichen couldn't be more satisfied, with it, we have no problem dominating the Western Pacific region, we can go sideways." Admiral He Fang replied with a smile.

"Isn't that a crab, hehehe......"

In order to meet the challenge of the German High Seas Fleet, the main warships of the Third Battlefleet stationed in the Indian subcontinent have been transferred back to the mainland one after another, and their strength has dropped a big notch compared with a few years ago, and it is now within 18,000 nautical miles between Hawaii and Somalia, and the strength of the Imperial Navy is respected."

"Is it stronger than Tsarist Russia?"

"Uh...... To be slightly weaker, Tsarist Russia is frantically building the main warships, there are 6 battleships built on the slipway, more than 10 heavy cruisers, and when the construction plan is completed in 1904, it will have more than 13 battleships, all more than 200 warships, second only to Britain, Germany, France and other old naval powers in terms of scale, higher than Italy and the United States, and two and a half times the strength of the Fuso Navy, so the strength of the Tsarist Russian Navy is relatively strong. ”

"Well, after all, after spending so many francs on loans, you have to see some results." Li Fushou smiled disappreciatively, but asked another question; "Where is the submarine test program introduced by your Admiralty last year?"

Admiral Ho replied; "Your Majesty, we have imported 260-ton offshore submarines from France, built three experimental boats by introducing key components, and are conducting nautical experiments in Tasmanian waters to verify the technology in related aspects. However, this kind of offshore submarine is obviously not suitable for China's national conditions, and the range is too short for China's vast sea area. Therefore, the Admiralty has drawn up a 1,200-ton submarine development plan, and is ready to independently develop ocean-going submarines after thoroughly understanding the relevant French technology. ”

"Are you having trouble?"

"Yes, ocean-going submarines are a completely new area that is not touched by all countries of the world today, the corresponding development of optical periscope equipment, detection equipment, electrical energy storage equipment, communication equipment, combat methods and the main weapon torpedo. There are no small technical hurdles. Further exploration and research and development are needed in order to achieve phased results. ”

"Compared to the huge war beast in front of you, the submarine does seem to be a small point, but if it can be developed, it will be like an assassin lurking in the deep sea, it will pose a serious threat to the large capital ships, and more resources must be invested in research." Li Fushou explained, thought for a while and continued; "In this way, your Admiralty will send a report on how much funds need to be allocated for submarine technology research and development every year, and I will ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to solve some of it to reduce your financial pressure."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I have arranged competent people to keep an eye on this project, and organize scientific and technological personnel to focus on tackling key problems in response to technical problems, hoping to achieve results as soon as possible and live up to Your Majesty's high expectations."

"Don't be in a hurry, if you want to hurry, you can't reach it, we still have to take full experiments as the premise, put the reliability of ocean-going submarines in the first place, if something goes wrong in the depths of the sea, it will be called every day, and the earth will not work!"

"Weichen understands, he must follow His Majesty's instructions."

"Oh, by the way, what do you think about the hegemony of Japan and Russia in the Far East?"

"Back to Your Majesty's words, Weichen thinks that if there is a large-scale war between Japan and Russia, the victory or defeat should be between the two sides, mainly depending on the command and response of the generals in front, which is almost the ratio of 64 to 64, and Tsarist Russia has a greater chance of winning."

"Let's talk about it."

"Needless to say, the army of Tsarist Russia can mobilize two or three million troops to fight in the Far East at any time, which is obviously stronger than Fuso. In terms of naval strength, Tsarist Russia is facing a serious crisis and may be broken by the Fuso navy. "Admiral He Fang has long been familiar with the above situation, and he said it;

"Although the size of the Tsarist Russian Navy is huge and the strength of its capital ships is extraordinary, due to geographical factors, it is divided into three fleets that cannot support each other.

Pacific Fleet, Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet.

In the Far East

The Pacific Fleet of Tsarist Russia stationed in Vladivostok had to independently face the combined fleet of Fuso, which was armed to the teeth, and its chances of winning were no more than 10%.

The combined fleet of the Fuso State is all cutting-edge warships built by the British, with new models, new technology, unified main guns, a large number of rapid-fire guns, high training intensity of naval officers and men, excellent artillery design ability, and the ability to form a terrible firepower density in a short period of time, which is a nightmare for the Tsarist Pacific Fleet.

No matter how powerful the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet of Tsarist Russia were, they were beyond the reach of the whip, which determined that the Fuso State was invincible, and its mainland and Korean Peninsula colonies were safe and secure under the protection of the naval fleet.

Therefore, after the defeat of the land hegemony, the army units of the Fuso State can retreat to the range of naval guns and avoid the danger of total annihilation.

This is a little bit of Weichen's superficial opinion, please correct your majesty. ”

"Well, yes, it makes sense." Li Fushou nodded in appreciation.

Without peeking at the hole cards, no one thought that Fusang could defeat Tsarist Russia in the war, Britain and France and other European powers saw it this way, Tsarist Russia also saw it this way, and even the Fusang people themselves were not confident.

During Prime Minister Fan Zhongzhai's visit to London, London privately inquired about the possibility of the Ocean Empire joining forces with Fusang State, but Prime Minister Fan Zhongzhai rejected it.

Australia does not seek special interests in the Far East, especially the three northeastern provinces, so it will neither participate in the invasion of the Shenzhou continent by European and American countries, nor will it mix with the struggle for hegemony between Japan and Russia.

This is the current policy and will not change.

London's actions show that it has little confidence in Fuso, and as for why it instigated Fusang to rush to the front, no matter if he can fight or not, it depends on the careful thinking of the British.

It's good to win a war, but it's nothing if you lose.

Anyway, it was the Fuso people who died, and the money borrowed for the development of armaments still had to be repaid, and no one could repay the debt in front of the British Empire.

Li Fushou's eyes swept over the huge battleship "Qingdao", and his heart was full of pride.

This type of battleship is a powerful war monster designed and manufactured locally, representing the highest level of current Australian ship construction, and has reached the world-class level.

Before that, there was a voice circulating in society;

It is believed that the main warships of the Navy should be designed by first-class designers from Britain, Germany and France, and that advanced foreign weapons and equipment and power equipment should be introduced in order to reach the target level of the main warships of the Navy.

This is actually a kind of psychology that has been kneeling for a long time, with weak legs and no self-confidence, blindly worshipping foreign flattery, and always thinking that Chinese people can't do this kind of high-end design.

Li Fushou personally made the decision, and finally decided that the Chinese designer would take the lead and design this type of excellent battleship, whose performance ranked among the top in the world.

As a matter of fact

In today's world, there is no technical problem in the industrial field that cannot be broken through, from machine tools to motors, from engines to warships, as long as you are willing to invest, it is not a problem.

If the original historical trajectory has not changed

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Fuso could only build small warships such as destroyers, but in just over 10 years after the war, it was able to build the world's top battleships.

On what basis...... Are Fuso people inherently good?

After the collapse of the decaying and backward Tsarist Russian Empire, the Red Empire, which was rebuilt on the ruins, developed into a world industrial power in just over a decade, with many aircraft, tanks, artillery and warships.

With a strong momentum of not admitting defeat, I can do what others can do, and I can do better.

It turns out

The Ocean Empire has already made a name for itself in the field of ship construction and design, which is not inferior to the advanced countries of Europe and the United States.

Li Fushou is in a good mood at the moment;

Southern Africa has been in a pot of porridge, the Anglo-Boer war has lasted for more than two years, and the 400,000 British expeditionary force has been dragged to exhaustion, while Mozambique's economic development is unique, and various economic indicators have soared like monkeys, making people laugh from ear to ear.

The Borneo chemical project has achieved phased achievements, with oil production exceeding 6 million barrels in the first quarter of 1901, and after several years of heavy investment, the petrochemical industry has blossomed in an all-round way, bearing fruitful results and becoming a new economic growth point in the region.

After entering the fourth year, the population of the Luzon Islands remains at 6.35 million, but the proportion of the Chinese population has accounted for 67%, and most of the remaining indigenous population will die out naturally in the next 10 years, solving the structural problem of population proportion.

After graduating from Imperial University, Li Siyuan and Li Sihan devoted themselves to the construction of their respective territories in the Luzon Islands, and their personal abilities were greatly exercised, and their performance was quite outstanding, and they were commended many times.

Li Siyuan, Duke of Shangri-La, went to London to attend the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and basically met with European royal kings, princes, and princesses. "The popular prince of the East is like a fresh breeze blowing into the royal family of Europe."

The reorganization of the Imperial Army and the Imperial Guard has been completed, and the main warships of the Navy have been launched into service one after another, and the main combat force has formed a scale, guarding the vast territory of the Empire and the blue sea, and the security situation is very good.

Coupled with the continued vigorous development of the economy, this made Li Fushou feel a little happy.

In today's world

Only the Ocean Empire and the Citi Nation can stay away from the disturbances of the islands of Eurasia and enjoy the benefits of economic development.