This old thing, the play is quite real!

Li Fushou looked at Admiral He Fang's solemn long sigh, and the tears in the tiger's eyes were full of tears, and he almost fell into heroic tears, and couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

How can he be so exaggerated as he says, as if he is already embattled?

The main force of Citigroup's navy is in the Atlantic Fleet, and there are only four old battleships on the Pacific coast, two of which are still of the same class as the battleship "Maine" that was blown up at Guantanamo, and they are old ships from 1892.

Fuso and Tsarist Russia were preparing to build warships, but they were only verbal shouts, and there were no real actions.

Fuso is now burdened with heavy debts, and in addition to squeezing the Korean colonies and running the South Manchurian concession, it is the entire people who are tightening their belts to pay off their debts.

In 1906, military spending was cut by one-third again, accounting for only about 20 percent of fiscal expenditure, the number of standing divisions of the army was reduced from 11 to 7, and the navy did not even have enough fuel to go to sea for training, so it had to anchor in port most of the time.

Tsarist Russia called for a very high tone, but its ally France no longer paid huge bills for it, hoping that Tsarist Russia would focus its military power on Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and continue to put pressure on the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, and did not want Tsarist Russia to make extraneous branches.

In this case

All 4 battleships that are being repaired in the port of Vladivostok have been seriously affected, not to mention the creation of new ones?

The Empire has been discussing all-heavy artillery ships for many years, and has proposed a variety of design options, predating Citigroup's 1903 all-heavy artillery "Virginia"-class battleship, the Royal Navy's Tianzi-1 project.

The last time the "Metropolitan" class battleships were developed was called the "Qingtian Plan", and this time it was planned to develop the "Queensland" class battleships, and the navy called it the "Guhai Plan".

Drawing on the lessons learned from the Russo-Japanese Battle of Vladivostok, and referring to the British Royal Navy's "Dreadnought" class battleships, the Royal Navy made significant changes to the design of the "Solid Sea Plan" to make up for the design flaws and make it more powerful.

The "Guhai Plan" plans to build a type of 6 battleships, all of which belong to the "Dreadnought" class battleships, with a standard displacement of 24,600 tons and a full load displacement of 27,130 tons, equipped with four twin 356 mm caliber giant guns, two in the front and two in the rear.

The bow and stern turrets are each in a piggyback layout, set along the centerline of the ship, and do not set up the ship's amidship turret, this piggyback layout is the most advanced large-caliber artillery layout today, and the Ocean Empire has studied related technologies for more than 10 years and has overcome technical difficulties.

This is the world's first piggyback layout battleship, if you don't understand what this layout is like, just look at the Citigroup Iowa-class battleships, the battleships that Citigroup will build in the next 10 years are piggyback layouts.

The piggyback layout is characterized by two turrets, one low and one high, as if one person carrying another person, this layout is compact, the area of the ammunition depot that needs to be protected is greatly reduced, and the bulletproof armor can be made thicker, which can greatly improve the defense power.

Drawing lessons from the naval battle between Japan and Russia in Vladivostok, the broadside armor belts that are too short and too small cannot provide complete protection at all, and the "Kunshanlan" class battleships have increased the area of the broadside armor belts by 42 percent, paying special attention to the protection of ammunition depots and engine rooms. With the dome-shaped armor and small watertight cabin design, the whole ship spent a total of 6,800 tons of armor steel to build an iron scale that could not be smashed.

meanwhile

The "Kunshanlan" class battleship has raised the freeboard, and all 20 95-mm auxiliary guns on both sides of the ship's side have been raised by 2.2 meters.

The tailgate of the 95mm secondary gun was opened during battle, allowing the gunpowder smoke to disperse during heavy fire, and closed during non-war time to protect against the effects of humid sea vapor.

The Kunshanlan-class battleship has a 25% larger displacement than the standard displacement of the British Dreadnought-class battleship, but with three gas turbines and 24 boilers, it can burst out with 33,000 horsepower, allowing the giant ship to reach a design speed of 26.5 knots, exceeding the Dreadnought-class's 22 knots per hour.

With such superior performance, it will inevitably bring high cost, and the cost of a single "Kunshanlan" class battleship is 4.27 million gold oceans, which is the first time in history that it has exceeded the cost of 2.1 million pounds, which is very expensive.

In comparison, the Metropolis-class battleship is 1.5 million pounds, about 3 million gold oceans, and the construction cost has increased by about 44%.

Li Fushou stared at Admiral He Fang with blazing eyes, as if he could see through his heart, which made Admiral He Fang's face gradually stiffen, and he said in a dry tone; "Your Majesty, the old minister is dedicated to the country, and he can learn from it every day."

"Hmph, you know, I don't like people playing tricks on me."

"This ...... The old minister knows that he is wrong, and asks His Majesty to forgive him. Admiral He replied with a bitter face.

Following the current saint for twenty-seven years, he has changed from a middle-aged and frustrated Manchu bureaucrat in his 30s to the backbone of the development and growth of the Queensland Earldom, and even the founder of the empire.

I know I will see through it, but why do I have to do it?

This is the wisdom of Admiral He Fang, who has studied both China and the West, and occasionally makes some stupidity, in addition to losing a little face, there are actually many benefits, and the mystery is all in plain sight.

Li Fushou snorted coldly and said; "Hmph, that's it, you tell the truth, with the current strength of the Royal Navy, will it be able to maintain its dominant position in the Pacific region in the next 3~5 years?"

"It's hard, it's almost impossible." Admiral He Fang bowed his hand with a serious expression and said in a deep voice; "Citigroup is building warships this year and next, and it is expected that by mid-1908 it will have the strength of 21 to 22 battleships.

If necessary

The Atlantic Fleet can be transferred eastward at any time, this is a powerful force capable of annihilating our army, and if it is not dealt with, the old minister is pessimistic about the future.

As for the other opponent, Fuso, it has already shown an extremely high level of ship maneuvering and artillery bombardment in the naval battle of Vladivostok between Japan and Russia, and has almost caught up with the average level of our Royal Navy. The same is an extremely dangerous enemy.

We must realize that although Fuso has vigorously developed its shipbuilding industry, it is only at the level of cruiser construction, and the construction of the main battleship is still insufficient.

Therefore, it is difficult to say when the Fuso country will have a convulsion and suddenly place a large order with its ally, Britain.

Once this happens, with Britain's super shipbuilding capabilities, it will be able to deliver a large number of new ships in 1~2 years, doubling the strength of the Fuso fleet, and the situation facing the Royal Navy will be dangerous at that time.

It is an indisputable fact that both Citigroup and Fuso have secretly regarded the Imperial Navy as an imaginary enemy.

I don't need to remind you that Your Majesty also knows that Citigroup President Theodore Roosevelt was a fanatical expansionist who was notorious for his "stick theory" and known for his hostility to empire.

In his speech on Capitol Hill last year, he publicly stated;

"The Ocean Empire is an extremely aggressive regime that has taken possession of the Luzon Islands for its own and seriously damaged the interests of the Citi Nation by brazenly waging a war in the West.

Citi could not tolerate such an expansive regime's warships cruising the coastal waters off the east coast of the Pacific Ocean and threatening the west coast of North America, and it would be wise to build a naval fleet with great strength. ”

I do not deny that Citigroup President Theodore Roosevelt lobbied Congress for the passage of the ship-building program, but we should also be clear that this is a white regime that is deeply hostile to us, and that we should be prepared for danger in times of peace, Your Majesty!

According to classified military intelligence;

Admiral Fisher, the British Admiralty, proposed a plan to build a high-speed warship capable of fighting independently, and the cabinet approved the construction of three high-speed armored cruisers, "Invincible", "Indomitable" and "Indomitable", which would begin in 1908.

What kind of high-speed armored cruiser is this?

These battleships are equipped with eight 305 howitzers, which are comparable to the firepower of dreadnought-class battleships, with a displacement of 17,250 tons and a speed of 28 knots per hour, which can be regarded as a super battleship.

The old minister has reason to believe that the appearance of these high-speed armored cruisers will greatly curb the speed advantage of the Royal Navy, and our fleet will become a concentration camp of slow-moving old warships, whether it is battleships, cruisers or destroyers, they are far inferior to him, and they will be crushed in all aspects.

For the sake of the present

Only by resolutely devoting themselves to today's shipbuilding boom and building the steel backbone of the Royal Navy. ”

Admiral He Fang's attitude was extremely sincere, which caused Li Fushou to be moved, and he pondered for a moment and asked; "Is the technical performance of today's 356-mm twin-mounted guns up to the mark?"

"Back to Your Majesty, this type of artillery has undergone many rounds of testing, proving that the ballistic performance is flat, the armor-piercing power is large, the ammunition depot lifting mechanism is reasonably designed, the performance is reliable, it has passed the rigorous test of the Admiralty, the performance has reached the world-class level, and it is fully equipped with the conditions for deployment."

"That...... What about the hunchback layout? ”

"Hehe, that's even more of a problem, I have studied it very thoroughly in the early years, and dozens of related papers have been published, no problem at all."

The hasty application of two major new technologies to a new ship is not a small technical risk.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Li Fushou nodded with a relieved expression, stood up and walked to Admiral He's side, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly;

"Brother He, I have always been a strong supporter of the construction of the Royal Navy.

In today's world

With the white European powers as the dominant force, the Reich and Fuso, as the only two yellow world powers, will be observed under a magnifying glass, represented by the "Yellow Peril theory" propagated by white racists such as the German Emperor Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II, which also includes some extreme arguments in the upper class of Citigroup today.

Press the hoist to float the scoop, and the noise is always in the ears.

I am also not of my race, and my heart must be different, and I am responsible for the rise and rejuvenation of the Tang nation, and I feel especially pressured, and I cannot make the slightest mistake, so that the Western powers can form a united front against us.

Although it seems that the empire is full of flowers, as the helmsman, he is walking on thin ice! I don't want to do anything out of my head.

I hope you can understand the king's troubles, we can't afford to be wrong! ”

Admiral He Fang, who said these heartfelt words, was in a stirred mood, stood up, and said solemnly; "Please rest assured that all the officers and men of the Royal Navy have been rigorously trained, and they are confident to defeat any invading enemy, even if they do not purchase new ships in these 2~3 years, they are confident, capable, and determined to defeat the Citigroup fleet and achieve final victory."

"Well, it's gratifying to have this kind of heart, there is no need for you to meet a strong enemy with inferior equipment, the "Sea Consolidation Plan" submitted by the Royal Navy again and again is really necessary, I will approve it here, you go back and arrange for the implementation. ”

Li Fushou's words made Admiral He Fang overjoyed, and he continued with a smile; "The Royal Navy is the foundation of the empire, if you have wronged anyone, you can't be wronged, if you want to say it, if you want to say it, the empire now has the strength to say it; No. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust, the Royal Navy has a powerful warship that has been developed in the plan to fix the sea, and it will not be afraid of any strong enemy."

"So good."