"Time window? From when to when? ”

The Duke of Wellington didn't understand it for a while, after all, he was a big bull in the army, and he didn't know much about the armament situation of the navy.

Viscount Palmerston said: "Mr. Prime Minister, according to the analysis of naval intelligence officials, the reason why the Ming Empire is now selling hero-class battleships and Haohan-class armored cruisers is that in addition to wanting to support the Rakshasa Kingdom and France to make trouble for us, there is another important reason, that is, it will take some time for their new generation of capital ships to be fully developed. ”

"Horatio, is that so?" The Duke of Wellington asked Nelson.

Earl Nelson nodded lightly: "Yes, the Indian Grand Fleet has been sending intelligence personnel to collect information on the development of the Ming Navy's armament for many years. After reconnaissance, it was found that the Ming Empire was likely to carry out a ten-year naval readiness plan, including the construction of a large number of large docks, some of which could be used to build 50,000 to 80,000-ton giant ships!

At the same time, they also built large oil storage facilities and refineries in Guangdong, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places, and sent people everywhere to look for oil, apparently betting on all oil power.

In addition, they built a power plant that uses oil-fired boilers and steam turbines to generate electricity. The installed capacity may exceed 60,000 kilowatts! At the moment, the plant appears to be in good working order. Based on my understanding of the laws of Daming's armament construction, they should soon make this set of units smaller, and then they will begin testing the ship's oil-fired boilers and steam turbines.

And a battleship that uses an oil-fired boiler and a steam turbine as the main engine will be able to easily reach 70,000-80,000 horses, which will be equivalent to seven or eight times the monarch's power!

From this, it can also be inferred that the standard displacement of the new capital ship of the Ming Navy will reach more than 30,000 tons, and it can maintain a high speed! ”

Wellington didn't know how powerful a 30,000-ton battleship with 70,000-80,000 horsepower was, but he knew that the strongest battleship that Britain now owned was about 15,000 tons, which was only half of the displacement.

"So when will this battleship be ready for service?" Wellington asked again.

"Estimate. The entire design will be completed in two to three years, and the first batch of 30,000-ton battleships will definitely be ready for service in five years! ”

"So. Our victory window is 5 years? ”

"No," Earl Nelson shook his head, "it's a year and a half to two years. Because we ourselves need to update the fleet. It will take us about three years to complete the upgrade and update of the naval armament. ”

"It's only three years," Wellington muttered, "three years of Army preparation is enough, but can the Navy be ready?" ”

Earl Nelson smiled bitterly: "Duke, you must be able to!" Because we can't get a high-power all-oil power system in 10 years, and without high-power all-oil power, our battleships can only burn coal. In this way, we have to sacrifice speed for higher defense and firepower. But in the face of an enemy with comprehensive speed, defense, and firepower, a battleship that sacrifices speed has no advantage. Moreover, if the enemy also adopts the strategy of sacrificing speed for firepower and defense, then they will be able to build super battleships of more than 40,000 tons! ”

In fact, there is a 30,000-horsepower ship that can build a 40,000-ton ship, and the historical American Iron Tortoise Colorado class battleship has only 28,900 horses, and it can still push a fully loaded 38,000-ton Iron Tortoise to run 9,700 nautical miles at a speed of about 18 knots.

The current naval shipbuilding engineers have only just begun to come into contact with the high-power main engine of 10,000 horses, and they have not fully understood the relationship between hull shape and resistance, so they dare not think of using a main engine with less than 30,000 horsepower to push a 40,000-ton large battleship. However, they can still think of the picture of 70,000-80,000 horses pushing a large ship of more than 40,000 tons everywhere.

Therefore, the senior staff officers of the British Royal Navy can also think with their heels that once the 30,000-ton and 40,000-ton ships of the Ming Dynasty are made like dumplings, the British Empire will be able to. It's over!

The Duke of Wellington frowned, "Horatio, so does the Admiralty have a specific plan now, and how much will it cost?" ”

"The plan is still being worked out," Nelson said, "but the general direction has been set." ”

"Can you tell me?"

"Of course!" Nelson said, "We plan to build our own heroes in order to sell ships, and they have published some of the drawings and technical specifications of heroes, and we can even get a copy of all the design drawings directly through friendly countries that have ordered heroes!" With these drawings as a reference, it is not difficult for us to copy the heroes. Of course, we won't actually copy it, we will upgrade and modify the heroes accordingly. For example, the Heroic 280mm gun was replaced by our 12-inch gun, and the Hero Class was replaced by two single-mounted 240mm guns with two 9.5-inch guns. ”

Viscount Palmerston added: "Because we can refer to the design of the heroes, the design will be completed by the end of July at the earliest, and the first keel of the lead ship will be laid in August or September, so that our own heroes will be ready for service by 1830." As for the cost, if it can be mass-produced, the cost of the Hero class can be controlled below 1.8 million pounds, and the cost of the Hero class can be pressed to less than 1.2 million pounds.

The Admiralty hoped that construction would be made in the three fiscal years of 1828, 1829, and 1830 on 10, 15, 15 of the Hero class, and the same number of Heroes. At the same time, we must also conduct a comprehensive assessment of all battleships, armored cruisers, protective cruisers, and destroyers that are already under construction or in service, and then develop a corresponding upgrade plan. The emphasis on increasing firepower, air defense, and communications had to be completed by the beginning of 1831! Among them, the heroes and heroes, who started work in 1828 and 1829, should also be in service in the first half of 1831.

In other words, by the first half of 1831, we will have 25 Heroes and 25 Heroes. With at least 200 battleships, armored cruisers and protective cruisers that have been upgraded, the Royal Navy will have a new look! ”

"Good!" The Duke of Wellington nodded, "So. . . Do we have a plan now that can overwhelm heroes and heroes? ”

"A plan that overwhelms heroes and heroes?" Earl Nelson was stunned, but still nodded, "Yes, of course, we are preparing a type of battleship with a standard displacement of 20,000 tons, a speed of more than 20 knots, a main engine power of more than 25,000 horsepower, and 10-12 12-inch guns.

In addition, we are preparing to develop a fast armored cruiser that can suppress the Haohan-class based on the 25,000-horsepower main engine! ”

"Is there a more radical pre-eucalyptus?" The Duke of Wellington looked at Earl Nelson and accentuated, "I mean pre-eucalyptus!" Horatio, I need battleships and armored cruisers that can completely suppress the heroes and heroes, even if they take 5 years to develop! Can the Admiralty make it soon? ”

"Of course, of course," thought Earl Nelson, "there is a ready-made scheme for a super armored cruiser with a standard displacement of more than 16,000 tons and equipped with a 40,000-horsepower main engine!"

In addition, we have battleship pre-eucalyptus with a standard displacement of 22,000 tons, a main engine power of more than 30,000 horsepower, a 13.5-inch main gun and a knapsack turret.

However, this kind of pre-eucalyptus is too radical, and it may not be possible to develop it in 5 years."

"Then join forces with France, Prussia, Austria, Rakshasa, the United States and other countries to carry out research and development!" The Duke of Wellington said, "We, the Western countries, should unite in armament research and development to fight together against the threat from the East!" ”