Zhu Jingyuan did not directly evaluate the concerns of Wang Lai and the craftsmen, but first asked about other situations:

"Let's not talk about the future vision, the design plans under the indicators I asked for at the beginning have been basically finalized, right?"

Wang Lai nodded solemnly and said:

"Battleships, aircraft carriers, and two types of battleships have produced a total of six detailed design drafts, all of which have been finalized.

"What we should be doing now is to select the two most suitable design solutions from these basically completed plans.

"Formal design drawings are drawn up, then broken down into engineering drawings and sent back to the shipyard to start construction

"However, everyone looked at the various data of the new naval guns and shells, and they were a little dissatisfied with the existing design indicators, and wanted to revise the indicators and redraw the drawings.

However, in his opinion, the most critical issue is the choice between the two design tendencies of a pure decisive battle type of battleship and a ship that continues to participate in inferior battles.

"Now, even if the design indicators are replaced, we still have to face this choice, but at a higher level."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly after listening.

I've been involved in most of the design meetings, so I know what the general problem is.

The so-called decisive battleship, as the name suggests, is designed to compete with the enemy's fleet, and basically does not consider other uses.

The craftsmen believed that the decisive battleship had a single purpose and could adopt the "absolute core protection" design proposed by Zhu Jingyuan.

This is what craftsmen call an "extreme or blank" type of protective design.

The most important core areas of the hull, i.e., the engines, boilers, ammunition depots, turrets, and other compartments, are designed to the highest level of hull size and tonnage limitations.

Other unimportant areas of the hull can completely abandon armor protection, and only the structural frame and hull are the same as civilian ships.

That's pretty much stud......

The protection of the core area of such a battleship is, of course, very good.

Even if the bow and stern and upper deck are completely destroyed, as long as the armor box in the core area is not broken, there is a high probability that the ship itself will not sink.

The disadvantages are also obvious, the bow and stern and the superstructure are easily damaged, and may even turn around and break the tail.

The ability of a ship to sail and maneuver is directly related to the alignment of the hull.

As long as the hull structure is damaged, the sailing performance will plummet.

The ability to rush to the field is directly gone, and it is impossible to continue fighting with the fleet, so he can only move back to repair the ship slowly.

There is a high probability that this kind of ship will not die no matter how it fights, but as long as it participates in the battle, it is easy to be injured, and if it is injured, it will have to go back to repair the ship.

There may be a cycle of repairing the ship once, going out once, participating in a battle, going back to repair the ship immediately, and so on.

Therefore, the craftsmen decided that they were suitable to join the decisive battle fleet of the First World War.

If the decisive battle fleet wins, and your fleet controls the sea dominance, no matter how slow you run on the way home, you can temporarily repair it on the battlefield before leaving, or let your teammates drag it home.

If you don't win, sink yourself, lest you be captured by the enemy.

The other type of battleship is the "general-purpose battleship" that takes into account various types of battles.

They have to take into account the avant-garde war and the decisive battle, the breaking and counter-breaking battles, and the need to deal with encounters in special sea conditions and climates, etc.

They can't go back to the dock after a fight, they need to fight continuously, and they need to maintain their combat effectiveness for a long time.

It is necessary to cruise the ocean for a long time, constantly drive and hunt the enemy's cruisers, and also to entangle with the enemy's screen ships and capital ships.

The craftsmen believed that if such a comprehensive operational need was to be taken into account, then only a "graded protection" design could be used.

Depending on the importance of different parts of the battleship, different thicknesses and types of armor were arranged, and the armor boxes were also divided into three or four classes.

Most areas of the hull have armor of varying thicknesses, so they will not be easily broken or twisted.

In the case of minor injuries, it usually does not affect navigation and combat capabilities, and is not even afraid of being washed deck.

In a real naval battle, the size of the battleship is absolute, and if the cruiser wants to challenge the battleship alone, it is basically certain death.

The cruiser faced a decisive battleship and had a certain chance to desperately send the capital ship back to the shipyard for repairs.

In the face of general-purpose battleships, it may just be to let the battleship's livery be spent, and it will not affect her to fight a decisive battle, or continue to slaughter the next group of cruisers.

Obviously, the hierarchical protection is a general, idealized design, so it is called a general-purpose battleship.

The disadvantages of this design are also very obvious.

At the same tonnage, the core compartment protection effect of general-purpose battleships is definitely lower than that of battleships with the "absolute core protection" design.

Because the protection of non-core areas takes up the share of armor.

To achieve the same level of core protection, the tonnage of general-purpose battleships must continue to increase.

And so the paradox comes.

After the tonnage of the Absolute Core Protective Battleship increases, it can also continue to strengthen its core defense level!

In the history of the original Earth Navy, the pure "absolute core protection" design, and the traditional conservative hierarchical protection design, existed for a very short time.

Basically, it existed for less than 20 years around the twenties of the twentieth century.

At that time, it was also the period of "naval holiday" caused by the naval treaty, and none of the naval powers built new ships, and most of the designs were shot on the blueprints.

On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, those cutting-edge battleships of the new era, except for the "final battle weapon Yamato", were basically a mixture of the two ideas.

All are "radical hierarchical protection designs influenced by core defense concepts".

or "an optimized version of the core defense design that draws on the hierarchical protection design idea." ”

This design direction is actually the most difficult to master.

Protective armor should be designed in different levels, and how many levels should it be divided into? How do you divide it?

To which specific level should the different areas and equipment on the battleship be assigned?

What is the best difference in the proportion of armor thickness for different grades?

What is the proportion of primary and horizontal armor?

In the era when there were no computer simulations, it was difficult to find the true optimal interval directly, and only the experience of the Navy and designers could only be relied upon.

Therefore, although most of the cutting-edge battleships of World War II in history are designed in this style, the design effect is uneven.

The Richelieu and Veneto classes, which were well designed, were talked about by later generations.

The Bismarck-class, with little experience in design, was ridiculed as the finest World War I battleship.

The final battle weapon Yamato was not ready to be universal, and went back to the most extreme absolute core defense design.

Now, in this world, under the guidance of Zhu Jingyuan, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are also going straight to the ultimate goal of hybrid design.

However, Zhu Jingyuan himself only knows the concept and direction, and has no ability to grasp the "degree between radical and conservative".

The craftsmen also did not have enough experience, and they did not even have a mature core protection idea before Zhu Jingyuan provided the guiding ideology.

After repeatedly discussing the calculation power back and forth for half a year, the craftsman is still not fully sure of the final choice.

So the end result was that in the design of the new battleship, three different schemes were formed, and at the same time it was hoped that the revision would continue.

This is a matter of course in Zhu Jingyuan's eyes.

Design experience is something that needs to be accumulated.

Battleship design is not a one-time thing, it is constantly iteratively upgraded and updated.

Specific to a warship, after completion, it can still be greatly upgraded, the original problems can be corrected and new equipment replaced.

A one-off design with no margin at all is an immature design, and Zumwalt's design problem has nothing to do with whether there is margin or not.

Zhu Jingyuan got up and walked to the discussion table, where there was now a pile of phased design drawings.

There are several overall overview drawings that are close to finalization at the top.

There were three sets of battleships, and three sets of aircraft carriers.

The Battleship No. 1 scheme adopts an absolute core protection design, and other parameters have also been adjusted to the extreme requirements of the decisive battle.

Four triple 360-mm naval guns were used, the main armor was 360 mm thick, arranged at an inclination of 20 degrees, and the maximum speed was 23 knots.

This is a typical "Iron King VIII", and this level of defense is obviously beyond the standard in this era.

If it is placed in the history of the original earth, it will become the second in the world after Yamato, far surpassing new battleships such as Iowa and Richelieu.

Zhu Jingyuan glanced at it and gave up directly, he didn't want this kind of battleship that would soon be eliminated from the beginning.

Although the design plan has a plan to upgrade the boiler and increase the speed to 27 knots.

Although Zhu Jingyuan is also considering upgrading the boiler, he must also do a good job of not upgrading the boiler and directly using the possibility of elimination.

There is really no way to join the activities of the aircraft carrier formation in the 23rd section, and the 27th section is relatively conservative.

The Battleship II scheme was a mix of the two approaches and a compromise, while favoring a more traditional design.

The main guns were reduced to three, the thickness of the main armor was reduced to two hundred and eighty millimeters, still arranged at an inclined twenty degrees, and the maximum speed was thirty knots.

On the basis of having a complete primary and secondary armor box, the protection of the hull superstructure above the main armor has also been significantly strengthened.

The Battleship No. 3 scheme is also a hybrid scheme of the two ideas, but the direction is opposite to the No. 2 scheme, which is more inclined to strengthen the core protection.

The thickness of the main armor was increased to three hundred millimeters, and the upper armor, which extended upwards from the main armor, was abandoned, and there were obvious trade-offs in the protection of the superstructure.

The bow of the ship is completely unarmoured, and it will "turn around" if it is hit by another ship, referring to the historical battleship Wisconsin.

In the history of the original world, the cutting-edge battleships of World War II were basically the last such scheme.

Because World War II was already an era when the spear was slightly larger than the shield, the shield must be strengthened as much as possible within the controllable range.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Jingyuan turned his face to look at Wang Lai and the other craftsmen:

"A final plan must be chosen today, and construction must begin before the end of the year.

"The No. 1 ship plan was directly abandoned, and I will see how many of the raised hands support the No. 2 plan?"

Zhu Jingyuan said, the craftsmen at the scene hesitated for a while, and almost half of them raised their hands, including Wang Lai.

Zhu Jingyuan nodded slightly, and then asked the craftsmen who supported the No. 3 plan, and almost a third of the craftsmen raised their hands.

Clearly, the remaining one-sixth are the real radicals who support Option One.

The more radical the proposal, the smaller the number of supporters.

The most conservative scheme is the most popular.

Zhu Jingyuan looked at Wang Lai:

"Master Wang, tell me why you and most of the craftsmen support Plan No. 2."

Wang Lai is a relatively gentle character, and when he is in charge, he will comprehensively report the situation of the craftsmen, and try to be as impartial as possible.

But when it comes to being a craftsman, you stick to your own personal point of view:

"I think that the naval combat plan of the Tessie countries is still at the level of fighting bayonets and washing the deck at a close distance of five kilometers.

"Our long-range combat ideas are not yet fully mature, and we still need to guard against possible close-range raids by cruisers.

"So the minister's suggestion was that the battleship Fearless should be used as an experimental ship, and the superstructure should still provide protection against small-caliber guns.

"At the same time, the new armor developed according to the new armor formula provided by His Highness has completed trial production, and the defense effect has been significantly improved.

"There is also the oblique armor installation method proposed by His Highness, so that the armor defense effect of the same thickness is improved again.

"Now our 280 mm armor is enough to defend against the latest naval guns of the Taixi countries at a distance of ten kilometers.

"Moreover, we can expect that after our new 360 mm and 50 times diameter naval guns are put into service, the combat range of our new warships will continue to increase to 15 kilometers or even more.

"In such a situation, the relatively conservative design of the No. 2 scheme can improve the sustained combat capability as much as possible by colleagues who ensure the absolute superiority of our fleet.

"This design was able to meet our needs perfectly, and we didn't need to pursue the more extreme solutions of 1 and 3."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded lightly with great satisfaction after hearing this:

"Okay, then determine the No. 2 plan, complete the formal drawings on the way back to Beijing, and start work directly after returning to Beijing."

Historically, the most chosen direction in the World War II era was Plan 3.

But the world's Ming cutting-edge battleships appeared too early.

When the defense of the core area is sufficient, it is a natural choice to strengthen the protection of other areas and increase the ability to sustain operations.

But some artisans seem reluctant to accept this option.

There has always been a clear difference in the personality of craftsmen and craftsmen-born officials and officials who are required to take meritorious examinations in ordinary universities.

The personalities of the craftsmen are obviously more straight, Wang Lai's kind is relatively rare, and Li Rui's kind is a typical state.

In addition, Zhu Jingyuan's attitude towards the craftsmen has always been very kind, and he mingles with them all day long, so the craftsmen will not be too afraid.

So, Zhu Jingyuan just announced his decision, and immediately a craftsman in his thirties spoke:

"Your Highness, the No. 2 plan is still too conservative, and we can't guarantee that the enemy's naval artillery production technology and artillery skills will not improve by leaps and bounds in the next ten years.

"Emperor Shizu said at the beginning that what the majority of people agree with may not be right, and the truth is often in the hands of a few.

"So I don't agree with the vote, I still hope that His Highness can reconsider the No. 3 plan, and if the No. 2 plan must be adopted, then please ask His Highness to continue to raise the tonnage limit to 50,000 tons."

Zhu Jingyuan laughed directly when he heard this:

"Our Fearless will be able to be the capital ship for the next ten years, and it will gradually take a back seat in the future.

"The seat of the main force will be given to a new generation of capital ships of greater tonnage.

"After more than ten years, the enemy has escalated, and we should also have battleships of greater tonnage.

"Don't go up to 50,000 tons, go directly to 60,000 tons, use 420mm naval guns, that's a new task for everyone in the future."

The craftsman was obviously stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, and said with a yearning on his face:

"Sixty thousand tons! Forty-two centimeters! It's really great! ”

Zhu Jingyuan was suddenly a little speechless.

This guy obviously prefers bigger ships, and as for the choice of options two and three, it doesn't seem to be particularly important to him.

Many craftsmen at the scene also understood what had just happened, and suddenly burst into a burst of suppressed laughter.