The Rise of the Empire

"The American fleet is coming!" Hipper put away the binoculars in his hand and said to Earl Spey, the captain of the armored cruiser Hamburg next to him.

"Well, a young empire is finally going to show its strength to the world." A moment later, Earl Spey also put away the telescope in his hand and said.

Ten minutes later, the shadow of the ship in the distance finally became clear. It was a huge fleet, and the smoke cloud over the fleet could be seen from twenty kilometers away. This is the first time that Americans have appeared outside the Americas with such a majestic force. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the largest overseas operation of the US Navy.

"The Americans actually dispatched a battleship!" When the figure of the leading battleship gradually became clear, both Hipper and Earl Spey were taken aback. In terms of navigation, it is much better than the original American battleships, but it is not suitable for ocean-going operations after all. But when this battleship with 6 turrets and a layout similar to that of the Nisshin armored cruiser appeared in front of the Germans, almost all German officers were a little surprised.

After the battleship Iowa with its fierce firepower and heavy armor passed by like an iron tortoise, the proud USS Brooklyn, a cruiser of the US Navy, came into view again! "Its artillery layout is almost the same as our Munich-class armored cruiser." Hipper whispered.

The promise of His Royal Highness was indeed reliable. When Hipper returned from the Far East, he was appointed by the navy as the acting captain of an old warship in order to familiarize himself with the duties and rights of the captain. According to information disclosed by friends of the Admiralty, in the future German armored cruiser fleet will have his place. And then with the arrival of the Far East transfer order, Hipper's future seems to be more certain, because he is the deputy captain of the Hamburg, just one step away from the captain!

With a tonnage of nearly 10,000 and a hull length of more than 120 meters, the Brooklyn has a feeling of standing out from the crowd in this fleet. The four double-mounted 8-inch main guns in a cross layout are refreshing. But in Hipper's view, the layout of this battleship is still a little worse, the caliber and tonnage of the artillery are also a little smaller, and the armor protection mode is even worse!

"The American design is still innovative, but the Brooklyn is just a flashy thing, far inferior to our new warship." Hipper said with a smile. "Of course it's not as good as the Japanese Nisshin and Izumo!"

Behind Brooklyn is the armored cruiser USS New York, which is similar in size to the USS Brooklyn, and even the firepower layout is somewhat similar. If the distance is relatively long, it is really not easy to distinguish the two warships. The Americans concentrated their most elite battleships at the forefront of the battle line, while the battleships behind them were a bit behind. Behind them were 5 protected cruisers.

The flagship of the protective cruiser fleet is the Olympia, which has just entered service. This battleship with a displacement of nearly 6,000 tons is the best among American protected cruisers. It guards two twin 8-inch turrets as its most powerful weapon, and the 5-inch guns on both sides also have certain armor protection. Coupled with a speed of more than 20 knots, it is still a good second-class protected cruiser.

Following the flagship were two Columbia-class protected cruisers, Columbia and Minnesota. Although the tonnage of these two protected cruisers is more than 7,000 tons, there are only 1 8-inch gun, 2 6-inch guns, 8 4-inch guns and 12 6-pound guns, if it is not because of the maximum coal load of 1670 tons Otherwise, these two warships would never appear in the Far East! After all, in terms of firepower, these two warships are not only incomparable to the Olympia, but

It's not even as good as the two 4,000-ton protected cruisers behind.

The Philadelphia and the San Francisco are both warships in service in 1890. The ship has been 8 years old, and the artillery on it is relatively old. The 6-inch gun seems to be more powerful, but the length of the barrel is only 30L. But the advantage lies in the large number. These two 4,000-ton protected cruisers have 12 6-inch L30 artillery pieces. After maintenance and maintenance, the speed of these two warships can also reach 19 knots, which will not drag the fleet's hind legs, coupled with a large amount of coal loading. It is normal for these two warships to appear in the Far East.

Just as the 8 American cruisers were preparing to enter the port, Scheer discovered another fleet was approaching the port! "Don't worry, you are our friend and your country's friend." Brigadier General Xie Li who came to approach him immediately stepped up and said.

"The flagship is the Rurik! The next two ships are the Bayan and the Parada that your country sold to the Russian Navy!" Following the direction Shirley pointed, the Germans quickly recognized that these three ships originally belonged to the Russian Navy. Battleship of the Russian Far East Fleet!

"What are they doing here? This is different from what we agreed on! What do you want to do?" Earl Spey did not relax his vigilance, but immediately sent another destroyer to tell the Russians to temporarily stop outside the port because they had not received Meet the orders of the Russian fleet! But what is reassuring is that the Russians consciously stopped at a distance of 7 kilometers from the Hamburger, and then dropped anchor.

It's not that the Germans deliberately made trouble for the Russians. After all, you didn't even send a telegram when you came, and you didn't notify our government. Naturally, you can't just come in casually. But this time Earl Spey wronged the Russians, the Russian government notified the German government, and the latter has agreed, but due to the current sad telegraph system, Earl Spey has not received this news..... ...

But even after Earl Spey received the information half a day later, the admiral of the German Far East Fleet still felt a lot of pressure! Because he suddenly realized that he was a little confused about the situation! The Russian fleet and the American fleet came here at the same time, and it seems that the two sides have discussed it. What does this mean? Looking at the posture, this is preparing to start a film with a certain country! Of course, the only thing that is reassuring is that these two countries will not have trouble with Germany. So in the Far East, which country is worthy of the joint efforts of the United States and Russia?

"It's the Japanese and the Spaniards," Hipper whispered to Earl Spey.

"Why?" Earl Spey said somewhat unexpectedly. Although the relationship between the United States and Japan was very tense last year, the confrontation in Hawaii just ended not long ago, so the relationship should have eased somewhat. And this kind of confrontation is not once or twice, so it won't be a direct war, right?

"Because in the Far East, they can and want to move only these two countries. The Russians and Japan are enemies, and the Americans and Spain are also very hostile." Scheer interjected.

"I can't understand it," Earl Spey said.

"It's fine if you don't understand. Our prince reminded us before he came, we must keep an eye on them, otherwise we will miss a good show!" Hipper said, pointing to the US-Russian fleet in the distance.

Thanks to book friends Yipin Huangshan Smoking is harmful to health, Ye Zhong2015, Fang Zhan2004, bighill1982 for their rewards~~~, and book friends tq1377, Leng Huanyue for their monthly ticket support~~~ Subscribing yesterday was miserable--! The author is very sad--!