The Rise of the Empire

"It's been a long time. The most fundamental purpose of this meeting is to announce the establishment of the Naval Equipment Department." When William II announced his decision, the three senior officials of the Admiralty realized that the crown prince was about to adjourn the meeting. , They got up and said goodbye one after another. But when Ruprecht was about to flee, he was left behind, and then came to the crown prince's study with Prince Heinrich.

"What is there to analyze in this war? A second-rate navy defeated a third-rate navy. I really want to see Nicky's expression now. After being beaten up by Japan in the Far East, his current mood It must be very good." Prince William said gloatingly.

"The Asama you designed is really good, but I feel that it is not enough. Not only the takeaway warships, but even the four Mainz-class armored cruisers we are building are a bit worse. We need better battleships. As The next generation of fast armored cruisers."

"This plan was supposed to be delayed for a long time, but now that the political situation has changed and the Americans are willing to pay for us, I want to speed up this plan. I know you must have ideas, so let's talk about it!" William II was a little excited Said.

The inertia of history, looking at the performance of the emperor in front of him, Prince Ruprecht sighed in his heart, the so-called country is easy to change and nature cannot be changed, William II still has to follow the original path, the naval dream in his heart Not only did it not weaken with the passage of time, but it also strengthened!

However, the current situation is somewhat different from that in history. Because of the conflict between the United States, Britain and Japan, the United States and Japan will become deadly enemies in advance, and the relationship between the United States and Britain is enough to prevent them from improving in 20 years. So when the United States is at least neutral, it is more likely that Germany will win World War I. If it can win, at least its own throne will be preserved, but what should we do in the future?

"Forget it, let's talk about the future. After all, history is developing in a good direction, isn't it?" The prince decided to let go of this matter first. He now has another very important thing to do to build a ship with some experiments. A battlecruiser of nature!

"There are indeed some ideas. The tonnage of the Mainz-class armored cruiser is not large enough, the speed is not fast enough, and the firepower is not strong enough. These are all problems, but as long as you can solve the problem of money, then everything is not a problem." The relationship with the crown prince is pretty good, and it doesn't matter if you make some harmless jokes.

"You know the Deutschland, right? In the plan, we plan to let him have a speed of more than 19.5 knots. This speed seems to be quite fast now, but it will soon fall behind the times. More importantly, the existing power system is very fast. will fall behind."

"Steam turbines will not make breakthroughs in a short period of time, but we can consider improving boilers, kerosene-fired boilers, heavy oil of the same quality has a higher calorific value, and the transportation is more convenient. Normally, coal can be used when a battleship is cruising, and Add fuel oil when sailing at high speed. After using the new kerosene-fired boiler, the weight, system and cost of the boiler under the same power will be greatly reduced. From the perspective of cost performance, this is a good choice.” Rupp Prince Recht said.

"However, there are no other oil producing areas in the European continent except Romania. It's nothing in peacetime, but in wartime, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult." Prince Heinrich, who was sitting on the side, said. During the war, the country's natural resource endowment must be considered. Germany has no oil fields, and Austria has a little, but it is not enough. The only oil field is in Romania, and due to the sad geographical environment, Germany has very poor control over the sea.

The road to outsourcing is likely to be cut off, so it is necessary to be cautious when using heavy oil as fleet fuel.

"So we must win over Romania. Their national power is not worth mentioning, but the fuel they have is very important, and the fuel is only used when sailing at high speed, and the actual consumption is average. We can build fuel reserves to deal with the consumption of short-term wars. Of course, the most important thing is that the mixed burning of warships with kerosene is a trend! An inevitable trend." Prince Ruprecht said. Prince William nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"The power problem is the existing steam engine plus kerosene-fired boiler, and the specific layout of the battleship can be regarded as an elongated version of the Kaiser-Emperor-class battleship. There are a total of 3 double-linked 12-inch cannons, with enhanced power and moderate armor. Weakened it to 9 inches. If the weight and cost are still unacceptable, you can reduce the armor of the gun gallery. You can think of this class of battleship as a high-speed version of the German-class battleship. Our speed requirement must be above 23 knots, and the tonnage may be Reaching about 18,000 tons." Prince Ruprecht said the specific indicators of the warship.

"This is a very good warship. If you can explain the detailed plan clearly, I will be convinced by you." At this time, the crown prince calmed down instead.

"Steam turbines and kerosene-fired boilers can be first used on those large cruise ships. Fewer operators and a cleaner environment will satisfy passengers and reduce labor costs, as long as there is a little policy preference."

"Building a 18,000-ton battleship is indeed a bit difficult for Germany now. After all, our Deutschland is only 15,000 tons. But it doesn't matter, the Russians can help us bear this risk, and there are also a large number of kerosene mixed-fired boilers. The experimental questions can also be handed over to the Russians." The prince said with a smile.

"We are going to restore relations with the Russians again? The magic of money is so great." Prince William teased.

"No, no, no. My battleship is too good. Under the threat of those steel giants, they decided to send me money." The prince corrected.

"It seems that you are busy again." After taking a sip of coffee, the crown prince continued to ask: "Then what about the Japanese? It seems that the deal between Bavaria and the Japanese will be completely cut off. This is a loss."

"This is a political need. Although the American army is terrible, the United States is more suitable as an ally of Germany than Japan. As a condition for alliance, some goodwill is necessary. Of course, this requires the Americans In exchange for equal benefits."

"As for my loss? I plan to get it back from the Russians!" the prince said indifferently. Because he knew that these 4 Asama-class cruisers put too much pressure on the Russian Far East Fleet! The Russian navy must build a presence that can compete with this fast fleet, and now that with the financial support of the United States, the Russians can actually ignore the French when it comes to arms purchases.

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