The Rise of the Empire

It’s not far from Taranto to Malta. If you walk fast, you can basically eat Italian food in Taranto for breakfast, and then you can go to Malta to drink Ceylon black tea prepared by the British in the evening...  In the end, the Germans only sent two warships to Malta. In response, the British were relatively low-key, and only two prestige-class second-class battleships were in charge of welcoming them. Although they were low-key, the reception specifications were not low. Under the leadership of Fleet Admiral Sir Fisher, the head of the army greeted the prince and his party.

Although Fisher has seen no less than 100 photos of the Mainz-class armored cruiser that flowed out from various channels, when the real thing appeared in front of him, he was still impressed by the fact that the ship in front of him was 160 meters long and 23.5 meters wide. Although the British Qiangsheng is not inferior to this battleship in size, in Fisher's view, the German battleship in front of him is obviously "porcelain" than the Qiangsheng!

The 4 double-mounted 10-inch guns exude a huge power, which makes Fisher feel a little excited, yes, it is excitement! The British Royal Navy will not be afraid of any opponent! He looked at this battleship with a hint of appreciation and admiration!

"See? Wells! This is the battleship I want! Although the Renown is already very good, but compared with the beautiful cheetah in front of me, the Renown is a kitten! I would rather use two Renown Come for a Mainz-class armored cruiser! This is what the Royal Navy needs, whether it is monarchy, dignity, or the Drake-class armored cruiser, it should be swept into the garbage dump of history!" Fisher said with With a trembling, this is a person's reaction after seeing something he likes!

"However, the cost of such a warship is said to be 1.3 million pounds. If all our cruiser formations are replaced with such warships, the parliament will probably go crazy!" Wells next to him said expressionlessly.

"Damn it, don't talk to me about these despondent words. If I were the Minister of the Navy, I would cut off all those big and useless things and replace them with new cruisers. In this era, there is nothing that cruisers can't do in naval battles. , Do you think so? Wells?" Fisher said to himself.

"However, while the Germans are building the Mainz-class armored cruiser, they are also building four new battleships. The cruiser may not be as versatile as you said." Wells' cold words sounded next to him again.

"Do you know why you are still a captain now? Because you don't know how to express your demands in a way that others can accept, so your military career has come to an end." Fisher was really angry Now, ignore the colleagues next to him and concentrate on observing the battleship.

Everything was carried out according to the agreement. The two sides fired salutes, and then sailed into the island of Malta accompanied by British warships, and then arranged relevant ceremonies. After this series of procedural things were done, Fisher finally boarded this battleship, which was called the most powerful armored cruiser in the world at this time, accompanied by German officers! When Fisher put his feet on the floor, the battleship completely caught his attention!

"This is really an outstanding design. The two turrets are arranged diagonally in the middle of the battleship, allowing this battleship to obtain the firepower of 8 main guns within a certain range! Eight 10-inch cannons! This kind of firepower has steadily surpassed that of battleships. , even if you fight against the top battleships in the world, you will definitely not suffer!"

Fisher really deserves to be able to become the Secretary of the Navy, and single-handedly created the existence of the fearless era. In the first place,

He discovered the advantages of the full main gun battleship and the diagonal arrangement of the side chords, but at this time he had not yet transitioned to the level of arranging all the main guns on the central axis.

"I sincerely hope that the British Royal Navy will equip such a battleship. This battleship is much better than all the cruisers of the British Royal Navy. I have to say that your battleship has surprised and shocked the Royal Navy. Especially this class of cruisers, even more It made me feel pressured." Fisher said with a meaningful smile.

"You're joking. This is just a compromise product." The prince said with a slightly embarrassed smile. He didn't expect that the two sides would talk about such a sensitive issue as soon as they met. The other party's words are not only about naval technology, but also imply guard against the German navy.

"A compromise product?" Fisher frowned slightly, his eyes full of inquiry.

"That's right. The German Empire is a country with land power. We have very little money to invest in naval construction, so our warships need to undertake as many tasks as possible. In addition to maintaining colonies and maritime traffic, cruisers also need to undertake Part of the task of capital ships. Our battleship formation is too small, and if cruisers are not counted, our size may only be equivalent to a Russian squadron."

"In order to undertake this task, while enhancing the firepower and defense, the endurance and other performance of the warship must be sacrificed. You may have noticed that the warship we designed is actually more suitable for decisive battles at sea rather than breaking diplomatic relations at sea. You can use Main The Cici is regarded as a second-class battleship." The prince explained.

The prince also speaks well. First of all, we are very poor. We can't spend much money to build capital ships. We can only make do with cruisers. Don't worry about you British, we are just for our own sea Be safe and keep the bottom line!

And you don't have to worry about the sea line of communication. Our cruiser was not born to break the diplomatic relationship. In the design, the weight of the decisive battle is greater than the breaking of the diplomatic relationship, so you can also rest assured about the sea communication line of the British Empire. Anyway, we in Germany have no idea about it!

The prince is sincere, and he really didn't plan to break the hand of the Mainz-class armored cruiser full-time! Think about it, if there are no accidents, there are still 15 years before the outbreak of World War I, 15 years! How old is Mainz? How many knots can this battleship go out? It is more appropriate to stay in the Baltic Sea to deal with the Russians.

As for breaking the deal? There are things like submarines that are cheap and have huge effects, but the expensive battleships are inferior. Therefore, when the magnanimous prince said it, he was sincere in every word!

"Your Excellency is humble. Although in terms of scale, the German navy is even inferior to the French navy, but in this world, who dares to underestimate the German fleet? Whether it is the Japanese who beat the US-Russian fleet in the Philippines or the old European naval power France , which one of them has not been cleaned up by your battleship?"

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