"It seems that Japan has really spared no effort to build a new navy." Looking at the several telegrams in front of him, Xu Jie sneered. After Japan sent a naval officer corps to the United States, Beiyang's intelligence agencies have begun to pay attention to Japan's foreign affairs.

Not only the officer corps stationed in the United States, but also Japanese diplomats and military attachés stationed in various European countries frequently appeared in major shipyards. This series of actions made Xu Jie start to pay attention to that small country to the east again!

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1894, Japan's national strength suffered an extremely serious blow. It is not too much to say that all the achievements of the civil reform of more than 20 years were incorporated. Coupled with the sudden attack by Russia, a large area of ​​Japan was occupied.

Territory once put Japan on the verge of national subjugation.

But what I didn't expect was that with the British government's deliberate blood transfusion in Chapter 348, Japan not only survived the most serious crisis, but even pushed the front slightly forward. Although it was because of the Sino-Japanese War

The heavy losses during the period prevented the Russians from being driven out, but the army had no problem defending the remaining territory. Of course, this was also because the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been completed, and the Russian army's actions in the Far East were subject to various restrictions.

As for the economy, it is based on the principle of building an army no matter how poor it is. In addition to maintaining the size of the army to resist the Russian attack, Japan at this time has fully realized that without a navy, Japan will not be able to defeat the Russians.

Drive away from the occupied territories! And with the strengthening of the Russian Far East Fleet and the Northwestern Siberian Railway extending inch by inch to the Far East, the Japanese government has become increasingly anxious, hoping to achieve the pace of naval reconstruction as soon as possible.

For today's Japan, it is obviously unrealistic to build a navy comparable to the scale of the United Fleet. Not only is the funding not allowed, but also after the Sino-Japanese War of 1888-1895, it has worked hard to cultivate naval elites for more than 20 years.

Most of the casualties were casualties, and the following three years were dominated by the army, so there was a shortage of naval professionals. Based on this situation, Japan decided to build a pediatric army.

The powerful guerrilla fleet is used to harass Russia's maritime communication lines, and can protect itself with the cooperation of port and shore anti-aircraft guns. Of course, dome-armored ships like Yoshino Takasago are Japanese

I don't like it, but an armored cruiser of more than 7,000 tons is not something Japan can afford. In this way, Japan is wandering around major shipyards looking for suitable products.

What is the most important task for Xu Jie now? How to use the opportunity of the imperial party and the rear party to fight in the future to overthrow this decadent dynasty! Therefore, when necessary, Xu Jie will use the power of Beiyang

To add fire to both parties, if one of them feels that he or she has a greater

When the advantage can eliminate the other party in one fell swoop, you might not be able to help but take action? And as soon as you take action, Xu Jie's opportunity will come! After both the imperial party and the rear party suffered losses, he is picking up the pieces. Of course, he has to do this

First of all, a lot of preparations need to be made, and Xu Jie has already started laying out the plan.

And once action begins, what will be the result? On the one hand, Beiyang needs to always pay attention to the situation in Zhili, and on the other hand, it needs to be wary of the Russians. In the face of major turmoil in neighboring countries, Russia will definitely take action, and in this way

.Beiyang’s strength seems to be stretched thin! Beiyang needs to

Fight three wars, deal with the remnant forces of the Empress in Zhili, resist the attack of the Russian navy and army, deal with some hostile elements of the national power, and at the same time be wary of some actions in Nanyang. In this case, let Japan loose its grip.

It should be beneficial to Beiyang to let the Japanese cause some trouble for the Russians!

But there are two questions here. First, how to encourage Japan to cause trouble for Russia. Second, how to ensure that Japan does not rise again while having Japan put some constraints on Russia? Regarding the first point, Japan

It is true that Japan will fight the Russians sooner or later, but Japan will never be so stupid that it has no chance of winning at present.

Under such circumstances, they would not be willing to go to war with the Russians, let alone buy time for Beiyang. As for the second point? Xu Jie is not too worried. It is certain that the Russians will interfere with the turmoil in the Qing Dynasty, but at the same time they will not use the Japanese territory they occupy as an excuse.

They fought desperately against Beiyang at all costs, so in a short period of time, the Russians were insufficient in offensive but still quite capable in defense.

If you want Japan to take action, it is not impossible. As long as Beiyang can show enough ability to suppress the Russian navy after the Russians take action, then Japan will never stand aside! Of course, does this suppression mean that Beiyang can quickly

To eliminate the main force of the Russian Far East Fleet, but to say that as long as the Beiyang Fleet can restrict the Russian Far East Fleet and control the latter within a certain range, leaving the Russian fleet in a state of incapacity, then Japan personally does not mind at this time

launch

A general sea attack to regain the lost ground. After the Japanese operation, Beiyang can choose to "release" the Russian fleet based on the actual situation. In this case, the Russian fleet cannot attack Beiyang's transport ships at the expense of the near and far and will choose

solve

In this way, Beiyang can not only use Japan to reduce pressure, but also prevent Japan from taking the opportunity to grow bigger. Of course, this is just an idea. If you want to put it into practice, you need to carry out careful research.

plan!

What kind of performance does Japan have in a warship that can pose a threat to the Russians without causing an upheaval? This is a question worth thinking about. First of all, this warship must be able to escape the pursuit of most Russian warships. Otherwise,

If one ship is attached at a time, the Japanese Navy will be gone in a few days, and the so-called containment effect will be out of the question. Moreover, the Japanese Navy has experienced the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898, and still has some experience in battleships. It is not easy to lie.

!

But on the other hand, Xu Jie must not allow the Japanese fleet to have the strength to fight! In other words, this fleet can only be used to break diplomatic relations and harass, but cannot have the strength to engage in direct combat. Otherwise, once the Japanese use this fleet

If this fleet can defeat the Russian fleet that was severely damaged by Beiyang, once it lands in Hokkaido, Xu Jie is really afraid that the Russians will not be able to withstand the Japanese army's attack! Therefore, this kind of warship cannot have too strong combat effectiveness!

To be honest, this is a very difficult problem to solve. It is very difficult to design a good warship. But Xu Jie can do it. After all, as a later person, he knows some experience in history and knows how to balance it. But now, it is difficult to create a good warship.

There are some difficulties with such a special battleship!

Xu Jie smiled bitterly and picked up another document and read it carefully. The content of this document aroused Xu Jie's great interest! In this document, detailed records of the Japanese martial arts school in Italy and the Italian navy and shipyard were recorded.

The Japanese Navy has expressed great interest in the Santiago-type light armored cruiser! The powerful side firepower of four 8-inch guns and four 6-inch guns can allow the Japanese Navy to calmly deal with all non-fleet decisive battle armor

cruiser!

"It seems that the Japanese have good taste." Xu Jie couldn't help but sneered. In his estimation, two Santiago-type armored cruisers were enough to suppress the 10,000-ton armor of Chuyun and others ordered by the Japanese in the UK.

Cruiser. In terms of speed, a speed of more than 22 knots allows them to face an opponent they cannot beat. At least they can retreat! And this kind of warship that can produce qualitative changes from quantitative changes, Xu Jie does not want the Japanese to have it!

Looking next, Xu Jie felt a little more relieved. First of all, the Italians were very considerate of Beiyang's feelings when it came to exporting battleships. As the ultimate improved version of the Reia-class cruiser, the strength of the Santiago-class made the Italians

Before Beiyang agrees, it will not be sold to Japan at all. Secondly, the relatively high cost also prohibits Japan. The cost of 400,000 pounds is relatively unaffordable for Japan today!

And this information just gave Xu Jie an idea. Since the powerful San Diego-type cruiser cannot be used by Japan, then the version with weakened firepower and protection should be very suitable for the current Japan? At this time, Xu Jie thought of it again

Takasago was the first battleship sunk by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War! This battleship, which was supposed to join the Japanese navy only after the Sino-Japanese War, made its appearance in the Sino-Japanese War because of Xu Jie! And sadly it was given away.

First drop of blood!

In fact, to be fair, the firepower of the Takasago is quite good, with 2 8-inch guns and 10 4.7-inch guns, and the main and secondary guns have armor protection. There are also up to 12 12-pound guns that can provide sufficient close combat firepower.

Coupled with the high speed of 23 knots, there is sufficient self-protection capital. However, because of the dome armor layout, it is easy to be hit by bullets and water in the firefight, causing the speed to decrease, and this is why the Takasago was eventually taken care of by the Guiyuan class.

The root cause!

If Takasago is installed as a cruiser, the dome armor is weakened or eliminated, and a 4-inch waterline armor belt is replaced, and then the first 8-inch gun is replaced by a turret gun, and the 4.7-inch gun remains unchanged. This kind of firepower can deal with ordinary dome-armored cruisers.

It is enough, and if you encounter an improved cruiser like the Sea of ​​Azov, you can still run away. In this way, the cost of this warship can be controlled at around 350,000 pounds, which is acceptable to you personally.

If the Japanese fleet has 2 to 3 such warships, it will probably be a big trouble for the Russian fleet. Due to the limited mission, the Beiyang Fleet is not convenient to enter the Japanese sea to fight, but the Japanese fleet can.

Attack the Russian transport fleet in the Japanese Sea. In this way, even if the Russians have a fleet in Vladivostok

The squadron would never dare to leave Japan's sea easily to attack Beiyang's transport fleet! And if Beiyang felt that Japan was "impeding" its plan that day, then it would only need to loosen a small opening and release two ships at a time

The Russian main cruiser is enough to kill these second-class cruisers! At least it will be no problem to restrain them.

As for how to let the Japanese choose this warship that is not very suitable, Xu Jie also has a way. With Xu Jie on the Italian side, he will definitely not provide better warships to the Japanese. As for the British, through

Diplomacy pushed the Japanese to the British. When the British received the order, they would probably take the feelings of Beiyang into consideration and not sell too powerful warships to the Japanese. In this way, Xu Jie was equivalent to giving the Russians another blow.

Enter a hidden stake!

Thanks to Book Friends Zhanhua, Chi Bei for their monthly ticket support, and Book Friends Shan Qingqing, and Old Man Strait for their rewards~~. By the way, this morning when the author got up and looked at the subscriptions, it was only 300+, what’s going on--! (Unfinished)
Chapter completed!