Moreover, some of these countries have begun to build heavy cruisers, so we must at least ensure that you have them and I have them. Once this precedent is opened, it is impossible to completely stop them, because most maritime powers have this idea! So, there is no doubt that all Germany can do is join this competition. After all, it is impossible to use light cruisers to force the other party's heavy cruisers, right?

"If the tonnage of a warship is expanded to around 20,000 tons, then the design of the warship will be very difficult, because we can hardly design a balanced warship. The speed, firepower and defense must be made, especially firepower and defense. We cannot expect that the defense of the 20,000 tons of warship can block the firepower of warships of the same level!" Hippel said.

"Well, it's right, that's right!" The Crown Prince said in his heart. Before, Germany focused on balance when designing the main battleship. One of the most important points is that the armored defense of the main battleship can effectively resist its own firepower. For example, Bavaria's 15-inch cannon must be within 7 kilometers of defense if it wants to penetrate its own defense. In fact, not to mention that Bavaria has difficulty dealing with its own defense, it is difficult to fight revenge.

During the Second World War, the attack and defense of the real battleships were relatively balanced. For example, Venetto's vertical defense could effectively resist the attacks of other battleships besides Yamato, and the horizontal defense of warships such as Richelieu can actually deal with most situations. The ultra-long-range spanning shot of the American MK6 16-inch naval gun can only be said to be too long-range. In addition, Richelieu's horizontal defense design also has some problems. Therefore, in terms of the technology of the Second World War, it is OK to create a fast battleship with balanced attack and defense.

However, this is limited to main ships with tonnage of more than 38,000 tons. For warships of 20,000 tons, this is almost impossible! One big part is that the battle distance between heavy cruisers is closer, and after maintaining a higher speed than battleships, the tonnage leaves less tonnage for defense.

Taking history as an example, the best treaty cruisers with comprehensive vertical defense are Zara and Algiers. The vertical armor with a side string of 150mm is actually enough to withstand the attack of 8-inch armor-piercing bullets. For example, the ammunition depot of Japan's highest-level heavy cruiser has a 140mm tilt of 20 degrees. This defense standard is high enough, right? (In fact, the Italian light cruiser Duke Abruci's 30mm100mm side string protection level may be higher.) However, it is still very difficult to face 8-inch gun attacks.

And don't forget that the prerequisite for armor design aimed at defending against 8-inch cannons is that everyone only equips 8-inch cannons on warships of this level, and will not equip larger ones such as 10-inch, 11-inch, 12-inch cannons... However, how can everyone abide by the treaty when the treaty is over?

In this plane, the German Empire set a very bad precedent. The Germans replaced the first fearless triple 12-inch cannon with a double 14-inch cannon... There is a precedent, will it have no future? Therefore, other countries can follow suit. During wartime, they replaced the 8-inch cannons on warships with larger caliber artillery! You must know that in history, the Japanese's most superior cruiser changed from light cruisers to heavy cruisers. Considering the German-class pocket warfare, they changed from light cruisers to heavy cruisers.

The triple-mounted 11-inch cannon on the ship! As for the increase in weight caused by the change of cannons? Let's put it this way, the weight of the triple-mounted 11-inch turret on the German pocket battleship in history was 600 tons. The triple-mounted 8-inch turret on the last heavy cruiser of the American Des Moines was 450 tons... So if it was replaced with a double-mounted 12-inch, the weight may be very little! Therefore, there is no problem with installing a 12-inch basic cannon on a 20,000-ton warship!

Then now the question is, how high is the defense standard required to block 12-inch armor-piercing shells? Take the mk8 12-inch gun in the history of the Americans as an example. The vertical penetration depth at 27 kilometers is about 231mm... Even if we consider the heading angle and the inclination angle of the main armor, if we want to block such a high penetration artillery at a normal combat distance on a 20,000-ton warship? This is really too difficult!

Therefore, the situation that the German naval design disliked the most was that the firepower intensity was far higher than the defense intensity! A 20,000-ton warship guaranteed to be immune to 8-inch cannons at a normal combat distance of up to normal combat. The 10-inch cannon cannot be stopped. The 12-inch cannon will wash and go to bed...

"If the appearance of heavy cruisers is inevitable, then I think we should strictly limit the tonnage of heavy cruisers to make the cost of replacing guns in the future too high and not easy to achieve. For example, if we limit the tonnage of heavy cruisers to between 12,000 tons and 15,000 tons in the future, it will be very difficult if the other party wants to use 12-inch guns. When using 10-inch guns, we have to make choices in terms of the number of artillery and the power of ammunition. In this way, our defense design will be more effective." Hippel thought for a while and said.

It is difficult for a 10,000-ton heavy cruiser to block the 8-inch cannon. In history, Zara and Algiers only have good defenses, but may not be able to defend themselves... The 30mm100mm side string defense of Duke Abuqilu also depends on the situation. After all, the crown prince vaguely remembers that in history, Prince Eugen could penetrate 9-inch armor at a distance of about 10 kilometers... So, Hippel means forcibly limiting the attack and defense between each other to a relatively balanced range. At the same time, the cost of the warships is not particularly high!

As for whether you want to use a 15,000-ton warship, you can do it? If you want to use it, it will definitely be possible, but the performance will be reduced, such as defense and speed. You should know that in history, the tonnage of heavy cruisers in the late United States, such as Baltimore and Des Moines, were of this level, or even higher, but there is a reason for choosing the 8-inch gun as the main gun. After all, the later heavy cruisers not only attacked the sea, but also had to perform air defense tasks... At this time, the weight of a large number of secondary guns and ammunition must be considered.

"I think this suggestion is very reasonable. The tonnage of heavy cruisers is limited to less than 15,000 tons, the artillery is set to 8 inches, and the offense and defense are relatively balanced. Most countries can accept it. And the cost is not too high." Marshal Schell agreed with Hippel's suggestion.

Marshal Schell, in the future, in terms of gunboats, all warships below Bavaria should be retired. If the war breaks out in 20 years, then some Bavarian-class battleships would be better off also retired, and then maintain the new front-line battleships with a large number of 16-inch or even larger caliber naval guns. Although the German Navy has gone to the ocean, Schell still adheres to the idea of ​​elite troops in terms of main ships.
Chapter completed!