Beijing, China Palace.

Zheng Yu flipped the report a few times and stared at Wei Han, the head of the Shipbuilding Department of the Ministry of National Defense opposite; "Forty-five-distance 14-inch main gun, I have been studying for four years. When will it be done? I don't need an explanation, just time."

"It will not exceed half a year." Wei Han said calmly, "The free forging hydraulic press we built before only achieved 10,000 tons. Now, using technical cooperation with the Germans, the final technical threshold of the new hydraulic press has been broken. We are currently debugging the process. Using the new hydraulic press, not only can the energy of armored steel be able to go up to a higher level, but the material problem of gun steel can also be broken through, so the most difficult gun barrel life problem is expected to be solved."

“Where is rifled ablation?”

As soon as Zheng Yu opened his mouth, Wei Han was slightly stunned. Unexpectedly, the emperor asked so professionally. He said to the cannon body tube bundle that the biggest problem was indeed the ablation of the internal borehole, which would lead to the reduction of the cannon airtight and affect the shooting accuracy.

“There is no good idea yet…………………….”

"How about electroplating coating?" Zheng Yu's mind flashed, and he remembered some technical posts that had been mixed in the military. "Have you considered this path using electroplating chrome to prevent the ablation of the gun barrel rifle?"

"It has been developed for eight years and it is not practical yet.........It is very difficult." Wei Han said calmly, "We use two lines to chrome plating at the same time; chemical method and electroplating, but it is very difficult. Taking electroplating as an example, because the barrel is too long, the anode of the electroplating layer is uniform and complete, and it is currently guaranteed by the high method."

Zheng Yu sighed inwardly, knowing that the old men of the previous generation had fanatical military mi like Mu Tie, industrial men like Chen Lei and authentic naval fans like Xu Fan. These things that were talked about indiscriminately in the military arena were unlikely to be let go.

"What do you say about the military industry? Is there any problem with this direction?"

"The military industry also believes that the direction is correct, but some process problems still need to be solved." Wei Han said, "Electroplating technology was invented by Siemens, Germany 70 years ago. At present, they seem to be developing very quickly in electroplating. We are considering whether to strengthen technical cooperation with the Germans. However, it is difficult to make up our minds if we are concerned about the secrets of the industry."

"Cooperate with the Germans." Zheng Yu said for a moment, "Don't be afraid of being mastered by them. Confidentiality alone cannot maintain advanced technology. Bulletin ablation is a problem for the whole world. If we can think of chrome plating, others will not think of it? Since foreign countries are also studying chrome plating technology, it is normal to apply it on naval guns. Start with the 203mm gun, and develop step by step to twelve inches, and then we apply to 14-inch guns and even larger caliber cannons."

Wei Han bowed slightly, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"As Nanjing-level artillery, according to your statement, the fourteen-inch cannons will come out immediately. When it reaches the Nanjing-level, I don't have to worry too much. I'd better consider the sixteen-inch # first... But the design plan you selected is that the cruising speed of 13 knots is only 8,000 nautical miles, which is less... In my opinion, at least 13,000 nautical miles."

Wei Han was shocked. Just this one, the design of the warship would require overhaul and add nearly 2,000 tons of fuel to carry.

"Your Majesty, isn't this voyage too much?"

"many?"

"According to the requirements of the Navy for the Nanjing level, the main combat area is expected to be 2,500 kilometers east of Yokosuka, that is, the Midway line, and the coastline from Guam to Australia. With an economic speed of 8,000 nautical miles, a combat range of 3,000 nautical miles is left, and the fleet oil tanker should be enough to perform the mission." Wei Han said, "If you want to increase the range, you must increase the hull and increase the displacement, and the entire design must be re-made."

"Then do it again." Zheng Yu shook his head. "The radius of 4,000 nautical miles plus the combat range of 5,000 nautical miles is like a point. The Nanjing level itself needs to be positioned as a strategic offensive weapon, not a defensive type. This is determined by the development trend of the entire empire...and also by the overall strategic trend."

Wei Han was shocked.

From the advance base Yokosuka and Guam, draw a circle with a radius of 4,000 nautical miles, which includes………

"Your Majesty, if you have four thousand nautical miles, you will include the rest of Waii......" Wei Han asked with some concern, "Do you think about it again, Xu Shuai..."

"I will contact Xu Shuai." Zheng Yu was silent for a moment, but his tone was silenced, "Don't look back. The competition between the Americans and us was inevitable from the moment Japan surrendered. The peace in the Pacific is not about fearing one's own martial arts, but about the deterrence of offensive force, and adopting rational and pragmatic diplomacy......... We do not threaten the Americans' force enough, and many things have to be restrained. Only by making them feel that their homeland is under our guns at any time, can these ambitious Yankees truly quiet down and listen to your voice."

"The pre-research of the sixteen-inch cannon is about to start," Zheng Yu said again. "What specifications of hydraulic press, air hammer, drilling, boring, and self-tightening hydraulic equipment are needed. These must be collapsed and developed as soon as possible. This is a systematic project, not just as simple as cramming, what is missing."

“Yes, your Majesty.

"Let's talk about the problem of protection ideas." Zheng Yu's words made Wei Han's heart hang up again, "It's still the old pattern to focus on protection, and I have no intention. By the way, I see that there is no "all" in BBA617, and the idea is good. Whose work is that?"

"It's Technical Colonel Zheng Weihan."

"Is it him?" Zheng Yu was obviously stunned. "Didn't he objected to all or nothing back then and advocated key protection?"

Han now deeply understands that this emperor is not an amateur, but it is no wonder that the former emperor was originally keen on interfering in the design of the shipbuilding hall. His teacher Xu Fan was the highest mentor in the imperial shipbuilding industry. "Han Cheng means that warship protection must be based on its main combat opponents and tactics. The combat environment that the main battleships had to face in those days were likely to be forced into less than 6,000 yards by the opponent's warships, and they would be hit by all firepowers, including the deputy guns, so the key protection ideas are necessary. However, after this naval battle, all countries will summarize their experience and improve the ideas of armor-piercing bombs, long-range sighting and shooting, and even shipbuilding. Single-caliber main guns, long-range artillery bombs, high speed and strong firepower... The improved armor-piercing bombs will come out. Under this background, the combat distance in the future will be rapidly extended, and it will mainly be reflected in the counterattack between the main guns of the main ships."

Zheng Yu shouted in his heart, and he thought of going to the same place as himself, and nodded immediately. "This idea sounds very reasonable... Then why did the Shipbuilding Hall still choose bb604?"

"The warship cannot withstand trial and error." Wei Han said frankly, "I also admit that Han Cheng's idea makes sense... But this does not mean that these inferences will be valid on the battlefield, not to mention that the construction of Nanjing-level will take at least two years to start. Once the design ideas are too advanced, the country will waste a lot of resources on it, which will also affect the combat effectiveness of the fleet and thus affect the overall strategic decisions of the empire. This will be too big."

Zheng Yu knew that the other party was right.

The construction cycle of battleships is long, the cost is high, the amount of money and professional labor is consumed, and a large number of large ships are squeezed out... Everything determines that the number of such maritime battleships cannot be too large. Therefore, the development of battleships in any country often requires gradual progress and is not easy to adopt subversive revolutions.

Before, in order to quickly build a powerful fleet, it was also based on the understanding of future naval warfare... With the direct intervention of leaders like Zheng Ying and Xu Fan, the shipbuilding industry of the Chinese Empire adopted extremely advanced design ideas on several levels of battleships and was verified by battlefield practice.

But things have their own rules after all. The imminent national war ended with a complete victory. The design idea of ​​"Ji's Adventure" has been verified, but it has also allowed the ruling party, who came from traditional Chinese society and still had conservatism and cautious moderation in the bones to return to the stable strategy under the new education.

Their logic is also completely understandable; the design of the Shipbuilding Hall directly affects the empire's maritime combat power and even national decision-making. Once the aggression fails, the responsibility is unbearable. The idea that has been proven by the national war results is the best choice. It is tested by the actual results... It is not easy to criticize any problems. But once the revolutionary thinking that is too advanced, the responsibility for the Shipbuilding Hall will be all the responsibility for the problems.

Zheng Yu looked at Wei Han and gradually confirmed his guess, but was also thinking about how he would deal with it.

He can intervene directly like Zheng Ying, and once again use his influence to "responsible". The results afterwards should basically verify his own "foreseeing" and further increase his prestige.

However, he no longer wants to do this.

He is not omniscient and omnipotent. Faced with the increasingly complex history after the change, the "persistence of time travelers" may not necessarily bring goodwill. In the end, he must rely more on the progress and enlightenment of the entire society. His prestige is already high enough. As the saying goes, the more he does, the more he may make mistakes. Instead of continuing to cultivate people's worship of a "worldly god", it is better to inspire them to think actively.

He recalled Xu Fan's choice in the Guilin-class armored cruiser incident and smiled slightly after a while. "It's not unreasonable......... Let's do this, the use of warships ultimately depends on the officers of the fleet. Several officers were recalled from the front line, and the specific list was assigned by the Joint Fleet............ Several people from the Ministry of National Defense also held a symposium together to discuss these issues clearly and give opinions."

Wei Han didn't expect that the emperor would have such an opinion, but he didn't care much about it. This method was used at the Guilin level back then, so Xiao Guicao would just do it.

"War Tour, the subsequent ships of Siberian tiger-class were abandoned.

Zheng Yu's next sentence shocked Wei Han.

The concept of a battle cruiser was originally proposed by Zheng Ying, which was to build a warship that "can beat everyone and run over everything that cannot be beaten." At that time, the Shipbuilding Hall heard the explanation of Zheng Ying and Xu Fan, and was immediately stunning. They all believed that this was a magic weapon to break Britain's maritime power, directly threaten Britain's trade channels, and improve the imperial right to speak.

The proposed solution is to follow the traditional idea of ​​resurvival ability in the design of imperial warships, and increase the speed by strengthening the aspect ratio, strengthening the main and secondary gaps in key protection, compact configuration of key parts and shortening the length of the main armor box; the other is to further reduce the armor protection force on this basis, reduce the displacement, install a higher power steam turbine, and more boilers to increase the speed and take the route of high speed and strong firepower.

Later, the first route developed into a cheetah, and the second route developed into a special patrol of Baoding. In fact, the speed difference between the two sides was only a little more than two knots. However, from the perspective of combat practice, even if the Cheetah class was added to frontal combat, it still had strong protection against the current battleships, and the protection of the Baoding class was really uneasy.

The two cheetah-class modified ships currently in service and the two Siberian tiger-class new battle patrols are generally bound by the development of the Cheetah-class ideas. As for the Baoding class, in addition to the special official duties it undertakes, it also has the intention of using this class of ships to mislead the idea of ​​foreign navy shipbuilding.

In the eyes of Zheng Ying and Xu Fan, Fisher, who advocates "speed is armor", will inevitably start to imitate when seeing such a "perfect" battle patrol. And the German Navy Minister Tilbitz, who has been struggling to find a way to break through the British maritime power and thinks about various unique tactics every day, may also choose to develop it yourself or purchase similar warships from China.

Think about the fact that Britain and Germany were wasting a lot of resources to create a large number of fast battle patrols with thin skin and large fillings, but they had to launch ship-to-ship bombardment in the sea decisive battle, and finally died gorgeously. Zheng Ying and Xu Fan really woke up laughing at night when they went to bed.

Wei Han himself was originally a bit of a Baoding class idea. After all, he was a designer trained under the British shipbuilding system. He regarded the idea of ​​Britain paying great attention to the maneuver power of warships since the sailing era. In order to achieve "beat everything that can catch up and run beyond everything that cannot be beaten", the Baoding class is also the most perfect fit; six twelve-inch cannons with a maximum speed of 27 knots. It can be switched to the Cheetah class with a speed of more than 24 knots, and it is actually impossible to chase many fuel-driven cabin cruisers, small cruisers, and mail ships in the future.

However, Zheng Ying and Xu Fan still insisted on improving based on the cheetah level, and Wei Han could not change it. He could only design the Black Panther level as a cheetah-level modified, as well as the updated Siberian tiger-level battle patrol as required.

But now, the emperor wants to completely deny this new weapon that was proven to be of great value in the previous national war, and instead develops high-speed battleships, which makes Wei Han, who has been very proud of the design of the battle patrol, really difficult to accept.

"Your Majesty's Battle Tour is a powerful weapon on the sea that the late emperor and Xu Shuai have pushed... This time it has been proven again and again. Whether it is the Cheetah level or the Baoding level, it is really the ace of decisive victory in the naval battle. Now Ying and Germany are vigorously developing the Battle Tour, if it is abandoned rashly......"

"What I said is not to abandon it completely, nor does it never develop from now on." As soon as Zheng Yu said, Wei Han breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately he was dumbfounded, "This can develop an export type... In fact, we should just focus on building high-speed battleships."

Wei Han was anxious and blurted out, "Your Majesty, the battle patrol should not be abandoned easily, otherwise the future fleet will lose its eyes and ears, and there will be no high-speed formation to restrain the enemy......"

"The fleet's eyes and ears are definitely aircraft and airships." Zheng Yu shook his head, "As for the high-speed formation to restrain the enemy, the high-speed battleship is fully competent."

He paused; "From the design cases of Wuhan and Nanjing, the actual effect of the battle patrol by reducing the armor to improve the speed is not great. Even with the distinctive cheetah case and Baoding case, the effect of reducing the armor will be only two speeds. If the cheetah is redesigned, the steam turbine with more boilers and more horsepower may not be much lower than Baoding. Does the speed of two speeds require twice the survivability?"

"I am not saying that I am completely abandoned, but that I should develop more technically and targetedly." Zheng Yu's words made Wei Han a little confused. "In my opinion, the division between high-speed battleships and combat patrols is not so obvious......... When the fourteen-inch gun is developed and mature, the next level of combat patrols can be matched with the name of combat patrols. The idea is.................... I will take the path of high-speed battleships, and the survival ability should be highly valued."

“Die………………

Wei Han is also a bit tricky. Although the speed increase brought by reducing armor is not so obvious, there is still a gap in the belt. If one of his own battle patrols is two quarters lower than the enemy, it will inevitably lead to passiveness in many cases.

After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Chinese rapid formation used high speed to come and go freely... and took the initiative and directly led to the passiveness of the Japanese and Russian troops everywhere, which made the Chinese naval community particularly excited. Even the General Staff of the Navy, there was a group of staff dedicated to studying the "the role of high-speed guerrilla warriors in the two naval battles", believing that whether it was the Black Island Naval Battle that annihilated the Second Fleet of the Japanese Joint Fleet or the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the key role was "the rapid guerrilla formation". There is no doubt that the Baoding-class battle patrol, the sword-level fast light patrol, and the large destroyers showed the best choice for forming a rapid formation.

These staff elites, known as the "fast guerrilla" faction, even disdained the Cheetah class with the maximum speed of 25 and the Siberian tiger class with the maximum speed of 25 and 3-quarters of the knot, and believed that such inappropriate "semi-battleship" was not suitable for taking on the responsibility of the fast guerrilla formation. In the end, it was the "four-no-like". Fighting, facing the future enemy main battleship may not have the upper hand; running, the speed gap is not obvious.

Wei Han was thinking about many thoughts, but looking at the emperor opposite, the words came to his mouth, but he finally left. "Your Majesty, this matter is important. Do you think about it at the symposium?..."

"Yes." Zheng Yu's words made Wei Han slightly stunned again, "This scale might be bigger...... The post-war summary and appraisal conclusion of the Battle of the Yellow Sea has also come out, so I'll just think about it together. I'll contact Xu Shuai." (To be continued!
Chapter completed!