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Text Chapter 286 Battlecruiser

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    "Back to the Emperor, the design modification work of the battlecruiser has been completed. It has been named the 'Baiqi' class battlecruiser. Construction will begin at the end of the year. A total of four ships will be built, named 'Baiqi' and 'Mengtian'  ', 'Wang Jian' and 'Wang Ben'. However, because the main manpower and material resources are concentrated on the 'Qin-class' battleship, I am afraid it will not be able to serve until 1900!" Zhang Cheng replied  .  The Navy Ministry originally disagreed with the construction of battlecruisers, but Wang Yuze strongly requested that the Navy Department have no choice but to build them.

    In the eyes of most people, battlecruisers have no advantages at all except for their fast speed and powerful firepower. If they are bombarded with battleships of the same level, they are looking for death.  The only use is probably to bully those battleships below the battleship.  Fortunately, the Chinese Navy also adhered to this concept when it built heavy cruisers.  The construction of battlecruisers only further highlights this concept.

    "Baiqi-class" battlecruisers will be built four at a time, namely "Baiqi", "Mengtian", "Wangjian" and "Wangben".  The "Baiqi-class" battlecruiser has a standard displacement of 17,500 tons, a full-load displacement of 20,200 tons, a total length of 175 meters, a width of 21 meters, and a draft of 8 meters. It is powered by 16 oil-fired boilers and two latest steam turbines.  It has a power of 30,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of more than 26 knots (the maximum speed was 27.5 knots in the test run after successful construction), a cruising range of 10 knots/9,000 nautical miles, and armament of 4 twin 305 mm 50 times caliber naval guns.  , using a backpack turret, allowing the eight main guns to fire on the same side, 12 105mm rapid-fire cannons and 10 37mm rapid-fire cannons.  The armor uses Krupp's new armor. The main turret armor is 305 mm, the bridge armor is 280 mm, the deck is 65 mm, and the waterline armor belt is 200 mm.  Compared with the "Qin-class" battleships, the "Baiqi-class" battlecruisers have similar firepower, but their armor is much weaker.  If there is a bombardment with a battleship, the "Baiqi-class" battlecruiser will definitely suffer.  In fact, the "Baiqi-class" battlecruiser is an enlarged version of the "Beijing-class" heavy cruiser.  Moreover, it is very expensive, with the cost of each ship reaching 8 million yuan, which is the same as the "China Class" battleship.  But its combat power is not as good as the "China-class" battleship.  However, what Wang Yuze values ????is the high speed of the battlecruisers. Once China defeats the United States, Hawaii will become an important naval base for China, and Hawaii is too far away from China.  At the same time, the Pacific Ocean is too vast, and the Chinese Navy urgently needs a battleship with powerful firepower and fast speed, so that it can effectively protect China's overseas interests.

    "That's good! The battlecruisers don't need to participate in the war against Japan. They only need to patrol China's increasingly larger overseas territories in the future!" Wang Yuze said.  Another most important role of the battlecruiser is to break diplomatic relations.  China's main rival, the United Kingdom, is an island country that relies entirely on overseas transportation.  If China wants to defeat Britain, cutting off Britain's sea transportation lines is undoubtedly an excellent way.  Battlecruisers are fast and can run away after a fight. In this way, even if the British navy has strong strength, it cannot catch up with the Chinese battlecruisers.  This is a weapon for breaking up friendships.  Of course, to besiege Little Japan, heavy cruisers are enough.

    "In the next few years, we will face great challenges. Whether China can rise rapidly depends on these few years. I hope everyone can unite and work together to survive this crisis. As long as we win  , then the entire Far East and Pacific Ocean will be ours!" Wang Yuze said.  The war between China and the United States is only the first step.  The decisive battle between China and Japan later, as well as the possible intervention of Britain, France, the United States and Russia, are the most important.  If China can win, then it will be unstoppable for China to become a first-rate power among the great powers.

    "Yes, Your Majesty!" Xiong Wu, Cai Yun and Zhang Chengdu replied.

    China began to prepare for war, and so did the United States.  At the San Diego Naval Base on the west coast of the United States, Vice Admiral Mahan, who was appointed commander of the West Coast Fleet, arrived here at the end of July.  It has to be said that the situation he faced was very bad. First of all, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet did not buy his account and violated his orders, which made Mahan very angry.  Finally, Theodore Roosevelt stepped forward and dismissed the former commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, which changed Mahan's bad situation.  In addition to Mahan's relationship as the president of the Naval Academy, a large number of middle and low-level officers in the U.S. Navy were his students, which allowed him to easily control the entire fleet.

    "However, after watching the fleet's training, Mahan was completely unsure.  It is very difficult to rely on this fleet to defeat the powerful Chinese Navy.  He had to use the last little time to reorganize the U.S. Navy, hoping that it would be effective.???point effect.  At the end of August, the main force of the Atlantic Fleet arrived in San Diego, and the two fleets were officially transformed into the U.S. West Coast Fleet, bringing the fleet's huge strength to four battleships, one second-class battleship, eighteen cruisers, and twenty-two cruisers.  This destroyer has gathered all the cutting-edge warships of the current US Navy.  There is no doubt that this fleet is much more powerful than the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet.  However, Mahan also had no confidence in defeating the Chinese Navy.

    "The battleships 'Indiana', 'Massachusetts', 'Oregon' and 'Iowa', the second-rate battleship 'Texas', the cruisers 'Atlanta', 'Boston','  'Chicago', 'Vesuvius', 'Chester', 'Birmingham', 'Salem', 'Omaha', 'Milwaukee', 'Cincinnati', 'Raleigh'  , 'Detroit', 'Richmond', 'Concord', 'Trenton', 'Marblehead', 'Memphis' and 'Denver'. There are also twenty-two destroyers  . If you are lucky, you should be able to tie with the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet!" Mahan muttered as he arranged the warships in his hands.  Although luck plays a large role in naval battles, he does not think that the current U.S. Navy can defeat the Chinese Navy.

    "Perhaps, as Roosevelt said, we need a battle, even a failed battle, so that we can arouse the blood of the American people and allow the government to invest more resources in the navy and foreign expansion!" Mahan murmured  murmured.

    "Reporting to your Excellency, Commander, the Chinese warships are here again!" a major staff officer reported.

    "Damn it, send a few cruisers to drive away the Chinese warships, and push him away this time!" Mahan said.  Since the main force of the U.S. Navy gathered in San Diego, Chinese warships have appeared off the coast of San Diego.  Mahan had seen this kind of warship on the other side. It was a light cruiser named "Leshan Class" by the Chinese Navy. It was very fast and was specially used to spy on the intelligence of the U.S. Navy. It had broken into several ships less than ten kilometers away from the San Diego Naval Base.  Kilometers of sea area, this is a serious provocation to the U.S. Navy and the U.S. government.  However, every time the U.S. Navy sent a warship to catch up, it was easily thrown away by the Chinese Navy's light cruiser.  China also ignored the government's protests to China, which made the United States very angry.  Constantly urging Mahan to lead the army to a decisive battle with the Chinese Navy.

    "Yes, Your Excellency, Commander!" The staff officer saluted and prepared to leave.

    "Wait a minute, go and invite General Benson!" Mahan said.  Benson is Vice Admiral of the United States Navy. William Schaeffer Benson, the former commander of the Atlantic Fleet, is now the deputy commander of the United States West Coast Fleet as Mahan's deputy.  Mahan and Benson have known each other for many years and are relatively familiar with each other. This allows him, who has been away from the army for a long time, to successfully control the army.

    "Your Excellency, Commander!" Soon, a middle-aged general in his forties came to Mahan's office.

    "Sit down, Benson!" Mahan pointed to the chair in front of him.

    "Commander, what's the matter?" Benson asked after sitting down.

    "There is another telegram from the Navy Department, asking us to go to sea as soon as possible to defeat the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet! How long will it take for our warships to complete the overhaul?" Mahan asked.

    "Commander, most of the battleships have completed the overhaul, and the overhaul of several battleships will take about a week!" Lieutenant General Benson replied.

    "A week? Okay then, our departure date is set for September 12th. What do you think?" Mahan asked.

    "Okay, it's up to the commander to make the decision!" Benson replied.

    "Okay, when you contact the Navy Department, let's report our departure time to them!" Mahan said.  "Also, do you have any suggestions for this war?"

    "Your Excellency, Commander, I noticed something. Among our four battleships, except for the 'Iowa', the rest of the battleships simply cannot catch up with the Chinese battleships. Therefore, I think we can give full play to it by then.  The speed advantage of the USS Iowa and the second-class battleship USS Texas. In addition, we have a great strength advantage over the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet in cruisers and destroyers. We can charge to discover this advantage and use torpedoes  To delay the actions of their battleships and create opportunities for a duel between the battleships!" Vice Admiral Benson said.

    Mahan nodded, which coincided with his point of view.  If they want to win, they must charge to take advantage of the number and firepower of their battleships. To accomplish this, they must slow down the Chinese Navy. Otherwise, they will not be able to catch up with the Chinese Navy at all, and how will they win?  Woolen cloth?

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