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Text Chapter 318 The epoch-making battleship

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    At the end of June 1898, military attach¨¦s and spies from various countries in China rushed to China's Beihai Port.  Because, after more than two years of construction, China's latest first-class battleship, the first ship of the 'Zhonghua-class' battleship, the 'Zhonghua', has begun sea trials, and the subsequent 'Yanhuang', 'Huaxia' and 'Shenzhou'  No. 1 will also start sea trials one after another in the next two to three months.

    Although, when the construction of this class of battleships of the Chinese Navy just started, it attracted the attention of the outside world.  However, the Chinese Navy and the Military Intelligence Bureau jointly adopted confidentiality measures and set up a restricted area within ten kilometers around the shipyard. This made it impossible for foreign spies to find out the specific situation of this class of battleships of the Chinese Navy.  However, after the battleship began sea trials, this could no longer be concealed.

    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????OUT of China's military attach¨¦ in China and even Japan's military attache in China have made requests to visit China's battleships of this class. However, except for Germany, all of them were rejected.  However, various countries did not give up. Their military attaches and spies gathered with the North Sea officers and even sent out reconnaissance ships to find out the specific participation of this class of battleships of the Chinese Navy.

    "Oh God! It seems that your naval design has gone ahead of the German Empire. The displacement of 20,000 tons has surpassed all the most advanced German battleships. However, I am very confused about the installation of four twin-seaters at the same time.  Will the 305mm main gun have an impact on the battleship when firing in salvo? The huge recoil will probably cause the battleship to fall apart!" In the North Navy Port, a high nose.  The foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes asked.  He is Colonel Bazel, the German military attach¨¦ in China.  After learning that the Chinese Navy's new first-class battleship had begun sea trials, he immediately submitted an application to visit.  Given the good relations between Germany and China.  After asking Wang Yuze for instructions, the Navy Ministry approved his application.  However, the specific parameters and construction drawings would not be handed over to him so easily.

    "Colonel Bazell, we have already considered these issues. In order to ensure the strength of the ship's hull, we used the latest nickel-chromium alloy keel and made special reinforcements to the ship's body. It can fully withstand four seats.  The recoil of the 305mm twin main gun is gone!" Vice Admiral Wei Han, Director of Naval Shipbuilding, replied.

    "I took a look at this battleship and found that the large-caliber secondary guns and torpedo tubes have been completely eliminated. Are these two weapons useless in naval battles?" Colonel Bazell asked.

    "It's not that it can't be used, it's that it can't be used on battleships. In the 'China-Japan East China Sea Battle' and the 'China-US East Pacific Battle', we came to the conclusion that the armament of battleships should use main guns of the same caliber. In  The salvo can effectively improve the accuracy and is very powerful. At the same time, the torpedo tubes of battleships are basically useless in battle. Basically all lightning strikes are completed by destroyers or cruisers. Cancel torpedoes on battleships  After the launch tube, the performance of the warship can be effectively improved!" Wei Han explained.

    "Perhaps. You are right!" Colonel Barzel said.  Now, among the navies in the world, only the Chinese Navy has conducted two large-scale naval battles after entering the steam era and has strong experience, while the navies of other countries have strong experience.  It's still blank here.  Since the Chinese have adopted this design, it proves that it is in naval warfare.  Definitely very useful.  Bazel has completely believed Wei Han's explanation.

    Looking at the battleship "China" that was parked somewhere like a hill, Bazel felt very emotional.  Once upon a time, China's heavy industry and shipbuilding industry were established with the help of Germany.  Now, China is far ahead of Germany in the construction of battleships.  Although the actual parameters of this battleship have not been obtained, Bazel can be sure that this is definitely the most powerful battleship in the world, bar none.  It is nearly 10,000 tons larger than the 'Kaiser Friedrich III' class battleships and the 'Wichelsbach' currently under construction in Germany.  Moreover, the armaments adopted by the 'Kaiser Friedrich III' class battleships and 'Wichelsbach' are four 240mm rapid-fire guns, 18 single-mounted 150mm/l40 secondary guns, and 12 88mm/l30 secondary guns.  , 6 450mm underwater torpedo tubes.  There is no doubt that the Chinese Navy's "Zhonghua Class" battleships are much more powerful than the two classes of battleships of the German Navy.  Moreover, the German battleships adopted a large-scale strategy of deploying rapid-fire guns, which was fundamentally different from the Chinese navy.  But now it seems that Germany has taken the wrong path.

    "Your Excellency Wei Han, please allow me to take the liberty of asking, what is the speed of this big ship?" Colonel Bazel asked.

    "Well! The top speed has reached 20 knots!" Wei Han said.  In fact, he has deliberately reduced this number.  When the "China Class" battleship was designed, the maximum speed was the designed 21 knots. Because of the steam turbine used, the speed of the "China Class" was greatly improved. During sea trials, the maximum speed wasA speed of 22.5 knots was achieved.

    "Oh God! 20 knots of speed. This battleship is perfect!" Colonel Bazel was stunned.  The German Navy's 'Kaiser Friedrich III' battleship has a displacement of 12,000 tons and a maximum speed of 17.5 knots, and the 'Witchelsbach' class battleship has a displacement of 12,790 tons and a maximum speed of 18 knots.  In Bazer's view, the Chinese Navy's "China-class" battleships are a perfect combination of speed and firepower. Although he doesn't know how the armor is, he can be sure that the Chinese Navy, which learned from the German Navy, must also attach great importance to the battleships.  Protective properties.  This means that this is a perfect first-class battleship!  No matter the battleships currently in service in Germany, those under construction, or even those under design, none can rival the Chinese Navy's "Zhonghua-class" battleships.  Not just Germany, but other countries as well, including the most powerful Britain.

    "The German Navy has embarked on a wrong path, and I must let the nobles in the Admiralty wake up!" Bazel said secretly.  Subsequently, he sent a telegram of tens of thousands of words back to the German Admiralty.  In the telegram, he described in detail the power of the Chinese Navy's "Zhonghua Class" battleships, as well as the Chinese Navy's new thinking after being tested in naval battles, and strongly recommended that Germany obtain the design drawings of this class of battleships from China.  If the German Navy can build this new type of battleship from now on, it may really be able to get rid of Germany's old rival Britain.

    ¡°Compared with Germany, other countries cannot have such close contact with the Chinese Navy¡¯s cutting-edge warships.  However, he still tried every means to collect data on China's battleships, even at the risk of being arrested.  Japanese spies took fishing boats several times to get close to the battleship "China" during sea trials, but were arrested.  But even so, they can only obtain limited information.  However, they were all shocked when they saw the battleship China's four twin-mounted 305mm main guns and the complete elimination of large-caliber secondary guns and torpedo tubes.  Because the thinking of the "Zhonghua" battleship is completely different from that of the current mainstream naval battleships.  The Japanese even laughed at the fact that the arrogant Chinese installed four twin main guns on the battleship at one time, not knowing that such a battleship would fall apart after several salvos.

    ????????????????? However, the real strong ones have realized the differences between the Chinese Navy¡¯s ¡®Zhonghua-class¡¯ battleships.  If there were problems with this class of battleships, how could the Chinese Navy build four at once?  Moreover, it is said that the subsequent first-class battleships being built by the Chinese Navy seem to adopt the same design style.  This immediately alerted all countries. After all, the Chinese Navy has experienced two large-scale naval battles and has very rich experience. They know more clearly what kind of warships are needed in future naval battles.  Therefore, after experiencing initial doubts, various countries have begun to recognize this class of battleships of the Chinese Navy and know that this is an epoch-making class of battleships.

    Germany, Berlin, Admiralty.  German Navy Minister Alfred von Tirpitz convened a meeting of the main leaders of the Navy. Participants included Vice Minister of the Navy Hautsendorf and Commander of the High Seas Fleet Henin von Hall.  Dendorff, Commander Franz von Hipper of the High Seas Fleet Scouting Squadron, and Prince Heinrich.  What they wanted to discuss was the description of the Chinese Navy's "Zhonghua-class" battleships and his views sent back from China by Colonel Bazel, the military attache stationed in China.  There is no doubt that this caused an uproar within the German Navy.

    "Everyone, everyone, please read the telegram sent back by Colonel Bazel! What do you think of this new class of battleships of the Chinese Navy? Have we gone on the wrong path in the design of naval battleships?"  Navy Minister Alfred von Tirpitz asked.  His lifelong ideal was to build a fleet for Germany that could defeat the British Navy.  After Wilhelm II succeeded to the throne, Tirpitz received great support, which allowed him to start an ambitious development plan for the German Navy.  However, compared with the British Navy, which has a profound foundation, the gap between the German Navy and the German Navy is very large.  Tirpitz did not attach much importance to the Chinese Navy before.  It wasn't until the Chinese Navy defeated the Japanese Navy in the East China Sea Battle, and then defeated the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Battle, that it attracted his attention.  However, Tirpitz was still very skeptical about the fact that the Chinese Navy had built the most powerful battleship in the world, as Bazel's telegram said.

    PS: The second update is here!  In addition, the colony in the previous chapter was written incorrectly. It should have been the Philippines, not Singapore. It was a mistake.  terribly sorry!
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