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The Fourth Chinese Empire Piaotian Literature www.piaotia.com Chapter 656 The Fleet Heads West

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    On February 24, 1902, just after the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival, in Qingdao Port, the home port of the Chinese Navy's home fleet, the navy's officers and soldiers were already busy.  The current Chinese Navy's home fleet is the smallest fleet among the three major fleets of the Chinese Navy.  After the war, in order to strengthen the strength of the Pacific Fleet and the newly formed Indian Ocean Fleet, the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua Class' battleships and 'Qin Class' battleships have all been assigned to the Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet.  There are only two "Baiqi-class" battlecruisers left in the local fleet to support the appearance.  It will be until after the completion of the 'Han-class' battleships that the local fleet will receive four of the six battleships. At this time, the local fleet will regain its strength.

    Today¡¯s Qingdao Port is full of colorful flags and huge crowds of people.  Several huge warships were moored at the berths of the pier.  The most eye-catching thing is not a battlecruiser or battleship, but a white cruise ship.  This is a royal cruise built by Wang Yuze himself. It is named "Oriental Emperor" and was built by Beihai Shipyard. The sea trials were completed at the end of last year.  The "Eastern Emperor" is 132 meters long, 22 meters wide, with a draft of 6.5 meters and a displacement of 13,500 tons.  It uses 18 large oil-fired boilers, two-axis propulsion, and a maximum speed of 28 knots. It is currently the fastest luxury cruise ship in the world.  The first voyage of the "Eastern Emperor" cruise ship was to Germany to marry the seventh princess of Bavaria, Helmtrude.  The Imperial Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang will serve as the plenipotentiary envoy of the Imperial Emperor Wang Yuze and will be responsible for welcoming the bride this time.

    The battlecruiser "Baiqi" ??and two "Tianshui-class" light cruisers will serve as escort battleships to form a fleet and head to Germany together.  However, in addition to these ships, there are several other warships parked at the dock of Qingdao Port.  The outlines of these battleships are roughly similar to those of the Chinese Navy's "Zhonghua-class" battleships. The layout of the superstructure and the divisions of the turrets are exactly the same.  However, the caliber of the main gun has changed from 305 mm to 280 mm.  These battleships are the four 'Nassau-class' battleships that China built for them according to Germany's requirements, 'Hamburg', 'Hannover', 'Hesse' and 'Thuringia'.  Because the German Navy is now facing strong pressure from the British Navy, the four "Nassau-class" battleships that originally planned to wait until the completion of the subsequent four "Helgoland-class" battleships to return home together were also asked to return to Germany early.  Fortunately, these four battleships can pass with the wedding fleet sent by China.

    In order to successfully receive these four 'Nassau-class' battleships, the German Navy sent nearly three thousand officers and soldiers to China. After three months of familiarization, they were barely familiar with these battleships.  However, it will take a while to get used to it before it can be put into actual combat.  German Vice Admiral Franz?  Feng?  Hipper, as the commander sent by the German Navy to receive these four 'Nassau-class' battleships.  He was very satisfied with the four battleships built by the Chinese shipyard. Their performance was no worse than the four built by Germany itself. This made the Germans, who had always been rigorous, couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

    On the pier, Admiral Li Dingxin, commander of the Chinese Navy¡¯s Home Fleet, led the officers and soldiers of the Home Fleet to see off the fleet.

    "Master Wu, I wish you a safe journey!" Admiral Li Dingxin, Commander of the Home Fleet, said to Wu Tingfang, the Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    "Commander Li, I'm just going to Germany to welcome the bride on behalf of Your Majesty, so there shouldn't be any problems!" Wu Tingfang said.  After all, the Chinese Emperor Wang Yuze married the seventh princess Helmtrude of Bavaria, Germany. This is something that both parties have agreed on, so there should be no surprises!  Besides, with China¡¯s current national strength, there are not many countries that can provoke China!

    "I'm not talking about you. Recently, there have been a lot more foreigners around Qingdao Port. Of course, they are not coming for us, but for the Germans. This trip to Europe may not go smoothly.  !" General Li Dingxin reminded.

    "Aimed at the Germans? Do they still dare to provoke a war at this time?" Wu Tingfang didn't believe it at all.  Since the end of last year, with the new battleships of the German Navy and the British Navy entering service, the two sides have launched multiple confrontations and conflicts in the North Sea.  The British Navy relied on the numerical advantage of two new battleships, coupled with numerous old battleships, to still have the upper hand.  However, once the four 'Nassau-class' battleships built by the German Navy in China return home, the current situation will be reversed.  However, Wu Tingfang thought it was unlikely that the war would begin because of this.  Neither the Allies nor the Entente were ready for war.  A large number of new battleships are still under construction.  Once a war breaks out, no one can escape.  On the contrary, China, which has four "Zhonghua-class" battleships, four "Qin-class" battleships and four "Baiqi-class" battlecruisers, can become the decisive force in this war.

    "It's unlikely to start a war. However, something should happen"Conflict.  The British will not just watch them lose their advantage!  General Li Dingxin said.

    "Then what should we do? Be consistent with the Germans?" Wu Tingfang asked.

    "As long as there is no real war, we will remain neutral. However, if the British really dare to risk the world's disapproval and launch an attack on four German battleships, then we will only join the German side to fight. These German battleships are ours  The most important chess piece holding back Britain cannot be lost!" General Li Dingxin said.  The Allies are building ships frantically, with a total of thirty or forty new battleships built. This is a huge pressure for China. China needs Germany to contain the British Navy in Europe.

    "Yeah! I understand. However, I think the British will not be confused. After all, starting a war now will not do them any good. Once the main force of the Imperial Navy moves westward and cooperates with the German Navy, the British Navy can be completely annihilated  !" Wu Tingfang said.

    At this moment, German Vice Admiral Franz in military uniform?  Feng?  Hipper stepped off the battleship Hamburg.

    "Your Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Your Excellency, Commander, thank you for taking care of us over the past few months. On behalf of the entire German Navy, I would like to express my gratitude to you!" Franz?  Feng?  Hipper said sincerely.

    "Your Majesty, Lieutenant General, you are too polite. We are allies, aren't we? Are you satisfied with these battleships?" Admiral Li Dingxin asked.  The German Navy's 'Nassau-class' battleships were modified based on the drawings of the Chinese Navy's 'China-class' battleships. However, there is still a slight gap between the real combat power and the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships.  First of all, regarding the fire control system, the Chinese Navy only provided the German Navy with the most basic fire control system.  All battleships, battlecruisers, heavy cruisers and light cruisers of the Chinese Navy use the new second-generation fire control system.  In addition, the more accurate third-generation fire control system is also under intense research and development, and is expected to be put into use when the next war breaks out.  At the same time, in terms of battleship power, the 'Chinese-class' battleships are also stronger than the 'Nassau-class' battleships. The maximum speed of the 'Chinese-class' battleships can reach 22.5 knots, while the 'Nassau-class' is only 21 knots, which is the same as that of the British Navy.  The 'Dreadnought' class battleships are comparable.  In terms of main gun caliber, the German Navy uses a more mature 280mm main gun, which is equivalent in performance to the Chinese Navy's 305mm main gun.  But overall, the combat effectiveness of the 'Nassau-class' battleships is only between 80% and 90% of the 'China-class' battleships.

    "Your Excellency, I am very satisfied. This is definitely one of the best battleships I have ever seen. At least, if you face the British 'Dreadnought-class' battleship, in a one-on-one situation, win  It¡¯s definitely our battleship!¡± Franz?  Feng?  Lieutenant General Hipper said confidently.

    "It would be great if your Excellency, Lieutenant General, is satisfied. Unfortunately, the other four 'Helgoland-class' battleships are under intense construction. Otherwise, you will see more powerful battleships!" Admiral Li Dingxin said.

    "This is indeed regrettable. However, I believe that they will be able to join the German Navy soon!" Franz?  Feng?  Lieutenant General Hipper said.  Lieutenant General Hipper also has great expectations for the full set of Helgoland-class battleships that will be copied from the Chinese Navy's Qin-class battleships. However, according to the current construction speed, it will take at least two years for these four battleships to be completed.  Will join the German Navy.

    At 9 a.m., after the simple sailing ceremony, the Chinese Navy¡¯s battlecruiser Baiqi took the lead and left the harbor.  Behind the battlecruiser "Bai Qi" is the cruise ship "Eastern Great".  Two 'Tianshui-class' light cruisers guarded both sides of the 'Oriental Great' cruise ship.

    The four "Nassau-class" battleships of the German Navy also left the military port, lined up, and sailed southward less than five kilometers away from the Chinese fleet.  Because the speed of the 'Nassau-class' battleships is lower than that of the Chinese fleet, the speed of the fleet is maintained at 15 knots.  The voyage of more than 20,000 kilometers, plus the time for stopping for supplies along the way, would take about forty days.  This means that the wedding of Chinese Emperor Wang Yuze and Seventh Princess Helmtrude of Bavaria, Germany, will probably be held at the end of May or early June.

    After the Chinese wedding fleet and the German returning fleet set off from Qingdao Port, a series of telegrams were sent from around Qingdao Port to all parts of the world.  Soon, all countries knew that the German fleet was on its way home.  (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)
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