The Rise of the Empire

"The majesty of the empire still needs to be maintained by battleships! And next to us is France! According to the intelligence reality, the French have rapidly replenished their main battleships since 1889, with an average of 1 to 2 ships per year! This has put a lot of pressure on us! We At least maintain a certain degree of balance of power against the French navy! Our cruiser fleet is already strong enough, but now we lack battleships! All the battleships in our current fleet are old-fashioned warships, not to mention the new warships built by France after the 90s In comparison, it is incomparable with the warships built in France in the 1980s!"

Ruprecht, this is not nonsense. From 1889, the French finally got rid of the idea of ​​​​the green water navy and began to replenish large battleships. If everything is based on history, then from 1889 to 1896 the French Navy Started 9 battleships in one breath! Among them, 3 ships were started in 1893! Although some warships were only completed in 1900, only Ruprecht knew about this, and others did not!

"This does make sense." Crown Prince William looked at the battleship formation of the German Navy, and then at the nearly dozen 10,000-ton battleships of the French. Immediately, I felt a little unbearable both on the face and on the inside! Although the Munich-class armored cruisers are good, they are too small in number and need to perform ocean-going operations. The tonnage is still too small to be suitable for deadly battles.

In 1890, the French large-scale construction had not yet started, and the German offshore pressure was not great. It was naturally correct to choose to build cruisers first at this time, and now the offshore fleet has begun to take shape. Next, it is understandable to turn around and replenish the battleship!

"So you mean to build battleships first to supplement the main fleet? But two Brandenburg-class ships are still not enough. Even the experiment can be done earlier. Krupp's 11-inch artillery is less powerful. In order to For the future of the Imperial Navy, we need to develop more powerful artillery!" Crown Prince William finally said the words Ruprecht had been looking forward to for a long time!

"It's done!" Ruprecht said in his heart, not just because of this sentence, but because the future weapon selection of the German Navy behind it will no longer stand against the Krupp family. In terms of strength, the Bavarian royal family is also better than The royal family is worse. As long as the royal family does not intervene or is neutral, the Bavarian royal family can be said to have the upper hand! After all, the Prime Minister is now considered half of Ruprecht's ally!

Ruprecht likes to use power to overwhelm people very much. This power does not simply refer to power and strength, but more of a situation! What Ruprecht did just now has created an advantage in the competition with Krupp! First of all, Ruprecht expressed his dissatisfaction with the Krupp 240MM artillery and 280MM artillery from an objective point of view! In this situation, everyone must admit that the 140KG shells of the 240MM artillery and the 240KG shells of the 280MM artillery are indeed unreasonable! You must know that the 10-inch artillery in other countries has a shell weight of about 220KG!

In this situation, even Crown Prince William can only acquiesce, and at least the impression of Krupp in his heart will not be that good, and when the upper echelons change their minds, what Ruprecht can do will have a chance to unfold! So Ruprecht used the new warship to propose the use of new artillery by the way! The new armored cruiser uses 260MM artillery, while the new battleship uses 305MM artillery!

Of course, it is not enough to simply make His Royal Highness feel dissatisfied with Krupp. Some things need to be said by the Admiralty. This requires Ruprecht and the Bavarian royal family to operate in some other places, and then advance the navy's bidding process . Unlike the army, the cost of silence in the German navy is relatively low at present. The 240MM artillery has not entered the active German warships, and the 280MM artillery can be used by the Munich-class cruisers even if they are no longer used on new warships.

And once the tender is launched,

Then Ruprecht's advantage comes! If Krupp is going to get a new gun, it must either refurbish the original 240MM gun or start a new one. And Ruprecht can directly use the Russian 10-inch L40 artillery and 12-inch L40 artillery as the basis for research. In fact, these two Russian guns are good, even if they are copied, they are better than Krupp’s 240MM and 280MM artillery. too much!

One is almost from scratch, and the best is to have a not-so-good foundation, while the other is directly pirated with Skoda's technical strength! It is clear at a glance who is more dominant in the technical difficulty and the time required!

And the most important thing is that Ruprecht used his own suggestions to influence the timing of weapons and equipment! The 280MM artillery used by the two Brandenburg-class battleships is considered to be handed over to Krupp. And Ruprecht's definition of this warship is a transition! Whether it is the new armored cruiser or battleship behind, it must use the new 260MM artillery or 305MM artillery, that is to say, all the advantages of Krupp are directly cleared! If you want to win the bid, you have to re-develop it!

Leaving aside whether Krupp can immediately see the situation clearly, what if Krupp redevelops it? Do you have the time? The construction work of a battleship only takes 3 years, and this battleship is still a transitional version! It is very likely that the bidding work for the next level of warships has already started before the battleship is outfitted! The world is maybe 1 to 2 years from now! Ruprecht can directly copy the purchased artillery to save time. What about you Krupp? Also directly COPY? What about your sample?

Of course, in theory, Krupp can also buy sample guns, but the current situation is that the British use the 12-inch L35. The French will not sell, and the Russians are now asking Ruprecht. The Americans have at least Roosevelt, the deputy secretary of the Navy, who has a good relationship with Ruprecht. Well, tell me, where did Krupp find samples to copy? Therefore, a simple question of time has already excluded Krupp from the circle!

What Ruprecht needs to do now is to fully promote the bidding plan. It is best to start when the research and development of one's own artillery is completed, but the new Krupp artillery has not yet been completed! By the way, get the turret and various servos done! Leaving aside the technical standard of the artillery, a single degree of completion can overwhelm the opponent!

"Then how many new battleships do you plan to build? When will the cruiser start construction?" William II thought for a while and continued to ask.

"4 ships! All use the new 11-inch or 12-inch artillery! If the performance of this battleship is suitable, I am afraid that for a long time, our battleships can be built according to this template! I also think that every battleship can There should be some progress, and the further expansion of the tonnage of battleships is the trend of history! Now a battleship is equipped with 6 12-inch cannons, which is considered advanced, and in the future, maybe 8 cannons are not too many!" Ruprecht thought for a while and said.

"What about cruisers? I'm very interested in your second cruiser!" said the crown prince.

Thanks to book friends Weifen and zsuzm for their rewards~~~. Just one little tweet this week…. The recent collection and rewards are not so good--! The side position makes my heart feel cold and cold--! Ask for collection, ask for reward~~~.