The Rise of the Empire

"A flat but impressive fight." After the battle, Jericho commented when he inspected the damage of the battleship. The entire battle lasted only half an hour, and the second-class battleship Agile was hit 9 times by large-caliber shells. Except for two shells that were directly bounced off by the 7-inch main armor belt, the remaining seven shells caused varying degrees of damage. Three 7.5-inch secondary guns on the engagement side were destroyed, and one main gun was destroyed. At the same time, two openings were opened in the front of the hull. 750 tons of water entered, causing the battleship to tilt 6 degrees.

"It's not a troublesome thing. It can be repaired within three weeks after we go back, including replacing the damaged artillery." An officer next to him said optimistically, looking at General Jericho, who looked a little serious.

"That's good, I leave the battleship maintenance to you, I have my own job," Jericho said.

The repair of the ship has nothing to do with Jericho, it is completely in charge of Italy, and Jericho is not worried that the Prince Albert will come out again at this time. Jericho did not know that he took the rear of the German ship The turret was stuck, but judging from Turkey's poor port facilities, it may take months to repair the moderately burned Prince Albert.

What really required Jericho's attention was his report to the Royal Navy. He knew that the report in his hand would be a very important reference for the future development of the Royal Navy. After all, it had been several years since the major powers had stopped fighting at sea, and now the British Navy was a little confused in designing warships.

"In general, although Agility is at a disadvantage when facing Prince Albert alone, I am still satisfied with this warship. After all, the former is about 2,000 tons lighter than the latter. In a battle, if the two sides are in a For long distances, German warships have certain advantages, but if the distance is shortened to about 7 kilometers, our firepower can suppress the opponent instead. The 7-inch armor belt is still sufficient from now on, and the 10-inch artillery is even 12 No guns can penetrate it."

"I have carefully analyzed the difference between the Battle of West Africa and the Battle of the Mediterranean. In West Africa, the Germans can easily overwhelm a French battleship and a cruiser relying on more advanced fire control and the defense of the French battleship itself. The problem. The former increases their effective shooting distance. The latter has a limited defense area, so it is not surprising that the French were defeated. In this naval battle, our fire control is at the same level as the opponent. And the better protection of the Agility Weakened the damage of the opponent's firepower. In addition, the state of the German ship is not very good, so it is normal to have this result."

"Although the performance of the Agility is excellent, it does not mean that there is no need for improvement. Although the Agility is equipped with many artillery pieces, the layout of the gun gallery seriously affects the shooting range and elevation angle of the artillery. Our artillery has a relatively short range and is very The key problem is that the elevation angle is too small. Moreover, the weight of the Agility's armament is too heavy, and we dare not even chase the enemy at high speed. This warship is not suitable for fighting in the Atlantic Ocean or the North Sea, because the simple sea conditions will seriously affect the combat effectiveness. If the Agility The number is enlarged to 13,000 tons, and at the same time, the auxiliary gun is turreted. Then its combat effectiveness will definitely be upgraded to a higher level."

After writing this, Jericho put down the pen in his hand. He needs to carefully consider the following content. The former is just a summary of the basic situation of the war, and at the same time, he will make an evaluation of the agile number, and then he will write some suggestions. His report was so important that before he came to Italy, someone had secretly told him what issues the report should highlight. These people have different requests, and as a conscientious officer, it is impossible for Jericho to compile this report according to their requirements.

He wants to write his own opinion.

"Our warships are relatively slow. We can't bite the opponent when they retreat. This battle is in the narrow Mediterranean Sea. If the battle is in the Atlantic Ocean, we will definitely not be able to catch them without an absolute speed advantage. Those armored cruisers scurrying all over the world, whether they belong to the Germans or the Americans!" After thinking twice, Jericho wrote the first paragraph on a new line.

The situation of the British in this plane is a bit bad, because they not only have a stalemate with Germany, which is trying to compete for the second place in the world's navy, but also have a stalemate with the United States, the future third place. This sentence. All kinds of warships, regardless of whether they are good or bad, come and try on two ships. Moreover, Americans are now deeply influenced by the Germans and are very concerned about large armored cruisers. The new generation of armored cruisers is said to have a displacement of up to 15,000 tons and is equipped with 10 10-inch guns, which is enough to suppress almost all cruisers now!

Moreover, American man-made cruisers are not just placed in the port to watch and play. The United States has strength and ambitions! After the United States obtained permission from the Germans to park warships in the German Far East colonies, the Americans deployed 4 armored cruisers there all year round! And wander around the Far East from time to time. Let the British Far East Fleet and the Japanese Combined Fleet be nervous from time to time. And with the approach of the Russo-Japanese War, this kind of pure mental tension tends to develop in the direction of combat readiness!

That's right, it is the direction of combat readiness! Because it is written in the treaty signed between Britain and Japan. If it was just an engagement between Japan and Russia, then Britain would remain neutral, and if Russia's allies joined the battle, then Britain would join the war. In the original historical plane, this treaty was aimed at France. And on this plane, the United States must be added! Therefore, American cruisers have also become objects that the British need to beware of.

As a country adjacent to two oceans, the United States can fight against Britain and Japan on two fronts at the same time. On such a vast ocean, even the powerful British Royal Navy feels very stressed! Therefore, in this case, once the British armored cruiser catches the opponent, it must solve the problem! Therefore, the battleship must be able to fight and catch up!

"Therefore, the speed of existing warships must be greatly improved. The old-style steam engines and coal-fired boilers obviously cannot meet the power needs of new-style warships, so we need to use steam turbines on all new-style warships. The speed should reach 24 knots About! The current battleship defense is basically enough, if it is not facing the opponent's capital ship, using 6-inch armor is enough. But the defense area must be large."

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