Chapter 335 How can you imperialists still play like this?
The "Fuji" and "Yashima" battleships Japan ordered from Britain have a displacement of 12,000 tons.
Next, Japan will order a 15,000-ton battleship with thicker armor and stronger protection.
The Siberian Fleet is not to mention suppressing the Japanese Navy now.
Even if you want to compete with the Japanese Navy, you must equip a battleship with a displacement of at least 15,000 tons.
Among the battleships under construction by the Empire, the "Perithwaite" class, which has the largest displacement, is only 12,683 tons.
This tonnage looks very good, at least it is larger than the "Fuji" and "Yashima" that Japan ordered from the United Kingdom.
But don't be too proud. The main guns of "Fuji" and "Yashima" are caliber 305.
The main gun caliber of "Perithwaite" is only 254. From this perspective, "Perithwaite" is not even a battleship, only a cruiser.
Cruisers are also fine. It doesn’t matter whether they are useful or not. As long as they are big enough, they can bluff people.
The key point is that the Far East lacks shipyards that can maintain warships of the "Perisvette" level. This means that if the "Perisvette" is assigned to the Siberian Fleet, then the "Perisvette" must return to Europe if it needs maintenance. .
Isn’t this nonsense?
So next, the Vladivostok Shipyard and Vladivostok Military Port must be upgraded.
Bai Laoyi is still very reliable. After returning to France, although he could no longer find a job in warship design, after communicating with his French colleagues, Bai Laoyi still absorbed the idea. Some of the most advanced concepts in European navies today.
Such as power.
Today's warships have to sacrifice speed to a certain extent in order to obtain the best balance of protection and attack. Japan's "Yoshino", which was put into service two years ago, has become the fastest warship in the world with a speed of 23 knots.
But the "Yoshino" is not the fastest ship in the world.
The "Boxer" destroyer built by the UK last year reached the fastest speed of 30 knots during sea trials.
It has only been two years, and the speed has increased so much, so not all countries can afford a navy.
If possible, George is really unwilling to develop a navy.
But thinking about it conversely, as long as the Siberian fleet continues to improve its strength, Japan will have to follow suit. This is also an arms race.
Compared with the British Royal Navy, George really felt guilty. They had colonies all over the world for blood transfusion, but they did not develop the army at all and went all out to develop the navy. George really couldn't do it.
George is still very confident about Japan.
Japan sold its iron and steel to build a navy and defeat the Qing Empire, making them rich.
Before receiving the war reparations, Japan was planning to establish the "Six-Sixth Fleet".
According to the Japanese, the concept of "Sixty-Sixth Fleet" has a lot to do with the three-nation intervention led by the Russian Empire to return to Liaoning.
Actually, they are all excuses. Japan has now tasted the sweetness of the war and is out of control. Even without the intervention of the Three Kingdoms, Japan will embark on the path of expansion.
Why did Japan accept American mediation?
It is not that Japan loves peace, but that Japan does not have the strength to annex the Qing Empire.
If Japan had an army of one million, it would never accept mediation from any country.
The dilemma faced by Japan is actually the same as that of the Russian Empire. Simply having a navy is not enough to complete the strategic mission of external expansion.
So Japan must advance its navy and army together in order to gain greater benefits in the future.
After making this clear, what George has to do next is very simple.
The cruiser requested by George should be equipped with a 203mm main gun and have a maximum speed of at least 25 knots without sacrificing protection.
At the same time, in order to ensure economy, the displacement of the cruiser cannot exceed 5,000 tons.
This requirement is not harsh, it can even be called tolerant.
After the successful development of new armor, the protective power of warships has been significantly improved. The same 6-inch armor steel has a protective power that is equivalent to a 30% increase in Harvey armor. This ensures that the warships in Vladivostok are of the same tonnage. Has stronger protection.
The Vladivostok Arsenal can also produce 203mm naval guns.
The only flaw is the power.
Vladivostok is currently unable to produce large steam engines. In the past, steam engines used in shipbuilding were purchased from Europe.
Bai Laoyi told George that the most advanced power company in the world is currently in the UK.
George had nothing to say, so he immediately sent a telegram to Nicholas and asked Nicholas to help.
The British Crown Princess is Nicola's aunt. It is better for George to come forward than Nicola's intervention in this matter.
If it was just a purchase, George would just pay for it.
What George wants is technology, which cannot be achieved by paying directly.
If the power system cannot be determined, the drawings cannot be produced, and the cruiser will have to be built slowly.
Don't be in a hurry, George. With a century-old navy, we have plenty of time.
Amur's main purpose of building warships is to provoke an arms race.
To forge iron, you have to be strong yourself. George’s focus is still on the army.
Contrary to what many people imagine, there are really only 3 train guns in Vladivostok. George's idea of developing armaments is to research and build at the same time. As long as a new technology appears, he will build one to try. Therefore, the three train guns in Vladivostok are strictly speaking third-generation train guns.
Consistent with outside speculation, the maximum range of the Vladivostok train gun has indeed reached 12 kilometers.
12 kilometers means that all warships in the world currently cannot pose a threat to Vladivostok from the sea.
The "Fuji" that has not yet arrived in Japan has a main gun range of only 9,100 meters.
The train gun is not the trump card that George has prepared for "Fuji".
Vladivostok’s real trump card is airplanes.
In order to better verify the impact of airflow on aircraft, a wind tunnel with a wind speed of 12 meters/second was built in Vladivostok last year.
The wind tunnel was not the first to be created in Vladivostok. In 1871, the British man Weinham built the world's first wind tunnel to measure the resistance experienced by objects and air when they move relative to each other. This wind tunnel is a structure with two ends. The open wooden box has a cross-section of 45.7 cm x 45.7 cm and a length of 3.05 meters.
The wind tunnel in Vladivostok is 10 meters by 15 meters and can conduct experiments on real aircraft. The total test time has exceeded 500 hours so far.
Airplanes are no longer a secret. After arriving in New York, the plane purchased by Rockefeller Jr. performed many flight demonstrations.
Although the aircraft crashed due to a malfunction during flight in March this year, more and more people are paying attention to the potential of the aircraft. Amur received as many as 50 procurement information, some from individuals and some from the country.
George will accept anyone who comes. As long as someone is willing to buy, George will sell. Anyway, the aircraft sold to foreign countries have lagged behind in Vladivostok. Even if someone imitates them, they will not pose a threat to the Vladivostok aircraft.
Safety and stability are the issues that George attaches most importance to.
The failure rate of aircraft engines is still a bit high nowadays, so multiple engines have become an advantage.
Planes are different from cars. If a car engine fails, the most likely result is a breakdown. If an aircraft engine fails, the pilot can only abandon the plane and parachute.
In the early days, the cost of airplanes was not high, so you could just throw them away without feeling distressed.
Now the price of an airplane has exceeded one million rubles. If it breaks down, just throw it away, and George cannot afford to throw it away.
The current aircraft in Vladivostok uses two engines, which ensures greater safety. Even if one engine stops in the air, the other engine can still land the aircraft safely.
Kuklev is trying to install four engines into the aircraft.
Even with the advancement of materials, aircraft engines are still very heavy. To install four engines on the aircraft, a stronger fuselage is required.
Again, there are still ten years left before the Russo-Japanese War, and George has time.
In November, the first indemnity paid by the Qing Empire arrived.
The Amur Governorate officially requested compensation from the Japanese government for the losses suffered during the Sino-Japanese War.
During the Sino-Japanese War, the losses calculated by the Amur Governorate totaled 35 million rubles, and the bulk of the gold that sank with the ship was a large part.
The Japanese government was very angry and determined not to accept the blackmail from the Amur Governorate.
George warned the Japanese government that the Amur Governorate retained the power to take further action if the Japanese did not pay compensation.
The Japanese government probably thought that George was just talking and did not really pay attention to it.
On November 15, a cargo ship ordered by Japan from the United Kingdom was seized by the Aceh Sultanate while passing through the Strait of Malacca.
The Japanese government wanted to negotiate, but it was discovered at this time that Japan had not yet established diplomatic relations with the Aceh Sultanate.
So Japan asked the Aceh Sultanate through the British Straits Settlements why it wanted to seize Japanese cargo ships.
The Aceh Sultanate's reply completely exposed the fact that the Russian Empire had reached out to the Strait of Malacca.
“So, the destroyer purchased by the Sultanate of Aceh from Amur, and all the officers and sailors serving on the ship are Russians, so is this a warship of the Sultanate of Aceh, or of the Russian Empire?”< br>
Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi really didn’t expect that these imperialists could still play this way.
"The Aceh Sultanate recognized that the warships were theirs. Because the Aceh Sultanate lacked officers and sailors who could operate warships, it hired Russians."
Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu told Amur His patience has reached its limit.
After the Otsu incident, Amul's attitude towards Japan took a turn for the worse. Both Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu were humiliated by George.
Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu are both people who take the overall situation into consideration. Although George has a bad attitude, Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu have tolerated it until now.
“Can our warships be dispatched?”
Ito Hirobumi cannot afford to offend Russia.
But what kind of great power is the Aceh Sultanate?
"The Sultanate of Aceh has exceeded the combat range of the fleet. If we dispatch warships, we may be interfered by the Russian Empire."
Ito Heyou said only half of his words.
Everyone knows the relationship between the Aceh Sultanate and the Russian Empire. Although the Aceh Sultanate is an independent country in name, in fact, the things the Aceh Sultanate does are more filial than a colony.
What Ito Heyou was worried about was that even if the Russian Empire did not interfere, the Japanese expedition might not be able to defeat the Aceh Sultanate.
The combat effectiveness displayed by the Aceh Sultanate in defeating the Dutch was much stronger than that of the Qing Empire.
(End of this chapter)