Chapter 487 Gonghuo
The current William II is just like Nicholas when he first came to the throne. He is not afraid of anything and everything. He is almost like a naughty kid from a relative's family.
Nicholas was also very ambitious when he first came to the throne. He was hit hard by the Russo-Japanese War and had to face reality.
Germany has never been defeated since the founding of the country, and William II is full of confidence, similar to Nicholas's mentality before the Russo-Japanese War.
What George is doing now is to add a fire under the oil pot of Germany.
You can't blame George.
The reason why Nicholas's confidence increased after he ascended the throne had a lot to do with the praise of William II.
Since William II can do the first grade, George can do the fifteenth grade.
George's way of fighting was not to export, but to make good friends with Germany.
Alex and Anne are both Germans, and it is normal for George to have good relations with Germany, so this is not a quarrel, but an effort to maintain peace in Europe.
In June this year, Karl registered a company in Amur to sell Amur specialty products to Germany.
George reciprocated the favor and obtained a series of patent technology licenses on artillery from Krupp through Karl.
If there is any technology in Germany that makes George covetous, then the Krupp cannon must be at the top.
It won’t work if we don’t introduce technology. The main guns of the “Saint Vincent” class battleships that the UK started to project this year are already 50 times caliber. The best naval gun in Vladivostok is only 45 times caliber. Keep up the good work.
However, apart from artillery, there are not many German technologies that George can like. On the contrary, many Amur specialty products are very popular among Germans.
The Germans are not idle either. Britain, Germany, France, and Italy have all begun arms races. How can the Russian Empire survive alone?
In July of this year, William II visited St. Petersburg, and then Nicholas began to loosen his attitude towards the navy.
This is really not Nikolai's capriciousness. After all, St. Petersburg also needs fleet protection.
Alexey was overjoyed and submitted a shipbuilding plan to Nikolai as quickly as possible, hoping to build 8 full-heavy artillery battleships.
Alexey did not refer to the "Yuryev" and "Romanov", but to the British "Bellerophon" class battleship. The difference is that the parameters of the main gun It is designated as 330 caliber and 50 times the caliber, and it is also a triple mount.
The "Bellerophon" class has a total of 5 turrets, one in the front and two in the rear, one on each side. The main gun adopts a 305 mm 45-caliber twin mount.
If Alexei's plan is implemented smoothly, the Russian Empire's new battleship will have 15 330 main guns with unprecedented firepower.
Performance comes with money.
The 15-door 330 is indeed extremely powerful, but the cost has also skyrocketed. The cost of building the ship alone is as high as 280 million rubles.
Nicholas decisively rejected it.
It only cost 900 million rubles to rebuild the empire's finances, and the navy asked for 280 million at the outset. This was only the first phase.
After George learned about this plan, he didn’t know what to say.
Let’s not talk about money or not. Even if the empire is in financial difficulty, it can still find a way to get 280 million.
Can you make 3-unit 50x diameter 330?
Even if it could be built like the Obukhov Steel Works, would the Navy dare to ask for it?
The Vladivostok Arsenal can now build the 50-caliber 330, but George dare not use it.
Milyugin also had strong opinions on this plan of the Navy Ministry.
"Alexey must be crazy, otherwise it would be impossible to propose such a plan."
Milyugin had some words that he was embarrassed to say in front of George.
The navy was in such a terrible state during the Russo-Japanese War. Nikolai did not hold Alexey accountable. It was simply a joke. In fact, this cannot be blamed on Nicholas.
George came to the Far East, Sergei was assassinated, Vladimir retired, old Nicholas passed away, and there were not many royal members available to Nicholas.
With Nicholas Jr.’s qualifications, he is simply not qualified to serve as Minister of War.
Nicholas has no choice. George is definitely the most suitable person, but it is impossible for George to abandon his career in the Far East and go to St. Petersburg to become the Minister of War, so Nikolai can only rush to the shelf and let him Little Nicholas will be there for now.
The same goes for Alexey.
In the Russo-Japanese War, the senior naval admirals of the Russian Empire were killed and captured. There were really no useful people left. Otherwise, Nikolai would have kicked Alexey to the Kamchatka Peninsula. .
“This plan is not bad. If passed, Vladivostok Shipyard can get at least half of the orders.”
Mikhail thought about it.
The eight warships total 280 million, half of which is 140 million.
If you really put four ships at the Vladivostok Shipyard, you can completely overwhelm the Vladivostok Shipyard.
"Don't think about it, this plan is impossible to pass."
George had no expectations in the first place, so naturally he would not be disappointed.
“Why can’t we use ‘Yuryev’ as a model?”
Vasily is still not smart enough.
"Yuryev" and "Romanov" were built by the Vladivostok Shipyard. How much does it cost and how much profit is there? If "Yuryev" and "Romanov" are used as the model , how can people in the interest chain of letting the Navy build warships make money?
In terms of building warships, Britain, like the Russian Empire, also has a complete chain of interests, otherwise the Royal Navy would not be so keen on building warships.
To put it bluntly, even if the UK does not build any warships within 10 years, it will be difficult for the navies of other countries to pose a real threat to the Royal Navy.
The British "Bellerophon" will build three ships. Construction just started last year, but they have not been launched yet.
In the Royal Navy's plan, "St. Vincent" will build three more ships, and construction will start next year.
The Royal Navy will not be idle next year. There will be new plans to continue the construction of battleships.
The German media disliked the fact that the "Nassau" was not powerful enough and demanded that Germany continue to build more and more powerful battleships.
Whoever dares to say that the Royal Navy is strong enough and does not need to build new battleships in the UK now will be hacked to death with an ax from behind even if they are not drowned by Tumo Xingzi.
“How about we add some fire?”
Peter was eager to try.
Just after the Russo-Japanese War, Peter proposed to build new battleships to maintain the leading advantage of the Siberian Fleet.
George's purpose in building the ship is to provoke an arms race, and he will definitely not end up in it.
The plan could not keep up with the changes. George did not expect that St. Petersburg would be dragged into the water. This was a cocoon for himself.
Bai Yi submitted a version of a new battleship before, but it was not approved by George at that time. George made some demands for the new battleship. Bai Yi and the technical staff of the Vladivostok Shipyard are working overtime to draw the drawings. .
Although the version submitted by Bai Laoyi is not as powerful as Alexei's version, it is actually not bad.
George decided to do something big to make the fire burn brighter.
(End of this chapter)