Chapter 101: We need a bigger gun
"The majesty of the empire still needs battleship maintenance! And next to us is France! According to the intelligence reality, the French began to quickly replenish their main battleships in 1889, averaging one to two ships per year! This puts a lot of pressure on us! At least a certain degree of balance of power must be maintained against the French navy! Our cruiser fleet is strong enough, but now we lack battleships! All battleships in our existing fleet are old-fashioned warships, not to mention the new battleships built by France after the 90s In comparison, it is incomparable to the French warships built in the 1980s!"
Ruprecht, this is not nonsense. Since 1889, the French finally got rid of the idea of the green water navy and began to replenish the large battleships. If everything is based on history, then the French navy from 1889 to 1896 9 battleships started in tone! Three of them were built in 1893! Although some battleships were completed in 1900, only Ruprecht knew about this, and others didn't!
"This does make sense." Prince William looked at the battleship formations of the German Navy, and then at the French close to a dozen various 10,000-ton battleships. Suddenly I felt a little unbearable both in terms of face and lining! Although the Munich-class armored cruisers are good, they are too few in number and still need to perform ocean-going operations. The tonnage is still too small to be suitable for deadly operations.
In 1890, the French construction had not yet begun, and the Germans did not have much pressure on the offshore waters. At this time, it was natural to choose to build cruisers first. Now the offshore fleet has begun to take shape, and the French riots Next, it is understandable to turn around to supplement the battleship!
"Then you mean to build battleships first to supplement the main fleet? But just two Brandenburg-class ships are not enough. Even for experiments, it can be earlier. Krupp's 11-inch artillery is less powerful. For the future of the Imperial Navy, we need to develop more powerful artillery!" Prince William finally said the words Ruprecht had been waiting for!
"That's it!" Ruprecht said in his heart, not just because of this sentence, but behind the German navy's future weapons choices will no longer be against the Krupp family, in terms of strength, the Bavarian royal family The royal family is worse, as long as the royal family does not interfere or is neutral, the Bavarian royal family can be said to have an advantage! After all, the Prime Minister is now considered Ruprecht's half ally!
Ruprecht likes to use power to overwhelm people. 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 Krupp 240MM artillery and 280MM artillery from an objective perspective! 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 class artillery of other countries weighs about 220KG!
Even Prince William can only acquiesce in this situation, and the impression of Krupp in his heart is at least not so good, and when the upper class has moved his mind, what Ruprecht can do has a chance to unfold! So Ruprecht used the new battleship and proposed the use of new artillery! The new armored cruiser uses 260MM artillery, while the new battleship uses 305MM artillery!
Of course, it is not enough to make the crown prince feel dissatisfied with Krupp. Some words need to be said by the Admiralty. This requires Ruprecht and the Bavarian royal family to operate in other places and then advance the naval bidding process. . Unlike the army, the current cost of silence for the German Navy is relatively low. The 240MM artillery has not entered the active battleships of Germany, and the 280MM artillery can be used by Munich-class cruisers even if it is no longer used on new battleships.
Once the tender is launched, then Ruprecht's advantage will come! If Krupp is going to get a new gun, then either refurbish the original 240MM gun or start a new one. And Ruprecht can directly use the Russian 10-inch L40 gun and 12-inch L40 gun as the basic research. In fact, the Russians are both good, even if copied, they are better than Krupp’s 240MM and 280MM guns. too much!
One is to start almost from scratch, the best is to have a not very good foundation, and the other is to pirate directly based on the technical strength of Skoda! It is clear at a glance who has the advantage of the technical difficulty and the time required!
And the most important thing is that Ruprecht used his suggestions to affect the time of weaponry! Two Brandenburg-class battleships use 280MM artillery, which is considered to be given to Krupp. And Ruprecht's definition of this warship is a transition! Whether it is a new armored cruiser or battleship behind, it must use a new 260MM gun or a 305MM gun, that is to say, all the advantages of Krupp before are directly cleared! If you want to win the bid, you must re-develope!
Not to mention whether Krupp can see the situation immediately, even if Krupp re-developed it? Do you have the time? The construction of a battleship takes only 3 years, and this battleship is still a transitional version! It is very likely that the bidding work for the next-tier battleship has already begun before the battleship is outfitted! This world may be more than one to two years from now! Ruprecht can use the purchased artillery directly ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ to save time. What about your Krupp? COPY directly? Where is your sample?
Of course, theoretically Krupp can also buy a sample gun, but the current situation is that the British use a 12-inch L35. The French will not sell it, and the Russians now want Ruprecht, and the Americans have at least Roosevelt, the deputy admiralty minister, who has a good relationship with Ruprecht. Well, tell me, where does Krupp find samples to copy? Therefore, a mere question of time has excluded Krupp from the circle!
What Ruprecht needs to do now is to fully promote the bidding plan, preferably when the research and development of his own artillery is completed, and the new Krupp artillery has not yet been completed! By the way, get the turret and various servos done! Let alone the technical standards of the artillery, a single degree of completion can be used to defeat the opponent!
"So how many new battleships do you plan to build? When will the cruiser start?" William II thought for a while and wanted to continue asking.
"Four ships! All new 11-inch or 12-inch guns! If the performance of this battleship is suitable, I am afraid that our battleships can be built according to this template for a long time! I also think that every battleship is There should be some progress. The further expansion of battleship tonnage is the trend of history! Now that a battleship is equipped with 6 12-inch guns is considered advanced, maybe 8 guns will not be too many in the future!” Ruprecht thought for a while and said.
"What about cruisers? I am very interested in your second cruiser!" said the crown prince.
Thanks to the book buddies and zsuzm for their rewards~~~. There is only one small tweet this week... The collection and rewards are not so good recently--! In the side position, it's refreshing in the heart--! Seeking collection, asking for rewards~~~.
