Chapter 340： Malta trip

It's not far from Taranto to Malta. If you go fast, you can basically eat Italian food in Taranto for breakfast, and then you can go to Malta to drink Ceylon black tea prepared by the British in the evening... The Germans eventually sent only two battleships to Malta. In response, the British were relatively low-key. Only two prestige-class second-class battleships were responsible for the reception. Although low-key, the reception specifications are not low. The British Mediterranean fleet can arrive. Under the leadership of the commander of the fleet, Sir Fisher, greeted the prince and his party.

Although Fisher has seen no less than 100 photos of the Mainz-class armored cruiser flowing from various channels, when the actual object appeared in front of him, he was still caught in front of him by the ship 160 meters long and 23.5 meters wide. The giant was shocked. Although the British Qiangsheng was not inferior in size to this battleship, in Fisher's eyes, the German battleship in front of him was obviously more "porcelain" than the Qiangsheng!

The 4-seater twin 10-inch gun exudes great power and makes Fisher feel a little excited, yes, it is excitement! The Royal Navy will not be afraid of any opponents! He came to see this battleship with a glimmer of appreciation and admiration!

"Did you see it? Wells! This is the battleship I want! Although the Prestige is already very good, but compared with the beautiful cheetah in front of me, the Prestige is a kitten! I would rather use two prestige ships? Let’s change for a Mainz-class armored cruiser! This is what the Royal Navy needs. Whether it is monarchy, dignity, or Drake-class armored cruiser, it should be swept into the garbage dump of history!" Fisher said in the words. With a trembling, this is the reaction of a person after seeing something he likes!

"However, the cost of such a battleship is said to be 1.3 million pounds. If all our cruiser formations are replaced with such battleships, it is estimated that the Parliament will go crazy!" Wells next to him said blankly.

"Damn it, don't tell me these frustrating words. If I were the Secretary of the Navy, I would cut off all those big and improper things and replace them with new cruisers. In this era, there is nothing that cruisers can't do in naval battles. , Did you mean it? Wells?" Fisher said to himself.

"However, while the Germans were building the Mainz-class armored cruiser, they were also building 4 new battleships. The cruiser may not be as versatile as you said." Wells' cold words sounded aside again.

"Do you know why you are still a captain now? Because you don't know how to express your demands in a word that others can accept, this is the end of your military career." Fisher was really angry. No longer pay attention to the colleagues next to him, but concentrate on observing this warship.

Everything proceeded according to the agreement. The two sides fired salutes, and then sailed into the island of Malta accompanied by British warships, and then arranged related ceremonies. After finishing this series of procedural things, Fisher finally boarded this battleship, which is the most powerful armored cruiser in the world at this time, accompanied by German officers! When Fisher stepped on the floor with his feet, this battleship completely attracted his attention!

"This is really an outstanding design. The two turrets are placed diagonally in the middle of the battleship, allowing this battleship to obtain the firepower of 8 main guns within a certain range! 8 10-inch guns! This kind of firepower has steadily surpassed the battleship. , Even if you fight against the top battleships in the world, you will definitely not suffer!"

Fisher really deserves to be a minister of the navy, and he created an era of fearless existence. In the first time, he discovered the advantages of the all-main gun battleship and the diagonal arrangement of the side strings, but at this time he has not Transition to the extent that all main guns are arranged on the central axis.

"I sincerely hope that the Royal Navy is equipped with such a warship. This warship is much better than all the cruisers of the Royal Navy. I have to say that your warship surprised and shocked the Royal Navy. Especially this class of cruisers. It made me feel pressured." Fisher said with a meaningful smile.

"You said and laughed. This is just a compromise." The prince smiled embarrassingly and said. He did not expect that the two sides would talk about such a sensitive issue when they met. The other party's sentence is not only about naval technology, but also implies a guard against the German navy.

"A compromise product?" Fisher frowned slightly, his eyes full of inquiry.

"That's it. The German Empire is a land power country. We can invest very little money in naval construction, so our warships need to undertake as many tasks as possible. In addition to maintaining colonies and maritime traffic, cruisers also need to undertake. The mission of part of the battleship. Our battleship formation is too small. If we don’t count the cruisers, our size may only be equivalent to a Russian squadron."

"In order to undertake this task, while enhancing the firepower and defense, the endurance and other performance of the battleship must be sacrificed. You may have noticed that the battleship we designed is actually more suitable for decisive battles at sea rather than breaking diplomatic relations at sea. The Ci is treated as a second-class battleship." The prince explained.

The prince is also good at talking. First of all, we are very poor in Germany. We can't spend much money to build a capital ship. We can only use a cruiser to make do with it You British don’t worry. We just kept the bottom line for our own maritime safety!

And you don’t have to worry about the sea lines of communication. Our cruisers were not born to break the diplomatic relations. In the design, the weight of the decisive battle is greater than that of the diplomatic relations, so you can also rest assured of the British Empire’s maritime communication lines. Anyway, we in Germany have no idea about this!

The prince is sincere, he really didn’t plan to break the deal with the Mainz-class armored cruiser full-time! Think about it, if nothing else, the outbreak of War 1 is 15 years away, 15 years away! How old is Mainz? How many knots can this battleship run out? It is more appropriate to stay in the Baltic Sea to deal with the Russians.

As for breaking the relationship? With submarines, which are cheap and effective, the expensive battleships broke down but went down. Therefore, the prince with an open heart is sincere when he says it all!

"Your Excellency is humble. Although the German navy is not even as good as the French navy in terms of scale, in this world, who dares to underestimate the German fleet? Whether it is the Japanese who beat the US-Russian fleet in the Philippines or the old European naval power France , Who of them has not been cleaned up by your battleship?"

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