Chapter 694： The rising Japanese navy

"Look at the Japanese navy first." If nothing else, the U.S. Navy should have used soy sauce in World War I. The probability of the United States joining the Allied Powers has been infinitely close to zero. But it is impossible for the United States to completely stand on the side of the Allies, so the US Navy put it aside first.

"Is it impossible?" When Ruprecht had just read a few pages, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have been ignoring an important leftover material. In history, a certain country that played soy sauce almost the whole time, this plane It seems to want to make some big news!

"The Japanese Hanoi-class battleship has been launched and outfitted and is about to be completed?" Ruprecht said in shock.

"Yes, this class of battleships refer to our Nassau-class battleships in appearance. They also use 5 turrets, two of which are designed diagonally. However, compared with the Nassau, these two battleships The speed is faster and the defense is worse. They only have 10 inches of armor on the side, and the height is also worse. And it is said that the underwater protection system still uses the layout of the former dreadnought. They are the guys who can only copy. This level." Raidel said as he found a group of photos from the data pile and sent them to the prince's desktop.

"This situation is wrong," Ruprecht murmured to himself. It's not that the Japanese learned smarter this time. They abandoned the layout of the Nassau and used a relatively reasonable Caesar-type layout. This kind of thing will know whether it is good or bad after comparison, and there is no shock to change. The key is time, the service time of these two warships on this plane is too early! You must know that in history, the Japanese were the Hanoi-class battleship construction plan approved in 1907, but the actual start of construction was in 1909, and as for the service, it was postponed to 1912! And now? Launch this year and complete outfitting service next year! It took 4 years, and the background is intriguing!

In fact, building dreadnoughts is not very difficult in terms of technical difficulty. As long as there are first-class powers willing to provide technical support, there is no problem. Although Japan's shipbuilding industry is a bit worse, the berth for building warships is large enough, and with some accessories imported from the UK, it is still possible to get an assembled cargo. The biggest problem is funding! The fundamental reason why the Japanese did not catch up with the first wave of fearless armaments in history was the lack of funds after the Japanese-Russian naval war. Don’t you see, as the economic situation improves, the Japanese ordered 4 King Kong-class battlecruisers in a row? After the 1st World War, there was also a vigorous eighty-eight fleet plan, equipped with more than eight 16-inch warships with a displacement of 40,000 tons and a large number of ships!

This plane Japanese spend more money to win the Russo-Japanese War! However, construction of a new-style dreadnought ship has been started since 1906, which properly shows that the Japanese financial situation is not bad! Well, considering that the Japanese and the Philippines can get a lot of benefits on this plane, but this speed is too fast! It's almost abnormal! The French and Russians who are ready to start the film at any time are not so active! "Because of American stimulation?" Ruprecht thought.

When Ruprecht put this document aside and picked up another document, the content of this document immediately dispelled his previous thoughts and made him smell a dangerous breath, yes, that’s right. Dangerous breath! Next year, in February 1908, Japan is about to start construction on two other super-dreadnought ships equipped with eight 14-inch guns! "What do they want?!" Ruprecht said with a frown.

"Give me five copies of all the information about the Japanese Navy, and give them to the Emperor and the three subordinate departments of the Navy. One more copy will be kept at the bottom. It will be ready tonight and submit it the day after tomorrow." Ruprech Said specially to Raidel next to him.

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, this construction speed is not a big deal. After all, Germany has started construction of 2 to 3 ships a year, and at most 5 warships can be built, while the British are more fierce and start construction of half a dozen warships a year. Same as playing. In Japanese terms, the average speed is one ship a year. Although it is already very fast for small countries, this speed is not a big deal for the first-class navy like Britain and Germany.

But in fact, in the eyes of travellers like Ruprecht, that is very abnormal, not only because the scale of Japanese fleet construction at the same time is far more than history, but the type of warship is also problematic. The Japanese Navy likes high-speed warships, which can be seen from history.

In the Sino-Japanese War of Jiawu, the Japanese bought the Yoshino, which was the top speed at the time. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese were equipped with 8 fast-armored cruisers, more than battleships. After the Russo-Japanese War ended, the Japanese built what is known as the world's earliest battle cruise. And there are 4 quasi-battle cruisers at once. In the age of fearlessness, four King Kongs were shot. And then, whether it is Fuso or Nagato, their speed is actually faster than the orthodox battleship. In World War II, although Yamato couldn't compare the speed with the Three Musketeers in Europe, it did not lose out when compared with the 16-inch artillery battleship of the U.S. Emperor!

Then the problem is now The second batch of battleships built by the Japanese are still battleships. Did the Japanese suddenly change their **** and start to like slow fundamentalist battleships? That is impossible! In this plane, the high-speed battleship performed so well in the Japanese-Russian naval battle, whether it is the Rurik 2 battleship or the somewhat outdated Asama-class battleship, the performance is actually remarkable. The high-level Japanese navy is still those people, they have no reason to give up their love for fast warships!

And if you consider another favorite of the Japanese Navy, like to make the number of battleships and high-speed cruisers the same, such as the initial six-six fleet, the three-three fleet supplement, and the eight-eight fleet plan proposed in the middle and late stages of the first war. In these plans, the ratio of the number of battleships to high-speed battleships is almost one to one. And referring to the current plan of the Japanese fleet, Ruprecht came to a terrifying conclusion! The Japanese will build the same number of battlecruisers in the future! Compared with battleships, battle cruiser construction has certain requirements for power and hull size, so the Japanese may choose to postpone slightly. If it is the same as in history, then it should be a King Kong class!

This historical line change has a greater impact on Ruprecht’s original plan, and the continuous blow to Italy is to weaken the latter so as to allow a more stable situation in the Mediterranean battlefield, but if Japan joins. , Then the whole battle situation will undergo major changes!

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