Chapter 1086 The Times Have Changed (Third Update, Please Subscribe)

The Imperial Navy will help the United States Navy achieve their expansion.

Nothing more, just a threat.

In the past few years, it was precisely in the face of the threat from the Imperial Navy that the United States ended its naval vacation early and began large-scale shipbuilding in an attempt to surpass the Ming Empire in strength.

After all, the threat from the daimyo is something they can never ignore.

Since the "Los Angeles Incident" in 1871, after more than a decade of maritime expansion, the current Navy of the United States of America is indeed much stronger than in history. Although it is still slightly inferior to the Ming Dynasty in terms of strength, they are now able to compete with the Ming Dynasty in Cuba.

Of course, they still have a little ambition. Their ambition is to surpass the Ming Dynasty in all aspects. This is why they proposed an ambitious naval expansion plan.

When the battleship "Iowa" arrived, the sound of welcome whistles echoed off the coast of Havana, and the United States fleet used whistles to welcome the joining of this cutting-edge battleship.

As the whistle sounded on the sea off the coast of Havana, the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Caribbean Squadron not far away looked at America's newest and most powerful warship with complicated expressions.

Li Pingan, who was on the "Rio de Janeiro", had a somewhat...complicated expression.

"It's the Iowa."

Li Pingan could recognize it without even using a telescope. This battleship with a displacement of 11,346 tons was built by the US Navy in 1879 to deal with the threat of the Youzhou class. Although its tonnage and performance were inferior to those of the Youzhou class due to incorrect intelligence, it was still a powerful battleship.

"There are two twin 305mm naval guns at the bow and stern, eight 203mm secondary main guns, and six 100mm secondary guns. In terms of firepower alone, it even exceeds our Youzhou class. Although its speed is a bit slower, at only 18 knots, its firepower alone is second to none..."

Ding Hai, holding a telescope, said with emotion as he observed the most powerful battleship of the US military.

"No wonder the United States Navy rushed to commission it and sent him south to provide assistance!"

Li Pingan shrugged at his friend's words.

"Hey Crab, how can you boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige? Naval guns must first be accurate. Besides, don't forget that our naval guns are different from theirs. Our Youzhou-class naval guns are the ten-year-old naval guns, while they are using the outdated recoil guns!"

The Ten Years Naval Gun is a series of the Imperial Navy and is also a top secret of the Imperial Navy. The biggest difference from the old artillery is that they are rapid-fire guns with recoil.

The gun barrel is rigidly connected to the gun carriage directly through the gun trunnion, and the recoil of the gun firing is completely borne by the gun carriage, which is the so-called "recoil of the gun carriage". When shooting, the recoil will push the upper gun carriage to slide towards the lower gun carriage, offsetting the recoil by "slipping". This not only makes the gun as a whole very heavy, but also causes a large displacement when firing. After firing, the aiming calculation needs to be re-performed, resulting in a slow firing rate. Even after "climbing the slope", the gun will not return to its original position by itself, and must be manually operated to return the gun to the original firing position.

In order to increase the firing rate of the artillery, the Nanhua Arsenal designed a primitive hydraulic recoil device on the main and secondary guns of the "Nanhua Class". Although it saved the effort of manual reset, it could only fire one shell every 2 minutes. As for the 150mm secondary gun, it was 1.5 rounds per minute. However, even so, when the firing rate of artillery in various countries was extremely slow, it could still be called a "rapid-fire gun".

Relying on its significantly superior firing rate to other navies, the Imperial Navy undoubtedly had a great advantage in naval battles. It was also because of the sweetness that after the Nanhua entered service, the Imperial Navy proposed the requirement to develop a new type of rapid-fire gun. After several years of hard work, in the eighth year of the Empire, the 120mm rapid-fire gun was successfully developed, followed by the 150mm, 210mm and 305mm guns around the same time.

The biggest improvement was the gun carriage, which greatly increased the firing rate of the gun. The main difference from the old guns was the addition of a cradle and a recoil mechanism. This seemingly insignificant improvement set off a revolution in gun technology. Coupled with the use of metal shells, the firing rate of the Imperial Navy's naval guns increased several times.

The Ming Dynasty, which had always been committed to adopting new military technologies, once again launched a new round of technological changes. However, this change has never been known to the outside world. According to the provisions of the Imperial Military Code and the Criminal Law, "those who leak state secrets shall be sentenced to death", "those who attempt to obtain state secrets for the purpose of leaking shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment", and so on. Such clauses have kept many military secrets of the Ming Dynasty to this day.

In the Imperial Navy, there is no mention of "recoil gun" or "rapid-fire gun", but "Ten Years Type Naval Gun" is always used to refer to it.

"Haha, what's the point of this?"

Ding Hai laughed.

"If the Americans don't know that their guns are backward, they will only see their own advantages - just like now."

Pointing at the American fleet in the distance, he said in a rather helpless tone.

"The Americans only see that they have an overwhelming advantage over us in terms of strength. As for the 10-year model... I don't know. It has no deterrent effect at all, no deterrent effect..."

Staring at the huge American fleet, Ding Hai paused.

"They may take military risks at any time!"

"That means war has begun..."

Li Pingan raised the corners of his lips slightly.

"If we have to start a war, they will regret it when it starts! By then, they will know what dimensionality reduction strike is. Don't they know that the Imperial Navy has never disappointed the world in terms of technology? Let them show off for a few days! When our main fleet arrives, it will not be their turn to show off!"

The empire's main fleet has not arrived yet, and without a fleet there is no say. After all, the principle in this world is simple - start with strength.

For the United States Navy, which has already gathered five battleships in Havana, now is undoubtedly their highlight moment. Compared with them, the Imperial Navy's Caribbean Squadron is simply not worth mentioning.

At least in their eyes!

Just as the American naval officers and soldiers were proud of the arrival of the "Iowa", they had even thought about how to show off the power of the United States on the bellies of Cuban prostitutes after landing.

On the flagship of the United States fleet, the USS New York, Johnson, the presidential envoy, was having secret talks with General Stephen Luce. As the presidential envoy, he came on the USS Iowa with a special mission.

"So, Washington's decision is to spare no expense!"

Facing the news brought by Johnson, Stephen Luce frowned.

"Yes, at all costs! Even if it means war, if the Ming Empire dares to choose war!"

When Johnson said the word "dare", his tone seemed a little exaggerated.

"Then, we and our allies will use an extreme response to tell them that the civilized world will never accept their barbaric expansion!"

Until now, they still think they are a civilized world. For the Anglo-Saxons today, they have not adapted to a change until now. Times have changed...

(End of this chapter)