Chapter 797: A New Era for the Navy (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

For ordinary people, they have no idea that the world has entered an era of great strife.

Prophecy has always been a great test of human intelligence since ancient times.

It's IQ, not wisdom.

From some small details in history, we can find that even a war that could lead to the overthrow of a country within a year is unpredictable to most ordinary people.

As for predictions, they are often just a waste of money.

However, there are still a small number of people who know that the war has reached the final countdown.

As an engineer in the Naval Administration Department, Zhao Zhiyuan could clearly perceive the changes in the situation and even smell the scent of war from some details.

For example, the Navy requires speeding up the construction of the "Nanhua Class" and "Linhai Class" ships under construction, and the same is true for other warships. Basically, the Navy is willing to pay overtime and strive to launch the warships as soon as possible.

At the same time, according to the requirements of the Navy, the keel of the "Youzhou-class" combat ship was laid three months ago. What is different from the past is that the shipyard is now working day and night to build it.

Speed ​​up, everything is speeding up! From 3,000-ton fast cruisers to 10,000-ton battleships, they are all speeding up.

Shipyards from Nanhua to Linhai were working day and night to build warships. Even the small Xin'an Shipyard in Yingtian was doing the same.

After checking his credentials at the shipyard gate, Zhao Zhiyuan entered the shipyard. He rode his bicycle instead of going to the office, but went directly to the dock. Before he arrived at the dock, he heard the deafening sound of pneumatic hammers and electric drills, as well as the shouts and whistles of the workers. The overhead crane was turning back and forth, hoisting steel plates, boilers and other objects into the dock.

"beep……"

Amid the shrill whistle, a 100mm single-gun turret was being slowly hoisted to the outfitting berth. On the berth, a thousand-ton warship painted in blue-gray was nearing completion.

"How about it, Mr. Zhao? I think it will be delivered this month! What do you think..."

Just then someone walked up to him and said.

It was the Navy's supervisor Fang Dekai. He pointed at the warship on the sea with his fingertips holding a cigarette and said.

"This is the first one. In the next twelve months, another 18 light cruisers will be commissioned. By that time, the Imperial Navy will have the most powerful cruiser fleet in the world."

Fast cruiser gunboat... This name sounds a bit awkward. This type of cruiser has almost no armor defense, but it is extremely fast and is mainly used for escort. According to the official statement, "it is to ensure the safety of sea transport lines during wartime."

But what is the reality? As the chief designer, Zhao Zhiyuan knew very well that this was not a cruiser gunboat, but a large torpedo boat!

Torpedoes are still the secret weapon of the Ming Dynasty. After years of development, they are not only increasingly mature, but also very powerful. However, torpedo boats are small in size and have poor self-sustaining power, so they can only be used in coastal areas.

These defects were exposed when the Imperial Navy went to the open sea. The Navy urgently needed a torpedo unit to cooperate with the fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, according to the needs of the Navy, the Ship Administration designed this "cruiser gunboat."

According to the final design, the overall layout of the ship is close to the cruiser style. The total length of the ship is more than 102 meters. It adopts the traditional double-mast layout with parallel chimneys amidships. The theoretical output power is as high as 15,000 horsepower, which is equal to the main engine power of the "Youzhou" class battleship under construction. This ensures that its speed is enough to make any current warship far beyond its reach.

In terms of weapon configuration, the ship is equipped with four 120mm guns at the bow and stern. In addition, four twin 460mm torpedo tubes are arranged between the two chimneys and at the stern, but they were installed secretly at the naval base.

"Indeed, as long as these four rapid-fire guns are installed, we can almost start the sea trial!"

Staring at the turret hoisted to the bow of the ship, Zhao Zhiyuan said.

"Ten rounds a minute... It's really hard to believe if you don't see it with your own eyes!"

Rapid-fire cannon!

After years of research and development, the Krug Arsenal finally developed a mature rapid-fire gun, which greatly increased the rate of fire of the gun through the progress in the gun carriage. The main difference between it and the old-fashioned guns is the addition of a cradle and a recoil mechanism. It is this seemingly insignificant improvement that completely subverted the old naval warfare model.

The cradle can be simplified into a bracket model with an O-shaped or U-shaped cross-section, and the gun barrel can slide along the slide rail provided by the cradle. In this way, the recoil generated by the gun after firing will push the gun barrel to move backward along the slide rail, absorbing the negative impact caused by the vibration of the gun barrel and maintaining the stability of the entire gun body. The upper gun carriage is fixed, reducing the burden of the recoil movement. The recoil mechanism will automatically restore the gun barrel to its original position, greatly increasing the firing rate.

"Rapid-fire guns will certainly usher in a new era in naval warfare."

Fang Dekai, a naval officer, stared at the naval guns being installed on the deck and spoke in a very emotional tone.

"The firing rate of just four guns is almost equivalent to that of 20 guns. If you calculate it, the firepower of a fast ship is not inferior to that of three similar warships..."

With his eyes narrowed into slits, Zhao Zhiyuan stared at the position where the torpedo tubes were installed amidships. He had witnessed the scene of torpedo boats attacking target ships before. Until now, he could still remember how he was dumbfounded watching the two small boats easily sink the target ship. The target ship sank accompanied by two huge water columns.

If you didn't see it with your own eyes, who would believe that a small torpedo boat could easily sink a ship weighing thousands of tons?

Even if it's a wooden hull or a steel hull... it can be sunk anyway.

"Soon, all the navy's secondary guns will be replaced with rapid-fire guns."

Fang Dekai said in a low voice.

"I heard that the Krug Arsenal is researching 150mm rapid-fire guns. Once it is put into service, the navy will basically be equipped with rapid-fire guns, except for guns with a caliber of 210 or above. Although we may not have many warships, our firepower will definitely be far ahead of the British Royal Navy."

British Royal Navy!

That is the Imperial Navy’s number one imaginary enemy!

During the Imperial Navy's exercises, the Royal Navy was the target of the Imperial Navy.

Although the Imperial Navy regards the Royal Navy as its imaginary enemy, its strength is inferior to that of the enemy!

The Imperial Navy has only four battleships, four armored ships, and four ironclad ships until now. Its strength...

"The Royal Navy..."

Fang Dekai's words made Zhao Zhiyuan think for a moment, and then he spoke.

"There is a huge gap between our strength and that of the Royal Navy. The second phase of the naval expansion plan has just begun. Even if the second phase is completed, our strength gap will still be huge..."

(End of this chapter)