Chapter 852 The British were tricked (third update, please subscribe)

Spaceships are the future!

When Emperor Zhu confidently told his chief of staff of the floating force that airships were useless, all the newspapers in Europe used full pages to report on the "Montevideo Air and Sea Battle."

Air and sea battle!

This is the first time this term appears in the world. What does this term mean? Literally, it means the battle between the sky and the sea.

To put it bluntly, airships are bombing warships!

There is no doubt that this was the most fascinating news for the whole world in 1876.

Ming Dynasty declares war on Brazil!

This was not news at all. With the Turkish War breaking out, Europeans were not concerned about the war in South America at all.

But the news that the Ming airship attacked Montevideo and wiped out the Brazilian navy made Britain... no, the whole world... scared to death!

Yes, the whole world!

Every country with a navy looks at the sky with horror. On one side is the fleet built at the anchorage with all the national treasury spent, and on the other side is the airship that could fly in at any time.

"It takes 18 hours for the cold boiler of a warship at the anchorage berth to be pressurized, and even the hot boiler needs 2-4 hours to be pressurized and sail out of the berth. In other words, during this period, even the most powerful warship is just a target for the airship! A target that can be bombed by the airship!"

For a time, European military observers and naval experts all discussed airships in a skeptical tone, discussing the military changes brought about by spaceships, which were enough to destroy the warships that all countries were proud of.

The Royal Navy was killed!

Almost overnight, all ship engineers stopped their work, especially British naval ship designers, who directly stopped improving the Goliath-class battleships.

In the past few years, British ship designers have been almost overwhelmed by the Ming Dynasty.

Once upon a time, starting with the "Warrior-class" ironclad ships, Britain's ironclad ship design and construction had always been ahead of other countries, but the emergence of the South China class changed everything.

This battleship with a central ironclad fortress, a displacement of 7,300 tons, two twin 305mm main guns and eight 150mm secondary guns attracted the attention of ship experts from various countries when it was still on the slipway.

Faced with the situation of being overtaken, the British drew lessons from the "Southwark class" battleships and designed the Ajax class ironclad ships. Compared with the "Southwark class", it has a larger tonnage, stronger firepower, and stronger operability. It is the first batch of British naval warships to use breech-loading main guns, and its overall performance has been greatly enhanced.

However, Britain was not satisfied. After learning that the Ming Dynasty was building the "Youzhou-class" battleships with larger tonnage and stronger firepower, it began to design and build the "Giant-class" battleships with a displacement of up to 12,000 tons.

"It will allow the Royal Navy to dominate the seas once again!"

They once made such confident promises, but now facing an airship that could blow a battleship directly into the sky, they were all dumbfounded!

This...what should I do?

Will the navy’s warships be eliminated in the future?

"In the past few years, although we have established our own airship force by introducing the airship technology of the Ming Empire, our airship technology is far behind that of the Ming Empire. Once upon a time, we thought that airships would not cause much damage to warships, but in Montevideo, the Ming Empire used their airships to tell the world that warships are outdated, and from now on it is the era of spaceships!"

The Royal Navy, which has been roaming the world, is about to be eliminated!

In London, the battleship faction and the dirigible faction were arguing and discussing in newspapers, each trying to expand their influence through public opinion and thus win the debate.

But for politicians, what they care about is not just who is better or worse, they are more concerned about how airships will change the world situation.

"Your Excellency, the air and sea battle in Montevideo has already told the world with ironclad facts that the Ming Empire has mastered an extremely accurate bomb that can not only accurately hit warships, but is also extremely powerful, even as powerful as a 12-inch artillery shell. This air and sea battle was the first time since the Battle of Lissa in 1866 that an ironclad ship was sunk in battle, and it had no power to fight back."

When Admiral Alexander Milne mentioned the "Montevideo Naval and Air Battle", his tone was full of... despair!

Yes, as the Minister of the Navy, he was certainly desperate! Since he took office as the Minister of the Navy, he has been constantly strengthening the navy, from building the "Ajax-class" ironclad ships to building the "Giant-class" battleships, and then to building cruisers to protect the interests of the vast colonies.

In his view, these efforts were necessary to strengthen the national power of the British Empire. The Royal Navy was the foundation of the British Empire. Before this, although the challenge of the "Imperial Alliance Fleet" made the whole of London angry, it was not a bad thing for the Royal Navy - Parliament soon passed a new naval budget - allocating funds for the construction of 6 "Giant-class" ships.

The Royal Navy will take back the oceans!

But before Milne and others could laugh like pigs, the airship in Montevideo used bombs to tell them all - the era of battleships is over!

At least the era of bullying others with big ships and big guns is over. Any country can use airships to teach warships a lesson.

"So, even we have no way to fight against the airship?"

As the Prime Minister, Benjamin was a little depressed. He couldn't help but lament in his heart - why did the "pervert" Ming Dynasty appear in the world? Not only did they use new warships to attack Britain, they also threatened Britain with the "Quadruple Alliance", but now they are using this airship to bully Britain.

This is simply unprecedented.

"It's not that there is no way to fight back!"

Shaking his head, Milne said.

"I have asked weapons manufacturers to research weapons for anti-airships. In fact, we have also conducted research in this area in the past, but it was not very urgent. After all, airships could not threaten warships at that time. But now the destroyed Brazilian fleet in Montevideo tells us that air defense is not only the biggest threat to the fleet, but airships will also become the most important force..."

Looking at the Prime Minister, Milne said.

"We believe that flying ships, like warships, are the future of the British Empire. Flying ships can cooperate with surface ships in combat. In naval battles, naval fleets can cooperate with airships."

Why did Milne say this?

The reason is simple, it is for the existence of the Royal Navy!

If flying ships replaced warships, would there still be a need for the Royal Navy?

It is true that the Montevideo naval and air battles were valuable experiences!

But the Royal Navy must survive. Since they are both ships... let's tie them together!

(End of this chapter)