Chapter 1197: Rise Up, the Royal Navy (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
On the other side of the ocean, in the UK, 10 Downing Street.
Britain has a new Prime Minister!
The new Prime Minister, Robert Gascoigne-Cecil, was a typical imperialist.
Although the prime minister had always been hostile to the Ming Empire's "usurpation" of African colonies from the British Empire, that was all.
After all, this world is ultimately ruled by strength. When the Ming Dynasty was in full swing to seize African colonies, Britain was not prepared at all in this regard.
So in the end they could only watch helplessly as the Ming Empire seized African colonies. What could they do even if they protested?
This world has always been realistic. No one pays attention to the so-called protests. Even the so-called international law is not as good as a few bombs.
Now that Cecil has become Prime Minister, he naturally focuses on plundering colonies in diplomacy. Unsurprisingly, this has led to a new problem.
"Is this the best battleship and armored cruiser in the world?"
Robert Gascoigne Cecil frowned as he read the report which had come with the First Lord of the Admiralty.
“Yes, they are the best!”
“Best so far”
Lord Northbrook, the Lord High Admiral, said:
"…In addition to two twin 12-inch turrets, this ship also uses four 9.2-inch twin turrets. The armor it uses is the best nickel-steel armor in the world. In addition, it uses a new mixed-fired boiler. Although it uses a lot of new technologies, this battleship is undoubtedly extremely mature in terms of technology… There are four secondary main gun turrets on the left and right sides of the battleship. Compared with ordinary battleships, the ship has up to eight 45-caliber 9.2-inch main guns, which is very powerful!"
As Count Northbrook spoke, he showed an expression full of desire. What he wanted was not just to build two ships for fun, but to build dozens of them.
"Count, given the current situation of the Royal Navy, how many similar warships do we need to regain control of the sea?"
Cecil asked, frowning.
Retake control of the sea!
This was the decision Cecil made after becoming prime minister. As he intended to further expand his overseas colonies, he needed a strong navy to safeguard his colonial policy.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, in the past ten years, the Royal Navy's maritime power seems to be strong, but in fact, many of our technological fields have been surpassed by the Ming Empire and even the United States!"
Lord Northbrook said with a serious face.
"We need a naval force that is not only leading in tonnage, but also in technology. The Royal Navy must take back the ocean!"
"Yes, the Royal Navy must take back the ocean!"
Nodding slightly, Cecil asked back.
"Then can we regain the highest level in technology? If I remember correctly, our companies seem to have introduced a lot of technology from Ming Dynasty. Don't we have those technologies ourselves?"
"We can indeed research some technologies ourselves. Of course we can do it, but not now, not in three months, not even in a year, but at least in two years! So in order to ensure that the Royal Navy does not lag behind the Imperial Navy in technology, introducing technology has become the only option."
"Who could believe that the British Empire's shipbuilding technology would lag behind that of the Ming Empire?"
Cecil sighed, frowning.
"Yes,"
Lord Northbrook says,
"In the past ten years, when we were hesitant in the face of new technologies, the Ming Empire decisively adopted a large number of new technologies, even new technologies that had not yet begun to be tested. They also decisively adopted them! And what about us? We only improved on the basis of old technologies. This seems to be very safe, but in fact, Prime Minister, in the past ten years, through the continuous adoption of new technologies, the shipbuilding technology and related technologies of the Ming Empire have left us far behind. Even the United States has made great progress in technology through the maritime arms race with the Ming Empire, but we are conservative and have not even made much progress. It is normal for us to be surpassed by the Ming Empire now."
"This is simply unimaginable," Cecil said with a frown.
"More than a decade ago, they still needed to buy warships from the British Empire, but now they have surpassed us in all aspects!"
"Your Excellency," William White answered the British Prime Minister's question.
"The Ming Dynasty's naval vessels and their scientific research and development have always followed a routine that was said to have been implemented as early as twenty years ago. That is, one generation is put into service, one generation is developed, one generation is pre-researched, and one generation is explored... This progress from generation to generation ensures their leading position in technology."
Almost everyone is an expert on Ming Dynasty issues!
In 1885, if you did not study the technicians of the Ming Dynasty, you would not be considered a competent technician. Before taking up the post of Director of Naval Shipbuilding, William White even made a special visit to the Ming Dynasty and had some research on the Ming Empire.
William White continued:
"As early as when they built the Youzhou class, they adopted many advanced technologies. Now, they not only apply some of the mature technologies of the Youzhou class to their new generation of battleships, but they also begin to develop new technologies. In the past ten years, they have continuously built new battleships and continuously experimented with new technologies on the battleships to ensure their technological leadership. This is an advantage we do not have. After all, compared to adopting new technologies, the Royal Navy always needs to go through a lot of debate when facing new technologies."
After saying this, William White looked at Earl Northbrook again. The Earl just sighed and nodded. The Royal Navy was conservative, so conservative that it was extremely slow to respond to new technologies. Every time a new technology was adopted, it would go through a lot of debate, which could last for several years or even more than ten years. In short, a technology would not be adopted until it was extremely mature.
"In the future, our warships will also adopt the most advanced new technologies!"
Cecil said bluntly.
"And we need to build a more powerful naval force, Count. Tell me what you think."
Lord Northbrook said directly:
"Prime Minister, I believe the Royal Navy needs to be expanded to a two-power standard."
"Two strong standards?"
"The size of the Royal Navy is equivalent to the combined naval power of the Ming Empire and France!"
Cecil was surprised by the answer from Earl Northbrook:
"It is equivalent to the combined naval power of the Ming Empire and France. My God, is this possible?"
The reason why Cecil was so surprised was that in history, the standard of the "two powerful navies" that he supported was just the sum of France and Russia, but now both France and Ming Dynasty are far more powerful than in history.
"Mr. Prime Minister, if we want to regain control of the ocean!"
Lord Northbrook said:
"Then this is what we must pursue, we must build a Royal Navy that is far larger than the two powers."
(End of this chapter)
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