Chapter 1249: Da Ying Don’t Cry (Third update, please subscribe)
"Read the newspaper, read the newspaper! The era of the dreadnought has arrived!"
"Eight 14-inch guns, the most powerful battleship ever built..."
"Read the newspapers, read the newspapers. The pride of the British Empire, the Centurion, has become a joke in a day!"
"Read the newspaper, a 27,000-ton ship challenges the Royal Navy!"
"Reading the newspaper..."
In London, just two months ago, those naval observers in London were still vowing that "the Royal Navy has the determination and will to go to the sea again", and they were also showing off the power of the "Centurion".
But what about now?
An unprecedented and huge ship from the New World stunned them all.
27,000 tons!
Four twin 14-inch cannons!
Not only that, even the cruising speed reached an astonishing 26 knots!
What kind of battleship is this?
Even a cruiser can't run faster than him.
Of course, what's even more surprising?
It's his strength!
He is so powerful that no one can ignore his existence, and so powerful that no one can look at him rationally.
Everywhere on the streets of London you could hear newspaper vendors shouting out words that terrified everyone.
"The Dreadnought rules the seas!"
No one doubts the conclusion reached in the newspaper anymore. After all, it is so powerful that even the most ignorant person can draw a conclusion from those simple numbers.
After the extreme shock, almost everyone felt a little more fearful for no reason.
"Eight 14-inch guns and the firepower of a dreadnought are more powerful than even two Centurion-class ships!"
"The weight of the shells is nearly 1,500 pounds! One shell is almost equivalent to two 12-inch 800-pound shells! It is not only the largest warship in the ocean, but also the most powerful warship!"
"All the naval warships in the world were eliminated overnight..."
Yes, all were eliminated overnight!
With the newspaper reports, even the most ignorant people knew that the Royal Navy, which had claimed to rule the oceans two months ago, had become a joke overnight.
In the past few years, the Royal Navy has spent tens of millions of pounds to build a batch of seemingly powerful warships, but what about now?
With the appearance of the "Dreadnought", they were eliminated!
Eliminated without any doubt!
"Don't worry, the Imperial Navy only has one 'Dreadnought'!"
While people were comforting themselves, William White, the most outstanding ship designer in the British Empire, was in a state of collapse.
"How could this happen? How could this happen?"
William White muttered to himself again and again.
“How did they come up with that?”
"All-heavy gun battleship? The secondary main guns were cancelled? Why... why is this? They don't want the firing rate?"
Why did the Royal Navy choose the 9.2-inch 2nd-level main gun?
This is because the 9.2-inch naval gun has a faster rate of fire than the ten-inch gun. Although its power is slightly inferior, its rate of fire is significantly higher than the ten-inch gun.
"Well, the logic is very simple. The idea of the Ming Empire Navy is very simple."
Philip Watts, with red eyes, said on the side.
"They just want big guns and big ships, and then they can smash our warships to pieces from a distance outside the range."
While speaking, he held a simple sketch in his hand. This was a sketch drawn based on the description in the telegram from the embassy's naval intelligence attaché. Although the sketch was very simple, its structure could be clearly seen.
"Look, the four twin main turrets are all arranged along the longitudinal centerline of the ship, with two on each side in a back-to-back arrangement. This arrangement allows eight guns to fire broadside at the same time, or four guns to fire forward and backward, which can unleash the broadside firepower and ensure that the main guns have a good firing range forward and backward. The person who can come up with this turret distribution method is definitely a genius, a real genius."
If Wang Zhensheng heard the praise from Philip Watts, his British colleague, he would definitely say proudly, "Yes, that's me."
Yes, for this era, the superfiring turret is definitely a genius work that adds the finishing touch. In fact, the mid-19th century to the early 20th century was always an era of change, and the same was true for naval technology, during which various unique skills flourished.
However, in the past decade or so, the Ming Empire has been leading the way in naval technology. Compared with the flourishing of various unique skills in Europe and the United States, the Imperial Navy does not seem to have so many unique skills.
But often any single finishing touch is enough to shock the navy of the world.
From Nanhua to Youzhou, from Youzhou to Huizhou.
Just when the British were feeling complacent about building a warship more powerful than the Huizhou, the sudden appearance of the Dreadnought was like a loud slap in their faces.
"It's not important right now..."
William White turned his head to look at Philip Watts and said in an extremely annoyed tone.
"The important thing is that in our shipyard, there are six "Centurion-class" ships under construction. God! Can you imagine how those warships will be smashed to pieces by the Imperial Navy's dreadnoughts in future naval battles?"
Six "Centurion-class" ships!
This is William White's pride!
Before this, it was the pride of the Royal Navy and the confidence of the Royal Navy to meet challenges, but what about now?
They became a joke.
The problem is not just that it's become a joke, but that they are being built. Every ship is money.
"What should we do? Should we stop the construction? Two of them are already halfway completed. If we stop construction now, the losses will be very heavy..."
Now, for the British Empire and the Royal Navy, these warships are all money, whether they are built or not. If they continue to build them, what they will build will be obsolete warships, but if they don't continue to build them, they have already spent so much money.
It's hard to get off the tiger.
"It's not a question of whether to stop production or not. The question now is whether the Royal Navy will still want them! No navy will want warships that are outdated before they even leave the slipway."
"What should we do then?"
"Let's stop the work first, and then we can think of some ways to see if there is any way to remedy the situation."
Because William White, the Royal Navy's chief shipbuilder, was in an extremely heavy mood when he made this decision. He once believed that his "Centurion Class" could help the Royal Navy regain its maritime superiority.
But what about now?
His "centurion class" became a joke, and not only that, he was eliminated overnight.
"Damn it! Why didn't we have any intelligence before this!"
William White said somewhat indignantly.
"Why haven't our people in the Ming Empire sent back any news?"
The reason why he was so angry was that in the past few years, London had not received any information about the Ming Empire building new warships.
"Dereliction of duty! Those damn guys! What on earth did they do there? Why didn't they give us any intelligence?"
(End of this chapter)
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