Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 122 Seagull-class Patrol Ship

  Looking at Li Fu Shoulin gazing at a huge iron armored ship parked at the anchorage in the bay, his face was full of fascination, Earl Horvatz's proud beard curled up and introduced;

"Your Excellency Lord Queensland, what you see now is the most powerful iron-clad battleship "Konnis Wilhelm" in the German Empire. This big guy has a displacement of 10,933 tons. The main weaponry is 18 238mm main guns and 5 210mm secondary main guns. gun.

  It was launched in April 1868. The huge hull is 1233 feet long, with a single propeller, driven by a traditional horizontal single expansion engine, and a speed of 11.6 knots per hour. It is definitely a terror behemoth in a duel at sea.

  Now, the Horvatz Shipyard also has the capability to build 12,000-ton iron-clad battleships. The only thing it needs is the budget allocated by His Majesty the Emperor, which makes us wait to see. "

  Speaking of which

Earl Howards sighed regretfully and turned his eager gaze to Li Fushou again. The man standing in front of him is a well-known super rich, a large rancher from Australia, and the largest exporter of pure wool in Europe. One of the quotient.

  From Manchester, England to Lyon, France, from Munich, Germany to Milan, Italy, hundreds of European printing and dyeing factories and garment factories use high-quality Australian pure wool yarn, which almost destroyed the local woolen mill industry.

  The problem is that this new British aristocracy has a deep background. No European country dares to stop the influx of British goods, or even adopt discriminatory tariff policies to protect domestic industries, because that would inevitably anger the British.

  As for mainland Britain

  As the only country in the world that has entered an industrialized country, heavy industry accounts for 2/3 of the economy, and light industry, service industries and agriculture together account for less than 1/3.

The textile industry is the pillar industry of the British light industry, but the main varieties are cotton woven from cotton imported from India and Egypt. The wool textile industry is only a trivial branch of it, accounting for no more than 6% of the entire textile industry. It is of high quality in Australia. The low-cost wool has already fallen apart under the impact, and cannot threaten this aristocratic business owner with a deep background.

Li Fushou did not know the past and present life of the iron-clad battleship "Konness William", but he heard another meaning from the words of Earl Horvatz, and asked a little surprised; "Your Excellency Horvatz, what do you mean? It is said that the four main iron-clad warships of the German Royal Navy were not built by Germany itself. My understanding is correct, right?"

   "Uh... that's right."

  Hearing Li Fushou asked about this, Earl Horvatz couldn't help but blush. Because of the German rigorous character and always true attitude, he only hesitated to admit it.

  "The powerful Koenig William was originally built by the British for the Turkish navy, but before it was built..."

  Earl Horvatz shrugged his shoulders regretfully, meaning that with the changes in the Europa League, the European dung stick changed its mind and sold it to Germany.

"Your Excellency, Lord Queensland, may be cursed by the devil. In 1878, the ship collided with the "Grosser Culfest" and unfortunately sank. After being salvaged, it was towed to the Horvatz Shipyard. After a comprehensive repair, the boiler was modified, and a stronger collision angle and a particularly small main gun were installed. According to the opinions of the German Royal Navy, the ship was reclassified as a heavy cruiser.

  If you want, you can submit a written opinion to the Royal German Navy. They will be very willing to resell this powerful warship to you to protect the industry in Australia.

  It is a sad story to hear that your ocean freighter was intercepted by Spanish pirates, the crew was killed, and the cargo was looted.

  As long as you have this powerful artillery warship, you can extinguish the Spanish pirates who are scourge in Southeast Asia, kill them like bugs, and maintain the trade environment of the entire region.

  Maybe, it will also allow you to gain the favor of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, a higher title of nobility and great glory. This is a very cost-effective business..."

  Earl Horvatz has been selling warships to Li Fushou. Europe is a region with a tradition of mercenaries. It is not uncommon to have a strong private army. It is not uncommon to participate in foreign wars, as long as you have enough money to play this kind of war game.

  In the previous wars in Europe

  From Hospital Knights, Swiss Spearmen, German light infantry to pirates in Britain and France and other countries, Polish wing cavalry, all have been employed in large-scale wars, so there is no need to make a fuss.

During the Queen Elizabeth era, the most famous pirate Francis Drake was hired by the British government and led the fleet to participate in the naval battle with the Spanish Invincible Fleet. Because of his outstanding merits, he was awarded the title of lord. Europe has a long history in this regard. historical.

  Li Fushou still knew that until more than a hundred years later

  Because of the debt settlement problem, the Coca-Cola Company almost owns the entire Mediterranean fleet of the former Soviet Union, and no one in Europe feels wrong.

  Buy warships? ? ?

  It’s better to buy a powerful armored battleship. It’s not such a way to die if you want to die.

Li Fushou smiled and shook his head, categorically rejecting the kindness of Earl Horvatz; "I'm afraid I can't do this, Lord Holz, you must know that I am only an aristocratic rancher, and I have no right to take anything outside of the fief. Military operations, this is crazy."

"But... your ocean freighter suffered a shameful attack. After extensive reports in the press, almost the entire Europe now knows about it. You have the right to take up arms to defend your property. This is sacred and inviolable." The earl is plausible.

   Take up arms to defend your property?

   Pick up a 10,000-ton iron-clad battleship?

   Do you think I am not conspicuous enough, that I am not ostentatious enough, or that I die fast enough?

  Okay, I'm afraid of you.

  Li Fushou touched his nose helplessly, and looked at the huge iron-clad battleship quietly parked on the anchorage in the distance, surrounded by a azure blue water, which looked exceptionally tall and mighty, and said with a dry smile;

  "Hehe...This is a very interesting formulation. I really appreciate your outspokenness and courage, but the purchase of the armored battleship is not under consideration, so I can only regret your kindness.

The despicable attack that took place near the waters of Luzon Island caused the deaths of up to 37 crew members, 16 people were missing, and huge amounts of property and goods were washed away. This is a man-made disaster and it is also a serious one that cannot be forgiven. offense.

The Red River Valley has formally submitted a petition from Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales to Downing Street, requesting the British Far East Navy to dispatch quickly to crack down on the arrogance of Spanish pirates and maintain the safety and security of air routes throughout the region. Trade order, safeguarding Australia's right to conduct trade.

  According to the latest news we got;

  The Far East Fleet will dispatch a small fast iron-clad fleet to deal a heavy blow to the Spanish pirates entrenched in the Luzon region. Any crime that offends the majesty of the British Empire will be punished, and the Spaniards are no exception.

  So, let’s just wait for the good news. There is no need to buy a warship to travel to the Far East for thousands of miles, which is not cost-effective in terms of cost-effectiveness. "

"It's so regrettable." Earl Howards failed his wishful thinking, and he could not help but slapped his lips regretfully; "I have to say, honorable Lord Queensland, you have lost the opportunity to have such a lovely baby. , But don’t you really consider buying a smaller one? It doesn’t need to be that big, 5,000 tons or 3,000 tons are fine..."

Li Fushou was entangled by him. He thought about it and said; "Lord Horvatz, this is unrealistic. What we need is a fast patrol ship between 500 and 800 tons, with a speed of 23 knots or more. , Does not require much firepower deployment, and is used for patrolling and guarding coastal areas to protect interests from being infringed by pirates."

   "We have a 2300-ton fast destroyer, what do you think?"

   "It's too big. We only need to deal with unarmed pirates, bandits and other lawbreakers, and ask the patrol ship to arrive quickly." Li Fushou shook his head and refused the other party's kindness again.

  Please, in the entire Southeast Asia region, apart from fighting against Britain and France and other countries’ Far East task forces, where else do we need such a large warship?

  "Well, then, we can discuss about a thousand-ton patrol boat." Earl Horvatz was somewhat distracted.

  It is impossible for a patrol boat of this size to conduct ocean-going voyages. It can only be built in Australia by the export of experienced technicians from the Horvatz Shipyard.

This is because in today’s situation where ship power is quite backward, the power of ships is mainly provided by burning coal and burning heavy oil. No matter how small the appetite of the ship’s boiler is, it will burn more than ten tons of coal a day. Because of the limitation of coal storage space, thousands of tons. Warships below the first class only have offshore navigation capabilities.

The Horvatz Naval Shipyard visited by Li Fushou is extremely large, with nearly 10,000 workers in its affiliated industries. It can not only take orders from the German Royal Navy, but also produce cargo ships, cruise ships and other engineering ships for customers from all over Europe and the world. , The technical force is extremely strong.

  In the entire European continent (except the British Isles), large shipyards that can independently build 10,000-ton-class iron-clad battleships are not more than 5 at full capacity, including emerging heavy industrial powers such as France and Italy with a long naval history.

  The traditional maritime powers of the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal have already fallen behind the times. They have been surpassed by the land powers and reduced to second-tier or even third-rate countries in Europe.

  Walking in the shipyard, one after another on the huge berth, there are many large ships under construction, and countless workers are attached to them, and they are diligently building the giant steel behemoth.

  The huge sound produced by every steel riveting is like a small-caliber mountain cannon blasting. The crisp and loud blasting sound is continuous, dense enough to set off firecrackers, and there are busy and lively work scenes everywhere.

  The peculiar rigor and high efficiency of German workers are more suitable for large-scale production in heavy industry. It has been verified in the Horvatz Naval Shipyard and has developed into an advanced European shipbuilding enterprise. Hongshan Shipyard can learn from many places.

  (End of this chapter)