The Rise of the Empire

If we say that the Germans in history were still struggling to build battleships or cruisers in the 1890s, and finally set the tone for building battleships because of Tirpitz's strong intervention, then on this plane, Germany People are still tangled, or even more tangled than before! Because now Tirpitz has doubts about his own ideas. Battleships are indeed tall and mighty, but they are not easy to use overseas. Why do you build a bunch of battleships and display them at home?

Finally, when the construction of the Munich-class armored cruiser came to an end, two shipbuilding plans were placed in front of Kaiser Frederick III. One plan was to build 3 or 4 battleships, while the other was to build an equal number of 10,000-ton cruisers.

The battleship in the first plan was the new 6-gun Brandenburg-class battleship that Ruprecht helped modify, which weakened the thickness of the main armor belt and increased the armor area, so the main turret structure was used. Cannon, increase tonnage, secondary battery firepower and speed. In the cruiser plan, it is the German version of the Russian armored cruiser that Russia intends to order. The biggest difference is that the dual 10-inch main guns are replaced with dual 240MM main guns, and the secondary main guns are dual 210MM main guns. gun.

Originally, Frederick III didn't care much about the navy, and Bismarck also curbed the excessive growth of the navy in order to maintain his own strategy, but this incident in the Far East made His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister feel that they were slapped in the face at the same time, and by the British A dog can beat a man! This is really intolerable! Ever since, the expansion of the navy became one of the few things that His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister agreed on. Under the top-down promotion of the German government, this time the navy appropriation was approved. Now that the money is there, the only The question is what to make! How to build the navy, wait online!

The current situation is that the top and bottom of the German Navy are caught in a dispute. The BB party, the ACR party, and the coastal defense battleship party are arguing together. They are excited by so much money at once, but they lose their way. At this time, the Germans suddenly remembered that the "admiral" with the most combat experience in the German navy hadn't come back overseas, so ask him what he thinks when he comes back?

A telegram from Crown Prince William was sent to Ruprecht. Although it was a private inquiry, considering the specific national conditions of the empire and Ruprecht's current overt and secret influence in the German Navy Ruprecht's decision will have a great impact on the future of the Navy.

After receiving this telegram, Tirpitz also happened to take the fleet back from South America. In New York, Ruprecht embarked on a journey home. Then His Royal Highness asked Tirpitz to read the telegram from the Crown Prince. After all, he is the favorite of Crown Prince William, so he always wanted to give it some thought.

"To be honest, I am very confused. I still tend to build large battleships as the pillars of the Imperial Navy, but the performance of the Munich-class armored cruisers makes me have to admit that in ocean battles, the speed and endurance of cruisers are sometimes better than firepower. Defense and defense are more important!" Tirpitz frankly admitted the role of the cruiser, although His Royal Highness in front of him has not served in the navy, nor has he received much naval education, but Tirpitz must admit that His Royal Highness It is really strong in macro strategy.

"Let's build two Brandenburg-class battleships first. Our battleship formation is too small and too old. After solving the short-term demand problem, the renewal of battleships will also be put on the agenda." Rupre Hitt was also polite, and directly expressed his thoughts.

"You mean to build two battleships and two cruisers?" Tirpitz touched his chin and continued: "This idea is very good, whether it is a Brandenburg-class battleship or a new 10,000-ton armored cruiser. Very good, very suitable for the current needs of the empire!"

"Actually, I personally think that the experimental significance of building the Brandenburg-class battleship is greater than the actual combat significance. Whether we need to build battleships or cruisers later,

The number of the Brandenburg class should not be too much, because the power of the 11-inch artillery on it is simply too bad! so terrible! It was unbearable! "Ruprecht's sudden fierce language surprised Tirpitz!

"All countries in the world are about to equip 12-inch naval guns, but we are still using 11-inch guns, and the power of these 11-inch guns is almost at the same level as foreign 10-inch guns. I don't know those who have shares in Krupp What do you think, anyway, I find it hard to accept. If the strong ships and guns of the Imperial Navy are used against the fiercest enemies, they are not some people’s money-making tools.” Ruprecht’s words are a bit heavy, and a certain The First Family was also pulled into the strike range by the way!

However, the reason why Ruprecht dared to say this was that Tirpitz would not pass these words on to Crown Prince William, because these words were first said in private, and Tirpitz did not Krupp shares, His Royal Highness said this just to vent, and has no interest in himself.

And what if you told His Majesty the Crown Prince about this kind of thing? If the crown prince believed it, he would be hated by the prince. And even if the crown prince is dissatisfied, what can he do to the prince? It's just a word of mouth. (Historically, the Kaiser and Ruprecht's father met during the exercise, but the latter didn't say hello, nor did he see how William II was doing.) What if the crown prince doesn't believe it? Wouldn't it be worse for me then? If you lose the reputation of a villain, your future will be over, so the best way to deal with it is to pretend that this has never happened.

However, Ruprecht's words still took root in Tirpitz's heart like a seed. Ruprecht's request was very simple, and some internal unspoken rules could be defaulted. After all, Ruprecht himself was People in the system, but there is a limit to everything. When the two families are similar, they can get away with each other, but if the two families are too far apart, then absolutely not. Ruprecht is actually doing it for his own Bavaria— In preparation for the debut of the Austrian arms complex, Ruprecht even bought Russian 12-inch guns! Don't you just wait to cheat Krupp again?

"You mean, the battleships of the future empire will be equipped with 12-inch guns? If there are still 6 guns, the tonnage requirement may be very high. It is estimated that it will exceed the armored cruiser designed by your design bureau for the Russians." Till Pitts gasped. A warship equipped with six 12-inch guns needs at least 14,000 tons to ensure speed and speed, right?

"So, the two Brandenburg-class battleships are just a test for accumulating experience! This is their greatest significance." Ruprecht said with a smile. "Why the British can build 14,000 to 15,000 tons of warships, and we have to be small? One elite warship may be more useful than two smaller warships! The tonnage of the two Yoshinos is larger than Munich , who is stronger on both sides, I think you understand very well!"

"So after the completion of these two experimental Brandenburg-class battleships, what is our next choice? A battleship with a larger tonnage or a better cruiser?" Tirpitz asked after thinking for a while.

"This matter is hard to say. We need to depend on the situation. What we can do now is to choose an alternative plan, and then let the central government and the Ministry of the Navy choose it. And the cruiser plan we designed for the Russians is not for their own use. Yes, if we can, we will design a better warship!"

"A better plan? Can you make it clearer?" Tirpitz said with bright eyes. Men, especially men in navy uniforms, Tirpitz is naturally very concerned!

"Baron Vittorio hasn't finished the design yet, you'll know when you go back," Ruprecht said with a hint. On the one hand, it was really not done well, and on the other hand, Ruprecht was still thinking about letting the Imperial Navy take over for him when necessary...  

Thank you book friends Forget Everything Rain and Nickky for your reward~~~. The author has some things to do today, there is only one update for the time being, and the double update will resume tomorrow~~~. Sorry--!