Chapter 48

As a gentle breeze blew, bringing a cool and refreshing chill, William felt his spirits lift, and a hint of surprise crept onto his face. Although these designers had been conservative and shortsighted last year, knowing only how to solve problems with tonnage, it was undeniable that their expertise in many professional skills was impeccable. Once they had a breakthrough, the capabilities they unleashed even surprised William, the emperor with a high opinion of himself. If the new battleship could indeed achieve a speed of 17.5 knots, it would be far superior to the 16-knot Brandenburg in both tactical maneuvering and pursuit or withdrawal!

Actually, in ship design, the details such as compartment layout and size strength are merely cumbersome and not particularly difficult. As long as there are established standards to rely on, if the designers dare to pile things onto the ship, the performance of the warship will be exceptionally strong. The historical Bayern class was the pinnacle of German designers' breakthrough, achieving a perfect balance in tonnage, firepower, protection, speed, and cost. Unfortunately, they realized it too late.

After a while, William suddenly thought of a crucial question and asked Tirpitz, "What is the navy's estimated construction cost for this ship? I assume it won't be low!"

"Um, about 21 million marks," Tirpitz replied somewhat nervously.

William's brows furrowed slightly, seemingly surprised that the ship would be so much more expensive than the Brandenburg class! The four Brandenburg-class battleships cost a total of 62.886 million marks, averaging just over 15.7 million marks per ship. The new ship's cost, however, had increased by a third on this basis!

William pondered for a moment, his fingers lightly tapping the stone table beside him, and asked, "What's the reason for this?"

Tirpitz quickly explained, "The sharp increase in cost is closely related to the extensive use of new equipment in the new ship: the most direct factor is the adoption of turret structures, which significantly increased the battleship's displacement. The old-style gun emplacements had only a simple upper structure, while the new turret design added a large amount of equipment for ammunition handling, occupying a lot of the original load-bearing steel armor. To maintain the ship's structural strength, compensations had to be made elsewhere. Moreover, the armor protection of the turrets was greatly enhanced. The main gun emplacements on the Brandenburg class had only a hemispherical 120mm gun shield, while the new battleship's turrets have 250mm thick frontal armor. According to the designers' calculations, the design displacement of this battleship has increased to 13,200 tons, with a full load displacement exceeding 14,600 tons. Therefore, 21 million marks is already a very reasonable price."

"Please consider, Your Majesty, whether the old gun emplacement structure is more cost-effective, or whether the turret structure, which increases the cost by a third but boosts the main gun's firing capacity by 400%, is more cost-effective?"

William's concerns dissipated, and he let out a long breath, his gaze softening as he looked at Tirpitz. He patted Tirpitz's shoulder and said, "Alfred, your navy has done well."

"Your Majesty is too kind. The design of this new ship is entirely due to the strong support of the industrial sector, which has overcome several technical hurdles; the navy merely integrated the achievements of the industrial sector into ship design. The hardships endured by the experts and scholars who have been working in laboratories for the sake of Germany far outweigh ours." Faced with the emperor's sincerity, Tirpitz also showed genuine emotion. "Personal reputation and interests are just fleeting; my ideal is to make the thriving Germany replace the declining British Empire and become the unparalleled maritime hegemon of this planet!"

"Good, good, good!" William said three times, his eyes clearly showing his delight. "Our German navy is just beginning to flourish, and we need the vigorous spirit of young officers like you! Those mediocre people are afraid of the British navy just by its name, thinking it is invincible; but do they not know that our German steel production has already surpassed Britain's? Can the battleships built by the German Empire's industry be inferior to Britain's?"

By saying this, William meant that the design of the battleship had been approved. Although he had expected this result, Tirpitz still felt a sense of relief. After a pause, he pulled out another sheet of drawings and handed it to the emperor. William looked at him with confusion and noticed that this drawing depicted a new type of ship clearly different from the previous battleship.

"Wait a moment..." William muttered to himself, taking the first drawing and examining it carefully. Comparing the two, the ship depicted in the second drawing was slimmer, and the main turret in the midsection was replaced by a funnel. Considering the recent emergence of a new type of ship in the world's navies, the identity of the ship in the drawing became clear.

"An armored cruiser?" William asked Tirpitz, somewhat uncertain.

Tirpitz looked at William approvingly and flattered him sincerely, "Just by looking at a drawing, you can identify the type of ship; Your Majesty's expertise in the navy is truly growing. Yes, it is the armored cruiser that navies around the world are now pursuing!"

William felt a sense of pride, but he humbly replied, "Not at all, I was just guessing. I apologize for my guesswork." Due to the foundation laid by the new battleship, the emperor's interest in the second drawing was not as intense as the first. He glanced at it briefly and said, "Alfred, give me a brief introduction."

Tirpitz nodded and began to explain. A brief investigation into the causes of the Battle of the Yalu River would lead to the conclusion that neither China nor Japan had originally intended to engage in a decisive naval battle there. The reason the main battle occurred was that when both sides discovered each other's fleets, they were already in very close proximity, making the battle inevitable. If there had been an independent reconnaissance unit that could navigate and discover the enemy fleet early, the main fleet could have chosen to engage or retreat, thus maintaining control over the battle.

If the task were merely reconnaissance, a protected cruiser like the Yoshino could easily handle it. However, the mission of the reconnaissance fleet was not just to assess the enemy's strength.

In most cases, the reconnaissance fleet also had to defeat or drive away the enemy's reconnaissance ships to prevent the enemy's frontline ships from approaching the main fleet and blocking intelligence. Once the frontline fleets of both sides entered the range of artillery fire, protected cruisers like the Yoshino, which lacked waterline armor, would easily take on water and slow down when hit. With good luck, they might escape the battlefield under the cover of their allies; with bad luck, they could capsize and sink. In such a situation, equipping cruisers with waterline armor became very necessary. Thus, armored cruisers with waterline armor emerged, quickly becoming the favored choice of navies around the world.

Tirpitz only briefly mentioned these points, knowing that William was already aware. In response to the emperor's inquiry, he quickly moved to the main topic: "According to the design, this armored cruiser will be the nemesis of all protected cruisers. Its design displacement is 10,000 tons, with a design power of 16,500 horsepower. If everything goes as planned, its speed will reach 20 knots. In terms of firepower, it is equipped with 4 240mm main guns, 10 150mm secondary guns, 10 88mm quick-firing guns, and 3 torpedo tubes, more than enough to easily overpower any protected cruiser. Additionally, it has 150mm thick hardened armor along the waterline and 25mm thick torpedo bulkheads, the former capable of easily withstanding its own gun fire, and the latter able to significantly absorb the shock of torpedo attacks."

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