Chapter 57

In order to secure an order from the Russians, German designers, using the new battleships under construction in their own country as a model (German warships are only named after they are launched), had designed more than twenty different battleship plans over the past few months. Tirpitz, who had been promoted to Rear Admiral, had these draft plans delivered by a special envoy to St. Petersburg, hoping to hand them over to the Russian Navy through the German ambassador to Russia, Rastel. However, as soon as the items were delivered, the unfortunate Rastel suddenly suffered serious injuries at his home.

At this point, Rastel coughed, avoiding Qing Ying's intense gaze, and continued, "After learning of this situation, His Majesty's opinion was that since this idea was proposed by Your Highness, you should take full responsibility for the matter. Since you are currently at the Winter Palace, you will be the one to sell the warships to the Russians."

Qing Ying's eyes widened in disbelief. "What, me? This is your plan? Mr. Rastel, even if you are unable to move, surely you have other people under you; could it be that all the German diplomats in St. Petersburg are dead except for you?"

Hearing the slight anger in Qing Ying's voice, Rastel hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, please calm down. Apart from me, there are indeed two senior diplomats here who can be dispatched at any time; however, the idea of having you sell the warships to the Russians is His Majesty's wish!" Qing Ying was taken aback. "Father asked me to do this? Even so, this is still unbelievable!"

Rastel smiled slightly. "In fact, with the recent intervention of the three countries in the return of Liaodong, Russia already owes us a favor. Selling warships to the Russians is also in the interest of both countries. Due to Your Highness's special status, if you were to handle this matter, it would better represent the German Empire and could even achieve better results than if I were to go. As for the diplomatic negotiations, Your Highness need not worry; I will explain everything you need to know shortly." He revealed a look of admiration and said, "The Emperor has high hopes for Your Highness, and his intentions do not need further explanation, do they?"

Qing Ying took a deep breath. After a while, a complex expression appeared in his eyes, and he slowly nodded. "Please proceed, Mr. Rastel. What level of success should this sale achieve, and what exactly should I do?" Rastel hummed and fiddled with something on the bedside table, then handed a bound document to Qing Ying.

"Your Highness, this is the document I received from the Navy in Berlin yesterday. It contains nearly 30 design plans, all prepared for this naval sale. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of naval matters and couldn't understand much after a day of reading. His Majesty said you have some understanding of this area, which is one of the reasons he entrusted this task to you." Seeing Qing Ying open the first page of the document, Rastel paused and continued, "Each design in here can be chosen by the Russians. His Majesty's intention is that, as the Russians are preparing to expand their navy, we should try to secure the entire order for the Russian Far Eastern Fleet for the German Empire!"

Even though Qing Ying was already familiar with Wilhelm's temperament, he was still shocked by his adoptive father's ambition. Originally, Qing Ying had intended to sell the Russians a few good ships to let them and the Japanese fight to the death, and he had expressed this in his telegram. However, he never expected Wilhelm's ambition to be so great, wanting to secure all the orders for the Russian Pacific Fleet. Historically, at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Pacific Fleet had half the number of capital ships as Japan, plus various auxiliary vessels, costing nearly 10 million pounds just in shipbuilding expenses! Qing Ying smiled bitterly and did not comment on this, as his attention was fully captured by the document in front of him.

The document was about 40 pages long, covering 8 battleship designs, 11 armored cruiser designs, and 6 protected cruiser designs. Although all the content was handwritten, with some blue-black ink stains in the margins, the main text was neat, and the diagrams were clear and precise, making it an excellent document. To prevent the loss of key design secrets, the document only included the three-view diagrams of the completed warships, some general weight distribution and performance data, but did not detail the most critical structural elements. With Qing Ying's current naval expertise, he could just understand the information presented. Realizing this, he was overjoyed and began to greedily analyze each design. While reviewing the warships, Qing Ying also wanted to see what the German Naval Design Bureau, influenced by him, had come up with.

As the sun set and the lights came on, the room was bathed in a warm, golden glow. Unconsciously, Qing Ying had been sitting by Rastel's bedside for three hours.

After a long time, Qing Ying closed the document, took a deep breath, and his eyes revealed unhidden joy. Since the lead duck incident, the enraged Wilhelm II had expelled several conservative old men from the design bureau. Under the pressure, the Navy's subsequent designs had made rapid progress, far surpassing the historical period. The Germans began to boldly equip their warships with more powerful guns, basically solving the problem of excessive structural strength in another dimension. The optimization of underwater hull shapes also allowed the Germans to fully leverage their proud ship boiler technology. According to the data in this document, even if they couldn't surpass the best designs of the time, such as those of Italy, they were certainly on par. (You didn't misread; the best warship designs of the late 19th century were indeed from Italy. Although their military's combat effectiveness was widely criticized, their design philosophy was unmatched: the concept of all-big-gun battleships was first proposed by the Italian designer Vittorio in 1903. Additionally, in the pre-dreadnought era, Italy's Garibaldi class established its supreme status in warship design, becoming a legend in armored cruisers.)

Now that they had good ships, what kind of ships would be suitable for the Russians, capable of playing their due role in the Russian Pacific Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War? Would it be heavily armored battleships, well-balanced armored cruisers, or cheap and mass-produced protected cruisers? Qing Ying no longer needed to ponder this question; the world he came from already had the clearest answer.

Protected cruisers, lacking waterline armor, were prone to flooding and were already outdated in the late 19th century with the rapid development of quick-firing guns. They could only serve in second- or third-rate navies. By the early 20th century, they were almost useless, only able to bully ships of even lower classes. If they were brought to the main battlefield, they wouldn't last a single round against armored cruisers and battleships. The Russian Navy had already suffered a significant defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, and Qing Ying needed to strengthen the Russian fleet to ensure they could fight the Japanese Navy to the death.

Since the poorly protected cruisers were useless, what about the heavily armored battleships? This idea was quickly dismissed by Qing Ying. Since the German Navy was currently active only in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, with very close combat distances, the rate of fire of the battleship's main guns was crucial. To achieve a firing rate of two rounds per minute, the Germans equipped their battleships with 283mm guns, with a shell weight of only 240 kg. In contrast, the 305mm guns of the era's major powers could fire shells weighing over 360 kg, making the German 283mm guns inferior in both caliber and power (although the German 283mm guns had a higher initial velocity of 820 m/s). All the battleship designs in this document were equipped with 283mm guns. Given the Russians' preference for robust designs, Qing Ying didn't expect them to be interested in the Germans' more refined style of battleships.

Although the Krupp armament industry could develop 305mm L40 standard main guns with more effort, the current metallurgical and mechanical industry levels made it difficult to achieve rapid reloading of nearly 400 kg shells. The reason the German 11-inch guns maintained a shell weight of 240 kg, rather than the normal 300 kg, was not only to achieve a high initial velocity and a flat, accurate trajectory but also to reduce the pressure on the ammunition handling system, allowing it to meet the requirement of two rounds per minute. If the battleship's main gun couldn't fire once per minute, the pursuit of single-shot power would be meaningless. In the late 19th century, when naval fire control was underdeveloped, the primary role of low-rate, large-caliber guns was to intimidate the enemy, not to achieve practical results upon impact.

The true ships that could help the Russians reverse their naval decline in the Far East were not the heavily armored battleships but the well-balanced armored cruisers. Battleships, with their slow speed, greatly limited their tactical flexibility, only capable of fleet engagements. Armored cruisers, on the other hand, were different. With a speed exceeding 20 knots, they could effectively avoid the 17-18 knot battleships, roam the seas, and destroy any enemy except battleships. Japan, heavily dependent on maritime shipping, had daily tonnage in the tens of thousands. Just a few large armored cruisers patrolling off their coast would severely impact Japan's war potential, directly affecting the land battle. Armored cruisers patrolling the essential shipping routes for Japanese merchant ships would retreat when battleships approached and return when they left, sinking any other ships they encountered. In the early 20th century, without aerial reconnaissance, this sneaky commerce raiding tactic by armored cruisers was almost uncounterable, with the only limiting factor being their own range!

PS: Please give me some favorites and recommendations...

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