Chapter 58

"Before the 305mm turret battleships appear in Germany, let's first try to sell the armored cruisers to the Russians..." After determining the target direction, Sei Ei began to carefully review the 11 armored cruiser designs in the document.

Since the armored cruiser class had just emerged in the navy, there were very few established blueprints to refer to; to prevent a technological gap and mitigate risks, German designers extensively drew on the examples of the new battleships that had just begun construction. The 11 designs in front of Sei Ei, ranging from the 7,000-ton PS-1 to the 13,000-ton PS-11, mostly bore the marks of the former. They generally adopted a long forecastle design, with the third deck barely above the waterline, and a design speed of 19-20 knots, with differences mainly in tonnage, armament, and armor.

After careful comparison, Sei Ei selected the 8th design, which had a moderate tonnage, as the main model to sell to the Russians. With half its coal and supplies loaded, its displacement was 10,700 tons; it had a design power of 17,000 horsepower and a maximum coal capacity of 2,200 tons. If these specifications were met, its speed would reach 20 knots; at a cruising speed of 10 knots, its range would be 7,000 nautical miles. It was equipped with 8 210mm main guns with a 40-caliber barrel, 8 150mm secondary guns with a 40-caliber barrel, 10 88mm tertiary guns with a 40-caliber barrel, and 5 450mm torpedo tubes. The 4 210mm guns were arranged in two twin turrets, one at the front and one at the rear, while the other 4 210mm guns were in four single turrets on the sides of the midship. The reason they were not all arranged along the centerline was to consider the possibility of being surrounded by the enemy and to control the length of the ship. Even so, even 10 years later, this would still be a powerful armament. Additionally, it had a 150mm thick belt armor, which, during the Russo-Japanese War when capped armor-piercing shells were not yet mature, could even deflect 305mm shells from battleships.

The reason Sei Ei chose this moderate-tonnage design over the super cruisers was not out of kindness to save the Russians money, but due to his unique considerations. The purpose of Russia's development of the Pacific Fleet was to compete with the Japanese Navy, so the performance of Russian warships only needed to surpass Japan's. This proposed design for the Russians was already powerful enough compared to the British-built armored cruisers Japan historically equipped!

Historically, Japan, in preparation for war with Russia, aligned politically, economically, and militarily with Britain. While receiving a large amount of British capital, it also reluctantly adopted the ship design philosophy of the Armstrong shipyard, which was unsuitable for the Japanese Navy. Japan, as a new naval power, lacked a deep understanding of the navy and simply knew that the navy was important. After seeing the strength of the British Navy, it adopted a spirit of learning and completely copied all the British Navy's methods without deeply investigating why the British Navy was strong. In the pre-dreadnought era, the British Navy's strength lay in the excellent quality of its personnel and the numerous types of warships; in terms of ship design, Britain was only average. Compared to Italy, which had the best ship design in the world at the time, the performance gap between the two countries' warships was like heaven and earth!

For example, the first class of armored cruisers Britain built for Japan in 1896 had a design displacement of 9,700 tons, a speed of 21.5 knots, and was equipped with 4 203mm main guns and 14 152mm secondary guns; its protection was only a 7-inch armor belt along the waterline. In contrast, the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers Italy built during the same period had a design displacement of only 7,400 tons but were also equipped with 4 203mm main guns and 14 152mm secondary guns, and had a 6-inch thick belt armor! Although its speed was slightly inferior at 20 knots, it had a 13,000 horsepower output, which was certainly a 21-knot performance. If the Italians made some minor adjustments to the underwater hull shape, a displacement of around 7,700 tons would be sufficient to achieve all the performance of the 9,700-ton British ship.

From the Majestic to the Duncan, the British used tonnage to solve the performance issues of their warships for 13 years; it wasn't until 1902 that they finally began to understand. The Agile-class second-class battleships Britain began building in 1902 had a design displacement of 11,800 tons, equipped with 4 254mm main guns and 14 190mm secondary guns. Although their speed and armor were still lacking, they represented a significant improvement in firepower compared to previous ships, marking a difficult first step. Throughout the pre-dreadnought era, British warship design was consistently unsatisfactory, but due to the sheer number of Royal Navy ships and the excellent quality of its personnel, the brilliance of the Royal Navy overshadowed these shortcomings. At the time, almost all countries aspiring to maritime power were emulating the Royal Navy; the Italian Navy, despite having excellent ships, was like a man in fine clothes walking at night, with no one paying attention, a true tragedy.

Historically, under British guidance, Japan's armored cruiser fleet began to take shape, but its performance was only average. The 5 armored cruisers Japan subsequently ordered were similar to the first ship: their displacement ranged from 9,300 to 9,750 tons, their speed from 20 to 21.5 knots, and they were all equipped with 4 203mm main guns and 12-14 152mm secondary guns. The design Sei Ei offered to the Russians was equipped with 8 210mm main guns and had even more extensive belt armor than the Garibaldi. As long as the Russian sailors were not new recruits, they would have no problem sweeping away these British-built ships in a one-on-one battle!

In addition to this, Sei Ei chose this design to avoid triggering a naval butterfly effect.

Historically, countries truly began to mass-produce armored cruisers only after 1898; it was now only halfway through 1895, and the armored cruiser class was just beginning to emerge. The major powers were still exploring its development direction, and no one was the first to try. Even if they were building, they were only making cautious attempts. In such a situation, if a well-balanced template appeared, all countries would vie to emulate it, or at least use it as a reference. If Germany suddenly sold a super armored cruiser with a displacement of over 14,000 tons and 8 240mm main guns to the Russians, the armored cruisers built by Britain, France, and the United States afterward would certainly not be the same as in history. Sei Ei's greatest advantage was his knowledge of future historical developments, which others did not possess. If the future became uncertain, it would not be good for him. Moreover, the enlargement of armored cruisers could even lead to the premature appearance of battlecruisers, and at this time, the Royal Navy was in its heyday of mass production. If Britain built a large number of battlecruisers that could be effectively used in World War I during the pre-dreadnought era, the ratio of available capital ships between the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy would be even more lopsided than in history!

This design could almost effectively solve all the above problems. The 210mm main guns were in the same class as the 203mm main guns widely equipped on armored cruisers in history, and the small differences due to different standards could be ignored. Although this design had 8 210mm main guns, twice the 4 main guns in history, it also had fewer secondary guns: it only had 8 150mm secondary guns, while the historical armored cruisers had 12-14 6-inch guns. Overall, the firepower increase was still within an acceptable range. After all, its displacement was 1,000 tons larger than the historical armored cruisers. Its true strength lay in its armor, with a 150mm hardened armor belt 3.5 meters high covering 65% of the waterline length, which could even deflect 305mm heavy shells from battleships during the Russo-Japanese War when hard-capped armor-piercing technology was not yet mature. Additionally, there was a 100mm thick upper deck armor, making the entire freeboard of the ship almost immune to 8-inch shells. Armor was the easiest thing to overlook. Sei Ei was almost 90% confident that the appearance of this ship would not cause any significant deviation in the development of historical armored cruisers.

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With the plan set, Sei Ei accepted the document, bid farewell to the old man Rastel, and returned to the Winter Palace. With a mission in hand, Sei Ei could no longer be as leisurely as before. After returning to the Winter Palace, he immersed himself in his room, carefully considering how to persuade the Russians to buy warships from Germany and extract money from them. Even in the face of Sonya's playful provocations, Sei Ei did not react as he usually did, but instead focused on his thoughts, leaving Sonya with a puzzled and confused expression.

After several hours of consideration, Sei Ei decided to use Nicholas II as the breakthrough. Although this emperor was not as knowledgeable about the navy as Wilhelm II, he was the supreme ruler of the country, and if he could be convinced, the matter would be almost certain. Additionally, Nicholas II was his uncle, which made the conversation easier. If Sei Ei directly approached the person in charge of the Russian Navy's shipbuilding, it would be difficult, as they had never met, and Sei Ei, being only 12 years old, would not be taken seriously.

However, Nicholas II was busy and not always in the Winter Palace, so finding him and scheduling a meeting was not easy. After much thought, Sei Ei reluctantly realized that he would have to go through Sonya to meet Nicholas again. He had to use soft words to plead, and after agreeing to spend three days shopping and playing at the amusement park with her, he finally made Sonya happy and willing to take on the task. Although Sonya was a bit violent, her efficiency was commendable. Somehow, she managed to get Nicholas to return to the Winter Palace from Tsarskoye Selo and meet Sei Ei the next evening.

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