Chapter 9

In fact, as early as the early 1880s, in terms of fleet size alone, Germany had once reached the fourth largest tonnage in the world, just behind Britain, France, and Russia. In terms of ironclad tonnage, Germany was the third largest, even surpassing Russia. However, with the efforts of other countries, Germany's naval status continued to decline. In 1885, Italy's ironclad tonnage surpassed Germany, and in 1886, Italy's total fleet tonnage surpassed Germany. By 1892, Russia's armored ship tonnage surpassed Germany. If we consider the combat power of ironclads, Germany was only slightly stronger than Austria-Hungary among the European powers! This was completely unacceptable!

Moreover, with the new warships of the major powers being launched one after another, the quality of Germany's existing fleet rapidly declined, and many warships had reached the end of their service life, leading to numerous accidents. So even if Bismarck was still in power in this timeline, he decided to properly prepare the empire's navy! The Federal Parliament should not be a problem, as each state was eager to benefit from this large-scale construction. If the Imperial Parliament did not pass it, no problem, just dissolve it and re-elect a new one to pass it.

However, there is now a very serious issue: how to build the navy! Germany's early naval development was very chaotic. To ensure its own security, Germany needed a powerful coastal defense ironclad fleet to protect its coastline from invasion. It also needed to protect its overseas colonies, and occasionally engage in standoffs with the United States in Samoa or bully some European natives. Therefore, it needed a cruiser squadron. Later, Germany was influenced by the French Jeune École (Young School) and built a large number of torpedo boats!

It can be said that the ecological structure of the German fleet was very chaotic, influenced by various ideologies, and there were too many useless and ineffective things. Now, there were very few that could be used! The ironclads were outdated and could not match the new warships of other countries. The cruisers were small and weak, and their availability was questionable, regardless of their combat power. Torpedo boats were proven to be not as good as the French had boasted. So now the question is, where should the German navy go? It can't be said that there was no path in the world until people walked it!

Now, the German navy and the high-level officials are very conflicted. Although they have decided to build a large fleet, the amount of money they can allocate is still relatively small. Even in history, after Wilhelm II came to power, with the support of the Emperor and the efforts of Tirpitz, the budget for the four Brandenburg-class battleships was still difficult to pass. Now, the naval enthusiast Wilhelm has not yet come to power, and the current German board of directors and the chief executive do not have such a strong resolve, so the allocation of funds will naturally be less. On the other hand, the Reinsurance Treaty still exists, and in the foreseeable future, German-Russian relations are still good. The pressure on the navy for coastal defense is not significant. Therefore, the four Brandenburg-class battleships of history will not appear now, regardless of whether there is money or not, at least there is no need!

Not only was Bismarck relatively inexperienced in naval matters, but German naval commanders were also relatively vague in strategy. However, they all noticed one issue: Germany's overseas interests needed protection, and Germany's cruiser fleet was already in a state of disrepair, with a bunch of 2,000-ton wooden-hulled cruisers that were no longer capable of handling the load. To this day, Germany and the United States are still engaging in standoffs in the Samoa region, and a few years ago, they almost came to blows. The colonies are also unstable, and sometimes they need to engage with the colonial fleets of other countries.

Therefore, the Prime Minister believed that the cruiser fleet should be updated first. The recently reorganized Imperial Navy Department expressed strong support for the Prime Minister's idea. On the one hand, Germany's overseas fleet needs outweighed the need for domestic security. The Russians and the British were friends, and the German army could handle the French. So, ensuring the protection of colonies and overseas interests was the right choice. On the other hand, due to the recent steel plate incident, the remaining naval officials were still cautious, and none of them had the courage to oppose the powerful Prime Minister. Were they tired of living?

The tone for building cruisers was set, but the subsequent issues were even more headache-inducing! What kind of cruisers should be built? Armored cruisers or protected cruisers? Should they be first-class cruisers with a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons or second-class cruisers with a displacement of around 4,000 tons? How should the performance of the cruisers be set? What about firepower and defense? What about speed? Well, these things should be left to the designers to implement, but you need to set the tone, right? It's like going shopping; if you don't say what you want to buy, how can the seller introduce it to you?

The navy, despite having a large amount of money, was still very confused. The discussions were heated, but there was no result in the short term. The public was also very active. Under the influence of a historical figure, the naval atmosphere in the German Empire was much more intense, even more so than the naval enthusiasm of the later era, as Germany had once had an emperor who designed warships, and in the later era, who had heard of any leader playing SPS...

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with the穿越者, and Prince Luitpold was watching it all with a spectator's attitude. After all, it was only 1889, and there would be no war in the next 20 years. No matter how good the ships you build now are, they won't be useful by then. And the talent he wanted to find had not yet arrived, and the design bureau was just getting started. Why rush? As long as the new warship armor steel for Germany was provided by himself, he should focus on building the factory and increasing production. What else did he need to worry about? Clearly, it was not his main business.

However, one day, when the prince picked up a newspaper and saw a design for a warship, the feeling of debating on forums and tieba from his past life came back! Not for any other reason, but because the design was quite good! Although it did not reach the world's top level, it represented the direction of advanced productivity in history! The young man was quite good, and he had a lot of potential!

The newspaper devoted a large section to introducing a protected cruiser! An author named "Black Eagle King" described his envisioned warship as follows: a displacement of 4,500 tons, with 100 mm thick armor on the sides of the deck and 50 mm on the horizontal part. It also had some protection for the guns, with 50 mm to 100 mm armor on all guns. It was equipped with 8 150 mm guns, with the bow and stern having twin 150 mm guns, and the other 4 150 mm guns placed at the four corners of the ship. It also had 6 105 mm guns and a large number of 50 mm guns to deal with torpedo boats or other small targets, with a maximum output of 12,000 horsepower and a speed of over 20 knots.

"This ship is really well done, it has a feel of the Armstrong-built second-class cruisers of the later era. If this ship were to be built, the later era's Yoshino might not be able to beat it. To firmly outclass it, probably only the 4,900-ton Buenos Aires of Argentina would do. To come up with this in this era, at least the direction is correct and deserves encouragement!" The穿越者 nodded in approval.

However, as the saying goes, where there is support, there is opposition. The design was soon criticized by a large number of people, who claimed that the design was a sign of ignorance in shipbuilding! They claimed that such a warship would never sink, as it would sink into the sea immediately after being launched due to its own weight! The sarcasm in their words made the穿越者 very unhappy.

"This is a suppression of future designers. What can those conservative Germans come up with? For example, the Kaiserin Augusta, which is scheduled to begin construction next year in history, has a displacement of 6,218 tons, with only 4 150 mm guns, 8 105 mm guns, and 4 88 mm guns! Such a large tonnage with such weak firepower is just a laughingstock to the major powers! The Yoshino says it's not afraid of you. The American Olympic says it can teach you a lesson in no time! These designers are truly a disgrace to the country and the military!" Prince Luitpold was very angry and felt that he should lend a hand to this designer!

Thus, after being baptized by 21st-century online debates and considering himself at least an expert in the field of oral ballistics, the prince personally dictated an article, which was then polished by a specialist and published in the newspaper! Thus, a battle of words quietly began!

Thank you to the reader "Jinsheng Mingyue" for the support~~~. A new week has begun, and the author is preparing to sign this week~~~. Can the readers give more support?

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