"The reaction of the Germans is very strange, their media basically did not respond to Joseph's previous speech, and the Germans do not seem to have reacted much except for a note sent to our Foreign Office by German Foreign Minister Bülow, which is very unconscionable." The Marquis of Lansdownne said.

"Obviously, the German government is controlling the public opinion of the German media, His Majesty Frederick III rarely deals with government affairs now because of his health, and the current person in power in Germany is the Crown Prince Joachim, who I have met several times, and like his father, he is a very stable person, I think he should have ordered the public opinion of Germany." Chamberlain said guessingly.

"Steadiness is a good character for a monarch, but it's not good news for us, and we can't continue to quarrel without the Germans responding. And if we do it too obviously, it will be difficult to explain it. The Marquis of Lansdownne said with some concern.

"It doesn't matter, we can get our newspapers to say that the Germans reacted by acquiescing to what they were doing in France, and I don't believe that the emperor has been able to suppress the voice in Germany. His Majesty the King does not need to worry there, what we are doing now is to downplay our bad influence on the Boer issue, and His Majesty will understand. Chamberlain said ill-intentionedly.

"There has been a great deal of action on the part of the Admiralty lately, and His Excellency Wilhelm has told the Admiralty that 'the Germans seem determined to devote all German maritime power to the promotion of German commerce, colonies, and interests throughout the world.' , which, when combined with the 'general hatred of Great Britain' among the German population, would pose a great threat to the Reich. But I'm afraid it's hard to be convincing based on the inference of an Admiralty alone, right? The Marquis of Lansdownne asked.

"I heard that His Excellency William is preparing to make a detailed report, and I believe there will be a good result." Chamberlain said with a smile.

The Earl of Selburn (of whom William was name) was indeed prepared to produce a more credible report to prove that the Germans' plans for naval expansion were directed against Great Britain, and thus to incite anti-German sentiment in England.

"The British Admiralty wants to send an expedition to our shipyards?" The Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, Koster, was somewhat surprised to hear the news.

"Yes, the British Admiralty has made a formal request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come to our shipyard to study and study. Study tour? When did the shipyards of the British Empire need to learn from other countries? Jochen said with some disdain.

"Your Highness, what do you mean...... Do the British want to come and touch the bottom of the battleships being built in our Navy? Koster also knew that there was a rather unpleasant quarrel between Britain and Germany during this time. Moreover, the power system test of his new warship has also been seen, but it is not easy to find a hidden area in the Adriatic Sea, so Koster's first reaction is that the British want to touch the bottom of their new warship.

However, Jochen does not think so: "I don't think it's very possible to touch the bottom of our new battleship, anyway, the photos have been leaked, and most of the things that the British can see in the shipyard can be deduced from the photos, and what they can't see in the photos they won't show them when they go to the shipyard." ”

As Jochen said. The British could not see much even if they actually saw the 4 new battleships that had already been launched at the shipyard. White was right in judging that the German Navy's battleships were heavily armoured, and the 300 mm thick Krupp hardened armor that the two pre-dreadnoughts were equipped with was invincible in this era.

But the British absolutely did not know, even so the Germans were still not satisfied, and the level of armor protection of the Wittelsbach-class battleships, which were expected to be built in October this year, had been improved, although the armor thickness remained the same, it was still 300 mm, but the armor material was KC armor steel with better performance. The main armor protection capability of the Wittelsbach class is fully at the level of the dreadnought.

Of course, the reason why the Germans pursued such protection performance was not that their talent for wasting displacement had relapsed into the old disease, but that the new shells used by the Germans made them realize that the armor protection of the current first-class battleships under 250 mm was simply not enough in the face of new shells.

Under the suggestion of Jochen, Germany began to study the armor-piercing shell of the quilt cap very early, and the soft quilt cap armor-piercing shell is now the standard armor-piercing shell of the German Navy's large and medium-caliber naval guns, the front end of the soft quilt cap is hollow, and there is a depression in the center, after the deformation and rupture of the soft pointed part of the front end, the shape of the depression part can produce a positive effect when the impact angle is small, so as to provide the main projectile body behind it to have a better armor-piercing angle. The British did not know that the Germans' naval guns combined with soft quilt cap armor-piercing shells already exceeded the power of the bare-pointed armor-piercing shells of the same level of naval guns of the same period.

But Jochen wasn't satisfied. The new armor-piercing shell with the 283 mm 45 times diameter main gun is also a priority for the development of Krupp, and the original hollow soft quilt cap in front of the main body has been changed to a solid blunt quilt cap. The front end is hardened to break the carburized hardened layer on the surface of the armor, and a tapered hood is added to the front end of the cap in order to improve the aerodynamic shape of the shell.

When the shell touches the surface of the armor, the hollow hood instantly shatters and disintegrates, and after the blunt end of the solid quilt cap hits the armor, it deforms and shatters itself while destroying the hardest carburized surface of the armor, and then the main projectile body at the rear breaks through the soft inner surface of the fragmented quilt cap and continues to penetrate. The time-delay fuse, activated in a previous collision, detonates the explosive charge after the main body passes through the armor.

This is the standard ammunition in the era of future cannon giant ships, APCBC, armor-pierced shells by caps. The SKL/45 283 mm gun of the Wittelsbach-class battleships is still a high-speed light bullet, using a shell weight of 300 kg, which is basically the same as the L3.7 armor-piercing shell used in the SKC/28 naval guns of the German-class armored ships of Nazi Germany in World War II.

This allowed the Wittelsbach-class battleships to penetrate the 9-inch main armor belt of all current British first-class battleships at a distance of 15,000 meters. So the Germans, of course, could not have equipped their battleships with only a thin 10-inch or so of armor. At the distance of engagement within 6000 meters, which is now generally emphasized by the German Navy. Without an armor belt of the 12-inch level, it is simply not enough to see.

And at Jochen's request, the development of more powerful guns and shells using partition threaded bolts also began. If these things are known to the British, they will definitely make a fuss for you, so whether it is the armor material or the performance of the artillery, the ammunition structure is naturally impossible to show to the British, so even if the British delegation comes, they will not get too much useful information.

The British should also be aware that what is really valuable is not something that can be understood by a visiting delegation, so the purpose of their visit is worth scrutinizing.

"I think it's possible for the British to measure the efficiency of our shipyards." Tirpitz on the side said: "The performance of a ship cannot be obtained from appearance, but the efficiency of the shipyard and the skill level of the shipbuilders can be judged, and the British can guess how fast we will build a ship if we go all out." This will provide the British with a basis for the growth of our naval strength and the assessment of the threat. ”

"Alfred has a point, and if that's the case, it's really bad for us. As a result of the "Navy Law," the scale of China's current shipbuilding is indeed not small; last year we started construction of four improved versions of the Wittelsbach-class battleships, and this year we will start construction of two more ships, and the speed of building ships is second only to Britain, which is basically the same as that of Russia, and surpasses that of France. Koster immediately realized that the pace of German shipbuilding could well be an excuse for being attacked.

"Then let the Admiralty refuse the request of the British, or ......" Tirpitz built yì to.

"No, let them see, the British will take them where they want to see, let the Admiralty's overseers at the shipyard urge the shipyards to continue to improve their efficiency, so that the British can see our highest level." Jochen interrupted Tirpitz's Jianyì and gave a completely opposite order.

"Your Highness?" Both Koster and Tirpitz were a little surprised by Jochen's decision.

"I don't know what the British have been nervous about lately, but it's clear that the British are eyeing us, so it's not surprising that we will make a fuss about our navy, and if we refuse their request, they will definitely have a ghost in our hearts. Then let them see that the British are now implementing the two-power standard, and they have spent too much military money on African soil, and they have little ability to continue to expand the scale of shipbuilding.

If they insist on increasing their shipbuilding budget for the efficiency of our country's shipbuilding, will they be able to afford it financially? As long as we don't let them understand the core technology, then let them see, it won't affect us. Jochen said.

"However, this may make the British Royal Navy begin to adjust its naval strategy with our country as an imaginary enemy." Tirpitz was a little worried.

"Even if they are not allowed to see them, they can adjust their strategy with our country as an imaginary enemy, and with France and Russia as imaginary enemies, I would be glad to see them financially bankrupt if the British want to implement the three-power standard." Jochen said indifferently.

The anti-German sentiment of the British people could do something to keep the public opinion from concentrating on Germany, and if possible, to slow down the process of the Anglo-French Entente. But this is not necessary for the Royal Navy. Now that the German Navy is on the Royal Navy's blacklist, don't hide it, Jochen is not ready to start the naval race right now, but he is more than happy to force you to build more dreadnoughts to pit you.

"Still, we have to prepare for the worst. If the British really begin to adjust their naval strategy with our country as an imaginary enemy, then we must also have our response, consider the worst from the worst angle, and not have any unrealistic ideas. Jochen said.

"Yes, Your Highness," Koster replied awe-inspiringly. (To be continued......)

PS: The number of the Wittelsbach-class battleships was also added to the original picture.