If the Germans in history were still struggling with whether to build battleships or cruisers in the nineteen-nineties, and because of Tirpitz's strong intervention, the tone for building battleships was finally set, then in this plane, the Germans are still entangled, or even more entangled than before! Because now Tirpitz has doubts about his own ideas. Battleships are indeed tall and mighty, but they are not easy to use overseas, what are you doing building a bunch of battleships at home?

Eventually, when the construction of the Munich-class armored cruisers was completed, two plans were put before Kaiser Frederick III. One plan was to build 3 or 4 battleships, while the other was to build an equal number of 10,000-ton cruisers.

The first planned battleship was the new 6-gun Brandenburg-class battleship modified by Ruprecht, which weakened the thickness of the main armor belt, increased the area of the armor, and used the main gun of the turret structure to increase the tonnage, secondary gun firepower and speed. THE CRUISER PROGRAM IS THE GERMAN VERSION OF THE RUSSIAN ARMORED CRUISER THAT RUSSIA INTENDS TO ORDER, AND THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE TWIN 10-INCH MAIN GUN IS REPLACED BY A TWIN 240MM MAIN GUN, WHILE THE SECOND MAIN GUN IS A TWIN 210MM MAIN GUN.

Originally, Frederick III didn't care much about the navy, and Bismarck also curbed the excessive growth of the navy in order to maintain his strategy, but this Far East incident made His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister feel that they were slapped in the face at the same time, and they were beaten by the British dog! This is really unbearable! Thus, the expansion of the navy became one of the few things that His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister thought of the same thing, and in the top-down promotion of the German government, this time the naval appropriation was approved, and now the money is available, and the only question is what to build! How to get the big construction of the navy, online, etc.!

The current situation is that the German Navy is in the midst of a controversy, the BB Party, the ACR Party, and the Coastal Defense Battleship Party are arguing, and they are excited by so much money at once, but they are lost. And at this time, the Germans suddenly remembered that overseas, the most experienced "admiral" in the German Navy had not yet returned, so when he returned, ask him for his opinion?

A telegram from the crown prince Wilhelm was sent to Ruprecht, and although he was asking in his own name, given the specific circumstances of the empire and Ruprecht's current overt and implicit influence in the German navy, Ruprecht's decision would have a great impact on the future of the navy.

And after receiving this telegram, Tirpitz also happened to return from South America with the fleet, and in New York, Ruprecht embarked on the journey home. Then His Royal Highness the Prince asked Tirpitz to read the telegram from the crown prince, after all, he was a favorite of Crown Prince William, and he always wanted to be more interesting.

"To be honest, I'm confused, I'm still inclined to build large battleships as the backbone of the Imperial Navy, but the performance of the Munich-class armored cruisers makes me have to admit that in ocean-going battles, the speed and endurance of the cruiser are sometimes more important than firepower and defense!" Tirpitz calmly admitted the role of the cruiser, although His Royal Highness the Prince in front of him did not serve in the Navy and did not receive much naval education, but Tirpitz must admit that His Royal Highness the Prince is really strong in macro strategy.

"Let's build two Brandenburg-class battleships first, our battleship formation is too small and too old. After solving the problem of near-term requirements, the update of the battleship is also on the agenda. Ruprecht was not polite either, and directly said what he thought.

"You mean to build two battleships and two cruisers, right?" Tirpitz touched his chin and continued: "This idea is very good, whether it is a Brandenburg-class battleship or a new 10,000-ton armored cruiser, it is very good, and it is very suitable for the current needs of the Empire!" ”

"In fact, I personally think that the experimental significance of building Brandenburg-class battleships is greater than the actual combat significance, whether we need to build battleships or cruisers later, the number of Brandenburg-class should not be too much, because the power of the 11-inch guns on it is simply too poor! Too bad! It's unbearable! Ruprecht's suddenly somewhat fierce language took Tirpitz by surprise!

"All countries in the world are about to be equipped with 12-inch naval guns, and we are still using 11-inch guns, and the power of these 11-inch guns is almost at the same level as foreign 10-inch guns, I don't know what those who have shares in Krupp think, anyway, it is difficult for me to accept. The Imperial Navy's guns are to face the most ferocious enemies, not to make money for some. Ruprecht's words were a bit heavy, and he pulled a certain First Family into the range of blows!

However, the reason why Ruprecht dared to say this was because he was sure that Tirpitz would not pass on these words to Crown Prince Wilhelm, because he first said it in private, and Tirpitz did not have a Krupp share, and His Royal Highness the Prince said this just to vent, and he had no interest in it.

And what if you tell His Majesty the Crown Prince about this kind of thing? If the crown prince believes it, he will be hated by the prince. And even if the crown prince is not satisfied, what can he do with this prince? It's just a verbal catharsis. (Historically, the Kaiser and Ruprecht's father met during the exercises, and neither the latter greeted each other nor saw Wilhelm II.) What if the crown prince doesn't believe it? Isn't it worse for yourself? If you lose the reputation of a villain, your future will be over, so the best way to deal with it is to act as if it didn't happen.

However, Ruprecht's words are still like a seed in Tirpitz's heart, Ruprecht's requirements are very simple, some unspoken rules can be acquiesced, after all, Ruprecht himself is a person in the system, but everything has a degree, the two families can go about the relationship, but if the two are too different, then it will definitely not work, Ruprecht is actually also preparing for the appearance of his Bavarian-Austrian arms complex, Ruprecht even bought a Russian 12-inch gun! Aren't you just waiting to pit Krupp again?

"You mean to say that the battleships of the future empire will be armed with 12-inch guns? If it is still 6 doors, the tonnage requirements may be high. Estimate more than the armored cruiser designed by your design bureau for the Russians. Tirpitz gasped, a battleship equipped with 6 12-inch guns, if you want to ensure speed and speed, it will need at least 14,000 tons, right?

"So, the two Brandenburg-class battleships are just a test test to gain experience! That's what they're all about. Ruprecht said with a smile. Why could the British build 14,000 to 15,000 tons of warships, and we had to be small? One elite battleship may still be useful than two smaller ones! The tonnage of the two Yoshino is larger than that of Munich, and I think you understand very well which of the two sides is stronger! ”

"So what are our next options after the completion of these two experimental Brandenburg-class battleships? Larger tonnage battleships or better cruisers? Tirpitz asked, thinking for a moment.

"It's hard to say, we need to depend on the situation, what we can do at the moment is to choose the alternatives, and then let the central government and the Admiralty pick and choose. And our cruiser scheme for the Russians is not for their own use, if we could, we would have designed a better battleship! ”

"A better plan? Can you make that clear? Tirpitz said with a twinkle in his eyes, men, especially men in navy uniforms, Tirpitz is naturally very concerned!

"Baron Vittorio hasn't finished the design yet, you'll know when you get back," Ruprecht said. On the one hand, it really didn't get it right, and on the other hand, Ruprecht was still thinking about letting the Imperial Navy take over if necessary.

Thank you for the rain who forgot everything, and Nickky's tip~~~. Today's author has some things.,For the time being, there is only one change.,Tomorrow to resume double change~~~.。 I'm sorry!