With the end of the Battle of Port Santiago, the Americans did not bring Cuba and other Caribbean regions into their control after all, and Spain, a country that had already sunset, finally defended what little dignity it had, of course, the price was also very huge, not only was the hard-working fleet crippled, but the fiscal deficit of that year reached a new high. Of course, all this has nothing to do with Yang Yonglin, after returning to Spain, Yang Yonglin ignored the retention of the Spanish high-level represented by Cervila, nor was he invited to Germany or the United Kingdom, but quickly took a cruise back to Beiyang, a place that has haunted him for several years.

"Lord Yang, how do you feel?" In the admiral's room of the Pinghai, the general flagship of the Beiyang Fleet, Xu Jie asked with a smile.

"I haven't seen you for a few years, this Beiyang Fleet is no longer what it used to be, Lord Xu is really generous, in just a few years, it has surpassed the preparation of Lord Zhongtang for more than 20 years!" Yang Yonglin said convincingly. "It is said that we also bought a third battleship from Italy?"

"Hmm...... Also Dante-class, tentatively named Jinghai, so that the Beiyang Fleet had 3 battleships, 4 armored cruisers (two PISA-class armored cruisers, Tianjin and Dalian. In addition to two Garibaldi-class armored cruisers), four Guiyuan-class light armored cruisers (the new one is tentatively named Anyuan), we will also have 4 to 6 2,000-ton third-class protected cruisers to cover the main fleet operations, which is an improved version of the Sea Dragon class of the year. Xu Jie nodded and said..........

"In addition to that, the Ocean Fleet will also have 3 King-class armored cruisers by this time next year. One of them was newly built by my Beiyang Dalian Shipyard. Tentatively named Fuzhou. Coupled with one Yoshino and 3 improved ships of the Sea Dragon-class, it is also a formidable force. In addition to these two fleets, a certain number of torpedo boats will be arranged. Xu Jie said after giving a brief introduction to the fleet of the entire Beiyang system.

"That's it. The naval power of our Beiyang system can be regarded as strong and strong, but what about the Russians? They're not going to just accept that, are they? Yang Yonglin asked.

"Didn't Lord Yang hear anything in Europe?" Xu Jie asked meaningfully.

"The Russo, which the Russians ordered in France, has been completed and will soon reach the Far East. In addition, two cruisers of the Azov type modified from the Russian Baltic will also come to the Far East, if I remember correctly. It should be the Warrior and the Goddess. Yang Yonglin thought about it and said.

"Lord Yang is still very well-informed. The Russians still have a backhand, and they will send at least one more battleship and an improved cruiser in the Sea of Azov, which is quite possible Navarin. It's very old, but it's a battleship after all. Xu Jie paused, took out a form and said, "That's it." The Far Eastern Fleet of the Russians will reach such a scale next year. ”。 …。

"3 battleships. They are Petropavlovsko, Poltava and Navarin, the first two of which are ships of the same class, armed with 4 12-inch 40L heavy guns, 12 6-inch 45L secondary guns, 12 9-pounder guns, 28 1-pounder guns, 4 torpedo tubes (here the secondary gun configuration has been improved, 2 torpedo tubes have been reduced) The main armor belt is 16 inches, and the upper armor belt is 5 inches. The turret is 14 inches. With an output of 14,000 horsepower, the ship was expected to reach a speed of 18 knots, but it is said that for some reason these boats could only run at 17 knots. The Navarlin was armed with 4 12-inch 40L guns (historically 35L, improved here), 8 6-inch guns and 8 3-pounder guns. The armor is the main armor with 16-inch steel armor. The upper armor was 8 inches. Speed 16 knots.

"THERE ARE TWO ARMORED CRUISER LEAD SHIPS, ONE IS RURIK, THIS IS OUR OLD FRIEND, LET'S NOT SAY MORE, AND THE OTHER IS THE FRENCH MAN-MADE RUSSIA, ARMED WITH 4 274MM GUNS. 4 8-inch guns and 8 6-inch guns, as well as 12 9-pounder guns, 10-inch hardened armor on the side armor, 7-inch on the upper part, and 10-inch on the turret front. It has a maximum output of 19,000 horsepower, a displacement of 11,000 tons, and a maximum speed of 20 knots. “…。

"There are 5 armored cruisers, of which the Turquoise and the Pearl are performance-yours, and the other 3 are improved cruisers in the Sea of Azov, except for the improved layout, the other performance has not changed much, namely the Warrior, the Goddess and the Parada.". …。

"From this point of view, the overall strength of its main fleet is not much weaker than that of our Beiyang Fleet. It is not known how well the auxiliary warships perform. Yang Yonglin frowned.

"It's not clear, those battleships that are mainly based on breaking diplomatic relations are not more expensive than capital ships, and I don't know how many Russians can make." Xu Jie smiled bitterly. In history, after the opening of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, in addition to the 3 10,000-ton cruisers in Vladivostok and the battleships trapped in Arthur, the Russians had 5 protective cruisers of more than 5,000 tons, 2 3,000-ton protective cruisers and 1 7,000-ton armored cruiser Bayan!

"So it seems...... Our mode of engagement with the Russians this time is more like protecting the transport lines, supplemented by a decisive battle with the fleet, after all, the Russians are not stupid and will not come to play with you when the forces are at a disadvantage! Yang Yonglin said with a headache. After all, winning the decisive battle does not mean that the safety of the traffic line can be perfectly protected.

"That's right, it's very troublesome, during the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese need to ensure the smooth flow of communication lines, and during the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy must first ensure the smooth flow of communication lines and also take into account the pressure of the government and the people, otherwise the Spanish fleet will have little chance in a head-on decisive battle. And now, it's our turn to ensure the safety of this long sea artery from the south to the north, I don't know what Lord Yang has to do? Xu Jie asked..........

"I have an idea. That is the tracking tactics implemented by the Royal Navy on the cruisers of potential opponents, tracking each of the opponent's warships leaving the port, and keeping the opponent's situation under their own surveillance, if a war starts, it will immediately change from tracking to attack, and now there is radio, even if the tracked battleship cannot effectively hit the opponent, it can at least guide the target for the friendly ship, or drag the opponent. Yang Yonglin said.

"Well, this method is not bad, the combat effectiveness of the Guiyuan level is relatively low, but the speed is fast enough, in this case, it will not reduce the combat effectiveness of the fleet too much, and at the same time it can keep track of the opponent at all times, and the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea cannot be considered small. But it's definitely not big, so the state of affairs at sea will be much clearer. Xu Jie nodded in agreement.

"It's better to refine this further, you can now act as the Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet, Lang Weili mainly focuses on training and daily management, I am going to leave for a while recently, and the specific preparations are up to you, in addition, they also have to contact Governor Lin of the Foreign Ocean Fleet. I need you to come up with a practical plan with you before we meet next time. Xu Jie said slowly..........

Although the navy is very important, but now, Xu Jie has a more important thing to do, that is, to persuade Li Hongzhang to join his plan!

Thanks to the old man of the book friend Strait for his reward, and the book friend Kong Chen for his support. Thank you for the monthly pass support of the book friend Luo Tianlong and the croaking frog~~~. Thank you~~. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )。