The death of General Makanov was perhaps a relief for him. But for Essen, it was a heavier courage to be handed over to him, and from now on, he had to make some plans for the future of the Russian Navy. During the period of being prisoners, the Huaxia Navy did not put all these Russian prisoners of war in prisoner of war camps, but agreed that some Russian officers and men stayed on the warships to take care of their warships. Of course, the bolt or something will definitely have to be removed. Fuel and ammunition are definitely to be taken away as well. Supplies were also kept as low as possible. Food and fresh water on board cannot exceed three days' reserves.

The Chinese Navy has no interest in these warships, and after the war, it will retire a number of warships, how can it take a fancy to these second-rate warships of Russia? Moreover, under the deliberate action of the Chinese Navy, the British had already told Essen and other senior officers about the idea of the Chinese Republic agreeing to Russia to redeem the captured warships after the war.

At this time, Essen was sitting in Makanov's office. Of course, at this time, he did not want to remember the old sailor who helped him and even at the last moment did not forget to pull himself to the throne of the future commander of the Russian fleet. He now has a more important thing to do...... That is, how to plan a feasible path for the development of the Russian Navy after the war. The Russian Navy, once one of the world's top five powerful fleets, has now been completely wiped out. With the exception of a few torpedo boats that were still docked in Batavia, there were only these last three capital ships. At this time, there were only a few old dreadnoughts left in the Black Sea. And the Baltic, which has always been regarded as the backyard of the Russians, does not even have these dreadnoughts. For the sake of this battle, the Russians emptied the Baltic Fleet more! Almost all the Russian warships that can be put on the table have been sent!. …。

"We didn't just lose East Asia. And having lost the Baltic and Black Seas, His Majesty the Tsar has always wanted the Andrei flag to fly in the Far East. But the end result was that the pond on the doorstep was thrown away for this false goal. Looking at the large-scale charts hanging in the conning tower, Essen had mixed feelings. Needless to say, the Baltics. Now it is the world of the German High Seas Fleet, or it will always be the world of the High Seas Fleet in the future, and no matter how fierce the Russians are, they will definitely not be able to beat the main fleet of the world's second industrial power. As for the Black Sea Fleet? Now they are all old warships, and they can't enter the Mediterranean, and there is no problem in fighting Turkey now, but once the fleets of Italy and Austria-Hungary enter the Black Sea, the Black Sea Fleet will only be at home!

It is foreseeable that in the near future, the Russian Navy will almost have to start from scratch! In terms of hardware, starting with the lowest-level torpedo boats and light cruisers, all the way up to the new dreadnoughts, they had to be rearmed. In terms of software, it is still better, and some naval officers and sailors are still retained. Using this as a skeleton can restore combat effectiveness relatively quickly. As long as the funds allow. Then the process of rebuilding the Russian Navy is still very fast. Of course, there are two points that cannot be avoided. That is, at this stage the funds are not abundant, and the gap between the Russian Navy and the German High Seas Fleet will grow bigger and bigger! Essen does not seek to have control over the Baltic Sea. As long as you can keep the port at home, you will be satisfied! …。

According to Essen's estimates, for a long time, until the new Russian dreadnoughts could not be put into service, surface ships alone could not contain Germany's ambitions. The three outdated dreadnoughts were vulnerable to a sturdy high seas fleet, and their greatest role was to use them as mobile batteries in the harbor. And in the narrow Baltic Sea, the role of submarines and mines will be quite noticeable. At least it would have given the German fleet some fear. But it's just a fear. After referring to the speed of the expansion of the German navy and comparing the possible construction speed of the Russian navy in the future, Essen found that even if all goes well, it would be good if Russia could complete four new Dreadnoughts in the next six years! And this was only the number of a German detachment. Quality is not included. …。

Then look at the terrain. Essen sadly discovered that the existence of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea depended not on the Russian fleet, but on the rivalry between the two powerful fleets of Great Britain and Germany. And whether the Germans intended to move the Russian fleet. In naval battles throughout Northern Europe, the Russian fleet would inevitably be reduced to a supporting role. If you take the initiative, you can only use some submarines to carry out a sneak attack, and the task of the main fleet has become to defend the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga in order to prevent the Germans from launching a surprise attack from the rear of the Russian flank under the cover of the superior fleet, forming a flanking .........attack on the Russian troops on the front line.

In particular, St. Petersburg, located at the end of the Gulf of Finland, was one of the most important Russian cities, and if the German army landed here, the main force of the Russian army would have to go north in order to defend the city founded in the name of Peter the Great. In this case, the Russian army, which was inferior in mobility and firepower, was forced to disperse its forces and face the fierce German army...... The situation on the battlefield of the Russian army will be very passive.

The same situation will be repeated in the Black Sea. In Essen's view, once the war began, Greece would be wiped out by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Turkish Empire in a very short period of time, so that the entire Eastern Mediterranean would become the domain of the Italian-Austrian navy, and the Turkish navy might not be a concern, but if the Italian-Austrian navy entered the Black Sea, it would be a devastating blow to the Black Sea Fleet, and they might not be able to break through the well-defended fortress of Sevastopol in a short time. But these two fleets can definitely cover the landing of an army in Ukraine! Then destroy the most important granary of Russia. The Russian Army may not be able to guarantee even the most basic numerical superiority over the German, Austrian, and Turkish armies, although the main German forces will be against Britain and France. But the remaining forces are not something that the backward country of Russia can contend with. If the troops are scattered on a vast front, then the result will inevitably be quite tragic! …。

So from now on. All Essen had to consider was how to delay as much time as possible for the German and Italian-Austrian navies to open up landing grounds. However, as far as the current state of the Russian Navy is concerned, Essen is also a clever woman who has no rice to cook. The difference in strength was too great, to the point that Essen thought even God could not stop it. At this time, Essen remembered a proposal of the British, that is, to deploy only light warships and submarines in the Baltic and Black Seas, while the main forces of the Russian fleet left the mainland for Britain. The strengthened British Grand Fleet would crush the German High Seas Fleet in the shortest possible time, thus resolving the Baltic crisis once and for all.

And for this suggestion, Essen just laughed it off. The reason for this was simple: if the Germans had deployed minefields of sufficient width near their naval bases, combined with a strong high seas fleet, they could have left the British fleet in vain. Via the Kiel Canal. The German fleet could move freely between the Baltic and North Seas, and even if they took 10,000 steps back, what if the British swept away all the minefield bases and military ports in the direction of the German North Sea? Through the Kiel Canal, the main forces of the German Navy could withdraw to the Baltic. Could the British fleet still pass through the Skagerrak Strait and then cross all of Denmark to the Baltic to trouble the Germans? Isn't this a chat? …。

On the contrary, it would have been more convenient for Germany to take the initiative, since the British could not have made the entire North Sea line impregnable, and the cost was too much to bear. The British's suggestion was nothing more than an attempt to play the trick of the white wolf with empty gloves, and then borrow the money of the Russians to strengthen the British Grand Fleet, and from the present situation, the British were already very afraid of the German High Seas Fleet, and the gap between the two sides may not be as great as it seems on paper. After all, there were too many old ships in the British fleet. These warships were of no use other than escort. …。

While Essen was busy considering the future of the Russian fleet, Nicholas II was planning the composition of the future Russian fleet on a map in the distant Russian court. Although the navy has been wiped out, and although the army in the Far East is on the verge of destruction, all this will not hinder the interest of the last tsar, for the simple reason that Britain and France have formed an alliance with Russia. And the tsar believed that his defeat was not because the combat power of the Chinese Republic was really stronger than that of the great Russia, but because at the beginning of this war, almost all the great powers were on the side of China. In other words, he believed that Russia had been defeated by the great powers of Britain, France, and Germany...... And not to be defeated by the fledgling country of the Far East..........

And now the situation has changed, and the two superpowers, Russia and Britain and France, have formed an alliance. Even if it fails this time? Now Lao Tzu has money, and in the eyes of this tsar, as long as he has money, he has everything, and the wave of domestic opposition is just a passing cloud in front of the Russian army, which is armed to the teeth. Nicholas II believed that he and his army could definitely become a real force with sufficient funds. All kinds of chariots and artillery and other novelties are definitely necessary. That's right. The Navy must not forget yet.

In the face of the German High Seas Fleet blocking his doorstep, Nicholas II, although he had no temper at all, formulated a new naval expansion plan, in which the Russian Navy would build ten dreadnoughts for the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet in the future in six years. They will be modeled after the Longtai class in Huaxia, and each battleship will have no less than 12 guns of firepower. The first few of them will be equipped with the newly developed 12-inch 50L main guns of the British. The ships in the back were to be armed with 14-inch guns.

Nicholas II was still thinking about how to use this powerful fleet to flank the German High Seas Fleet with the British. After winning the war, he even had the idea of returning to East Asia with the British and French fleets to seek revenge on the Chinese Navy after the end of the European War. To the tsar's surprise, his future fleet commander was still worried about how to hold his doorstep. And he himself will never see a day when the Russian fleet will cross the oceans! . …。

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~