Under the infiltration of China's intelligence agencies, the Japanese government has become a sieve, unable to keep secrets at all. The Japanese cabinet had just passed a resolution to build two 'Fuso-class' battleships for the navy, and within a week of the news from China's intelligence agencies. Even a month later, the key data of the 'Fuso-class' battleships had been placed on the book case of Emperor Wu Haoxuan.

Once again, the Japanese embarked on an ambitious naval development program, which naturally made the empire feel threatened. You must know that now both China and Japan regard each other as mortal enemies. When one side strengthens the development of armaments, it is natural that the other side will immediately follow suit.

"Is this the 'single-ship supremacy' of the Japanese?" After getting the main design parameters of the 'Fuso-class' battleship, Wu Haoxuan thought of this term. Of course, the Japanese originally came up with this term to deal with the Americans. The Japanese are well aware that they cannot be compared with the Americans in industrial power. Finances are not as generous as those of the Americans. If you want to compete with the number of capital ships in the navy, the Japanese will never be able to compare. Therefore, the Japanese chose to design each class of battleships to be powerful battleships, capable of surpassing the enemy's ships of the same class. In this case, the Japanese Navy would be inferior to each other even in terms of the number of capital ships. But in terms of overall strength, they are not necessarily much worse than each other.

Of course, in view of the current international situation, as well as the deep hatred between China and Japan. That's why Japan has set its target on China. The commissioning of two 'Longxing-class' battleships and two 'Longfei-class' battlecruisers of the Chinese Navy has further expanded the strength of the two navies. For this reason, the Japanese Navy had to try its best to build as many warships as possible.

Although, judging by the data on paper, the 'Fuso-class' battleships are very formidable. But in fact, Wu Haoxuan didn't take it to heart. Even the Imperial Navy's 'Dragon-class' battleships. It also has the ability to compete with the 'Fuso-class' battleships. The defensive power of the 'Longteng-class' battleships is stronger than that of the 'Fuso-class'. The five twin 50-caliber 305 mm guns were less than the six twin 45 x 356 mm guns of the 'Fuso-class' battleships. However, the 50x caliber 305 mm gun has a strong armor-piercing ability, which can effectively penetrate the armor of the 'Fuso-class' battleships. In addition, the rate of fire of the 'Longteng-class' battleships is far above that of the 'Fuso-class' battleships. Once there is a one-on-one duel. The 'Longteng-class' battleships are definitely not weaker than the 'Fuso-class' battleships. Not to mention the Imperial Navy's 'Longxing-class' battleships, which have more powerful firepower and defense. Even if the Japanese Navy were equipped with two more 'Fuso-class' battleships, the Imperial Navy would not be at a disadvantage.

Of course, Wu Haoxuan thinks so. However, the Imperial Navy did not think so. They only knew that once the Japanese Navy's 'Fuso-class' battleships were commissioned, the Imperial Navy would no longer have any advantage in the number of capital ships. In terms of the caliber and number of main guns, the Imperial Navy was even more at a disadvantage. How else is this possible? So. Marshal Sa Zhenbing, Minister of the Imperial Navy, and Marshal Cheng Biguang, Commander of the Navy, together with Marshal Shi Tianhan, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, jointly met with Wu Haoxuan and demanded the construction of a new class of warships for the Imperial Navy.

"Your Majesty, the development of the Japanese Navy has made the Imperial Navy feel a great threat. We urgently need to start construction of a new class of capital ships ahead of schedule to meet the threat of the Japanese Navy. Marshal Sa Zhenbing said.

"What? The Japanese Navy has two more 'Fuso-class' battleships, so it scares you? Wu Haoxuan said with a smile.

"Your Majesty. The two Japanese 'Fuso-class' battleships will not frighten us. That's just something that doesn't work. But. The determination of the Japanese to develop the navy cannot but be taken seriously. Now the Japanese are still so poor that they can't even afford to eat. But even so, they still sell iron to build warships. This is clearly to regard the empire as a great enemy of life and death, desperately trying to develop the navy and compete with the empire! If the Empire is not vigilant, it is very likely that the Imperial Navy will be at a disadvantage in the future. Marshal Cheng Biguang also said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded. A little Japan, nothing to worry about. With Japan's current financial resources, it is simply impossible to sustain large-scale naval development. However, the Japanese have the support of Britain, France, and the United States behind them. The Americans, in particular, had a steady stream of loans to the Japanese. This will undoubtedly allow the Japanese to rearm themselves very quickly. Japan, which had been rearmed, would undoubtedly become a great threat to the Chinese Empire.

"Your Majesty, now the coastal areas of our country are developing very rapidly. This region will become a highly developed area of the empire's economy. If the Imperial Navy had been unable to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese Navy at the beginning of the war. Well, the developed coastal areas of the empire could become the focus of the Japanese attack. So, we have to guard against it. In addition, the empire carried out the construction of warships-for-tat, which was originally a warning to Japan and the countries behind Japan, so that they knew that the empire was not easy to bully, and the empire was not afraid of them. Marshal Shi Tianhan also said.

There is no doubt that the attitude of the military was in favor of the construction of new warships, responding to the Japanese with a strong attitude.

"The empire did not lack funds for the construction of warships. But will we be able to build capital ships now? Wu Haoxuan asked. The Empire's 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruisers had only just begun construction. Originally, it was planned to start construction of the 'Zodiac-class' improved heavy cruiser at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Compared to the previously built 'Zodiac class' heavy cruisers, the improved 'Zodiac class' heavy cruisers still use 210 mm. However, it was replaced with three triple 210-mm guns, bringing the number of main guns to nine of the three. In terms of speed, with the support of a large number of German technologies, the design speed of the improved 'Zodiac-class' heavy cruiser directly reached 30 knots. At the same time, because of the increase in the number of main guns, the displacement of the battleship also increased by more than 1,000 tons, and the full load displacement reached more than 12,500 tons. Of course, the cost is also directly more than one million dollars.

"Your Majesty, Germany has supported us with many experts in the design and construction of warships, and among the political prisoners we have obtained from Austria-Hungary, there are also many engineers and senior mechanics in the design of warships. Now we have the initial ability to build capital ships. Of course, I'm afraid the construction period will be a little longer. Marshal Sa Zhenbing said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded: "What about the main gun?" Will the 381-mm gun be developed on time? ”

"Your Majesty, the Germans advanced the design of the 381-mm gun, which was later than the British. So, on the next class of battleships, we planned to still use 343 mm guns. The 343 mm gun, with a 50 times caliber, already has a very powerful power, no worse than the 356 mm of the Japanese. On the next class of capital ships, we use 381 mm guns. Marshal Sa Zhenbing said.

"Okay. Since you all feel that you should build a capital ship, let's start building it. Anyway, the 20 million pounds a year that the Japanese gave us for war reparations would be enough to build these warships. Wu Haoxuan said.

The war reparations obtained from Japan were applied to the development of the navy, and the Japanese at sea were finally targeted? It can be said that it is taken from Japan and used for Japan. If the empire defeats Japan again next time, it will definitely be able to obtain a large amount of war reparations from Japan. When the time comes, the empire will step on the corpses of the Japanese and make a real leap.

In less than a month, the Imperial Admiralty came up with the design drawings of the battleship of the new class. This class of battleships was named 'Zhonghua-class' battleships by the Navy.

The 'Zhonghua-class' battleship has a length of 162.4 meters, a width of 29.7 meters, a draft of 9.2 meters, a standard displacement of 26,800 tons, and a full load displacement of 30,600 tons. It is armed with three triple 343 mm 50 x caliber main guns, 14 155 mm 45 x caliber single guns, 10 88 mm rapid-fire guns, and no underwater torpedo tubes. Three twin guns with a front-two-back-one layout, with the front guns being piggybacked, allowing the battleship to fire at one side of the nine guns. The use of the latest boilers and steam turbines made it possible for the battleship to reach more than 25 knots. The thickness of the armor on the side of the battleship was 350 mm, the frontal armor of the turret was 330 mm, and the armor of the conning tower was 350 mm. The Imperial Navy planned to build four battleships of this class, the lead ship 'Zhonghua', the second ship 'Huaxia', the third ship 'Shenzhou' and the fourth ship 'Yanhuang'.

Although the displacement of the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships was not as good as that of the Japanese Navy's 'Fuso-class' battleships, the number of main guns was only 75 percent of that of the 'Fuso-class' battleships. However, the defense is far stronger than that of the 'Fuso level'. The overall combat power of the battleship is definitely above the 'Fuso-class' battleship. In addition, the Imperial Navy will build four 'Zhonghua-class' battleships this time, far above the two 'Fuso-class' battleships of the Japanese Navy. Once the Imperial Navy's four 'Zhonghua-class' battleships are commissioned, even if the Japanese Navy has two more 'Fuso-class' battleships, the Chinese Navy will be able to occupy an absolute advantage.

In addition, the 'Zhonghua-class' battleship is also the first class of high-speed battleships positioned by the Imperial Navy. In the future, the battleships built by the Imperial Navy will pursue high speed. Its main purpose is to be able to accompany aircraft carriers in the future.

The Chinese Navy will build four 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, which will undoubtedly start an arms race with the Japanese Navy. Since then, China and Japan have begun a frenzied competition in naval armaments. (To be continued.) )

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