"I don't know what your country thinks of the aviation cruiser designed by the Germans, but according to the information available to our Navy, this kind of aviation cruiser has greatly reduced the artillery combat capability of the battleship and enhanced the aviation capability, and an aviation cruiser with a standard displacement of 15,000 tons can carry more than 20 carrier-based aircraft. In the eyes of China's navy top brass, such warships are very good in making up for the lack of air force in the fleet and in carrying out the task of breaking diplomatic relations. After asking about aircraft carriers, Daniel moved on to the next topic.

This was indeed a very tempting scenario for the Italian Navy, which lacked naval aviation power. Moreover, as a country with colonies, Italy's foreign fleets stationed in Eritrea and Somalia need a flagship, and it is obviously a waste to use battleships and aircraft carriers as flagships, and if an aviation cruiser is arranged, it takes into account both aviation combat power and strong artillery combat capabilities, so the Italian Navy also wants to see if it can make a first-class aviation cruiser as the main force of the overseas fleet.

"If in a small-scale engagement, the aviation cruiser will play a very important role, but it needs to be made that two points need to be made that, first, the aviation combat effectiveness of the aviation cruiser is certainly not as good as that of a small aircraft carrier of displacement. And it will be much worse. Secondly, the artillery capabilities of aviation cruisers are definitely weaker than those of cruisers of the same class. The artillery combat capability here is not only about the number of guns, but also about the defensive power. Of course, if a standard heavy cruiser and an aviation cruiser engage directly in a small battle, the aircraft of an aviation cruiser can completely suppress an ordinary cruiser. And because of the storage of aircraft, the reconnaissance and battlefield perception capabilities are also stronger for aviation cruisers. "For aviation cruisers. Yan Boxun expressed his opinion.

In general, the aviation cruiser is better than the ordinary cruiser in naval warfare, but if you take into account that the cruiser has to perform night combat and ground cover tasks when necessary. Then the aviation cruiser is not as good as the latter because of the number of guns and armor, which is one of the fundamental reasons why Huaxia would rather choose to replenish the aircraft carrier after the end of the treaty than choose to use the aviation cruiser with a small number of guns and weak protection.

"As a designer, you should understand that even if you are given 16,000 tonnage, you can design a ship that is loaded with at least six 10-inch guns, has a speed of more than 32 knots, and can take off and land 20 aircraft. At the same time, it is simply impossible for a battleship with armor that can withstand 10-inch guns. Yan Boxun bluntly said that the shortcomings of the air defense cruiser are obvious. Because in the case of a certain tonnage and other equipment. Heavy armor is obtained by reducing the protective area, and the fundamental reason why key protection can eventually replace comprehensive protection lies in the protection of the core cabin.

"A battleship must include the following things in the protection of the core compartment, the boiler room, the engine room. The main gun, ammunition depot, and auxiliary engine room include generators and related equipment. (The historical Veneto burst into tears, the motor compartment was outside the armored box.) Speaking of which. Yan Boxun paused. "But aviation cruisers are different. He also had to put additional aviation fuel tanks and aviation ammunition into the armor box. At the same time, in order to accommodate more aircraft, the entire hangar must be as long as possible, and if the guards arrange the main guns, and the length between the main guns to set up the armor box, then this length may be very amazing. ”

"According to what our country and your country know about the German cruisers, the length of their cruisers is most likely more than 210 meters, and the projected hangar length plus the lifts should be 120 meters, plus the protection of the front and rear turrets. The entire length of protection will reach an astonishing 150 meters. And in this case, even lay their flight deck above the turret. Its length is only about 160 meters. Such a long armor belt will inevitably greatly weaken the defense. The length of protection of the heavy cruisers in China was only about 110 meters. Can you imagine how well protected this battleship would be even if it could exceed some tonnage? Yan Boxun asked rhetorically.

If Huaxia made a little effort to make the battleship immune to the general 10-inch level artillery at the normal engagement distance, then the Germans would definitely not be able to make the aviation cruiser immune to the 10-inch level gun, and it would be good to be able to immunize all the armor belts against the 7-inch level gun! YOU MUST KNOW THAT THE 145MM INCLINED ARMOR IN HISTORY IS ONLY AN 8-INCH GUN THAT IS IMMUNE TO THE GENERAL ANGLO-AMERICAN AND JAPANESE GUNS, AND THE DISTANCE IS RELATIVELY LONG. Yan Boxun has a hard time believing that the Germans 15,000 tons class (super tonnage is for sure. THE AVIATION CRUISER, WHILE ENSURING THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF 20 AIRCRAFT, CAN ALSO MAKE THE ARMOR BOX ABOUT 150 METERS LONG HAVE THE PROTECTION OF 145MM INCLINED ARMOR! Even if a few main guns are missing, it still won't work. Therefore, it is possible to build a few air cruisers, but if you want to be the main force, it will greatly weaken a country's land support and night combat capabilities.

Yan Boxun's words still had a great impact on the Italian Navy, at least discouraged their plans to build a large number of aviation cruisers. The Germans chose to build aviation cruisers in large quantities for a reason, they needed to break up diplomatic relations with submarines and land-based aircraft in the Atlantic, emphasizing reconnaissance capabilities, as well as the strongest attack power. So they need aviation cruisers. However, the Italian Navy is different, their combat area is in the Mediterranean, basically during the day can get the support of the Italian air force and the assistance of their own sea-based aviation, and at night they have to watch out for possible night battles. The only place that can be used is probably the colony in East Africa, so it is enough for Italy to build a maximum of 2 ships, and building too many will affect the strength of the fleet in night battles. Of course, if the aviation cruiser has to resist the opponent's 10-inch naval guns, then the only way to increase the tonnage is to increase it, and as for how much it will increase, Huaxia has not studied it.

While Yan and Daniel were discussing the future development of the Italian Navy, the aviation cruiser program presided over by Raeder also suffered a setback. THE REASON FOR THIS IS AS YAN BOXUN PREDICTED, THE PROTECTION IS TOO POOR, AND THE GERMAN ADMIRALTY, WHICH HAS ALWAYS PAID ATTENTION TO PROTECTION, REALLY CAN'T ACCEPT A CRUISER THAT CAN'T EVEN DEFEND AGAINST 210MM GUNS, "MR. RAEDER'S CRUISER IS LIKE A LAYER OF PAPER IN THE FACE OF THE HEAVY CRUISERS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES." Even taking into account the course angle, it is impossible to defend against 10-inch guns fired from normal combat distances, and if it is an artillery battle, as long as the opponent's shells can hit the core cabin, then the result is almost a must! This was the statement of a German designer about the aviation cruiser.

Raeder was born as a staff officer, and he didn't know how to build ships, he could see the capabilities of an aviation cruiser, but he didn't know the price behind these abilities! In his plan, the aviation cruiser should be a ship with the same speed as ordinary cruisers, weak firepower, but at the same time with a certain aviation capability. However, the weight gained by reducing the weight of the 3 main guns really could not balance the defensive pressure caused by the lengthening of the armor box. As a result, the German designers said that they could achieve the level of 500KG high-explosive shells and 7-inch guns in the horizontal armor of the battleship at most. No matter how high it is, it really won't work.

However, just when Raeder was overwhelmed by reproaches from both the navy and the shipyards, Admiral Hipper, who had been promoted to commander of the Grand Fleet, expressed his support for Raeder's plan despite public opinion, which was not in the care of Raeder's junior, after all, any care could not be more important than the cost of hundreds of millions of marks and tens of thousands of tons of warship tonnage, Hipper's agreement that the fundamental reason for Raeder's plan was the need for German strategy, because in the process of the main fleet going south to the Mediterranean Sea and then attacking South Asia, The German Navy really needed a versatile warship to contain the Allies' naval forces as much as possible while disrupting as many lines of communication as possible. Without aviation cruisers, what would the German Navy use? With fleet aircraft carriers plus capital ships? Please, the Allied Navy is already weak, and if the main fleet is still dispersed like this, isn't it looking for death? So even if these aviation cruisers are crispy, they must be built! Strategic requirements have taken precedence over tactics. In the unlikely event that the cruiser entered into an artillery battle with the opposing enemy and was sunk, then the German Navy could only consider itself unlucky.

However, the report of the Naval Design Bureau still had a certain impact on the construction of the Allied navy, and in addition to the German Navy's firm implementation of the aviation cruiser construction program, both Austria-Hungary and Turkey wavered from this warship with obvious advantages and disadvantages, and each of the capital ships of Austria-Hungary and Turkey was very valuable compared to the huge size of the German Navy. And from the point of view of combat missions, they also have no responsibility to undertake the task of breaking diplomatic relations in the North Atlantic. So after several hesitations, they respectively reduced the number of aviation cruisers built, Austria-Hungary intended to build 2 ships, and Turkey built only 1.

"Someday, you will realize the great role of aviation cruisers in war. Even if his protection is fragile, he is definitely the most suitable battleship for a North Atlantic to break diplomatic relations, and he will be the most important rope for the High Seas Fleet to hang Britain. Although he was questioned and opposed from many quarters, Raeder did not want to give up on his plans and dreams. He didn't even care about future promotions, and Marshal Schell had repeatedly hinted that Raeder could consider transferring him to the General Staff of the Navy after the construction of the aviation cruiser had been completed, if he wanted to, but he politely refused.

And thanks to Raeder's efforts, the first aviation cruiser Emden was finally launched for outfitting 5 years after the armistice of World War 1 (for some reason, the year after 1920 cannot appear in the text, so I directly described it in terms of XX years after the war, and the end of World War 1 in this plane was 1919). This battleship will be used as a practical product to accumulate experience for the subsequent construction of aviation cruisers. With the recovery and development of Germany's economy and national strength in the past few years, Germany's national strength has far surpassed that of Britain in the same period, second only to the United States and China. A Germany stronger than it was before the war appeared.

Thanks to the book friend Owen puppet, zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the tip~~~, as well as the book friend Kong Chen, f663026, Wang Chao said corporal, athlon 9527 for their monthly pass support ~~~~. (To be continued......)