I want to be emperor

Chapter 1133 The battle to save money

In the winter of November of the 52nd year of Chengshun, the North African Province Canal Management Area, the Suez Canal.

A not-too-large, stubby warship is slowly passing through the Suez Canal with the assistance of guide ships and tugboats.

Behind it, there are many warships of varying tonnage currently sailing.

These warships are all warships sent from the mainland to Europe for duty.

In addition to conventional frigates and cruisers, this fleet also has four special offshore combat ships.

Three of them are Yongding-class offshore combat ships that have appeared in European waters, with a displacement of just over a thousand tons, but one of them is the first time it has appeared in European waters... to be precise, it is the first time it has been sent overseas to serve as a mission. Gaozhou-class littoral combat ship.

The Gaozhou-class offshore combat ship is a medium-sized offshore combat ship specially designed and built by the Dachu Empire Navy for the sea-to-land strategy. Even for the type of ship used in offshore operations, it can be regarded as a large warship. After all, if the tonnage is larger, Because of the draft problem, it is difficult to move around in areas such as offshore areas and river estuaries.

The Gaozhou-class littoral combat ship's full load displacement of 4,200 tons is almost the limit. According to the Dachu Empire Navy's research on the hydrological data of coasts, ports, and major rivers in Europe, West Asia, and India, it exceeds this tonnage. If so, it would be difficult to create a suitable littoral combat ship.

Although the offshore combat ship has a relatively shallow draft, it still has its limits. It is impossible to fool around... not to mention that the offshore combat ship still needs to maintain basic ocean navigation capabilities, and it is impossible to really make it a flat-land, high-center-of-gravity ship like an inland river gunboat. .

In order to reduce the draft, the ship had to raise its center of gravity when designing the ship. At the same time, in order to avoid instability caused by the raised center of gravity, coupled with the factors of being equipped with heavy artillery and turrets, the ship's side had to be lowered.

Therefore, the Gaozhou-class littoral combat ship is a type of ship that is quite contradictory in itself, and its design is the result of many compromises.

In the end, the Gaozhou-class littoral combat ship appeared, a type of ship that did not exist in the navies of various countries in the original time and space.

The full load displacement is 4,200 tons. It is equipped with a twin 200mm 40x naval gun at the front and rear. Six single 120mm rapid-fire cannons and four 75mm rapid-fire cannons are installed on the gun gallery. .

Powered by a mature and reliable reciprocating steam engine, the ship has a maximum speed of 14 knots and an economical cruising range of 4,000 kilometers at eight knots.

In terms of protection, the 200mm main gun is designed as a turret and has armor protection, while the 152mm secondary gun is protected by a gun gallery.

The warship adopts the concept of comprehensive protection and has side armor belts. Of course, the armor belts on non-important parts are relatively weak.

In terms of artillery layout and protection, this is actually a type of ship similar to a battleship.

But... the ship has a low dry side, shallow draft, and has the classic characteristics of a shallow-water gunboat...

But it’s not over yet. Although this thing has the characteristics of a shallow-water gunboat, it is capable of ocean navigation and even cannon warfare.

After the three are combined with each other, it becomes more bizarre.

The weird design actually makes this kind of warship seem to have many comprehensive capabilities, but in fact, the capabilities in each aspect are not outstanding!

Let's put it this way, if this thing was placed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the offshore battleships in the Guards Fleet would be able to beat it to shit...it would be lagging behind in all aspects of firepower, protection, and maneuverability.

If this thing is driven to the real ocean, any cruiser of the Navy can easily penetrate the ship... If the weather is bad, the Gaozhou-class offshore combat ship will not even have a chance to fight back. There will be, because we can’t catch up, escape, hit, or carry...

But... whether a battleship is useful depends on where it is used and who it is used against.

The combat targets of littoral combat ships have never been the Dachu Empire Navy or Guards Fleet of the same level... but the offshore and land forces of various indigenous countries that do not have the ability to resist.

This can be seen from the fact that almost all littoral combat ships are dispatched to perform duties in overseas waters.

From the perspective of dealing with the offshore and land forces of indigenous countries, littoral combat ships are not only sufficient, but also very easy to use, and the cost of construction and deployment is low... This is after many Yongding-class littoral combat ships were put into service in India and Europe. , get real experience.

It was against this background that the Gaozhou-class littoral combat ship was built. After the first ship Gaozhou completed various sea trials and training, the first combat deployment was directly sent to Europe.

The Gaozhou and other warships dispatched to Europe continued sailing after passing through the Suez Canal, and then arrived at Alex Port, which is also known as Alexandria in North Africa and among Europeans... The Chu people often named newly conquered overseas territories. They will simply use the transliteration or free translation of the original place name, and then randomly intercept two or three syllables as the place name.

Therefore, Alexandria was called Alexandria.

Today's Alex Port is the home port of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Great Chu Empire Navy. The headquarters of the Mediterranean Fleet is set up here. A large number of warships and military auxiliary ships are parked here for maintenance on a daily basis.

However, this is not the focus of the Gaozhou. Due to the recent instability in Western Europe, civil wars have broken out among many indigenous countries, such as the four British countries, Nordic Denmark and Sweden, the Kingdom of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. war.

In addition, many indigenous officials in many countries, such as France, Spain, and Germany, are launching large-scale armed attacks against the rebels with the support of the Chu people's advanced weapons trade.

In order to avoid instability in the above-mentioned areas and damage to the interests of the empire, the empire is strengthening military deployment in the above-mentioned areas to ensure that the war actions of the above-mentioned countries are carried out within the framework set by the Dachu Empire. For example, wars in limited areas must not disrupt normalcy. Labor production must not disrupt the normal operations of Chu State's enterprises, ensure the smooth flow of normal commercial exchanges, and must not kill or injure Chu State people.

To ensure the interests of these empires, words alone are not enough. Even the empire's own powerful conventional deterrence capabilities cannot avoid accidents... After all, these indigenous countries are at war, and many of them are indigenous government troops and When the rebels are fighting, once they get anxious, they don't care whether you are from Chu or not...

Especially those rebels... they may still have some scruples in normal times, but when a critical moment comes, they will not care about the so-called rules of engagement of the Chu people, and will even attack Chu companies and kill Chu people.

When death is imminent, no one cares whether you are from the Chu State or not. Those who should be killed will still be killed, and those who should be buried will still be buried.

Therefore, in order to ensure the empire's own interests, the Military Academy continues to strengthen its military presence in the above-mentioned areas.

It not only strengthens the deployment of military power on the ground, but also strengthens the deployment of maritime power.

Against this background, the Gaozhou, currently the largest and most powerful offshore combat ship in terms of tonnage, has been dispatched to the Western European Fleet. The ship will join the two Yongding-class offshore combat ships to form a force with great deterrence. The offshore combat fleet is used to go to various risk areas at any time to protect the interests of Chu State.

Therefore, after completing a new round of replenishment in Port Alex, the offshore combat ship Gaozhou continued to sail through the Mediterranean Sea, bypassed the Strait of Gibraltar, then went north to the Atlantic Ocean, and finally entered the English Channel, arriving at the station of the Western European Fleet in England. Area of ​​Dover.

This place was the most important direct-administered territory of the Chu Empire in Britain and even Western Europe. In addition, it was also the most convenient port for maritime connections between the British Islands and Europe. Naturally, it became a direct-administered territory of the empire. Later, the fleet was stationed here. Slowly, it has also become a port with relatively good conditions and a large amount of modern infrastructure.

Later, the Navy reformed the European Fleet and upgraded the European Fleet to a first-class administrative fleet, which is an administrative fleet of the same level as the Atlantic Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet. The European Fleet is based in Cadiz.

The European Fleet consists of four local squadrons: the Mediterranean Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Western European Fleet, and the Baltic Fleet.

Under such circumstances, the directly administered territory of Dover, which has relatively complete infrastructure and a certain ability to repair warships, became the main base and headquarters of the Western European fleet.

Of course, the port of the Western European fleet is not just Dover, but there are actually several others, such as Calais, Amsterdam, Cherbourg, Brest, etc. across the strait.

Basically, every port in the directly administered territory or administrative territory controlled by the Chu Empire can be regarded as a port base of the Imperial Navy in a sense, but the supply and maintenance capabilities are different.

After all, the ports in these administrative territories are often also the home ports of the local coastal defense fleets... The military deployments of the Chu Empire in overseas territories and overseas directly administered territories, in addition to ground troops, are often paired with an offshore defense force to garrison a small amount of offshore areas. Patrol ships and shallow water gunboats are used for daily deterrence and combat.

In fact, most of the time, the so-called Dachu Imperial Navy that the indigenous countries faced... were actually offshore patrol ships and shallow-water gunboats in the garrison fleets of these overseas territories.

As for regular warships, even the frigates used for miscellaneous purposes in the Chu Empire Navy, they are actually rarely seen... Generally, when you see regular warships from the Chu Navy, either a war has broken out or you are facing the threat of war.

Anyway, nothing good.

Therefore, for these indigenous countries, it is not a good thing to see Chu's regular fleet on a daily basis. This often means that the most important thing is to destroy the country, and the least important thing is to cede territory and pay compensation.

Relatively speaking, the Chu people have much better offshore patrol ships and shallow-water gunboats... At most, they can engage in some naval gun diplomacy and destroy ports and docks, which will not lead to the destruction of the country.

Therefore, although the Da Chu Empire Navy has already developed offshore combat ships, the role of offshore patrol ships and shallow water gunboats is still important. After all, the main positioning of the offshore combat ship is actually to replace some ocean-going ships to perform offshore missions, and to replace the combat missions of some large-tonnage offshore patrol ships and large-tonnage shallow-water gunboats.

This does not conflict with the daily patrol deterrence and combat operations of hundreds of tons of offshore patrol ships and shallow water gunboats.

No matter how powerful the offshore combat ship is, it cannot undertake frequent daily offshore patrols, port guarding and other offshore patrol ship tasks, and it cannot go deep into inland rivers to perform escort, combat, and patrol missions like small and medium-sized gunboats.

Different ship types have their own missions and positioning, and there is no complete replacement. The same is true for littoral combat ships.

After an ocean voyage, the offshore combat ship Gaozhou finally arrived in Dover, where it officially joined the Western European Fleet and served as the flagship of the 253rd Fleet.

The 253rd Fleet is also the second specialized offshore combat ship fleet established by the Dachu Empire. It currently has the Gaozhou offshore combat ship, a large offshore combat ship with a cruiser tonnage, and three Yongding-class offshore frigates. Battleships Huixian, Yangwu, Taikang.

The 253rd Fleet composed of these four offshore combat ships will become an important offshore combat force used by the Da Chu Empire Navy to control the waters of Western Europe and support the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

To be exaggerated, if these four littoral combat ships move out of the London Port, the Kingdom of England will have to get out of the water and surrender, or directly escape five hundred miles away...

Of course, the Chu Navy would not do this unless there are special circumstances!

The current royal government of the Kingdom of England is doing a very good job. As an agent, it has fully completed various tasks assigned by the people of Chu. Officials from the European Department of the General Administration of Domain Affairs gave the current King of England's evaluation Above average'.

Well, the General Administration of Domain Affairs of the Da Chu Empire also has the task of evaluating the actual rulers such as the kings and powerful nobles of each vassal state. According to their attitude towards the empire, their ability to work, etc., they will be given varying evaluations, which are inferior. , there are five levels in total for evaluation: middle-lower, medium, upper-middle, and upper.

This evaluation, to some extent, also determines the empire's support for them.

An agent ruler with a low evaluation usually works for a short time... Soon he will die of illness, accidental death, or simply a palace coup, military mutiny and other accidents.

In the eyes of the people of Chu, the current king of England has done a pretty good job, so the people of Chu have no intention of changing the king to the people of England... Under such circumstances, they will naturally not send the main fleet to scare them. , leading to things like the decline of the king's prestige in the eyes of the locals.

On the contrary, sometimes the Chu people would send military forces to help him stand up...

A month ago, a certain noble noble in England wanted to rebel, and shouted the so-called slogan of expelling the Chu people and restoring the Great British Kingdom... He also sent a group of elite soldiers, disguised as a caravan, to London to try Launch a surprise attack and behead the King of England...

After the Chu people heard the news, they dispatched a quick-response cavalry unit directly from the London Concession. Hundreds of cavalrymen directly rode on horseback and brought an armored vehicle for testing. They arrived at the Royal Palace in just a few hours. Nearby, after several rounds of rapid mortar fire, and then repeated firing with vehicle-mounted machine guns, this group of so-called elite rebels was wiped out on the spot.

This agent was supported by the people of the Chu State... Without the permission of the people of the Chu State, no one could try to remove him from power through conspiracy and tricks... Not to mention that the rebels were still using the slogan of expelling the people of the Chu State. .

Of course, if they were defeated by the Kingdom of Wales in an upright manner on the battlefield, and then destroyed or something like that... the people of Chu would not care.

Because in the eyes of the people of Chu, the king of the Kingdom of Wales opposite has done a good job... As the saying goes, both the left and right are their own bastards, and they can't help anyone... So just don't help each other, and you can do it yourself. Who loses and wins depends on your own strength.

It is precisely because of some changes on the British side that the navy will strengthen the fleet strength in Western Europe to provide cover for subsequent military operations.

The foreign legions of the Great Chu Empire were already preparing to carry out direct military attacks on many of the great nobles in the Kingdom of England who openly resisted the king and drove away the Chu rebels.

The Chu people generally ignore the rebels who fight in small groups, and instead let the military power of their agents suppress them. However, when multiple large-scale coalitions unite to resist this kind of resistance... the Chu people will go into battle in person without any hesitation. ...Okay, they say they are going into battle in person, but in fact they are sending cannon fodder troops like the Foreign Legion.

As for the regular army... they are supervising the battle from behind.

Now that the ground forces are almost ready, the Army is preparing to dispatch more than 4,000 foreign legions to participate in this military operation.

The navy's mission is simple, go to the coast of the Exeter area controlled by the rebels, destroy their turrets, cover the army to seize the port, and establish a maritime supply line.

Use giant ships and cannons to intimidate and attack the rebels, and let these natives know that they can provoke anyone, but they cannot provoke the Chu people... You can even engage in rebellion, but in fact you cannot engage in rebellion under the banner of resisting the Chu people!

So, not long after arriving in Europe, the USS Gaozhou littoral combat ship, which had completed its rest and recuperation in Dover, set sail after completing various preparations, leading the other three small-tonnage littoral combat ships to perform the first mission in its service career. A combat mission.

This is also the first time that the Da Chu Empire Navy has dispatched multiple littoral combat ships to perform combat missions, so the navy is still relatively concerned about it.

A new cruiser equipped with a radio was even dispatched to serve as the flagship of the fleet to observe and quickly report relevant offshore combat ship operations to the country.

On December 253, Chengshun fifty-two years, some combat ships under the Chu State's Western European Fleet, including the rd Fleet, successfully arrived at the coastal area of ​​Exeter.

In the past, when the Chu fleet arrived in the offshore areas of these areas, it often used ocean-going frigates and cruisers to approach the coastline at a certain risk, and carried out long-distance bombardment a few kilometers away from the coastline, and then used offshore patrol ships. Large-tonnage shallow-water gunboats rushed forward to cover the area with artillery fire.

Of course, due to the weak strength of the natives, this attack is actually possible, and the effect is good... However, there is still a risk of the main battleship running aground, and long-distance bombardment is not very accurate.

Fire control is still not very good these days. Even if a battleship is to hit a fixed target on land, it will be difficult if the distance is a little farther... This doesn't really matter if it is placed in a conventional war. It is just a waste of more shells. The barrel It's just a little more loss of life.

But this is a huge flaw for the Chu Navy, which is now budget-conscious and wants to save costs in many aspects.

After all, the Chu Navy carries out combat missions in various sea areas almost every day... It wastes a little here and a little there, which adds up to a big number.

Therefore, the Chu Navy's pursuit of accuracy in shelling fixed targets is still relatively high...for no other reason than to save some money on artillery shells and make the barrels last longer.

But now, when the combat order was issued, the Littoral Combat Ship Gaozhou and the other three Littoral Combat Ships of the 253 Fleet rushed directly... They did not carefully measure the waterway and hide like the official ocean cruisers and frigates. Where are you hiding here?

Instead, they randomly picked some channel with a decent water depth and killed it... The advantage of this shallow draft was fully utilized.

At the same time, they are not afraid of the coastal defense forts of the indigenous people... The indigenous people also have coastal defense forts built with smoothbore cannons. Most likely, they use the large-caliber smoothbore cannons exported by the Chu people, which can also shoot a distance of one or two kilometers or more. farther away.

If this is an ordinary ocean-going frigate, due to the unprotected hull structure, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, it will often stop moving forward... Even if this threat is actually very limited, a limited threat is still a threat. The solid shells of the indigenous smoothbore cannons would make a big hole at the waterline... and they would also sink. Wouldn't that be funny!

However, these offshore combat ships completely ignored the counterattack firepower of these sporadic indigenous forts, and rushed forward forcefully relying on their own armor, which was not thick but was enough to cope with these smoothbore cannon shells.

Finally, they even got closer to about five or six hundred meters before firing!

As Gaozhou's two twin-mounted 200mm naval guns opened fire, the Gaozhou's 120mm secondary guns and the 120mm rapid-fire main guns on the three Yongding-class littoral combat ships began to fire. Fire... Within a few minutes, the opposite shore defense turret completely misfired in a cloud of smoke and dust!

Immediately afterwards, the four littoral combat ships of the 253rd Fleet turned their guns and launched a large-scale bombardment at various administrative and military facilities in the port.

The shelling at this distance is almost a close-up shelling, with extremely high accuracy... Often a few shells can level an enemy's fortress to the ground.

Behind them, they even carried out long-range coverage artillery bombardment on enemy rebel camps, assembly areas, field artillery positions, etc. far away from the port, under the fire of hot-air balloons.

Simple, crisp and efficient!

This is the huge combat effectiveness displayed by the four littoral combat ships in the 253rd Fleet in the first large-scale actual combat... Well, or the huge consumption ratio!

A group of naval officers watching the battle from the back watched and calculated... Finally, they came to a conclusion. Compared with using traditional ocean-going battleships plus offshore patrol ships and shallow-water gunboats, using offshore combat ships will at least save costs. Seventy percent!

After reaching this conclusion, the eyes of all the naval officers were bright...

It doesn't matter if you play well, you save money if you play well, that's the point!

Many people present could already imagine how the top brass of the Navy felt after the relevant battle reports of this large-scale battle were revealed to Jinling.

And this is indeed the case... Relevant news and analysis were sent back to Jinling through long-distance communication methods such as wireless telegraphy and wired telegraphy.

Just one day later, the Navy reduced the number of orders for some ocean-going frigates and cruisers... and diverted military funds to add orders for two Gaozhou-class littoral combat ships and eight Yongding-class littoral combat ships!

This has increased the total number of orders for Gaozhou-class littoral combat ships to eight, and the order for Yongding-class littoral combat ships to thirty-eight.

Littoral combat ships, not surprisingly, will become an important component of the Chu Empire's navy. Especially in the future, they are very likely to completely replace traditional ocean-going warships and assume offshore deterrence and combat missions in overseas waters.