Rise of Australia

Chapter 142 When the sale is in progress (please support the two-in-one chapter!)

Coastal defense ships needless to say, as small warships with a tonnage of less than [-] tons, the biggest role of coastal defense ships is to patrol the coast of Australia, discover and report possible enemy movements in time.

Because of the tonnage, it is absolutely impossible for a coastal frigate to be an opponent of a medium-sized or larger warship. Even in the face of a warship of more than [-] tons, such a small coastal frigate has no room for resistance.

The Japanese visiting group headed by Yuzawa Koichiro didn't have much interest in this small warship, but they still took a tour with a lot of face.

After the three relatively small coastal frigates, there are two armored cruisers under construction.

Compared with the previous coastal frigates, these two warships look much larger, and they are also much more formal.

As a medium-sized warship with a tonnage of more than 5000 tons, the Duke-class armored cruiser also combines the advantages of German warships and British warships in terms of performance. The most powerful warship.

The construction time of these two warships is not very long. After nearly half a year of full-scale construction, the construction work of the warships has also come to an end.

As Australia's current distinguished guests, Toshiyuki Hirano and Koichiro Yuzawa naturally also got the opportunity to board these two warships.

Although still in the construction stage, the main body of the warship has actually been completed, and all that is missing is the actual installation of artillery and other hardware.

"Mr. Minister, the warship being built in your country seems to be different from the warships of the German warship and the British Empire. Is this a warship developed by your country?" On the cruiser Duke Arthur, Koichiro Yuzawa was concentrating Seeing Australian and German experts directing many workers to carry out various construction and tests on the warship, he asked the Australian Deputy Foreign Minister next to him with great interest.

"The same can be said, Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro. These two warships are called the Duke-class armored cruiser. They were originally improved by His Royal Highness's shipyard based on the British medium-sized frigate, and they have been improved by these German experts. The advantages of warships and warships of the British Empire also make up for many shortcomings. Although this is only a medium-sized warship, it does not play a very important role in the situation of a naval battle. But at least in terms of small and medium-sized warships, this is already a A very powerful warship." Australia's deputy foreign minister explained with a smile.

This has to mention the shipyard founded by Duke Arthur.Because of Duke Arthur's previous fame and power in the British Empire, he also successfully recruited many British shipbuilding talents.

As the country with the largest shipbuilding industry and navy in the world at that time and even now, the strength of the vigorous shipbuilding industry of the British Empire can be imagined.

With the gathering of these talents, it is not surprising to improve the existing frigates of the British Empire.

The improvement of German experts is also easy to understand. The two countries have different ideas for warships. There may be advantages and disadvantages, but they can inspire and improve warships.

This is the case with the Duke-class armored cruiser. With the improvement of many experts from the British Empire and the German Empire, this medium-sized cruiser already has good strength, at least one of the best among small and medium-sized warships.

"Sure enough." Yuzawa Koichiro nodded with a little admiration, and said with a smile: "With the improved technology of this armored cruiser, it seems that it is not difficult for Australia to master more advanced battleships. Your country has such generous assistance from Germany. It's really enviable, and if you have the latest battleship, don't forget about us."

"Hahaha." The Deputy Foreign Minister of Australia laughed and said with a smile: "Doesn't your country also have the full support of the British Empire? Your country has developed to such a degree in just a few decades, even compared to other countries. The old powers such as Italy and Spain in Europe are not far behind. If you give your country a period of time, it will not be a problem to realize the complete production of battleships."

Although the rise of the island nation cannot do without the massive support of the British Empire and the United States, it has to be admitted that this East Asian country has exploded with amazing potential.

The reason why the German Empire was able to rise rapidly from independence and become the world's number one army and the top three powerful naval powers in the world has many factors because the predecessor of the German Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, was a brave and warlike country.

Coupled with its location in Western Europe, it was able to absorb the most advanced technology and knowledge from all over the world, which made the German Empire become the second largest power in the world so quickly.

But what about island nations?Because it is located in East Asia, even connecting to Western countries is because of being forced to open the country with strong ships and guns.

Before this, the technology of the island country was not even as good as that of a big oriental country next door, let alone compared with those European powers that had colonized the world.

Looking closely at the history of the island country, how many years has it been since the real reformation began?It will take 35 years to count.

But what amazing feat has the island nation accomplished?From a remote island country with extremely backward technology and knowledge, it has become a regional power that has initially realized industrialization and Westernization, and has even begun to compete with old powers like the Russian Empire for hegemony in some regions.

In such a short period of time, he made a completely reversed role change, pulled himself back from the abyss of being a colony, and even went back to oppress and colonize other countries and regions.

It is somewhat unrealistic to attribute these credits to the support of the British Empire and the United States.Whether it is the British Empire or the United States, they have funded a large number of countries for a long time, and they have also supported many forces and regimes.

But who can grow rapidly into a regional hegemony like an island country?No one, or no country can do it.

Even the British Empire did not expect that the little brother who was just looking up to the Tsarist Empire for regional confrontation would one day grow into a behemoth of the same level (great powers) as himself.

Yuzawa Koichiro and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs flattered each other for a while, and then they were quite reluctant to change the topic to the warship.

"Mr. Minister, do you have detailed information on this armored cruiser in your country? I am very interested in this warship. It is one of the excellent ships that can cruise the coast." Yuzawa Koichiro asked with a smile.

Originally, Yuzawa Koichiro had no idea about Australia's small warships. After all, the island country also has the production technology of small warships, and most of the technology comes from the British Empire, which is naturally world-class.

But when Koichiro Yuzawa witnessed the construction of the warship by the Australian shipyard, his thoughts changed immediately.

Although the island nation has many production technologies for small and medium warships, all of these technologies and drawings were taught by experts from the British Empire.

But what good things can the British Empire offer the island nation?Basically, they are blueprints of warships eliminated by the British Empire, and even those seemingly advanced production technologies are a little behind the European mainstream.

With slightly backward production technology and eliminated warship blueprints, what would the small and medium-sized warships look like?

The reason why Yuzawa Koichiro is satisfied with the small and medium-sized warships produced by the island country itself is because small and medium-sized warships do not play a big role in actual naval battles, and they are just cannon fodder when facing large warships.

But Australia's Duke-class armored cruiser made Yuzawa Koichiro change his opinion.

Although the Duke-class armored cruiser still has no room for resistance against large warships, it has a huge advantage in the face of other small and medium-sized warships, and can very well undertake the work of cruising the coast and escorting merchant ships and transport ships.

You know, the island country is a veritable island country with a large number of islands and maritime territories.

This has led to island countries needing many small and medium-sized warships to cruise the coast and protect the safety of the sea and coast in addition to large fleets.

You can't let those large warships cruise the coast, can you?First of all, there are not many large warships, and they are really useless for patrolling.

Second, the cost of large warship cruises is not directly proportional to the cost of small warships. If it is not for some exercises and strategic goals, it is meaningless to send out large warships for ordinary cruises.

After all, simple problems can be solved by dispatching small and medium-sized warships, instead of dispatching large warships to shoot mosquitoes with cannons.

"Yes, Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro. Although the information about the Duke-class armored cruiser is important information for Australia that should not be passed on to the outside world, as an important friend of Australia, your country is welcome to take a look." The Deputy Foreign Minister said with a smile .

Although it was only a medium-sized warship, the information on the Duke-class armored cruiser was still dozens of pages thick, and this was after subtracting the design drawings of the warship and some important information.

"Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro, here are the various materials of the Duke-class armored cruiser you want. These materials are very important to Australia, and please do not spread them to the outside world." The deputy minister said to Koichiro Yuzawa with a smile on his face.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. Thank you and your country for your trust in us. Please rest assured that I will never disclose all the contents of this document, and will only lock it firmly in my heart." Yuzawa Koichiro Originally, he did not expect that the Australian side would agree to allow him to watch the data. After actually getting some data on the Duke-class armored cruiser, Yuzawa Koichiro was a little excited, but also a little surprised and honored.

In fact, the Australian side is not so generous.Most of the information on the Duke-class armored cruiser that Koichiro Yuzawa could obtain was information that had been made public or could be made public, and had no effect on the design of the warship itself.

These data are basically the basic information on the number, type and tonnage of the cannons installed on the warship, and the speed of the ship. A few of the more important data are also unimproved warship data, which will not affect the current armored cruiser.

But how did Koichiro Yuzawa know so much?As a diplomatic professional, although he has dabbled in weaponry and warship design, he only knows and understands some designs.

Of course, these are also enough.The purpose of Koichiro Yuzawa is also very simple, that is to obtain and analyze the information of the Duke-class armored cruiser, and judge whether the island country needs to purchase several such warships to strengthen the patrol and protection capabilities of the coast.

I saw that the information clearly stated that the Australian Duke-class armored cruiser is an improved version of the British Empire's Orlando-class armored cruiser, and it evolved into the current design after further improvement by German experts.

The Duke-class armored cruiser is 93.5 meters long, 17.63 meters wide, 7.01 meters high, and has 6500 horsepower. Its regular speed has reached 18 knots, and its maximum speed has reached 19 knots in a short period of time.

This speed level is already the pinnacle of small and medium warships, and can even be compared with some battleships.

At least in terms of speed, this armored cruiser does not seem to have any shortcomings at present, especially on the basis of taking into account armor protection, it also has such an excellent speed, which has exceeded Yuzawa Koichiro's expectations.

In terms of firepower, the Duke-class armored cruiser shown in the data has two 234mm main guns, ten 152mm guns, and several small six-pounder and three-pounder guns.

Although the firepower is not that outstanding, considering that the Duke-class armored cruiser is only a medium-sized ship, on the premise of having the advantages of speed and armor, having firepower above a medium-sized warship is considered very good.

"What a perfect work! Your Excellency, what is the price of this Duke-class armored cruiser? If possible, I hope to order a few more armored cruisers to make up for the lack of strength of our small and medium-sized warships." Yuzawa Koichiro admired the data of this warship. After reading all the information, he couldn't wait to say to the Australian Deputy Foreign Minister who was waiting with a smile on his side.

"Of course, Mr. Yuzawa Koichiro. The price of this Duke-class armored cruiser is not more than 5 pounds, and the cost is about [-] pounds. Since it is your country's request to buy it, we can reduce the price to [-] taels A thousand pounds, and promised to build it as soon as possible." The Deputy Foreign Minister thought for a while before speaking.

The actual cost of an armored cruiser is only a little over 2 pounds, and the profit of each armored cruiser has reached more than [-] pounds.

If the island country can be more generous on small and medium-sized warships and order a few more ships, maybe the funds for the expansion of the Australian Navy will not have to be paid by themselves.

Yuzawa Koichiro nodded, and did not express doubts about the cost of the Duke-class armored cruiser, which is slightly higher than that of ordinary medium-sized warships.

After all, from the perspective of data and performance, this is a leader in a medium-sized warship, and it is normal for the price to be a little expensive.

　[-] words combined into one chapter, please support. (I'm in the hospital, I can only update [-] words in these two days)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)