I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 335: How can your imperialists still play like this?
The displacement of the "Fuji" and "Yashima" battleships Japan ordered from Britain has reached 12000 tons.

Japan will next order a 15000-ton battleship with thicker armor and stronger protection.

The Siberian Fleet can now suppress the Japanese Navy, let alone suppress it.

Even if you want to compete with the Japanese Navy, you must equip a battleship with a displacement of at least 15000 tons.

Among the battleships under construction by the Empire, the "Perithwaite" class, which has the largest displacement, is only 12683 tons.

This tonnage looks pretty good, at least it is larger than the "Fuji" and "Yashima" Japan ordered from Britain.

But don't be too proud. The main guns of "Fuji" and "Yashima" are caliber 305.

The main gun caliber of "Perithwaite" is only 254. From this perspective, "Perithwaite" is not even a battleship, only a cruiser.

A cruiser will do, too. Don't worry about whether it's easy to use or not. As long as it's big enough, it can bluff people.

The key point is that the Far East lacks shipyards that can maintain warships of the "Perisvette" level. This means that if the "Perisvette" is assigned to the Siberian Fleet, then the "Perisvette" must return to Europe if it needs maintenance. .

In fact, they are all excuses. Japan has now tasted the sweetness of the war and is out of control. Even without the intervention of the Three Kingdoms, Japan will embark on the path of expansion.

Why did Japan accept American mediation?
It is not that Japan loves peace, but that Japan does not have the strength to annex the Qing Empire.

The dilemma faced by Japan is actually the same as that of the Russian Empire. Simply having a navy is not enough to complete the strategic mission of external expansion.

Compared with the British Royal Navy, George really felt guilty. They had colonies all over the world for blood transfusion, but they did not develop the army at all and fully developed the navy. George really couldn't do it.

If possible, George is really unwilling to develop a navy.

Once this was clear, what George had to do next was simple.

But the Yoshino is not the fastest ship in the world.

Such as motivation.

Bai Laoyi is still very reliable. After he returned to France, although he could no longer find a job in warship design, after communicating with his colleagues in France, Bai Laoyi still absorbed some of the most advanced European navies. concept.

Isn’t this nonsense?

Japan sold its iron and steel to build a navy and defeat the Qing Empire, making them rich.

In just two years, the speed has increased so much, so not all countries can afford the navy.

The "Boxer" destroyer built by the United Kingdom last year reached the fastest speed of 30 knots during sea trials.

George is still very confident about Japan.

But thinking about it conversely, as long as the Siberian fleet continues to improve its strength, Japan will have to follow suit. This is also an arms race.

Before the war reparations were received, Japan was planning to establish the "Six-Sixth Fleet".

Today's warships have to sacrifice speed to a certain extent in order to obtain the best balance of protection and attack. Japan's "Yoshino", which was put into service two years ago, has become the fastest warship in the world with a speed of 23 knots.

If Japan had an army of one million, it would never accept mediation from any country.

According to the Japanese, the concept of "Sixty-Sixth Fleet" has a lot to do with the three-nation intervention led by the Russian Empire to return to Liaoning.

So next, the Vladivostok Shipyard and Vladivostok Military Port must be upgraded.

Therefore, Japan must advance its navy and army together in order to obtain greater benefits in the future.

The cruiser requested by George should be equipped with a 203mm main gun and have a maximum speed of at least 25 knots without sacrificing protection.

At the same time, in order to ensure economy, the displacement of the cruiser cannot exceed 5000 tons.

This requirement is not harsh, it can even be called tolerant.

After the successful development of the new armor, the protective power of the warship has been significantly improved. The same 6-inch armor steel has a protective power that is equivalent to a 30% increase in Harvey armor. This ensures that the warships in Vladivostok have stronger protective power at the same tonnage. .

The 203 mm naval gun Vladivostok Arsenal can also be produced.

The only flaw is power.

Vladivostok is currently unable to produce large steam engines. In the past, steam engines used in shipbuilding were purchased from Europe.

Bai Laoyi told George that the most advanced power company in the world is currently in the UK.

George had nothing to say, so he immediately sent a telegram to Nicholas and asked Nicholas to help.

The British Crown Princess is Nicola's aunt. It is better for George to come forward than Nicola's intervention in this matter.

If it was just a purchase, George would just pay for it.

What George wants is technology, which cannot be achieved by paying directly.

If the power system cannot be determined, the drawings cannot be produced, and the cruiser will have to be built slowly.

George, don't be in a hurry. With a century-old navy, we have plenty of time.

Amur's main purpose in building warships is to provoke an arms race.

To forge iron, you have to be strong yourself. George's focus is still on the army.

Contrary to what many people imagine, there are really only three train guns in Vladivostok. George's idea of ​​​​developing armaments is to research and build at the same time. As long as a new technology appears, he will build one to try. Therefore, the three train guns in Vladivostok are strictly speaking third-generation train guns.

Similar to outside speculation, the maximum range of the Vladivostok train gun has indeed reached 12 kilometers.

12 kilometers means that all warships in the world currently cannot pose a threat to Vladivostok from the sea.

The "Fuji" that has not yet arrived in Japan has a main gun range of only 9100 meters.

The train gun was not the trump card that George prepared for "Fuji".

Vladivostok’s real trump card is airplanes.

In order to better verify the impact of airflow on aircraft, a wind tunnel with a wind speed of 12 meters/second was built in Vladivostok last year.

The wind tunnel was not the first to be created in Vladivostok. In 1871, the British man Wenham built the world's first wind tunnel to measure the resistance experienced by objects in relative motion with the air. The wind tunnel was a wooden box with both ends open. 45.7 cm x 45.7 cm, 3.05 meters long.

The wind tunnel in Vladivostok is 10 meters by 15 meters and can conduct experiments on real aircraft. The total test time has exceeded 500 hours.

It is no secret now that the plane purchased by Rockefeller Jr. arrived in New York and performed many flight demonstrations.

Although the aircraft crashed due to a malfunction during flight in March this year, more and more people are paying attention to the potential of the aircraft. Amur received as many as 3 procurement information, some from individuals and some from the country.

George never refuses anyone who comes. As long as someone is willing to buy, George will sell. Anyway, the aircraft sold to foreign countries have fallen behind in Vladivostok. Even if someone imitates them, they will not pose a threat to the Vladivostok aircraft.

Security and stability are the issues that George attaches most importance to.

The failure rate of aircraft engines is still a bit high nowadays, so multiple engines have become an advantage.

Planes are different from cars. If a car engine fails, the most likely result is a breakdown. If an aircraft engine fails, the pilot can only abandon the plane and parachute.

In the early days, the cost of airplanes was not high, so you could just throw them away without feeling distressed.

Now that the price of an airplane has exceeded one million rubles, if it breaks down and is thrown away, George cannot afford to throw it away.

The current aircraft in Vladivostok uses two engines, which ensures greater safety. Even if one engine stops in the air, the other engine can still land the aircraft safely.

Kuklev was trying to fit four engines into the plane.

Even with advances in materials, aircraft engines are still very heavy, and mounting four engines on an aircraft requires a stronger fuselage.

Again, there are still ten years left before the Russo-Japanese War, and George has time.

In November, the first indemnity paid by the Qing Empire arrived.

The Amur Governorate officially requested compensation from the Japanese government for the losses suffered during the Sino-Japanese War.

During the Sino-Japanese War, the losses calculated by the Amur Governorate totaled 3500 million rubles, and a large portion of the gold that sank with the ship was lost.

The Japanese government was very angry and determined not to accept the blackmail from the Amur Governorate.

George warned the Japanese government that the Amur Governorate retained the power to take further action if the Japanese did not pay compensation.

The Japanese government probably thought that George was just talking and didn't really pay attention to it.

On November 11, a cargo ship ordered by Japan from the United Kingdom was seized by the Aceh Sultanate while passing through the Strait of Malacca.

The Japanese government wanted to negotiate, but only then discovered that Japan had not yet established diplomatic relations with the Aceh Sultanate.

So Japan used the British Straits Settlements to ask the Aceh Sultanate why it wanted to seize Japanese cargo ships.

The Aceh Sultanate's reply completely exposed the fact that the Russian Empire had reached out to the Strait of Malacca.

"So, all the officers and sailors serving on the destroyer purchased by the Aceh Sultanate from Amur are Russians. So is this a warship of the Aceh Sultanate or of the Russian Empire?"

Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi really didn't expect that these imperialists could still play this way.

"The Sultanate of Aceh recognized the warship as theirs. Because the Sultanate of Aceh lacked officers and sailors who could operate the warship, it hired Russians."

Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu's patience with Amur has reached its limit.

After the Otsu incident, Amul's attitude towards Japan took a turn for the worse. Both Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu were humiliated by George.

Both Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu are people who have the overall situation in mind. Although George has a bad attitude, Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu have tolerated it until now.

"Can our warships be dispatched?"

Hirobumi Ito cannot afford to offend Russia.

But what kind of great power is the Aceh Sultanate?
"The Sultanate of Aceh has exceeded the operational range of the fleet. If we dispatch warships, we may encounter interference from the Russian Empire."

Ito Hyungwoo only spoke half of his words.

Everyone knows the relationship between the Aceh Sultanate and the Russian Empire. Although the Aceh Sultanate is an independent country in name, in fact, the things the Aceh Sultanate does are more filial than a colony.

What Ito Heyou worried about was that even if the Russian Empire did not interfere, the Japanese expedition might not be able to defeat the Aceh Sultanate.

The combat effectiveness displayed by the Aceh Sultanate in defeating the Dutch was much stronger than that of the Qing Empire.

(End of this chapter)