I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 345 Looks Simple

In 1903, Italian shipbuilding engineer Littorio Cunibetti first proposed the concept of "fully equipped heavy artillery", but the Italian Navy did not adopt his opinion.

It was not until 1906, driven by Sir John Fisher, that the first fully equipped heavy artillery battleship "Dreadnought" was finally launched in the UK. Subsequently, all countries entered the era of dreadnoughts.

George is not building a dreadnought now.

Japan's "Six-Six Fleet" plan is still on paper and will not be implemented until compensation is received. "Fuji" and "Yashima" will not be commissioned until next year, and the last "Shikishima" class battleship will not be put into service until next year. Construction did not begin until 1899.

The emergence of the dreadnought means that the battleships already in service in various countries, as well as the battleships that have not yet been built on the slipway, are all obsolete.

George will not launch the dreadnought plan until all six Japanese battleships are launched. Then it will be seen whether the Japanese follow suit.

Petrov is still very responsible. After the construction of the heavy cruiser started, Petrov went to the shipyard every day to inspect the progress of the project.

Petrov found that the efficiency of the Vladivostok Shipyard was much higher than that of the St. Petersburg Shipyard.

The St. Petersburg shipyards were often shut down due to lack of materials.

Or there is an answer, but Petrov is unwilling to admit it.

Petrov had no answer.

Petrov was also amazed by the logistical support of the Vladivostok Shipyard.

"It's all because the clothes the duke gave them are of such high quality that they won't wear out for several years. The shipyard gives these bastards new clothes every year. These bastards actually take out their clothes and exchange them for wine. Don't pity them. , they don’t deserve sympathy at all!”

Fuvilia cursed loudly, but her expression was proud.

The Vladivostok Shipyard not only provides steamed buns that make Petrov's fingers itch, but also fried fish, bacon, eggs, and many fruits that even Petrov has never seen before.

Fovilia, who is in charge of the construction work, is not surprised. Without such a good guarantee, it is impossible for the Vladivostok Shipyard to work one step at a time from the initial repair shop to the current heavy cruiser.

But why don’t the workers at the St. Petersburg shipyard have enough to eat?

Although the shipyard workers were well fed, the clothes they wore were not very clean, and some were even in tatters.

People in St. Petersburg still use radishes as fruit in winter.

Workers in Vladivostok can eat fruits from the tropics during the snowy winter, which is a treatment only given by the Grand Duke in St. Petersburg.

Is there a shortage of food in St. Petersburg?
No, there is no shortage of food in the entire Russian Empire, otherwise the empire would not be able to use so much food to make wine.

The Vladivostok Shipyard has sufficient supplies of materials and has never been shut down due to material reasons.

But new clothes should be issued every year, and the quality is getting better and better.

George also knew that shipyard workers traded clothes for booze.

The restaurant at the Vladivostok Shipyard also operates three shifts and provides services 24 hours a day. Workers can have hot meals and be full no matter when they come to the restaurant.

Petrov was silent.

"Let them eat well and eat well so that they can work hard. Food is not valuable in Amur."

The bread eaten by the workers at the St. Petersburg shipyard was even adulterated with sawdust, which was not nutritious and the portion was limited and not enough to fill the belly.

Workers in Vladivostok work three shifts, each working only eight hours. Although there are more workers in Vladivostok than in St. Petersburg, the efficiency is more than doubled.

Workers at the St. Petersburg Shipyard work two shifts, with each shift working 12 hours. Because the working hours are too long, engineering accidents occur from time to time, and the efficiency of the workers is not high.

So in Amur, compared to the distant Tsar, George is the real "little daddy" of the Amur people.

Last winter, several workers from St. Petersburg privately instigated workers to organize a strike to fight for better treatment and benefits.

Almost all the workers at the Vladivostok Shipyard are from Korea, and most of the technical staff are locals in Vladivostok.

The Korean workers did not understand Russian, and the few workers in St. Petersburg did not understand Korean, so communication between the two sides was impossible.

The loyalty of Vladivostok locals to George is unimaginable to outsiders. A guy who slandered George was beaten to death by a group of angry technicians before the police arrived.

The cause of death given by the Vladivostok Police Department was that he accidentally fell from the scaffolding and died of serious injuries.

The Vladivostok Shipyard also wanted to compensate for the pension, but the matter was ignored because they could not find the family members.

When Petrov was in St. Petersburg, he heard news about strikes and riots every now and then.

In Vladivostok, if workers are mistreated by their employers, they can complain to the Vladivostok City Hall. If the investigation is found to be true, the employer will not only have to compensate, but will also be fined punitively.

The normal fine may be only 100 rubles.

Adding the premise of "punishment", the amount of the fine may increase 100 times.

Don't ask if it's reasonable.

Asking is the normal operation of barbarians.

Therefore, in Vladivostok, the relationship between different classes is very harmonious. Petrov once witnessed Milyutin having a happy conversation with an old man selling candied haws in the Imperial Square. This was unthinkable in hierarchical St. Petersburg.

Although the shipyard's welfare protection is good, the punishment for workers who make mistakes is also very severe.

Last summer, two workers stole some scraps from the shipyard in exchange for alcohol because their hands and feet were unclean. After being discovered by the shipyard, they were sent directly to the Vladivostok police station.

It is said that these two workers are currently mining in Yuriev.

At the Vladivostok Shipyard, if you want to make money, you have to work hard and improve your skills. Workers with the best skills can get a monthly salary of 120 rubles, which is not much different from Fvelia.

The Vladivostok Shipyard conducts technical assessments every six months and holds a skills competition every year. As long as you get a ranking in the skills competition or pass the review of the technical committee, you can get the corresponding salary.

Is it difficult to do this?
It's not difficult, it's just fair.

Petrov could only lament that some things that seemed very simple could not be implemented in St. Petersburg.

Such as technical assessment.

The three major empires actually have similar regulations, but at the implementation level, whoever has a good relationship with the technical committee will stand out. Those with real skills can only get the lowest salary and do the most tiring work.

If any workers at the Vladivostok Shipyard are dissatisfied with the technical committee's review results, they can complain to the Vladivostok Engineers Association. Once verified, the technical committee will be in trouble.

If the Engineers Association ignores complaints or fails to handle them in a timely manner, workers can also complain to the Vladivostok City Hall or the Amur Governor's Palace.

Again, it’s not difficult to standardize the process.

The difficult thing is to let every worker in Vladivostok know how to protect their rights.

This is the role of workers' associations.

The trade union in Vladivostok does not organize strikes. It is a pure science popularization organization, independent of the Vladivostok Municipal Government and directly under the jurisdiction of the Amur Governor's Palace.

After learning more details, Petrov gave up completely.

It is simply impossible to implement the Vladivostok policy in St. Petersburg.

While paying attention to heavy cruisers, Petrov is also concerned about light cruisers that have been launched and are undergoing sea trials.

In Petrov's concept, it is almost impossible for a large warship with a displacement of more than 5000 tons to run at a high speed of more than 20 knots.

At least the Russian Imperial warships couldn't.

This light cruiser built by the Vladivostok Shipyard was built for the Aceh Navy, so it was named "Aceh".

The fastest speed of the "Aceh" reached 27 knots. Although it failed to reach the designed 29 knots, it is still the fastest cruiser in the world.

The highlight of a cruiser is its "cruise", speed is crucial, and the "Aceh" sacrificed its protection to a large extent in pursuit of speed.

But what does it matter? If a light cruiser encounters a battleship, even if all 5000 tons are piled on the armor, it should still be defeated.

Although the "Aceh"'s protection is a bit poor, its firepower is not weak. There are two twin-mounted 203 cannons, one in front and one in the back, all powered by electricity. The 152 secondary guns installed on the sides are all rapid-fire cannons with a high rate of fire. It can reach 6 rounds per minute. At the fastest speed of 27 knots, the "Aceh" can last for 7 hours, which is very important in combat conditions.

The "Russia" with a displacement of up to 1.3 tons also has four 203 main guns, and its attack power is similar to that of the "Aceh"——

It's not almost the same. Since the main gun of the "Aceh" is powered by electricity and is also a rapid-fire gun, the firepower of the "Aceh" is more fierce than that of the "Russia".

Seeing the performance of the "Aceh", Petrov's heart was shaken. Looking at the heavy cruiser still on the slipway, he instantly felt bad.

If we already have light patrols, why do we need heavy patrols?

We expect heavy cruisers to deal with light cruisers. Sorry, we can't catch up with the speed, so even if we have the firepower advantage, we can't take advantage of it.

The advantages of light cruisers over heavy cruisers are not only reflected in cost. In subsequent use, light cruisers save more fuel because they have fewer crew members. Under the same conditions, the longer the warship is in service, the greater the advantage.

The cost of heavy cruisers is not much lower than that of battleships.

Referring to the cost of "Petopavlovsk", four "Aceh" can be built for the cost of building one battleship.

Petrov was just settling scores.

Alexeyev is heartbroken.

The "Yuryev" was washed away by waves last month and two sailors were washed away. It is currently undergoing repairs and maintenance at the dock.

The "Aceh" perfectly meets the requirements of the Siberian Fleet, and Alexeyev can't wait to exchange the "Yuryev" with the "Aceh".

Such a light cruiser with perfect performance was built for the Aceh Sultanate even though the Siberian fleet clearly needed it urgently!

The navy of the Aceh Sultanate was nicknamed the Second Amur River Fleet by the Siberian Fleet.

You are a river fleet, what kind of cruiser do you want?
Alexeyev, who was jealous, sent 12 telegrams to St. Petersburg within a month after the "Aceh" conducted sea trials, hoping to replace all subsequent battleships and heavy cruisers with light ones produced by the Vladivostok Shipyard. patrol.

(End of this chapter)