I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 348 Reconstruction
After the intervention of the Three Kingdoms and the return of the Liao Dynasty, Japan kept an unusually low profile, causing great shame and humiliation from top to bottom.

After the "Yuryev" entered the Siberian Fleet, Japan once again felt the fear of facing "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan", and its expectations for battleships were unprecedented.

As early as June last year, Japan sent naval officers and soldiers to the United Kingdom to take over the "Fuji" and "Yashima", and they have been practicing on the ship for half a year.

This means that after "Fuji" and "Yashima" are added to the list, they will quickly form combat effectiveness.

So the Siberian Fleet headed to Port Arthur, which was publicized by Japan as saying that the Siberian Fleet fled out of fear.

Around Amur's New Year celebrations in 1897, Korea, Aceh, and Johor placed orders with the Vladivostok Shipyard, hoping to order destroyers and light cruisers.

The Vladivostok Shipyard welcomes all comers, and the production plan has been scheduled until 1900.

Petrov is not in a hurry. The two newly built 10,000-ton shipyards at the Vladivostok Shipyard are prepared for the Navy Ministry.

Bai Laoyi worked day and night and finally came up with the first version of the dreadnought design.

According to George's request, Bai Yi increased the number of main guns to six. In addition to a twin main gun at the front and end, there was a single main gun on the left and right in the middle.

As a result, the displacement of the entire warship must exceed 1.6 tons, and the Russian Empire lacks shipyards that can maintain it.

There was not even a wireless telegraph in Bai Yi's design.

Amur invited Bai Laoyi to work in Vladivostok in the name of a ship design expert, and received a salary as an external expert, which was much higher than that of the Vladivostok Shipyard's own designers.

The biggest problem with this design is that it fails to get rid of the huge and complex superstructure of traditional French warships. Its artillery layout is not reasonable enough, resulting in the warship being unable to exert its full combat effectiveness during combat.

Don’t doubt it, the movie has been around since 1888.

Moreover, although Bai Laoyi canceled the secondary main gun, he did not completely abandon torpedoes. Not only did it increase the cost, it also caused the ventilation inside the warship to be unreasonable, which would have an impact on the lives of officers and soldiers.

After George revised the design drawing, Bai Laoyi looked at George with extremely complicated eyes.

With a high salary and a well-designed battleship, George raised so many questions, but Bai Laoyi couldn't refute it, which made Bai Laoyi particularly unacceptable.

The backpack turret only requires 8 guns.

But so what, it’s not built now anyway.

All torpedoes that are of no use at all have been cancelled. In addition to necessary facilities, the ship must also add entertainment facilities that enrich the lives of officers and soldiers, such as gyms and screening rooms.

Things like the ramming angle of the last century were also directly cancelled, and the armor of key parts continued to be strengthened, increasing the weight of the armor to about 4000 tons.

Japan's four "Shikishima" class battleships were built one after another between 1897 and 1899.

Construction of the first dreadnought ship would not begin until at least around 1900.

Nowadays, the artillery layout of battleships is all on the same horizontal line, and the full firepower cannot be used in side combat, which violates the original intention of the battleship.

If you want to have 8 main guns participating in side combat, according to the traditional layout, the number of main guns on the entire battleship must reach at least 12.

George didn't talk nonsense and started making modifications directly.

The piggyback turret was originally proposed by the Russians, but the Russians did not apply it. It was not until 1906 that the American "South Carolina" class battleship was used for the first time.

Six main guns were still not enough, so eight guns were installed directly. Four twin-mounted piggy-back designs, two in front and two in back, were all located on the central axis of the battleship, so that all firepower could be fully exerted on the sides.

All other issues are easy to discuss. The impact of the backpack turret on Bai Laoyi is no less than that of the British and French forces on the Somme River.

Except for necessary facilities, all deck superstructures have been eliminated to increase stability and seaworthiness.

If it must be 12 guns, wouldn't it be nice to install triple turrets?

"How difficult is this? There were double decks in the era of sailing battleships. Why can't it be done now?"

George was afraid of scaring Bai Laoyi to death, so he hadn't taken out the seaplane yet. There is no rush for the seaplane. It will not be too late to take it out after all the dreadnoughts from various countries have been launched.

George's main focus is a roll.

Roll you to death!

"It's not impossible, it's just that no one has done it before."

Bai Laoyi's ideological shackles are very serious, which is the reason why he cannot become a top designer.

George didn't waste any time and casually changed 305 to 340 and then redo it.

By 1900, the 340 main gun should have been successfully developed.

Maybe it's still 45x diameter.

George firmly believes that Vladivostok will win in the future.

The Japanese also think that I have the advantage.

After acquiring "Fuji" and "Yashima", the Japanese were so confident that they actually took the initiative to apply to the Amur Military District, hoping to strengthen exchanges with the Amur Navy.

Communication is a matter of spectacle, and the purpose of the Japanese is to come to Vladivostok to show off their muscles.

Vladivostok has no navy, only a river fleet.

So George decisively refused.

I want to come to Vladivostok and show off my power, dream!

The Vladivostok Shipyard is indeed fast. After the first cruiser was launched, the keels of the cruisers built for the Siberian Fleet also began to be laid one after another.

The first cruiser is being outfitted. After the weapon system is installed, it will undergo sea trials again. If it is delivered, it will not be delivered until June at the earliest.

Aceh was not in a hurry at all and did not send anyone to receive it. The sea trials were all completed by the Amur River Fleet.

Duke Ukhtomsky still paid great attention to George's request. Albermann was transferred before Christmas, and the new general manager was Courtuno, the second son of the palace minister Count Vrontsov.

George knew Cotunno, but he had not had many interactions with him. Cotunno had a better relationship with Prince Peter of Oldenburg and was not the same person as George.

Kotuno was also very knowledgeable and did not come to Vladivostok at all. He went directly to Dalini and then to the Qing Empire.

George started preparing for the Middle East Railway at the beginning of the year. Technical personnel were drawn from the Trans-Siberian Railway, and workers were recruited locally after the Qing Empire.

After the Qing Empire ceded Amur to the Russian Empire, it was forced to open its borders and allow Han people to make a living in the Northeast.

Most of the Han people in the Northeast are concentrated in the area south of the China Eastern Railway. There are about 1000 million people in the entire Northeast. It is relatively easy to recruit road construction workers.

Emperor Gaozong complained to George, saying that Alexeyev had shipped all the train guns originally purchased for Busan to Dalini and had not used them in Busan at all.

Before George could appease Emperor Gaozong, Alexeyev also came to Vladivostok.

Alexeyev came to ask for help.

During the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, after the Japanese army occupied Lushun, they killed all the people in Lushun until only 36 people remained. Dalini is now an empty city.

Dalini was originally the military port of the Beiyang Fleet. When the Japanese troops withdrew, they took away all the port facilities they could and blew up those that could not be taken away. When the Siberian Fleet arrived in Dalini, there was not even a barracks.

Alexeyev hoped that George could send someone to help the Siberian fleet rebuild Dalini.

(End of this chapter)