I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 351 The world is awake
The most difficult thing about this matter is actually Nicholas, and George doesn’t want to put Nicholas on the fire.

But no, as long as George gives in, even a small step, the group of grand dukes in St. Petersburg will pounce on him like a pack of wolves and carve up all the interests along the China-Eastern Railway.

It's hard to say whether George can keep Amul by then.

This is really not alarmist. If George cannot protect the interests of the Far East, the group of great guilds in St. Petersburg will laugh at George as a coward while eating hot pot and singing songs.

Why does Vladimir only dare to go to the Winter Palace to take pictures of tables, but not to Yuriev Palace to take pictures of tables?

Because Vladimir knew that George would not spoil him.

Nicholas's attitude towards this group of people is also changing.

Otherwise, Nicholas would not be so vague, but directly ask George to transfer his interests.

Compared with the Eastern Railway, George is more concerned about the progress of the Sixth Fleet.

As the Qing Empire's reparations were gradually in place, Japan's pace became larger and larger.

Just such a battleship that requires firepower but no firepower, and power but no power, the Imperial Navy is actually planning to build 5 more.

The power system is also good, with a maximum speed of 20 knots.

The two battleships that Japan has just started have two twin-mounted 40-caliber 305 main guns, and 14 152mm rapid-fire guns as secondary guns, with a maximum speed of 18 knots.

Although the "Russia" uses Harvey armor to improve its protection capabilities.

Although the "Rostislav" is a battleship in name, it has a displacement of only 8880 tons and a power of only 8700 horsepower. This results in the "Rostislav"'s maximum speed being a pitiful 15.6 knots.

In early June, the heavy cruiser "Russia" with a displacement of up to 13675 tons arrived in the Far East.

The armament system of the "Rostislav" is two twin-mounted 254mm main guns and four twin-mounted 4mm rapid-fire guns.

If you only look at the data, the performance of the "Rostislav" is not even as good as the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" that were in service ten years ago.

But this weak firepower is not worthy of its displacement of 13675 tons.

At the beginning of 1897, the keels of two 1.5-ton battleships and two -ton heavy cruisers ordered by Japan from Britain were laid down one after another.

This is another standard Russian naval wonder.

The heavy cruiser built by the Vladivostok Shipyard for the Siberian Fleet has a displacement of 9100 tons. The main gun system uses two twin-mounted 45x caliber 254s. The secondary battery is 12 152mm rapid-fire guns, with a maximum speed of 23 knots.

George has all the information on Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers.

After the Vladivostok heavy patrol plan was reported to the Navy Ministry, the subsequent construction of the "Rostislav" was directly canceled.

George didn't know if the Navy was at the wine table when it reviewed the "Russia" plan.

Alexeyev has been in pain and happiness lately.

Compared with the Japanese heavy cruiser, the Vladivostok heavy cruiser not only uses new armor, but the 152mm rapid-fire cannon is also twin-mounted. This makes the overall performance of the Vladivostok heavy cruiser better than that of the "Rostislav" that was started two years ago. The battleship has improved again.

The armament system of the "Russia" is 4 single-tube 203, and 16 single-tube 152.
Like the "Yuryev", the biggest problem of the "Russia" is the poor artillery layout. When dealing with the same target, only two can be used.

The "Russia" is currently the largest displacement warship in the Russian Navy. Looking around the world, there are not many warships with a displacement that exceeds the "Russia".

重巡是2座双联装45倍径203，同样辅以14门152毫米速射炮，最快航速21节。

Fortunately, there is no free dock in St. Petersburg, and the other four ships have not yet had time to lay their keels.

If he hadn't drank too much, this plan would never have been passed.

Give George 1.3 tons, and George can at least build 6 doors of 305.
In this way, after joining the Siberian Fleet, the "Russia" immediately replaced the "Yuryev" and became the flagship of the Siberian Fleet.

Fine.

In any case, the "Russia" is currently the warship with the highest displacement in East Asia, and its size can indeed intimidate people.

Let’s put aside the terrible "Russia". In mid-June, good news came from Vladivostok. After nearly 8 months of intensive work, the heavy cruise ship of the Vladivostok Shipyard was officially launched. By September next year at the latest, this ship can be called a million-dollar ship. The invincible heavy cruiser within a ton is about to join the Siberian fleet.

Alexeyev was so happy that he took the initiative to bring a lot of souvenirs to Yuriev Palace to express his gratitude to George.

By the way, I discussed with George the subsequent heavy patrol and the preparations for the battleship.

In Alexeyev's view, the more Vladivostok heavy patrols, the better, even if they don't need battleships.

George reluctantly told Alexeyev that there was only one heavy patrol.

"why?"

Alexeyev found it difficult to accept.

"Because St. Petersburg only paid for one ship, the subsequent construction work was undertaken by the St. Petersburg Shipyard and the Black Sea Shipyard."

There was nothing George could do, other shipyards also had to eat.

"Suka BuLei!"

Alexeyev blurted out the curse, and George suddenly changed his color.

If Alexeyev scolds the St. Petersburg Shipyard and the Black Sea Shipyard, George can scold Alexeyev together.

It would not be okay if Alexeyev scolded Alexey.

"Sukabule" is the kind of scolding used to greet the whole family. The general idea is that the Caucasian dog was raised by his mother. Alexey and George have the same father. Isn't this all a mess?

"I want to send a telegram to the Grand Duke. I want to kill these bitches. I want their whole family to ascend to heaven——"

Alexeyev really didn't scold Alexei, he still had to count on Alexei to protect him.

"Don't worry, at least the power system and weapon system, as well as the armor, will be produced in Vladivostok."

It was not a big deal for George to watch the excitement. Since St. Petersburg was not too troublesome, George had nothing to say. If possible, St. Petersburg does not want to use materials produced in Vladivostok.

But it doesn’t work. The main and secondary guns of the Vladivostok Heavy Cruiser are all powered by electricity, which the Three Greats and Obukhov cannot build at all.

Wireless telegraphy is currently only produced in Vladivostok in the world.

Parsons can also produce steam turbine units, but if the steam turbine units in Vladivostok are not used, they go to the UK to purchase them. If anyone dares to mention this matter, Nikolai will never spare him.

The only new armor that can be produced in St. Petersburg is not available due to production reasons, so it still has to be purchased from Vladivostok.

When St. Petersburg produces new armor, it has to pay relevant costs to the Vladivostok Steel Plant.

After understanding the specific situation, Alexeyev didn't want to say a word and just wanted to get drunk.

The armament system is produced in Vladivostok, the power system is produced in Vladivostok, and even the armor is produced in Vladivostok.

The St. Petersburg shipyard is just for assembly.

Could it be that the docks at the St. Petersburg Shipyard were suddenly sufficient?

If it is not enough, the St. Petersburg Shipyard will have to start work again, at least until April next year.

Therefore, after the heavy cruiser was launched at the Vladivostok Shipyard, the keel of the light cruiser was laid in the dock.

What gave Alexeyev some comfort was that these light cruisers were also built for the Siberian Fleet.

What Alexeyev didn't know was that St. Petersburg was already in turmoil because of this incident.

St. Petersburg could argue for a year about the trivial matter of whether to remove buttons from army uniforms and use iron hooks instead.

How long should the battleship, the most important weapon of the country, be noisy?

No one has an answer.

The naval guns produced in Vladivostok, whether 305 or 203, are all powered by electricity.

Forget about the battleships that have already been launched.

The subsequent battleships to be built by the St. Petersburg Shipyard will still use original mechanical systems.

Do you want to keep pace with the times?
There are many benefits to using an electric system. Not only can the artillery aim faster, but the ammunition supply system is also electrically driven, which is more efficient than traditional mechanical methods and can effectively increase the rate of fire of the artillery.

Nikola definitely wants to use the most advanced one.

Alexey, however, had to consider the food and clothing needs of millions of boat workers.

Although George did not want to conflict with others, the rise of Vladivostok affected not one person's cake, but everyone in the entire chain of interests that depended on the development of the navy.

The shipyards in St. Petersburg and the Black Sea, the three major empires, Obukhov, and even the design department, procurement department, logistics and transportation supply, etc., etc., these institutions have the interests of royal members involved.

Why did the Admiralty suddenly catch fire when Vladimir left office?

Even Vladimir, that reckless man, didn’t dare to lift the lid, and neither did Alexei.

"Nicky, I know George's stuff is very advanced, but we also have to consider the cost. To deal with the Japanese threat, our existing weapons and equipment are enough."

Alexei was relatively tactful.

"If those things are as good as someone claims, why don't his river fleet use them?"

Vladimir didn’t want to mention George’s name at all.

"Is it necessary to equip the river fleet with battleships?"

Nikolai is not stupid either. Russia's European river fleet does not even have destroyers, only shallow-water gunboats converted from torpedo boats.

"Amur clearly has the most advanced steam engines, the most advanced artillery, and the best armor, but someone doesn't allow the empire to use it. What does it mean?"

Vladimir wanted George dead.

"This means someone wants to rebel!"

"Volodia, don't talk nonsense!"

Sergey really couldn't bear to listen. George himself was a member of the royal family, so who was rebelling?

"I trust George, he would never do that."

Nicholas's trust in George was unshakable.

"Oh, great! Do you all think so?"

Vladimir's main theme is "Everyone is drunk and I am alone."

Sergey kept a straight face and didn't say a word.

Alexey lowered his head and flipped through the information, not knowing what he was looking for.

Alexander, his cousin and brother-in-law, held his chin as if thinking, most likely out of his mind.

The emperor's brother Mikhail, who had just come of age and was thrust into the imperial meeting by the empress dowager, looked eager to try.

But looking at Nikolai who looked angry, Mikhail just moved his butt and changed his posture.

"You were all deceived by that liar. Do you want to see Romanov's badge replaced by Yuriev's? A bunch of cowards!"

Vladimir walked away, completely sober.

(End of this chapter)