Iron Sonata of World War II

Chapter 11 Surging Power

After finishing the drag-reducing shape of the new cruiser, Helena turned her attention to the power and protection parts.The most typical power system of warships in this era is undoubtedly the combination of Yarrow type heavy oil boiler + Parsons reaction steam turbine. The specific shape varies with different manufacturers and countries, but they are basically under the same framework. various variants of .

But as a time traveler, how could he take an ordinary path?In Helena's opinion, although this combination is also a classic, there are still many problems when it is used on warships where every inch of land is expensive.Let’s talk about the boiler first. The basic shape of the Yarrow boiler and its disciples and grandchildren in this period is an upper drum and two lower drums in a triangular arrangement. Water pipes are connected between the upper and lower drums. The cross section of the entire boiler is small. Big, looks like a cornbread.Although the Yarrow boiler has a solid structure and even weight distribution, with the use of inclined armor, the cross-section of the battleship's core cabin is actually close to a trapezoid with a large top and a small bottom, which is similar to the shape of the Yarrow boiler with a large top and bottom. conflicts, is not conducive to maximizing the use of valuable space in the core compartment, and the efficiency of the Yarrow boiler is not very high (because the distance for the water to be heated is too short).

Let’s talk about the Parsons reaction steam turbine. When it comes to reaction steam turbines, we have to mention the difference between impulse and reaction steam turbines. When you open the cylinder of the steam turbine, you can see that the cylinder block and the rotor are covered with a The blades in a circle, when the steam turbine is working, the blades on the cylinder block do not rotate, which is the static cascade; the blades on the rotor are driven by the high-temperature steam to rotate the rotor, which is the moving blade cascade.A set of stationary cascades and a corresponding set of moving cascades constitute the first stage of a steam turbine.The steam of the reaction steam turbine expands adiabatically in both the fixed cascade and the moving cascade, while the steam of the impulse turbine only expands adiabatically in the static cascade, and in the moving cascade, only the flow direction changes but not adiabatically expands.

The advantages and disadvantages of impulsive and reaction steam turbines, in a word, the impulsive type has fewer stages, light weight, short length, small volume, but slightly lower efficiency; the reaction type has slightly higher efficiency, but has more stages and is heavier , long length and large volume.At first glance, readers may intuitively feel that impulsive steam turbines are more suitable for ships with limited space, but in actual history, it was Parsons’ reactionary steam turbines that first shined on battleships. .The reason is that fewer impulsive stages are not without cost. If the number of stages is small, the single-stage enthalpy drop will be large; if the single-stage enthalpy drop is large, the force on the blade will be large.This is not a big problem for low-power steam turbines, but for high-power steam turbines, the large force on the blades may cause vibration problems. Frequent vibrations lead to the reliability of early high-power impulsive steam turbines. As a result, Most navies of various countries have chosen the relatively reliable Parsons reaction steam turbine.

The early impulsive steam turbines had a bad nose in front of the reactionary steam turbines, and the Curtiss company that engaged in impulsive engines went bankrupt because of this. At this time, the Parsons reaction engine has the momentum to dominate the world!But yes gold always shines!On the one hand, with the advancement of technology, the steam pressure and temperature are getting higher and higher, and the length and volume of the reactionary steam turbine are becoming more and more unacceptable due to the small single-stage enthalpy drop; on the other hand, the impulsive turbine Vibration problems were overcome by measures such as adding tendons and improving flow channels, and finally became the mainstream configuration of naval steam turbines.So far, the doormat of the impulsive engine has finally counterattacked the big devil of the reactionary engine, and proved with its own strength: "reactionary" forces will eventually be crushed by the wheels of history (reactionary steam turbines burst into tears: I just learned about one today. How important a good name is.)!

Due to the insurmountable defects of traditional Yarrow boilers and Parsons reaction steam turbines, when selecting the power system for a new ship, Helena proposed the use of atmospheric pressure circular furnace water tube boilers with built-in superheaters + series / Combination of parallel impulse steam turbines.The reason why Helena chose the circular hearth boiler is mainly due to its three major advantages. One is that the circular hearth boiler is small in size and light in weight (later Soviet and Chinese naval boilers mainly use circular hearth boilers. In the absence of supercharging on both sides, although the other parameters of the Soviet and Chinese naval boilers have not caught up with the US emperors, the weight and volume required for a unit of steam volume have always been contemptuous of the US emperors. ); the second is that the position of the drum and the header can be easily adjusted for the round-bore boiler, so that the drive shaft can easily pass under the boiler, which is very beneficial for the staggered arrangement of the turbine and the boiler.The third is that the round-bore boiler is very friendly to the inclined arrangement of vertical armor because the furnace is close to the cylindrical shape.Helena knew that circular hearth boilers also had disadvantages, that is, they were more troublesome to maintain, but this was not a problem at all for the German Navy, which relied on local bases for activities (later generations of the United States insisted on "D" chamber, normal pressure, Natural circulation is not ignorant of the benefits of round bore, pressurization, and forced circulation, largely because of the need for global deployment, and overseas bases are not as good as local maintenance conditions).

In terms of steam turbines, Helena not only uses impulse steam turbines, but also adopts the form of series/parallel connection. Simply put, when the power is high, the steam passes through the high-pressure steam turbine and the medium-pressure steam turbine respectively (in fact, it is equivalent to two high-pressure steam turbines. Parallel operation), and then work together on the low-pressure steam turbine; when the power is low, the steam passes through the high-pressure, medium-pressure, and low-pressure steam turbines in sequence (series operation).This set of steam turbines is not only compact in structure, but also takes into account the economy at low speeds, and there is no high-speed idling, and there is no need to set up a special cruising steam turbine for fuel saving.

For Helena's radical power scheme, many designers have doubts and think that it is safer to use traditional technology, but there are still a group of young designers who support the new power.

However, the Navy finally chose Helena's plan, and Helena expressed that it was completely expected.On the one hand, it is because the new ship is inherently experimental, and it is necessary to test more new technologies; on the other hand, because in Helena's memory, the Weimar Republic Navy in the previous plane The power system can be called radical.Compared with the Konigsberg-class light cruisers in the previous plane that used steam-fired alternating power, and the German-class armored ships that used all-firewood power, Helena's plan in this plane has not deviated from the traditional steam turbine power category after all. Performance advantage, the Navy has no reason not to take the risk.

So the power system scheme was determined, as follows: 6 round furnace boilers with built-in superheaters, steam temperature 350 degrees, pressure 30 kg/cm72000, two series/parallel impulse steam turbines, design output power [-] horsepower.

Chapter 12 Impenetrable

Due to the very efficient drag reduction design, Helena estimates that the design power of 72000 horsepower is enough to push the new cruiser to a high speed of over 35 knots. Considering that the German design power is always very conservative, the measured power is often higher than the design power. It is a high festival, and Helena thinks that the top speed of 36 knots can also be expected.

Since the firepower has been determined to be three dual-mounted 3mm naval guns, it seems that the main concern of the designers is only protection.It's not that I don't know, it's a shock.The designers and even Helena herself nearly dislocated their jaws as soon as they calculated the available armor weight.

The weight of the hull structure is about 2150 tons, the weight of the power system is only 1100 tons, the weight of weapons is about 600 tons (medium-caliber secondary guns and torpedoes are not installed for the time being), and other outfitting and additional equipment weigh 550 tons, which can be used for armor. Including the rotating part of the turret armor, it has reached a maddening 2400 tons!

这是什么概念？上个位面中的万吨级条约型重巡洋舰中，只有号称防护最强重巡的意大利扎拉级能以2700吨的装甲重量略略超过这条标准排水量6800吨的轻巡洋舰！然而扎拉级的核心舱长度大约是90米，宽度大约是20.6米。新轻巡的核心舱才多大？长度约80米，宽度才16米！

This is the rhythm of making this light cruiser hard against the heavy cruiser's 8-inch gun!Helena murmured silently in her heart.

With so much armor weight to squander, Helena naturally wouldn't be polite, and directly threw out the quilt cap system that Italy had practiced on the Duke of Abruzzi-class light cruiser in the previous plane.

When it comes to stripping quilt caps, we have to talk about the most common type of armor-piercing projectiles used by ships in World War II: hood hood armor-piercing projectiles.Among them, the quilt cap is a relatively blunt head that is put on the front end of the armor-piercing projectile. In front of the quilt cap, there is generally a sharp and slender lightweight hood to reduce flight resistance.

When the shell hits the armor of the battleship, the mission of the lightweight hood is completed, and it will disintegrate instantly in the collision, and then it is time for the hood to play its role.There are roughly two functions of the cap:

The first function is to straighten the projectile body. Due to the influence of heading angle, shell drop angle, and armor inclination angle, shells seldom hit the armor vertically. Generally, they are at a certain incident angle. This incident angle will make the armor-piercing path longer. Armor difficulty increased.At this time, the blunt cap can straighten the projectile to a certain extent, shorten the armor-piercing path, and reduce the probability of ricochets;

The second function is to resist the surface hardening layer of the armor. Since the end of the 19th century, the surface carburizing hardening armor has become the mainstream choice for large and medium thickness armor. This kind of armor uses the surface carburizing process to make the outer layer of the armor contain more carbon. High, with high hardness, low carbon content in the inner layer, and a certain degree of toughness. When the uncapped armor-piercing projectile faces the surface carburized hardened armor, it is easy to be bounced or smashed by the high hardness surface hardened layer.At this time, the high-hardness quilt cap can destroy the surface hardened layer of the armor with the same method of destruction before the main body, and make holes in the armor. It is beneficial for large troops (main body) to completely penetrate the broken defense line of the enemy.

The emergence of capped armor-piercing projectiles, especially hard-capped armor-piercing projectiles, has largely reversed the situation that "shields are stronger than spears" after the appearance of surface carburized hardened armor, but spears and shields are always in constant competition between you and me. improving.Faced with the sharper spear of the armor-piercing projectile, the side of the shield will naturally not stand still.So in the hands of our great Italian ship designer, Umberto Plese, the quilt cap system was born!

The general idea of ​​the cap stripping system is as follows: since the cap is so important to the armor-piercing process, we will first knock off your cap when the armor-piercing projectile touches the main armor. The armor-piercing projectile without the cap is like a A toothless tiger can only sigh in disbelief in the face of the thick surface carburized hardened armor!The specific method is to set an armor plate with a thinner thickness but enough to destroy the cap of the armor-piercing projectile outside the main armor, and leave enough space between this thinner armor plate and the main armor to allow the cap to fall off completely.

Take the above-mentioned Duke of Abruzzi-class light cruiser as an example, the vertical main armor is arranged as the outer layer is the stripped cap armor, the thickness is 30mm, and the main armor is concave (in order to leave a space between the stripped cap armor and the main armor). There is enough space for the quilt cap to fall off completely), and the thickness is 100mm.Later, the Italians felt that there would be a lot of space for the cap to fall off naturally, which was a waste of space, and the concave main armor was not easy to process and install, so this design was made on the Veneto-class battleship. Further improvement: the outer layer is a 70mm stripped quilt cap armor, followed by a 250mm foam cement layer (it only takes a fraction of the original distance to completely peel off the quilt cap), and then there is a 280mm thick surface hardened main armor. armor.

The vertical main armor protection system proposed by Helena basically borrowed this set of ideas: the outer layer is a 30mm thick stripped cap armor, the back is a 200mm thick foam cement layer, and the inner layer is a 130mm thick surface hardened armor (from Underwater 0.8 meters gradually reduced to 90mm), the vertical height of the main armor reaches 3.25 meters, completely wraps the entire ammunition depot and power cabin, and is inclined 12 degrees to the sea level to achieve better protection.

Below the 3.25-meter-high main armor is the underwater protection system that continues to extend down to the bottom of the ship, with a height of 2.75 meters. The material is changed from surface-hardened armor to high-elastic steel, and the thickness is gradually reduced from 90mm to 30mm.The thickness of the main horizontal armor is 80mm, which also covers the entire ammunition compartment and power compartment and is connected with the vertical main armor to form a complete armor box.Both ends of the armor box are closed with 105mm thick vertical armor, and then the core cabin is divided into 8 independent large cabins by 40 9mm thick horizontal armor walls.

The front of the turret is 45mm surface-hardened armor inclined at 185 degrees. The sides, rear and top of the turret are all uniform armor with a thickness of 105mm. The side of the turret seat is 210mm thick, and the front and rear are 105mm thick.

The side armor of the conning tower is 185mm thick, inclined at 12 degrees, and the top is 80mm thick.The drive shaft is protected by a semi-circular armored sleeve, 210mm thick on the side and 80mm thick on the top.The wheelhouse is protected by an independent armor box, with a side of 185mm inclined at 12 degrees and a top thickness of 80mm.

如果大家对以上数据缺乏概念，那么可以再说形象一点，这条排水量只有6800吨的轻巡的垂直装甲大约可以在13千米以外的距离上抵挡上一个位面中德国希佩尔级重巡洋舰SKC/34（L60）型203mm主炮的高速弹平射！水平装甲可以在22千米以内的距离上抵挡巴尔的摩级MK15型203mm主炮的超重弹灌顶！而这两者基本上是二战期间水平穿深和垂直穿深最强的8英寸舰炮！难怪当装甲设计最终成型的时候，所有的设计师都不由得惊呼：“这简直就是一艘6800吨重的海上堡垒！”

As for the firepower system, Helena didn't have much room to play. The three double-mounted 60-caliber 155mm naval guns were quite satisfactory on a light cruiser of this tonnage.However, there are two small changes worth mentioning:

The first change was that the breech bolt was replaced by a block bolt at Helena's strong request.

In the last plane, German large-caliber naval guns generally use sliding wedge bolts. The advantage is that the breech bolts can be opened and closed quickly (when the bolt is unbolted, the partition bolt needs to unscrew the breech bolt at a certain angle and move the breech back a certain amount. The breech of the gun can only be exposed by turning the breech block to one side, while the sliding bolt only needs to slide the breech block to the left and right or up and down. The same is true for closing the bolt. ).

However, the sliding wedge also has insurmountable shortcomings. First, the airtightness is not easy to guarantee, so that a metal cartridge must be used to cover the propellant to assist airtightness; second, the wedge will cause the breech to be too heavy.Sliding wedges still have a greater advantage in small and medium-caliber artillery. After all, small and medium-caliber artillery generally pursue high rates of fire, and most small and medium-caliber shells originally use fixed charges with metal cartridges.But the large-caliber artillery is different. Most of them use silk-wrapped medicine bags, and the addition of metal cartridges is superfluous.The heavy weight of the sliding wedge-bolt gun tail is also not conducive to the improvement of the power of the naval gun. After all, the lighter weight under the same power, or the higher power under the same weight is an irresistible temptation for designers.

As for the slow opening and closing of the partition bolt, Helena said that it is not hopeless. Changing the breech block from a cylindrical shape to a conical shape can speed up the opening and closing of the breech block to a certain extent (unscrew the breech-shaped bolt to open the breech. After locking, the breech block does not need to be withdrawn completely like a cylindrical bolt, it only needs to be withdrawn a little to turn to one side).

The second change is the double diameter. Since Lieutenant General Behnke introduced the French standard, the calculation method of the double diameter of the German artillery was brought into line with international standards in advance.Before Germany calculated the multiple diameter of the artillery, it was divided by the length of the entire barrel including the breech block by the caliber, and most countries calculated the multiple diameter length without the breech block, which resulted in the same gun, the German standard calculation times The diameter is larger than that of other countries (for example, the Bavarian-class 45-diameter 380mm naval gun should be 42.4 times the diameter according to British and French standards).

Due to the high expectations of the Navy for the new gun, Krupp adopted a 60mm gun with a longer barrel of 155 times the caliber.

The Königsberg class in history is also 60 times the diameter, but due to the difference in the calculation method, the actual multiple diameter of the new cruiser is larger than the Königsberg, and the 155mm caliber is also larger than the 149.1mm of the Königsberg, so The main guns of the new ship are much more powerful than Konigsberg, but Konigsberg has 9 guns, while the new cruiser only has six.

Helena has nothing to do about this, after all, the ACC doesn't allow it to increase its firepower.In this regard, Helena can only say "I am also very desperate." But it is consoling that the shackles of ACC will obviously not last for too long.

Chapter 13 Twists and Turns

In Germany, Helena and the technicians are busy perfecting the design of the new cruiser bit by bit.On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, at the meeting place in Washington, with the end of the pre-conference ceremonial procedures, the conference also entered the core agenda.However, on the issue of the tonnage ratio of battleships, the countries have been deadlocked from the beginning.

"The United States of America has long coastlines in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that need to be protected. The United States believes that a capital ship of 50 tons is absolutely necessary. The British Empire has vast overseas colonies and the largest merchant fleet. The main fleet of Japan is also reasonable. Japan and its colonies are located in a corner of the Western Pacific, but out of respect for Japan's international status, the United States believes that Japan can have a main fleet that is 60% of the size of Britain and the United States, that is, 30 tons." US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes took the lead.

As soon as this remark came out, the Japanese representative Kato Yusaburo immediately stood up to object: "As an island country, Japan depends on the navy differently from the United States. The United States has a vast domestic area and domestic market, and the navy is just a luxury for the United States." , and for Japan, which relies on overseas resources and markets, the navy is a necessity, and the proportion of 60% capital ships is unacceptable to Japan. The Japanese Empire believes that the proportion of capital ships 70% higher than that of Britain and the United States is to ensure the safety of the empire at sea minimum requirements."

Yusaburo Kato actually knows that Britain and the United States will never agree to a 70% battleship ratio.However, Kato still firmly insists on the 70% ratio.On the one hand, this is to give an explanation to the radical forces in the country, but its more important purpose is to insist on this ratio in exchange for other concessions from Britain and the United States.

The British representative, Arthur James Balfour, Minister of the Privy Council, was frowning at this moment as he watched the representatives of the United States and Japan refuse to give in to each other, and made a contemptuous nasal sound from time to time.Although he didn't immediately stand up to oppose the US proposal, he was actually very dissatisfied with the upstart US's request to be on an equal footing with the old maritime hegemony Britain in terms of capital ship tonnage.However, seeing the Japanese representatives attracting firepower in front, he decided to hold back for the time being.After all, Britain's financial situation was not optimistic at this time. After World War I, Britain owed a pile of war debts to the United States.

The battle between Britain, the United States and Japan has not yet been decided, and France and Italy have also joined the battle group, and they want 35 tons of battleships.This time, the hornet's nest was stabbed, and the representatives of Britain, the United States and Japan immediately jumped up to oppose the enemy, completely forgetting the fact that they were still glaring at each other a minute ago!

What is the representative of Germany doing at this moment?Lieutenant General Bernke, the German plenipotentiary, was leaning on the observer seat in the corner, watching the representatives of various countries who were about to flip the table to each other. He suddenly felt that it was a big mistake not to bring melon seeds and peanuts (Beinke Enke: I'm not, I don't, it's all the author's nonsense!).

……

Let's fast forward the time. The fierce war of words has been going on for three full weeks, and the countries still have not reached any consensus.The German representative, who has been eating melons and watching dramas, finally decided to show his presence when he saw that the heat was almost ready.

"Since it is difficult for all countries to reach an agreement on the ratio of the tonnage of capital ships, why not start with easier issues first? How about discussing the ratio of cruisers first?" Lieutenant General Behnke got up and said.

After Bainke finished speaking, the venue was stirred like boiling porridge, as if cold water was suddenly added, and there was silence for dozens of seconds.At this time, the heads of the representatives of various countries seemed to have not turned the corner: what?Let's talk about the proportion of cruisers first?This is not on the agenda of the conference at all, is it?

Indeed, the Washington meeting in the last plane did not discuss the issue of cruisers in detail, but simply stipulated the upper limit of cruisers: the displacement should not exceed 10000 tons, and the caliber of the main gun should not exceed 203 mm.A detailed discussion of the cruiser issue will have to wait until the London Conference a few years later.

Germany is only an observer country, and it seems a bit shocking to suddenly propose such a proposal to change the agenda of the meeting at this time. No wonder the representatives of other participating countries cannot react for a while.However, some representatives soon supported discussing the cruiser issue, which is easier to reach a compromise. After all, after three weeks of bitter battles, the representatives were already physically and mentally exhausted, but all countries could not afford the consequences of the collapse of the meeting ( The huge expenditure of the naval race has made both the well-established Britain and the rich and powerful United States feel unbearable), so the representatives did not slap the table and leave.Although cruisers are the levers of auxiliary ships, they are not capital ships after all. There is obviously much more room for compromise among countries!

Germany's proposal was quickly passed, and the conference will discuss the issue of cruisers first.So on this new battlefield, the countries reopened their positions and started a new round of confrontation.

At this time, Behnke took advantage of the opportunity and then proposed to divide cruisers into heavy cruisers with a displacement of no more than 10000 tons and a main gun caliber of no more than 203 mm, and light cruisers with a displacement of no more than 8500 tons and a main gun caliber of no more than 155 mm.

This proposal was strongly supported by the United Kingdom and France.Among them, France almost suspects that the standard of light cruisers proposed by Germany is tailor-made for the Digue Truin-class cruisers they are planning!

The United Kingdom has more in-depth considerations: the vast British colonies need a sufficient number of cruisers to guard, but the 8-ton heavy cruiser equipped with 203-inch (6mm) guns is relatively expensive, while the 8500-ton light cruiser equipped with 8-inch guns is more expensive. much cheaper.But if everyone builds high school students (heavy cruisers) with 6-ton [-]-inch guns, and only junior high school students (light cruisers) who build their own [-]-inch guns, then in the event of a conflict, the junior high school students will definitely not be the opponents of the high school students ah.Well now, all countries have light cruisers, and their own light cruisers will not face the embarrassing situation of junior high school students beating high school students!

Due to France's firm insistence on the upper limit of 155mm caliber for light cruisers (the 155mm naval guns for the Diguet Trouin-class cruisers that are planned to start construction this year have all been developed at this time.), the countries that adopted the 152mm imperial caliber finally made made a concession.However, what is surprising is that when discussing the lower limit of light cruiser displacement (that is, the upper limit of destroyer displacement), the maverick Gallic Rooster is on the bar with other countries.

Facing the British proposal to set the displacement limit of 1850 tons as the upper limit for destroyers, French representative Jules J. Josselin declared forcefully: "2200 tons is the minimum acceptable to France! If Britain continues to insist on the 1850-ton standard, France will withdraw from it." Meeting!"

As soon as this remark came out, the representatives of various countries almost dropped their jaws in shock, thinking: Is the Gallic chicken bloody?I didn't see such a big reaction from you during the capital ship negotiations before, did you?How can there be such a big reaction on the standard of a small destroyer?

It turns out that at this time, France has already planned a Jackal-class destroyer with a standard displacement of 2100 tons and five 5mm guns, which is waiting to be put on board this year.

It is said that in the last plane, after France built the Jackal class equipped with 130mm guns, it still felt that the destroyers had insufficient firepower. More powerful 138mm gun!Among them, the Mogador class equipped with four double-mounted 138mm guns and a speed of more than 40 knots is even the king of World War II gun drive!

However, the French themselves call these ships not destroyers, but "anti-destroyer lightning strike ships" (the British call them "super destroyers"), and they are positioned as destroyer killers.In the last plane, because the countries in the London Treaty did not recognize France's "anti-destroyer mine striker" (at this time, the standard displacement of French destroyers has gone straight to 2500 tons), it directly led to France's withdrawal from the London Treaty, and saw France's withdrawal However, Italy, which has always been indifferent to France, also rejected the "London Treaty".

France on this plane has not started construction of the super destroyer at this time, but the guiding ideology of destroyer large-scale, high-speed, and heavy gun firepower has begun to be established in the French navy, so the 1850-ton limit is naturally unacceptable.Japan, which has just acquired German oxygen torpedo technology, is now studying to strengthen the lightning strike capability of destroyers, so it also expressed support for France's proposal to relax the tonnage of destroyers.

So after some wrangling, the destroyer's standard was finally set at a main gun caliber of no more than 130mm, and a displacement of 2100 tons.

Chapter 14 Shackles loose

As soon as the standards for light cruisers and heavy cruisers were determined, a new round of war of words began again.But this time the cruiser negotiations are not as tangled as the battleship negotiations.

British representative Belfort took the lead in attacking the United States. Belfort said that Britain needs at least 15 tons of heavy cruisers and 20 tons of light cruisers. However, the tonnage of light cruisers should be limited to 15 tons, and Japan can have 11 tons of heavy cruisers and 9 tons of light cruisers.

Before the U.S. representative could respond, the Japanese representative Kato Yusaburo immediately stood up and spoke again. Kato claimed: Japan fully agrees with the British proposal. The size of capital ships is limited to [-]% of that of the United States.

Seeing the United Kingdom and Japan coercing the palace, US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes didn't know that Britain and Japan had formed an invisible alliance.The United Kingdom and Japan used the capital ship to meet the United States' requirements as a bait to force the United States to make concessions on the tonnage of cruisers.

But this bait is really hard for the United States to refuse.

As the initiator of the Washington Conference, the United States enjoys the most international political reputation, but also bears the most international political risks.In other words, whether the Washington meeting can reach a final agreement on the naval issue is more of an economic issue for other countries.Although in terms of the economic pressure brought about by the arms race, the pressure on the United States is relatively light, but for the United States, the Washington Conference is not only an economic issue, but more of a political issue!Externally, this is the first time that the United States has hosted an important international political meeting. The success or failure of the meeting is directly related to the future international political appeal of the United States; internally, President Harding, who has been accused of doing nothing, needs a sufficiently impressive performance.

At this time, the psychology of US Secretary of State Hughes is more delicate.

Although Hughes remained calm on the surface, the calculations in his heart were fast: if the United States agreed to the requirements of the United Kingdom and Japan, the United States would certainly suffer a small loss in the tonnage of cruisers, but the tonnage of battleships was on par with the United Kingdom, and it was already overwhelmed by Japan. Huge success!With this credit alone, it is enough to shine in the annals of American history!If you don’t agree to the demands of the United Kingdom and Japan, good luck may allow the United States to win a big victory in the tonnage of cruisers, but cruisers are not as important as capital ships after all. It's just the icing on the cake. If the crucial capital ship tonnage battle is pulled into an unknown situation, it is likely to lose its political future!

Is it to take a step back in the cruiser negotiation and ensure that the huge victory of the capital ship negotiation is safe?Or is it to add a little extra income that I don't know if I can get it, so that the capital ship negotiations are at risk?For Hughes, an old political slick, it seems that it is not difficult to choose.Considering that the capital ship negotiations have been protracted for a long time, there are more and more voices in the domestic party questioning himself, and even the voices of negotiators, Hughes finally made up his mind.

As a result, the U.S. representatives finally compromised, and the deadlock between Britain, the U.S. and Japan on battleships and cruisers was resolved, and the rest of the agenda became simpler. After the U.K., U.S. and Japan jointly suppressed the wild asking prices of France and Italy, the countries passed the ratio of aircraft carriers. Refer to battleships, and the proportion of destroyers refers to the principle of cruisers.

After several months of arduous negotiations, the General Assembly finally reached the following agreement:

Battleship:

United Kingdom, 525,000 tons; United States, 525,000 tons; Japan, 315,000 tons; France, 175,000 tons; Italy, 175,000 tons;

aircraft carrier:

United Kingdom, 135,000 tons; United States, 135,000 tons; Japan, 81,000 tons; France, 60,000 tons; Italy, 60,000 tons;

Heavy cruiser:

United Kingdom, 150,000 tons; United States, 150,000 tons; Japan, 110,000 tons; France, 70,000 tons; Italy, 70,000 tons;

light cruiser;

United Kingdom, 200,000 tons; United States, 150,000 tons; Japan, 90,000 tons; France, 70,000 tons; Italy, 70,000 tons;

destroyer;

United Kingdom, 150,000 tons; United States, 150,000 tons; Japan, 110,000 tons; France, 70,000 tons; Italy, 70,000 tons;

Generally speaking, the tonnage of battleships and aircraft carriers in this agreement is exactly the same as that of the "Washington Treaty" in the previous plane, and the part of cruisers and destroyers is relatively close to the "London Treaty" in the previous plane. It is said to be close, but There are also changes, one is to bring in France and Italy (France and Italy did not participate in the "London Treaty"), and the other is that the share of heavy cruisers in the United States is much smaller than that of the "London Treaty" (from 18 tons to 15 tons).In addition, because Britain and France did not reach an agreement on the submarine issue, the treaty did not stipulate submarines.

Lieutenant General Bernke, the German representative who attended as an observer, received high international praise for his speech at the meeting. Some American newspapers praised him as "the lieutenant general who saved the future of the meeting at a critical moment."

The excellence of Behnke and other members of the German delegation also won benefits for Germany. Even the French representative who strongly advocated restricting Germany had to admit that Germany's great contribution to the success of the meeting should be rewarded, so the supplementary agreement signed by the participating countries and Germany The agreement clearly stated that in the next 10 years, Germany can build four warships with a main gun caliber not exceeding 283mm and a tonnage not exceeding 12000 tons, four light cruisers of 8500 tons, four light cruisers of 6000 tons, and 24 destroyers to replace the existing ones. Some 36 old warships.

In Germany, Helena was overjoyed when she saw the text of the telegram of the agreement, although in fact the number of large and medium-sized warships that Germany can build is only 12, which is not much more than that of the previous plane (above) One plane is allowed to build 1 Emden-class light cruiser, 3 Konigsberg-class light cruisers, 2 Leipzig-class light cruisers, 5 German-class armored ships, a total of 11 ships), and [-]-ton warships. There is one less than the previous plane, but the tonnage limit of [-]-ton warships and light cruisers has been relaxed to a certain extent, and the number of light cruisers has increased by two. Isn't it finished? (After the mustache came to power, the construction project of the No. [-] and No. [-] ships of the Deutschland class was changed to two Scharnhorst class battlecruisers).

With this agreement, Germany will have more room for future warship design, Helena thought happily, she waved her pink and tender fists, and she was more confident in completing the mission in the future!

Chapter 15 Falling in the Far East

As the representatives of various countries signed their names on the treaty documents, the Washington Naval Conference also came to an end. The representatives of various countries instantly let go of the expression of wanting to eat their opponents in the past few days, and cordially greeted each other outside the venue. Shaking hands, chatting, and taking group photos, every representative at the meeting smiled and tried to show their best side under the spotlight of the reporter.But how much sincerity can be contained in these smiles, and how many undercurrents there are under these smiles, it is not known.

What is more interesting is that all countries believe that they have taken advantage of their negotiations:

The United Kingdom is temporarily still occupying the throne of the number one naval power because its number of light cruisers still exceeds that of the United States; However, they managed to win a round in the cruiser negotiations; although the old enemies of France and Italy did not get a lot of shares, the signing of the treaty can be regarded as saving the precarious financial situation of the two countries.

However, from the perspective of Helena, a time traveler, the biggest gain from the treaty is Germany!The first is that the treaty allows Germany to build the same number of warships as in the previous plane, and the tonnage restrictions of warships of each level have been relaxed to varying degrees.But this is not the key point, the more important benefit is that the UK must scrap those old cruisers in accordance with the regulations!

In the previous plane, due to the late signing of the "Treaty of London", when the war broke out, most of the British old-fashioned cruisers went into battle to escort the merchant fleet before being dismantled. With 12 new ships built during the war, the total number of British cruisers during World War II reached an astonishing 90!Although many of these 90 cruisers are old-fashioned guys, no matter how old a cruiser is, it is still a cruiser!There are cruisers in an escort formation, and the deterrent effect on the opponent's breaching ships, camouflaged attack ships and submarines is completely different!

For example, if the merchant fleet in front has only a few destroyers to escort, then once it encounters the opponent's regular cruiser, it will be slaughtered overwhelmingly.

But if the merchant fleet on the opposite side has one or two cruisers in command, even if it is just an old-fashioned light cruiser, then even a heavy cruiser like the Hipper class has to weigh before launching an attack. After all, the destroyer ships are very afraid of being injured. Most of the attack ships are operating alone in the ocean. Once the navigation ability is damaged, it is easy to be beaten to death by the opponent's superior force...

In this plane, the United Kingdom signed a restriction agreement on cruisers in advance.According to the displacement limit stipulated in the agreement, the UK can have about 15 10000-ton heavy cruisers and 23-24 8500-ton light cruisers. In the face, Britain's terrifying strength of nearly 40 cruisers at the beginning of the war has shrunk by half in terms of the size of the cruiser fleet!

Of course, the signing of the treaty can free Britain from the financial burden of maintaining those old ships in advance, and speed up the replacement of cruiser pairs.If the United Kingdom can successfully complete the renewal of cruisers, then in 1939, the British cruisers will all be composed of cutting-edge service after the 20s, and the average quality of a single ship may exceed that of the previous plane.However, as far as the most important escort mission for British cruisers is concerned, the halving of the number cannot be compensated by a slight improvement in the quality of a single ship.After all, no matter how cutting-edge a single British cruiser is, it can only escort one fleet at a time!

However, Lieutenant General Paul Behnke didn't think so much about the above. If someone told him that the German Navy would go to war with the Royal Navy of the British Empire within 20 years, Bainke would definitely think that this guy drank too much beer in Munich! (At this time, in a beer hall in Munich, a young man with a mustache sitting in a corner sneezed loudly.)

Since the end of World War I, Behnke has been wrestling with keeping the technological advances of the German Navy, especially of battleships, submarines and aircraft carriers, from becoming out of touch with the world.However, the so-called drowsiness is given a pillow. After Japan obtained the secret of oxygen torpedoes, its desire for advanced naval technology became even greater.In private at the Washington meeting, Tomosaburo Kato euphemistically expressed to Bainke his desire to purchase design drawings and transfer technology to establish his own submarine force.

Thanks to the previous cooperation, the cooperation went very smoothly, and the two parties quickly reached an agreement. Led by major German shipyards and enterprises, they jointly established an empty shell joint venture company in Hiroshima, Japan: Ship Construction Engineering Bureau.

This company is of great significance to both Germany and Japan. In Japan, after the British technology import channel is gradually cut off, it can continue to obtain advanced naval technology from Europe; in Germany, it allows military shipbuilding companies to continue to maintain research and development under restrictions. ability, and evaded the supervision of the Treaty of Versailles.

Don't look at Bainke in this plane who has been fooled by Helena's idea of ​​surpassing the times, in fact, it is just the afterthoughts of the time traveler.In fact, Bainke is an admiral with excellent ability and knows how to be straightforward.In the original historical plane, Behnke also established this shell company, but its headquarter is in the Netherlands. Capital injection, but in terms of preserving the fire for the revival of the German Navy, the "Ship Construction Engineering Bureau" is of great significance!

In this plane, because of the butterfly effect of the traversers, the "Ship Construction Engineering Bureau" immediately locked the customer as Japan, which is in urgent need of technology. Eye-catching brilliance!

In March 1922, Behnke returned to China with a full harvest. Due to his brilliant performance at the Washington Conference, Germany took the first step to return to the international stage. In April 3, Behnke Promoted to Admiral of the Navy.