When Lieshenko was talking about the power system, Nikola could barely understand what he meant, but when he arrived, as the old man spit out a large string of professional terms like a machine gun, Nikola was completely confused and could not understand it. After a while, the Russian emperor finally couldn't bear it. He waved his hand with an unhappy look and said, "Okay, Mr. Lieshenko, don't tell me the details anymore. I just want to know what the difference is between the German ship and the armored cruiser that the great powers started construction at the same time."

Leshenko was stunned and then realized that Nikola was not a professional warship designer. He said that almost all of his words were playing the piano for a cow. He coughed, sorted his thoughts, and replied again: "Report to your Majesty, this design of the Germans has almost used the tonnage to the extreme. Not only us, but even the warships designed and built by Britain and France are far from comparable to that! The "Russia" armored cruiser that we started construction last year has a water displacement of 13,675 tons, a speed of 20 knots, and is equipped with 4 203mm main guns and 16 152mm secondary guns. In terms of armor defense, only a narrow 203mm armor was arranged near the waterline. The two "Strong" class ships that the British started construction last year (p

owerful) Armored cruiser, designed to displace 14,200 tons, and only equipped with 2 234mm main guns and 12 152mm secondary guns, which is worse than our "Russia". However, this design of the Germans achieved the firepower of 8 210mm main guns and 8 150mm secondary guns and a speed of 20 knots, and the waterline also has a large area of ​​150mm armor, which is simply unbelievable!" (In fact, the speed of the strong class is faster, reaching 22 knots, but since it has not been completed, the Russians do not know its detailed data. However, even so, the tonnage utilization rate of the strong British class is very limited.)

Seeing that Nicholas was still confused, Leshenko paused and explained: "So, the three elements of warships are firepower, armor and speed. If the main gun equipped by the Germans is twice ours under the same tonnage, the coverage area of ​​the armor on the side can be 1.5 times ours, and the speed can be the same as ours. Their tonnage utilization rate is far from comparable to the warships built by our country! Based on the new ships completed by Britain and France in recent years, even their warships are far from the performance level designed by the Germans under the same tonnage. Although they are better than us, compared to Germany, there is one thing that will inevitably fall behind significantly between firepower, protection and speed."

In these last few words, Nikola finally understood the meaning that Leshenko wanted to express. He nodded slowly, but he was shocked without saying anything, and his heart was inexplicably shocked and the waves were surging. The German Navy, which had always been famous, secretly designed such a superior combat ship; its performance was better than that of Russian warships, but it could not even match the warships designed by the traditional sea overlord Britain! Although Nikola wanted to question the feasibility of this design, he was a layman in the ship design, and perhaps worse than the young man in front of him; secondly, this young man had already given the clearest answer to Leshenko's doubts. In arms sales between countries, it was absolutely impossible to be slandered, let alone the other party was a German who had always been famous for his rigorous and conservativeness?

Want to buy ships in bulk from Germans?

A gust of night wind blew, cool and refreshing, Nikola's hair and beard were moving; seeing Qingying's clear eyes, he took the initiative to avoid the gaze of his nephew. Nikola's face was solemn, and when he looked at Leshenko, he saw the deep desire and hesitation between each other in the other's eyes.

According to the original plan of the Russian Navy, the Pacific Fleet was indeed their main development target in the future. However, based on the relationship between the Russian-French alliance, Russia originally planned to fully introduce French shipbuilding technology, but never thought that there would be any intersection with Germany. But who would have expected that the Germans would actually create such superior warships, which was even better than Britain and France, which immediately made Nicholas II feel a little embarrassed.

If we insist on introducing shipbuilding technology from France, the relationship between Russia and France will be further improved, but in this way, the performance of the built warships will be greatly reduced compared to that of the German warships. Using this ship to fight against the Japanese navy that fully adopts British warships, it is still an unknown number of wins and losses. If we buy warships from the Germans, the performance of the warships is nothing, but how should the French explain it? Since the signing of the Russian-French alliance, France has faithfully fulfilled the obligations stipulated in the treaty; to this day, France has invested a lot of capital in Russia, and now the development of Russia's economy relies entirely on this money to make money; if Russia turns its arms out of the arms, it will inevitably anger the French and affect the domestic economy that has finally stabilized. The sale of warships has always been accompanied by the output of international relations!

Nicholas slowly sat back on the chair, his face calm and silent for a long time. The feeling of flesh on the palms and backs of his hands and backs is not enough, and he has encountered many of them in the past six months since he became emperor; but every time it made him tired and hurt his mind for balance. After thinking for a while, Nicholas II was still unsure of his mind. When he saw Leshenko next to him, he couldn't help but ask: "Major General, what do you think?"

Speaking of the field he was in charge, Leshenko's thinking immediately became active. He thought for a while and whispered in Russian: "Your Majesty, the warships designed by the Germans have an almost weird and powerful performance; although the Germans cannot lie to us, the possibility of their calculation errors is not unavailable. Only when the German warships are completed can they determine whether they can realize all the performance data written on paper!" Nikola frowned and said, "What do you mean is that we still have to wait and see at the moment?"

Leshenko said: "The Germans' design is all based on the main ship they started construction last year. To be on the safe side, before the battleship they built last year completes the sea test and draws a conclusion, it is best to be cautious and wait and see directly, and it is not advisable to directly introduce the German shipbuilding technology. We can order one from the Germans first and see the form. Once there is a problem with the warship that Germany started construction last year, we can immediately stop the contract and ask Germany for compensation; and if the performance data of the German warship is really nothing, then I personally think it is feasible to use German warships instead of some planned French warships. After all, the temptation of double the main gun's firepower is too great!"

After hearing this, Nicholas pondered for a moment, then nodded slowly. Although this was just a compromise suggestion, it contained Leshenko's understanding of the warship; buying one first would be easy to talk to whether it was in the Germans or in front of the French, and this warship would not be able to lose money! He thought for a moment and asked, "Major General, how much is our naval budget this year?"

Leshenko replied without thinking: "Report to your Majesty, our naval shipbuilding budget this year has been filled with three dome cruisers, and there is no extra shipbuilding amount. Among them, we will start construction of two 6,800-ton Pallada class protective cruisers in December, and are preparing to order a 3,860-ton Svietlana protective cruiser from the Le Havre Shipyard in France. If the budget for these three cruisers that have not yet been placed is cancelled, 11.6 million rubles can be freed up."

Nicholas shook his head slightly and said decisively: "The cruiser ordered from France cannot be cut off and must be retained. This is not only a naval issue, but also a political issue. We must not abandon the original French order in order to buy German warships." Leshenko's only pause and immediately said: "Then cancel the budget for the two Parada-class protective cruisers. In this way, 9.7 million rubles can be saved, which is enough to buy the German large-fitting patrol; and the combat effectiveness of that large-fitting patrol is twice as good as that of the two Parada-class protective cruisers. However, if you do this, you will be wronged by the workers of the Galerni Shipyard."

"This is not a problem. Anyway, the order has not been placed yet, and canceling the budget of these two cruisers is not a big deal. Now Earl Witter does not have much surplus funds, so let's do it first." Nicholas II waved his hand, then turned to Qingying and said, "Little Etel, I promised you this time for cousin Willy's sake, and I will decide to buy an armored cruiser like this. In a few days, Shushu will specifically notify you, and you will ask your shipyard to take the formal contract documents to the Admiralty."

Qingying's face turned solemn and respectfully said that it was. Although he only sold one ship, he had a little regret, but he also knew Nikolai's current concerns. The performance data planned by this design had exceeded the cognitive boundaries of the Russian-French designers; and the existence of the Russian-French alliance also made the Russians unable to order warships from Germany. However, Qingying was not worried about this at all. In a few years, after the newly started warships in Germany were announced to be completed, the Russians saw the superiority of German warships, and were they afraid that they would not continue to order from Germany? As long as the Russians had several conscientious patrols in the Far East, once wars started with Japan, the waters around Japan would never be peaceful!

"By the way, there is one more thing." Qingying stood up from her chair and whispered, "I hope your country can keep the performance of this warship confidential, especially the speed. Apart from Mr. Shu Shu and Mr. Leshenko, it is best not to have a third person who thinks her speed can exceed 18 knots."
Chapter completed!