The Rise of the Empire

"Sir, we just want to buy your country's 240MM artillery, and most of your test content today has nothing to do with our business." The Argentine representative, Captain Diano, said euphemistically.

"But isn't it good to know more about things? Today, you're not the only one here." With a Krupp senior engineer sign on his chest, our Baron Vittorio began to fool his potential customers, after all With his current status, it shouldn't be too easy to get a name in Krupp!

"Look there, there's the Admiralty, a little to the north are representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and to the side are representatives of Russia, and today we will witness the miracle of rapid-firing artillery and new charges, and we will use high-explosive shells to This target ship is completely destroyed!" The baron first introduced the audience present, and then pointed to the 40-meter-long target ship on the river.

"But I think it's hard to destroy this target ship with only 4 light artillery pieces!" Colonel Diano said bluntly, glancing at the artillery and then at the target in the distance.

"Light artillery? How is it possible? We are using... today." When Mr. Baron glanced at the artillery on the emplacement, his face immediately turned green.

"Isn't it the 150MM naval gun that you promised? Why did you get me a 105MM naval gun?" The baron asked the staff of the Krupp factory next to him with a dark face.

"It's too heavy. The gun itself weighs more than 4 tons! So the higher-ups asked us to use 105MM artillery." The other party wiped off a cold sweat and said, any naval gun placed on land is a big guy. It's not that Krupp didn't try his best, it was because the time was too short and the artillery was too heavy.

"Well, I hope today's performance is not too bad." At this point, it is useless to complain. Originally, the baron thought that the three artillery pieces could destroy the target in a very short time using picric acid high-explosive grenade. But the current firepower seems a bit insufficient to him?

The purpose of his planning this experiment is to let the Argentines realize how terrible the suffocation attack of high-explosive bombs and rapid-fire guns is, and then tell the opponent that the belt cruiser and dome cruiser with insufficient defense area are outdated. And when he panics, he will come up with his own work - the 7,500-ton Munich-class armored cruiser! Brand-new armor, full-speed firing artillery, and a speed of more than 20 knots, whether it is MT, fighting output, or running, it is an expert!

But today.... It seems that something unexpected happened! While Mr. Baron was cursing the Krupp factory for cutting corners and thinking about whether his order would fail, a series of loud noises from the gun emplacement told everyone that the test had begun!

The 4 cannons spewed deadly tongues of flame towards the stationary target in the distance! The 18KG high-explosive bombs are firing at a rate of about 8 rounds per minute! In just one minute, four 105MM artillery can theoretically tilt more than 30 rounds towards the target, which is about 600KG of ammunition!

Because of the use of new smokeless gunpowder, the artillery does not need to wait for the smoke to disperse before shooting. Orange fireballs jump at the muzzle, and a series of shells land on the targets that have been calibrated. The explosive power and burning effect of the high-explosive picric acid shells are really excellent, and each shell that hits will cause a local fire!

The yellow-green flame spread quickly on the hull, flowing along the deck and metal brackets like a flame dragon, leaving only a scorched black wreck where it passed, and even thinner steel plates can be ignited! In less than 3 minutes since the shooting started, the deck of the target ship had already turned into a sea of ​​flames! The raging fire made the ship look more like a huge torch!

The explosion of the flames and the horrifying sound of the twisted hull structure made people shudder. The Krupp company, which originally planned to hit 200 shells, found that the target was so inexperienced! But after using up 40% of the ammunition, it's almost burnt out! The target boats staying by the river began to change and sink,

And finally broke into two pieces and ran aground in the shallows.

However, this also allowed experts from various countries to observe the burnt unrecognizable warship at close range, so as to deeply understand the threat of high-explosive bombs to warships with insufficient protection area! Accompanied by the muffled sound of spotlights, personnel from all parties recorded the final appearance of this sad target ship.

"We have just witnessed the end of an era and the beginning of a new era!" Vittorio said to the stunned Argentine next to him. "The rapid-fire guns and high-explosive bombs of the German Empire are enough to sweep those old warships into the garbage dump of history! And the new armor and brand-new armor layout are also enough to resist the rapid-fire guns and high-explosive bombs of the Chileans!"

After all the onlookers left the experimental site in shock, disbelief, and even fear, the matter did not end. Under the intentional or unintentional operation of some people, some details of the experiment were disclosed in the newspapers, " The burnt unrecognizable photos in the Brassai Almanac, the twisted steel beams and keels, and the almost burnt hull surprised and frightened all naval personnel.

In another subsequent experiment, a mere 10-inch Bavarian hardened armor easily blocked a 240KG shell fired from an 11-inch gun fired from 1,000 meters away! And this result shocked the Russians and Germans present! According to previous standards, a battleship does not have a 14-inch armor belt and is embarrassed to go out? And this 14 inches is the thickness of pure steel armor, if you count the teak backboard at the back, the thickness will be even greater!

For a moment, the Russians were stunned! The defense of the new armor was beyond their imagination. If the Russians initially doubted whether the new German hardened armor could achieve the performance stated in the report, now they really believe it! The whizzing shell did nothing more than leave a 3-inch dent in the steel plate. When this photo was sent to the Russian Navy Ministry, the Russians made a decision to accept Bavaria's offer the next day!

And after learning through various channels that the supply of hardened armor in Bavaria is tight, and that German shipyards may expand their production capacity, the Russian Navy Ministry immediately began to discuss whether to set up an official office in Bavaria to ensure the supply of Russian hardened armor! After all, the Russians have already started building! The artillery, power and hull are all fine, but there is indeed only one armor!

"Almost overnight, the cruisers of the British Empire have almost become obsolete. All the new dome cruisers have come to the end of their lives. Even if they haven't disembarked yet, the results on the battlefield are certain!" Diano The colonel reported to his motherland what he saw in Germany, and finally suggested that the Argentine Navy should not buy any more warships. Because these things are useless against the rapid-fire guns of the Chileans!

Then this report was sent to the Argentine delegation who went to the UK to purchase a protective cruiser. When the head of the delegation asked Sir Watts if he could design a cruiser that could withstand rapid-fire guns, Watts withered. After all, he So far, all the armored cruisers in my hands have never been armored!

"I will try my best, wait for me for 2 weeks!" The honest Sir Watts admitted that he could not come up with the relevant design now, but he did not want to give up the order either. So he said so.

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