Chapter 26 Warm-up Exercise

  Busy with the design work of "William the Great", Feng Chengqian spent Christmas in the workshop of William Harbour Shipyard, along with hundreds of engineers.

  To motivate the engineers, Feng Chongqian himself offered a prize of 5,000 Imperial Marks.

  In this era, five thousand empire marks were absolutely not a small amount of money. At that time, the annual salary of even the best engineers was less than five thousand empire marks.

  With motivation, engineers naturally become more proactive.

  The day before Easter, Feng Chongqian rushed back to Berlin and handed over the specially prepared design drawings to the German Emperor. Once the emperor approved the design plan, the detailed design would be completed within a month, and the William Harbour Shipyard would prepare the shipbuilding platform by the end of June and start construction in July.

  It must be admitted that "Wilhelm der Gro?e" was not a perfect battleship and still had many problems.

  Nothing is more prominent than its weak armor protection.

  Even by the standards of the time, the "Wilhelm der Gro?e" had a protection standard far below that of capital ships and even inferior to armoured cruisers.

  Feng Congqian did not conceal this matter. After the German Emperor approved the design plan, he revealed the news.

  Of course, what was revealed to the outside world was what Feng Chengqian wanted the outside world to know, and the secrets he didn't want the outside world to know were all locked in the secret file cabinet of the Imperial War Department.

  Now, old empires like Britain, France and Russia will have a lively show again.

  According to the information revealed by Feng Chengqian, "William the Great" is a warship that values speed, and has nothing special in terms of firepower and protection. Its firepower is on par with that of "Frederick the Great", but the arrangement of its turrets is different, while its armor protection is much lower than that of "Frederick the Great". As a result, British newspapers commenting on this matter all unanimously declared that "William the Great" was not worth worrying about, because this faster warship would not be able to survive in a sea battle.

  It is undeniable that this is a more objective evaluation.

  At that time, there was no concept of "key protection" at all. In the eyes of most people, the weak armor of the "Wilhelm der Gro?e" was not enough to compete with the main battleship. Even if it was faster, it was only on par with Britain's main battleship and did not substantially surpass it.

  But others hold different views.

  The first to be influenced, or rather inspired by the "Wilhelm der Gro?e", was a British naval officer named John Fisher.

  Feyler is who, Feng Chengqian certainly knows.

  In the history familiar to Feng Chengqian, this British naval general, who was born in Ceylon in 1841 and looked like an Oriental person, joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13. He was a sailor on Nelson's flagship "Victory" during the Battle of Trafalgar, later participated in the Crimean War, and fought in battles such as attacking Guangzhou and bombarding the Dagu Fort during the Second Opium War. At the age of 33, he was promoted to Royal Navy Colonel.

  When the design of the "Wilhelm der Gro?e" was completed, Fischer had just been promoted to Konteradmiral.

  If history had not intervened, Fisher would have continued to rise through the ranks and become First Sea Lord in four years' time, becoming the professional head of the Royal Navy. Under his direction, Britain would have built a number of dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers. It was not until 1910 that Fisher would retire from the Royal Navy with the rank of Baron.

  As far as Feng Congqian knows, in modern naval history, no one has had a greater impact than Fisher.

  Fisher's greatest contribution was in "creating" the battlecruiser type and having a huge impact on World War I.

  In 1890, Fischer, who had just been promoted to major general, did not have such a forward-looking understanding.

  At this time, however, Fisher was in a position of authority: Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard.

  At the time, Fisher was most concerned with the French Navy across the Channel, particularly the large numbers of torpedo boats, so his focus was on designing a type of warship specifically to counter these light torpedo boats, and this type of warship developed under Fisher's leadership would later become the destroyer.

  The German Empire began building large warships and caught Fischer's attention.

  The design specifications for the "Wilhelm der Gro?e" having been published, Fischer recognized that such a speed-oriented warship would be highly useful in future naval warfare.

  Fisher quickly submitted a report to the Royal Navy emphasizing the importance of fast battleships.

  The report did not, however, cause much stir among senior Royal Navy officers.

  Fisher did not let the matter drop and decided to bring pressure on the Admiralty through public opinion, making senior naval officers aware of the potential threat across the North Sea.

  As a traditional maritime power, the British people have a very strong sense of sea power.

  To what extent has this consciousness reached? Any threat, no matter how remote the potential threat may be, will be seen as a mortal threat by the British people.

  The Royal Navy has always pursued a policy of "we too" - if you have it, we have it; if you want to increase your programme, we shall increase ours.

  The German Empire built new battleships with heavy speed and firepower but light protection, the British Navy could not fall behind, so they had to keep up somehow.

  At that time, Feng Chengqian was also paying attention to Britain's attitude.

  After reading Fisher's comments in the newspaper, Feng Congchao immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity to mislead the British Royal Navy.

  Are battleships with heavy firepower and speed but light protection, also known as battlecruisers, worth it?

  Feng Chengqian was very clear that with the advancement of technology, this kind of warship that emphasizes a certain performance would soon be eliminated by more powerful warships, and it was just a fleeting moment.

  If it were possible to induce the British Royal Navy to expend great effort in building battle cruisers, it would certainly be beneficial and harmless to the Empire.

  The question is, how can we mislead our opponent?

  After careful consideration, Feng Chengqian felt that the best way was to give his opponent a sufficient reason, forcing him to build fast warships.

  What kind of reason can make the British Royal Navy build fast battleships?

  As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. Feng Chengqian brought Tielu Pitz over.

  After hearing von Tirpitz's explanation, he still had some doubts and believed that at this time, urging Britain to build a large number of warships would be equivalent to initiating an early naval arms race, which was simply self-defeating.

  "Your concerns, I've thought of them too, we just need to look a bit further ahead." Feng Chengqian smiled and said to Tirpitz, "'Frederick the Great' and 'William the Great' have already changed the direction of warship development. It won't take long, maybe ten years, maybe twenty years, all the warships currently being built will become outdated and eliminated. In other words, no matter how many warships the British Royal Navy builds, when new technology emerges, they will all become museum exhibits, while we can use this to consume Britain's national strength."

  "That's what they say, but aren't you worried that Britain will declare war on us because of this?"

  "Without France and Russia, Britain would never have dared to go to war with us alone."

  "Does the Earl think that France and Russia will not take this opportunity to form an alliance with England?"

  Feng Chengqian smiled and shook his head, saying: "Russia still has no intention of giving up on the Siberian Railway. Even if France actively woos Britain, the possibility of an alliance between Britain, France, and Russia in the short term is not very great. At the beginning of the year, I received news that the Tsar had already decided to continue building the Siberian Railway, and the French Prime Minister also expressed a willingness to provide assistance. Britain is now in a difficult situation and will definitely not turn against us."

  "Then, with Russia building the Siberian Railway, there is also a reason to expand the navy."

  Feng Chengqian nodded and said: "The prime minister has already informed the British Prime Minister that the Empire's main battleship is being built mainly to counter threats from the Baltic Sea direction."

  "How does the Earl plan to start this naval arms race?"

  "This is why I came looking for you."

  Tirpitz thought for a moment and said: "To make Britain build warships and consume British national strength, the best way is to start from where it hurts Britain."

  "Where does it hurt?"

  "Britain is a maritime power and the foundation of its national strength lies in its vast colonies and global trade, so sea routes are of paramount importance to Britain."

  Feng Chengqian nodded thoughtfully and let Tirpitz continue.

  "What Britain cannot tolerate most is, apart from threats to its native land, insecurity of sea lanes."

  "In other words, as long as it could pose a threat to Britain's sea lanes, it would force the British Royal Navy to expend great effort in building expensive but unsuitable battleships for main fleet engagements."

  "That depends on the level of threat."

  Feng Chengqian smiled and said, "If the potential enemy of Britain has a main force warship that can't be caught up with by battleships and can't be beaten by cruisers, and this warship has enough endurance to operate in the ocean for a long time, then the British Royal Navy will have no choice."

  "The problem is, there isn't such a warship yet."

  "Don't worry, it will be ready soon."

  "The meaning of Earl is..."

  "Thanks to the British press, Your Majesty is not yet satisfied with the performance of the 'Wilhelm der Gro?e' and has already promised to allocate funds for the construction of another battleship next year."

  "The Earl thought..."

  "Your Majesty agrees to build warships, but doesn't say what kind of warships, does he?"

  "This..."

  "The Tsar insisted on building the Siberian Railway, Your Majesty is very angry and has already regarded Russia as a thorn in the eye. We can take this opportunity to propose the formation of the Far East Fleet."

  "In other words, what's needed is a warship with high speed and long range?"

  Feng Chengqian nodded and said, "You still need to have enough self-control."

  "This is also an excellent reason for explaining to Britain."

  "It doesn't matter what Britain thinks, as long as it sounds plausible on the surface. As long as Britain regards us as potential enemies, they will follow in our footsteps and build new battleships."

  "The Earl's meticulous consideration is truly admirable."

  "General, you don't have to be modest either. In a few more years, when the fleet is initially formed, I will propose to His Majesty to appoint you as the commander of the Far East Fleet."

  Tirpitz nodded and didn't say much in thanks.

  As the saying goes, great kindness is not spoken of in gratitude. Having been reused by Feng Chengqian, Tirpitz was already satisfied, what reason would he have to not work for Feng Chengqian?

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