Chapter 1: Crossing Over

  In the year 20XX, on a certain night, in the Gulf of Aden, aboard the Lanzhou guided missile destroyer. "Xu Jie, get ready, we're leaving." The captain said while gathering his gear. "Got it, almost done." Xu Jie checked his weapons again - a CF05 submachine gun with a drum magazine, a QSZ92 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and a multi-purpose military knife, plus six hand grenades. "Those pirates really know how to pick their timing. The special forces guys are all out, and we sailors have to fill in as a makeshift marine corps. What a joke." Someone complained quietly. "No chatter, get ready and board the ship quickly." 5 minutes later, Xu Jie and seven other team members sped towards the hijacked Chinese cargo ship on an inflatable boat.

  "Everyone, attention! Final check on equipment, prepare for battle." At a distance of 300 meters from the cargo ship. The captain ordered, "Xu Jie, you're first up." "Got it," Xu Jie replied, swiftly picking up his CF05 submachine gun and moving to the bow of the boat. 250 meters, 200 meters, 150 meters... Just as Xu Jie and his companions were slowly approaching their target, a rocket projectile with a trailing flame suddenly flew out from the rear of the cargo ship's deck. "Everyone be careful, rocket!" The captain's words weren't even finished when the rocket exploded less than 5 meters away from the boat. A massive shockwave instantly capsized the small vessel. Xu Jie only felt a deafening roar followed by an enormous wave crashing over him. Then came the sound of his body hitting the water. And then? Xu Jie found himself on an unfamiliar coastline.

  "I'm in~~" Xu Jie woke up to find himself in a bedroom with a strong European style. He was lying on a large European-style bed, and the curtains covering the bed had a distinctive European flavor. Just as Xu Jie was wondering what was going on, the door creaked open and a man dressed in a butler's uniform walked in: "Good morning, sir. Do you need any help?" "Y... I've actually crossed over... to Italy!" Xu Jie was stunned for a moment before he finally figured out his situation from the room's decor. As for why, it was simple - if this were still the 21st century, which house wouldn't have electrical appliances?! And as for Italy? That was even easier to figure out. This foreigner who had appeared out of nowhere was speaking Italian! "Where am I?" Luckily Xu Jie's English wasn't bad. Xu Jie's performance shocked Kum. A savage yellow-skinned person could actually speak pure Oxford English - it really shocked him. "This is... in Italy," Kum replied, still looking stunned. "In the private residence of Count Riocuni Bertini."

  "Is that Count Cuniberti, the designer of the Ansaldo shipyard?" Xu Jie's brain was a jumble. "How did you know about Count Cuniberti?" Kumm was taken aback for a moment, unable to fathom how a yellow-skinned person he had picked up from the seaside could possibly know about Count Cuniberti. But his good breeding allowed him to quickly regain his composure, at least on the surface. "Do you know the count? Yes, this is indeed the private residence of Count Cuniberti, the designer of the Ansaldo shipyard." "No, I just admire him from afar." Xu Jie steadied himself emotionally. "Excuse me, how many days have I been here?" Xu Jie asked with some embarrassment. "Today is December 23rd, 1888. You've been recovering here for three days now." Kumm said with a smile. "December 23rd, 1888?!" Xu Jie almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. "The legendary time-traveling Meiji era has somehow landed me in Italy?!" Just as Xu Jie was struggling to come to terms with this, Kumm asked: "Do you need any help?" The yellow-skinned person before him had an inexplicable background. But considering he knew the count, it was better to be polite and courteous.

  "I'm starving to death." Upon hearing this, Xu Jie's first reaction was to solve the problem of his stomach. However, it was clear that eating was not the most important issue. The most important thing was survival. How to stand firm in this era was the top priority. "Can you provide some paper and pen?" Xu Jie asked, swallowing the saliva that had almost reached his mouth after suppressing his growling stomach. "Paper and pen? You want paper and pen?" Kum looked at him with some surprise. "I'd like to communicate with Earl-sama," Xu Jie said with a smile. "However, I think what you need most is rest. The paper and pen will be sent over later. For now, it's better to eat something first." Kum smiled.

  A bowl of tomato soup, a plate of fresh seafood noodles, and a small bowl of oatmeal. This became Xu Jie's first dinner in this world. Although the variety was not many, but the quality was absolutely good. The first two dishes were even Italy's signature dishes. While solving the first meal on this side, he thought about how to establish himself in this world later, and further away, how to deal with that Japanese person who would come from the east five years later.

  After getting drunk and full, Xu Jie spread out the paper and pen on the table and started his first "plagiarism" plan in this world. The object of plagiarism was none other than the owner of this villa, Count Rivaldo Bertini. This old man was quite famous among ship designers in later generations, known as a genius, and designed the best armored cruiser at that time, the Garibaldi class. Because it had only one central mast and two smokestacks, resembling the Chinese character for "mountain", it was also called the "Mountain Ship" by military fans. Its balanced offense and defense, as well as its fast speed, made this warship stand out among cruiser designs at that time. The double-layered deck was equipped with a total of 10 six-inch guns and 6 four-point-seven inch guns. The bow and stern were even equipped with a ten-inch naval gun. Such powerful firepower would not be inferior to even the British and French contemporaries' ten-thousand-ton armored cruisers. The full-length armor belt and the five-inch Krupp armor belt extending to the entire side of the ship were enough to withstand the firepower of same-class cruisers. In an era when armor-piercing shells did not exist, facing a rain of high-explosive shells, the largest protected area meant the greatest protection for the warship's hull. The arrangement of the bow and stern armor belts was also sufficient to ensure that the warship would not take on water due to secondary compartments being hit by secondary guns. Especially with the establishment of the underwater armor belt, coal bunker, and dome defense system, even if the main armament was hit, the dome's protection would be enough to limit flooding. This defensive system was also continued in the design of World War II battleships (of course, without the coal bunker). Compared to other European armored cruisers at that time, except for their narrow main armaments, they would inevitably be riddled with high-explosive shells and take on water during prolonged battles. Of course, they might also be burned by incendiary shells. In the Russo-Japanese War, Russia's three old-style ten-thousand-ton armored cruisers were defeated by Japan's four new-style armored cruisers. In an era where high-explosive shells dominated, a suitable armor thickness and sufficient protected area were undoubtedly the best design. At the same time, due to strict weight restrictions and appropriate design, this armored cruiser equipped with vertical triple-expansion steam engines could reach speeds of up to 20 knots. Of course, although the Garibaldi's design was very good, it still had some defects. As a traverser, Xu Jie's best way to make a name for himself was to let this armored cruiser be born earlier.

  "What to design, anyway?" Facing a stack of white paper on the oak desk, Xu Jie thought for half a day without making up his mind. After all, the armored cruiser that started construction in 1894 was not something that could be produced now. Not to mention the British Empire's new 10-inch gun had not come out yet, and Krupp's cemented steel armor had not been developed either. Ordinary 6-inch steel plate armor was clearly no match for the new 6-inch quick-firing cannon. It can be said that in the era of 1890, armored cruisers and protected cruisers were not much different when facing 6-inch caliber quick-firing cannons. Whether it was an armored cruiser or a protected cruiser, they would both be penetrated. This is also why before the Sino-Japanese War, protected cruisers were popular among countries around the world rather than armored cruisers. Unless some battleships/ironclads with armor thickness reaching 350 to 400 mm were built, otherwise at the 4,000-ton level, the protective performance of protected cruisers and armored cruisers was not much different in essence. And when it comes to protected cruisers, one cannot help but mention that ship that made the Chinese hate it to the bone - the Yoshino. Fast guns, high speed, suitable protection, this ship became a nightmare for the Chinese side in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. As a naval and shipbuilding enthusiast, Xu Jie had long since deeply engraved the lines of this ship into his mind. Of course, as a time-traveler, copying the designs of predecessors was a very shameful thing to do. Refining and improving was the way to go. With that said, Xu Jie rolled up his sleeves and began his first "design" in this world.

  "What is that Oriental doing now?" "Commissioner Rio Corti was sipping the Bordeaux wine in front of him with a distracted expression." Is he designing a ship or something? "Old butler Kum replied." Those yellow people with braids like dog tails can actually design ships?! It's really ridiculous." Commissioner Rio smiled slightly. "Yes, and it seems to be a cruiser from the dimensions marked next to it. Looks like a protected cruiser similar to Chile's Esmeralda class?" Pfft! Commissioner Rio spat out half a cup of wine. "My God, are you kidding me on Christmas Eve?! A yellow person he picked up is actually designing a warship in his private mansion?! Looking at the disheveled master, Kum came over to clean up the mess very professionally." You don't have to worry about these trivial matters anymore, go take another look and try to remember his design, I'm suddenly interested in this braid-less yellow person." Commissioner Rio ordered.

  "Sir, your coffee and tea." Kum said softly outside Xu Jie's house. "Ah, please come in, thank you for the master's hospitality. If I'm not mistaken, this is already the fourth time you've brought tea this morning?" Xu Jie said to Kum, who had just put down the tray on the table. "This... sir, I was just curious about your design, if I'm not mistaken, it seems like a warship." Kum said with some embarrassment. "That's right, a cruiser that emphasizes lateral combat. Your eyes are very accurate." Xu Jie said with a smile. "Who are you?!" Kum asked in surprise. "Me? An American-born Chinese person, with some experience in shipbuilding. Just doodling in my free time." After saying this, Xu Jie almost slapped himself in the face, he was so bad at telling lies. But fortunately, Kum didn't seem interested in Xu Jie's words and instead kept staring at the drawings on the table. "Mr. Kum, if you or your master are interested, please wait a bit, I'll have the full set of drawings ready for you to pick up before dinner today. Is that okay?" Xu Jie said with some pride. "Good, God bless you, noble sir." Kum said, seemingly surprised and honored by how easily things had been settled.

  At 7 o'clock in the evening, while Xu Jie was enjoying his Italian dinner, Delegato Rio was carefully examining the outline drawings sent by Kum in another large room of the villa. The entire protective cruiser hull is slender and long, with a length of 112 meters, a width of 15 meters, and a draft of 5.2 meters. The displacement is 4300 tons, and the power is 11000 horsepower. The maximum speed is 20 knots (non-forced ventilation) and is equipped with 10 6-inch main guns (one single mount at the bow and stern, and the other eight are distributed on both sides of the gun corridor). There are also 12 Hachikaze 47mm guns. The horizontal part of the armor deck is 50MM, and the inclined surface is 120MM. The gun corridor protection is 120MM. "Not a bad design, 20 knots high speed, with six 6-inch rapid-fire guns on both sides forming strong firepower, and good protection. If it can be proven to be feasible after calculation, it will be an epoch-making warship." Delegato Rio said to himself. "But why doesn't this ship have torpedoes and a ram? As a fully armed armored cruiser, the ram at the bow and the torpedo are indispensable." After being surprised, Delegato Rio looked at the drawings again carefully and said with some puzzlement in his heart. Judging from the foundation shown on this drawing, this person will not be a novice who forgets torpedoes and rams. So there is only one possibility, that is, it was omitted. And the speed is just 20 knots, isn't it a bit slow?