Chapter 338 There are also prospects in the UK

The Japanese were dispatched soon.

As Guo Jinzhang expected, Japan, which has achieved certain development, really wants to show its "beauty" on the world stage. Even if doing so may offend the UK, they are unwilling to miss the opportunity. Because, not only do they want to get a share of the pie in Hawaii, they also dream of walking out of their narrow borders, and the invitation from the Kingdom of Hawaii made them feel this opportunity.

So, the Japanese Navy, led by the "Langsu" and "Takachiho", quickly left the Japanese port and advanced towards Hawaii with a group of warships such as the "Sanjing".

The Japanese behavior naturally angered Britain. Although the Japanese political sect repeatedly guaranteed that they were just "visiting" and had no intention of opposing Britain, how could the British believe it? Therefore, they put hard pressure on Japan, but the British Empire, which had dominated the sea for hundreds of years, could not understand Japan's just released self-reliance and expansion. It would be fine if they did not put pressure on it, but once the pressure was put, the Japanese rebellious mentality became even heavier. Although some of the politicians in the lead knew the importance and wanted to give up, the Japanese people, especially those officers, firmly opposed it. Therefore, in the end, the Japanese fleet still staggered towards Hawaii.

Of course, the British were not afraid of Japan. If they were happy, they could assemble a huge fleet that turned the coast of Japan into ruins in minutes. However, even the huge number of ships were scattered around the world. Faced with the Tangzhou fleet with only one pitiful dreadnought, they could still suppress it with their number, but with a Japanese fleet with unknown intentions, they had to be careful.

The battle will definitely not be fought. At least it cannot be fought before solving the Japanese problem.

Salisbury was once again in a dilemma.

However, Guo Jinzhang and the American political fu also knew that they could not force the prime minister of this powerful country too much. Otherwise, for the sake of the country's face, the British would probably have to act with them even though they knew the consequences were not good. Therefore, after using the Japanese to temporarily restrain the British, the US ambassador to the UK once again requested to meet Salisbury. This time, the American stepping stone was a secret document marked "ss secret". Salisbury didn't understand, but this did not prevent him from understanding this document. So, not long after, the British consul in Hawaii received an order to stop all confrontation with Tangzhou and sent him to

The ships stopped the two Royal Navy squadrons that were about to approach... In return, the Red Corps, who were in the mountains, retreated back to Panama from Costa Rica, and was about to meet with the British army stationed in Canada, stopped moving forward and retreated westward for more than 200 kilometers, looking at each other five hundred kilometers away from the British and Canadian troops that also stopped advancing. Then, before the countries watching the fun had figured out what was going on, an expedition team led by British Navy Colonel John Fisher arrived in New York secretly. The expedition team did not stop in New York, and got off the boat and took the train and headed straight to Seattle.

Seven days later, the delegation arrived in Tangzhou.

...

"Col. John Fisher?"

"It's me. It's my honor to meet you, Your Excellency General!"

After arriving in Seattle, the British Navy Expedition Team was taken to Mercer Island and met Guo Jinzhang who was waiting there. Both sides were casually dressed, but when facing the guy in front of him who dared to provoke the dignity of the British Empire, John Fisher was very polite. He not only looked respectful, but also stepped forward and stood attentively, saluted Guo Jinzhang.

"You're welcome. But I'm really uncomfortable with this, Colonel." Guo Jinzhang didn't expect Fisher to be so polite to him and couldn't help laughing.

"No matter what position you are on, with your perspective on naval development, you are qualified to be respected by all the naval members in this world." Fisher said seriously.

"Is that true? Then you are the same, Mr. Colonel." Guo Jinzhang smiled.

"Me? Hehe, you've been too rewarded." Fisher shook his head.

"No, I have never given any award. The views you put forward about naval development are indeed ahead of the world, Mr. Colonel." Guo Jinzhang said seriously.

"Do you think so? Then... thank you." A hint of suspicion flashed through Fisher's eyes, but then he bent his waist respectfully to Guo Jinzhang.

"You're welcome." Guo Jinzhang smiled, then turned around: "Come on, I'll take you to a rest place!"

"Thanks!"

...

"John Fisher!"

Taking the British Navy Expedition to rest, Guo Jinzhang returned to his residence. However, he was not the only one here. Sampson left, but Whitney was still there... After all, it was a big deal, and it was impossible for the American government to not send people to watch here. However, compared to the upcoming negotiations between the three parties, Guo Jinzhang paid more attention to John Fisher.

"This person deserves attention?" Whitney looked at Guo Jinzhang in confusion. This guy went to greet a colonel himself regardless of the differences in status and ranks of both sides. This behavior had already made him, the Minister of Navy, a little dissatisfied, but he didn't expect that this was not the end. After he came back, Guo Jinzhang actually took out another piece of information about John Fisher that he had obtained from somewhere and kept reading, as if the guy was not just a colonel, but also Queen Victoria's illegitimate son.

"Take it? If you only value this guy, then you must be a guy with no vision." Guo Jinzhang was looking at the information, and he glanced at Whitney and rolled his eyes.

"You..." Whitney was suffocated, but he had no choice but to face Guo Jinzhang. Because, although Guo Jinzhang promised to hand over the fire control system to the US government and his navy, he had not taken action yet. Therefore, he did not dare to offend this guy at this critical moment, even though he knew that Guo Jinzhang could not refuse to provide that crucial technology just because of a few words.

"Whitney, although you are the Secretary of the Navy, I must remind you that you cannot only focus on naval warships..." Guo Jinzhang said again.

"I know. You don't need to teach this." Whitney looked at him dissatisfiedly. The lesson has not been finished yet?

"Is that true? Then, do you know Theodore Roosevelt?" Guo Jinzhang asked again.

"Of course I know. What's wrong?" Isn't it the Seattle police chief who was exchanged? Why did he mention him? Whitney asked in confusion.

"This guy is perfectly qualified for your position." Guo Jinzhang smiled, "and before him, Alfred Mahan's position was just a small colonel... This is simply a shame to the American Navy."

"I know you have a good impression of these two guys, but how the Admiralty Department employs people and how to award relevant people ranks will not do your business." Whitney said in a deep voice.

"Okay, don't do my business." Guo Jinzhang shook his head, put the information in his hand together, and shook it at him twice: "Do you know what John Fisher's deeds?"

"A colonel is not within my attention." Whitney said coldly.

"The democratic and free United States of America still pays so much attention to status and rank. Whitney, if your words are spread, they will be criticized." Guo Jinzhang smiled.

"It has nothing to do with you." Whitney became more and more dissatisfied. He was clearly talking about John Fisher, why did this guy keep spinning around himself? "Aren't you talking about that Fisher? What exactly is he worthy of your attention?"

"This guy is a very talented naval theorist, manager and competent strategist, and is good at using propaganda and public opinion to open up the way for himself, but..." Guo Jinzhang paused, "It is not his habit that really deserves our attention. It is his proposal at a public rally six years ago."

"6 years ago?" Whitney glanced at Guo Jinzhang. Six years ago, this guy was still fighting hard with American politics.

"Yes, six years ago." Guo Jinzhang sighed, "Fisher announced at a public rally that Britain must change the current situation of the navy's use of coal as powered fuel, and should use new oil fuel. He insisted that in the future competition to control the ocean, oil as power fuel will bring a decisive strategic advantage to the UK. He also listed a large number of facts, such as, oil-powered warships do not have black smoke and will not expose their targets, while coal-burning warships dragged their long smoke tails, which can be seen ten kilometers away. To achieve maximum horsepower, the coal-burning power plant requires

4 to 9 hours, and the oil-burning power unit only takes 5 minutes to reach the maximum horsepower. It only takes 12 people to provide oil for warships to work for 12 hours, while coal with the same energy requires 500 people to work for 5 days. To get the same horsepower thrust, the fuel engine only requires the workload of the coal-burning engine 13, and the daily consumption is only 14 coal. This is very critical for a fleet, whether this fleet is a merchant fleet or a naval fleet. The fleet powered by oil has a radius of activity that is about four times that of the fleet powered by coal...."

"Oil and fuel?" Whitney's expression that he didn't care much had been completely closed, and instead he was heavy.

"Now, do you know why I value this guy?" Guo Jinzhang asked with a smile.

"Why haven't I heard of this?" Whitney asked seriously.

"Because the British did not mean to change oil and fuel, at least not for the time being." Guo Jinzhang shrugged. "The British are very confident. They believe that the Royal Navy can defeat all enemies. Moreover, the coal merchants in Welsh do not want to lose a big customer. You should know that the price of Welsh white coal is extremely expensive and in short supply. In the UK, there are basically no oil merchants..."

"So, what do you think of his proposal?" Whitney asked again.

"Far from the perspective!" Guo Jinzhang gently stroked the cover of the information, "and, Fisher made another suggestion to their Maritime Secretary before we proposed to Britain to build a dreadnought."

“What suggestions?”

"Cancel the second-caliber main gun used for attack on battleships in the past, and equip the main guns of the same caliber, and only the secondary guns used to defend against light warships are retained. In addition, high-power steam turbines are used for power on the battleships." Guo Jinzhang said.

"This is impossible!" Whitney stood up with a "rubbing" and said, "This is obviously your creativity."

"But the fact is that John Fisher had already realized this before us and made his own suggestions. Unfortunately, he was just a colonel, so he was not able to put his ideas into practice for the time being." Guo Jinzhang spread his hands, "But one thing that comforts him is that the name "Defaultless" is his creativity."

"The British... are indeed the strongest maritime overlord." Whitney breathed a sigh of relief and sat back heavily. The "Default-class" battleship is an epoch-making battleship. After obtaining one of them, the Atlantic Fleet had calculated the combat effectiveness of the entire battleship. It turned out that compared with previous battleships, the combat effectiveness of the "Default-class" battleship has increased by at least three times, three times! This is a terrifying number. Therefore, for Guo Jinzhang and Tangzhou, who proposed the design intention of the "Default-class" battleship, their fear in their hearts is getting deeper and deeper. At the same time, this is why they are listening.

After Tangzhou had a fire control system, they immediately believed and were willing to stand firmly on Tangzhou's side for this. Because they believed that Tangzhou, which could design a "Defensible" battleship, could also design an equally terrifying fire control system, and thus push the combat effectiveness of the warship to a new level. But now, Guo Jinzhang told him that the inconspicuous naval colonel sent by the British actually had the same terrifying and even more advanced consciousness... This made him, who was originally confident that he wanted to build the strongest navy, cast a shadow on his heart.

"You are right. At this stage, the British are still the most irreplaceable maritime overlords at present. Therefore, in order to pose a threat to their overlordship and further strengthen the maritime power of us and the entire United States of America, we have to take out the battle cruiser that was originally in the preliminary design stage." Guo Jinzhang sighed.

"Battlecruiser?" Whitney was stunned. He just said that the British had already had many ideas, but Guo Jinzhang actually proposed a new idea?

"According to our vision, the firepower of the Fearless Battleship and the speed of the cruiser are combined. It is used as a strategic maneuvering force to complete the rapid deployment and strategic support tasks of the foreign squadron nature; it can protect maritime shipping on a large scale and kill enemy maritime attack fleets. The specific requirements are: the displacement is 10,000, preferably more than 13,000 tons, and 8 305mm caliber main guns are installed. Well, it is only two less than the "Fearless" class battleship, with a maximum speed of 25 knots, and the armor protection is slightly thicker than the active armored cruiser, and there is no need to reach the overall protection level of the Fearless Battleship." Guo Jinzhang said slowly.

"In other words, this kind of battlecruiser can actually be faster in firepower than battleships, but it is a little worse in protection, right?" Whitney also reacted and asked immediately.

"That's right." Guo Jinzhang nodded, "At present, the most powerful and the main ships of the great powers are all battleships, but we must realize that the number of battleships is less than one hundred around the world, which limits that it can only be used for deterrence and decisive battles in most cases. And the real main force of the navy of various countries is cruisers! Therefore, as long as the enemy's cruisers are eliminated, the enemy's sea control power will be severely weakened. Battlecruisers equipped with 8 305mm main guns can chase and destroy any kind of enemy cruisers. When encountering a more powerful opponent, they can get rid of the opponent's entanglement with a high speed of 25 knots... It can be said that this is an "ideal cruiser" and will become a real cruiser killer!"

"A very good idea." Whitney imagined the scene of an ordinary cruiser meeting a battle cruiser in his mind. He nodded deeply. When he looked at Guo Jinzhang again, his eyes became increasingly wrong: "I really don't understand, how do you have these geniuses? Could it be that anyone among you have participated in the Navy and are still senior members of the Navy?"

"Senior naval members would not design these new types of ships." Guo Jinzhang smiled, "Brother, because we know nothing about the navy, we can get rid of the original rules and regulations and design these new things."

"What you said makes sense, but I always feel like you are hiding something." Whitney said to him.

"Is that so? Then you see it too accurately. I did hide something, but unfortunately I can't tell you." Guo Jinzhang smiled.

"Okay, I know you have a lot of secrets, but... since you have so many new things, can you give me the relevant information about the fire control system first and ask me to send someone back?" Whitney asked again.

"Then what conditions can the politicians come up with?" Guo Jinzhang asked.

"We are fighting against the British Empire for you... Isn't that enough?" Whitney said in a deep voice.

"We are not fools, man, you should know that even without political affairs, we can still make the British retreat and pay enough price." Guo Jinzhang smiled.

"So, what do you want?" Whitney shook his head. He had known that the move just now would not be able to touch Guo Jinzhang. In fact, helping Tangzhou is not a condition for Washington to ask for fire control system, but to obtain the qualification to ask for information on fire control system... Otherwise, with the temper of Tangzhou, how could he easily hand over such an important document?

"Battleship!" Guo Jinzhang said lightly.

"Battleship? Don't you already have it?" Whitney frowned.

"It's just a battleship. Which fleet has only one battleship?" Guo Jinzhang asked back.

"The British will soon send back your three cruisers," Whitney said.

"But I don't just want cruisers, I also want battle cruisers... and a shipyard that can build battleships!"

……


Chapter completed!