However, the great significance of the Sweet Potato Conference is indeed unexplainable. It can be said that the Sweet Potato Conference accurately pointed out the direction of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and made the worst preparations for the war. Therefore, when the Japanese army was approaching, the Pingkou Army still maintained its combat effectiveness and laid a solid foundation for the later alliance with Russia to resist Japan.

The only puzzling thing is that the Sweet Potato Conference had no way to deal with the North Korean Eastern Democratic Party, so that some people speculated that Zhao Gang had already had a certain degree of cooperation with the Dongxue Party at that time, but there was no information to prove this.

At the end of February 1894, Carnegie's deposit for purchasing the steel plant was handed over to Zhao Gang. As soon as the money was obtained, Zhao Gang immediately ran to Liang Dunyan to inquire about the economic situation of the United States.

Liang Dunyan picked up a copy of information:

"From January 1894 to the present, the average market price of industrial stocks has fallen by nearly 50%. More than 600 banks and credit institutions have gone bankrupt, with more than 14,000 bankruptcies of various types. Dozens of railways were auctioned, with a total capital of US$1.1 billion. According to preliminary analysis, steel production fell by 20%, railway tracks and locomotive production fell by 47% and 76% respectively. The price index of metal and metal products fell by 44%, and the price index of textiles fell by 46%.

Moreover, the downward trend is not only not under control, but is becoming increasingly fierce. It is expected that by the end of the year, there will be a greater decline."

Zhao Gang compared it with his memory and remembered that the US economic crisis lasted until 1895, and entered the recovery stage under the stimulation of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. If it was to take action, it was not the best time. However, when the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 broke out in June, European and American countries would inevitably implement weapons embargo policies, and many equipment would not be able to be purchased at that time, so they had to buy it now.

"Then how did you talk to the US ambassador?"

"The Americans have agreed to give us a $5 million interest-free loan with Bengang as a guarantee, and return it in batches for ten years. The only condition is to purchase all American products."

When Zhao Gang heard this, his words with Tian Bei were heard in his mind half a year ago, and he was very happy.

Seeing that Zhao Gang didn't say anything, Liang Dunyan seemed to be a little dazed, so he asked:

“Are we going to accept such a loan?”

Zhao Gang smiled:

"Accept, why not? Dun Yan, call Lord Zhang Jian and Lord Zhan Tianyou here immediately. We need to prepare an unprecedentedly large procurement group."

Three days later, a procurement team of more than 300 people set off. Zhao Gang led the team himself, and his wife was in charge of the matter in the mansion. After a thirteen-day voyage, Zhao Gang and his party finally arrived in San Francisco (San Francisco). When the ship entered the port, Zhao Gang saw a huge warship parked on the west side of the port. From a distance, it looked like the size of a Zhenyuan ship.

The brand new hull, huge main turret, dense secondary cannons, simple and compact armored fortress, and the beautiful shape suddenly captured Zhao Gang's heart and made up his mind to buy it. After a day's rest, everyone was divided into three groups, Zhang Jian was responsible for the procurement of light industry, Zhan Tianyou was responsible for the procurement of heavy industry, and Zhao Gang was responsible for the procurement of large ships and warships.

Zhao Gang's mission is the easiest to complete, and he has his will. The largest shipyard on the West Coast is in the San Francisco Shipyard, and the shipyard happens to have a large cruiser "Olympia" that is about to be launched. After a secret exchange, Zhao Gang got all the information about the Olympia.

Olympia started construction at the San Francisco shipyard on June 17, 1891 and launched on April 1, 1893. It is a very new warship, and in fact it is better than the Yoshino ship of Japan in most indicators.

Olympia ship: the ship is 105 meters long, 16.2 meters wide, 6.6 meters draft, 7.6 meters full load draft; displacement is 5,870 tons.

Yoshino Ship: The ship is 109.7 meters long, 14.2 meters wide, 5.2 meters draft, and 4,216 tons of water displacement.

Olympia ship: Normal coal loading 1085.6 tons, power of 17,313 horsepower, speed of 21.7 knots (22.7 knots after reducing coal loading by 500 tons); endurance of 6,105 nautical miles/10 knots;

Yoshino ship: Normally carrying 400 tons of coal, power of 15,900 horsepower, speed of 23 knots, and endurance of 4,000 nautical miles/10 knots.

Olympia ship: deck armor 51mm, dome armor 120mm, turret thickness 215mm;

Yoshino ship: deck armor 45mm, dome armor 115mm, cannon shield thickness 115mm;

Olympia has 4 250mm Mark three-type guns, installed in two armored turrets, and the turret can rotate by 152 degrees; each gun weighs 31 tons, the initial muzzle speed is 2,080 feet per second, the rate of fire is 2 rounds per minute, and the range is 9 kilometers. The bullet weight is 113.4 kg.

Yoshino ship: 4 152mm40-caliber Armstrong rapid-fire guns, each gun weighs 4 tons, ammunition weight: 36.3kg, effective range: 6500 meters

Olympia: 10 127mm Mark II rapid-fire guns (later changed to 10 Gatling Storm-style six-cylinder rapid-fire guns). The initial speed is 2250 feet per second, and the bullet weight is 26.8 kg

Yoshino ship: 8 fast-fire guns for 120mm40 times caliber Armstrong

Olympia: 16 57mm rapid-fire guns, 6 1-pound guns, 2 Gatling machine guns, (later changed to 24 75mm rapid-fire guns), and 6 450mm torpedo tubes.

Yoshino ship: 22 47mm rapid-fire guns, gun weight: 235.5kg fire rate: 20 rounds/1 minute range: 4575 meters. 5 360mm torpedo tubes.

After comparison, we can see that in addition to the speed difference of 0.3 knots, Olympia surpasses Yoshino in any aspect. And it is very coincidental that Yoshino's 120mm secondary gun cannot penetrate Olympia's 121mm dome armor, and 47mm secondary gun cannot penetrate Olympia's 51mm deck armor. The 152mm main gun is powerless against the 205mm turret armor. On the other hand, the Olympia, the 203mm main gun can easily tear the Yoshino's armor when it hits any position, and 10 127mm caliber secondary guns can also tear the thickest Yoshino's gun shield on the front. The Yoshino's 45mm armor cannot withstand the baptism of the 75mm rapid-fire cannon.

Olympia is more than 1/3 heavier than Yoshino and can carry more ammunition. The ship is more than 4 meters shorter than Yoshino, which will effectively reduce the number of ammunitions when fighting against Yoshino.

This is simply designed by God to restrain the Yoshino ship!
Chapter completed!