Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 438 The Age of Armored Battleships Arrives
The heavy rain that lasted for nearly half a month finally ended, and the sky

The accumulated clouds gradually dissipated.

On the vast surface of the South Atlantic Ocean, two fleets of vastly different sizes were quietly confronting each other across a distance of several nautical miles.

In the northern part of the sea, a fleet consisting of four large ironclad ships and more than ten auxiliary ships, with thick black smoke billowing out, is the local fleet of the Navy of the Republic of Brazil.

The Home Fleet of the Navy of the Republic of Brazil was formed on the basis of the former Atlantic Fleet of the Imperial Brazilian Navy.

In 1879, Brazil was divided into north and south. At that time, the Brazilian Republican government realized the maritime threat posed by the northern regime and the Han navy, so it began to purchase new warships to strengthen its maritime defense capabilities.

In 1885, two new battleships, the Riachuelo and the Achuelo armored cruisers, ordered from the British Samuda Brothers shipyard, returned to the port of Rio de Janeiro via London, England.

The Riachuelo and Achuelo armored cruisers are of the same class, with a displacement of 5000 tons, a length of 93 meters, a width of 17.16 meters, a draft of 5.60 meters, an installed power of 4500 horsepower, a normal pressure speed of 16 knots, a cruising speed of 10 knots, and a cruising range of 6000 nautical miles.

两舰皆装备4门234mm后膛炮；6门140mm30倍口径单装炮、12门37毫米速射机关炮以及5具356mm水下鱼雷管。

At the same time, because of the installation of composite armor protection on the deck, turrets, conning tower and other parts, the Riachuelo and Achuelo armored cruisers have more advantages in firepower and speed when engaging in a decisive naval battle with old iron-shell warships.

In the late 1880s, when many countries that relied on foreign purchases to build their naval fleets were complacent when they saw the --ton ironclad ships lined up in their ports,
On the European continent, the standards for naval battleships of various major powers have been raised from 3,000 to 5,000 tons to over 8,000 tons.

The battleship construction model and main weapons and equipment also evolved from iron-hulled ironclad ships and breech-loading guns to an era where armored battleships were combined with main guns and rapid-fire guns.

The Brazilian government, in urgent need of improving its naval strength and keeping up with the accelerated pace of technological updates in the naval warships of European powers, ordered another large cruiser in 1885 after acquiring two new armored cruisers.

The cruiser Aquidaban was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy in 1887 and served as the flagship of the Brazilian Home Fleet in 1888. It was built by the British company Samuda Brothers.
The cost of the building was 345000 pounds, equivalent to 124 million taels of silver.

The standard displacement is 5020 tons, the full load displacement is 5540, the ship is 85 meters long), 15.8 meters wide, has a normal pressure speed of 15.8 knots, can cruise at a speed of 10 knots, has a cruising range of 7200 kilometers, and a crew of 297 people.

阿奎达班号巡洋舰装备两座双联装234mm炮台炮，4门40mm30倍口径单装炮，13门哈奇开斯37mm速射炮，5具356mm水下鱼雷发射管。

Three new armored cruisers with a displacement of more than 5000 tons each and a self-made ironclad ship with a standard displacement of 4000 tons constitute the backbone of the Brazilian Republican Navy's maritime defense.

He raised his monocular telescope and looked at several majestic armored warships, then looked back at his own three warships, one large and two small.

Xu Zhixuan, captain of the 3500-ton Pioneer armored cruiser, couldn't help but feel envious of his naval counterparts in the Republic of Brazil for a moment.

During the Paraguayan War of 1868, the Brazilian Navy had four ironclad ships, and its overall naval strength ranked Brazil th in the world.

In 1879, on the eve of the division of Brazil into North and South, the total tonnage of the Brazilian Empire and Navy had grown to 3.9 tons.

The navy's overall strength ranking has risen to 13th in the world.

During the decade after the North-South split in Brazil,
By raising funds to order warships by selling off interests in minerals, railways, etc., the total tonnage of warships owned by the Republic of Brazil and the Brazilian Empire increased to 5 tons. Based solely on the tonnage of naval ships, the total number of warships owned by the north and south of Brazil is already close to that of Japan, an emerging naval power in East Asia.

On the other hand, although the total tonnage of the Han navy reached 5.2 tons and the tonnage of ships above 2000 tons was close to 3.5 tons, there were only two core warships with a displacement of more than 5000 tons, and a total of 2000 Yongxing-class light cruisers with a displacement of less than 12 tons. Due to their poor ocean shipping performance and insufficient firepower output, it was difficult for them to perform at the expected combat level during the main fleet's ocean operations.

Because of the early national defense strategy of "land-based and sea-based", the Han Dynasty's navy, although it started early, has never enjoyed the dividends of the country's leapfrog economic development. After all, compared with the land area and resources controlled by the Han Dynasty, the Republic of Brazil, and the Brazilian Empire,

The Han Empire occupied about 80% of the plains and forests of the La Plata. The two southern states that originally belonged to the Brazilian Empire, Uruguay, the entire territory of Argentina, and the southern part of Chile were unified under one regime.
Twenty years ago, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, known as the three major powers in South America, had the ability to purchase ships on a large scale and engage in the South American naval arms race with just the land of one country. Their land area spanned the three countries and they controlled more resources, manpower and technology than any of the three countries alone. If the Han Dynasty invested the same proportion of funds, manpower and material resources, there was no reason for the Han Dynasty's navy to only maintain its current level.

He understood the necessity of implementing the policy of land as the master and sea as the subordinate for the country at the current stage. However, as a naval officer, Xu Zhixuan still hoped that during his service, he could see the Han Navy, as the maritime overlord of South America, cruising across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The whistle blew long, and several warships flying the Red Dragon flag formed a battle formation and rushed in from the southern sea area.

Chimneys stood in rows, cannons roared! Seeing the arrival of the Han Empire's main battleships, the Brazilian Navy was the first to give in and admit defeat.
The flagship Aquidaban armored cruiser in the middle of the queue raised the signal flag, slowly turned and sailed north, and received the evacuation signal. More than a dozen other warships of various sizes followed the order, stopped the confrontation, turned their heads and sailed north.

"Cousin Shu, do you want to hang behind them and continue following them?"

Seeing that the warships on the opposite side were turning around one after another, Shen Shouchang, the deputy captain and navigator of the Pioneer, made a suggestion.

"Forget it. Further north is the waters controlled by the Republic of Brazil. It would be too provocative to approach directly to their doorstep and spy on the intelligence of their ships."

Xu Zhixuan paused for a moment and decided: "The purpose of our voyage this time is to collect hydrological conditions in the coastal waters of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Now we have not only completed the task, but also luckily encountered the enemy navy's new warships going out to sea for drills, and obtained some first-hand information about the water performance of the enemy's main warships. It can be said that we have exceeded the task.

It would be a loss to continue tracking and risk angering the Navy of the Republic of Brazil.

Brother Shouchang, there will be many opportunities to learn about the performance of the other side's warships in the future, so there is no need to dwell on this time."

"It's rare to see the main force of the Brazilian Navy go out in full force. It's a pity that we didn't seize the opportunity today to carefully investigate and speculate on the water performance of the armored cruisers of the Brazilian Navy."

Shen Shouchang looked regretful and said, "However, today I got a glimpse of the strengths and weaknesses of the Brazilian Navy's domestic fleet, especially roughly guessing the speed performance of the second-class cruiser built by the Brazilian Republic. It was also a great gain."

"A lean camel is bigger than a horse. The Republic of Brazil inherited the main territory and industrial base of the Brazilian Empire. It is reasonable for them to build an ironclad ship with a standard displacement of 4000 tons on their own."

"Yes, the Brazilian Empire is the first independent country in South America. They started industrialization earlier than other countries. If they hadn't suffered the blow of the North-South split, maybe they would have been able to complete the initial industrial construction in a few more years." "Their heroes are my enemies. The better the development of the Republic of Brazil and the Brazilian Empire, the more disadvantageous it will be for the empire's future national strategy."

Thinking of the threat behind the self-built ironclad warship of the Republic of Brazil, Xu Zhixuan put down the telescope in his hand, turned around and said to Shen Shouchang: "Brother Shouchang, after we return to the port today, the management of the warship will be temporarily handed over to you. I plan to use the evening time to organize and summarize the intelligence I have discovered today, and then submit it to the Navy Department and the Navy General Staff Headquarters respectively tomorrow morning. I hope that after seeing the reported intelligence, General Chen and General Li of the two headquarters can arouse their attention and vigilance to the Navy of the Republic of Brazil."

"Brother Shu, don't worry. I'm on board, so there won't be any problems at night."…………

In the evening of the next day, the Chief of the Navy Chen Sen and the Chief of the Navy Staff Li Han came to the palace together with the envelope presented by Xu Zhixuan and the intelligence they had collected about the Navy of the Republic of Brazil.

"The Admiral Mandel, the first composite armored cruiser of the Republic of Brazil, was built in the Rio de Janeiro Shipyard in April 1884 and completed on January 4, 1889. It has a normal displacement of 1 tons and a full load displacement of 10 tons. It is 4000 meters long and 4500 meters wide, with a maximum draft of 95 meters and a minimum draft of 14 meters. It is equipped with two steam engines with a power of 7.06 horsepower and a normal pressure speed of 6.20 knots.

Equipped with 4 152mm breech-loading guns, 2 120mm 30-caliber single-mounted guns, 8 47mm rapid-fire machine guns. 5 underwater torpedo tubes...

The deck armor thickness is 41 mm and the gun shield armor thickness is 51 mm.

It took nearly five years to build, and cost 74 pounds, equivalent to 300 million taels of silver.

After reading the overall performance information of the armored cruiser built by the Republic of Brazil word by word, Li Mingyuan smiled and said, "The Rio de Janeiro Shipyard has good technical reserves. Although it cost 74 pounds, it is also a great thing to be able to build a 4000-ton armored cruiser by itself."

"Your Majesty, after absorbing the construction experience of the Vanguard-class armored cruisers and Dingyuan-class battleships, the three major domestic shipyards have the ability to build 5000-ton armored cruisers on their own. The Navy Department and the Navy General Staff hope to obtain your Majesty's approval to add two 5000-ton armored cruisers to the Imperial Navy to maintain its absolute advantage over the Navy of the Republic of Brazil."

Chen Sen and Li Han requested at the same time, as if they had discussed it beforehand.

"Navy technology is developing and changing too fast. Six years ago, 6-ton ironclad ships could be used as main battleships. Now, according to the standards of Western powers, 3500 to 5000-ton ironclad ships can only be classified as second-class cruisers. Although the two Dingyuan-class ironclad ships were called battleships when they were first built, I'm afraid they will no longer be qualified to be called battleships in the next few years."

In the 1890s, naval warships developed in the direction of armored and large-scale development. Especially between 1900 and , warships with a displacement of more than tons were launched one after another. Not only did the navies of European powers such as Britain, France, Russia and Germany serve -ton armored warships, but even the late-developing Japanese Navy ordered several -ton armored warships.

When armored warships combining armor and rapid-fire guns quickly became the mainstream at sea, ironclad ships represented by iron hulls and old-style naval guns were facing the fate of being quickly eliminated. Four or five years later, when the naval battle that determined the fate of the succession of hegemony in the Far East broke out, the Zhenyuan-class ironclad ships, which were of the same level as the Han Navy's Chaoyang and Liming, had only been built for ten years, but had already begun to lag behind the times.

In order to lay the foundation for local shipbuilding, the Han State spent a considerable amount of money to purchase a full set of design drawings, technical patents, and absorb the technical experience of the other party's shipyards, and mobilized the already scarce technical talents to learn ship design and construction technology.

After ten years of introduction and ten years of learning, more than twenty years have passed. Based on German technology, the three major shipyards in Han have initially established an overall shipbuilding system and trained a group of ship design and construction talents.

However, the Germans had their own shortcomings and defects in warship construction. Based on and modeled after the German technology, the shipbuilding technology mastered by the Han Dynasty also had some shortcomings. The slow speed and poor ocean-going performance of the Yongxing-class light cruiser were typical manifestations of this shortcoming.

Therefore, after realizing the defects and shortcomings in domestic ship technology, Li Mingyuan did not agree to continue along the German technical route and carry out a radical plan to build independent armored cruisers.

After the construction of the 3500-ton Pioneer armored cruiser was completed, Li Mingyuan only allowed the construction plan of a scaled-down battleship with a displacement of 2400 tons to be carried out based on the design drawings and technical markings of the Pioneer-class armored cruiser. It was for this reason.

The autonomous construction plan for 5000-ton armored cruisers is not mature yet, and according to the development of the situation in neighboring countries such as Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile in the next few years,
Building a 5000-ton ironclad ship on one's own would require huge capital investment, be time-consuming, and produce slow results, and would be far less advantageous than ordering more mature warships from other countries.

Li Mingyuan had a plan for the long-term development of the Han Navy. In the next five to ten years, he would continue to implement the naval development policy of mainly ordering and importing ships from abroad, digesting shipbuilding technology, and supplemented by local self-construction.

As for the problems raised by Chen Sen and Li Han,

Instead, we can improve and enhance the level of local shipbuilding technology by adding more channels for ordering warships.

"The difficulty of building an armored warship is different from that of building an ironclad ship. In order to complete the construction of the Admiral Mandel, the Republic of Brazil spent nearly five years and spent three times the funds of an armored cruiser of the same type.

The three major domestic shipyards have experience in building 2400-ton armored cruisers. The shipbuilding time and funds for building armored cruisers of the same standard should be shorter than those of the Republic of Brazil. However, the technology used by the three major domestic shipyards comes from Germany. The shortcomings and deficiencies of German armored cruisers are also present in warships built by domestic shipyards.

Therefore, in addition to absorbing and digesting Germany's shipbuilding technology, the navy should also try to expand its channels for purchasing ships from abroad and contact shipyards in countries such as Britain, France, and Austria-Hungary.
For example, Britain, whose dominance in South America is challenged by the United States, and the relationship between the Imperial Government and Britain is currently at a relatively close stage. So, we should take advantage of this rare period of peace between the two governments and send more people to see if we can come up with a way to order one or two technologically mature armored cruisers from Britain. "

Li Mingyuan sat at the head of the group and smiled as he suggested to the two of them, "Don't worry about the ship purchase costs for now. Once you come up with a suitable ship purchase plan, you can bring it up again and have it coordinated by the Navy Department, the Navy General Staff, and the Ministry of Finance."

"Your Majesty is indeed very thoughtful. After hearing what Your Majesty said, General Li and I have straightened out our thoughts. When we return, the Navy Department and the Navy Staff will come up with a ship purchase plan that will satisfy Your Majesty as soon as possible."

"It doesn't matter if the order price of the warship is a little higher, but the design drawings and technical patents related to the construction of the warship cannot be neglected. After the plan to order the warship is determined, it is best to purchase it together with the warship design drawings and related technical patents. In addition, you must try your best to obtain the consent of the other party's shipyard and ask them to agree to start construction of an armored cruiser in their own country. Even if the construction cost is twice as high as that of an equivalent warship, I can support you to agree."

"With your majesty's support, General Li and I feel relieved. Your majesty, rest assured that the Navy Department and the Chief of Staff will conscientiously complete the tasks assigned by your majesty and will not let your majesty and the people down."

Chen Sen did not expect that Li Mingyuan was more thoughtful than the two of them. All the problems that the two of them had not noticed beforehand were raised by Li Mingyuan. So after hearing Li Mingyuan's suggestions, he nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"We need to prepare for the ordering of warships as soon as possible. The domestic situation in Paraguay is serious. I am not sure whether Paraguay's recent trend will affect the relationship between the mainland and the UK. Therefore, we need to decide on the ship purchase plan as soon as possible before things get under control, so as to avoid more trouble later."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"In the Imperial Navy, there are not enough large warships with a displacement of more than 5000 tons. The number of warships with a displacement of less than 2000 tons can temporarily meet the defense requirements of the mainland's offshore and inland waters.

Therefore, the construction plan of the Yongxing-class light cruisers can be temporarily suspended. The twelve Yongxing-class light cruisers currently under the Navy, except for those stationed overseas to perform alert and defense missions, the other warships will be assigned to the offshore alert fleet and will no longer be given the responsibility of ocean-going combat missions. "…………

(End of this chapter)