Nanyang Storm 1864

1906 January 3

At the unprecedentedly grand launching ceremony of the "Kunlunshan" warship, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty personally attended, drawing thunderous cheers from tens of thousands of guests present, creating an unprecedentedly enthusiastic atmosphere.

Since construction began last July, this 25720-ton giant ship has been under construction day and night, and after 8 months and 11 days, it was finally completed and launched.

Such speed set a new record for the main warships of the Great Chu Empire, representing the latest level of development in the shipbuilding industry, and is something that the entire nation should be proud of.

While not quite reaching the level of the Royal Navy shipyards in the UK, which are among the world's best today, it still represents a world-class level of industrial expertise.

The British Royal Navy's battleship HMS Dreadnought was laid down on October 2, 1905, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the UK, and launched on February 10, 1906. This giant ship with a full load displacement of 22,000 tons was built in just 4 months and 8 days, which is simply unbelievable.

Just over a month apart

The new warship of the Great Chu Empire, the "Kunlun Mountain", was launched. It kept up with the forefront of the world's naval development technology and adopted a full heavy gun configuration. It represented the cutting-edge technology of naval weapons in the early 20th century and was a masterpiece.

At the ceremony

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty led a group of high-ranking officers of the Royal Navy to pray to Heaven, burn incense and worship the gods of Heaven and Earth. On the spot, they executed six death row inmates to cleanse the warships of evil spirits in Kaifeng.

Taking its meaning from the proverb "When a sharp sword is drawn, blood will surely be shed," the hundreds of monks and Taoist priests on site each displayed their skills, chanting scriptures and performing rituals with great effort, which had a strong sense of competition among them.

Then the bishop conducted the baptismal mass on the spot, after the four-and-a-half-year-old Princess Royal 99 broke a champagne bottle.

Colorful streamers filled the air at the ceremony, accompanied by majestic military music, the crackling of firecrackers, and festive performances such as dragon and lion dances.

The spectators waved national flags and cheered enthusiastically, creating a unique blend of Chinese and Western styles at the ceremony.

The reason for doing this
The point is to be comprehensive, whether it is Chinese gods and Buddhas or Western deities and saints, all emotional value is given in place, and no one is neglected.
The Great Chu Empire's homeland was located in the South China Sea, extending east to Central America, west to the Congo River in West Africa, and south to Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego. It faced Antarctica across the Strait of Magellan, and its territory was vast and boundless.

In the decades of colonial expansion
Chinese immigrants scattered around the world have deeply integrated with local indigenous peoples, absorbing a wealth of foreign influences and forming a unique blend of Chinese and Western imperial culture, showcasing a rich and diverse side.

With a larger area, there are more gods from both China and abroad, and of course, each one must be taken care of.

The main principle is to avoid offending anyone and be tactful!
"Your Majesty, Princess 99 is tired from playing and has fallen asleep. Your humble servant has sent her back to the palace and made sure she is settled in."

"Well, children lose their energy after a while, let her be." Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu waved his hand tolerantly, his eyes full of affection.

Princess 99 is not the last royal offspring of the Great Chu Empire, but it is a very auspicious ranking, making it very suitable for such an important ceremonial occasion.

Come over and smash a champagne bottle for a while, and you'll receive a big red envelope as a reward. You'll also be given a precious gilded and jade-inlaid carriage, which makes the little princess extremely happy.

Emperor Zheng Guohui turned around and carefully examined the enormous ship that was quietly docked at the pier. His eyes were full of admiration. This was a giant ship that represented the most advanced level of maritime technology in the world today.

The surrounding naval officers were all beaming with joy, their excitement barely contained; they were all incredibly thrilled.

There is still some controversy within the Royal Navy regarding the positioning of the "Kunlunshan".

why?

This new capital ship set a new record for the Royal Navy of the Great Chu Empire, with a full-load displacement of 25720 tons. During sea trials, it reached a high speed of 25.3 knots and was equipped with four 13.5-inch twin-mounted main gun turrets, arranged in a two-forward and two-aft configuration along the centerline.

The 13.5-inch gun was equivalent to a 343mm cannon, making this the first capital warship of the Great Chu Empire to be equipped with such a caliber, giving it an unquestionable dominant position.

Most opinions within the Admiralty favored classifying it as a battleship, while others believed it should follow the British designation and be classified as a battlecruiser or a heavy cruiser.

The technical specifications of the British Lion-class battlecruisers have been determined; their design blueprints show a standard displacement of 26270 tons and a full load displacement of 29680 tons.
The ship is 213.4 meters long overall, 210.3 meters long at the waterline, 27 meters wide, has a draft of 8.4 meters, a full-load draft of 9.3 meters, and a total armor belt weight of 12700 tons.
It is equipped with Armstrong's latest Mk-V naval gun, with four twin-mounted main gun turrets, a caliber of 13.5 inches (about 343 mm), and a barrel length of 45 calibers.

In the end, it was Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu who personally made the decision: the "Kunlun Mountain" class was designated as a battleship. This thing was too big, too powerful, and too fierce; it was simply unreasonable to designate it as a heavy cruiser.

As for the British, let's leave them aside for now.

It's understandable that Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu changed his mind and reclassified the original heavy cruiser as a battleship; the Navy's construction blueprint had changed too much.

The initial draft was for over 13,000 tons, then it was rejected and developed to over 16,000 tons, then to over 20,000 tons, and finally the final draft blueprint reached over 25,000 tons, a difference of more than double.

This was all to align with the technical specifications of the "Lion" class battlecruisers that Britain was about to begin building, and to be honest, it was in line with the long-term strategic development needs of the Royal Navy of the Great Chu Empire.

The only thing to blame is the rapid pace of technological advancement in naval ships worldwide. New technologies and materials are emerging at an unprecedented rate, causing new ships to become outdated within just a few years of being launched.

The British way of thinking is also very strange. None of the dozens of battleships in the Royal Navy are larger than a single newly designed battlecruiser, which feels seriously out of place.

"Let's go, let's go up and take a look." Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu waved his hand enthusiastically, and surrounded by his ministers, he climbed up the long gangway onto the giant steel ship.

Upon arriving at the spacious foredeck, a sense of pride and self-satisfaction immediately arises.

The two camel-shaped main gun turrets, one in front and one behind, with a total of four thick 343mm main guns pointing to the sky, represent the justice and truth of the Great Chu Empire and embody the formidable military might of decades of colonial expansion.

This enormous cannon barrel could fit a child in their teens.

Standing by the side of the boat

The thick, raised armor belt along the waterline, like a protruding step, gives people a great sense of security and boosts the confidence of the officers and soldiers on board.

I walked around
Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu said in high spirits, "As expected, you get what you pay for. Sailing on the sea in this great ship, we are not afraid of a Category 13 hurricane. It truly deserves to be called the shield of the empire."

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Such a powerful shield for the empire should be multiplied as much as possible. May it protect our Great Chu Empire and make it ever more prosperous and strong, lasting for thousands of generations, so that our dynasty may never end!"

"Hahaha... How could a mere first-class warship be so exaggerated?"

"Your humble servant dares not presume to say so. I humbly believe that the Royal Navy of our Great Chu has always been at the forefront of colonial expansion. With such divine weapons, it should be invincible. Coupled with the resilience of the Royal Army and in line with the development policy of Chinese colonization, it is certain that we will achieve a great cause that will last for thousands of generations."

"Hmm, that makes sense then." Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu nodded in agreement. The territory occupied by the descendants of the mighty Huaxia people, after eliminating some of the lesser villains, should rightfully be passed on to future generations, for thousands of years to come.

He couldn't care about the affairs of his descendants, but he had already occupied the territory and implemented a comprehensive Sinicization and integration, and he had done everything he could.

If you can throw something away like that, then you're just incredibly useless.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty was in a good mood as he walked and talked. The giant ship was 26.2 meters wide, shaped like a date pit or bullet, with a pointed front, a rounded and wide middle, and a sharply narrow stern.

This type of ship is conducive to achieving high speeds, while saving a significant amount of coal and heavy oil when sailing at economical speeds.

In particular, the unique hull-mounted turret layout of the Great Chu Empire further highlighted its advantages in the modern warship design that pursues "more powerful firepower, faster speed, and thicker armor".

This is because the "piggyback turret" layout is more compact, which greatly reduces the area of ​​the vital parts that need protection. With the same weight of armor steel, the protection is increased by 16.7%.

Take the UK's latest battleship as an example. It is equipped with a total of five 12-inch gun turrets and an armored belt that is 137 meters long from front to back, protecting vital parts.

The total weight of the armor on HMS Dreadnought is about 5,000 tons, which is 800 tons more than that of the Sir Nelson-class. The waterline armor belt on the side of the ship is 102-280 mm thick, and the armor thickness of vital parts such as the conning tower and ammunition magazine reaches 280 mm, or eleven inches.

In reality, such protection is not very effective.

Of the three elements of "firepower, protection and speed", British ships prioritized firepower, followed by speed, with protection only ranking third.

Therefore, British warships generally had poor protection, but powerful firepower, making them suitable for large-scale naval battles, and friendly ships would share the burden of protection.

German warships, on the other hand, prioritized protection, followed by firepower, and then speed.

Therefore, German-made warships were robust and durable, but their firepower was correspondingly weak, which could only be compensated for by the accuracy of the super gunners.

This is determined by the different naval development strategies adopted by each country based on its own national conditions. There is no right or wrong answer; what suits you best is the best.

The Great Chu Empire's warship development strategy differed from the aforementioned two countries. Due to the vast territory of the empire and the relatively relaxed strategic environment surrounding it, it had no real enemies.

When selecting the three factors, the Royal Navy of Great Chu always prioritized speed (Note: including technical indicators such as long range, economical speed, maximum speed and comfort performance during long voyages), with particular emphasis on long-range performance.

Therefore, the main warships of the Great Chu Royal Navy are generally large in tonnage, in order to carry more fuel and have stronger long-range sailing capabilities.

Secondly, protection is important, and lastly, firepower.

So, the Kunlunshan-class battleship was equipped with four 13.5-inch main guns, which was already at the world's top level, so how come its firepower was only third?

In warship design, although firepower ranks low among many considerations, as long as the technology level of naval guns is up to par, they must still be installed.

The Great Chu Empire was in this situation. The Type 05 13.5-inch twin-mounted main naval gun, independently developed by the Manila Arms Company, underwent extensive testing and demonstrated outstanding weapon performance.

Thanks to the superior casting of special steel, the barrel life averages 380 to 400 rounds, which is 22% more than the British Mk-V naval gun and is among the world's top levels.

The dispersion and accuracy of the fired shells are satisfactory, representing a 7.5% improvement over the old 12-inch main gun (Note: 305 mm), and are also world-class.

The gun weighed 73 tons, an increase of 16.6 tons compared to the original 12-inch main gun, but this was nothing compared to the huge displacement of the Kunlunshan-class battleship.

With such excellent large-caliber artillery, why not equip it?
Germany's newest battleships are still equipped with 11.5-inch main guns, not because the Germans didn't want to, but because their technological level hadn't reached that level.

Although German industry made rapid progress in the fields of electrical engineering and chemical engineering, leading the world in the second industrial revolution, its development was booming and extremely dazzling.

However, in the steel industry and shipbuilding sector, there is still a certain gap compared to the well-established states of England and Chu.

This is particularly evident in the core equipment area of ​​main battleships.

The British and the Great Chu Empire's new warships were equipped with 13.5-inch main guns almost simultaneously, while the German-made 12-inch main gun was still under development and had not yet reached a stable technical level suitable for shipboard installation.

Even if the distance is only a thin veil away, one can only sigh in vain.

The technical level of special steel requires thousands of heats of molten steel, continuous trial and error, and exploration of the development direction for improving the technical indicators of special steel. It is necessary to proceed step by step.

This is an extremely difficult path of technological development, with no shortcuts.

The steel formulas for casting cannons used by Britain and the Great Chu Empire were different, and each regarded them as core secrets, employing comprehensive measures to protect them from leakage.

The Germans could only improve the formula by refining the molten steel batch after batch, using this laborious method to achieve technological advancement; there was no other way.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty stood in the spacious command tower, resting his hand on the observation deck, and looked around with satisfaction, smiling as he spoke.

"Minister He, no wonder this new ship was designated as the flagship of the home fleet. It's spacious here, and the view is excellent. How can we not win battles when commanding from here?"

"It is all thanks to Your Majesty's foresight and wisdom that the Royal Navy of our Great Chu Empire is equipped with such formidable warships. We will obey Your Majesty's orders without hesitation. Wherever our swords point, we will slay gods and Buddhas alike, with no fear whatsoever!" Admiral He Zhucheng replied with a radiant face and boundless confidence.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire burst into laughter and said;
"Hahahaha... I'm just setting the stage, why should the performance depend on you? The Russian fleet has set a bad example for us, so we can't be careless in the slightest when it comes to fleet training."

"Your Majesty, the Royal Navy of our Great Chu is disciplined and well-trained, strictly adhering to all naval operational regulations. Violators are severely punished according to military law without exception," Admiral He Zhucheng replied firmly.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty also sighed and said, "Yes, strict discipline in the army is the most important thing."

He didn't say much, but everyone present knew what His Majesty meant, and they all nodded in unison, saying "Yes."

The Russian Pacific Fleet served as a terrible example, and the impact it had on the Royal Navy of the Great Chu was so profound that it was impossible to forget.

Having such powerful national weapons means you have to use them properly; otherwise, you'd be wasting them like the Russians have. (End of Chapter)