"This is really a perfect warship!" Next to the berth of the Earlehull shipyard in the UK, Shuzo Aoki finally saw the first-class protective cruiser recommended by the British to Japan!

The Edgar-class cruiser, originally named George, was originally intended to be equipped with the British Navy, but with a series of accidents, the Japanese fleet, which suffered huge losses, urgently needed to replenish their strength, so the British directly resold the warship, which had just been completed and not yet in service, to Japan! The cost and return cost of this warship with a displacement of up to 7,300 tons is as high as 550,000 pounds!

"Equipped with a 9.2-inch cannon at the beginning and the tail, with 10 6-inch cannons on both sides. According to your requirements, 12 6-pound cannons were replaced with 12-pound cannons, and protective armor for the gun position was added. After some improvement, the firepower and defense of this warship have been improved to a certain extent, but the range has been reduced." Sir Watts, who was on the side, introduced.

"If Beiyang obtains a Mainz-class armored cruiser, can the George match his opponent?" Aoki Shuzo asked tentatively. After all, the news from the country made the possibility of this matter bigger!

"The core compartment of the George will not be destroyed by the 6-inch rapid-fire gun, but there is a question whether it can block the 280MML40 main gun. It should be no problem in a short period of time. It is probably hard to say if it takes a long time. After all, your country's 260MM gun cannot penetrate Mainz's armor. The medium-caliber rapid-fire gun is not effective against the Mainz with a huge armor belt area." Sir Watts is still very honest.

"But I still believe in the warships and technology of the British Empire." Aoki Shuzo looked at Sir Watts who was slightly embarrassed and said tactfully.

The war will continue, and if you want to win the war, you must regain the maritime advantage. Even if you are short of money, the Japanese must grit their teeth and restore the strength of the fleet. In order to make up for the losses and deal with the possible increase in the Beiyang warships, purchasing a first-class cruiser is the first move for the Japanese to deal with it!

Watts's words were conveyed to the country intact by Aoki Shuzo, and this information obviously caused an uproar in the country! Many people think that the price Japan paid to balance its maritime power was too high!

"Since all the colleagues in the Army think that the cost of the navy is too high, you can let the engineers build a pontoon bridge connecting North Korea and Lushun. If possible, I will give all the navy's military expenditure to the army!" Hirofumi Ito's words completely overwhelmed the complaining generals in the army.

But the existing fleet is not enough, and it still is not enough after buying one. What should I do? Hirobuki Ito’s answer is very simple! Keep buying until it’s enough! But although this world is big, there seems to be only one place to buy a ship!

Germany's Munich-class armored cruisers are naturally excellent. They proved their strength with the British's record and the blood of the Japanese navy. Although the Japanese really wanted to buy it, Germany would not sell it! The same is true for Russia, and the French also closed the door to purchase it against Japan with the efforts of Russia's diplomaticism. What's more, because of the Sanjing ship, Japan is not interested in French warships! Italy does not have a newly completed warship, and Italy is also unwilling to offend Germany and Russia. Then the only option is Britain!

I have to say that the British were still very interested in their younger brother! The day after the Japanese government proposed to continue purchasing warships, the British government detained the cruiser Bailangu Enkaraka ordered in Chile. This warship, which was launched on September 9, 1893, was being installed. As a result, after this incident occurred in May 1994.

(The author doesn't know when this cruiser will arrive in Chile, but based on the general incident of second-class cruisers launching and serving, this process will take about 1 year, so the warship is set to be in the UK and will be completed soon but not delivered to Chile.)

The British acted as an intermediary to coordinate negotiations between Chile and Japan on the purchase of this warship. The British were very fond of face. In the end, this second-class protective cruiser, which was the same type as Yoshino but was obviously stronger than Yoshino, changed its owner! The Japanese government finally bought the warship back at a high price of 390,000 pounds!

The Japanese government, which owns two new dome cruisers, still feels a little unsure. Before the official delivery, the Japanese were still considering whether they could replace these two warships with one battleship! For example, the Centurion-class second-class battleship deployed in the Far East is a good choice! After all, the price of these two warships is equal to that of one battleship, and the latter has obvious advantages in firepower and defense, and the speed is not slow!

But this time the British said they couldn't continue playing, or they were unwilling to continue taking the blame for Japan! Some time ago, the United Kingdom and Russia and Germany had already made a very unhappy issue due to Japan's problems! If you dare to sell an active second-class battleship at this time, wouldn't it be uncomfortable?

As a godfather, there are certain limits to helping the godson! (For example, when the Three Kingdoms interfered in the Liao Dynasty in history, the British decisively shrank!) Didn’t you see the British selling you the first two cruisers and they were all going to the edge? They didn’t directly row the warships in service! Instead, they chose the warships that were almost finished and not yet in service!

However, even so, the British tried their best to meet the needs of the Japanese. If the larger warships were not found, they could only find smaller results! After searching through the shipbuilding lists of various shipyards, the British finally found another small boat!

This second-class protective cruiser, called the Brave, belongs to the Apollo class. It has a displacement of 3,400 tons, an output power of 9,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of 20 knots, and has the firepower of 2 6-inch guns, 6 4.7-inch guns and 8 6-pound guns. This warship was completed in 1894 and was also prepared for the British Navy, but it was directly placed under the Japanese Navy!

So after some effort, the Japanese spent nearly 1 million pounds to order three cruisers! Maybe someone asked, does the Japanese government have so much money? The answer is of course yes, they have been preparing for this war for more than ten years! The military reserves and budget funds alone were about 150 million yen! At that time, the ratio of pound to yen was about 1 to 9! The Japanese government could offer 1 million pounds. What's more, there was support from the United States and Britain to purchase Japanese foreign debt. As long as they could win, everything would be fine!

The Japanese not only purchased a large number of warships, but also replaced all the artillery of the main warships on the front line with new rapid-fire cannons. You should know that in history, the secondary cannons of ships such as Hiei and Takachiho were not rapid-fire! After the replacement of the cannons, the combat effectiveness of these old ships also soared!

After having a lot of new ships in his hand, the Japanese Navy became more awesome. The Takachiho, which originally belonged to the guerrilla fleet in history, was already difficult to get into the eyes of the top leaders of the Japanese Navy. This warship in the 1980s was too slow to sail! Therefore, the new fast fleet consisted of 3 new ships and 1 Yoshino! After the setback, the Japanese Demon Sword stood up and walked to the battlefield again!

"Are you ready to leave?" Ruprecht said, looking at Hipel who came to say goodbye behind him.

"Yes, the Mainz has been handed over to the Beiyang Navy, and I will also go to Lushun with the ship. I am very willing to teach those Japanese short men a lesson!" Hippel said with high morale.

"You are very optimistic. Remember, secondly, after the war of the fleet, you must convince Yang Yonglin to implement the strategy we have formulated in advance. Thirdly, this warship must not fall into the hands of the Japanese. Mainz's reputation comes from the massacre of the Japanese fleet, so you know. In addition, this is what His Majesty the Emperor and the Navy." The prince said seriously.

"Mainz's only result is victory and sunk, and there will be no third result!" Hippel said. A warship that can be called a new history of the German Navy will naturally not fall into the hands of its former enemies!

"So what is the first point? You seem to have forgotten the most important point!"

"Try to ensure the safety of you and your subordinates as much as possible! This is just an experiment. In the future, you and your fleet will participate in a maritime battle that can change the whole world! Every German naval officer and soldier is the most precious wealth, and it is more precious than the Mainz!" Ruprecht said earnestly.

"This sounds really exciting, but it's too far away. Can you do something real?" If Ruprecht usually has a king and domineering before, then this person is obviously an exception. Even though he is of noble origin and has received more than ten years of royal education and influence, Ruprecht seems to be farther away from the word "Rupcht"! As an adjutant who is with him, Hippel is also very casual in private occasions.

"How about the first mate of a cruiser within three years?" Ruprecht asked. "As long as you can come back!"

"Are you kidding?" Hippel said with a embarrassed look on his face.

"Whatever you think!" Ruprecht waved his hand and signaled that the other party could leave.

Just after the armored cruiser Mainz left the formation and descended the Black Hawk flag of the German Navy and raised the dragon flag of the Beiyang Fleet, the first German transport ships carrying Blue Legion supplies and personnel had arrived in Vladivostok. Although the two sides have not yet started war, His Highness the Prince believes that they should arrive at the battlefield as soon as possible to adapt to the future environment.

This time, the person who led the Blue Legion was Lieutenant Colonel Von Kariput, the old subordinate of His Highness the Prince. This guy had accompanied the Prince and the Prussians, and also led the infantry to charge against the French volleyball guns during the French-Prussian War. Overall, he performed well, had rich practical experience, and was also sensitive to new things. As a lieutenant colonel, he was definitely fine to command an army of only 3,000 people.

The conflict between Germany and Japan did not disperse the war clouds that spread in the Far East. After the crisis came to an end, what should come finally came back! When the three cruisers ordered by Japan finally arrived in Japan, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 re-entered the countdown. However, unlike history, this war that was supposed to break out in July was postponed for two months! During this period, both Beiyang and Japan were doing their best to prepare.

However, unlike in history, this time it was not only the Qing and Japanese countries that were preparing to fight each other, but also the two countries were prepared to fight. Because of some accidents and under Ruprecht's deliberate guidance, Russia and Germany's interference in the situation in the Far East was earlier than in history, and the means were more intense!

"I have created a different Sino-Japanese War. What will happen next is really exciting!" Ruprecht said in his heart as he watched the armoured cruiser of the Mainz leave.
Chapter completed!