This Richelieu is Cardinal Richelieu in the era of "The Three Musketeers". He is also France's greatest statesman, diplomat, father of the navy, and the first Duke Richelieu of the Bourbon dynasty.
France named this class of battleships after Richelieu, which shows its high hopes for the Richelieu-class battleships.
It is a pity that the performance of the Richelieu-class battleship is also inherently insufficient, so the benchmark is not the BIG 7, but the Italian Vittorio Veneto-class battleship.
According to Leonard Capet's request, Roque's offer to Leonard Capet was 18 million rand, which is approximately equivalent to 900 million francs.
This price is unacceptable to Leonard Capet. At 18 million rand, it is not much cheaper than the cost of making it in France. In this case, it is better to make it in France.
"Does France have the relevant technology for 16-inch naval guns? Can France's slipway accommodate a 35,000-ton battleship? If France builds it itself, how many years will it take to complete it? I'm afraid ten years may not be enough." Roque said matter-of-factly, this ship is for sale.
To the French government, it had little to do with the personal relationship between Roque and Leonard Capet.
Rock's three questions are each more acute than the last.
The Richelieu-class battleships were built starting in 1935. The main gun caliber is only a pitiful 380, instead of the 410 that comes standard with the BIG 7. However, in view of France’s excellent artillery technology, the armor-piercing projectiles used in the 380mm main guns of the Richelieu-class battleships can penetrate
Its armor capability is almost the same as that of the American 410 naval gun.
France's slipway is even more tragic. When France decided to build the Normandy-class battleship, it had to reduce the tonnage of the Normandy-class battleship due to slipway constraints, and there is still no improvement.
As for the construction period, considering the tradition of French workers always going on strike, ten years is really not an exaggeration. Judging from the speed of battleship replacement, even if France is completed in ten years, it will probably be on the verge of obsolescence.
And there is a more serious problem. As a signatory to the "Washington Naval Treaty", according to the provisions of the "Washington Naval Treaty", Southern Africa cannot build battleships of this level for France.
"So for the French government, the most realistic plan is to build battleships with lower costs and smaller tonnage. After all, France's enemy is not BIG 7, but Italy, which also does not have BIG 7." Roque's suggestion is very pertinent.
In fact, France's biggest enemy is Germany, but Germany is now worse off than France and does not deserve to be France's enemy.
"What suggestions do you have?" Leonard Capet looked solemn. Since it is impossible to own a giant ship like BIG 7, settling for the second best is not a good choice.
Of course, the final choice is definitely not decided by Leonard Capet and Roque, but must be submitted to the French Parliament for approval. This back and forth process can be completed in a year and a half, even if the French Parliament is efficient.
"I suggest that the standard displacement be controlled at around 26,000 tons, so that the full-load displacement can reach 33,000 tons. The main gun caliber should be limited to 350 mm. The side armor should be enhanced for torpedo attacks, and the configuration of anti-aircraft weapons should be enhanced for air defense needs.
, in this way, the tonnage is reduced, and the speed can be increased to more than 25 knots. Although such a battleship does not have outstanding data, it is well balanced in all aspects. Only such a battleship meets the needs of France." Roque does not blindly pursue tonnage and main gun caliber.
, for those outdated Italian battleships, there is no need to use 410 guns.
"Isn't this another replica of the Normandy-class battleship?" Leonard Capet was speechless. Practicality is not what the French government wants to pursue.
Rock was also speechless. Although the battleship he suggested was not as good as the BIG 7, it was still somewhat stronger than the Normandy-class battleship.
What's more, the French government doesn't even have a battleship of the Normandy level, so what right does it have to dislike the Normandy?
Of course, it’s not Leonard Capet’s turn to dislike him or not.
What Leonard Capet can do is to send this information back to France and let the members of Parliament slowly quarrel.
Roque is not idle here either. The fundamental reason why Roque does not recommend using the 410 main gun is because 410 mm caliber naval guns are not manufactured in southern Africa.
The technology for 410mm caliber naval guns is currently only available in the United States, Britain and Japan.
This makes Rock unacceptable. Regardless of whether Southern Africa can obtain 410mm naval guns, the relevant technology still needs to be mastered.
When the French Parliament started to quarrel, a grand dinner was underway at Kawasaki Corporation, headquartered in Hiroshima, Japan.
Kawasaki Co., Ltd. is a company mainly engaged in the import and export of special metals. Japan's domestic natural resources are poor. Except for a very small amount of mineral resources such as coal, natural gas, and sulfur, other main raw materials and fuels required for industrial production must be imported from overseas.
[Benefits for Book Friends] You can get cash or coins by reading books, and iPhone12 and Switch are waiting for you! Follow the vx official account [Book Friends Base Camp] to get it!
After the Meiji Restoration, there were many companies like Kawasaki Co., Ltd. in Japan, but not many companies had the ability to obtain overseas resources. Kawasaki Co., Ltd. was one of the few.
"Today we invited Mr. Buckley from Martinus Company. Whether we can obtain the mineral resources that the empire urgently needs from the Republic of Congo is a matter of one move. No matter how harsh the conditions Mr. Buckley puts forward, we must complete it unconditionally!" Kawasaki Co., Ltd.
The president of the company, Kawasaki Ichiro, broke the boat. Martinus Company is a British company headquartered in Boma. It has the export rights of special metals in the Republic of Congo. Kawasaki Ichiro did a lot to invite Buckley, the deputy general manager of Martinus Company.
After preliminary work, Buckley finally accepted Kawasaki Ichiro's invitation.
Kawasaki Co., Ltd. is one of the suppliers of the Kure Navy Yard in Hiroshima. The Kure Naval Yard is currently the largest naval shipyard in Japan. The Nagato battleship was built at the Kure Naval Yard.
The production of large-caliber battleship main guns requires a large amount of nickel and chromium. The best material for making gun barrels is alloy steel mixed with nickel and chromium. However, there are no nickel ores and chromium ores in Japan. The nickel and chromium required for the production of battleship main guns are
All need to be imported from abroad.
The Republic of Congo is one of the countries with the richest nickel ore and chromium ore reserves in the world. The two Congos have combined reserves of more than 23.5 million tons.
In addition to nickel and chromium, Congo also has niobium and tantalum, which accounts for more than 80% of the world's reserves. Tantalum and niobium are mainly used to produce high-strength alloy steel, improve the properties of various alloys, and are additives for making super-hard tools.
It is even more essential for the shipbuilding industry.
"Hai!" The leaders of Kawasaki Corporation in the room stood at attention and bowed.
"Please!" Ichiro Kawasaki was slightly uneasy. Mr. Buckley is said to be a British man born in southern Africa. He has the arrogance of the British and the coldness and cruelty of the colonists. If possible, Ichiro Kawasaki really
I don't want to deal with this kind of person.
Unfortunately, the world is not as good as it should be. Nine times out of ten, the British control most of the world's resources, and Kawasaki Ichiro has no choice but to compromise.
At six o'clock in the evening, Buckley arrived at the banquet on time. Also arriving at the same time as Buckley was Buckley's assistant Sha Cheng.
Yes, don't doubt it, Sha Cheng is a Chinese-American born in Southern Africa. He graduated from the University of Nyasaland and is now studying for a doctorate.
"Mr. Buckley, welcome to your presence -" Kawasaki Ichiro's English pronunciation was not very standard, and Buckley's mouth immediately showed an undisguised sarcastic smile.
The British during this period were really arrogant in Japan.
The relationship between Japan and Britain is very complicated. In the early years, in order to curb the expansion of the Russian Empire in the Far East, Britain chose Japan as its ally in East Asia and gave Japan a lot of help. It can be said that without Britain's help, Japan would not have won the Russo-Japanese War.
victory.
During the World War, Japan took advantage of Germany's lack of power in the Far East and followed Britain's lead in declaring war on Germany. It became one of the victorious countries and tried to gain the maximum gain at the minimum cost. Unfortunately, southern Africa took action earlier than Japan. As a result, East Asia's greatest interests were lost.
East India was seized, and Japan gained very little.
During the Washington Naval Conference, the alliance between Britain and Japan was forced to dissolve. On the issue of capital ship tonnage, Britain did not provide Japan with similar help as before, and cracks appeared in the relationship between Britain and Japan.
However, this does not prevent the British from being arrogant and domineering in Japan.
Barkley does have the capital to be superior to others, and this "superior" is literally true.
Barkley is about 1.7 meters tall. He is ignored by everyone in southern Africa, but he immediately stands out in Japan.
Kawasaki Ichiro's height is the average height of Japan, which is about 1.5 meters.
Looking around the audience, Sha Cheng, who is 1.75 meters tall, is the tallest.
"Shajun, welcome to your presence -" Kawasaki Ichiro's Chinese is much better than his English.
Don't be surprised, even though Japan is now known as the most powerful country in Asia, there are still many people in Japan who can speak Chinese, especially in Japan's upper class. If you don't know Chinese, you can't even understand Japanese cultural ancient books.
There is no doubt that Japan’s ancient cultural books are all written in Chinese. Japanese hiragana is created with reference to the cursive script of Chinese characters, and katakana is created with reference to the radicals of Chinese characters. There are still many Chinese characters in Japanese today, even though
Even if I don’t speak Japanese, I can probably make some guesses based on the context.
"Sha, I think we are in the wrong place. This may be the legendary dwarf country -" Buckley finally knew how to save some face for the Japanese present. He said this in French.
"Keep your voice down, some of them may know French." Sha Cheng reminded kindly.
"Hahahaha, so what? They invited me to the banquet, not that I came uninvited." Buckley's performance was perfectly in line with the current British style in Japan.
Despite the fact that the Japanese think very highly of themselves, they believe that by winning a few wars, they are already qualified to be on an equal footing with Europe.
In fact, in the eyes of the British, all Asians are the same, and the difference is probably the same as that of housekeepers and servants.
Of course, the Chinese in southern Africa are not included. The Chinese in southern Africa are already southern Africans and are two different things from Asians.
