No matter how humiliated Lisa Khan felt in his heart, the Persian military was still looking forward to owning a real battleship.
Even if the main gun caliber is reduced from 305 to 203, the data of "Xerxes" are still very impressive, and Southern Africa has also installed anti-aircraft weapons on "Xerxes", which makes "Xerxes" more adaptable.
The development of the current era is more suitable for the specific situation in Persia.
In order to prepare "Xerxes" to become combat effective as soon as possible, Persia hired instructors from Britain to train Persian naval officers and soldiers.
“The ‘Agamemnon’ is a great warship.” Lieutenant Colonel Alex, who has retired from the Royal Navy, could see the bloodline of “Xerxes” at a glance.
The word "great" here is also in quotation marks. Whether it is great or not depends on who it is for. The "Agamemnon" was born during the Anglo-German arms race. Construction started at Bodmore Shipyard in May 2005 and took five months.
Later, construction of the epoch-making "Dreadnaught" battleship began in Portsmouth.
In other words, the "Agamemnon" has not yet been launched, and it is actually already lagging behind.
The arms race is so cruel.
Of course for the Persian navy, the "Agamemnon" is still great. At least it is big and can intimidate people, but it is a pity that it is not practical.
In the current Persian Gulf, there are no small countries like those in another time and space. The south coast is the area controlled by the Adan Company. Although the north coast is Persian territory, it is also the British sphere of influence.
India and Ceylon, which are farther away, are all British colonies. Somalia is divided between Britain and Italy. The only thing Persia can bully within a thousand miles is Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the "Agamemnon" may not be able to travel that far.
It’s not that the range is insufficient, the designed range of the "Agamemnon" is still good. At an economic speed of ten knots, the endurance is more than 9,000 nautical miles.
Unfortunately, after the transformation in Southern Africa, the coal capacity that the "Xerxes" can carry dropped from 2,107 tons to 700 tons, and the fuel capacity dropped from 1,090 tons to 300 tons. Its endurance was directly reduced by two-thirds.
What's more serious is that the power system of the "Xerxes" is not the original power system. When the Royal Navy sold the "Agamemnon" to the Favart Steel Group, it transferred the power system and weapons system
All of them were dismantled. The coal-fired boilers currently used on "Xerxes" are six boilers installed in southern Africa that were obtained from unknown sources. It is hard to say how long they will last.
Leaving aside the quality of the boilers, the "Agamemnon" installed fifteen boilers, while the "Xerxes" only installed six. Even if the horsepower of a single boiler is larger, the overall power is still significantly reduced.
After all this trouble, the cost of transformation is actually not low. The reason why southern Africa does this is simply to disgust the Persians.
Don't think that southern Africa can't do this kind of thing. Southern Africa and the British Empire are absolutely the same in this regard.
After conducting a thorough inspection of "Xerxes", Lieutenant Colonel Alex didn't know what to say.
How to put it this way, Southern Africa is also a Commonwealth country. To be honest, Lieutenant Colonel Alex felt embarrassed.
But the thing about eating the king's salary and being loyal to the king is that if you hold the Persian bowl, you must be worthy of the price given by the Persians.
After thinking about it, Lieutenant Colonel Alex decided to wait.
"The commissioning of the 'Xerxes' is a new beginning for the Persian Navy. Sooner or later we will have more cruisers and battleships. At that time, we will pay back all the humiliations imposed on the Persians." and
Rear Admiral Ahmed Ghafouri, who boarded the "Xerxes" with Lieutenant Colonel Alex, was full of confidence. He has been appointed as the captain of the "Xerxes".
Although "Xerxes" is a backward battleship, for Persia, "Xerxes" is already an unexpected surprise.
Lisa Khan’s attitude was very clear, and he wanted to train a group of qualified naval officers through "Xerxes" to lay a good foundation for the future development of the Persian Navy.
This idea is correct. For this reason, the Persian Navy spent a lot of money to invite instructors from the United Kingdom to train the Persian Navy.
However, while Ghafouri was extremely confident, he seemed to have overlooked the fact that the British Empire also shared in the humiliation imposed on the Persians.
If the Persians want to pay back one by one, doesn't it mean that the first one to take revenge is the British Empire.
So after hearing what Ghafouri said, Lieutenant Colonel Alex decided to ignore the modifications in Southern Africa and pretend he didn't see it.
Just kidding, not even the Persians care, let alone Lieutenant Colonel Alex.
"The overall condition of the 'Xerxes' is still good, but in order to truly unleash the combat effectiveness of the 'Xerxes', we still need more professional talents, such as boiler workers -" Lieutenant Colonel Alex proposed
Pertinent advice, a qualified navy requires more than just officers and soldiers, it also needs more auxiliary personnel.
"No, no, no, Lieutenant Colonel Alex, there are too many boiler workers. What we need are professional officers and soldiers - let's go to the bridge to take a look, it's really hot here -" Ghafouri
He didn't want to stay in the bottom cabin for more than a minute. It was stuffy and hot here, and it was not a place where a noble rear admiral like him should stay.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex looked at the timid boiler workers with worry, but in the end he said nothing.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex has already said what needs to be said. Whether or not to adopt it depends on Gafuri’s choice.
Compared with the stuffy and hot bottom cabin, the bridge of the "Xerxes" is magnificently decorated. It does not look like a warship command center, but more like a presidential suite in a five-star hotel.
This decoration style is obviously in line with Gavuli's aesthetics. Gavuli was sitting in the large and comfortable commander's chair in high spirits, and immediately decided to drive "Xerxes" out of the port for a walk.
Take a walk?
This is a pre-dreadnought-class battleship weighing 18,000 tons, and it is not a yacht. Can it be slipped away casually?
"No, no, no, General, we don't have the ability to control the 'Xerxes' yet. The workers need more training -" Lieutenant Colonel Alex collapsed. It is not a trivial matter for a battleship to leave port. Isn't it all?
Is there no need to report?
"Lieutenant Colonel, you underestimate our ability. Maybe our gunners still can't accurately hit the target 10,000 yards away, and the boiler will always burn." Gaffuri looked ugly, and he hit Alex.
The school's respect is dwindling.
Like most Persians, Ghafouri had a complicated attitude towards the British, feeling both hateful and fearful.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex is different from other British people. Since he accepts employment from Persia, he must serve the Persians. For the Persians, this "service" contains more meanings.
Persia is still a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. In such a country, "service" is not only employment, but also slavery.
In other words, accepting employment from the Persians is equivalent to being a servant of the Persians.
Hate still hates, and the fearful part disappears.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex could sense the change in Ghafouri's mood, so he stopped saying anything and simply stood on the sidelines.
"Light the fire and lift the anchor. Let's go to Georgetown first, and then go to Port Elizabeth." Ghafouri was full of confidence. The Indian Ocean Fleet had already transferred the battleship "East India" away from the Persian Gulf before this. According to the popular naval theory,
, in the Persian Gulf, the "Xerxes" is an invincible existence.
Even after World War I, many people still insisted that only battleships of the same level could sink battleships.
Even if the data of the "Xerxes" is reduced, it still has a tonnage of 18,000 tons. Theoretically, to sink the "Xerxes", it must have a tonnage of at least 18,000 tons.
After the "East India" left the Persian Gulf, the largest warships in Georgetown and Port Elizabeth were light cruisers, with a tonnage generally not exceeding 6,000 tons.
What should be noted here is that the standards for warships in various countries are not uniform nowadays. Although the "Washington Naval Treaty" stipulates that a heavy cruiser is a heavy cruiser with a main gun caliber between 6.1 inches (155 mm) and 8 inches (203 mm), not exceeding 6.1 inches.
Inch is the light cruiser.
In fact, these regulations are in vain. The British Hawkins-class heavy cruiser has a full-load displacement of 12,000 tons, far exceeding the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. The Pensacola-class heavy cruiser that the United States is preparing to start construction also has a full-load displacement of 11,696 tons.
As for the Myo high-end heavy cruiser that Japan has begun secretly building, even its standard displacement has exceeded 10,000 tons, reaching 10,902 tons.
Ghafouri was actually right. Persia lacked qualified naval officers, but there were still boiler workers.
Following Ghafouri's order, the "Xerxes" lit the fire and weighed anchor, and slowly left Khakhbahar.
At this time, the rising sun happened to be rising in the east. The weather was clear and cloudless. Facing the warm sea breeze, Gafouli was full of pride and kept ordering the "Xerxes" to speed up.
"General, I'm afraid 'Xerxes' can't withstand such a fast speed." Lieutenant Colonel Alex did his duty faithfully. The "Xerxes" only has six boilers, and even with all its strength, it can't run as fast as it can.
That’s pretty good.
"Hahahaha, Lieutenant Colonel Alex, 'Xerxes' is more powerful than you think, we can definitely do better -" Ghafoury laughed, looking at the shore approaching "Xerxes"
"The cheering Persians were in a great mood.
Those Persians who are watching "Xerxes" are actually quite excited. Although southern Africa does not compensate "Xerxes" to Persia, the Persian government does not promote it internally.
In the eyes of ordinary Persians, "Xerxes" is the compensation that the Persian government obtained after untold hardships, and it is proof that southern Africa bowed to Persia and surrendered.
Don't care whether others think so, as long as the Persians are not embarrassed, it is the southern Africans who are embarrassed.
At this moment, a thick plume of white smoke suddenly erupted from the chimney of the "Xerxes", and then the "Xerxes" slowly stopped in full view of everyone.
Perhaps Ghafouri didn't know that boilers could explode.
ps: Let me whisper, it’s the end of the month again——
