() One day in March 1902, the visiting team led by Joseph, led by David, and followed by Liu Fu, finally arrived at Portsmouth, a military port located on the south coast of England.
Portsmouth Port is located in Hampshire, southern England, facing the Solent Strait to the south and facing the Isle of Wight across the strait. Since the establishment of a naval dockyard here in the 15th century, it has been an important military port for the Royal Navy.
Moreover, a character we are very familiar with was born here, that is the great British writer Charles Dickens. There is also a fictional character in the book that everyone is more familiar with, that is the famous "Sherlock Holmes". It is said that this
The detective is also from Portsmouth.
On the day of the visit, a group of people was led to the dock by a staff officer from the Admiralty. The military port of Portsmouth was built in a fjord, and the Isle of Wight opposite became a natural gateway, blocking wind, waves and enemies.
On this several-mile-long pier, there are more than a dozen warships of various tonnages of the British Royal Navy moored.
The first ship to visit was the "Formidable", the first of the "Formidable" class first-class battleships newly built by the British. This newly designed British first-class battleship looks a bit like a large sailing ship in appearance.
There are two large masts standing high in the middle, a straight bow and a round stern, and two thick chimneys, which are completely different from the modern warships in Liu Fu's impression.
The "Formidable" has a displacement of more than 14,000 tons, has more than 200 mm thick side armor, uses a vertical three-expansion engine, and can reach a top speed of 18 knots. Its main gun uses a twin 305 mm 40-caliber naval gun.
, one is installed at the front and rear along the central axis, and there are some 1 on both sides.
The 52mm and 76mm secondary guns are, generally speaking, larger and much stronger than the American Indiana-class battleships. According to the accompanying British Admiralty staff officer, the "Formidable" is just the head of the Formidable-class battleship.
One ship, and construction is continuing, but the staff did not specify how many ships to build.
Next, the group visited a moored Old Man star battleship and two Majesty-class battleships. The appearance of these two battleships was basically the same as the "Formidable" they visited first, but the Majesty-class was
The previous generation of the Dreadnought class has differences in the turret and stern. The Old Man star is a reduced version of the Majesty class. It reduces the armor and replaces it with a water tube boiler. This kind of boiler
It can provide higher efficiency and economy, allowing the Old Man star battleship to consume only 10 tons of coal per hour when traveling at its highest speed. This design is mainly to meet the security needs of colonies far away overseas.
In the case of adding coal supply points, higher seaworthiness and cruising range are much more suitable than higher armor defense.
Regarding battleships, Liu Fu had nothing to say because he didn't understand anything at all. He only had a rough understanding of the technical data of the most powerful and advanced British naval battleships at the time, so as to set a standard for the future development of the Taiwan Navy. Therefore.
, while visiting,
Liu Fu was not very interested in the main guns, secondary guns, and armor, but he asked in detail about the power part, the parameters of the torpedo tubes and torpedoes, and how to communicate with the warships. Some of them he did not know.
If it is convenient to ask, let David come forward.
After lunch, everyone strolled around the Portsmouth shipyard and looked at another Formidable-class battleship under construction. David and his party said goodbye to the accompanying naval officers and returned to Joseph in a carriage.
's manor.
Liu Fu gained a lot from this visit to the latest battleships from Britain and the United States. First, he figured out the most advanced shipbuilding technology of this era. Now, the tonnage of large ships in various countries is about 15,000 tons.
Using coal-fired boilers as the main power drive, the speed is generally below 18 knots, and the endurance is limited; secondly, it has mastered the latest battle array of this era.
The general parameters of the ship, such as the thickness of the armor, are about 200 mm, and the communication methods are mainly semaphores during the day and lights at night. Third, we have basically clarified the development of submarines in this era, that is, all countries still have little understanding of submarines.
They don’t pay much attention to it, and there is no way to talk about anti-submarine warfare. Countless submarines in Britain and the United States are still in the experimental stage and have not been used as a weapon.
After resting in Joseph's manor for a few more days, David took Liu Fei across the strait and arrived in Paris. Although Britain and France are very close to each other, the cities, villages, ordinary people and upper classes in these two countries are very different.
Social habits are very different. The French do not look down on the British either in their bones or on the surface, especially when it comes to clothing and food. If you discuss British food with a Frenchman, he will spit in your face.
This is
Of course you are insulting him. To be honest, the British have nothing to brag about when it comes to food. Except for potato chips and fish steaks, no wonder there are so many fat people in the British. These two foods are standard in modern times.
Junk food. Especially the kind of mashed potatoes stewed in suet. It can be swallowed only when it is hot. When it is cold, you can imagine that the mashed potatoes mixed with suet... are all stuck in your throat.
Eyes, can you swallow them?
Although the French hate the British, they don't hate the very magical medicines and refrigerators. Therefore, David's face also works here, but not in the navy, but in the army. A French general with a cocky chest and belly
With his ridiculous beard, he very proudly invited David and Liu Fu to visit a French cavalry brigade near Paris. This brigade is known as the most proud light cavalry brigade in France. It has countless honors, but Liu Fu is the only one.
I don’t even know. What Liu Fu knows best is that
, put 10 heavy machine guns, and the more than 1,000 people and horses of this brigade will all be lying in front of the position in less than half an hour. What honor, what pride, there is no difference for bullets, killing a nobleman is the same as killing him.
There is no difference between a beggar and a beggar. After seeing the French army, Liu Fu no longer has the desire to visit the French navy. Having such an army and navy is not much better. Instead of socializing at various cocktail parties here every day,
It would be better to go directly to Germany.
The history of Germany is actually very short. This country, which was integrated by Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck, was completely unified in 1871 after defeating Denmark, Austria and France. After the reunification, the German Federation exploded with an astonishing development momentum.
In terms of the customs union policy within the federation, Germany surpassed Russia, France and the Habsburgs at the time in less than 40 years.
The Fort Empire suddenly became the second largest economic power in Europe. Between 1850 and 1900, Germany's GDP increased from 10.5 billion marks to 36.5 billion marks, and the absolute value of industrial production increased six times.
The total output value exceeded agriculture, and Germany became an industrial country. It took Britain nearly 100 years to complete the Industrial Revolution, but Germany took less than 50 years to complete it.
The rapid development of industrialization increased Germany's foreign trade by 200%. When Germany began to become a first-class power, its eyes naturally shifted from land to sea. Since 1888, when the 29-year-old Wilhelm II came to the throne, he
His arrogant, impulsive and flamboyant character ran counter to Bismarck's policy of restraint and keeping a low profile.
Wilhelm II hoped that he could be like his grandmother, Queen Victoria, who turned Germany into a huge empire with vast overseas colonies. Amid the clamor of "longing for the land under the sun", the Germans' nationalism was extremely high, and they wanted to build an empire that would conform to Germany's needs.
The hope of a fleet of national status turned into a need.
In 1900, Tirpitz, then the German Navy Minister, submitted a new naval expansion plan two years later, with explosive content: 38 battleships and 58 cruisers. If this plan is completed,
Then the German navy is the second largest navy in the world, enough to defeat France and Russia, and the core of the plan is directed at Britain.
In fact, Liu Fu liked the German character very much: working hard, then raising his head and working hard. However, he knew the history well and had no illusions about the future of the Germans. Among the people who bullied the Qing Dynasty,
You can find traces of the Germans at any time, and sometimes they are more active and hard-working than those old colonial countries.
With the mentality that if you look at you one more time, you will die early, Liu Fu set foot on Kiel, an important military port and shipbuilding base in Germany.
Kiel is a city in northern Germany, facing the Kiel Bay of the Baltic Sea and the eastern terminus of the Kiel Canal. As a seaport, Kiel has been a German naval base and shipbuilding base since the mid-19th century. Many important German*
* Ships are all launched from here.
There are only a few old-fashioned cruisers parked on the pier in the military port, but in the dock, a battleship is being outfitted. According to the accompanying Navy personnel, this is a Kaiser Frederick III class battleship. The ship's name
It's the "Caesar Carl the Great"
The ship has a total length of 125 meters, a draft of 8.07 meters, and a standard displacement of more than 11,000 tons. It uses water tube boilers and piston steam engines, three-axis propulsion, and a speed of 17 knots. The ship is equipped with 4 240 mm main guns and 18 150 mm guns.
Secondary guns, 12 88mm secondary guns and a large number of machine guns, with a final armor of 300mm.
As for why the caliber of the main gun is so small, the accompanying German naval personnel explained that it was because they made reference to the naval battle between the Beiyang Fleet and the Japanese Navy in the Sino-Japanese War of 1888, and then reduced the caliber of the main gun and reduced the weight to equip more fast weapons.
her secondary gun.
After listening to this theory, even Liu Fu, who didn't know much about the navy, found it a bit unbelievable. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the battle between the Beiyang Navy and the Japanese Navy was not so much about equipment as it was about the system. At that time, the two
In fact, the poorly prepared Beiyang Navy was not defeated in the great sea battle. What really defeated them was poor logistical preparations, a chaotic command system and a corrupt court, which had little to do with the Japanese fleet.
The Germans in Europe actually changed their battleship design because of this naval battle. They gave up the high-power main guns and chose more medium-caliber rapid-fire cannons. They planned to imitate the Japanese and use countless small shells to defeat the British.
People fight against each other.
After seeing the terrible short-sightedness of the Germans in the navy, Liu Fu lost interest in visiting other military ports. He took David and others and hurried back to London, and purchased the ship tickets for a few days in advance to prepare.
Return to Taiwan.
The reason why he left so hurriedly this time was not entirely because the old count was anxious to see his grandson, but because a telegram was sent from Taiwan, saying that in the past year or so since Liu Fu left, the government and research institutes in Taiwan have been crowded.
There were many things that had to be decided by Liu Fu. Seeing that Liu Fu had not returned to Taiwan for a long time, Liu Gui sent a telegram urging Liu Fu to go home as soon as possible.
In September 1902, Liu Fu and his party took a boat through the Suez Canal, passed through the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca, transferred to a disguised ship of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Taiwan in Hong Kong, and returned to Keelung Port.
