The Nautilus shocked the world with a speed of forty-five knots. In this era when twenty-five knots is already amazing, this is undoubtedly crazy. This number has become the best advertisement for diesel engines. If the Nautilus was still just a
A symbol of technology, the Viper-class destroyer allows the great powers in the arms race to see the practical significance of diesel engines. There are 36-knot high-speed destroyers, which means that cruisers of several thousand tons can also reach this number.
.
The British Admiralty signed a cooperation agreement with Yang Feng without hesitation, but the method of cooperation needed to be carefully discussed. It is impossible for the Royal Navy to use warships that rely on foreign engines, so Yang Power Systems must produce diesel engines in the UK, or else
Licensing allows a British company to produce, preferably this way.
However, when Sir Richard proposed this condition to Yang Feng, he was quite uneasy. After all, this was the most advanced technology of Yang Power Systems Company, and he might not necessarily agree to hand it over if it were his place.
And in this kind of negotiation, he has no cards to play. Yang Feng's company is in Sweden, and diesel engines are the most sought-after technology. As long as he is willing, the Germans, French, and even Russians will compete to compete with him.
cooperate.
However, to his surprise, Boss Yang readily agreed to the patent authorization. The Swedish Young Power Systems Company could authorize any British company to imitate its diesel engine, and also provided them with design drawings, but the price was more expensive.
One million pounds.
This figure startled Sir Richard.
"Sir, although I have special feelings for Britain, you have to understand that I am first and foremost a businessman. I must strive for the maximum profit for my products. There is no need to say what the diesel engine represents. One million pounds is
A very reasonable price, if you don't agree, I believe there are many people who are impatiently waiting to agree." Yang Feng said lightly.
Sir Richard smiled bitterly, this was his biggest trouble.
"Mr. Yang, this money is enough to build a first-class ironclad ship," he said.
"Without diesel engines, if you just build a hundred first-class ironclad ships, the final result will be just a few more nests for the fish in the sea." Yang Feng said.
This is true. Everyone knows what power means. The steam engine created an era. Obviously, the diesel engine will also create a new era. Just like the sail battleship has lost any meaning in the face of steam-powered ironclads, in the face of diesel engine power
In the face of battleships, steam-powered battleships would also lose any meaning, Sir Richard was convinced of this.
But even so, such a huge investment is amazing. You must know that one pound is equivalent to more than seven grams of gold, and one million is seven million grams of gold, or simply put, it is seven tons of gold. Those private companies are
They will definitely not be willing to spend this money, because due to current fuel problems, diesel engine merchant ships cannot be popularized too quickly, which means that this huge investment will definitely take some time to recover.
It took a hundred years for steam power to bring sails to museums. It is estimated that it will not take much less for diesel engines to bring steam engines to museums. Yang's diesel engine patent protection period is still more than ten years, and even the navy cannot do it.
During this period of time to enter dieselization, countless supporting projects need to be carried out, and even steam-powered warships will definitely continue to be built in the future. In this way, merchant ship manufacturers can wait a few years, or even more than ten years.
But the Navy absolutely cannot wait any longer. For warships, being one step ahead is an advantage, being one year ahead is victory, and being ten years ahead is dominance. So the money must be paid by the Ministry of the Navy, but in this case
It has to be passed by the gentlemen in Parliament, Sir Richard, and it will be difficult.
"Mr. Yang, I do have a proposal. The destroyers Viper and Sidewinder, as well as your six merchant ships, will be built by Armstrong Shipyard for free for you. In exchange, you will receive your exclusive patent license in the UK." Beside participating in the negotiation.
Old Armstrong said.
As the UK's main private warship manufacturer, its main competitor is the navy's own shipyard. Previously, it has been difficult to get too much business in the construction of capital ships. Diesel engines are the best opportunity, so he is determined to cooperate with the navy.
Yang Feng is so dedicated to the cooperation that if he can obtain the exclusive authorization from the UK, he will gain a huge advantage in the competition.
"The exclusive license in the UK is of course no problem, but I seem to be suffering a big loss. You should also know very well that without engines, these eight ships are not even worth half a million pounds."
Yang Feng said with a smile that in fact he did not want to cooperate with the British national shipyard.
"Another four hundred thousand pounds in compensation." Old Armstrong said through gritted teeth.
"Five thousand six-inch shells." Yang Feng said.
"Yang, what do you want so many cannonballs for?" Sir Richard asked strangely.
"Sell it to my motherland, but there is one thing. All these shells use picric acid charges." Yang Feng said.
"Yang, that is simply suicide. This kind of thing will be extremely unstable after being installed in a cannon shell and react with metal. It may even explode during the process of being discharged." Armstrong said.
"Is this problem difficult to solve? The reaction between picric acid and metal will be extremely unstable, so why not just let it not come into contact with the metal? How could something as simple as coating the inside of the shell with a thick layer of paraffin make the British
Are the engineers at their wits' end?" Yang Feng said in a funny voice. It must be said that the Japanese are smart and can even think of such a method. You must know that Europe is still playing with nitrocellulose, and only France is still worried about using picric acid.
Old Armstrong and Sir Richard were stunned for a moment, and then looked at each other with a wry smile. This was really funny. What a simple solution. It was so simple that to be honest, Yang Feng's words alone were worth five thousand cannonballs.
Since there was nothing to bargain with, Young Power Systems reached a patent licensing agreement with Armstrong Shipyard. Of course, this exclusive license was only valid in the United Kingdom, and other countries had nothing to do with them.
However, Yang Feng also added a condition: British diesel warships were prohibited from being sold to other countries. Old Armstrong readily agreed to this. Not to mention Yang Feng, even the British Admiralty would not allow him to export.
Sir Richard also wanted to buy Yang Feng and not sell diesel engines to other countries for ten years, but he was scared away by Yang Feng's asking price of one million pounds a year. In fact, through the Viper-class destroyer, Britain has already gained ground in diesel power.
If we lose the leading position, other countries will have to delay it for a year and a half even if they want to do it. In this way, the advantage will be further expanded, and there is no need to spend more money.
"Yang, there is one more thing. Are you interested in selling your new torpedo?" He then said, Bofors Company's latest steam gas torpedo has been widely publicized in newspapers, and it is impossible for the British Navy not to keep an eye on it.
.
"Of course you can, but the price is higher, 10,000 pounds a piece." Yang Feng said.
Sir Richard gasped.
"Can it be authorized to be manufactured?" Old Armstrong asked calmly. The steam gas torpedo had a great impact on him, because he was the boss behind White's white-head torpedo.
"Okay, half a million pounds." Yang Feng said without changing his expression.
At this moment, even old Armstrong couldn't help but gasp.
"You two, don't think I'm a lion. There is one on the Nautilus. Let's go out and test-fire it, and you will know whether this thing is worth the price." Yang Feng said lightly.
So what are you waiting for? Anyway, on the Nautilus now, use a nearby British cruiser on guard for the destroyer's trial as a target, take an uncharged training mine, first let the cruiser run at high speed, and then the Nautilus will act as a target.
The torpedo boat attacked. When the training torpedo accurately hit the cruiser three kilometers away and sailing at a high speed of nearly 20 knots, Richard and others were stunned.
Their white-headed torpedoes can be thrown directly into the trash can. Now it is no longer a question of whether to buy them or not, but that they must be bought. As a result, the British Navy ordered fifty at a time, and the Armstrong Company also purchased them for half a million pounds.
Received exclusive license to manufacture steam gas torpedoes in the UK.
One and a half million pounds bought the future of naval warfare. Anyway, His Excellency the First Sea Lord felt that it was a very good deal. Of course, what he didn't know was that in the future, he would hide under the quilt and curse the person who deceived him with tears in his eyes.
of the guy.
Whether it is a steam gas torpedo or a large marine diesel engine, it is simply not possible to manufacture it with current technology. Although they have achieved manufacturing in the UK, it actually makes no sense to leave the core components provided by Yang Feng. This is just like those of later generations.
Just as multinational groups control China, they allow you to achieve local manufacturing, but unfortunately the core components are firmly in their own hands.
In this way, the British Navy was actually firmly tied to Yang Feng.
After solving this problem, Boss Yang was in a very happy mood. As an arms dealer, what could be more fulfilling than controlling the navy of an empire? In addition, there were five thousand rounds of picric 152 artillery shells.
He was going to give these things to Li Erjiai. Now the twenty rapid-fire cannons have all been installed on the warships of the Beiyang Navy. However, the shells are still made of nitrocellulose. If there are more of these picric and sour ones, if the Beiyang water cannons on the Yellow Sea
If the division can no longer destroy half of Japan's warships, then it is simply unreasonable.
In addition to the 152, more than 600 305 were also made in Bofors. They were also filled with picric acid. With such a huge caliber, not to mention rubbish like the Sankei ship, it was just a matter of whether Yoshino could bear such a bomb.
It's hard to say whether it's a shell, but something like the Saikyo Maru will definitely kill you instantly with one shot.