The expansion of the navy is different from the expansion of the army. After the army has completed recruitment, training, and establishment, it can form an infantry division from scratch. As long as the funds are in place, the personnel can be in place in basically three months, and the soldiers still go through
Initial recruit training.
After replacing the weapons and equipment, the troops will undergo some specialized tactical training and cooperation, and they will be able to carry out missions in about four or five months. Although the combat effectiveness is a bit lacking, they are basically usable.
Even in an emergency, as long as the recruits have completed three months of training, they can be directly taken out to fight. Although this does not have much combat effectiveness, it is better than the young refugees anyway, and they are able to perform tasks.
In the process, after being baptized by blood and fire, those soldiers who survived could quickly grow into veterans.
After such a force of pure recruits performs combat missions for a few months, or directly fights several major battles, this force will basically become an old force with combat experience.
Therefore, with the current army system of the Tang Dynasty, rapid expansion is actually very fast. What limits the large-scale and rapid expansion of the army is mainly military expenditure and ordnance production.
But for the navy, it is different!
Because the fleet needs to be expanded and new battleships are needed, and the construction cycle of battleships is calculated in years.
Today in the Tang Dynasty, it takes about a year to build a frigate, about a year and a half to build a cruiser, and it is not known how long it will take to build a battleship, but according to Dingsheng Shipyard and Guangzhou Shipyard
It is estimated that it will take them at least three years to complete the construction of the hull.
After the hull of the battleship is built, it will take at least several months of outfitting, including internal decoration, installation of naval guns, sails, etc.
The shipyard estimates that a third-class battleship will take at least three and a half years from laying the keel to completing all the construction and being delivered to the navy. And if something unexpected happens, this time is likely to be shortened.
to more than four years!
After the warship is delivered to the Navy, don't think that it can go out to fight directly. It still needs to undergo various sea trials and training!
According to the current standards of the Tang Navy, after a cruiser is delivered to the navy, the navy needs to organize officers and sailors to accept it, and then conduct sea trials and training before it can form combat effectiveness. This process will take at least two or three months.
In other words, even if there are sufficient funds, shipyards, a reserve of officers and sailors, and everything goes perfectly, it will take at least four years for a third-class battleship to start construction and then develop combat effectiveness!
If you only think of expanding the fleet when the war breaks out, then it is very likely that the war is over and the main battleship has not been built yet!
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the expansion of the navy is to build and maintain the size of the fleet during peacetime. When the war breaks out, although warships will be built urgently, most of the ones that can be successfully completed and put into service during the war are short-term auxiliary ships.
Battleship.
Unless the war is delayed for more than a few years, there is basically no hope that the main battleships built when the war broke out will be completed and put into service during the war.
The Tang Navy estimated that the Holy Emperor might launch a war against the Portuguese within three to five years in order to seize Malacca, seize most of the profits from European trade, and control Southeast Asia.
In this case, it is possible for the Tang Navy to start construction of a new warship immediately. If construction starts immediately, there is hope that it will be in service in four years. If it takes longer, then it is very likely that it will have to rely on
Two battleships supported the scene.
Not only the expansion of battleships, cruisers and frigates, the navy is also considering it, but the construction period of cruisers and frigates is shorter, so the time is not so urgent.
Of course, the more important thing is that the navy's military expenditures are also limited now. It is not easy to squeeze out the funds to start building three battleships immediately. If you want to start building a large number of cruisers and frigates, funds are a little tight.
They plan to formally confirm the construction of cruisers and frigates after securing military spending. The specific number of construction will also be determined based on the amount of naval military spending in the following years.
After all, it's not how much money the navy wants to build. They can only decide how many warships to build based on the amount of military spending.
A cruiser costs just over 100,000 taels, and after the warship is completed and put into service, the annual maintenance costs are not a small amount.
The navy's maintenance costs are no less than those of the army, and they are even more expensive.
The Navy first placed an order for three battleships before submitting the final fleet expansion plan to Li Xuan!
The fleet expansion plan sent to Li Xuan this time is a formal plan. Every aspect is described in great detail. It contains more than just the construction of main battleships. In fact, the construction of battleships is only a part of it.
Content, others include port construction, the construction of a large number of auxiliary military ships, the establishment of warship repair plants at military ports, and investment in research into various new technologies.
This plan is generally based on what Li Xuan said at the naval strategy meeting to supplement, improve and make it more specific.
Li Xuan skimmed over a lot of descriptive content and looked directly at the data. This was also his habit of reading many official documents. He would not read many long and messy articles. He usually looked directly at the data.
This habit also made Tang Dynasty officials forced to list various data when writing official documents. Moreover, Li Xuan was a serious person. If you use vague words such as appointment, promise, and probably, etc.
If the number is accurate, Li Xuan will directly make a big cross on the number with vermilion and send it back to let them rewrite it.
Once, when a certain magistrate was describing the local financial situation during an interview, he said that the annual tax revenue was about 378,000 yuan. Li Xuan interrupted him on the spot and asked whether it was 370,000 yuan or 380,000 yuan.
?Or are both numbers inaccurate?
As a result, the prefect couldn't answer the question at all, because he didn't know it himself. As a result, the unlucky guy was sent to a remote place.
Therefore, officials of the Tang Dynasty often list detailed data in various official documents.
Li Xuan directly looked at the various data of this fleet expansion plan!
Three new 1,400-ton improved third-class battleships will be built. One will be started at the end of this year, and two will be started next year. The total cost of the hull, guns, sails, etc. will be 260,000 taels of silver per ship.
Eight new 800-ton cruisers will be built in batches. One will be started directly in the remaining three months of this year, three will be started next year, three will be started the year after that, and construction will start the year after that. Each ship will cost 12
Thousands of silver!
Sixteen new 400-ton improved frigates will be built. Four will be built by the end of the year, six next year, and five the year after that. Each ship will cost 65,000 taels of silver.
Twenty new 180-ton improved offshore patrol ships will be built. Five will be built by the end of the year and twenty next year. Each ship will cost 28,000 taels of silver.
Li Xuan noticed that these ship types are either completely new designs or improved designs. At the same time, cruisers and frigates have also been cancelled. The previous classification of first class, second class and third class has been cancelled, leaving only battleships with first class, second class and third class.
Etc.
Moreover, Li Xuan also noticed that there were no third-class cruisers of the past, that is, 500-ton cruisers.
So he turned directly to the page where the specific ship type was written. The 1,400-ton third-class battleship was basically an improvement on the current 1,350-ton third-class battleship, with some modifications to the original design.
A small flaw was that the specific artillery configuration was changed, resulting in an increase of 50 tons in tonnage. In other aspects, the difference was not big, and the price was reduced a lot. However, he remembered that the cost of the first battleship reached 300,000.
, and the Navy said it was not enough.
The second ship is also expected to cost 280,000 taels.
Now, it has become 260,000 taels of silver per ship. With the advancement of technology, research and development, and the initial investment costs are amortized, the price is getting cheaper and cheaper.
This improved third-class battleship looks pretty good and acceptable.
There is no first-class, second-class, or third-class cruiser here, but it is directly called a cruiser. In the design plan, the tactical positioning of this 800-ton cruiser is: to serve as the vanguard of the battleship fleet, a reconnaissance ship, and a reconnaissance ship.
Mobile troops cooperate with battleships in line decisive battles, and directly participate in line artillery when necessary!
In addition, on the secondary front, when there are no battleships, it serves as the main force of the fleet to participate in the decisive battle!
To put it bluntly, this kind of cruiser has two positions: the first is to operate together with the battleships and is used as a mobile force, while the second is to be used as the main force on the secondary front.
It is different from the previous third-class cruisers conducting ocean cruising and protecting routes!
According to the Navy, in the future, the tasks of ocean cruising and route protection will be carried out by frigates, and the new frigates have been expanded in tonnage and strengthened armaments to make them capable of ocean cruising and escort tasks. At the same time,
In the future, the existing 550-ton cruisers will also recognize this combat mission and be used as the flagship of the escort fleet.
The 180-ton patrol ship is an upgraded version of the previous 150-ton patrol ship. The patrol ship can be said to be a great success in the Tang Dynasty because it has a certain combat effectiveness and
It has a shallow draft and can operate along the coast and in relatively large rivers. It is also cheap enough to be built in large quantities and widely used for patrols along the coast and even inland river patrols.
Now the Navy has an upgraded version and is planning to continue to build a large number of these patrol ships. They are cheap enough anyway, and it won’t cost much to build dozens more!
From the tactical positioning of the above-mentioned new warships, we can basically see the Datang Navy’s strategy for the next three to five years. They will build an ocean-going main fleet specifically for fleet decisive battles. They will also build
A large number of escort fleets dispersed in various sea areas for patrol and escort.
As for the patrol fleet, there is nothing to say. It is only responsible for offshore defense. It usually checks for smuggling, checks passing merchant ships, and protects waterways and ports. It is not their task to go to sea to fight the enemy's main fleet.