I want to be emperor

Chapter 956 Bombardment of Constantinople

So, on May 42, Chengshun 25, on the sea outside the city of Constantinople, which had been calm for hundreds of years, a large-scale steel fleet, emitting light white smoke and without sails, appeared .

When this fleet appeared outside Constantinople, it instantly aroused panic and curiosity among the Ottomans in the city!

The panic was naturally because they were at war with the Chu people, and the Chu people also passed through the Dardanelles Strait and entered the Sea of ​​Marmara. Their fleet arrived outside Constantinople and gave the city poses a real threat.

Faced with this situation, the Ottoman dignitaries in the city were all frightened, fearing that artillery shells would fall on their heads at the next moment.

And curious?
Naturally, this is because almost all the Ottomans in the city, including most of the Ottoman dignitaries, have never actually seen the steel steam battleships of the Da Chu Empire with their own eyes!
Although they had some knowledge of the Chu people's steel battleships through text messages and even hand-drawn albums, they had never seen them with their own eyes.

This is still talking about those high-ranking officials, not to mention ordinary people. They have been in and around this city all their lives. They have never been to distant coastal ports, let alone seen these steel battleships with their own eyes.

Now that I have the opportunity to see it with my own eyes, how can I not be curious.

Soon, on the city wall on the side of Constantinople facing the Sea of ​​Marmara, a large number of Ottomans appeared to watch the Chu fleet on the sea.

In addition to the Ottoman dignitaries, especially military generals, who came to observe the situation, there were also a large number of civilians. Then the crowd continued to express various exclamations, even confusion and even panic.

Especially the cruiser Changzhou with a full load displacement of 90 tons, a warship length of more than 12 meters, a width of [-] meters, a huge hull, a slender body, and a huge and towering chimney in the middle of the hull, it is a classic The yellow, white and black paint gives the ship a very strong visual impact.

The Ottomans who were thousands of meters away were stunned... This battleship was too big!

With a displacement of three thousand tons and a hull of more than 90 meters long, this is undoubtedly a giant for the Ottomans!
In contemporary Europe, including the sail battleships used by the Ottomans, the main battleships are basically more than 1000 tons.

They couldn't even imagine a three-thousand-ton giant ship, let alone one built of steel and powered by steam engines.

Of course, it is not that there are some Ottomans who are more knowledgeable and have even seen the larger Chu warships with their own eyes. These people even know very well that the seemingly huge warships in front of them are just ordinary among the Chu people. Medium battleship.

In Cadiz, the main naval base of the Chu Navy in Europe, there is a larger warship that reaches [-] tons all year round.

However, in fact, even these well-informed Ottomans only have a partial understanding of the Chu Empire's navy.

The large battleship they saw in Cadiz was actually a Yingtian-class battleship that had been in service for many years in the Da Chu Empire Navy. It had a full load of about [-] tons. It was initially equipped with front-loading rifled guns, and later in the mid-term. During the overhaul period, the breech-mounted rifled gun was upgraded and replaced.

A total of six ships of this class were built. Because their ocean seaworthiness is also good, warships of this class are basically dispatched to overseas areas for duty. One ship is maintained in Europe for garrison all year round. When serving as the European fleet, it can be regarded as a large ship. The most powerful warship sent by the Chu Empire to fight overseas.

In addition, dispatched to overseas operations were one Hantian-class battleship that had been modified with rear-mounted rifled guns and a full load of more than 5000 tons, and eight Suzhou-class battleships that had not been modified and still used front-loaded rifled guns and had a full load of more than 4000 tons.

The above-mentioned fifteen battleships were rotated by the Chu Empire Navy to perform tasks in various overseas waters. They were basically used as flagships of overseas fleets. They were basically the largest tonnage Chu Navy battleships that the natives of various countries could see.

However, in the home waters, there are larger and more advanced Jinling-class battleships. This thing is fully loaded with more than 500 tons. It is equipped with four 250mm naval guns, ten 150mm naval guns, and eight 120mm naval guns. A total of four cannons were built and put into service. They are the most powerful main battleships of the contemporary Chu Empire Navy.

In addition, there is a Jinan-class battleship with a full load of more than 9000 tons. Although this thing was built earlier, it used front-loading rifled guns when it was built. However, it was upgraded and converted to a rear-loading rifled gun soon, and its combat effectiveness is also very powerful.

In addition to the above five 35-ton battleships, because 7000-ton battleships are too expensive, the Navy has been working on so-called low-cost battleships. The first battleship in this plan is the Taiyuan-class battleship launched in Chengshun in [-], with a full load of [-] With multiple tons, the price can be considered relatively cheap, and a total of six ships were built.

On this basis, the Dachu Imperial Navy has recently developed a new generation of low-cost battleships, namely the South Africa-class battleship with a full load displacement of 150 tons. The first ship, the South Africa, is being outfitted and is expected to be put into active service this fall. The navy purchase price is [-] million Chu yuan.

Only the losers in the Navy dare to call the South Africa-class battleship with a purchase price of 150 million yuan as a low-cost battleship.

However, the navy really feels that this thing is cheap... because they have also tried to design a new generation of Jinling-class battleships before... and with the advancement of shipbuilding technology, the tonnage of this warship can also be built larger. It is possible to get [-] to [-] tons.

This armor can also use better ones. After all, domestic steel companies are constantly developing and updating, and they have come up with steel that is suitable for armor (steel plate and wrought iron composite). The protection of this new armor is definitely better.

At the same time, the latest reciprocating steam engines can be used in the power system. Even if it is pushing a [-]-ton warship, it can still reach a high speed of [-] knots.

The hull, armor, and power have all been upgraded, and the firepower cannot be reduced. The latest 35 mm [-]-caliber naval gun developed by Jiangnan Weapon Company has excellent performance. His Majesty Luo Zhixue praised it after watching the test firing.

With such a lot of new things used, the new warships built will naturally have excellent performance and dominate the world.

Of course, with the use of so many new technologies and such high performance indicators, the price is naturally top-notch. It is estimated within the Navy that if this kind of warship is built, even if multiple orders are placed to dilute the cost, the single cost will be reduced. The ship costs at least 320 million... Don't be too expensive for this. This means that everything goes smoothly, there are no accidents in the technical research, and the construction progress is on time.

But there are many uncontrollable factors involved in building such an advanced battleship. If the technical research is delayed, the construction progress is slower, and all kinds of messy things happen, it is not impossible to give you another 60 to 380 yuan. , so in the end the price of this kind of warship may reach an astonishing 400 million or even exceed the [-] million mark!

Several admirals at the top of the navy took the shipbuilding plan handed over to them. They were excited and excited after seeing the performance, but they all fell silent after seeing the quotation. Even the navy could not afford such an expensive one. What a big toy!

However, the Navy still has not stopped its so-called next-generation new battleship plan, and is still revising and revising the drawings. It wants to wait ten or eight years to build such advanced battleships after the technical costs are reduced.

Compared with the 8000-ton big toy that the navy's top brass wanted, this South Africa-class battleship, with a full load of just over [-] tons, is a low-cost battleship and a desperate substitute.

However, even if it is a low-cost battleship, the South Africa-class battleship is actually a new generation of battleship with very powerful combat effectiveness and uses various new technologies.

The power system uses a new generation triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine from the Naval United Steam Engine Factory. The maximum speed can reach [-] knots and the endurance can reach [-] nautical miles at a speed of [-] knots.

武器系统采用前后各一，两座双联装的新型40年式两百毫米L35舰炮，十门单装42年式150毫米L35舰炮，八门单装39年式120毫米L35舰炮……主打的就是一个舰炮数量众多，火力强大。

The hull design continues the main frame design of the Taiyuan-class battleship. The overall shape is relatively slender, with a relatively large aspect ratio. It can achieve considerable speed with a relatively small power system. Although the slender hull also increases the protection area, The use of a new type of steel-faced iron armor reduces the thickness of the armor, effectively reducing the armor weight per unit area, and can also control the armor weight as a whole so as not to exceed the standard.

Although the protection area has been increased and the armor thickness has been reduced, the protection capability has not been reduced, because the new steel-faced armor only needs 20.00 mm of thickness to achieve the protection capability of the early [-] mm wrought iron armor. It is equivalent to saving [-]% of armor weight compared to old battleships to achieve the same protection effect.

At the same time, the armor thickness of the South Africa-class battleships is actually not enough from the perspective of later generations. The thickest part of the waterline steel-faced iron armor used is only 150 mm, and the armor belt in non-important areas is only 120 mm. At the same time, the armor thickness of the turret and command tower is It is between 150 mm and [-] mm.

The 150mm steel armor is approximately equal to the thickness of 180mm wrought iron armor...

Don't think it's low, in fact this is already a design that exceeds the standard.

With the protection capability of the South Africa-class battleship, even if it is directly hit in the face by the indigenous front-loading smoothbore cannon with poor performance, it is unlikely to be penetrated.

Because in a series of tests within the Chu Army, the 25-year-old 200mm L14 front-loading smoothbore gun equipped on the early large-tonnage battleships of the Chu Army was used to fire solid shells at a distance of 500 meters before it could barely penetrate a [-]mm thick cooked shell. Iron armor...

In actual combat, the main warships of the Chu Empire would not give the indigenous sail warships a chance to approach the 500-meter sail distance.

What's more, the [-]mm smoothbore naval gun tested was the main naval gun previously equipped and used by the Chu army, and the contemporary indigenous countries do not have such or similar large-scale weapons...

They are not capable of R&D and manufacturing, and the Dachu Empire does not export this kind of killer weapon in the era of front-loaded smoothbore cannons!
In fact, the most powerful artillery available to the indigenous navies or shore defense firepower of various countries are the various 150mm long-barrel front-loading smoothbore guns exported by the Chu Empire.

Among them, the 150mm export smoothbore gun with the best performance was powerless against 500mm thick wrought iron armor at a distance of [-] meters during testing.

Even at a closer distance of 300 meters, it cannot cause effective breakdown!

This is still talking about 150 mm wrought iron armor, not even the thicker [-] mm or even [-] mm wrought iron armor... There is no need to say it, because the natives are simply not able to penetrate this thick armor. of artillery.

In view of the fact that the firepower of potential indigenous enemies is not very good, except for the extremely special offshore battleships, the armor protection capabilities of the battleships of the Chu Empire are actually inferior to those of the naval battleships of various countries in the mid-to-late [-]th century in the original time and space. Not great.

The navies of various countries in the mid-to-late [-]th century were their enemies against the navies of other countries at the same time. They faced various large-caliber rifled artillery, so they needed very thick armor. In the era of wrought iron armor, the thickness was often three to four hundred millimeters or even thicker.

However, the Chu Empire Navy does not pose such a big threat. Therefore, the main battleships of the Chu Navy have armor thickness of only 200 meters of wrought iron, with the basic standard of protecting 25-year-old 200mm L14 front-loading smoothbore gun solid shells. ...To be honest, compared to the firepower of warships of various navies in the late [-]th century, this armor thickness is no different from none.

However, different environments and different enemies create different strategic and tactical needs.

Different strategic and tactical needs create different weapon designs.

That's why there is such a large number of warships in the Chu Empire that appear to be thin-skinned and large-stuffed. However, these thin-skinned and large-stuffed Chu warships still leave the natives helpless.

Because they don’t even have a 150mm long barrel front-loading smoothbore gun... not even many countries can make the smaller [-]mm long barrel naval gun!
It is not a problem for them to simply build a 150 mm caliber naval gun, but the problem is that the performance is not very good, and the performance is far inferior to the 150 mm long barrel naval gun or coastal defense gun exported by the Chu people.

If the artillery is not good, it naturally lacks the ability to attack the Chu warships. As a result, when the Chu people design and build warships, the armor thickness is generally not very good.

Of course, this is not a good situation. It is viewed from God’s perspective and based on the standards of the mid-to-late [-]th century in the original time and space.

If you are a native of the Chu country, then you will not think there is anything wrong with the thickness of this armor. On the contrary, you will feel that the thickness of this armor is enough, and even the protective performance has a huge overflow.

The armor thickness of the South Africa-class battleship is seriously overflowing for the firepower of the indigenous peoples of various countries.

But are South Africa-class battleships really powerful?It's not that... the Dachu Empire itself has a lot of weapons that can pose an effective threat to such warships.

For example, the 25-barrel 170mm front-mounted rifled gun equipped on the early Suzhou-class battleships of the Chu Army can penetrate about 1000mm of wrought iron armor within [-] meters.

Before the modification of the Yingtian-class battleship, the 22-barrel 1000-mm front-loading rifled gun used was able to penetrate 250 mm of wrought iron armor within [-] meters.

This is still talking about the early front-loading rifled guns. As for the breech-loading rifled guns currently used by the Da Chu Empire Navy, they are more powerful.

The 34-year-old 250mm L22 breech-mounted rifled gun used on the Jinling-class battleship can effectively penetrate 1000mm of wrought iron armor within [-] meters.

Only the Ryukyu-class offshore battleships of the Guards Fleet can withstand such powerful firepower... Although the Ryukyu-class offshore battleships only have a full-load displacement of more than 6000 tons, their armor is very thick, and they are fully protected. Battleship with turret.

Its waterline armor and turret armor are all 350mm wrought iron armor. If you stand and let your navy's battleship hit it, your navy's battleship will not be able to penetrate it. The main thing is a turtle shell.

Of course, in order to ensure thick armor and powerful firepower, this thing has basically no speed, extremely poor seaworthiness, and at the same time, the living space and the space for carrying coal and fresh water are also very small. This kind of offshore battleship can only operate in the near sea. , the kind that can capsize the boat accidentally if you go out into the ocean.

Therefore, the natives of various countries may still see [-]-ton giant ships like Jinling-class battleships in the future, because Jinling-class battleships may also be sent to serve overseas in the future.

But the Jinling-class offshore battleships are not expected to be seen by the natives of various countries, because this thing will not be stationed overseas at all... They are specially designed for defensive operations in the narrow area of ​​​​the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and offshore waters. The combat targets have never been They are not natives of various countries, but the army and navy of the Chu Empire.

The major military branches fight among themselves to defend each other, which is also a major feature of the Chu Empire's military community.

The various advanced large-tonnage battleships of the Chu Empire are basically invisible to the indigenous people of various countries, and they are rarely encountered in daily armed conflicts, because compared with the sparse number of battleships, the battleships used by the navy of the Chu Empire on a daily basis are basically Are various cruisers and frigates as well as offshore patrol ships, river gunboats.

This time the fight against the Ottomans was no exception. Only one cruiser, two frigates, several offshore patrol ships, and several inland river gunboats came.

After all, there are only two battleships in the European fleet. One of them is still undergoing maintenance in the port of South Africa, and the other one is currently performing cruise deterrence missions in the English Channel and the Baltic Sea.

Of course, the most important thing is that the Chu people did not intend to fight against the Ottomans. They positioned it as an armed conflict and would stop when the goal was achieved.

As a result, all the Ottomans in Constantinople can see now is a small fleet led by the cruiser Changzhou.

However, even this small fleet still gave the Ottomans, especially their dignitaries, a great shock.

And after the Ottomans once again rejected the Chu people's proposal to open the market, abandon the northern coast of the Black Sea, and open up the Black Sea Strait, the Mediterranean Fleet also made these Ottoman dignitaries truly know what the horror of modern warships is!
The Changzhou used its 150mm naval gun, and at a distance of about 2000 meters from the coast, guided by the firing of the ship-borne hot air balloon, it began a long-range bombardment of Constantinople.

Then the two frigates and the river gunboat also began to join the bombardment.

This bombardment used 150 mm naval guns, 120 mm naval guns, 75 mm main guns and [-] mm caliber secondary guns, targeting military targets in Constantinople and even deeper targets beyond, including Ottoman Human palaces, military camps, warehouses and other targets were covered with shelling.

Its maximum shelling distance reached an astonishing 8000 meters.

The fifty-kilogram high-explosive grenade it fires is very powerful. One shell can almost destroy a large building. Those military camps, warehouses, palaces, etc., if they are bombarded by such a shell, they will basically be destroyed. It was the result of being blown into rubble.

This bombardment lasted only three hours, but it caused heavy losses to Constantinople and brought great panic to the Ottomans, mainly their senior dignitaries.

During the three-hour bombardment, most of Constantinople's coastal defense forts were completely destroyed, and many military targets in the city were also destroyed. Even the palace was hit by more than a dozen shells, and two The palace was completely reduced to rubble, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many members of the Ottoman royal family.

This shelling made these Ottoman dignitaries, especially the royal family, know that war and death were so close.

So, while they were fleeing in panic, they sent people to seek peace from the Chu people!
beat?
How to fight this?Even two buildings in the royal palace were destroyed, and Constantinople was under the absolute firepower of the Chu fleet.

More importantly, the Ottomans, like all indigenous countries, could not come up with effective weapons or other tactics to fight against the Chu people.

Not to mention anything else, just a Mediterranean fleet is enough to blind the Ottomans... and that's not even mentioning the Chu people's ground troops.

This time the Chu people landed on the Ottoman ground combat troops, which totaled tens of thousands of people.

Previously, the Ottomans mobilized tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Dardanelles Strait to resist, but nothing happened... If they wanted to resist the attack of the Chu Empire's ground troops, they would have to mobilize another hundred thousand elites at least. Only if the troops come.

Just like this, it may not be possible to hold on.

At least judging from the previous experience of the Spanish and French, there is a high probability that it cannot be stopped.

The Chu army is really aggressive. With just these [-] troops, it can sweep across the entire Ottoman Empire... Well, the premise is that there are no restrictions on the logistics supply.

In addition, the Chu army does not only have the Mediterranean fleet and the tens of thousands of troops landed on both sides of the Dardanelles Strait. In Europe, there are three divisions of the regular army alone, six divisions of various servant armies, and three servant divisions are training. among.

The army strength in this European region has reached more than 10.

At the same time, in the Eastern Europe region on the north coast of the Black Sea, the Chu people also deployed the elite No. 18 Division of the Great Chu Empire Army to fight. If necessary, the Chu Army in Central Asia can deploy several more divisions into Eastern Europe at any time. regional operations.

Facing such a powerful Chu Empire, the Ottomans had no chance of winning from the beginning. It was just that they had some unrealistic illusions before.

As the illusion was shattered, these Ottomans, mainly the Ottoman nobles, had to give in and choose peace in order to maintain the state and for the sake of prosperity and wealth.

That is to say, they sued for peace early, three hours after the Chu army bombarded Constantinople.

If it were delayed for two or three days, the historical city of Constantinople would be completely in ruins. Just like the previous historical city of Troy-Canakkale, not many complete buildings would be left after the war. .

The Chu people were fighting overseas, and in order to avoid casualties in subsequent street fighting in the city, they especially liked to do this kind of thing, bombarding the whole city.

Not to mention, the effect is pretty good!
The natives who have been beaten have to raise a white flag and say: You are so cruel, I surrender!

(End of this chapter)