I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 364 Too advanced, dare not try

Many overseas Chinese these days are deceived into going overseas, not voluntarily at all.

This is the case for many Chinese in the mines and plantations on Wen Island. They have no salary, have to wait to die when they get sick, and are beaten or even killed if they fail to complete their work tasks. Their status is similar to that of slaves.

This situation was very common during the Dutch rule. Many Dutch were slave traders themselves, defrauding people from the Qing Empire or India and reselling them to plantations and mines in East India.

Amur also used some irregular means to immigrate from the Qing Empire. Jin Yongjun and Jiang Guoxian were deceived into arriving in Amur.

So when they learned about the situation of the Chinese in East India, Jin Yongjun and Jiang Guoxian were greatly shocked.

"At least in the short term, human trade cannot be banned."

Marco was not opposed to human trade. After all, the East India Company also needed workers.

Compared with Amur, the special thing about Southeast Asia is that there is no shortage of food all year round, so Southeast Asians do not need to work unless force is used.

The living conditions of the indigenous people of East India are very primitive. They are still in the collecting stage. They have not transitioned to the industrial age at all, and they have no desire to improve their lives.

At the end of September, Amur was already covered in ice and snow, and the Trans-Siberian Railway was forced to stop work as usual.

With this consensus, the development of Wen Island has quickly entered the fast lane.

Alexeyev is not happy. Three of the four additional 1.5-ton battleships purchased by Japan have already laid their keels.

Compared with Amur, East India is indeed a better place.

The Trans-Siberian Railway in another time and space was not opened to traffic until 1904, and George advanced the time by three years.

The East Indians have not made any contribution to Amur and are not eligible to enjoy the fruits of Amur's development.

Even so, the Trans-Siberian Railway could be opened to traffic by 1901 at the latest.

Marco is not a virgin, and the children of Amur can enjoy systematic education, which is what their parents have worked hard for.

In previous years, road construction workers would temporarily disband during the winter and return to their places of origin.

However, the Navy Ministry has determined that all three "Petropavlovsk" class battleships that will be commissioned next year will be equipped with the Siberian Fleet.

Japan has also ordered six 6-ton heavy cruisers, and construction of these cruisers has begun.

After graduating from Amul, students must also work hard to repay Amul.

The railway in St. Petersburg has only been built to the Yenisey River, and it is still far away from Lake Baiga.

This year Amul sent workers to East India to participate in the construction of East India.

"There are still many people in St. Petersburg who have no security of life."

If the East India Company wanted to change East India, it had to find a way to turn the natives of East India into East Indian citizens.

Jin Yongjun is not opposed to human trade. The first pot of gold is bloody.

In order to ensure that the three battleships arrived in the Far East on time, Alexeyev led a team to St. Petersburg early this August to receive the warships, without giving the Black Sea Fleet and Baltic Fleet a chance to interfere.

George was very happy that the Amur side finally built the Trans-Siberian Railway to Lake Baiga.

"But we can at least provide them with the most basic living security."

So far, the Siberian fleet only has one 10,000-ton heavy cruiser.

Bai Laoyi's third "full heavy artillery battleship" design drawing was finally approved by George.

新版战列舰采用8门海参崴兵工厂新研发的330口径35倍径主炮，除此之外只有26门用来防备小型鱼雷艇的75毫米火炮。

Compared with the second design, the total armor weight of the new version is as high as 5000 tons, and the armor thickness of the ship's side waterline and turret front, as well as the ammunition depot and command tower have been greatly strengthened.

In terms of power, Bai Yi uses four Parsons steam turbine units with a maximum power of 4 horsepower. This allows this battleship with a displacement of up to 25000 tons to reach a maximum speed of 1.8 knots faster than a cruiser.

The cruiser Japan ordered from Britain has a maximum speed of only 21 knots.

In terms of performance, the overall performance of this battleship is the strongest on the planet.

At the same time, the construction cost also soared from 650 million rubles in "Petropavlovsk" to 1300 million rubles.

The design cost of "Petropavlovsk" was 650 million, but the Imperial Navy Ministry paid more than 3000 million rubles for the three "Petropavlovsk" class battleships.

George fulfilled his promise and rewarded the design team headed by Bai Laoyi with 10 rubles.

The design plans were immediately sent to the Imperial Admiralty.

What George didn't expect was that the design would cause far more controversy in the Admiralty than George imagined.

As an epoch-making battleship, as long as the "full heavy artillery battleship" appears, it indicates that all battleships from various countries will fall behind.

The Russian Empire has as many as 17 battleships in service and under construction.

If the construction of the "full heavy artillery battleship" starts, then all 17 battleships of the Russian Empire will be on the verge of being eliminated.

And the most critical thing is that the shipyards along the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea do not have slipways capable of building "fully heavy artillery battleships". This is the most terrible thing.

The Vladivostok Shipyard expanded its slipways last year, two of which can build "fully heavy artillery battleships."

So what does this mean?
This shows that Grand Duke Yuriev is using the new battleship to benefit the Vladivostok Shipyard. But there is one thing to say, the performance of the "full heavy artillery battleship" really makes the Imperial Navy salivate.

After Alexeyev saw the performance indicators of the "full heavy artillery battleship", he immediately expressed his hope that the empire's next big naval plan would upgrade all battleships to "full heavy artillery battleships."

In response to the threat from the Japanese navy, the "Great Navy Plan" will build eight 8-ton battleships.

Since the empire only has 5 slipways that can build battleships of this level, it can only start construction on 5 ships at the same time, and they are still started one after another.

Since the cost of the "Full Heavy Artillery Battleship" is higher than the "Great Navy Plan", to build new battleships, the Navy needs to continue to issue national debt.

George still overestimated Nikolai and Alexei's determination to develop the navy.

A month later, news came from St. Petersburg that the Imperial Navy decided to continue implementing the "Great Navy Plan" and was not planning to build a "fully heavy artillery battleship."

George really couldn't figure it out.

Cost is not a reason. The cost of the 1.3-ton battleship to be built in the "Great Navy Plan" is also as high as 1100 million rubles.

With only 200 million rubles, you can upgrade a battleship that is destined to be eliminated into a battleship that will not fall behind in the next 20 years. Why not build it?
The slipway is not a problem either.

The Vladivostok shipyard can build new slipways, as can the shipyards on the Baltic and Black Sea coasts.

The empire, which has always been proud of its vast territory, doesn't have room to build a new slipway at this time?

"When Your Majesty and I reformed the Army, we faced almost the same problem——"

Milyutin can understand.

"The artillery at that time was not what it is now. It could easily be several hundred millimeters. The maximum caliber of the army's artillery was only 86 millimeters. The heavier artillery could not be pulled by horses, and the roads could not bear it——"

Milyutin was lamenting that every step forward for the Russian Empire was extremely difficult.

"At that time, we could not build all-steel artillery. All-steel artillery had to be imported, and we could only make bronze cannons ourselves."

George also served in the Guards and knew this history.

"I once wanted to introduce advanced technology and produce all-steel artillery, but I encountered collective opposition from the military and the three major corporations. There were too many interests involved."

George also sells arms now, and he knows how fishy it is.

In an era when borrowing between countries is discounted, military procurement will only become more profitable.

"It doesn't matter. The Admiralty won't make it. I'll make it myself."

George is not afraid of spending money.

"It's outrageous enough that the river fleet has cruisers. What do you want battleships for?"

Milyutin couldn't figure it out either.

George has always been a staunch land activist.

You are a cavalry lieutenant general, why are you so interested in warships?
If you just maintain the waterway, you don't need battleships, cruisers will be enough.

"I only need to build one all-heavy artillery battleship, and the Japanese and British have to build at least two."

George's goals were always clear.

"The Vladivostok Shipyard has never built a warship exceeding 1.8 tons. The first one was tons. What if the design drawings are defective? Then wouldn't the investment be in vain?"

Milyutin disapproved of George building it himself.

Warship design is a complex task. The designers of Bai Yi and Vladivostok had only experience in designing cruisers before, but now they have 1.8 tons. We cannot blame the Navy for being complacent.

The largest warship in the Russian Empire currently has a displacement of only 1.3 tons.

Although the "full heavy artillery battleship" has outstanding performance, there is still a lack of concrete demonstration whether it can be realized.

The Russian Empire also made many mistakes in this regard.

The Russian Empire once built a round shallow-water heavy artillery warship with a displacement of only 2671 tons, but it was equipped with two 2 heavy guns.

Because the round shape has great resistance in water, after it was finally built, its speed was only 6 knots.

For a shallow water gunboat, slow speed is not unacceptable.

The problem is that the stability of this ship is extremely poor. Wind and waves of less than one meter will cause it to lose its combat effectiveness. Moreover, if the hydrology is slightly abnormal, the ship will just spin on the water and cannot move at all.

Such a strange warship, the Imperial Navy almost built 10 of them.

Fortunately, after two ships were built, the problem was exposed. All subsequent construction plans were stopped, and the two completed ships were decommissioned and dismantled.

Since then, the Imperial Admiralty has been wary of new designs and refused to make any attempts.

The safest plan is definitely to cross the river by following the British Royal Navy. Whatever warships the Royal Navy builds, the Russian Empire will follow suit.

Therefore, it is useless no matter how much George brags about the "full heavy artillery battleship".

If it’s so good, why doesn’t the Royal Navy make one?
Could it be that the Royal Navy, whose warship design capabilities surpassed the Russian Empire by countless times, never thought of this design plan?
Yes, I really didn’t expect that!

(End of this chapter)