Li Xiao explained frankly: "There are many reasons why I am opposed to the Black Sea Fleet building a large ship immediately. For example, the first one is, what kind of large ship should be built?"
This question may not be difficult for other people. What kind of big ship should I build? Needless to say, what kind of big ship should I build? Naturally, I should build the most powerful ship!
The problem lies in the perception of the most powerful. For Nicholas I, Menshikov and a bunch of old diehards, the most powerful ship is naturally the old-fashioned sailing battleship. There is no doubt about it!
But the question is, are old-fashioned sailing battleships really that powerful? For Li Xiao, a time traveler, and for generals like Kornilov and Nasimov, the answer is obviously not this.
It is true that sailing battleships have played a key role in the past few hundred years and are almost the standard in naval battles. Even whether a country's navy is strong enough depends on how many such battleships it has.
But the problem is that times have changed. With the outbreak of the first industrial revolution, new technologies have greatly changed the form of warfare. For example, the power of the sailing battleship is increasingly questionable. With the efficiency of boilers and steam engines,
As they get higher and higher, they will give the battleships more powerful maneuverability.
This makes it increasingly difficult for old-fashioned sailing battleships that rely entirely on wind power to maintain maneuverability to seize positions in naval battles. This means that it is very likely that old battleships will only be passively beaten when facing new battleships or modified old battleships.
This is why Nasimov, Kornilov and the deceased Lazarev have strongly advocated the construction of more steam-powered warships in recent years.
Obviously, it makes little sense to spend all the precious funds on building old-fashioned sailing battleships. It may be to bully second-rate countries, such as local chickens. It is effective. But it is meaningless when facing big gangsters like Britain and France.
Naturally, it would be meaningless to "build big ships" according to the wishes of Nicholas I and Menshikov, and it would be a waste.
So does it make sense to build large ships according to the wishes of Kornilov and Nassimov?
For Li Xiao, this actually has to be a question mark. It is true that naval warfare will enter the steam age, and the old sail battleships will become increasingly meaningless. But the capabilities of the new battleships actually have to be a question mark. The boilers in this era are bulky and low.
Effectively, it will greatly occupy the space and displacement of the ship.
A large ship armed with such a boiler and steam engine has to pay a huge price to achieve considerable power. To put it simply, it needs to increase the displacement. You have to prepare enough displacement for the boiler, steam engine and coal. That way
As a result, the cost of building battleships has naturally increased!
In this way, based on the experience of the Royal Navy, a thousand-ton steamship is likely to be more expensive than a purely sail-powered first-class battleship.
Think about it, with the financial resources of the Russian Navy, how many such warships can be built?
What's more, the combat effectiveness of such a warship is obviously a problem. After all, apart from the structural weight, boiler, steam engine and coal, how much is left for the armament of a thousand tons of displacement?
Moreover, with Russia's scientific and technological strength and technical reserves, it is impossible to produce high-power boilers, steam engines, ship shafts, and even paddle wheels and propellers. It purely needs to be imported, and the cost is naturally higher than that of big gangsters like Britain and France who can produce domestic products.
High, that is to say, based on the reality of Russia as a backward agricultural country, playing a shipbuilding competition with other industrial countries is simply trying to block the train and overestimating its capabilities, okay?
To put it bluntly, Russia is not even qualified to participate. As long as Britain and France strengthen export controls and cut off Russia's channels for obtaining boilers, steam engines and other mechanical equipment, Russia can only stare.
This is not the most speechless thing. What is even more speechless is that in this era of rapid technological advancement, as long as a warship is launched, it means falling behind. If we want to hold on to Britain and France and not be pulled too far behind, it means huge investment.
!
Anyway, in Li Xiao's view, Russia not only does not have the technical strength, but also does not have the economic strength, so it is actually quite unwise to choose to build a large navy at this time. What's more, given Russia's bad geopolitical environment, several fleets are
Divided by the continent, if each branch really has its own ability, it would be an astronomical amount of investment.
To put it bluntly, Russia is still a land-power country. It still needs to maintain a continental army that can shock Europe and Asia. At the same time, it needs to build a navy and army to maintain first-class standards. This is really impossible!
Anyway, Russia's fragile economic strength does not allow it at all, so the navy must only do what it can. In this case, how much resource support can the navy get?
In this case, there is no need to talk about building a big ship, so just go to bed and wash your hands.
Therefore, in view of the limitations of technical strength, economic strength, as well as geographical environment and era factors, Li Xiao does not agree with building a large navy at present, especially building large ships. Whether it is in accordance with the wishes of Nicholas I and Menshikov or
According to both Kornilov and Nassimov, it is not credible.
We can only develop a pragmatic navy in an honest and pragmatic manner, actively track cutting-edge technologies, make technical reserves, and take small steps within our capabilities to try to keep up with Britain and France as soon as possible.
However, Kornilov is still a little dissatisfied: "Such a navy does not match our current international status! What's more, even if we take small steps and move quickly, once we are at war with Britain and France, we will still be annihilated very quickly.
Changing the situation of the battle is useless!"
Kornilov is right about this. Even if he maintains an appropriately sized and elite fleet, the Black Sea Fleet or the Baltic Fleet cannot be an opponent of the British and French coalition forces or even the Royal Navy. They will still be defeated.
beat.
So what's the point of this? It's better to take advantage of Nicholas I's interest in building a large navy and try every means to induce the other party to increase investment in the navy to win a larger share of funds!
Don't underestimate the importance of this share. The navy and army have always fought for funds in every possible way. It would be good to have even a small share.
Therefore, Kornilov’s words are worth pondering. Anyway, it’s all ruined, so it’s better to think of ways to plan for the future.
Li Xiao’s answer to this was: “For the future development of the navy, of course we must strive for as much funding as possible, but we must also consider the interests of the country and make full use of every penny of funding!”
"I think that at present, it is not the best choice for the Navy to blindly invest funds in steamship projects. We actually have better options!"