Kornilov and Nasimov were not surprised at all that Li Xiao would say this. In the past few years, they had dealt with someone a lot. They knew that someone had his own theory about future development and military construction. Someone before
They had many arguments with their teacher Lazarev about this, and some of the views had a great influence on Lazarev.
Let's put it this way, the development of the Black Sea Fleet in recent years has been greatly influenced by Li Xiao to some extent, and a large amount of funds have been invested in some strange projects.
For example, wired telegraphy, iron-making technology, and lathes. Anyway, it seems that it is not particularly related to the navy for the time being, but under the influence of Li Xiao, Lazarev actually invested money in it.
Of course, the money was not in vain. Not to mention lathes and iron smelting, the wired telegraph project is now making a lot of money for the Navy.
As Nicholas I requested the vigorous development of wired telegraphs, this project suddenly became popular. However, there was no knowledge about it in Russia before. Just when everyone did not know how to start, Kornilov
But you can tell the project leader, Duke Ordolph, that our navy has wired telegraph technology and has helped Wallachia build an experimental line before. Are you interested?
Let's put it this way, it was those previous investments that allowed the Navy to suddenly hold half of the orders for domestic wired telegraph projects.
What are you asking about the remaining half? That's because the wired telegraph equipment production and laying manufacturers that the Navy and Wallachia cooperated with have limited capabilities, and they really can't do it, so they have to give up.
The money earned this time alone was enough to make the Navy's investment in the past few years back with profits. This made Kornilov shocked and deeply admired. He felt that this person was indeed too far-sighted.
. Let him believe that other projects that he cooperates with someone will sooner or later become as successful as the cable telegraph.
Naturally, he pays more attention to what someone said, and now that someone said that the navy has a better choice, he must listen carefully.
"With the current strength of the Black Sea Fleet, it is not difficult to deal with the Turkish fleet. I believe that both generals should be careful and can easily destroy the Turkish fleet and seize control of the Black Sea!"
Kornilov and Nasimov nodded together, because they did have the confidence to teach the Turkish fleet a lesson, not just for fun.
Li Xiao continued: "In this case, continuing to strengthen the Black Sea Fleet's battleships will actually have little impact on the battle situation. Even if there are a few more battleships, we still may not be the opponents of the British and French fleets, right?"
Well, although Kornilov and Nasimov were very reluctant, they could only continue to nod. Who told someone to tell the truth? No matter how arrogant they were, they did not think that their fleet could handle it.
Britain and France.
"So from the perspective of cost-efficiency, it actually doesn't make much sense to continue building capital ships for the Black Sea Fleet. There is no essential difference between a few more ships and a few fewer ships. We should invest precious funds in projects that are more cost-effective.
go!"
Kornilov and Nassimov asked together: "For example?"
"For example, strengthening the defense facilities in Sevastopol and surrounding areas, such as developing more advanced mines and purchasing more mines!"
Well, strengthening the defense of Sevastopol Kornilov and Nassimov can understand that as the most important base of the Black Sea Fleet and the most important strategic support point of the Crimean Peninsula, as long as Sevastopol
Under the control of the Russian army, no matter how arrogant the British and French fleets were, they could not get any arrogant.
But what is the point of developing more advanced mines and purchasing more mines? What is the point of this thing?
"Of course it makes sense," Li Xiao explained with a smile, "Since our fleet cannot confront the British and French fleets head-on, we can't just hand over control of the Black Sea, right?"
"Once the control of the Black Sea changes hands, Britain and France can land wherever they want, and launch attacks wherever they want along the Black Sea coast. This is too passive for us!"
"So we can only stay on the defensive and use strategic defensive tactics to disintegrate the enemy's maritime advantage! What I mean is to block the Turkish Strait with mines and lay a large number of mines in the waters near the strait, making it difficult for the British and French fleets to enter the Black Sea!
"
Kornilov and Nasimov looked at each other. They both knew what Li Xiao was thinking. To put it simply, they were trying to block the entrance to the Black Sea so that the powerful British and French fleets could not enter the Black Sea. They could not enter.
Naturally, there is nothing that can be done about the Black Sea Fleet, and naturally there is no way to threaten the Black Sea coast.
I have to say that this idea is really weird, because according to the traditional naval warfare theory, the development of a large fleet requires head-on confrontation to gain control of the sea. There has never been a naval battle strategy of blocking the door to let the enemy in.
This kind of despicable method would be ridiculed in other countries and would be impossible to pull off. But for Russia, the situation is different.
As mentioned before, Russia's geopolitical environment is quite harsh for the navy. Several fleets are enclosed in narrow waters by natural terrain and geographical factors. It has been Russia's grand wish for more than a hundred years to go out and embrace the ocean.
.
But on the other hand, although it is difficult for the Russian Navy to go out and the enemy can easily block the Russian Navy, it is not so easy for the enemy to come to the door. The outlet of the Black Sea is a sewer. If this sewer can be blocked, Britain and France will
Naturally, the fleet cannot enter.
And this is not unacceptable to the Black Sea Fleet. Anyway, they are not opponents of Britain and France for the time being. If they rush out, they will be beaten. But if they stay in the Black Sea and just bully the Turkish fleet, that will be another story.
It's over.
Without the support of the British and French fleets, the Turkish fleet would not be able to carry shoes to the Black Sea Fleet. At that time, the Black Sea Fleet had control of the Black Sea and could do whatever it wanted.
In the past, Kornilov, Nassimov and their teacher Lazarev were thinking about how to make the Black Sea Fleet more powerful. It would be best to have the strength to directly compete with Britain and France, and use their strength to keep the enemy at bay.
But now Li Xiao has provided another path. He is playing a wretched style, using dirty tricks to seal the Black Sea Strait. What is more, there is no tiger in the mountain and the monkey is the king. The Black Sea Fleet is that monkey. As long as there is no interference from tigers, it will be the best in the Black Sea.
It’s the Overlord!
This idea is not impossible, but there are some problems that need to be solved in order to truly realize it. The first one to bear the brunt is the problem of mines...