When Emperor Zhu Da solemnly told his chief of staff of the aerial force that airships were useless, all newspapers in Europe devoted full-page news reports to the "Air and Sea Battle of Montevideo."
Air and sea battle!
This is the first time this term appears in the world. What does this term mean? Literally, it means the battle between the sky and the sea.
To put it bluntly, airships bomb warships!
There is no doubt that in 1876, this was the most fascinating news for the whole world.
Ming Dynasty declared war on Brazil!
This is not news at all. When the Turkish War broke out, Europeans did not care about the war in South America at all.
But the news that the Ming Dynasty airships attacked Montevideo and wiped out the Brazilian navy frightened Britain...no, the whole world...to the point of peeing!
Yes, the whole world!
Any country with a navy looks at the sky with frightened eyes. On one side is the fleet built at the anchorage that has exhausted the national treasury, and on the other side are airships that may fly in at any time.
"The cold boiler of the warship at the anchorage berth takes eighteen hours to complete pressurization, and even the hot boiler takes 2-4 hours to complete pressurization and sail out of the berth. In other words, even if
It is the most powerful warship. It is a target for airships! A target for airships to bomb!"
For a time, European military observers and naval experts were all discussing airships in a skeptical tone and the military changes brought about by the airships, which were enough to destroy the warships that all countries were proud of.
The life of the Royal Navy was ruined!
Almost overnight, all naval engineers stopped what they were doing, especially the British naval ship designers, who directly stopped the improvement of the Giant-class battleship.
In the past few years, British ship designers have been almost overwhelmed by the Ming Dynasty.
Once upon a time, starting with the "Warrior-class" ironclads, Britain had always been ahead of other countries in the design and construction of ironclads, but the emergence of the Nanhua class changed everything.
This battleship, which has a central ironclad with a displacement of 7,300 tons, two twin 305mm main guns and eight 150mm secondary guns, attracted the attention of shipbuilding experts from various countries when it was still on the slipway.
Facing the situation of being overtaken, the British learned from the "Nanhua-class" battleships and designed the Ajax-class ironclads. Compared with the "Nanhua-class", it has larger tonnage, stronger firepower, and stronger maneuverability. It is the British
The first batch of naval warships to adopt breech-loading main guns, the overall performance has been greatly enhanced.
However, Britain was not satisfied. After learning that Ming Dynasty was building a "Youzhou-class" battleship with larger tonnage and stronger firepower, it began to design and build a "Giant-class" battleship with a displacement of up to 12,000 tons.
"It will once again allow the Royal Navy to dominate the seas!"
The words they once swore with confidence, but now faced with an airship that can blow up a battleship directly into the sky, they are all confused!
This... what should I do?
Will the navy's warships be eliminated in the future?
"In the past few years, although we have established our own airship force by introducing the Ming Empire's airship technology, our airship technology lags far behind the Ming Empire. Once upon a time, we thought that airships would not bring much to warships
There were losses, but in Montevideo the Ming Empire used their airships to tell the world that warships were outdated, and from now on it was the age of airships!"
The Royal Navy, which dominates the world, is about to be eliminated!
In London, the battleship faction and the spaceship faction were quarreling and discussing in the newspapers. They both tried to expand their influence through public opinion and thus win the debate.
But for politicians, they are not just concerned about who is superior and who is inferior, they are more concerned about how the airship will change the world situation.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, the air and sea battle in Montevideo has told the whole world with iron-clad facts that the Ming Empire has mastered an extremely precise weapon.
Bomb, this bomb can not only hit warships accurately, but is also extremely powerful, even as powerful as a 12-inch cannon shell. This sea-air battle was the first time since the Battle of Lisa in 1866 that an ironclad ship was sunk in a battle.
And he has no power to fight back.”
When Lord Admiralty Alexander Milne mentioned the "Battle of Montevideo", his tone was full of...despair!
Yes, as Lord of the Navy, he is of course desperate! Since he took office as Lord of the Navy, he has been continuously strengthening naval construction, from building "Ajax-class" ironclads to building "Giant-class" battleships, and then building protection
Cruiser for vast colonial interests.
In his view, these efforts are inevitable to strengthen the national power of the British Empire. The Royal Navy is the foundation of the British Empire. Before this, although the challenge of the "Imperial Alliance Fleet" made the whole of London angry, for the Royal Navy
That's not a bad thing - Congress quickly passed a new Navy budget - allocating funds for the construction of 6 "Giant-class" ships.
The Royal Navy will retake the oceans!
But before Milne and others could laugh out loud, the Montevideo airship over there used bombs to tell them all that the era of battleships was over!
At least the era of using big ships and cannons to bully others is over. Any country can use airships to teach warships how to behave.
"So, even we have no way to fight against the airship?"
As the Prime Minister, Benjamin felt a little overwhelmed. He couldn't even help but lament in his heart - why did the "pervert" Ming appear in the world? Not only did they use new warships to encircle the UK, but they also threatened the UK with the "Four-Nation Alliance".
That's all, now we have this airship to bully Britain.
This is simply... unprecedented,
"It's not like there's no way to fight against it!"
Shaking his head, Milne said.
"I have asked weapons manufacturers to research weapons for defense against airships. In fact, we have also conducted research in this area in the past, but it was not too urgent. After all, airships could not threaten warships at that time, but now Montevideo's
The destroyed Brazilian fleet tells us that air defense is not only the biggest threat to the fleet, but also airships will become the most important force..."
Looking at the Prime Minister, Milne said.
"We believe that spaceships, like warships, are the future of the British Empire. Spaceships can completely cooperate with surface ships. In naval battles, naval fleets can cooperate with airships."
Why did Milne say this?
The reason could not be simpler, it is for the existence of the Royal Navy!
If spaceships replaced warships, would the Royal Navy still be necessary?
Montevideo sea and air battle is a valuable experience!
But the Royal Navy must survive. Since they are both ships...let's tie them both together!