With Fangguan's words, the atmosphere in the room immediately relaxed. He was indeed of a high level. Liu Dadao's line had always been presided over by the Head of State, Wang Bureau and the others, and they were all single-line contacts.
Because of Fangguan's special status, he could be regarded as a veteran during the establishment of the European CIA. Only with the respect of the head of state could he obtain such important information.
"That's great... We know that Liu Dadao's set of passwords is enough. We can just abolish this set of codes for all future communications!"
"Hurry up and report to the Führer. The British fleet will definitely set off on June 1st. We need to prepare early!"
Fangguan said in a low voice, "Liu Dadao's code book is a very popular book called Suiyuan Food List by Yuan Mei. It is estimated that the British know about it, and it will take a certain amount of time to crack it. It is not very popular." books..."
"Haha... Those foreign devils probably don't even know who Yuan Mei is. They can't understand this oriental food book!"
"But before I send the telegram, I have a question... Is the British intelligence accurate? Can twelve battleships be launched into battle? Are they really twelve? Are they all the latest Zhiyuan design style?"
Fangguan asked a very pointed question, "Of course I admit that Britain's national strength is very strong, but our previous intelligence has also judged that Britain's heavy industry is actually not too strong, especially the steel manufacturing industry!"
"Today, Germany's coal production has exceeded 40 million tons per year, iron ore production has exceeded 5 million tons, pig iron production has been 2.5 million tons, and steel production has been 1.5 million tons..."
"But what about the UK? We have made careful statistics before, and the total output is probably not much different from Germany... But everyone must remember that the UK is an empire on which the sun never sets. Its steel production must be transported to the world for use, and the colonies The resources consumed must be deducted from the total!”
"In other words, the potential of Britain's domestic heavy industry is not as good as Germany's! We all see this!"
When it comes to this, Jonas, Leo and other Germans stand up straight. This is the truth and the reality in Europe!
Britain started out as a maritime hegemon, but later it was really inferior to Germany in heavy industry. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Germany's heavy industry production capacity was approaching that of Britain and far surpassing France!
Now that the Franco-Prussian War was victorious, Germany's potential suddenly exploded, and it was just around the corner to surpass the United Kingdom!
In real history, around 1880, ten years after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Germany's entire heavy industry production capacity had completely overwhelmed Britain.
Around 1890, the United States overtook Germany to become the world's number one, Germany was second, and the United Kingdom could only drop to third.
Before the outbreak of World War I, Germany's steel production was more than double that of the United Kingdom, and its per capita GDP was second in the world, second only to the United States and surpassing the United Kingdom.
This is actually the reason why Germany had the confidence to fight a war in the later period!
Now Fangguan has doubts. It was only after the Battle of East Frisia that warships with a design style like the Zhiyuan were recognized by mainstream international military scientists.
In just a few years, Germany produced a total of ten ships. Why did the United Kingdom produce as many as twelve? Also produced more cruisers than Germany?
"Is our previous economic intelligence wrong? We underestimated Britain's national strength? If so, we may have to completely overturn the previous data. This is a huge project!"
"In addition, I would like to remind gentlemen that the Zhiyuan was produced in a German shipyard. We also have the advantage of experience. The British have never produced a warship of this style. How can they catch up from behind?"
"Could this be a trick by Benjamin? Deliberate exaggeration? Let's send a telegram to Naha. We have to think about these things. We can't be irresponsible!"
Fangguan's question caused everyone in the room to fall into silence. This was really a difficult question to answer. It took a long time before Jonas opened his mouth.
"As a German, I am very reluctant to brag about Britain! But since the topic has already been brought up here, avoiding it is not a problem!"
"I must admit that Britain is indeed number one in the world in the shipbuilding industry!"
"The Zhiyuan series design plan that we are proud of is actually...not as high-end...as mysterious as we thought..."
Jonas' words made everyone present involuntarily sit up straight. This Jonas was a nobleman highly regarded by Bismarck. He was not actually a member of the Chinese CIA, he was just a friendly collaborator.
From his mouth, you may be able to hear some German high-level judgments on the situation!
"Britain started out as a navy and has attached great importance to naval construction from beginning to end. The two-power strategy is the foundation of British coastal defense!"
"There are far more high-level experts and designers in the British shipbuilding industry than we do. It is no exaggeration to say that there are more than all European countries combined!"
"Zhiyuan style may have some mythical qualities in the hearts of the people, because his record is so impressive! But in the eyes of naval military experts, this style is not mysterious at all!"
"After the European navies entered the era of ironclads, the United Kingdom and other European countries actually had two sets of design ideas!"
"One is the main guns arranged on the left and right sides, and the other is arranged on the central axis like Zhiyuan... These are two styles, two ideas, and two different sets of naval tactics!"
"The British were undecided before because they had no actual combat tests. Each of the two options has its own advantages... Among them, the left and right sides are arranged. The purpose of this design style is actually to use it for armored ships to break into defenses!"
"This design style is indeed highly praised by a group of designers and military experts. You must know that accuracy is a big problem in artillery battles on the sea. It is too difficult to shoot accurately!"
"If you want to increase the lethality, you have to shoot at close range... Now that you are ready to shoot at close range, it is better to just let the armored ships with high defense power rush into the formation to kill the enemy!"
"Despite heavy armor and several artillery shells, we still have to break through the enemy's line... At the moment we rush into the formation, we suddenly open fire at close range from the left and right!"
"It's almost a boarding battle. The distance between the two sides is tens of meters, how can it be impossible to hit it accurately?"
"This kind of tactical thinking is actually just the inertial thinking left over from the Age of Discovery. At that time, sailing battleships often used such close-range artillery battles, and pirates especially liked to use it..."
"The British Navy was influenced by traditional thinking, so it tried its best to promote this style a long time ago..."
"The design style of the Zhiyuan series relies entirely on long-distance volleys to resolve battles... There was also a saying in the past called the T-head strategy. The battleships lined up in a line, then grabbed the T-head, and focused their fire on the enemy. shooting!"
"The more times you shoot, the more you use your hit rate!"
"These are two types of maritime tactical thinking. There is no question of who is right or wrong... In fact, the British already had design drawings of these two styles in the design institute before!"
"The key is that the British senior management can't decide to pay attention and make the final decision to put it into production... Once one of these two design styles is chosen, it will be an investment of tens of millions of pounds!"
"Once the investment is wrong, the British will not be able to bear such a big loss..."
In fact, the British have always needed data from a real naval battle to provide judgment, and the outstanding performance of the Zhiyuan in several naval battles has become the key to the British's determination!
"Hey... the British actually use the actual combat data of the Zhiyuan to gain experience!"
