Seven Seas Beacon Fire

To compensate for its weak armor, the French Navy improved the survivability of the Duquesne-class cruisers through indirect defensive measures, such as detailed compartmentalization, strict watertight measures, and an alternating boiler-engine layout. Nevertheless, the Duquesne-class cruisers' vulnerability was glaringly obvious when facing treaty-style cruisers from other countries equipped with 203mm guns.

For a considerable period of time, eight-inch guns were considered to be unstoppable by heavy cruisers with hulls exceeding 10,000 tons. Indeed, even the best-protected treaty heavy cruisers could only withstand relatively ordinary eight-inch guns under certain conditions. Since neither side could defend against armor-piercing shells, it was simply better to forgo armor altogether.

The problem is that, although the caliber of 7.5-inch and 180-mm naval guns is not much different from that of 8-inch naval guns, the difference in armor-piercing capability is significant.

In other words, even with terrible armor, the first-generation cruisers equipped with eight-inch guns could still compete with later generations of cruisers thanks to their upgraded guns and fire control systems. Some heavy cruisers with poor armor designs were even called "one gun covers up a hundred flaws" by military enthusiasts because of their excellent main gun.

All of the above has little to do with 7.5-inch guns and 180mm guns.

Although the Honolulu Naval Treaty's definition of cruisers is rather crude, a qualified time traveler needs to take a longer-term view. With the treaty halting the competition among nations' capital ships, the competition among nations regarding cruisers will soon resume. At that time, cruisers will be formally divided into heavy cruisers and light cruisers, and the difference between the two will lie in the caliber of their guns.

By removing these cruisers equipped with 180mm guns from the Tang Dynasty Navy's battle order, the Tang Dynasty Navy's future heavy cruisers will all be equipped with eight-inch guns. Clearly, the Shogunate Navy will be acting as a kind of scrap yard in this process.

Tokugawa Akiko didn't understand these specific technical details. She only knew one thing: that was, as long as the tasks assigned by the Crown Prince were completed to a high standard, the Tokugawa Shogunate didn't need to worry about too much.

Because the Tang Dynasty had already made arrangements for them.

These cruisers would be in an awkward position for the Tang Dynasty in the future, but for the Tokugawa Shogunate, they would be acquiring heroic warships from the World War II era. Such 10,000-ton first-class cruisers were almost a fantasy for Japan in the past—not that Japan couldn't afford them, but if they were really willing to spend that much money, they would probably rather spend a little more to buy export-type capital ships than buy 10,000-ton first-class cruisers.

Especially for Tokugawa Akiko, the most important thing tonight was not how much tonnage share Li Che planned to secure for the shogunate—although this matter was related to the future of the country and the nation of Yingzhou from an international legal perspective, and should be very important in principle, Tokugawa Akiko did have a feeling that "this matter is actually not that important in comparison."

After all, as long as Tokugawa Akiko really has the opportunity to offer herself and get pregnant with a child, why would Yingzhou have to worry about not having the opportunity to acquire better warships in the future?

Therefore, after Tokugawa Akiko listened carefully to the key points that Li Che had instructed, Sakura did not take her leave immediately, but took the initiative to ask Li Che - it is getting late, Your Highness, would you like me to help you take a bath and rest now?

Although Li Che had been rather slow to react in this regard before, he was starting to get the hint now. So, tonight we're having an equal exchange? I'm after your fleet share from Yingzhou, and you, Tokugawa Akiko, are you lusting after my body?

If we were back in China, Li Che was quite confident in his recoil control skills. On one hand, he wasn't the kind of person who was easily controlled by his small head. On the other hand, even if he really had some urgent needs, the sweet and soft Zhu Miaoyun was there. So, when Tokugawa Akiko was back in China, she never had a chance to succeed.

This trip to Honolulu for the naval conference has been quite stressful, dealing with various issues under considerable pressure. On one hand, I had to find ways to engage in heated debates with other countries at the conference to secure a larger share of tonnage and benefits. On the other hand, I had to painstakingly create obstacles for countries like Colombia. It was truly not an easy task.

Right now, a beautiful and charming Japanese girl in front of him offered to serve him by taking a bath together...

For no reason, Li Che felt his little brother was slightly restless, especially now that he noticed that Tokugawa Akiko was wearing a very traditional kimono today, and as everyone knows, what should be inside a kimono according to the traditional way of wearing it.

"Ahem... Giving you Shogunate warships is simply because it aligns with our mutual interests. It's not a political exchange, so you don't need to..."

"Does Your Highness think that my offering of myself is merely for political exchange? Although Your Highness and I are not childhood sweethearts, haven't you felt my affection over the past year?"

As Tokugawa Akiko spoke, she took one of Li Che's hands and placed it on her chest. Li Che understood that she wanted him to feel her heartbeat, but the problem was that after placing his hand on the soft white breasts, Li Che could not feel the heartbeat very clearly except for the soft touch.

He turned his gaze away and withdrew his hand. What else could he say at this point?

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit tired..."

Before he could finish speaking, a smile had already begun to appear on Tokugawa Akiko's face.

Li Che is not a saint. In fact, he considers himself just a normal man, so he sometimes makes mistakes that all men make, which is normal!

Chapter 304 Heavy Cruisers and Light Cruisers

When Li Che got up in the morning, he changed into a stand-up collar shirt. At this time, Tokugawa Akiko came over to help him straighten his clothes, and the two exchanged knowing smiles.

For Tokugawa Akiko, this was a case of getting what she wanted, like eating the flesh of Tang Sanzang. Seeing the girl's slightly furrowed brows, Li Che asked with some concern:

"are you OK?"

Li Che didn't actually have much experience interacting with girls. After all, in this world, his previous identity was that of a grandson of the emperor. Before the war broke out, he was too young to have much contact with girls of similar age and status. After the war broke out, it was even less likely.

As for that other world... could he possibly use Yunyun's body and her image to pick up girls?

So now he realizes that his behavior last night was slightly inappropriate, and he can only express his greetings in this rather straightforward way.

"It's alright, Your Highness. The situation of being unable to walk after one's first time is something that only happens in picture books."

"is it?"

Li Che thought to himself, "As expected of Japanese girls, they can already appreciate doujinshi in this era. It seems that some cultural industries in Yingzhou will be quite prosperous in the future."

After the previous three rounds of meetings, the relevant clauses regarding battleships and aircraft carriers have been discussed. The next step for the countries to discuss is small and medium-sized ships such as cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.

However, at the very beginning of the conference, the countries engaged in a fierce dispute over the definition of a cruiser.

This is not surprising at all. Everyone knew that a fight would break out here, because the definition of warship types is a very contentious topic in any era and in any country.

There are simply too many examples of this—

Are missile destroyer leaders considered cruisers?

Is the Type 055 a guided-missile destroyer or a guided-missile cruiser?

Should the Red Navy's large anti-submarine ships be classified as cruisers or destroyers?

If we discuss this from the perspective of a single country, then the issue is actually quite simple. As the saying goes, whoever pays for it gets to name it. Don't you see that the Persians call a 1500-ton ship a destroyer? Then it is a destroyer. Some frigates have a displacement of 9000 tons, but they are still called FFGs.

However, if different countries come together to discuss this, it will be even more explosive.

For example, at today's meeting.

What qualifies as a cruiser?

In the Washington Naval Treaty of another world, the standard for cruisers was actually a "blank space" outside of cruisers and aircraft carriers, because those with a standard displacement of more than 1 tons and guns with a caliber of more than eight inches were classified as capital ships.

The reason for setting the 1-ton and 8-inch standard was that, apart from the old armored cruisers and the Royal Navy's Hush-class cruisers, none of the light armored cruisers of any country at the time had a displacement exceeding 1 tons. The largest Hawkins-class cruisers had a standard displacement of just over 9000 tons, and none of the light armored cruisers were equipped with guns larger than eight inches.

On this basis, the eight-inch naval gun was an existing caliber for four of the five countries that signed the treaty at the time. Therefore, a "tonnage limit that was above the existing maximum light armored cruiser specification" plus "a common caliber that was widely used by most countries" together constituted the indicators that limited the maximum tonnage and firepower of cruisers during the treaty period.

Of course, in another world, the Washington Naval Treaty had very broad provisions for cruisers, which laid the groundwork for the subsequent competition among nations in cruisers and directly led to the signing of the London Naval Treaty.

In the current world, the differences among nations regarding cruisers at the Honolulu Naval Conference are greater than in the other world. This is mainly because the Washington Naval Treaty stipulates that aircraft carrier guns cannot exceed eight inches, but in this world, aircraft carriers can have 10-inch guns, and the Tang Dynasty has even acquired two aircraft carriers that can be equipped with 11-inch guns.

Therefore, both Colombia and Gaul believe that the restrictions on cruisers should be relaxed. The Colombian Navy believes that cruisers should be limited to a displacement of no more than 15,000 tons and a maximum of 10 10-inch main guns.

While supporting the Colombian Navy's definition of a cruiser, Gaul stated that if the caliber of the guns does not exceed 240 mm, the number of main guns can be relaxed to no more than 12—this is naturally because the Gallic Navy hopes to continue using its own 240 mm naval guns without developing a completely new caliber.

Both countries have a great need for cruiser size. After all, Colombia and Gaul face similar situations. Their hypothetical enemies have a numerical advantage over them in fast capital ships. Therefore, they hope to increase the size of cruisers and raise the upper limit of cruisers to a relatively high level. If cruisers are really limited according to the standards of these two countries, then the seas in the future will be full of such quasi-battlecruiser ships.

This was naturally unacceptable to the Royal Navy of Victoria, and the Kingdom of Syracuse also did not want the cruisers to be so large. The direct reason why these two countries opposed setting the size of the cruisers to be so large was the issue of money.

It's obvious even to a fool that the light cruisers commonly equipped by various countries today range in size from about four or five thousand tons to as large as 6000 to 9000 tons. Can the cost of these cruisers be the same as that of a 15,000-ton cruiser?

Especially for the Royal Navy, which needs to protect the security of its global shipping lanes, if the oceans are filled with large cruisers equipped with 10-inch guns, even the strongest fast fleet of the Royal Navy will be overwhelmed. The Kingdom of Syracuse simply wants to spend less money. The somewhat impoverished Victoria, coupled with a penniless imperialist Syracuse, is obviously less influential than the newly rich Colombia and the old power of Gaul.

However, the Tang Dynasty firmly supported the Victorian Empire on the issue of cruisers. On the one hand, the Tang Dynasty did not want the Colombian Navy to dilute its advantage in fast capital ships by building many large cruisers. On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty did not have any suitable large-caliber naval guns with a caliber exceeding 200 mm at the moment.

Hey, some people might say, isn't the 240mm naval gun on the armored cruisers of the late Ming Dynasty good enough?

Well said. The performance of this 240mm naval gun is indeed quite good, but the problem is that it was manufactured by the Borneo Artillery Factory. That's right, this gun was produced in Borneo, and the Borneo Artillery Factory was located in the northern part of the Eastern Capital. It was completely destroyed and reduced to ruins during the Battle of the Eastern Capital.

Therefore, this cannon is currently in a "limited edition" state. Although some design drawings of the cannon have been left in theory, turning this cannon from drawings into a physical object would be no less than going through most of the cannon development process. In the end, it may not be as good as having the Xiaolingwei Royal Artillery Factory develop a brand new cannon together.

However, the Tang Dynasty did not want to invest too much in cruisers.

"Gentlemen, the meeting we are holding today is a naval arms control treaty conference, so what we should be doing is controlling the arms race rather than escalating it. With all countries having lightly armored cruisers with a displacement of less than 10,000 tons except for their outdated old armored cruisers, raising the tonnage limit of cruisers to 15,000 tons and equipping them with 10-inch guns is, in my opinion, a reversal of the spirit of this conference."

When Li Che, representing the Tang Dynasty delegation, opened his mouth, he stood on the moral high ground and condemned Colombia and Gaul without naming them—the implication being clear: we are all peace-loving countries, and this is a summit concerning world peace. What are you here for?

Once this big label was slapped on them, Gaul's attitude, which was not very firm to begin with, immediately became ambiguous. After all, Gaul was not very wealthy. While building large cruisers would certainly make it easier to fight cruiser wars with the Royal Navy of Victoria, 10,000-ton cruisers were not uncompetitive and were even cheaper.

Next, Li Che went even further and proposed a more detailed plan from another world, similar to the London Naval Treaty, for classifying cruisers and destroyers.

"I know that different countries have different needs for cruisers. Moreover, since the era of dreadnoughts, in the era before the dreadnoughts, after the technical route of armored cruisers developed by our countries was incorporated into the technical route of the new generation of capital ships led by dreadnoughts, the cruisers of various navies have long been dominated by various second-class cruisers. It was not until this world war that light cruisers similar to first-class cruisers reappeared."

Therefore, I believe we can further refine the classification of cruisers. First, the tonnage of all cruisers will still be limited to a standard displacement of 1 tons, but all cruisers will be divided into light cruisers and heavy cruisers.

"Light cruisers and heavy cruisers?"

Because there was no specific term for "heavy cruiser" before, when the translator said "The Heavy Cruiser," the professionals in the naval delegations from various countries were immediately drawn to the word.

"Yes, the 15,000-ton cruisers that the Colombian and Gallic navies were pursuing were essentially secondary capital ships. But in fact, a 10,000-ton hull and about eight-inch guns are enough to undertake the tasks of a secondary capital ship. Can a 15,000-ton large cruiser compete with a capital ship?"

I think that for the main warships equipped by our countries, a 15,000-ton large cruiser is still not enough. As for the suppression capability of traditional second-class cruisers, is there really a big difference in efficiency between a 10,000-ton 8-inch ship and a 15,000-ton 10-inch ship, especially considering the rate of fire?

With current technology, even a 1-ton cruiser would be almost impossible to withstand the new eight-inch armor-piercing shells. Since both 8-inch and 10-inch guns can easily penetrate them, the result of all countries blindly pursuing large calibers and building such large cruisers is that everyone spends more money, but the balance of power has not changed, has it?

A 10,000-ton-class 8-inch gunboat is sufficient to undertake the task of a secondary capital ship that crushes the enemy. I believe that the maximum cruiser size stipulated in the treaty should not exceed this limit. If you all agree with my statement, then we can consider cruisers with a caliber exceeding 6 inches but not exceeding 210 mm as heavy cruisers in the treaty.

Correspondingly, ships with guns of no more than six inches in caliber were classified as light cruisers. The missions of these light cruisers remained traditional, including escort, torpedo protection, and various other support duties.

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Chapter 305 Ox

Today, Li Che intends to resolve the contents of the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty in another world in one go. So, while various countries are arguing, he throws out the concept of heavy cruisers and light cruisers as a starting point.

If the main hall merely expresses support for Victoria in an attempt to pressure the Colombian and Gallic navies, the final outcome may not be impossible. However, the Colombian navy will certainly deliberately create trouble for the Tang Dynasty in subsequent negotiations on other matters. Li Che is not afraid of engaging in heated debates with Colombia in the meeting, but he also really wants to avoid some inefficient diplomacy of deliberately provoking each other.

Furthermore, the best way to extinguish a fire is to trigger an explosion at the source of the fire. Sure enough, after he proposed the concepts of heavy cruisers and light cruisers, the naval delegations of various countries began to discuss them enthusiastically.

Although the concepts of heavy cruisers and light cruisers were indeed created by treaties in history, splitting the original concept of "light cruiser" which was essentially "lightly armored cruiser" into "heavy gun lightly armored cruiser" and "light gun lightly armored cruiser," this division itself can be considered a historical inevitability.

Or to be more precise, the "10,000-ton 8-inch" limit was created by the treaty, but the emergence of "heavy cruisers" that were larger in tonnage and firepower than traditional 6-inch cruisers was inevitable.

"Your country limits it to 210 millimeters..."

"This is of course because our country's 8-inch class naval guns use a caliber of 210 mm. Of course, we don't want to develop a new naval gun specifically for this (this is a lie). I know that most of the guns equipped by you here are 8 inches. If you feel that you are at a disadvantage in terms of caliber, you can enlarge the barrel of your 8-inch naval guns."

With just one sentence, he shut down those who wanted to bring up caliber. After all, the Tang Dynasty also had something to say: I'm not saying that you use 8-inch cannons while I, the only country, use 210mm naval guns. If you're unhappy, just enlarge the bore to 210mm, and that's it.

This little incident was like a pebble thrown into a pond, causing a small splash, and it quickly disappeared. After all, although there were naval professionals among the personnel who participated in the signing of the treaty, as has been said many times before, in this era, most of the naval officers, especially those in high positions, were not technical officers. In their eyes, the difference between 203 mm and 210 mm was only 7 mm, which seemed insignificant.

However, what is often overlooked is that for heavy cruisers weighing 10,000 tons, even with the most comprehensive design, the cramped armor protection often only provides a barely adequate defense against eight-inch naval guns. For example, in another world, the Zara and Kaohsiung have armor so thick that their protection against eight-inch naval guns is still questionable. Many naval enthusiasts believe that they are at the penetration limit of common eight-inch armor-piercing rounds. This slight increase in caliber could very well be the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

"Are there no restrictions on the number and tonnage of these light and heavy cruisers?" the representative of the Kingdom of Syracuse asked, raising his hand.

“Of course not,” Li Che said. “The total tonnage of cruisers will naturally be discussed in the same way we discussed the tonnage share of capital ships. However, the specific proportion of heavy cruisers and light cruisers in the total tonnage can be more flexible according to the different needs of each country. Within the limits allowed by each country, some countries will definitely have a greater need for heavy cruisers, while other countries will have a greater need for light cruisers.”

As Li Che spoke, his gaze swept over the representatives of Colombia and Victoria, two countries that were typical examples of one needing heavy cruisers more and the other needing light cruisers more.

The Colombian representative remained noncommittal for the time being, while the Victorian representative was already giving Li Che a silent nod. From their perspective, this was the Tang Dynasty expressing its support for Victoria in a roundabout way. Colombia had previously shown a strong demand for large cruisers, which had been a major headache for the Victorian Royal Navy representative.

Although the Colombian delegation has not yet shown direct agreement, their attitude has changed significantly from before.

The Royal Navy of Victoria is truly unable to sustain a new race for large cruisers. It can be said that they owe a debt of gratitude to the Tang Dynasty on the issue of cruisers.

Li Che noticed the gaze directed at him by the representative from Victoria's side. He couldn't help but find it amusing. This was just a coincidence that our interests aligned with yours, and you were getting a free ride today. Just behave yourselves over there, and we'll show you what it means to never be able to repay the Tang Dynasty's kindness.

"Before we get to the specific discussion on the tonnage share of cruisers, I have a few more words to say." Having just introduced the classification of heavy cruisers and light cruisers, Li Che's speech now made the representatives from various countries at the meeting listen attentively.

"The first point is naturally about the restrictions on the number of gun barrels on these cruisers. The number of gun barrels with a caliber greater than 130mm on heavy cruisers cannot exceed 10, while there are no restrictions on the number of guns with a caliber of 130mm or less."

The main guns mounted on light cruisers must not exceed 152 mm in caliber, and the number of guns with a caliber exceeding 130 mm cannot exceed 15; there is no limit on the number of guns of 130 mm or smaller.

Following the previous addition of heavy artillery to aircraft carriers, Li Che has introduced another product that looks powerful but is actually, to put it nicely, inefficient in cost-effectiveness, and to put it bluntly and exaggeratedly, a waste of national funds—the 10,000-ton light cruiser.

Many people may have a misconception about reality due to the strength of ships in games like WOWS. They think that those 10,000-ton light cruisers equipped with 12 or even 15 6-inch guns can unleash a barrage of bullets like a rain of needles, which is both cool and powerful. They believe that any warship can come up and give you a thorough cleaning of your deck.

However, in actual combat, the rate of fire of a six-inch naval gun is difficult to utilize in long-range artillery battles. After all, no matter how fast your rate of fire is, if you want to calibrate your shots, you have to wait for the previous shells to enter the water and then adjust the firing parameters of the subsequent shells based on the water column.

The lighter weight of six-inch naval guns compared to eight-inch guns resulted in greater wind drift, leading to a wider dispersion of shells at medium and long ranges, making them less likely to hit. As for the power... in another world, very few cruisers could withstand eight-inch guns, but those that could withstand six-inch guns were certainly not uncommon.

A single shell that penetrates and detonates is better than ten shells that explode outside the armor.

However, a light cruiser with 10,000 tons and 6-inch guns is indeed visually striking when viewed alone, and it does give the impression that it can indeed compete with heavy cruisers.

Of course, this is just a small pit.

"Second, cruisers should have a displacement of 2000 to 1 tons, and destroyers built by various countries should have a displacement of 700 to 2000 tons. Destroyers should not be equipped with guns with a caliber exceeding 130mm. There are no restrictions on the number of 130mm and smaller guns equipped on destroyers, nor on the number of torpedoes equipped on destroyers. The total tonnage of destroyers equipped by various countries should be discussed and restricted."

At this point, the Gauls's eyes lit up. As one of the countries in the world that probably values ​​destroyers the most, the Gauls have considerable experience in developing primary-level ships. After experiencing the World War, Gauls realized that it was impossible to compete with Victoria in terms of main battle ships, and they were once again preparing to place part of the burden of naval defense on destroyers.

After all, the destroyers are fantastic!

In another world, the special-type destroyers developed by Japan are nothing compared to the super destroyers of the United States. Even in terms of oxygen torpedoes, the United States is ahead of Japan. It can be said that Japan has fully maxed out the technology tree of destroyers in every aspect.

If Crystal hadn't surrendered so quickly during World War II, their destroyers would likely have had even more development and stories to tell.

"Third, considering the need for some quasi-military maritime forces in various countries, such as fisheries protection and patrols, there is no limit on the number of surface combat vessels under 600 tons for each signatory country. There is also no limit on the number of surface combat vessels exceeding 700 tons but not exceeding 2000 tons, but the following conditions cannot be met:"

The cannon's caliber exceeded 6 inches (152 mm);

More than four cannons with a caliber of 3 inches (76 mm) or larger;

Equipped with torpedoes;

Speed ​​greater than 20 knots.