Seven Seas Beacon Fire

As someone who personally experienced the negotiations of the naval treaty, and also as a transmigrator who studied in another world, Li Che knew very well that there were many loopholes in the treaty that could be exploited.

Besides the 700-ton small destroyer that exists only on paper in front of the two of them, another type of ship that is not subject to tonnage restrictions under the treaty is the cruiser with a standard displacement of no more than 2000 tons. According to the treaty, the maximum speed of such ships cannot exceed 20 knots, and the number of 76mm or larger guns they are equipped with cannot exceed four.

Yes, it's four guns, not four cannons. If you want to place two twin-mounted guns, then you can only place two cannons. This restriction on the number of guns is the same as the provisions in the treaty for newly built treaty battleships and treaty cruisers, which are counted according to the number of gun barrels.

In another world, the USN built ships that were not subject to treaty quantity restrictions under this standard, which World of Warships players are surely very familiar with: the "Irie" class gunboats.

It is 100.13 meters long, 12.88 meters wide, has a draft of 3.45 meters, a standard displacement of 2000t, and a full load displacement of 2340t.

侧舷主装甲带90毫米（预留了位置但并没有装配）；机舱部位装甲32毫米；弹药库上部装甲25毫米，侧装甲51-76毫米；指挥塔装甲102毫米，顶部32毫米。

配备4门单管152mmMK 17型舰炮，4座4联装28mmMK 1型机关炮，也就是芝加哥管风琴，除此之外还能够携带1架OS2U翠鸟水上侦察机。

动力采用了2座巴布科克-威尔考克斯燃油锅炉，2台帕森斯齿轮减速蒸汽机；主机输出功率6200马力，最大速度20.4节，12节下的续航力可以达到8000海里。

Although this ship is not very fast, its gunnery capability is not weak for a 2000-ton hull. The firepower of its four six-inch guns is something that no destroyer of the same tonnage can challenge. If it were equipped with an armor belt, even larger specialized destroyers or super destroyers would find it difficult to say whether they could win a gun battle against this thing.

After all, the real world isn't like the world of battleships. If someone has armor and you don't, or someone has a six-inch cannon and you only have a five-inch cannon, then you'll be at a disadvantage in a fight.

However, only two of these ships were ever built. Putting aside the fact that the treaty expired without any restrictions, the main reason was that these ships were essentially just excellent colonial gunboats. For the Beacon of Light, the normal combat ships of the overseas colonial navies were sufficient, so there was no need for these ships.

However, this vessel is very suitable for the Tang Dynasty to patrol and cruise along the coast and in the waters of the Southeast Asian archipelago, freeing up other cruisers and destroyers that perform similar tasks.

If they were similar to the Iri-class destroyers, building around 10 wouldn't be a problem. They could perform tasks similar to the Type 056 corvettes of later generations. For the navy, these little creatures would be both cute and useful...

While Li Che was still thinking about this, he saw Cheng Mingna take out another sketch from her handbag, which was obviously more hastily drawn.

To be honest, if they hadn't been searched before being summoned, this girl's sudden act of reaching into her bag would have almost caused the guards behind Li Che to be possessed by Colombian police.

However, Li Che's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the design drawings.

"Your Highness, what do you think of this? This is a warship that I suddenly came up with with amazing ideas after I went back that night!" Cheng Mingna chuckled, and seeing the surprised expression on Li Che's face, the girl even proudly puffed out her 36F chest.

"Are these catapults?"

"Yes, gunpowder-powered catapult."

"What do these red pencil drawings represent?"

"These are cranes."

“Catapults… cranes…” Li Che carefully counted along the blueprints: “Five catapults? Four cranes plus… six aircraft?”

Cheng Mingna nodded vigorously: "At first, I also thought about stuffing four 150mm naval guns into it and making a low-speed armored gunboat, but there is no design difficulty for this kind of warship, and the tasks that such a low-speed gunboat can perform are very simple and not important. Even if some loopholes are created in the special treaty, it will not have even the slightest impact on the balance of power between the enemy and our navy."

"So this is... a 2000-ton seaplane carrier? Is it necessary to install so many catapults on such a small ship?"

"It's precisely because its tonnage is smaller than a typical seaplane carrier that so many catapults are needed. The hangar at the stern, which can only accommodate one seaplane, so the other five are placed directly on the catapults. These catapults serve as both launch devices and aircraft housings," Cheng Mingna replied. "Of course, this type of vessel is not simply a seaplane carrier; it's actually a multi-functional warship. Notice the stern of this ship..."

As she spoke, Cheng Mingna stood up, bent down, and pointed to the blueprint. The surging front armor seemed to appear before her eyes all at once, and the girl's light fragrance wafted over.

Li Che subconsciously backed away. He hadn't paid much attention to this girl's front armor before, since Zhu Miaoyun was usually quite skilled at getting close to people with her E-rank armor. He just didn't expect that there would be someone even stronger than her today.

However, his attention was quickly drawn to where Cheng Mingna was pointing: "Look at the stern of this cruiser. I deliberately built the stern deck of this cruiser to be the same height as the aft deck of a 700-ton small destroyer, so that our small destroyers can directly rest against the stern of this cruiser to replenish supplies."

"A 2000-ton ship needs to carry 6 aircraft. Even if it can be replenished, it won't be able to replenish many, right?"

"It's possible to replenish supplies between smaller fleets. Considering operations in the tropics, even a small 700-ton destroyer probably can't fit a small cold storage unit, but these cruisers can be equipped with cold storage to preserve fresh vegetables and the like. Moreover, the supply ships specifically designed to further replenish these small destroyers and cruisers can be built like unarmed civilian vessels. Ideally, a three-tiered replenishment system should be established to compensate for the disadvantages of these ships' small size to the greatest extent." Cheng Mingna's words made Li Che look at her with even greater respect.

There aren't many designers in this era who can consider soldiers' living conditions and daily use environment. When designers encounter problems with space or weight, they often choose to cut into the space of the crew compartment.

Sailors, endure the hardships, I'll bear the blame! (Arminos, a soldier from a certain southern fat man in another timeline!)

It has to be said that this 2000-ton cruiser capable of carrying 6 seaplanes is truly remarkable. Li Che had never thought of exploiting this loophole before – because no one in another timeline would exploit such a loophole.

To put it bluntly, the world's understanding of naval aviation has been insufficient for a long time. During most of the war, the understanding of seaplanes by various countries was basically limited to reconnaissance.

If it's just for simple reconnaissance, then one or two seaplanes carried by an ordinary cruiser are enough. Even if there are further reconnaissance requirements, one or two aviation cruisers that can carry more seaplanes can be specially built.

Is it necessary to carry so many aircraft on such a small warship? A 2000-ton ship is still a small boat after all, and its ability to withstand wind and waves is not very good. In rough sea conditions, these aircraft mounted on catapults are likely to be damaged by the waves.

However, from another perspective, this concern is similar to the situation where some countries' navies, due to poor visibility caused by bad weather or sea fog in their waters, tend to design their capital ships with a focus on close-range combat. But in actual warfare, it turns out that when the weather conditions are extremely bad, they generally don't go out to fight.

If the aircraft on these cruisers are really at the point where the waves could damage them, would ordinary light and heavy cruisers be able to operate seaplanes effectively?

Conversely, if a batch of such ships were actually built during the interwar period... then they would be an ideal choice for both patrol and surveillance, or for deploying them to annoy the enemy during wartime.

It's worth noting that during World War II, even those who were relatively well-off could attack or even intercept B-17 bombers using Zero seaplanes. It's just that the Zero seaplanes were really terrible. If they had used a seaplane fighter with decent performance, it could have caused considerable trouble for future enemy land-based air forces in the South Pacific. After all, in that other world, land-based fighters were severely exposed for their insufficient range, so in the early stages of the war, many B-17s and other bombers did not have any fighter escorts at all.

“Your Highness, these ships can be used in many ways, not just in the south. They can also be very effective in the north,” Cheng Mingna continued. “Especially in the future operation where we need to retake Yingzhou… These small destroyers and cruisers are almost the best escort forces for landing and logistics teams. They can both escort and engage in close combat! This will free up our forces. I even think these ships can solve the problem of selecting the next generation of destroyers and even cruisers for our navy.”

"The selection of a new generation of destroyers and cruisers?" Li Che raised an eyebrow. "These few small ships can influence this? What makes you think that?"

Cheng Mingna started counting on her fingers: "According to the provisions of the treaty, we retain a total of 18 tons of heavy cruisers, 15 tons of light cruisers, and 15 tons of destroyers."

Although the number may seem considerable, especially since most of the tonnage of heavy cruisers is actually vacant, the tonnage of light cruisers and destroyers is mostly occupied by our existing ships.

Although a significant portion of these ships will be replaced over the next decade, the tonnage of new warships we can build is ultimately limited. For example, if we have 1 tons of tonnage available, and we use it to build 10-ton light cruisers, we can only build 10. However, if we look for 5000-ton light cruisers, we can build 20.

"I think I understand now. It's basically a debate within the navy about whether to prioritize quantity or quality?"

“Absolutely correct, Your Highness.” Cheng Mingna said, “The biggest controversy right now is between heavy cruisers and destroyers. The treaty stipulates that the maximum tonnage of a heavy cruiser is 10,000 tons. If we build 10,000-ton heavy cruisers, then we can have a maximum of 18 heavy cruisers.”

However, some have suggested that we could build the 'smallest' heavy cruiser with only three twin-mounted 210mm guns. If we could control the standard displacement to 6900 tons, then we could build 26 heavy cruisers.

Similarly, regarding destroyers, we have a shortage of approximately 5 tons of destroyers within the next three years. However, the treaty stipulates that the maximum standard displacement for destroyers cannot exceed 2000 tons. If we build 2000-ton destroyers, we can only build 25, but with 1500-ton destroyers, we can build 33.

At this point, Cheng Mingna shrugged: "I'm not quite sure which is more important, quantity or quality. Both seem to be quite important to us, but under normal circumstances, it is destined to be a difficult problem to have both, especially when our navy is facing two opponents of similar or even larger size than us in the worst-case scenario."

Li Che nodded slowly. The quality of the navy is important, but to some extent, the quantity of the navy is even more important. In the other world he had traveled to, the navy of the Lighthouse, the earthly kingdom, which still seemed invincible, was facing a serious reduction in manpower. Not only was it being challenged in quality by their powerful enemies, but it was also becoming increasingly lacking in the number of its fleets.

Balancing quantity and quality is a headache for anyone at any time.

"So if we mass-produce these 700-ton small destroyers, we can free up many of the functions of destroyers, and then we can concentrate on building those 2000-ton large destroyers. These large destroyers will have stronger firepower and longer range than those thousand-ton destroyers. To a certain extent, these large destroyers can even play the role of small cruisers when facing other thousand-ton destroyers."

"Then let these destroyers take on some of the functions of cruisers? Free up some of the cruiser forces as well?"

"Indeed!" Cheng Mingna said triumphantly, "In this way, the dilemma is resolved!"

Chapter 320 The Arrow Shot at the Blue Star Flag (5)

"Qian Guang, what do you think?"

After the beautiful designer who had "pressed F to get on board" left, Li Che picked up the design drawings left on the table again. He had come today to "correct" his impression of the "Tang Dynasty version of the Chidori-class minesweeper," but unexpectedly, he was almost convinced himself.

"Is Your Highness asking about the design or the strategy?"

"Let's talk about the design first. A 700-ton ship is supposed to carry a 120mm or even 150mm naval gun. Even if the length-to-beam ratio isn't very high, it probably can't be considered a particularly excellent gunnery platform, right?"

“Your Highness, my father also served in the navy. Do you know which ship he served on?”

"Your father?" Li Che estimated Xu Yueming's father's age: "Then your father should have served in the navy at the end of the ironclad era or the beginning of the pre-dreadnought era? Did he serve on a battleship?"

"No, my father was a very mediocre man, so he spent most of his time serving on second- or third-line ships. When I was little, he joked that I was working in the navy's retirement home. The ship he stayed on the longest was the Yangwu-class ram cruiser."

"A ramming cruiser..." This was the first time Li Che had heard people in this world talk about this rather ancient type of ship since he came to this world.

"Does Your Highness recognize this type of warship?"

"I know, it's a specialized cruiser that emerged during the era of ironclad warships. Because torpedoes were quite primitive at that time, and the rate of fire of cannons was generally quite slow, it gave rise to the opportunity for the birth of this small cruiser. These ramming cruisers were equipped with a small number of large-caliber heavy guns. These large-caliber guns could penetrate the ironclad armor of the ironclad warships at that time, and their sharp rams could inflict devastating damage on ironclad warships several times their own tonnage."

Li Che's familiarity with ramming cruisers was clearly beyond Xu Yueming's expectations. After all, even back then, it was a rather uncommon type of warship, and it had been out of service with the navy for almost 30 years.

After all, with the advent of rapid-fire cannons, the primary means of attack for these ships was to ram them with their ramming angles. In order to reduce costs, most ramming cruisers had wooden hulls covered with a layer of iron, which made them virtually unsurvivable in the face of modern firepower. In addition, with the increasing sophistication of torpedo weapons, these warships quickly disappeared from the navy's combat order.

Xu Yueming never expected that Li Che not only knew, but also understood in such detail.

Li Che noticed the slight surprise in Xu Yueming's eyes, and he chuckled inwardly—don't underestimate the "Junmi" that has emerged from the struggles of the 21st-century internet!

"Since Your Highness knows about this kind of ship, then it's easier to explain. The ram cruiser my father served on had a displacement of only 1350 tons. Back then, there was no such thing as a standard displacement. This 1350 tons was the standard displacement. If we consider it as the standard displacement, it would be even lighter. On such a small tonnage, two 260mm 25-caliber breech-loading guns weighing 25 tons each and four 120mm 30-caliber breech-loading guns were installed."

Although the artillery technology of that era was far inferior to that of today, the sheer weight and sheer volume of weapons required for small boats to carry large cannons was nothing new.

Li Che nodded in agreement. It's just that the functional classification of ship types is clearer nowadays, and it's becoming increasingly rare to see small boats carrying cannons. In the late 20th century, it was quite common to see elementary school students carrying their older sisters' weapons to the battlefield.

The performance specifications of the Yangwu-class ramming cruiser that Xu Yueming mentioned are almost identical to those of the Chaoyong-class ramming cruiser in another world. In that era, it wasn't just these ramming cruisers that would adopt such a heavy weapon configuration.

Take, for example, the famous cruiser Zhiyuan in another world. It was only 2350 tons, but it was able to accommodate a twin-mounted and a single-mounted 210mm gun mounted on an Armstrong gun mount. In addition, it had two 150mm 35-caliber guns mounted on its sides.

It should be noted that the firepower mentioned above was not the limit of the Zhiyuan. The Qing Dynasty cut back on the firepower configuration when buying the ship because of financial constraints. The Zhiyuan was designed with three 210mm naval guns and four 150mm secondary guns, as well as some small-caliber guns.

After all, at the end of the last century, for many countries, second-class or even third-class cruisers were the mainstay of their navies. Therefore, if these warships were forced to take on some of the functions of main warships, they could only try to equip them with large-caliber guns.

The current 700-ton small destroyers are actually just a return to a design style from the late 20th century, where smaller ships take on the functions of higher-level warships, which was not unusual in the past.

“I think the firepower of two twin 105mm naval guns is already quite strong,” Li Che said after a moment of thought. “After all, the Colombian Navy’s large number of flat-deck destroyers are equipped with only four four-inch (102mm) naval guns, and most of them can only deploy three of them on the same side at the same time.”

"The designers probably considered that the firepower would be upgraded in the future. At least from the perspective of our army, the destroyers that entered service at the end of the war generally used 120mm guns as the standard configuration for the main gun. The officers in the South China Sea Fleet who proposed this small destroyer plan initially wanted to fit 120mm twin-mounted turrets. Although this requirement may not be easy to achieve, it can be seen that they were pursuing firepower."

Yes, that's really ambitious. The Kingdom of Syracuse is planning to build a new generation of destroyers with a displacement of 1600 tons, which will be equipped with two twin-mounted 120mm naval guns. The Tang Dynasty's 1500-ton destroyers are planned to be equipped with four single-mounted 120mm naval guns, while the planned 2000-ton class destroyers are planned to be equipped with either three twin-mounted 120mm naval guns or four twin-mounted 120mm naval guns. The former has two torpedo launchers, while the latter only has one, which can be considered as one heavy torpedo launcher and one heavy gun launcher.

"The Colombian Navy will certainly build larger and stronger destroyers in the future. The two twin-mounted 105mm naval guns are not necessarily much better than the three 102mm guns on the American flat-deck destroyers in actual combat. Therefore, it is necessary to build some small destroyers with 105mm and 150mm guns. The main value of the 150mm naval gun is to make the enemy destroyers hesitant to use it. Even if the efficiency is low, the enemy will still have to consider that this is a ship with a 150mm gun."

"So it seems you were also convinced on the design side?"

"Compared to the rationality of the design, I believe that it is more important to seize the time for these small destroyers."

"Hurry up?"

“Either don’t build them at all, or if you decide to start construction, then start a sufficient number at once.” Xu Yueming said, “My opinion is that when we have almost reached the capacity of our destroyer tonnage, we should start construction on dozens of these small destroyers in a short period of time.”

"Concentrated, rapid construction?"

“Yes, and not now.” Xu Yueming said, “First of all, from a technical point of view, the power system of warships is the same every few years. These small destroyers need to cut as much weight as possible in all aspects. Delaying the start of construction will allow us to use more advanced power systems, so that we can achieve faster speeds with a lighter weight.”

Li Che nodded in agreement. He knew that his classmate, who was living a good life, had built a large number of coastal defense ships in the later stages of the war, in addition to the Chidori-class minesweepers. For example, the Class C coastal defense ships had a standard displacement of only 740 tons.

In terms of tonnage, it is not much different from the small destroyers currently being planned. However, in terms of firepower, it is only equipped with two 120mm deck guns, several triple-mounted Type 96 25mm anti-aircraft guns, and some mines and anti-submarine depth charges. It does not even have torpedoes installed, even though theoretically there is space in the middle of the hull to install torpedoes.

As for why their armaments are significantly inferior when they are of similar tonnage, in addition to the fact that these coastal defense ships do not need strong firepower, an important reason is that these coastal defense ships use retro triple-expansion steam engines, which are very large and heavy while outputting very little power. Their only value is that they can burn coal and do not have to worry about running out of oil and causing the ships to stop. However, this also means that the maximum speed of these coastal defense ships is less than 20 knots.

The difference between the two is essentially the difference between the advanced steam turbine and the outdated triple-expansion steam engine.

"So, what you mean by concentrated construction... is it because you're considering that other countries might realize this and patch up the treaty to close this loophole?"

"Yes, Your Highness is truly wise." Xu Yueming sincerely flattered him. Compared to his previous superiors, he really liked His Highness, who was both a mentor and a confidant in promoting him. Many times, His Highness could understand the meaning of a question with just a little guidance.

“Other countries would not want to see us gain such great benefits by exploiting loopholes in special treaties. However, our warships do not violate the requirements of the treaty. All they can do is to plug the loopholes by amending the treaty after they realize it. Therefore, the time between when we start building these warships and when other countries propose amendments to plug these warships is our window of opportunity.”

Xu Yueming said, "Considering that we will have to build a few ships for testing in the early stages, and given that we are unsure how long it will take for our old rivals to react, if we consider the first few ships as the first batch, then they will probably be able to react by the time we build the second or at most the third batch."

“I also want to use these ships to sustain the shipyard's workforce for a long time.” Li Che slowly shook his head. He understood that Xu Yueming was right; countries were quick to patch up treaties during the treaty period.

In another world, a classmate who was living a comfortable life once tried to circumvent the tonnage restrictions of aircraft carriers by building a 10,000-ton light aircraft carrier. However, as other countries quickly closed this loophole, the ship ultimately followed the tonnage requirements of aircraft carriers. It can be said that 10,000 tons of space were wasted to build a not-so-useful light aircraft carrier.

However, the treaty also respects the "fait accompli" to a certain extent. Given the size of the Tang Dynasty, even if other countries later patched up this loophole, the small destroyers that had already been built could not be dismantled. At most, no similar small destroyers would be built from the time the patch was applied until the treaty expired.

Therefore, these small boats do indeed need to be built in a concentrated manner.

"Is this the strategic perspective you're talking about?"

“Yes, but then Your Highness might need to appease the officers in the South Sea Fleet first.” Xu Yueming looked at the blueprints that Li Che was still holding in his hand: “It seems Your Highness is quite fond of these little guys.”

"I suppose so. Although these little things are not very eye-catching, for our navy, these little guys are a valuable means for us to make up for the gap in naval strength with Victoria and Colombia. I am naturally overjoyed to have such a ship."

"Then why doesn't Your Highness name this small destroyer?" Xu Yueming said. "Due to the reasons I mentioned above, this small destroyer probably can't go through the normal bidding and construction process, so why don't you name the first one?"

“Let’s come up with a name…” A bunch of somewhat nonsensical ideas popped into Li Che’s mind in an instant. For example, since this small destroyer is so small, how about calling it the Type 381 destroyer? (Veneto: Hey!)

Or perhaps this small destroyer, which is now in a similar position to the Type 056, should simply be called the Type 056 destroyer?

However, he eventually banished all these nonsensical and absurd thoughts from his mind. This was a warship that carried the desire for revenge of the people and soldiers of Borneo. Although it looked unremarkable, the small body of this warship was filled with heavy expectations.

This expectation should not be mixed with other things, although even if I made such a joke, others probably wouldn't notice.

"Let's call it Sharp Arrow," Li Che said. "Let this small destroyer become a sharp arrow aimed at the Blue Star Flag in the future."

Chapter 321 Explosive News from Ursus

"Grandpa wants me to oversee the country?" Li Che looked at the imperial edict he had just received in his hand. "Is the emperor suffering from dementia?"

"If word gets out, what you're saying will be quite disrespectful."

Zhu Miaoyun, who was in charge of conveying the imperial decree, exaggeratedly displayed an expression that said, "This is a topic that cannot be touched," and then casually spread her hands: "Don't you want to experience what it feels like to have the whole country in your hands? Just think of it as a test drive before buying a car."

"How can this be the same thing?" To be honest, Li Che almost wanted to swear: "My dear princess, since ancient times, when have you ever heard of a regent having any of the 'satisfying' aspects of 'controlling a country'?"

"Hmm...it seems to be in some novels I've read before..."

"Where is the novel from?"

"X Jiang's... Okay, I know what you're trying to say. I'm just reading some female-oriented novels to pass the time, don't use that to make fun of me!"

Zhu Miaoyun immediately made a face like a husky pointing at someone.jpg.