Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 22

The British Empire maintained a balance of power in Europe through a combination of naval power and moral influence. Before the Boer War, European nations believed that while Britain was the dominant power, it could treat smaller nations with respect, and that under British rule, smaller nations had a place in terms of rights and interests. However, after the outbreak of the Boer War, especially after the British built concentration camps in South Africa, imprisoning Boer women and children in an attempt to coerce them into surrender, Europe began to re-evaluate Britain: it was not only a hegemon, but an incompetent one.

The peaceful order in Europe, previously maintained by British intimidation, began to crumble. Major powers started acting independently, believing that morality could not protect a nation, and only force could. Britain's standing in Europe began to decline, and Europeans perceived British diplomacy as hypocritical.

Under such circumstances, how could the Russians be willing to give up such a large territory as Manchuria for the sake of so-called honor, especially since this territory opened up a sea route to the Pacific Ocean for Russia?

At this time, Britain urgently needed a ready-made military force in the Far East to stop Russia's actions. However, the Japanese, who had previously regarded Manchuria as their own sphere of interest, suddenly fell silent. Apart from making a few dry pronouncements about preserving China's sovereignty and integrity, they took almost no substantive actions, which made the Russians even more emboldened.

In an effort to provoke a confrontation between Japan and Russia, the British even prematurely proposed the idea of ​​forming a trilateral alliance between Britain, Germany, and Japan. According to the British's original plan, this suggestion would be postponed until the conflict between Japan and Russia was more intense, thus giving Japan a strong boost in its willingness to go to war with Russia.

However, Japan's ambiguous attitude has not only forced the British to bring up this plan ahead of schedule, but has also reduced Britain's diplomatic leverage against Japan.

Sadao felt that it might be time to consider supporting a force in southern China to deal with unforeseen circumstances. While the existence of the Qing government could guarantee British interests, it could not defend the order that Britain had established in the Far East. The global order was Britain's greatest interest, and compared to that, Britain's interests in China were only a minor part.

Sadaoyi's considerations were focused on the Southeast Protection Conference and Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong. His intelligence indicated that the Southeast Protection Conference was increasingly forging close ties with these two governors and had excluded Li Hongzhang from the Southeast Mutual Protection Pact.

After Li Hongzhang went north, Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong grew closer and began to have ideas for implementing new policies. For example, Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong jointly proposed to the consular corps in Shanghai and Wuhan that a city council be established, jointly managed by Chinese and foreign parties, to govern Shanghai and Wuhan autonomously, thereby abolishing the extraterritorial rights and military stationing rights of foreign countries in these two places.

Previously, consuls from various countries had not been interested in this, as they had assumed that the Qing Dynasty might be partitioned by various countries, thus rendering the establishment of city councils meaningless. However, Satow now found the idea quite interesting. If it could be achieved, Britain could indirectly control China's internal affairs through city councils, without having to intervene directly as it did now, and could also restrain other powers.

However, while Satow was pondering this question, he didn't reveal it to those around him. This was because British officials and lower-ranking diplomats in the colonies were unaware of the empire's decline; they continued their old habits of flaunting the empire's military might and defending its glory. Simply put, raising this issue at this time would be a blow to these British civil servants serving the empire overseas.

However, Satow still managed to consult with the British Consul General in Shanghai, Liu Kunyi, and Zhang Zhidong on the issue of urban autonomy. While the British began to respond to Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong's requests, Tian Bangxuan was also meeting with Governor-General Zhang Zhidong, requesting an investigation into the rural areas of Hubei.

At this time, Wuchang was still in a state of idleness in the first month of the lunar calendar. Because of the Boxer Rebellion, there was not much joy in the Governor-General's Mansion this New Year. In the reception room, Tian Bangxuan earnestly advised Zhang Zhidong, who was wearing a fur coat and a warm hat, "The countries are only concerned about the indemnity now, and I'm afraid they will not lend money to the local area in the short term."

This reform is about getting things done, and getting things done requires money and supplies. Without money and supplies, nothing can be done, and naturally, the reform cannot proceed. If there are no loans from other countries, then we will have to find our own ways to raise the money and supplies.

Our country is an agricultural nation, so naturally, we must find ways to raise funds and supplies through agriculture. However, without conducting a survey of agriculture, it's impossible to know how much money and supplies can be raised from it. This matter must be done; every day of delay is a day of postponement of the reform…”

After listening to Tian Bangxuan's words, Zhang Zhidong nodded in approval, saying, "Junyi, you are a man of great talent and genuinely want to get things done. Your previous efforts to travel between Jiang and Chu, trying to get me and Commander Xian to join forces to implement the new policies, were, in my opinion, correct. The Qing Dynasty now is truly doomed if it doesn't implement reforms. Draft a plan for this, and I'll approve it..."

Tian Bangxuan finally relaxed, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Zhidong, and said, "Your Excellency is wise..."

Chapter 76 Discussion of New Warships (Part 1)

Upon returning home, Kawahara Yoichi quickly summoned Captain Yamada and inquired about what Lin Xinyi had been doing during his two-week absence from school. Captain Yamada, already prepared, handed over a mimeographed newsletter and said, "Lin Xinyi has been very well-behaved these days, focusing on his studies and organizing club activities. The club now has 67 members."

Kawahara Yoichi took the tabloid, glanced at it, and then smiled, saying, "Knowing to divide warships into three parts for research is quite rare for a freshman. I didn't expect this club to last so long. Hmm, keep an eye on it, and let me know if you have any questions..."

For the instructors, they can take turns resting and going home for the Lunar New Year, but for the cadets, there are almost no holidays from the first day they enter the military academy. Etajima Naval Academy is like a closed military society. The school attempts to isolate a group of ordinary people from society over three to four years and eventually train them into a group of soldiers who obey orders.

Therefore, Lin Xinyi couldn't go home for the New Year, but he did receive letters from his sister and two close friends. His sister was alright, still happy that he had been accepted into naval academy. His two friends, however, complained that he shouldn't have gone to naval academy at all; they said he should have swum all the way from Miyajima to Hiroshima, even if he had to jump into the sea. Lin Xinyi could only smile and remain silent. However, at the end of their letters, his two friends still wished him well and expressed that their aspirations would not change.

After more than a month of adjustment, Lin Xinyi, like other freshmen, began to get used to life at the military academy. In fact, once the oppressive behavior between seniors and juniors and the corporal punishment from instructors were removed, life at the naval academy wasn't so difficult.

However, unlike other freshmen, Lin Xinyi focused his main energy on club activities. After this period of adjustment, the freshmen members began to develop a preliminary sense of belonging to the club, because only within the club did they not have to constantly worry about relationships with seniors and juniors or whether they were violating school rules.

This small activity room became a haven for these teenagers who had recently left home, allowing them to express their normal human nature. Outside of this activity room, according to school rules, they were not allowed to show the weakness of ordinary people. Therefore, although the freshmen had heavy academic workloads, very few requested to withdraw from the club.

Seeing the growing harmony within the group, Lin Xinyi announced the advancement of his research to its second phase: using the Battle of the Yellow Sea as an example, he would discuss the influencing factors of the three major systems of warships on the outcome of the war. This battle was chosen because the naval academy possessed the most comprehensive materials on it, eliminating the need for deliberate research and significantly accelerating the study's progress.

By this time, Lin Xinyi had divided the new students into four groups for specialized research: hull structure, weapon systems, propulsion systems, and intelligence. The intelligence group was small and mainly responsible for collecting, organizing, and verifying information.

Inoue Tsunomatsu, Takano Isoroku, Shimada Shigetaro, and Hayashi Shinji each took charge of the four groups. Hayashi Shinji was also responsible for cross-validating the research results of the four groups and convening discussions among the core members of each group. Although everyone participated in club activities, it was clear that some people were just there to join the club, while others were there for the activities. Therefore, at this point, core members and ordinary members were distinguished.

No one objected to the organizational structure established by Lin Hsin-yi. Those who enjoy the activities can focus more on them, while those who participate casually can have more free time – isn't that a good thing for everyone?

Time quickly passed to the end of February, and early spring arrived in Etajima. That Sunday morning, Lin Xinyi organized a meeting of the four groups to give a brief report on their analysis of the Battle of the Yellow Sea. After each group presented their research conclusions, Lin Xinyi stood up and gave a summary.

"Based on the current discussion results of various groups, the failure of the Qing Navy was less due to the corruption and incompetence of Qing officials and the factional struggles within the country that dragged Li Hongzhang down, and more because the Qing Dynasty never really built a navy in the first place; they merely purchased a few warships. They did send students to Britain to learn ship handling techniques, but they only learned ship handling techniques and were completely ignorant of naval theory."

In contrast, the Chinese navy had a clear objective from the outset: to seize maritime power in East Asia and destroy Qing dynasty warships. Therefore, all of my country's naval development revolved around this goal, making Qing's defeat inevitable. However, this discussion will not focus on the impact of naval objectives on naval development; therefore, we will only discuss aspects related to warships.

Whether it was the Qing Dynasty or Japan, most of their warships came from British shipyards. To some extent, we can also learn about the changes in Britain's design philosophy for capital ships from this great naval battle.

This naval battle, ultimately won by Japan, perfectly validated a shipbuilding principle: a capital ship with a balance of speed, weaponry, and defense is superior to one excelling in only one aspect. The Beiyang Fleet's Ding and Zhen ships, while indeed possessing high defensive capabilities, were unable to catch up with or attack our ships, ultimately becoming nothing more than floating coffins on the sea—a case of excessive defense…

Several senior students in the activity room nodded slightly upon hearing this. Although Fujita and other senior students said they would not disturb the freshmen's discussion, some senior students were very interested in the discussion of the Battle of the Yellow Sea, so they would often come to listen to the discussion and sometimes provide some materials that the freshmen had not been exposed to.

Lin Xinyi concluded: "Therefore, if the next generation of British capital ships is to completely suppress the Mikasa, it must meet these four conditions: a maximum speed of more than 19 knots, the ability to withstand the direct bombardment of the 305 main gun in long-range combat, a hull structure that can support the weight of such armor, and weapons that are 305 or larger caliber main guns with uniform caliber and uniform caliber."

The freshmen were still somewhat confused by Lin Xinyi's conclusion, but the seniors were already in an uproar. Hachikaku Saburo immediately stood up and questioned, "Unifying the caliber and the length of the main gun, are you completely abandoning medium- and close-range combat?"

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, "The conclusion of the Battle of the Yellow Sea is already very clear: Japan simply does not have the capability to manufacture armor-piercing shells. It can only rely on secondary guns used in medium- or close-range combat to sweep across the deck of the ship. In other words, it destroys the warship's combat power by killing the crew."

Against such an opponent, employing long-range engagement tactics would render the secondary main guns below the 305mm main gun of the Mikasa obsolete. Therefore, in naval battles primarily fought with main guns against main guns, the secondary main guns should naturally be eliminated, and the entire fleet should be equipped with main guns.

Furthermore, in long-range combat, aiming with the human eye becomes extremely difficult. Therefore, using machines for unified observation, calculation, and firing becomes essential. A salvo of shells hitting targets within the same range naturally increases the hit rate.

Saburo Hachikaku was somewhat dazed. He felt that what the other person said seemed to make sense, but he quickly realized what he meant and said, "No, the reciprocating steam engines used on battleships, even if they can reach 19 knots, can only maintain that speed for a very short time. In fact, the cruising speed of battleships is generally 14.5 knots, and they cannot exceed 8 hours. Otherwise, the main shaft will overheat or cause engine overload. Once a malfunction occurs, the ship will have to be towed back to the shipyard for major repairs. It is impossible to repair them at sea. Your assumptions are out of touch with reality."

Lin Xinyi, however, remained calm and said, "In 1897, HMS Turpinia reached a speed of 34.5 knots during Queen Victoria's naval review. The British Navy then applied the steam turbine developed by Charles Parsons to destroyers, and both destroyers reached a speed of 37 knots. Senior, if it can be used on destroyers, then it can certainly be used on battleships. We are mainly discussing the possibility, not the practicality."

Saburo Hachikaku was speechless, but still said, "But can such a warship be built? Even if it's possible, we need to discuss the details, right?"

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, "Yes, we will then conduct an in-depth discussion on the details of this ship. Could you join the hull structure team to help us? We know very little about hull structures."

Saburo Hachikaku hesitated for a moment, then turned around and called out the names of several senior students, asking them to join him in the hull structure team. At that moment, he was genuinely eager to know whether the ship could actually be built in theory.

With the addition of senior students like Saburo Hachikaku, the previous four groups were upgraded to four departments, each further divided into several groups. The senior students were clearly more familiar with warships. However, Saburo Hachikaku was somewhat impressed by Shin-Yi Lin, a new student, because he had broken down a very complex warship design project into several simpler problems, thus greatly reducing the learning curve for the new student.

Chapter 77 Discussion on New Types of Warships (Part Two)

In mid-March, the flagship of the standing fleet, Tokiwa, was undergoing repairs in Kure. With nothing to do, fleet staff officer Akiyama Saneyuki went to Etajima to visit an old friend. His old friend was working as an instructor at the military academy and was very happy to hear of Akiyama's visit.

As the two strolled and chatted on campus, the old friend casually mentioned the recent changes at the school. Akiyama was genuinely shocked, "Those old men up there actually agreed to let students organize clubs? Have their minds become that open?"

An old friend chuckled and replied, "Don't look down on the old men. In some ways, they're much braver than us young people."

Akiyama looked at his old friend with a blank expression, not knowing what he was talking about. Seeing Akiyama's appearance, his old friend awkwardly put away his lewd smile and changed the subject, saying, "To be honest, this student club is quite well-organized. They even came up with a design direction for a future British warship. Although it's impractical, it's very imaginative."

Seeing this, Akiyama Saneyuki asked seriously, "What kind of idea is that?"

The old friend could only offer a simple explanation: "It's a high-speed, armored, heavily armed capital ship..."

His old friend told it as an amusing anecdote, but Akiyama Saneyuki listened intently and couldn't help but comment, "This is beyond imaginative. I never expected that the students at the Marine Academy would have such knowledge. It's truly surprising."

His old friend looked at him with some shock and said, "Do you think this kind of capital ship is feasible?"

Akiyama Saneyuki shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about that, but I heard about the concept of this new type of battleship when I was in America, but there must be many technical problems that haven't been solved. Do the students have any more specific research on this?"

Hearing that the United States had begun discussing the construction of such a capital ship, his old friend no longer dared to laugh at the students' wild ideas. He could only say to Akiyama, "I'll take you to Yamada. He's one of his students, and he should have more comprehensive information."

Akiyama Saneyuki then went to the instructor's office with his old friend. Yamada, upon hearing their purpose, said, "There's one more class before self-study time. Why don't you sit here and take a look at their newsletter? I'll call Lin Xinyi over after this class, and you can talk to him then. He's the one who proposed this project."

Akiyama thanked Yamada and sat down at the desk next to him, flipping through the naval seminar newsletter that Yamada had collected, which consisted of about six pages. Akiyama glanced at the first three pages and put them down; they were all common-sense questions. However, he read each of the subsequent newsletters quite slowly, and even looked up to ask his old friend for paper and pen, and started doing the calculations himself.

Yamada looked at it with great curiosity and asked, "Are the articles on this really useful?"

As Akiyama continued his calculations without looking up, he said, "Yes, because these technologies already exist; it's just that Japan doesn't have them yet."

Yamada and Akiyama's old friend exchanged glances, sensing that things were getting unusual. Watching Akiyama intently calculating and drawing, neither dared to disturb him. Finally, seeing that it was almost time, Yamada said goodbye to his friend and quietly left the office.

When Lin Xinyi was called to the office by Instructor Yamada, he was a little confused. However, when he heard the officer in front of him introduce himself as Akiyama Saneyuki, he couldn't help but take a few more glances. He was indeed not as handsome as in the TV series. This was Lin Xinyi's first impression of Akiyama.

Akiyama didn't think much of it. Upon seeing Lin Xinyi, he eagerly asked, "Why do you think the observation and aiming system should be separate from the artillery?"

Lin Xinyi replied without hesitation: "From the history of the Industrial Revolution, the process of the Industrial Revolution was to replace unreliable manpower with reliable machines, thereby reducing errors and costs. So, the military should naturally undergo corresponding changes as well, replacing the role of gunners with the unified observation and calculation of machines. Once this is clear, people will naturally want to separate the observation and aiming system and then standardize the cannons to facilitate unified calculations."

Lin Xinyi's answer convinced Qiushan that this was indeed the young man's way of thinking, not someone else's. This was because the other party did not view warship design from a military perspective, but purely regarded warships as industrial products, which is why he was able to put forward such insights.

Akiyama then asked, "But in that case, such battleships can only be used for one purpose: dealing with the enemy's main warships. They would probably be unable to undertake other tasks."

Lin Xinyi looked at Qiushan with some confusion and said, "Industrial development has led to the specialization of workers' jobs, and this specialization has also brought about an increase in efficiency. Shouldn't the navy follow the example of industry, divide all tasks into levels, and then use specialized warships to be responsible for them? In this era, expecting a single warship to undertake all tasks will only result in being easily destroyed by a more specialized fleet, right?"

Akiyama, Yamada, and the others were stumped by Lin Xinyi's question. As resource-poor Japanese, the education they received in the navy was to make a warship do all sorts of tasks as much as possible. To set up a separate ship just to complete a single task seemed far too extravagant.

This small-farmer mentality of the Japanese Navy was most evident during World War I when it commissioned warships for the Italians. Because of the excessive pursuit of the warships' combat power, the living space of the crew was minimized, which led to the Italian Navy hurling insults at the Japanese.

Akiyama Saneyuki quickly focused his attention on the mechanical calculator, which was what he had just been using to perform calculations and surveys in his office. At this time, Britain and the United States already had similar mechanical calculators, but Japan only knew that such a thing existed, but did not know the principle behind it, because the development of the Japanese Navy had not yet reached the point where it needed such auxiliary calculation capabilities.

However, it was in this tabloid that Akiyama saw the idea of ​​a mechanical calculator, which shocked him. But for Lin Xinyi, the new all-heavy-gun battleship would inevitably need an auxiliary calculation method to ensure long-range engagements, because relying on manual calculations at such distances was meaningless; the battleship wouldn't stand still and wait for you to calculate before firing.

As someone who came later, he naturally understood what a fire control platform was, but he did not fully explain the concept. He only mentioned that by using the integration principle of calculus, he set up an integrator that summed up a continuously changing quantity, thereby estimating the distance between the two ships.

For most people, this concept is simply a matter of understanding the technology and knowing that it exists so they can use it. However, for some outsiders, this is exactly what they want: the technology itself. Akiyama Saneyuki is one of those outsiders.

Faced with someone whose technical skills had reached a professional level, Lin Xinyi finished explaining his ideas and that was it. Seeing that Qiushan wanted to discuss the technical details further, he had to tactfully remind him, "I'm still just a first-year student..."

Akiyama Saneyuki finally came to his senses and stopped focusing on the details of the mechanical calculator, instead inquiring about the overall layout and design philosophy of the capital ship. Lin Xinyi handled these non-technical matters with ease, having already discussed them so many times before that he was almost able to piece together the concept of the dreadnought.

For him, the most troublesome thing was integrating these new ideas together. However, after establishing the direction of Britain's next-generation capital ship, this approach was less questioned. Since no one knew what Britain's next-generation capital ship would be, Lin Xinyi wanted to put them all on one ship. Others could only express doubts about its effectiveness, but would not raise objections, since it was just wishful thinking.

However, for Akiyama Saneyuki, Hayashi Nobuyoshi's ideas overlapped with a shipbuilding direction he had heard about while studying in the United States. Although Hayashi Nobuyoshi was far less professional and practical than the Americans, after all, he was just a student, while the Americans were professional naval personnel.

However, in terms of overall integration, Lin Xinyi's concept was far more complete than that of the Americans. Although he could not obtain all of the Americans' design plans, he could tell that the Americans had not yet systematically summarized the various parts of the warship, so as to complete the idea of ​​unified firing of the main guns after calculation under the central observation system.

Hayashi Shin-yi's proposed independent turrets, hydraulic transmission systems, central axis arrangement, and superimposed turrets essentially overturned the design concepts of 19th-century ironclad warships. Ultimately, Akiyama Saneyuki concluded that this was essentially a battleship specifically designed for line-of-battle combat; it could no longer be called a capital ship, it was undeniably a battleship.

Seeing that Lin Xinyi could talk to Akiyama Saneyuki for so long and not be at a disadvantage in the conversation, Yamada and Akiyama's old friend were shocked. After all, Akiyama was a student of Mahan, a great figure in the U.S. Navy, and was a scholar who could directly teach at the Naval University.

If it weren't for dinnertime, Akiyama Saneyuki really wouldn't have wanted to end the conversation. When he finally said goodbye to Hayashi Shin-yi, Akiyama asked him a question, "Given Japan's strength, it would probably take many years to build such a high-speed armored battleship fleet. So, why did you bring up this research topic at this time?"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Xinyi said, "Last June, Germany proposed the Second Naval Law, which means that Germany will also join the competition for maritime power. For Japan, it is indeed too early to consider a high-speed armored battleship fleet, but it is just right for Germany. If they get this shipbuilding idea, they will avoid many detours."

Akiyama Masayuki frowned upon hearing this, but the two instructors beside him immediately reprimanded him, saying, "Germany is not our ally. Giving them something like this is just digging a hole for ourselves."

Lin Xinyi simply said, "Britain possesses all the technologies required for high-speed armored battleships. To suppress the main warships of other navies, the British will inevitably develop a similar design sooner or later. So, even if we don't provide it, wouldn't the Germans and Americans follow suit once they see the British building such warships?"

It's better to exchange an idea for the technology Japan needs than to let it become obsolete at home. Besides, Britain is currently the dominant maritime power; even if Germany builds a powerful navy, the British will be the first to worry. Why should Japan be anxious?

Chapter 78 Wargaming

While Akiyama Saneyuki's sudden appearance somewhat disrupted Hayashi Shin'ichi's plans, it increased Kawahara Yoichi's attention to the Naval Research Club. As a result, the war game exercise on Sunday at the end of March, which was originally an activity organized by the club itself, became a formal exercise with the participation of the school. The school opened the war game exercise venue to the club and sent instructors to participate in the evaluation.

The first scenario to be simulated was the Japanese 66-Fleet versus the British capital fleet. Out of Japanese pride, the school assigned the British fleet a 6+6 ship configuration, which included the Old Star-class battleships and the Formidable-class battleships, but did not include the Duncan-class battleships under construction.

The Star-class battleships were designed by Britain to counter the Japanese and Russo-Japanese fleets in the Far East, while the Formidable-class battleships are currently the main battleships of the Royal Navy, and the Duncan-class battleships are already on the slipway as the main battleships of the Royal Navy.

The fact that the school included the Formidable-class battleships as targets already revealed the ambitions of some members. The Sixth Fleet was personally controlled by instructors, and the battlefield was chosen in the East China Sea near Taiwan. The British squadron was commanded by senior students such as Fujita and Ominato, which also served to verify whether the conclusions of the senior students' research were correct.

The senior students were the first to launch an attack, but the instructors, with their rich experience in war games, quickly leveled the score. After a morning of hard work, the instructors finally won a small victory, and the senior students chose to retreat, thus ending the war game simulation.

Kawahara, Togo, and others observing the exercise were not satisfied with the result, as the trainees' command was rather clumsy and failed to achieve the intended purpose of comparing warship performance. However, this war game at least demonstrated that the Sixth Fleet was not the obsolete fleet that some people claimed, which was a good thing.

When Kawahara left, he specifically called Lin Xinyi over and asked, "It's your turn to perform next Sunday. Have you finished your preparations?"

Lin Xinyi replied seriously, "It shouldn't be a big problem, but I don't know if the referee will accept the data we provided."

Kawahara paused for a moment but didn't say anything. He was still very interested in the new warship concept proposed by Lin Xinyi and didn't think it would overturn the old design direction of capital ships. He felt that he would hardly witness the technological leap from sailing battleships to steam ironclads twice in his life.

A week later, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the weather on Etajima Island was sunny and dry. If it weren't for the military stationed there, Etajima Island would be a perfect place to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

On this day, Kawahara's office also received a group of uninvited guests. Commander-in-Chief Togo Heihachiro of the Standing Fleet arrived at the school with a group of naval officers, saying they came to see the cherry blossoms. Kawahara offered Togo a cup of tea, and only then did the fleet commander casually bring up the matter of the school's clubs.

Kawahara finally understood Togo's meaning, so he suggested to him, "The student club is having a war game today, why don't we go and watch it together?"

This was exactly what Tokugo had in mind. After returning to the fleet, Akiyama Saneyuki had been enthusiastically recommending to him that high-speed armored capital ships with all main guns were the future of the navy. This made him unable to resist bringing his men to see for themselves what this thing was all about.

The group arrived at the wargaming room and realized they were half an hour early. Kawahara then asked Captain Yamada to gather everyone together. At Captain Yamada's instruction, Inoue, Shimada, and the others began searching for Hayashi Shin'ichi, who was not in his room.

Gao Ye searched for a while but couldn't find Lin Xinyi. After thinking for a moment, he ran to the reading room and sure enough, he saw Lin Xinyi reading a newspaper there. So he waved to Lin Xinyi from outside the window and called him out.

Hearing that the commander of the standing fleet was also participating in the war game, Lin Xinyi wasn't particularly excited. He simply asked Takano to wait outside while he packed his things and came out. As the two walked, Takano couldn't help but ask him, "Aren't you nervous? If you fail in front of these seniors, your reputation won't be good."

Lin Xinyi said calmly, "This is a battle between warships, what does it have to do with anyone else? What I need is to bring out the performance of the warships, not to demonstrate my command capabilities. Therefore, there is no need to care about the outcome of this simulation. The only problem is whether they will accept the data we have calculated. If they deny the data we have given, that will be a real problem."

Takano was inexplicably worried. Although they had tried their best to make the data more realistic, many technical details were still unresolved. Therefore, much of the data could only be based on speculation. Although this speculation was approved by several instructors, would the referee accept it in a real war game? After all, if the Six-Six Fleet, which represented the face of Japan, was really defeated, the discussion would inevitably return to the original setting.

However, he quickly changed his mind. It was better to deal with this kind of thing after problems arise. So he asked Lin Xinyi, "What news were you watching just now? You seemed so nervous?"

"Oh," Lin Xinyi said casually, "Looking at the reparations demands made by various countries to the Qing Dynasty, they are prepared to pay each Chinese person one tael of silver, totaling 4.5 million taels. It's clear that weak nations have no diplomacy."

Takano immediately said excitedly, "Yes, our country has demanded 3555 million taels in compensation this time, which will allow the navy to have one more battleship..."

Lin Xinyi immediately shut his mouth. Indeed, in the eyes of the Japanese, the misfortune of their neighbor was Japan's great fortune; the Japanese were incapable of empathy. He could only quicken his pace slightly and say, "Let's hurry up. Didn't you say Commander Togo and Principal Kawahara are waiting?"

Takano had no choice but to stop talking and follow Lin Xinyi. When they arrived at the war game simulation room, Instructor Yamada led Lin Xinyi to the observation platform on the second floor. Togo Heihachiro and a group of naval officers looked him over a few times. Principal Kawahara asked Lin Xinyi to greet them before letting him go downstairs to begin the formal war game simulation.

The battlefield setup was largely unchanged from last week. However, facing his own 6+6 fleet configuration, Lin Xinyi considered for a moment and then requested the referees to remove the six older warships, keeping only the six newer ones. The referees couldn't help but remind him, "But you're facing a full 6+6 fleet. Removing these six battleships is like fighting two against one. You can't win this battle."

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, "The purpose of this war game is to verify the performance of the new generation of battleships. Winning or losing is not a requirement. In addition, these six battleships will only interfere with the evaluation of the performance of the new battleships, so I request that the existence of these six battleships be removed."

The three instructors on the judging panel discussed it for a while and felt that Lin Xinyi was simply asking for trouble. Since he didn't want to show off in front of so many senior naval officers, then of course they would give in to the kid.

林信义所描绘的这一款高速装甲全重炮战列舰，使用的主炮为列装于“富士”号战列舰上的MK9型舰炮，也就是日本所称的41式305毫米40倍径火炮。前后甲板上各安装了2座双联305火炮，也就是8门主炮，射程14000米。

When the two fleets approached 12000 meters apart, Lin Xinyi ordered his men to seize the T-shaped formation and begin firing on the 66th Fleet. This action was laughable to the naval officers watching from the upper floors, because according to the principles of mid-range engagements, test firing at a distance of 8000 meters and engaging in combat at around 6000 meters was the mainstream of naval warfare at present.

Lin Xinyi's actions drew laughter from the officers upstairs. One of them said, "This cadet doesn't seem to know how much a 305mm shell costs, which is why he's throwing money into the sea so extravagantly. If he graduates and comes to work on my ship, I definitely won't let him touch the cannons."

However, while these naval officers were laughing heartily, two people did not laugh. One was Commander Togo Heihachiro, but this commander was always serious and everyone was used to it. The other was Akiyama Saneyuki.

Seeing how intently this high-achieving student who had returned from the United States was watching, someone couldn't help but step forward and ask curiously, "Is this kind of game really worth your serious attention?"

Akiyama Saneyuki turned to look at his colleague before saying seriously, "I don't think this is a game. The person down there is showing us a possibility of future warfare. If we miss out on this simulation, we'll only be the ones who suffer."

Akiyama Saneyuki's answer was hard for the officers around him to accept. They knew his aloof attitude, but what had gotten into him today that made him treat a military academy student differently?