"As for the firepower issue, it is indeed a question worth discussing. If we look at the current combat distance, 8-inch to 9.2-inch guns are the best, which completely balances the relationship between bullet weight and fire rate. In time, we cannot penetrate the opponent's armor with 10-inch shells or even 12-inch shells. So why don't we use limited weight to equip more medium-caliber naval guns? At least for the moment, our armored cruisers should still focus on medium-caliber artillery."

Jericho considered this issue before this naval battle. At the same time, this issue was also the biggest point of disagreement between the newly appointed Navy Secretary Fisher and other naval generals. Fisher meant to equip future armored cruisers with battleship-level artillery, such as 12-inch cannons, thus giving birth to a brand new battleship - battle cruisers. He believed that the smaller 12-inch cannons are more powerful than the more medium-caliber artillery, and have greater upgrade value.

"The brand new battlecruisers will turn all cruisers into obsolete products! They have an overwhelming advantage over existing cruisers in speed and firepower, and they will completely solve the security of maritime traffic lines that plague the Imperial Navy." Fisher said in a meeting.

"But when such warships completely solve the problem of maritime traffic lines, they will also ruin the empire's economy!" Opponents said mercilessly. The Navy wants bigger, stronger and more warships. But what Congress needs is to balance the relationship between naval construction and economic pressure. Especially now, the war between the British and the Boers is still continuing, and at the same time, we must beware of Americans who may start attacks at any time!

The Japanese have informed the British through diplomatic channels. They will start the war in 1904 at the latest. If it is too late, the Russian Siberian Railway will be completed, which is undoubtedly a terrible thing for the Japanese! So, if the British now continue to serve a batch of new armored cruisers before 1905, in order to prevent the Americans from making possible aggression!

Due to the cost and construction time issues, there was an opinion within the British Navy to continue to build older armored cruisers and postpone the construction time of new battlecruisers. After this confrontation, Jericho's opinion was the same. First build old armored cruisers to survive this dangerous period, and then build new battlecruisers. Moreover, in his opinion, the only difference between old armored cruisers and battlecruisers is the caliber of artillery. These battleships can still be used as a vanguard fleet to deal with enemy light armored cruisers even if they cannot be used for battle line combat in the future. Therefore, he emphasized in the report that armored cruisers with 9.2-inch and 10-inch guns are completely enough.

At the end of the report, he mentioned his views on the German Navy and the Italian Navy. For the former, Jericho believed that the other party was a respectable and valued opponent. "In the next 10 years, the German Navy will become the most important potential opponent of the Royal Navy. They have the ability and willingness to build a strong fleet, and their personnel quality is very high. Their commanders are brave but not reckless, and they advance and retreat in battle." Jericho's evaluation of the Italian fleet is not very high.

"As an emerging maritime country in the region, the Italians have ambitions at sea, but like the army, the Italian navy is not worth relying on. They can block the weak fleet of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they will never do anything better. It is impossible for the Italians to cooperate with us to launch a landing battle against Turkey. The most important thing is that the Italians are fence-bearers. They are not grateful for the help of the British Empire, but instead take a natural attitude. Moreover, the equipment of the Italian navy is too outdated, and it is probably a troublesome to build a brand new fleet with the weak national strength of Italy. This country is like a useless rib and has no great value."

Jericho spent several days to improve his report, and his opponent, General Scher, was also doing the same thing during this period. This battle is also of great importance to reference value for Germany. Overall, Scher was very dissatisfied with the result of this battle. His colleagues, General Hippel from Bavaria, fought in West Africa, and he would never forget him for his life. Within more than an hour, he cleanly solved one battleship and two armored cruisers in the French Navy. This record made Hippel's reputation within the High Seas Fleet soar. He even became a popular candidate for the future commander of the High Seas Fleet. It can even be said that if he was not a Bavarian, both the emperor and the senior navy would recognize him.

Tirpitz and the Empire gave Scher a chance to prove himself. After an hour of battle, Scher's result was a desperate victory... Well, from a strategic perspective, Scher suffered a loss, because Turkey's poor infrastructure level would not have the chance to attack again in the next February. Although he could find objective reasons, such as warship maintenance issues and luck issues, the draw result could not be changed.

Especially the latter, luck can only be considered unlucky. Haven’t you seen the Danish Navy Battleship in history, the new Prince of Wales battleship and the world’s most powerful battle patrol, Hood, intercepted the Bismarck battleship and Prince Eugen’s cruiser. 1bb1bc against 1bb1ca, which was a good advantage. After all, Prince Eugen’s 8-inch cannon and fire stick were undoubtedly. But who would have thought that the Bismarck battleship directly gave Hood a second and instantly reversed the situation...

For example, in the Battle of the North Sea in history, the Schánhorst, which was hit by the British fleet in the night war, could have escaped by relying on its high speed, and was more than 20 kilometers away from the Duke of York. At this time, a 14-inch shell had been fired just in time to hit the Sánhorst's life gate. It was a connection between the horizontal part of the dome armor and the inclined part. However, in order to accommodate the equipment, the horizontal part was raised a little. There was a piece of vertical armor between the inclined and the horizontal armor.... The 0.8-meter-high life gate was hit more than 20 kilometers away. This can only be said that God asked you to die and no one could save it.

However, no matter how annoyed, Scheller made a very serious summary of the outcome of this battle. First of all, he believed that the Mainz-class armored cruiser was not obvious when facing the British's new heavy firepower second-class battleship or armored cruiser. This was the same as Jericho's idea.
Chapter completed!