Chapter 239 Victory Port Shipyard (4)

At present, the construction progress of the No. 1 test ship has reached the upper deck stage. If it is not necessary to wait for the main mast to be processed in the Tiandu Industrial Zone, it is estimated that it will be able to enter the outfitting stage in the next few days - the only way is to wait for the main mast to be installed.

After that, the ship can adjust its center of gravity and make final preparations before launching.

Another important reason that has slowed down the construction progress is from the military industry department. According to the requirements of the Military and Police Department, new sailing ships must be equipped with a certain number of marine artillery, or have simple modifications, whether they are used for commercial freight or other purposes.

The ability to equip artillery at the end, to put it bluntly, means that all new sailing ships must have the ability to be transformed into armed ships in wartime.

It stands to reason that the design and construction standards of merchant ships and warships will be quite different. This requirement of the Military and Police Department may sound a bit unreasonable at first, but it is also a helpless solution based on the current situation. The Ministry of Shipping Xin

It is absolutely impossible to take out the drawings and customize the new sailboats at other shipyards when they are put into mass production in the future. We will still have to rely on the Victory Port Shipyard to build them one by one. This is the beginning.

It is conceivable that the speed will not be too fast. If the number of new sailboats is not large enough, it will be difficult to use technological advantages to overwhelm opponents at sea. Just like the two catamaran sailboats, although their performance is completely beyond this era, after all, the number is too large.

The small tonnage is too small and can only be used as training, reconnaissance and transportation ships most of the time. If there is a naval battle, these two ships must never be put into the battlefield.

How to make good use of the limited number of new sailing ships? The Executive Committee and the Ministry of Shipping have also held several consultations and discussions on this matter. The final general opinion is that these ships should still be used for armed escort and fast shipping in the early stage of launching.

, as for freight or immigration transportation, it is better to leave it to the existing Fuzhou Shipyard and Guangzhou Shipyard.

As for the weapon configuration of the new sailboat, it has also been a big trouble that has troubled various departments for a long time. Although the military industry department built the first 6-pound cannon as early as May, it was limited by the processing technology and materials at the time.

, the mechanical braking device has become an unresolved problem, resulting in the final production of marine artillery.

Of course, it would not be a big problem if the 6-pound guns used by the army were reluctantly installed on the ships. However, due to the lack of effective retreat devices, the ships in the hands of the Maritime Transport Department at that time could not install a few guns at all. Moreover, these sailing ships were all classified as civilian ships.

Built to the standard, the strength of the hull is still far from the requirements for equipping artillery. The Ministry of Shipping also loaded the ship with artillery and sailed it to the Luhuitou Peninsula for many sea firing tests, but the results left everyone disappointed.

I felt very frustrated - these civilian ships were simply not strong enough to withstand the recoil of artillery fire. After two or three shots, the load-bearing deck began to crack, and the joints of the wooden structure became obviously loose. If a more intense naval battle breaks out,

I am afraid that before sinking the opponent, my own ship will be shattered first. Therefore, the development of ship artillery has been temporarily stranded. The Ministry of Shipping can only strengthen the load-bearing structure of the new sailboat while waiting for the military industry department to complete the artillery production.

New progress has been made in the manufacturing of withdrawal devices.

However, the early sea test of the artillery, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, was not in vain. At least the Ministry of Shipping and the military industry department responsible for artillery development realized the shortcomings in the work and collected a lot of useful data from the test process.

Various departments modified the original design plan based on the conclusions obtained from these tests.

Although the Military and Police Department of the Crossing Group is full of talents, there is a serious lack of personnel with naval qualifications, let alone understanding of naval artillery battles. To put it bluntly, everyone is a keyboard nerd, and everyone knows that naval artillery battles in this era are often

They were all very close, and therefore they also thought of using the range advantage of artillery to suppress their contemporary maritime opponents. However, after actually testing the artillery at sea, everyone discovered that the necessity of such close-range artillery battles was not only limited by

The main reason for the artillery range is that the shooting accuracy of front-loaded guns on ships is too terrible. A large range does not necessarily have enough advantages. Even if the distance is only four to five hundred meters, the accuracy at sea is even ten times better than on land.

None of them can do it - just a little bump in the wind and waves is enough to make the outgoing shells deviate from the target by dozens of meters at this distance.

If you really want to trade range for firepower advantage in battles, there are only two ways to go. Either improve shooting accuracy, which obviously cannot be achieved with existing front-loading cannons, but rear-loading cannons are not something that can be achieved in a short time.

If it can be achieved, the existing military industry department cannot accomplish this goal independently. The technology trees of chemical industry, machining, metallurgy and other departments must be upgraded to a certain stage; or it can only be like a Western-style sailing ship.

Rely on the number of artillery to make up for the lack of accuracy.

In comparison, the latter solution is obviously easier to implement, but there will also be many problems in its implementation - if you want to install more guns, you have to build a larger ship, and with the current technical strength, it is impossible to build a gunboat with a displacement of more than a thousand tons.

, I’m afraid no one would dare to guarantee that one ship will be launched in a year. And even if it is built, the training of the existing artillery may not be able to keep up. Although the artillery has not been separately organized yet, if it is only based on the planned

Based on the artillery establishment estimate, an artillery company will be equipped with about eight to ten artillery pieces, and a warship equipped with 25-30 artillery pieces will probably require a battalion establishment. In the future, the artillery resources of the land and sea will be

We can already see some signs of the competition at this time, and this is one of the important reasons why the Military and Police Department is now eager to expand its establishment and increase the scale of artillery training.

Of course, the Ministry of Shipping cannot yet build such a large ship. The current construction plan is still based on the No. 1 test ship. It will start with a displacement of two hundred tons and gradually increase the shipbuilding tonnage after accumulating sufficient shipbuilding experience.

Under the leadership of Yue Zhiyun, Li Nai climbed onto the scaffolding made of bamboo boards and went up to the deck to inspect the construction progress. This time Li Nai keenly noticed a row of small square windows on the side of the ship on the second deck, and this

It's obviously not like a window for ventilation - the shape is exactly the same as the portholes of the gun port on a Western sailing ship! Li Nai even saw a shipwright installing iron hinges for opening and closing these portholes, so that they can be opened and closed normally.

You can close the portholes. No need to ask anything this time, Li Nai can be sure that the design of this ship has set aside a special cabin for artillery equipment.

The No. 1 test ship is divided into three levels below the deck. The lowest level is the cargo hold where ballast and other supplies are placed. There is actually a two-foot-thick watertight compartment below it. The second level is the cabin where the crew rests and sleeps.

The floor close to the deck is mainly the combat floor where artillery is arranged. Because the tonnage of the ship itself is not large, the actual space on each floor is very narrow. Except for the combat floor, it is impossible for people to get in from other places.

Get up. And even if it is a relatively spacious combat floor, after setting aside the gun positions for artillery, there is very little space left for the gunners and crews to move. If this kind of ship is to be used directly as an armed merchant ship, then I am afraid

The amount of cargo that can be loaded onto the ship is not as large as the supplies on board, because the configuration of the artillery will more than double the number of crew members compared to a merchant ship of the same tonnage. Of course, given that this is only a test ship used to verify the design plan

, neither the Military and Police Department nor the Executive Committee has anything to fault about it.

Also due to the displacement, the number of guns that can be arranged on the second deck of this ship is also extremely limited - five 6-pound guns on the left and right sides, and a 12-pound gun on the bow and stern.

Compared with its Western counterparts in this era who often carry dozens of cannons, the firepower of this experimental ship is indeed a bit weaker. However, if compared with ships of the same tonnage, it will be difficult to find one that can match it in both the East and the West.

Opponent. The three-masted gunboat, the main warship of Zheng Chenggong's navy that defeated the East India Company fleet in history, has a displacement more than twice that of this test ship, and is only equipped with eight red cannons and some small-caliber Franco machine guns.

That's it. Calculated based on average tonnage, the firepower intensity is far less than that of this test ship that is still on the slipway.

And this kind of firepower equipment is not at the upper limit of this ship. According to the design of the Ministry of Shipping, if necessary, 10-12 more cannons can also be arranged on the top deck. However, doing so will greatly affect the center of gravity of the ship.

, reducing the ship's seaworthiness at sea. Under such circumstances, it is not suitable for ocean warfare. There is another way to enhance firepower, which is to increase the caliber of ship's artillery, but this requires further development of machine-gun units.

We must work hard to upgrade and improve the braking system of ship artillery.

Although the military industry department has currently trial-produced the artillery mechanical braking system required by the Military and Police Department, due to production capacity, it has not adopted a hydraulic braking device, but a multi-unit spring braking device. This kind of

Although the retraction device is not as effective as the hydraulic retraction device, it is superior in that the process is simple, and the production difficulty and cost are relatively much lower. The only obvious disadvantage is that the service life is short, and may not even be as long as the life of the artillery itself.

However, the Executive Committee considered that this device is easier to manufacture, and finally determined that this device will be the standard configuration of ship artillery in the next few years. If the military industry department can improve it in terms of materials and manufacturing processes, it will be of the same tonnage in the future.

It is not a fantasy to upgrade the ship's guns to 12-pounders and 24-pounders.

Although Li Nai didn't know how big the artillery would be installed on the ship by the Haihan people, it was obvious that the Haihan people were not too relieved about the current maritime situation. You must know that although the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants in this era also had so-called armed merchant ships, they were often no more than

They were just a few small-caliber Folan cannons or homemade cannons with iron nails and ceramic tiles as shells. Their power was completely different from the artillery made by the Haihan people. Li Nai had seen the power of the Haihan artillery fire before, and he couldn't help but feel

He secretly guessed that with this kind of firepower, the Haihan people only needed a dozen or so ships to wipe out all the Ming Dynasty naval forces on Qiongzhou Island.

However, judging from the current performance of the Haihan people, they do not seem to regard the Ming Navy as a potential opponent - the warships of Yazhou Water Village enter and leave the Victory Port more frequently than the merchant ships of "Furuifeng"

Much more, the commander-in-chief of the water village felt as at home in Shengli Port. This relationship obviously cannot be described as "hostile".

When Li Nai came yesterday, he happened to see two small Ming army warships sailing out of the harbor. During dinner, he asked a few questions while drunk. Tao Donglai actually said that these ships were here to help transport immigrants to colonize Xingang in the east.

.The garrison asked local wealthy businessmen to ask for money. Li Nai had seen a lot of this kind of thing, and his own family also lost a lot of blood for it. However, the garrison did things for local dignitaries for money. This kind of thing was really rare——

These are not the guards soldiers, half of whom have been reduced to private soldiers and peasant soldiers, but the actual Ming Dynasty navy!

Of course, Li Nai also knew why the Yazhou Navy was "corrupted" to such an extent. With Haihan's ability to make money, just a little leakage from between his fingers would be enough to feed those stupid soldiers for a year and a half.

.But if this kind of thing happened in Guangzhou, I am afraid that the leader, General Qian, would have been arrested by the command department and sent to prison. Only in remote areas like Yazhou can there be naval forces colluding with local dignitaries.

Things happen.

Li Nai thought of the arms sales strategy of the Haihan people to Fujian, and vaguely felt that the various behaviors of the Haihan people today seemed to be preparing for direct intervention in Fujian's maritime disputes in the future. Just imagine that Fujian will fight for another two or three years.

, both Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong will be seriously injured, and under this situation, an armed fleet equipped with Haihan weapons enters the local waters, who can resist it? Think about it after returning to Guangzhou this time,

I heard that the General Office of the People's Republic of China is trying every means to inquire about the situation of various forces in the Pearl River Estuary. I'm afraid this is not just to ensure the safety of their maritime routes, but to try to establish a stronghold at the Pearl River Estuary, right?

The more Li Nai thought about it, the more he felt that his guess was reasonable. Last time he came to Victory Port, he heard that the Haihan people went to develop a coal port somewhere overseas. This time, he heard that a new coal port was built in a bay in the east.

Saltworks, this kind of behavior of colonizing and enclosing land is completely normal for the Haihan people. With these past deeds as a foreshadowing, if the Haihan people really occupy a place outside the Pearl River Estuary one day, then Li Nai will not do anything about it.

I’m surprised. Moreover, the Haihan people always do things first and then act. If they really have their sights on a place, they are probably already making preparations for it now - such as the unfinished new armed sailing ship in front of them.

.

Li Nai's guess was not wrong in the general direction, but he still thought of things too simply. It will take a long time for the Cross-Travel Group to truly expand its influence beyond Sanya. Now in Taiwan

The two sides fighting in the strait, whether it is Xu Xinsu or Zheng Zhilong, control the population, territory, and ships under their command far more than the current crossing group, and this gap cannot be made up by relying on a very small amount of advanced artillery equipment. To put it bluntly,

Although others have lost one or two battles, and even lost for a year and a half, they can still withstand it. But if the current Cross-Travel Group loses just once, it may affect its future development prospects. Therefore, the Cross-Travel Group has formulated

We have always been very cautious when dealing with foreign policy, especially whether military means are needed to solve problems. Even the military and police departments, which have always been unruly, dare not make a conclusion in vain.

The Chuanchuan Group is now concentrating various resources on the development of new sailboats to prepare for future expansion of power, but this expansion does not necessarily require real swords and guns to fight back the land bit by bit - if only

It's for land, so Hainan Island is enough for the Cross Group to develop for twenty years.

What the Crossing Group values ​​more is actual external influence. This influence is not unilateral military suppression, but more importantly, economic and cultural penetration and influence. Military means ultimately only serve to protect external expansion.

It's just an escort - I don't necessarily have to hit you, but I will let you know in various ways that I am very good at fighting, and I can fight ten at a time. The executive committee allowed Li Nai to enter the shipyard to visit

The latest results actually have a bit of a flaunting of force in them.

During Li Nai's visit here, he had been thinking about why this group of Haihan people from across the sea could create such a situation in just half a year. According to several people Li Nai came into contact with,

According to Executive Committee member Haihan, this is the "superiority of the system." From the proud look on their faces when they made their remarks, Li Nai could understand that their "superiority" was basically aimed at the Ming Dynasty -

-Obviously, the Haihan people believed that there were many problems with the Ming Dynasty's system.

Although Li Nai did not know what a public intellectual was, in the Executive Committee's stratified positioning of Ming society, intellectuals like him with certain fame and wealth were clearly defined as "public intellectuals of the Ming Dynasty" by the Executive Committee.

This group also has considerable influence in Ming society, and is an important target for the Executive Committee to export culture and values.

In his contacts with the Haihan people, Li Nai continued to explore the true purpose of what this group did in Victory Port, and the Executive Committee also regarded the contact with Li Nai as a way to contact the Ming Dynasty scholar class in the future.

Looking at the example. Judging from the scale of the current educational institutions of the Time Travel Group, it is difficult to achieve success in ten years. If you want to gradually conquer the mainland, you must have a large number of advocates who cheer for the Time Travel regime. If you choose to be more educated

The purposeful cultivation of basic people will definitely be much faster than the training of illiterate indigenous children. Ming literati like Li Nai, who are not averse to Haihan culture and have deep interest entanglements with the crossing group,

It is a very suitable target to win over.
Chapter completed!