In the past two days, Nie Dahua has kept the fleet on alert to prevent the Busi people in the port from making sneak attacks on the warships.
I don't know if they were scared out of their wits, or because the storm was coming and they were unable to make arrangements.
Anyway, nothing happened in the past two days.
After the storm, Nie Dahua ordered an officer to lead a group of Prussian mercenaries and boarded the port of El Salvador.
At the same time, the fleet was on alert again, with its guns aimed at the main targets in the port. As long as the enemy made any changes, it would fire directly.
At this time, supplies have been prepared in the port of El Salvador. The food is fresh and abundant, and is prepared according to the needs of the voyage.
The coal is also ready, just waiting to be transferred to the battleship.
Nie Dahua ordered two warships to dock separately and load these supplies on board.
With these supplies, Nie Dahua no longer needs to dock at Santos Port.
After loading up the supplies, Nie Dahua quickly set sail with the fleet.
He knew that the truth was not that simple. How calm El Salvador was at this moment, then how violent the Bushi people's revenge would be next.
Although he is not afraid of the Busi Navy, the Donghua Fleet in the south still has to deal with the Buenos Navy and the Chili Navy.
When these three countries are put together, quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.
Even if the Donghua Navy is thick-skinned and not afraid of the opponent, the cannonballs on these two warships are not enough.
In order to cope with the change of the fleet going to Donghua, Wang Tao had the foresight to order a batch of artillery shells from Prussia.
But these shells and spare barrels for the artillery can only be sent to Donghua later.
So all the way to Donghua, they could only rely on the existing ammunition of the fleet.
The storm moved to the north. The southern sky finally appeared.
The sea was exceptionally calm after the storm. Some officers and soldiers of the Donghua Fleet were maintaining the warship on the deck, some were on combat readiness duty, and some were resting in the cabin.
The maintenance of ironclad ships is much more complicated than that of wooden battleships. The current armor anti-corrosion technology is not so perfect. The armor must be maintained frequently.
"Commander, our southwest direction is Rio." Liu Zhongyun reported.
"Rio? Let the fleet enter the second level of combat readiness." Nie Dahua said.
During this time, he also gained a lot of knowledge about South Amelia, mainly understanding the conditions of various countries here.
Many Prussian mercenaries in the fleet also ran through this route.
Busi has a fleet that is not weak in South Amelia.
Nie Dahua would not be so naive as to think that people would tolerate it just because he made such a big fuss in El Salvador.
He didn't relax all the way, and the journey back to Donghua was destined to not stop.
But Busey had not been taken into consideration before.
What he was originally most worried about was the Strait of Magellan. The waterway there is narrow, the sea conditions are complicated, and it is a place that the fleet must pass through. Therefore, Chili and the Buenos navy are likely to ambush there. Of course, they may also be in Buenos Aires.
Coastal ambush at North.
After all, if the Buenos Navy left, their own coastline would be threatened.
Of course, Nie Dahua has no need and will not attack the coastal cities of Buenos.
They were floating on the sea, but they had no logistical supplies, and the fleet did not have any troops dedicated to landing.
There was no way or need to replicate what was done in the Port of El Salvador. A storm broke out at that time, and Nie Dahua had no choice but to use force.
The fleet continued to move forward, and he had thought carefully about it. The troops would block it, and the water and soil would cover it.
At that time, the worst he can do is run away, and the opponent's sail warships won't be able to catch up with him anyway.
On the same day, the fleet successfully passed the Martingas Islands.
Nie Dahua felt that maybe the Busi people did not react so quickly.
It won't be long before the fleet can pass through the waters east of Rio.
This transatlantic voyage was a very challenging thing for the young officers in the fleet.
On the contrary, the Prussian mercenaries were more experienced.
"Ye Zhiru, how is our main gun working? Are there any problems?" Nie Dahua came to take the temporary captain Liu Zhongyun to walk around the warship to understand the situation on the ship and at the same time care about the officers and soldiers.
Ye Zhiru is the gunner of the main gun on the front deck of the "Fuyuan" and is in charge of more than a dozen people.
"Hello, Commander, I would like to report to Commander that the main gun is operating normally. It's just that the rotation of the turret is a bit slow and cannot keep up with the aiming rhythm."
This kind of fully enclosed turret structure should not have appeared in this era.
But it was abruptly pushed ahead by the Renaissance Army by several decades.
Because of the thickened armor installed on it, the entire turret is very heavy.
If done manually, not only will it require a lot of manpower, but it will also be slower.
Therefore, mechanical power must be used. Originally there were two options to choose from.
One is to use steam power, connected to the steam of the boiler to drive the turret. The other is to use the new electric drive. As long as it is connected to the generator set in the engine room, the motor can be driven and the motor can drive the turret.
Finally, the motor drive solution of Prussian Siemens won the bid.
The turrets of these four ironclad ships all use more stable electric drive systems.
Anyway, the power system was originally installed on the warship.
Pulling electrical wires is always easier than laying steam pipes.
If the electrical system is damaged during combat, it will be relatively easy to repair. Unlike the steam system that has problems, not only will it be difficult to repair, but the leaking steam will also cause secondary damage to officers and soldiers.
But one thing is that the power output of current motors is still limited.
It's really not fast to push such a huge turret structure.
This makes the gunners always feel constrained when using the artillery.
"This problem has no solution for the time being, and I can't help it. You have to know that our artillery fire rate is already very fast. At the beginning, there was also a faster semi-enclosed turret design, but in the end we adopted this fully enclosed turret, which is
For the safety of your gunners."
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too!”
"Look, this dent. If it weren't for the turret, such a solid bullet would be enough to mess up the inside of the turret." Nie Dahua pointed at a dent on the turret and said.
This was fired by solid bullets from the enemy's fort during the battle a few days ago.
The main turret located in the center of the front deck is the most vulnerable place to attack because it is relatively prominent.
But its armor thickened to 100mm is enough to withstand all current artillery attacks.
"Well, Commander, we understand this. Although it is hot and uncomfortable for our brothers to stay in such a turret, we are willing to do so. No matter how uncomfortable it is, it is better than losing our lives."
"When a cannonball hits this thing, it makes a muffled sound. It's like someone farting."
"We just feel that if the turret is more flexible, our hit rate can be improved. Now it will be difficult to shoot against high-speed moving targets."
"Xiaoye, you still need to rely on prediction when shooting moving targets. In the future, you must first look for the reasons yourself. Many things can be made up for through training."
"We don't have the conditions to conduct live-fire training now. You can conduct more simulation training. Even on paper, it is better than doing nothing. Also, when there is no electric drive, you must rely on manual adjustment of the turret. This is also
To train, we can’t just say that with the electric machine, we have to put down the manual operation.” Nie Dahua warned.
A good gunner team is very important to the fleet.
It can be said that the navigation and gunners have the greatest impact on the strength of the fleet.
On the deck next to the main gun, a makeshift Marine team was training. They were using an improved version of the Dresser firing pin gun.
They are mainly training various shooting formations and tactical movements.
Most of them were mercenaries from Prussia.
The incident a few days ago made Nie Dahua feel that there must be some marines on the fleet to carry out unexpected land missions.
Above the warship's command tower is an observation deck. The observers are sticking to their posts and observing the surrounding situation through large-magnification telescopes.
Next, Nie Dahua went down to the cabin. The upper level of the cabin was the living area for officers and soldiers.
Among them, below the front deck is the living area for soldiers. It is not like the large cabin of traditional sailing warships, but a cabin can accommodate more than a dozen soldiers.
They slept on wooden beds that were barely big enough for one person to lie down on them. These wooden beds with bunk beds were fixed to the hull of the ship.
I think it's better than the hammocks on most sailing warships today.
But it is also quite cramped. Because there is an electrical system on the ship, there is already a ventilation device in the cabin, which makes it not so difficult to live in the cabin.
But the fleet is now sailing in the tropics, so the cabin is filled with the lingering smell of sweat.
They are all a bunch of rough men. Even under the strict internal affairs regulations of the Renaissance Army, the place looks neat and tidy on the outside, but there is no way to get rid of the smell.
Nie Dahua chatted with some sailors in the activity cabin and continued to draw pictures for them after arriving in Donghua.
Further inside were the soldiers on duty at night. They were all resting, but Nie Dahua did not go in.
In fact, soldiers cannot share a bed with each other. Because they have to take turns on duty, in order to save space, they sleep in turns.
During the day, sleeping soldiers would be placed in cabins inside to prevent them from being disturbed.
Through the window, Nie Dahua could see some mercenaries pulling hammocks between wooden beds.
These Prussian mercenaries were probably old sailors and were used to sleeping in hammocks.
Back in the cabin outside, a group of sailors were playing poker.
Gambling is not allowed on warships, but it is still okay for soldiers to have fun when they are free.
Nie Dahua came to the officers' lounge located below the rear deck again. The conditions here were better.
But it's only slightly better. Each cabin has four single beds. The smell inside the cabin is also better.
These people studied at the naval school in Europa and learned their aristocratic ways. The navy has always been an aristocratic branch, and they are always confident in their profession.
"commander."
"commander!"
…
Seeing Nie Dahua coming in, these officers stood up and saluted one by one.
"What are you busy with?" Nie Dahua asked.
"Report to the commander, we are rehearsing the next battle." An officer reported.
"Oh, what's the result of your deduction?" Nie Dahua asked curiously.
"That's right, Commander, if we only encountered the navies of the Busi Empire, the Republic of Buenos, and the Republic of Chili along the way, without the participation of the navies of the great powers such as Britain and France, our army would be invincible.
"
"However, there is a problem, that is, we must replenish coal before bypassing the Strait of Magellan. Otherwise, we will not be able to support the fleet in another large-scale battle."
"Don't we have enough coal?" Nie Dahua asked.
"Yes, Commander, the coal installed in El Salvador is only enough for our normal voyage to Donghua. However, our warships need to pressurize the boilers and speed up the warships during combat, so the coal consumption will be greatly increased.
Increase. Then after we cross the Strait of Magellan, we will no longer be able to fight." The officer analyzed.
In fact, the coal loaded in El Salvador was already the largest amount that could be carried on a battleship.
The cruising distance of a warship of more than 3,000 tons is several thousand nautical miles. This refers to the distance it can travel with the maximum coal load.
Of course, long-term long-distance voyages also depend on the performance of the battleship.
Fortunately, these skilled workers in Prussia have a solid foundation. The things they make are very strong and durable.
After being out for such a long time, there are basically no major technical problems with the boilers of warships.
"I also know the problem you mentioned. But we can no longer stay in Busi's waters. I don't know if we can get the supplies promised by the Portuguese in Santos. The key is that we are not short of supplies now." Nie Dahua
He said with a frown.
It would be best for them to resupply in the Strait of Magellan. But that is precisely the most dangerous place.
"Commander, we can send a few people up to an uninhabited coast, then reach Santos to contact the Portuguese, and then ask them to put the supplies on the merchant ships and head south first."
"And we can complete the supply at the agreed place with the supply merchant ship after passing through the Buenos waters." Liu Zhongyun, who had been following Nie Dahua, proposed a plan.
After hearing this, everyone thought it was feasible. But who should be sent? Chinese faces were too conspicuous in Busi.
"Commander, we can combine a liaison officer with a Prussian mercenary to form a team and send it to the shore. The Chinese liaison officer can pretend to be a Prussian follower. There are also some Prussian immigrants here in Busi." Just now I was talking to my companions.
The young officer who was conducting the deduction said.
"Well, this idea is feasible. But we need to send at least two teams ashore to prevent one of them from having an accident."
"After we pass through the Rio waters, we will find a place to send people ashore. Xiaoye, let's go back and study the meeting point of the merchant ship and fleet." Nie Dahua said, leaving the officer's living quarters.
"Didi..." Nie Dahua had just walked out of the living cabin and was about to go down to the engine room at the bottom when a piercing alarm sounded on the battleship.
"Thump thump thump..." The sound of rapid footsteps echoed throughout the battleship, even overpowering the sirens on the battleship's radio, causing Nie Dahua's eardrums to tremble.
Every officer and sailor ran towards the combat post as fast as he could.
Even the officers and soldiers on duty at night jumped out of bed. They put on their blue and white sailor uniforms as they ran.
On the narrow stairs connecting the upper and lower cabins, the officers and soldiers went up and down the stairs very quickly, but no confusion was caused.
Nie Dahua was very satisfied with this. No matter how inexperienced this team was, it was at least a disciplined team.
He still remembered what Dong Shuheng told them in the military academy before, that only a disciplined army can have combat effectiveness.
ps: This chapter is delivered on time, please vote for me and recommend me! Sorry, I have been busy these two days and there are no two updates. After all, the author has to go to work, and he can’t eat enough just by writing. While working to support his family, he is also writing to satisfy everyone and
For my own spiritual needs, this kind of life is not bad.