Whether steel plates can be added is a big question.
A steel plate that can withstand the recoil of artillery fire would undoubtedly cost at least several hundred kilograms.
According to the design, the Navy's first imitation Galen battleship is expected to carry forty guns.
Calculating a steel plate of 200 kilograms, it is equivalent to an increase of 8,000 kilograms of load capacity out of thin air. This is undoubtedly a huge burden on a warship, and it affects countless aspects.
Zuo Mengeng suggested adding steel plates, and everyone immediately started discussing.
Ultimately, the conclusion is...
You can add steel plates, but you have to reduce the number of artillery pieces.
To put it bluntly, it is to maintain the balance of the battleship's load capacity.
"In fact, the reduction in the number of artillery is not a big problem. Our artillery has a long range and powerful firepower. Even if it is only half the number of Europa's warships of the same class, it still has an absolute advantage."
What do European naval guns look like?
Muzzle-loading cannon, black powder, iron pellets...
Although some artillery has a large caliber, the above three conditions determine that the power is completely within expectations.
The artillery that the Navy is preparing to assemble is a fully enclosed breech-loading gun with a breech block. It uses collodion explosives and pointed explosive shells.
The maximum range of European naval artillery is only three thousand meters, so it is accurate...
God cannot guarantee that either.
Although the range of the navy's new artillery is less than 3,000 meters, it is generally around 2,500 meters.
The most important thing is that the pointed explosive bombs of the New Army are a completely devastating blow to the wooden-hulled warships of this era.
The ball cannonballs will crackle for a long time, and at most they will cause holes in the opponent's ship, but they will not cause fatal damage.
However, as long as the New Army's naval guns hit one shot, they can completely tear apart most of the warships in the world today. Even the burning effect after the explosion of gunpowder is not something that today's ships can withstand.
Even in order to ensure the lethality, the sharpness of the warhead must be reduced and made rounder.
Otherwise, it will become an armor-piercing projectile.
If you hit an enemy ship and the shells pass through, it will be great fun.
Overall, reducing the number of artillery pieces will have little impact on naval operations.
And it is a huge amount of work to make changes to the new warships that are about to be built.
Zuo Menggeng couldn't help but secretly laugh when he saw the sad-faced virtues of Sun Yuanhua, Ami'er, E Honglue and others.
Once you enter engineering, it’s as deep as the sea!
That night, at the port of Jiaozhou Bay, Zuo Mengeng held a grand welcome banquet for Xu Erjue and Xia Yunyi.
The food is all ready-made.
The returning fleet brought back abundant seafood, all of which were turned into exquisite dishes at the dinner.
"Yizhong will go to Linqing to settle down first, and then enter the Government Affairs College to study. After graduation, we will make arrangements for your whereabouts."
Xia Yunyi expressed his hope to enter politics.
Although he is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, his communication with Chen Zilong has not been interrupted. He already has enough understanding of the government affairs system in Shandong.
Although he was not entrusted with important tasks as soon as he arrived, Xia Yunyi was mentally prepared and admired the transparent political system here.
"When I first arrive, people and land are born. It is time to study hard so that I can realize my ambitions."
Zuo Mengeng admired his open-mindedness very much.
Looking at the child held by Xia Yunyi's wife, Mrs. Lu, he reached out his hand.
"Is this Mr. Ling?"
In fact, he knew that this infant child was the famous Xia Wanchun.
Xia Yunyi had two wives. Xia Wanchun was born to his concubine, the Lu family. Xia Yunyi's main wife was the Sheng family, and they had a daughter, the little girl next to him.
Gu Ji
This little girl is no ordinary woman, she is Xia Shuji, a talented woman who is famous in history, known as Cai Wenji in the late Ming Dynasty.
Xia Shuji was originally going to marry Hou Xuanxun, but the Xia and Hou families encountered great disasters during the resistance against the Qing Dynasty, and many of them died.
Hou Xuanxun himself died of illness in the ninth year of Chongzhen. Hou Xuanxun's uncle Hou Dongzeng and his two cousins Hou Xuanyan and Hou Xuanjie were martyred while defending Jiading.
At that time, the Qing army caused the tragedy of "Three Jiading Massacres" and went on a killing spree, killing almost all the people in the city.
Hou Xuanxun's father Hou Qizeng was martyred after the failure of the Songjiang Mutiny.
The male members of the Xia and Hou families were almost extinct. Xia Shuji’s son Hou Piao died of illness when he was a teenager.
Her husband died and her son died young, which led to a life of misfortune. She followed her mother and her sister-in-law ordained and entered Taoism, taking the Buddhist name Shenyi.
But now that she has followed her parents to Shandong, she is afraid that she will not marry Hou Xuanxun again. And with the strength of the new army, there is no need for her family members to die for the country.
Holding Xia Wanchun in his arms and looking at the little guy's dark eyes, Zuo Mengeng fell in love with him more and more.
He and Xu Ruolin have been married for many years, and if nothing else, they should have their own child soon.
His child will be as cute and cute as Xia Wanchun, right?
"It's a pity that I'm a poor guy and can't give my child a gift."
Zuo Mengeng searched all over his body, but couldn't find anything valuable. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
Xia Yunyi said hurriedly: "It is a blessing for this child to be liked by the commander-in-chief. He must not be blessed so much that he cannot bear it."
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Zuo Mengeng has become a dragon and a tiger.
Such people don't need to do anything at all, just a word will have a huge impact on other people's lives.
Apart from anything else, just because he held Xia Wanchun in his arms, this kid will be a proud man in the future.
"Zhongheng, the situation in Songjiang Mansion is delicate now, and I'm afraid there will be big changes."
Nowadays, not many people call Zuo Menggeng.
Apart from family elders, there are only a few close friends.
Everyone can feel that Zuo Menggeng's authority is growing day by day, and they are paying attention to maintaining his status.
Xu Erjue didn't need to care about this.
He is Zuo Mengeng's brother-in-law, so calling him that way makes him feel more intimate.
Of course, doing this is actually testing.
If Zuo Menggen showed disgust, he would also change his title and call him Commander-in-Chief like everyone else.
This change will not make Xu Erjue sad, because it is the only way for a political leader.
Xu Erjue did not do this temporarily, he actually represented the Xu family.
Once he changes his title, it means that the entire Xu family, including Xu Ji, will have to change.
Just like the Ming Dynasty, does Zhou Guozhang dare to call Chongzhen his son-in-law?
During his observation, Zuo Mengeng looked as usual, without any trace of concern.
This shows that Zuo Mengeng doesn't care at all about addressing him.
This discovery made him very happy.
Although it is just a title, it represents the distance and alienation between people.
Zuo Mengeng is not that perceptive yet, and even if he understands it in the future, he will not care.
What he was more concerned about was the information revealed by Xu Erjue.
"How is Songjiang Mansion?"
In Songjiang Prefecture today, the cotton textile industry has officially entered a period of rapid development after undergoing industrialization reforms.
Not only did it bring abundant financial resources to Zuo Mengeng, but it also provided Shandong with a large amount of finished cotton products.
It can be said that Songjiang Mansion is now the second piece of territory, and there is no room for loss.