The Navy has made complete preparations for Linqing's voyage.
Ships of all kinds have already covered the sea, guarding the Linqing's front, rear, left and right.
After all, this is a new ship being launched, so no one can guarantee whether there will be any problems. Anyway, it’s better to be cautious.
Not to mention there are so many big bosses on board, so there is absolutely no room for error.
In shipbuilding in this era, it was impossible to carry out sea trials and adjustments in a time span of one to two years after the ship was built like in later generations.
Nowadays, warships are launched into the water as soon as they are built and put into use within a short period of time.
What?
What do you think the ship will do if it sinks?
Then recreate it.
The Linqing came to the open sea and received messages from other ships one after another, indicating that the sea conditions were normal.
Shang Kexi turned to Zuo Mengeng for instructions.
"Your Highness, can you start the test?"
Zuo Mengeng waved his hand, not to steal the show.
"You are the captain, of course I have to listen to you."
These words made Shang Kexi so heart-warming.
In the Xia Army, it has always been a consistent rule to assign dedicated personnel to specific responsibilities.
In this way, each general can exert his maximum energy without worrying about constraints and interference from people above him.
Among the Ming army, it was simply unimaginable.
He understood even more that this was Zuo Mengeng's trust in him.
Shang Kexi cheered up and began to issue orders.
"Sail east, full sail, full speed ahead."
The first test has begun.
That's the speed.
In maritime operations, ship speed is always the most important indicator.
This will not only determine whether your own warship can quickly seize a favorable position, but also determine whether it can escape the enemy's pursuit and attack.
After receiving the order, the officers and soldiers immediately got busy.
The soldiers on the Linqing had already received training for about three years, and were already very skilled in operating the ship.
And for the officers and soldiers on the ship, a modular configuration is implemented.
More than 300 officers and soldiers were divided into several departments, each performing their own duties and being extremely professional.
It shares four major parts: command module, driving module, firepower module, and service module, and these modules are also divided into several groups.
For example, the command module is divided into command team, staff team, and surveying and mapping team; the driving module is further divided into steering team, sail control team, and damage control team.
The service module includes catering team, storage team and cleaning team.
The firepower module is the heavy artillery team, light artillery team, musketry team and ammunition team.
Through this setting, the officers and soldiers on the entire ship have clear positions and can maximize their efficiency.
Following the gratifying order, the sailing team began to unfurl all the sails on the ship.
The sail alone makes the Linqing completely different from traditional Galen ships.
On a traditional Galen ship, the sails on the three main masts are basically three pieces. On the Linqing, there are two sails on each mast, but they are larger.
Obviously, a larger sail can catch more wind and provide more power to the ship.
The reason why the sails on the Linqing can be reduced to two larger pieces lies in the application of new technologies.
The emergence of winches and pulleys has made it easier to raise and lower sails. With this foundation, sails can be made larger.
It’s not that Westerners don’t know the benefits of larger sails, but they don’t have the technology. Just relying on manpower to raise and lower the sail won’t be possible if it’s too big.
When all the sails were unfolded, you could clearly feel the creaking sound of the warship under your feet.
This is not because the hull cannot bear it, but because it is rubbing against the sea water.
Then everyone could feel that the water on both sides of the sailboat began to retreat rapidly, and the entire ship began to move on the sea as if flying.
Everyone was very nervous at this time.
Shang Kexi breathed carefully and listened to the reports from everywhere.
"The steering team reported that the navigation was normal."
"The sailing team reported that the mast is normal, the sails are normal, and the ropes are normal."
Then the last group's reporting voice came from the bottom of the boat.
"The damage control team reported that the hull is normal, no deformation was found, and the ship can continue sailing."
Hearing this, everyone cheered.
Everyone knows that the new ship has been proven to be able to withstand higher speed navigation.
The Linqing was getting faster and faster, constantly overtaking other ships on both sides.
It was obvious that those ships had full sails, but they were pulled further and further away, gradually turning into black spots in the eyes, and then disappeared.
After maintaining this speed for a full hour, the entire ship was safe and sound, and the test came to an end.
"How is it? What's the speed of the boat?"
Based on personal experience, Zuo Mengeng knew that the Linqing train was very fast. But how fast it was required professional testing tools.
The surveying and mapping staff member immediately stood up.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the ship's speed can reach up to ten points a quarter."
"really?"
Zuo Mengeng was really shocked when he heard this data.
The speed of the sail warship could exceed ten knots, which he had never dared to imagine.
You must know that the largest and most famous Victory has a maximum speed of only nine and a half knots.
Doesn’t that mean that the Linqing was already number one in terms of performance?
The surveying and mapping staff obviously knew better.
"The ship design side is said to be testing new theories and will make modifications to the ship model in the future. If it succeeds, the speed may be even higher."
Zuo Mengeng still agrees with this statement.
Due to the relationship between materials and uses, the construction of sail warships does not fully comply with fluid mechanics.
First of all, because the artillery is arranged on both sides, the bow of the sailing battleship cannot be built too slender. This will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of artillery.
Furthermore, the sail warship is made of wood, and the endurance of the hull must also be considered.
Therefore, from the outside, the sail battleship actually looks a bit chubby.
However, some detailed modifications can still be achieved through scientific design.
It depends on how far Xia Guo's fluid mechanics research has reached.
After the speed test, the next step is the fire test.
A lucky boat towed an Anzhai boat and headed into the distance.
This Anzha ship was captured by the Navy during the Battle of Tsushima, and is now being used as a target.
The first thing to test was the heavy artillery.
The Anzhai ship was placed five thousand meters away, and its sails were raised at the same time. In this way, it was not a fixed target, but a moving target.
The five heavy guns on the Linqing's side have been loaded with ammunition.
Because the artillery on the Linqing does not use ropes to offset the recoil, but uses iron shells fixed on the deck. This avoids the problem of the artillery moving randomly when recoiling.
One of the benefits is that there is a fixed remaining space between the artillery guns.
During construction, the clever craftsmen came up with a wonderful idea.
That is to dig out a square hole in the vacated deck, which can be connected to the bottom layer.
At the same time, a swingable roller was installed on this hole.
There are two ropes on the pulley, and a soft leather bag is tied below.
In this way, the ammunition group at the bottom can pass the shells and cartridges up through this device. Instead of relying on manpower to carry them up and down, it not only saves energy, but also saves time.