Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2157 Navy and Game Rules

On September 1691, 9, it was cold and rainy on the North Sea.

The three-deck battleship "Executive Committee" shuttled between the waves, sometimes was thrown high by the wave crest, and sometimes fell heavily, as small as a piece of weed and fallen leaves on the sea.

If the ferocious giant "Executive Committee" was normal, it would be majestic and majestic, and it could trample the surrounding boats under its feet and ignore it.But when it sails to the deep water area far from the coast, it can't shake.In this boundless sea, sky, and wind, facing the mighty power of nature, no matter whether you are a big ship or a small ship, you are equally powerless.

"Damn it! Those white shirts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are out of ideas. Our ship has such a high center of gravity, and it sails into such a rough and deep water area. Is it because our ship's maintenance funds are not high enough, so it won't sink?" On the deck of the ship in the center, two sailors, one tall and one short, dragged a long water pipe and fixed the nozzle on the ship's side, so that it could discharge the rainwater and seawater falling into the cabin.

"Old Wang, are you crazy?" The short sailor gave his companion a sideways glance, and said, "Although the matter of escorting the sea is meant by the white shirt, it is an order directly issued by Chief Mo. You just can't control yourself. Open your mouth, otherwise you are a sergeant major, why bother to be a sergeant now? Mo Duo said, work hard, the bilge will have to pump water soon.”

Bilge pumping is naturally done by water pumps, and these water pumps are not driven by manpower like other countries' ships, but by steam power systems.Naturally, the pumping efficiency of the boats of the East Coast people has also been greatly enhanced, but the manpower required is only a fraction of that of others, which is really different.

"Hehe, Old Sun, as for me, I don't want to make progress anymore, that's all. Now that there are so many cadets and officers on board, we uneducated bastards have no chance, you just can't see through." The tall sailor wiped Wiping the rain off his face, he held on to the railing beside the boat, and said with a smile: "It's better to wait to go back to my hometown and become a village official. It's better than being angry with people on this boat. Forget it, forget it, digression Alright, let’s continue talking about the fact that we came to the North Sea to wipe the Dutch’s ass, the white shirts are not doing it properly! Isn’t the cannon on the French ship a cannon, can’t kill people?”

"Old Wang, sometimes I really want to throw you into the sea, so that you won't make noise in my ears anymore." The short sailor gave a cold look, then grabbed the railing next to him, in the violent pitching and shaking of the ship , against the fierce wind and rain, moved forward step by step, his voice could still be heard from the deck: "Don't be dazed, go fix the water pipe quickly, or you will be scolded by Heitantou again."

The tall sailor sighed and reluctantly followed.Outside their ship, the dark waves were still raging, and the sea and the sky had almost formed a line. The Dutch merchant ships sailing behind them were looming, as if they would be swallowed up by the harsh wind and waves at any time, and became a gift to the sea god.

With such weather and sea conditions, if left in the past, it is actually very easy to get lost.But for the people on the east coast with more advanced navigation technology, this is nothing.They can easily know their approximate location by measuring the latitude and longitude, and then adjust the course to drive towards their target.For example, now, the officers on the bridge have calculated that the location of the ship is not far from the port of Bergen, Norway, and the entire fleet can gather in formation and slowly move over there.

The periphery of Bergen Harbor, like the southern coast of Chile, has a large number of broken island groups.The water near the islands is cold, clear, and nutrient-dense, and is home to the best farmed salmon.It's a pity that in this era, the Norwegians have not yet developed this industry. Only some fishing boats from their own country, England and the Netherlands come to fish every year, and there is no artificial breeding.

Behind the battleship "Executive Committee" were two "Jiqi"-class escort gunboats, four "Star"-class light cruisers, and as many as sixteen Dutch merchant ships.These merchant ships used to trade in the Mediterranean Sea, and most of the purchases were urgently needed goods in the Netherlands. They moored at the Port of Lisbon, Portugal in June, and then waited for the arrival of the East Coast escort formation before they set sail and sailed together. To Amsterdam.

Providing escort for Dutch merchant ships is also one of the services of the East Coast Navy, in order to maintain the operation of Dutch domestic goods and prevent them from collapsing.Of course, the French navy is currently mainly deployed in the English Channel to deliver supplies and personnel to James II's expeditionary force, and dare not move lightly.Therefore, these returning Dutch merchant ships are relatively safe in theory, and they should not be attacked halfway.But the problem is that no one dares to bet like this, what if it fails?Who can take responsibility?Therefore, the East Coast Navy, which had been "idling" in the Dutch harbor, was dispatched to escort these merchant ships around the English Channel, which was densely populated by French ships, around the coast of Scotland, and then joined a large Dutch army in the port of Bergen. Fishing fleet, return to the United Provinces together.

To be honest, there is still a certain degree of danger in escorting such things, but it is also a risk that must be taken.People on the east coast want to show their strength in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, so apart from a decisive battle with the French fleet-in fact, this is of no benefit, on the contrary, it may lead to the loss of some main battleships and a large number of loyal soldiers. Naval officers and soldiers - escort is also a good way.The East Coast Navy tried to show the Europeans in this low-cost way that they were not afraid of the French, even though their fleet was not much smaller than the East Coasters.

Yes, Louis XIV spent more than ten years rebuilding his navy, and it is now paying off.Their first-class battleships such as the "Sun King" and the "Royal Sorel" are all big guys with more than 100 artillery pieces.Except for the lack of steam power that makes them less mobile than the people on the east coast, everything else is at the same level in terms of tonnage, protection, and firepower—well, maybe their artillery quality and range are not as good, but if they bombard them face-to-face, it’s okay. There is no doubt that a large number of naval officers and soldiers on the east coast were killed.

Of course, powerful warships like the "Executive Committee" are not afraid of fighting the "Sun King" and "Royal Sorel", because they are sure to send the enemy to the bottom of the sea, but they may also suffer a lot Injuries, hundreds of officers and soldiers were killed or injured, this is not worth it, unless the Dutch offer unacceptable favorable conditions.

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And when the people on the east coast were helping Dutch merchant ships and fishing boats return to their homeland in the North Sea, the French main fleet far away in the English Channel had just ended a battle.In this engagement, they won again and sank the 1047-ton battleship "London".If you count the battleship "Richard" with a displacement of more than 1100 tons that was severely damaged by them off the coast of Ireland a while ago, the loss of the British Navy is not light, and morale has also been greatly hit.

Looking at their other opponent, the Dutch Navy, their largest warship is not even as good as the British, and it has long been sunk by the French Navy in the North Sea, that is, the "Brederada" equipped with 56 cannons.The warships of Britain and the Netherlands were mostly built 20 years ago, with the same tonnage and firepower, but the French are all cutting-edge warships, and the "Royal Soler" was only commissioned last year (1690). No wonder they temporarily gained command of the English Channel and the coast of Ireland.

Britain and Holland's only chance of success is to use their far superior shipbuilding capabilities to build larger, newer, more powerful capital ships--which they are already doing--and rely on their better soldiers Quality, start a big battle with the French navy, and win it.

In other words, this is actually an arms race among several major naval powers in Europe. The competition is to see who has the largest ship and the most guns, and this is the mainstream thinking in the European naval circle at this time.Of course, with the jewels of the East Coast Navy ahead, the European Navy still pays more attention to the maneuverability of ships, and is solving some technical problems for steam engines on board.

Compared with the European navy, the people on the east coast have to go further.The Ministry of the Navy pointed out in an internal research article last year that with the increasing horsepower and volume of marine steam engines, their own unbalanced moments acted on the hull in large quantities, causing more and more damage to wooden hulls. It is recommended that a large number of Build a ship out of steel - not just the keel and ribs, but even the hull!

In addition, the article also mentioned that the caliber and barrel of the artillery are getting larger and larger, resulting in a sharp increase in self-weight. Even if the wood used for the hull has been treated with advanced technology, it has gradually become overwhelmed because the objects that need to be carried are getting heavier and heavier.Therefore, the extensive use of iron plates instead of wood has become a reality that needs to be considered in the design of the Navy's next-generation main warships.

At present, the new generation of warships that the East Coast Navy ideally uses steel for its keel and main stress-bearing structures, and a mixture of wood and iron for the rest, that is, steel is used for the parts that need to be stressed, and wood is used for the parts that do not need it, so as to save costs as much as possible.At the same time, because the ignited explosive bomb has made a breakthrough due to technological innovation, the artillery will also be equipped with a new type of artillery that can deal heavy blows to wooden sailboats.

In short, this is an epoch-making powerful warship.Once it is successfully developed and put into use, it is believed that it will cause huge waves in the naval world of this era and completely change the situation of naval warfare. The so-called super warships that are being built overtime on the berth by Britain, the Netherlands and other countries will fall behind as soon as they are launched.

The Ministry of the Navy has officially submitted the design and construction application for the new generation of main battleship "Bianliang" a while ago, and it is expected to be approved by the executive committee and solicit design proposals within this year.The European navy still has one last good time to enjoy. Once the design of the "Bianliang" is finalized and manufactured, all the rules of the game will be changed. This is no exaggeration.

(End of this chapter)