I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 478 Double Bay Battle (3)

The iron ore in England is not only small, but also of poor quality, so when Charles II insisted on building an iron armored fleet, he was sad for a while. He could not buy black iron from Lorraine or Austria, and there was not enough Money, luckily he followed Louis XIV, constantly recruiting from everywhere experienced and visionary scholars, even artisans, who helped him find iron ore from India.

India's iron ore is just the opposite of Britain's, with large reserves, easy mining, high quality, and Britain's rich coal resources. The congressmen were also annoyed after several heavy tax hikes, but none of them dared to talk much in the face of the red-eyed king—of course, Cunningham thought that these dignitaries were probably waiting, if the king could Victory in the war with the French, they can get a lot of war dividends, just like the people in the Versailles court; on the other hand, if Charles II fails in the end, then they It is also possible to send him to the guillotine to quell the anger of the people and regain power as he did with Charles I.

   Anyway, this transaction is not at a loss.

Please forgive Sir Cunningham for using such a vulgar term. In fact, whether now or hundreds of years later, the so-called gentleman's demeanor is nothing more than the pretentious attitude of a carnivore, not to mention that Cunningham is really like this As Gott guessed, it's just a new noble whose family has no more than three hundred years of inheritance. Even if it is Charles II, when he gets angry, it will make people think that he is in a filthy tavern, facing a man he has never touched. The old sailor who passed the book.

Cunningham is loyal to the king, but he also has two or three different masters... Multiple bets are inevitable, and he deserves to be bet by them, in the king's admiralty, his combined fleet is all fleets The most powerful of them are like well-trained hounds, who can bring back ship after ship of rich spoils for their master every time they go out. If things go on like this, maybe the UK can really teach the French a lesson at sea...

Cunningham pressed his chest. For some reason, he always had some vague uneasiness. He remembered that his grandfather had told him that after fighting at sea for a long time, you would have an extraordinary premonition that this premonition would Let you avoid hurricanes, rainstorms and traps, he went back to the table and stared at the chart on the table, they were scheduled to start when the caravan ships entered the Lamanche Strait, which is still a long way from Dunkirk. The distance, when the navy stationed there is long overdue, they have already gone with a good harvest, the only worry is that there is also a smaller French fleet stationed in Brest, but they can wait until the merchant fleet Passing Plymouth, where they were separated from Brest by a headland, the French fleet had to turn a great bend to reach the battlefield.

As for Gott and Van Basten, he can say that he hung a carrot in front of the heads of the two stubborn donkeys, hoping that this will make them forget the gap between each other for a while... "But that's an ironclad..." He When he was praying, he suddenly heard someone say - a young attendant, he saw Cunningham cast his eyes, his face suddenly flushed, Cunningham was a little angry at first, but then thought that this attendant is one of his " "Master"'s nephew, who was sent to the navy to seek promotion, immediately suppressed his anger, maybe in a few years, this young man's rank will be higher than his: "Are you worried that I am right? Their promise?" He walked over and patted the other person on the shoulder leniently.

"Good boy," he said, "I understand your concern, but you should know that I only committed to a custom ironclad qualification, well, even if they can afford the cost, I did not commit it licenses to purchase steam engines and boilers.”

   "Steam engine, and... boiler?"

"That's right," Cunningham said, "Come on, I'll show you, you probably haven't seen that kind of terrifying big monster." He said, holding the old man's arm intimately, Take him off deck.

Although this young squire has been on the ship for several months, given his status, without the captain's leadership, according to military regulations, he is not qualified to witness those metal giants under the deck who are roaring day and night all the time - any On an ironclad ship, the boiler room and the steam engine room are both important places, and idlers are not allowed to enter easily.

He had only seen the chimney standing between the masts on the deck. Compared with the slender and long masts, it was a squat black boy, stocky and unremarkable. Even so, the guards around it Not too many people are allowed to approach it, although not many are willing to do so, no matter what, the chimney is always steaming with heat and mist 24 hours a day, making it look like an entrance to hell.

Follow Cunningham down the deck, through the dark and narrow corridors, and as you pass several doors, the hearts of the squires beat wildly uncontrollably. The uninformed sailors call the chimney the entrance to hell. They are now like As they walked on the road to hell, the surroundings became darker and hotter, and waves of shaking and drumming came from under their feet through the thick planks.

They walked to the end of the corridor. In a small room, a soldier opened the circular wooden door on the ground. They climbed down the ladders under the wooden door one by one. After landing, the attendants smelled a strong pungent smell of kerosene. This odor is not uncommon on sea-going ships, but neither is it so strong. He sighed, Cunningham laughed, "You don't know, boy, when we used pork and butter, the smell was disgusting!"

There has always been a tradition of buying animal fats in large quantities in the army. In fact, contrary to what people think, these oils did not enter the mouths of soldiers. Most of them were used to lubricate and rust metal utensils and weapons. The army is even more amazing, because in addition to metal items such as artillery, guns, anchors, bearing chains, etc. on the sea, there are many important devices that are also made of brass or black iron. Parts can sometimes control the life and death of hundreds of people, so the Navy uses grease only more and more frequently than the Army.

This situation was greatly relieved after the bachelors of Louis XIV analyzed and distilled kerosene. Compared with the thick and fishy odor produced by animal fats after heating and rotting, the odor of kerosene can be tolerated even if it is a bit pungent. Others find the smell quite appetizing - Cunningham is such a person, he took a few deep breaths, the air was damp and hot, mixed with the smell of kerosene, it was like hell, but... it was refreshing. !

In front of them is a huge steam engine. How big is it? They are enough to walk through it and watch. The attendants can't understand or distinguish what is a flywheel, what is a speed regulating gear, what is a connecting rod, and what is a crankshaft , but the roar of each cylinder pulling the piston made him dizzy, and he saw the captain in front of him talking to someone, but couldn't hear anything—though they were shouting He called, but there was nothing but the sound or buzzing in his ears.

The workers walked up and down the narrow passage, staring at what looked like clocks but much bigger, big enough to fit in a child's pressure gauge, kept turning the wheel, flipping the valve, lifting the lever, they Doing so, there was a tinkling sound every time, and the squire could occasionally hear a word or two, but he couldn't understand it.

The light under his feet, the mist erupting from the gaps, the scorching metal and the dark floor all made him feel unreal. He followed the captain all the way forward, through the entire large cabin, only to feel that his whole body was like Burned by the fire, "This is the boiler room," Cunningham said.

   They are standing in a place similar to a springboard but with a fence, and below it is a mountain of coal and one, two, three, four ... six large boilers, and workers are pouring coal into it.

The cabin of the steam engine reminds the attendants of the monster's belly. The intertwined spool valve mechanism is its throat, the cylinder is its lungs, the rotating flywheel and crankshaft are the pulsing muscles, and the boiler room, it should be the monster's The heart, from which countless fresh blood is pumped, is sent along the blood vessel-like intake pipes to where it is needed.

   "The only bad thing about this thing is that it can't stop. It's insatiable and can't stop eating for a moment." Cunningham said, staring at the bright red flame.

The squire didn't know how he climbed the ladder and got back on the deck, but as soon as he got back on the deck, he took a few deep breaths, and Cunningham gave him a glass of rum, which he took. It was then that he noticed that his hands were shaking. "It's nothing," Cunningham reassured him. "The first time I saw this big guy, he wasn't much better than you."

The attendant calmed down and let out an inexplicable sigh. While thanking Cunningham for his generosity, he looked around to make sure that there were no other talents around them and asked, "That's why you said, even if there is an ironclad ship , no steam engine..."

   "Can't say the same," Cunningham took a swig of wine: "Look at the masts and sails above our heads. Ironclad ships can sail by wind."

"So…"

"Speed, boy, speed," Cunningham explained with a smile. "Is Louis XIV the only one who has thought of covering decks and sides with iron for over a thousand years. It's been done before, but what happened next? The problem is that the speed of the ship is greatly slowed down, and almost all warships have this defense requirement. Isn't a slow or even immobile warship a knight in the quagmire? So until the power is not solved, the ironclad ships have always been people's fantasy."

He refrained from saying the following words. Although he has always shown that he is very satisfied with his warships, he hopes to capture an ironclad ship converted from thirty Calais ships in this war, except for their firepower. In addition to the tonnage, the steam engine they are equipped with consumes less power and has more power than their steam engine... Under the condition that the sail is shared with the steam drive, their speed has reached as high as eleven knots, and their best performance here is only Nine.

But that was enough for the young squire, who fondled the icy side of the ship with joy, and no longer had any concerns about the captain agreeing to plead with the Dutch and the pirates, and obtain a permit for them. Grudge, Cunningham told him to go back to his cabin, two or three hours before the attack, and he should keep himself energized.

Cunningham watched him go below deck and shook his head involuntarily, the little **** should be glad he was the son of a congressman, or he should have been tied to the mast and bloodied by the nine-tailed cat - who made it? He came to easily question the captain's decision? But it would be good for Cunningham to be able to explain it, at least when he wrote to the congressman, he had a corroboration of the matter.

   He looked up at the sky, the night was almost over.

  Today, as the British expected, the sea was foggy before dawn, and they set sail silently, like a pack of wolves hiding in the weeds, and surrounded their prey.

  ———

The fog had begun to dissipate when the fleet met, but it didn't matter to the British anymore. They were so close that they could count each other without binoculars. Cunningham was worried about whether the other party was listening. What kind of wind was there, so I changed the route or moved separately, but there are thirty-five ships, and one is not many!

These merchant ships are Calais ships, with large hulls, high masts, slow to swaying speeds, not only deep waterlines, but also high piles of wooden boxes on the decks - usually such wooden boxes will Carrying some lighter cargo, such as coffee beans and wool, but even wool, this volume means a lot of value. As the captain of the British Navy, not to mention the treasures under the deck... Cunningham couldn't help but get excited, not to mention the pirate Gott and the Dutch Van Basten!

This is another form of feeding on the enemy, and their looting will cause huge losses to French merchants or foreign merchants who do things for the French, and these losses will also inflict taxes and bribes to the French king. Damage, and they, their loot will quickly turn into gold in London auctions, they can use this gold to customize ships, buy weapons, and further strengthen themselves, and so on and so forth, and finally win!

  Cunningham took a last look through the binoculars, and the merchant ships saw them too, and were trying to turn around in a panic to get off course, but they had fallen into a trap and there was no chance of escape.

   (end of this chapter)