Iron Powder and Spellcaster

At the same time that the person outside the cabin opened the door, the steel cone left Winters' hand.

No one expected that someone would open the door at this time, Winters and Bud shouted at the same time.

If you dodge after hearing their warning, it will definitely be too late. The person outside the door took action before the two of them could make a sound, dodging the flying sharp weapon and averting the danger.

The sharp little object flew out of the door and was nailed to the wooden partition opposite the hatch. The person outside the door reached out and pulled it off, walked into the cabin with it, and said with a smile: "What? You landlubbers want to fight with our navy?"

Winters jumped off the bed, stepped over to the other person, held the other person's shoulders, and said fearfully: "Fortunately, you reacted quickly, Cage, thank you. It's great that I didn't hurt you. I will never be in the cabin again." Let’s play like this.”

Cage, the trainee officer of the Glory, returned the steel cone to Winters and said with a smile: "If you want to hurt a naval officer, you can't rely on a small toy like this."

"Okay, whatever you say it is, it is." Winters also smiled and lay back on the bed.

After Bud greeted Cage, he asked: "You don't have to be on duty anymore?"

"Anchor for shift, now it's my turn to rest." Cage yawned tiredly and lay back on the bunk below Bud.

This room has a total of four beds. In addition to three army warrant officers, Winters, Bud, and Andre, there is also a naval officer cadet living there.

However, a Navy cadet officer is completely different from an Army cadet officer like Winters. Cage is far more senior than his three roommates.

Winters, Bud, and Andre were still newbies out of military school, while Cage had been a cadet officer on the Glorious at the age of twelve and had already spent eight years on the ship. Army officers with the same qualifications have long been promoted to lieutenants, but Cage is only one of the eleven trainee officers on the ship.

This is because the officer systems of the navy and the army are fundamentally two systems and do not correspond to each other.

Compared with the strict ladder structure of the Alliance Army's military rank system, the Alliance Navy's military rank system is very flat. There are only three levels of officers on a ship: Captain, Lieutenant and Midshipman.

Among them, the only formal officers are captains and adjutants. Midshipmen are the same as army warrant officers such as Winters, higher than sailors and soldiers, but lower than formal officers.

In the army, both Captain and Lieutenant are only lieutenants. The former is the third-level lieutenant, and the latter is the second-level lieutenant. Officers of these two levels can command up to a hundred troops of eighty people.

But in the navy, Captain is the captain and the highest authority on a warship. The lieutenant is the captain's adjutant, one person below and above all others.

The force that the captain can command depends on the ship. The Glory has thirty cannons and a full crew of more than 500 people. Her captain is at least a colonel in the army.

The fat captain on the Skua is also a Captain. The Skua only has a mere twenty sailors, and the fat captain is not even a warrant officer in the army.

However, from the perspective of the Navy, the captain of the Glory and the captain of the Skua theoretically belong to the captain class, and no one needs to salute the other first.

Because of this huge difference, the Veneta Army and Navy simply ignored each other's military ranks and everyone went their own way. An Army warrant officer like Winters doesn't need to salute even when he sees a Navy general, and the same goes for the Navy.

If you want to be an officer in the Veneta Navy, you must first have a good background, and secondly, you must have someone to vouch for it. Only with these two things can one board the ship and become an officer candidate. After that, they need to work hard to get through qualifications until the Navy Headquarters approves them to become warrant officers. As for when you can become a captain? Then there must first be a ship without a captain.

Although Cadet Cage was much older than the three Army Warrant Officers, he never showed off the airs of an old-timer and had a very easy-going personality. He told the three Winters a lot about the ship's knowledge. In addition, the four of them were similar in age, so they quickly became familiar with each other and got along very happily.

"By the way, next time we set off from this anchorage, we should rest for a day at Lighthouse Harbor. Then you can also take a rest." Cage covered his head with a pillow and said listlessly.

"What?" Winters sat up suddenly: "Get off the boat?"

Life on board was like being in jail, and you got seasick. But when he heard that he was about to disembark, there was no joy in Winters' tone.

"That's right. Let's get off the ship and rest. It will probably be docked for a day or two."

"We've only been setting off for two days and we have to rest ashore?" Bud stuck his head out from the upper bunk and asked puzzledly, "Aren't we going to head straight to the Tanilia Islands without stopping?"

Winters also joked: "We landlubbers haven't complained yet, so why is it that your navy has to dock to rest first?"

"What's the hardship for those of you who live in the officer's cabin?" Cage couldn't sleep anymore and sat up dumbfounded: "And you can also eat hot food. Is this still a hardship?"

"When we took the boat back to Veneta from Guitu City, we didn't even have a day's rest."

"What ship are you on?"

"Uh, I don't know what kind of ship it is." Winters stopped asking. He recalled the Skua and said, "It's called the Skua. It's a small ship with three masts."

"I understand, how many people are there on the Skua?"

"The crew is about 20 people, plus more than 50 of us."

"If there is only one ship, the Glory, the Glory can go straight to the archipelago without even stopping at the shore. A large sailboat can do this, but a galley cannot." Cage lay back on the bed weakly: "If you want to know why, When the boats behind me arrive, I will take you to take a look at it when I go to deliver the charts, and you will understand."

——Cut——

The anchorage carefully selected by the navy was sheltered by an unnamed island. The ships in the fleet kept a safe distance and dispersed their anchors in this natural haven.

A small boat was lowered from the Glory to the water, and Winters followed Cage down the rope ladder to the small boat.

Cage held a wooden box tightly with both hands, which contained a chart and the next destination of the fleet.

In order to ensure that the fleet's route is not leaked, except for the senior officers on the flagship Glorious, the captains of other ships can only get the location of the next anchorage every time they regroup. In this way, even if individual ships are captured, the enemy does not know the route of the entire fleet.

Although the Revenge Fleet has a huge target, it is not that easy to accurately intercept this fleet on the vast ocean.

The four sailors rowed hard, accompanied by the sound of the oars hitting the water. The boat moved away from the Glory and slid towards another galley warship, the "Golden Lion" in the undulating waves.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, Winters looked at the galley warship in front of him.

The Golden Lion is neither a pure paddle boat nor a pure sailing boat, but a product of pragmatism. Oars and sails, I want them all.

Compared with the "broad-shouldered and big-armed" Glory, the hull of the Golden Lion is longer, narrower and slender in order to accommodate more oarsmen. The entire ship is relatively low, with only one deck, and only one deck at the bow and stern.

There are no gun ports on the sides of the hull, only dense rows of oars. Recalling the layout of the Good Luck, Winters speculated that the Golden Lion's artillery should be arranged at the bow and stern along the hull.

"Why is the freeboard of this ship so low?" Winters patted Cage on the shoulder from behind and asked, "Don't you suffer during the war?"

Although he only had one naval battle experience, Winters understood a truth: in a side-to-side battle, the side with the taller ship has a natural advantage.

Because of this, the ship's tower will be built higher and higher, and finally it will be built like a castle on the deck.

Not only does the Glory have a higher freeboard than the Golden Lion, it also has a three-story ship building. When the sailors of the Golden Lion faced the Glory, they were facing a city wall. To attack the Glory from the Golden Lion, they had to attack from the top, but the Glory could easily deal with the Golden Lion from a high position.

"Of course we are at a disadvantage, so the newly built warships are all round ships, and the Golden Lion is an old ship built more than ten years ago." Cage turned around and patiently explained to Winters: "And the Golden Lion also has My own advantage, although I suffered a loss in the boarding battle, is not to the extent that I cannot use it. The Golden Lion is very flexible."

"Indeed, a sailboat can only act in a hurry when there is no wind." Winters said, recalling the naval battle he experienced.

"Actually, I think the design of warships today is too extreme, just like those cavalrymen who ended up with their men and horses wrapped in iron plates." While chatting about his favorite topic, Cage suddenly became interested and pointed. Glory and Winters commented: "The Glory looks very majestic, but in fact it is very heavy. The ship's building is too high, so the center of gravity is unstable, and we dare not place too many artillery in the ship's building. Moreover, there is a high ship building. Disadvantages: large windward surface, difficult steering..."

"But if the ship's building is high, isn't there an advantage in naval combat?" Winters asked weakly. This was an area he didn't understand, so he didn't have the confidence to speak.

Cage slapped his thigh: "That's why I said extreme, just like those knights with full plate armor. In hand-to-hand combat, the stronger the armor, the greater the advantage, so in the end those nobles wrapped themselves in iron plates. But if the enemy What if we turn to muskets for hand-to-hand combat? The same goes for naval battles. In order to gain an advantage in boarding battles, the shipbuildings have been built higher and higher. The Glorious is a ship that has gone to the extreme in boarding battles, but what if the enemy does not join the boarding? "

"How can we fight a naval battle if we don't fight a boarding battle?"

He never pretends to understand, but asks when he doesn’t understand. This is one of the good habits Winters learned from Antonio. After the collision tactic gradually declined, the way of naval battles in the past thousand years has been that two ships approach each other first, the sailors shoot each other with crossbows and muskets, and finally the battle is finalized. Winters really couldn't think of any other way.

"Use artillery." Cage replied firmly: "Sink these heavy ships directly from a long distance."

Winters chuckled: "Isn't there already artillery on the ship? And based on the accuracy of the artillery, it would be difficult to hit other ships fifty meters away on bumpy seas, let alone long distances."

"The artillery on the ship, except for the large-caliber short-barreled cannon and the rotary cannon, can only be used at close range." Cage explained hurriedly: "Think about it, using an agile and flexible ship to carry long-barreled cannons can only be used at long distances." Shooting from a distance does not engage the side. If a big ship like the Glorious cannot catch up or hit, it will have to be beaten. Unfortunately, the navy now is full of old stubborns who don’t want to make progress at all. They just like the mighty and majestic ships like the Glorious. , all the funds allocated are used to build this kind of high-rise round ship!"

Cage punched his thigh angrily.

"I don't know about naval battles, but there was a similar battle on land. In the Battle of Kalai, the infantry of the ancient empire could not catch up with Paraty's cavalry. They were worn down by bows and arrows until their morale collapsed, and were finally harvested by the heavy cavalry." Winters He joked: "If I become a military governor in the future, I will use all the navy's military expenses to build you the ship you want."

Cage was also made to laugh. He smiled and said: "If I become a military governor in the future, I will use your army's military expenditures to build ships for our navy."

Winters laughed loudly: "It's a deal... In fact, I have always admired people like you who have new ideas. I am not good at it, I will only learn from you."

Cage shook his head repeatedly and waved his hands and said: "No, no, no, I didn't come up with it. These are Captain Speyer's theories, I'm just parroting them... Captain Speyer is the captain of the Golden Lion, you follow me this time Come just in time to meet him.”

During the conversation, the boat rowed to the side of the Golden Lion. A rope ladder was thrown down from the ship, and Winters followed Cage aboard the Golden Lion.

The chat on the road made him almost forget the purpose of coming here. But after boarding the ship, Winters immediately remembered what he was doing on the Golden Lion.

He immediately understood why Cage said: "The galley must dock once every two days. You will understand when you take a look on the ship."

The open deck of the Golden Lion in front of me was densely packed with people, and there was not even a place to stand.

The open-air deck is divided into two levels, roughly convex in shape. In the middle is the upper platform, which is obviously the navy's soldiers. There is no space for them to lie down, so they can only rest against each other.

The decks on both sides near the ship's side are the lower level of the convex structure. The deck here is more than one meter shorter than the middle deck, which is where the rowers sit. This structure allows the oarsman to be positioned lower than the soldier in the middle, so as not to block the soldiers' use of long-range weapons.

The unkempt, sallow and thin oarsmen were chained to the edge of the oars, and each oar was driven by three or four oarsmen. The oarsmen had no room to move and looked no different from the slave oarsmen on the Good Luck.

Even though the deck was open, Winters could still smell a stink. The Golden Lion, which was packed with people, was like a transport ship transporting livestock. People were crowded together like animals, unable to move. There is no human dignity left on this ship.

Winters wouldn't be able to last an hour in a place like this.

"Why are there so many people? How many people are on this ship?" Winters asked Cage in shock.

Cage asked: "How many people are on the Glory?"

"About two to three hundred people?" Winters wasn't sure.

Cage said expressionlessly: "The Glory originally had more than 500 crew members. In order to make your stay comfortable, there are now less than 400 including you. The people on the Golden Lion and the people on the Glory now About the same, around four hundred people."

"This... this ship is so much smaller than the Glory, but it actually carries four hundred people? How can these people endure it?" Winters was shocked by the harsh living conditions of the Golden Lion's crew. Not only was the Glory larger than the Golden Lion, It's big and has multiple decks. Most of the people on the Golden Lion were crowded on the open deck.

Cage seemed to have been accustomed to the cruelty of life at sea, and said indifferently: "They are not human beings, they are sailors. But even sailors cannot last a few days on this kind of ship, so they have to go ashore to rest every two days. . Galleys are essentially fortresses floating on the sea, with extremely poor self-sustainability. More than half of the warships in our fleet are this kind of galleys. For us, seizing transit ports is far more important than destroying the enemy's warships. Boat."

"What should I do if it rains? There's nothing to cover my head."

"Bear it."

"What about the paddlers? Why are they locked up?"

"They are all criminals. No free man is willing to be a rower." Cage walked in front and replied without looking back: "There is no need to pity them. They committed crimes and ended up like this. And the war is Being pardoned before you die is better than dying in prison, right?"

Winters was silent. He followed Cage, looking for a place to stay among the oarsmen's limbs, and walked towards the stern of the ship. It should be the place with the best environment on the ship. The captain always lives in the environment. The best place.

Suddenly, a pair of hands hugged Winters' calf, and a paddler, who seemed to be unconscious, begged in a vague voice: "Be kind and give me some water, please."

Cage, who was walking in front, turned around and saw a paddler grabbing Winters' leg. He suddenly became furious: "How brave! You are looking for death!"

As he spoke, he drew out his navy scimitar and turned back. The oarsman in front of him tried his best to avoid him, making way for Cage to come out.

Others around were also alarmed. The navy soldiers stuck their heads out from the high platform in the middle to watch, whispering to each other, but no one stopped them. Under such harsh living conditions, the only reason why the people on the ship did not mutiny was because of military discipline. When a prisoner paddler attacks an officer, Cage can behead him.

"Don't..." Winters raised his hand to stop Cage, who came to help him with a machete: "I know this person..."

Cage froze on the spot.

Winters looked at the rower's face and asked uncertainly: "Gold, Good Luck Gold, the captain of the Good Luck, are you?"

Gold, who had most of his teeth knocked out by Leighton with the hilt of his sword, shivered and burst into tears when he heard the words "Captain of the Good Luck".

Although there were other new types of ships, the galley remained the main warship in the Mediterranean until the sixteenth century. Mainly because this inland sea environment is more suitable for the use of galleys, and also because of historical inertia. The life of an oarsman is very hard. Except for Venice, where there are mainly free oarsmen, in other countries they are criminals or slaves. The conditions for the Venetians to recruit oarsmen are also extremely generous. In 1522, the Venetians openly recruited 6,000 oarsmen. The treatment was: lifetime exemption from poll tax, firearms training, permission to carry weapons in Venice, and service on galleys during and after The debt does not have to be enforced for six months.

Thank you time: Thank you to the book friends who have voted for recommendation before, thank you. Thank you to book friend Yuan Hongjian for your recommendation ticket, thank you to book friend writersblock for your recommendation ticket, thank you to book friend 161120205836216 for your recommendation ticket, thank you to book friend Kekkkkk for my recommendation ticket, thank you to book friend who doesn't know what the recommendation ticket is, thank you all.