Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1280

"His Majesty the King and the Earls are going to board the Black Devil!"

I don't know who released the words. At this time, the citizens on the river beach became restless. They saw King Charles leading a group of British nobles approaching the iron-clad ship in small boats.

The iron-clad ship General Fubo with a black hull has been called the "Black Devil" by them in awe, which is opposite to the nickname "Golden Devil" of the just-launched King of the Seas.

The two warships have distinctive features compared to the other warships.The hull of the Sea King is tall, and the gold-plated sculpture looks resplendent, while the ironclad ship General Fubo uses black paint. Except for a few Chinese characters on the hull that the British cannot understand, the hull is pitch black, which makes people think of the devil in the night. .

"I've seen iron ships even bigger than this in the East. They said they were for civilian use." Sir Greenville and Princess Sophia saw the steam ship Orient when they were on an envoy to the East, and it was even bigger than the General Fubo. Used for loading heavy cross-sea cables.

"This iron ship is completely different. It is a perfect industrial product for naval warfare. Its artillery can easily destroy sailing ships that dare to fight it head-on, and its hull can easily block even a 36-pound shell. "Zheng Zhibao proudly introduced the iron-clad ship General Fubo to the British king and nobles on the boat.

The closer Charles I got to the iron-clad ship, the more he felt that the King of the Seas seemed powerless in front of the iron-clad ship.

The Sovereign of the Seas, which cost [-] pounds to build, was completely inferior at this time.

Charles I was like a child who compares his toys with others, and is dismayed to find that the toys he has worked so hard to save for are not as good as others.

Charles I led the nobles to climb onto the deck of the iron-clad ship along the ladder. On top of it was a group of black-haired and yellow-skinned navy soldiers. They wore uniform naval uniforms. Some of them held muskets in their hands and looked at them with curious eyes. Kings and nobles of the European monarchies.

For the soldiers on the ironclad ship, it was the first time they saw European princes and nobles, and they were even more surprised by the appearance of the other party.

"The hull is entirely made of iron, won't the hull be rusted due to the erosion of sea water?" Sir Pennington tapped the iron hull with the scabbard of his saber, making the sound of hitting iron, and couldn't help wondering .

Iron-hulled ships are almost impossible to produce in this era, because they lack too many prerequisite technologies.

How to make the iron ship float on the water, let it move, and how to rivet the iron plate to prevent the steel from being corroded in seawater-these technical problems worth paying attention to limit the technical precipitation of the iron-clad ship era that would have been 200 years old.

However, now advanced warships such as ironclad ships have appeared, and they are still moored in the Thames.

Charles I and a group of British nobles inspected the 60-pound iron guns installed on the bow and stern of the ship, using steel to fix and reduce recoil. Maybe even the top deck is made of iron, but a layer of wood is laid on top of the iron.

Including Admiral Sir Pennington and a group of senior officers of the Royal Navy are troubled - probably only God knows how to sink such an iron ship!
Charles I and others went down to the armored layer for inspection. On the deck of the armored layer, ten 40-pound cannons were placed on the left and right sides of the ship, almost in the same way as a sailing battleship, which slightly eased the anxiety of the Royal Navy.

At least the early ironclad ships had a combat mode similar to that of sail battleships, relying on the artillery on the left and right sides to decide the outcome.

At present, what disturbs the Royal Navy the most is the defense of the iron-clad ship, which is almost unsolvable, and it is difficult for the arsonist ship to have much effect on the iron-clad hull.

"Perfect hull structure, satisfactory material strength, I never thought that iron can be used to make ships, and there is enough power to sail on the sea, my God, how unbelievable!" Peter Pater, the ship designer who designed and built the King of the Seas, was also on the tour of the ironclad Admiral Fubo.

The visit to the ironclad ship surprised him, a ship designer in the era of sailing battleships.

The structure of the ironclad ship gave him a lot of inspiration, but this kind of inspiration was not very useful.He didn't even know that the steam engine, a power device that crossed the ages, was playing a magical role.

There are also many important basic technologies that build the cornerstone of the ironclad ship.

"How many pounds does it cost to build such an iron ship?" Charles I didn't know too many technical principles, but he knew that there was no master shipbuilder in Europe who could build an iron-clad ship, and even the Royal Dockyard in Woolwich didn't have a trace of an iron-clad ship. technical reserves.

The only fastest way to get Ironclads is to buy Ironclads outright.

If he could buy an ironclad ship like this, Charles I thought that even if he paid twice to three times the money to build the King of the Seas, even if it was more than 10 pounds, Charles I thought it was worth it.

"We are just soldiers in charge of combat, and we have no authority to know how much it costs to build an iron ship. Your Majesty the King, please contact our military lord for such matters." Zheng Zhibao did not lie to Charles I, because the ironclad ship General Fubo was built. Only the departments in charge of budget and finance know that the ironclad ship is in their hands, and they just need to learn to operate and use it.

"In the future, I will ask our ambassador to discuss with your military lord the purchase of warships and the introduction of a batch of technologies..." At this time, Charles I had to admit that Lord Greenville, the Earl of Compton and other nobles who had traveled to China He already had the foresight that the East was far more powerful than he had imagined, and he was able to manufacture appalling ironclad ships.

"How many such iron ships are there in the East?" Charles I thought of a serious problem.

"Three ships, only one can install artillery." Zheng Zhibao replied.

There is only one iron-clad ship for military use, so that's okay... Charles I breathed a sigh of relief when he thought that there was only one iron-clad ship in the East.

But he didn't expect that the production cost of this ironclad ship was not as expensive as he imagined.Since Chu Yun was able to produce one ironclad ship, he could easily produce a second one.Unless Chu Yun is under a huge threat, it is possible to run the state machinery at full capacity and produce an armored fleet in a short period of time.

But in this era, there is no threat to make Chu Yun invest heavily in the ironclad fleet, and he invests funds in roads, railways, education, and technology research for the future.

Therefore, there is only one ironclad ship, which makes Charles I feel at ease. After all, in Charles I's view, even the eastern empire built one of such monsters, indicating that the other party was either financially unable to afford it, or had a technical limit.

(End of this chapter)