Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 155 Ironclad ships are invincible (first update, please subscribe)
Almost all ironclad ships these days are like this. A layer of iron skin is directly nailed on the wooden shell to become an ironclad ship.

As the first "ironclad ship" built by Nanhua, it is also like this. In fact, it is still a wooden ship in essence.

Nanhua actually built an "iron-clad ship"... To be honest, in Zhu Xianhai's view, this kind of "iron-clad ship" with only a layer of iron plates nailed on it is simply a steam version of the "turtle ship". , North Korea nailed that thing with a layer of iron.

Well, it seems that in the Civil War, the ironclad ships of the Yankees were almost covered with a layer of iron on the waterline, two inches thick.

However, a one-inch thick iron plate is enough here, after all, the needs of customers are different!

Staring at the sharp steel ram in front of the iron keel in the dock, Zhu Xianhai asked.

"Is the ram strong enough?"

"It must be strong enough. The main body of the ram is integrated with the keel, and it is definitely strong enough."

When he answered in the affirmative, Liang Mingwei asked curiously again.

"Boss, is this ram useful? I heard Harley's chief engineer say that such a ram is useless at all, like, like..."

Looking at the owner, Liang Mingwei said.

"Like its ten-inch cannon, it doesn't seem to be of much use."

Why isn't Hares, the shipyard's chief engineer, here?

After one sentence, he couldn't understand why the company insisted on building such an ordinary ship. In his opinion, even if the company wanted to build a warship, it could start with ordinary wooden warships step by step instead of finding another way.

Compared with such "gadgets" that may be sunk by wind and waves even when they go out to sea, he prefers to build merchant ships-an iron-ribbed clipper ship is being built in another dock.

"What does it mean that it is not very useful? He doesn't understand at all!"

Zhu Xianhai directly sneered at the judgment of that fellow Harles.

"His judgment about the cannon may be right, but the ramming angle is definitely useful, and may even become the most important weapon of this ship. After all, sometimes ten-inch cannons may not be useful, but the ramming angle will definitely come in handy Useful, it's used to ram and sink enemy ships. Just charge up and ram!"

A few years later, the Battle of Lissa was the first sea battle of steam-armored ships.Naval battles prove that using artillery to deal with armored warships is no longer effective. Steam-powered ships are highly maneuverable, and they can quickly transform into various combat teams. So this ancient tactic was revived again, and until the beginning of the 20th century, ramming horns were installed on warships of most countries.

"No matter how big or small the opponent's warship is, if it hits it with such a ramming angle, it will definitely sink in one hit! I can guarantee that this will definitely meet the customer's needs! As for the ten-inch cannon..."

Zhu Xianhai smiled and said.

"The ten-inch Dahlgren cannon is powerful enough, but in fact it is not used at all. It is a waste of firepower to use such a cannon to bombard the small wooden boats of the Hunan Army. Let's hit them."

As soon as his words fell, Liang Mingwei said in surprise.

"What? This, this ship is going to bomb the Hunan army? Dong... Dongjia, what does this mean?"

Looking at Liang Mingwei who looked confused, Zhu Xianhai said with a smile.

"This boat is going to be sold to the Taiping Army to make a lot of money!"

Pointing to the boat in the dock, Zhu Xianhai said proudly.

"Look, how much does such an iron-clad ship with iron armor and ten-inch cannons cost? How much does it cost us? The budget is less than 5 silver dollars, but we ship such a ship back to China Finally, if it is sold to the Taiping Army, it can sell at least four to five million taels, that is, six to seven hundred thousand silver dollars! This is ten or twenty times the profit! However, this is not important, what is important is that with this Armored ships, the Taiping Army can not only break the blockade of Tianjing by the Qing army, but also run across the Yangtze River!"

Looking at Dong's family dumbfounded, Liang Mingwei was so surprised that he couldn't speak.My boss... how much I hate the Qing Dynasty!
Even in America, don't forget to harm the Qing Dynasty!

How could Liang Mingwei understand Zhu Xianhai's eagerness!
Through the news brought by the second group of immigrants, he has almost learned about the situation in China. Although the siege of Tianjing was lifted after the second break of the Jiangnan camp two years ago, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is still in chaos, and Hong Xiuquan is still obsessed. In the gentle hometown of thousands of people, the government is controlled by his elder brothers Hong Renda and Hong Renfa.

Li Xiucheng, who despises the two of them for controlling the government, keeps writing to demand the reform of the government, and under the repeated blows, he specializes in running his own Sufu province-he has already conquered Hangzhou at the end of last year.

and then?
That is to say, this year, Zeng Guofan planned a three-sided attack to attack Tianjing directly, and then surrounded Tianjing with soldiers. This siege lasted for several years. No., that is, this siege, completely encircled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. One year later, Zeng Guoquan entered Xiaolingwei in the east of Zhacheng. Two years later, the Hunan Army captured Tianbao City on the top of Zijin Mountain.

And what about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
It’s cold!

During the three-year defense of Tianjing, Zeng Tietong surrounded him with his iron bucket and attracted hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops to return to the army. Li Xiucheng, who had just conquered Hangzhou, was forced to abandon Hangzhou and lead his army back to aid Tianjing. , This time, the great situation that the division had finally achieved was broken, and the Sufu province that it managed so painstakingly was completely captured by Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and others in just one or two years.From Zeng Tietong's soldiers approaching the city of Tianjing, the strategic initiative has been in the hands of the Qing army.

The defense of Tianjing, to put it bluntly, is the curtain call of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
How to break the "iron barrel encirclement" of "Zeng Tietong"?
Zhu Xianhai has been thinking about this issue. After much deliberation, he set his sights on the Yangtze River and the navy of the Hunan Army. How can the Hunan Army fight under the city of Tianjing for a long time?
It is relying on the navy to control the Yangtze River, which not only prevents the Taiping Army in the north from going south, but also ensures the smooth logistics supply of its own side through the navy.As long as the Hunan Army's navy is broken, Zeng Tietong's deep moat and strong fortress under the city of Nanjing will become a decoration-how long can they last without food, grass and gunpowder in the rear?
In history, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was unable to lift the siege of the Hunan Army, so it finally walked towards the end of the country step by step.As long as the navy can be defeated, the siege can be lifted, and the city will not be destroyed!
At least, I can persist for a few more years!
Relying on those wooden boats of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is almost impossible to defeat the Hunan Army Navy and seize control of the Yangtze River. After all, the current Taiping Army is no longer the Taiping Army of the past. The invincible navy has long been playing It's over.

So if you want to defeat the Hunan Army Navy, you have to find another way, what should you do?The easiest way is through technical crushing. For the Hunan Army Navy of this era, such an "ironclad ship", even an ironclad ship covered with a layer of iron, is invincible.

With it, crushing the Hunan Army Navy is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.

Liang Mingwei, who recovered from his astonishment, first looked at the "ironclad ship" in the dock that had already started to be nailed, then at his owner, and said.

"Boss, can this ship go so far across the ocean? What if it sinks halfway?"

"fine!"

Zhu Xianhai smiled proudly.

"We have the Great Eastern..."

(End of this chapter)