Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1434 Submarine
"A ship that can sail underwater?!" Lando narrowed his eyes.This was the second meeting with Mr. De Fernand in the tavern.The news that the shipyard is building submarines is a bit of a surprise.Although Mr. Weislando has never been a student who loves to learn, he still thinks of the Turtle during the Revolutionary War that he saw in popular history books when he was a middle school student.Although he was not interested in it, at least he remembered that this thing could dive and sail, and it was once intended to destroy a battleship of the British Navy.

"This is ridiculous. How did the boat float when it sank? You must have drunk too much local wine."

"I swear to God, I didn't." Captain Fernand was afraid that the gold coins in his pocket would fly away again, and described in detail the secrets of this mysterious submarine that had been built and had already undergone a trial voyage.

According to Captain Fernand's description, the small submarine "resembled a shark" and had eight crew members.Its design is very minimal, without facilities such as pressurized water tanks.Naturally, there is no need for water and drainage.Submarines are hoisted directly into seawater by cranes.Through careful calculation of buoyancy and gravity, four external iron ballasts and four "oil-filled" leather bags allow the submarine to be suspended in the half-Spanish Fathom under water in a fully loaded state - at a depth of about 0.8 meters .The observation tower at the bow of the boat at this depth is roughly slightly higher than the water surface and can observe the sea surface conditions.The submarine is propelled forward by the crew with a hand-operated propeller, and the rudder is used to control the direction.When it is necessary to float, the submarine can be floated by directly jettisoning the ballast tank.Of course, at this time, the submarine no longer has the function of diving, and must return to the port to re-equip the ballast.

"Submerged boats are all well and good, but how are you going to fight with it? Obviously you can't fire a gun underwater."

"Yes," Captain Fernand agreed, "This will involve another new weapon invented by the mysterious Mr. Gao Shan."

This thing did not exceed Lando's expectations—it was indeed a thunderbolt.He has seen the minecrafts built by the Senate in Bopu and other places-since there are really no targets worth dispatching, these minecrafts are currently responsible for defending the port.

In his opinion, this kind of tasteless weapon is very dangerous to operate - almost to death - that is, it is more or less meaningful to equip a navy with steam power and armor manufacturing capabilities like the Senate.

"The design of this weapon is very ingenious. It can easily penetrate the shell of the enemy ship. After the mine is attached, the submarine can leave quietly-it will explode in 10 minutes, very punctual." Fernand The captain spoke with great interest, as if he hadn't considered the danger at all.

It's crazy!Mr. Lando thought, using this kind of manpower to propel a submarine without even a periscope to carry out a mine attack, is it like a kamikaze special attack team in the 17th century!This Captain Fernand probably had no idea of ​​the great danger he faced.

"Could you give me a chance to see the ship?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult. There are sentries around the dock at all times."

The man in black tapped the gold coin in his hand lightly.Captain Fernand swallowed, "I'll find a way."

Captain De Fernando provided almost all the details of the submarine in subsequent meetings, so that Mr. Lando, who had no drawing experience, was able to draw a picture that he could not even see based on his description. Understand the line diagram.However, the matter of entering the shipyard to investigate the submarine on the spot has not been implemented.Mr. Lando decided not to wait anymore. Anyway, he already knew the general structure of the submarine, and he didn't know much about this ancient weapon. Even if he saw it, he couldn't analyze it.

At this time, Mr. Genolino’s head is getting bigger and bigger: Seeing that the deadline stipulated in the contract for the new patrol boat is getting closer, the recent establishment of an arms factory has sucked away all the skilled Chinese craftsmen like a water pump, Genolino Nor found he couldn't even get enough blacksmiths to make ship nails.The most terrible thing is that there is even a shortage of iron materials.If it weren't for that Paul Gaoshan sent him generously to send him some bent scrap iron, he really didn't know how to do this job.

Although these iron materials seem to have been soaked and corroded in seawater, after removing the rust spots and heating them, the blacksmiths of the shipyard are full of praise for these iron materials—they are all high-quality malleable wrought iron.

Genolino Pagno had every reason to curse the damn job.Just a few days ago, Count Fana Nova, a popular social star in Manila, visited the shipyard on the Esmeralda, which is as beautiful as a white swan.What a noble and generous man he was, Genolino could have repaired the yacht for him, and easily pulled a lot of gold coins from his pocket.However, this nobleman walked around the shipyard, shook his head at the crowded slipway and dock, returned to the yacht and set off.Genolino's dream of mobbing has come to nothing, and he can only desperately try to complete the order of the patrol boat before the deadline. He doesn't want to be sent back to Havana in the anger of the Governor, and return to the ship that will never see the light of day. Craftsman career.

To make matters worse, the Governor also ordered him to complete the renovation of the Nautilus diving boat as soon as possible, and Genolino was forced to allocate some valuable personnel for this.Paul Alpine's masterpiece enjoys special treatment, occupying the only covered dry dock in the shipyard all to himself.The Governor generously allocated a lot of iron parts made in the munitions factory, as well as thin copper plates used to wrap the diving hull, and well-made copper nails, all of which were rolled by a hydraulic rolling mill. The copper was shiny, and Genolino recognized it. It's all good tin brass.But he didn't get the most urgently needed craftsmen, so the governor sent several soldiers to the shipyard to guard day and night near the dock where the Nautilus was parked, guarding against "all suspicious people".

The person in charge of the shipyard had to try to recruit manpower by himself. The local aborigines were weak and lazy, and could only do some coolie work such as carrying wood.Fortunately, the morning before yesterday, two new Chinese came to the shipyard to seek work. They were all wearing shoes.The two Chinese were both wearing short coats and hats, and their carpentry and painting skills were so-so.Genolino especially noticed their strong arms, which effortlessly lifted logs that could only be lifted by two or three Tagalogs.Looking at the shipwrights and coolies who were working hard, the person in charge of the shipyard seemed to feel his headache eased.He stepped outside the office, looked at the darkened sky, and ordered dinner.Mr. Genolino Pagno's dinner was not very good. To be worthy of this taro soup and Tuba wine mixed with not too much water, the rough pagans had to do enough work.

The night was getting dark.As usual in the tropics, the night sky was filled with a clear mist that enveloped the moon in a soft and full halo of color around it.The Spaniards have never instituted a strict night production system, so when Mr. Genolino returned to his cool and comfortable residence, the overseers also slipped back to the cabin to sleep.Most of the local coolies were so drunk that they stretched out their bodies under the slipway and snored.

In a few places in the shipyard, there is still a faint light, which is to facilitate the night work, and the fire is lit with waste wood chips and old ship cables.The two Chinese were still working in an orderly manner, and the thick saw blades pulled by the two people creaked rhythmically in their hands. Mr. Genolino ordered them to prepare enough wood for tomorrow.From time to time, beside the covered dock in the distance, a group of flames lit up. It was soldiers sent by the governor to patrol with torches.

However, by midnight, all the hustle and bustle in the shipyard gradually died down.The working speed of the two strong Chinese people also slowed down. It seemed that they too felt tired and needed to rest.The Chinese finally dropped their saw blades and walked towards the dark covered dock. No one saw them; if they saw them, they thought they were looking for a quieter place to sleep.

Two colonial soldiers sat smoking behind the dock, the torches burned out, but the patrol around the dock was not replaced until after sunrise, which was tedious and exhausting.The strange olive-shaped vessel under the canopy aroused their curiosity at first, but it was terribly tiresome to be on patrol all day for such a vessel.

There were light footsteps ahead, and a soldier raised his head vigilantly, grabbing an arquebus against the wall of the dock with one hand.He quickly let go of his hand. It turned out that two unemployed Chinese craftsmen were walking towards this side, both wearing hats. Wearing shabby shorts.

The two colonial soldiers were Pampanga recruited from Macabebe and could not understand Chinese, but they were used to the pitiful obsequiousness that the Chinese in the Philippines could not help showing when they faced the colonial soldiers.The Chinese who walked up to him bowed his waist, held his clothes in his hands, pointed to the soldier's chegar, and made several gestures to light the fire.The Pampanga mercenary decided that the two Chinese were here to borrow fire. He took out a fire sickle and a tinder bag from his arms, waved them in front of the Chinese, put them back in his pocket, and waited for the Chinese to be fooled. Showing a disappointed and painful expression, this trick is much more interesting than being whipped by a sergeant on the training ground.

The behavior of the Chinese suddenly became very strange.The Pampanga soldier felt terrified that his arms had been choked violently.Instinctively, he wanted to open his mouth to shout, but the torn clothes held by the other party had already sealed his mouth, and there were only a few shouts that were blocked in his chest.The cold blade pierced the throat, and the life of the colonial soldier was cut off, and he and his companions fell to death on the cold ground.

(End of this chapter)