Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1412 Navy change?

In September, the westerly wind in Xingnan Port is howling, and the huge waves are raging. Two newly appointed giants are sitting in the high-end restaurant on the top of Xingnan Lighthouse, enjoying fine wine and food, talking and laughing happily. Mao Desheng, the president, and Guo Zili, the chief of staff of the Joint Staff Headquarters, are two of the hottest dignitaries in China on the east coast.

In the Xingnan Port battleship wharf that has been repaired and strengthened for many years, the battleship "East Coast Man" is now bouncing up and down with several "August [-]th" class ships in the surging torrent, as if trying to break free from the cables and anchors The bondage of chains, the return to the sea of ​​violent freedom.All pilot ships, steam ice-drivers, and steam supply ships have docked in the Chico River to avoid the huge waves overseas—although the solid and reliable breakwaters have blocked most of the huge waves from the open sea, but in this situation for many years Under the rare bad weather (it seems that bad or extreme weather has appeared in all parts of the world this year...), these little guys should not go outside to show off. Didn’t you see that almost all the ships are honestly parked in the port without moving what?

When the shipping of ships is suspended, a large amount of goods can only be piled up on the dock, especially those large timber purchased from Peru, tobacco, sugar, cocoa, coffee, sulfur, tin ore, struvite, cinchona bark powder, Products such as leather, rainbow trout, coho salmon, horse mackerel, whale products and other goods purchased from several counties in southern Chile, were all transported to Xingnan Port via the Nancone Railway, and stopped helplessly in the wharf warehouse, waiting silently The arrival of the transport ship, the weather is really bad!

But fortunately, such bad weather is not too common - the bad influence of the damned little glacier climate - otherwise the Southern Railway Company may be scolded, and its stock trading price will also fall year after year in the Qingdao market ( It is said that the current price has risen to 87 yuan per share, but it has also turned down, because the concession of the Southern Railway will expire at the end of 1678), how can it be so beautiful now!It is impossible for the Southern Cone Railway to become the only profitable railway in the east coast of the country as it is now (the Ome Railway has a small loss because it undertakes a large amount of training business), and many counties and townships in Southern Patagonia must also There is not enough funds to invest in the construction of infrastructure and the improvement of people's living standards.

Speaking of which, I would like to add that because of the repeated orders of the Executive Committee, the South Patagonia region has basically stopped intercepting the population of immigrants who took the Pacific route in recent years (about 4000 to 4 people per year). Of course, this is also in line with Australia's development. The captain of the team, Wang Yan, swore to the death not to allow the Southern Railway Company to "pluck the hair". Therefore, the total population of the ten counties in the entire southern Patagonia region is only [-] to [-], which can be described as a vast area and sparsely populated.

However, with the new government of Qi Wangping coming to power, and the relatively strong personality of President Mao Desheng taking office, the Southern Railway Company has gradually resumed the "pumping" of immigrants in recent years, about 2000 people a year; in addition, they I also found a way to contact the famous labor broker Goshkin, and asked him to find a way to migrate some bitter serfs from the Russian provinces (even handicraftsmen and businessmen are acceptable) to the southern Patagonia region to settle down and develop the local area. It is said that Goshkin has agreed to this request. After all, for him, it is really wonderful to be able to climb the thigh of the famous Southern Railway Company.

"The business of the Southern Railway Company is booming. Look at the battleship wharf. I think it's even more magnificent than the Hailing Port Naval Base. Our navy only gave you a subsidy of more than [-] yuan back then. It must not be enough. It's expensive. The company itself should have invested a lot of extra money, he really is a rich man, haha!" After touching Mao Desheng with a wine glass, Guo Zili, who is nearly sixty years old, said with a smile.

"Hehe, don't look at the current prosperity of the Southern Railway Company like flowers blooming and cooking oil, but in fact the business has reached its peak, and there is no way to grow rapidly in the short term. After all, Peru is such a big body, and how many products can it provide? What's more, there are now more and more competitive products from New China, New Spain, New Courland, and the Free State. Although the production cost of Peruvian products is not high, it does not have much advantage, and there is still Paying import tariffs, if the market for many commodities is not saturated, the Southern Railway Company would not be able to earn so much money every year, it is all thanks to the development of the country and the increase in the income of the people, haha..." Mao Desheng and Guo Zili The relationship is not bad, so there is nothing to shy away from speaking, and he has told the current situation of the Southern Railway Company and the problems it may face in the future in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Don't just talk about our Southern Railway Company, Lao Guo, you are now the chief of staff. How about the proposal made by the Dutch this time? It should be a godsend for your navy, right? You can take some old ships with one brain Dispose of it, recover a large amount of funds, and then start building a new ship. This is a good thing no matter how you think about it! Lao Guo, I said that this shop will definitely not exist after passing this village. If the Dutch were not arrested this time The beating was really painful, I'm afraid they wouldn't go to the doctor in such a hurry? Your navy is like a pie in the sky, and the Dutch red hair rushed to your door to send money to change your clothes!" Mao Desheng finished his glass of wine, talking After a turn, it came to the navy.

And the "naval refitting" he mentioned is actually very simple, that is, the five naval ministries of the United Provinces have placed an order to the east coast through the three-level parliament, requesting to purchase some warships, and it is best to pass this winter (winter in the northern hemisphere) The delivery was made at the port of the Netherlands before, otherwise it would be of little significance—considering the construction period of the "Falcon Island"-class frigate gunboat, if the production starts in August, including the time on the way to delivery, it will probably take until February next year We will arrive at the various ports in the United Provinces in the second ten days of the month, and the time is almost right.

Then the Dutch spent more than two months in early spring (during this period of time, the North Sea was also full of rough seas, which was not suitable for large-scale naval battles) to get familiar with the handling and performance of warships. combat effectiveness.Therefore, the three major shipyards of the East Coast Republic of China have started to build the "Madao" class escort gunships since the middle and late last month, and there are ten ships in one build, each priced at [-] dong, plus Some necessary spare parts such as cannons, shells, gunpowder barrels, cables, canvas, skins, anchor chains (the Dutch even asked to engrave the Dutch letters meaning "rock solid" on the anchor chains...) were additionally required by the Dutch , the total price of each ship was finally set at [-] dong.

As for the classic "August [-]th" class double-deck battleship on the east coast - naturally it is a version without a steam engine, just like the "Bayezid" sold to Ottoman that year - due to the long construction period, it was eventually taken over by the Netherlands. People gave up. After all, they themselves have certain shipbuilding capabilities. Now it is just a lack of time and some supplies. This kind of relatively expensive large-scale warship is not as good as building it yourself. Although the warehouse of the famous Saldan Shipyard is now Nedo is a softer pine wood used in building merchant ships.

In addition, in view of the urgency of the current situation, the Dutch also expressed that if the people on the east coast are willing to directly hand over the "Falmaland" class frigate gunboats currently in service in their navy to the Dutch Navy, then they are also willing to pay [-] guilders for each ship. The price is open to purchase, unlimited, as long as the people from the east coast sail to any port in the United Provinces, the delivery will be made on the spot without any delay.

The reason why they are so "monkey anxious" is actually understandable, because since the defeat in the Bergen naval battle, the current navy of the United Provinces is mainly under the command of the admiral headed by Druiter, and it is desperately resisting. The pressure from the British to ensure the smooth flow of maritime trade lines that are crucial to the United Provinces will consume a lot of personnel, equipment, ships, and money. If there is a ready-made professional warship joining the United Provinces Navy at this time, Then it will undoubtedly reduce their pressure, making the escort mission less breathless than it is now.

Of course, the Dutch are desperately escorting around, and at the same time, it also reflects the current status of the British Navy from the side, that is, they are obsessed with dividing the fleet into stocks and robbing the Dutch merchant ships and fishing boats separately. The good chance of victory, perhaps this has a lot to do with their relatively poor financial situation, eager to make up for the consumption of war from the looting of spoils-but in any case, this situation has caused some people of insight in the Kingdom of England to Sighing, it's a pity that they don't seem to have much influence yet.

"Old Mao, I agree with this matter, and there is no major opinion within the navy. After all, there is no war now. It is not a problem at all to allocate a dozen old warships to the Dutch. The most important thing now The trouble is that some members of the executive committee don’t know how to pretend to understand. They are afraid that it will affect national security, so they question this and that all day long, which makes my head dizzy. But fortunately, Chairman Qi Wangping supports me , so it is estimated that this matter will be successful in the end, so we will take out some older ships—let’s set the number at fifteen—and sell them to the Dutch, which will return about 100 million guilders.” Guo Zili Picking up the wine glass, he said calmly: "100 million dong, that's more than 30 yuan, enough for us to start building ten 'Polaris' class light cruisers at the same time, and they are all brand new ships. Is this a better business?"

By the way, Guo Zili's words actually represent a certain tendency of the naval system, that is, they tend to get rid of the old warships at hand, and then step up and replace them with their new favorite "Polaris" class light cruisers.This kind of warship can not only escort, but also suppress smuggling, and even fight against pirates. It can also be used to detect the enemy's situation. It has a wide range of uses. We will build ten ships first.As for Captain Ding Zhen’s long-distance sea trial ship, it hasn’t returned yet. Damn, I can’t control that much. Let’s build it first, and there should be no problem!

Also, don't forget the frigates used to escort merchant ships!Although the "Polaris" class is also capable - this kind of ship is between a real escort gunboat and a cruiser, and it is more like a panacea - but the Ministry of the Navy still intends to design a separate one, and has already come up with a preliminary plan, that is, Zhenhai Shipbuilding The "Osamu" designed by the factory (named after the solar terms when the blueprint of this type of ship was finalized) escorted the gunboat.

This type of frigate is actually an upgraded version of the "Madao" class frigate, adhering to the frigate design tradition of "ships with strong guns" as always by the people on the east coast. It has reached as much as 38.9 meters, which is also speechless.Correspondingly, the firepower of this type of frigate is extremely powerful, with 10.6 4.6-pound naval guns, 22 12-pound naval guns, and 12 18-pound naval guns installed on its side, making its total number of guns reach 8. It is daunting, and its total deadweight tonnage has reached 24 tons, which makes the "August 42th" class a bit embarrassing.

In addition, unlike the light cruiser "Polaris" that pursues brisk speed, the materials used for "Osamu" spare no expense and are extremely solid. The sideboards are thicker and have strong protection. The design of the poop makes its speed much slower than that of the "Polaris".But there is no doubt that it can go to the battle line to conduct confrontation with large enemy warships. It is better than the "Polaris" with 8-pound and 12-pound short-barreled guns, so it is best used as an escort. that's it.This time the Navy also intends to build more ships to gradually replace the "Madao" class escort gunships that were commissioned many years ago. It just so happens that this time, a local tycoon from the United Provinces paid for the replacement. This type of ship is expected to cost as much as 4 yuan a ship, which is relatively expensive. Therefore, if you want to build more, you must reduce the number of "Polaris" class construction. This is another happy trouble for the navy. Tangled.

"Some white shirts are simply messing around. Don't pay too much attention to them. What to do or what to do. If this matter is confirmed, then the Dutch will spend 400 million guilders on our military purchases, of which The sum of money that falls on your navy can be close to 40 yuan. You have to think about it carefully. Now except for the third fleet, the first fleet and the second fleet need to expand ships. I suggest you build more ships Light cruiser, this is good for the overseas colonies, after all, most of them are facing the threat of enemy armed merchant ships, and it is very appropriate to use the 'Polaris' class to deal with it." After putting the wine glass in his hand on the table, Mao Desheng squeezed The food was eaten, and he said: "Just build 12 light cruisers. In addition, please ask the executive committee to transfer part of the profits of the Dutch ordered warships to you. Let's get together and build another 4 escort gunboats. This is the total We have reached 16 ships, and we have earned one more than before, and the ships are all brand new, and their performance is stronger and better than before, what a great thing!”

"Yes, I will fight for this matter. It is rare to have a rich man to pay the bill, so we must seize the opportunity." Guo Zili also said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)