Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2028 Assemble

Let's rewind the time a little over a month.

In late June 1688, at the military pier of Huaiyuan Island, naval warships gathered on the east coast.The most conspicuous among them are the four three-deck battleships "Liberator", "Milestone", "Scavenger" and "East Coaster".These ships all sailed along the coast of Brazil and Guyana, and finally settled at the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base.

Because of the storm on the way, these ships were more or less damaged, so they were all repaired at the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base, and it cost a total of more than 3 yuan, which is also amazing.In fact, this is also an important reason why many people in the Navy pointed out that this super-large warship is low in cost performance. It has a large tonnage, a high center of gravity, a large number of personnel, and its structure is easily damaged. Ordinary ships are more dangerous. In short, it is a high-end toy that only the rich can afford.

Therefore, after building six such powerful warships, the East Coast Navy no longer intends to build more three-deck warships. They have instead invested limited funds in ironclad ships, rifled guns (solid cone projectiles fired) In the research and development, manufacturing, and has achieved certain results.

This latest warship was entrusted to the Dayu River Naval Shipyard for development.The factory has strong technical strength. A special research group was established a few years ago, and elite soldiers were dispatched to officially conduct research on ironclad ships and marine rifled guns at the inaccessible Hailing Port Naval Base.Thanks to the breakthrough in domestic high-horsepower marine steam engine technology, Dayuhe Works worked closely with Heishan Industrial Company to successfully complete the development of the marine power system "Popeye-1687".In addition, they worked with experts from the Tieling Heavy Industry Consortium to determine which key parts of the ship should be installed with hot-rolled thin steel plates, and then recalculate the ship's center of gravity and force conditions to further optimize the ship's shape design— —This part requires the help of researchers from the Institute of Mathematics, Academy of Natural Sciences.

In short, this is a "big war" project that has mobilized more than 20 companies and research institutions.In the past, people on the east coast did not have much demand for ironclad ships, so they were not very active in research and development. But now, with the crazy investment in the navy by European countries, the strength has increased significantly, and the people on the east coast also feel the need to invest in the construction of a new type of ship that is different from Any type of warship in the past made the navy of the East Coast Republic of China once again lead the pack and conquer thousands of miles of waves.

Oh, yes, and the development of rifled guns.To be honest, the research and development of this weapon has been called for a long time in the East Coast, but it has not received enough attention.The idea of ​​rifling the inside of a cannon and firing a solid metal cone was not at all popular with the Army.The range of this kind of shell is too short, it will not explode, and it will not bounce and bounce on the ground. It simply cannot arouse the army's desire to invest.

Compared with the army, the navy is quite interested in this new weapon, and feels that this may be an effective way to increase the power of naval guns on the east coast.Because the conical shells it fires have very good penetration when bombarding the side hull of the enemy warship, and it is easy to punch a small bullet hole, which has obvious advantages.And if the bullet hole happens to be located at the waterline or even below the waterline, then the cabin of the enemy warship will be slowly flooded by the influx of seawater, and it is unknown whether it will have to withdraw from the battle to repair it or even sink on the spot.

As for the short range of this kind of artillery due to its poor airtightness, it is not a big problem in sea battles.After all, battles between battle lines usually take place within two to 300 meters. The conical cannon has enough kinetic energy to ensure that it can fly to the target to destroy it. Therefore, this kind of artillery has been heavily invested by the navy. , and finally took out the real thing at the end of last year.

This time the main force of the east coast navy gathered in the Caribbean Sea, they brought more than forty of these cannons, and stored them in the cabins of four "Executive Committee" class three-deck battleships, in case of emergency.The commander of the task force leading the team, Captain Morie Eel, has already planned to replace some of the old-fashioned artillery with rifled artillery in case of conflict with the enemy at sea in the future, to see how effective it is in actual combat.At the same time, they can also feed back the usage situation to Dayuhe Armory (the manufacturer of this type of gun), so as to facilitate their further improvement.

Adding rifled artillery to ironclad ships is the next development direction of the East Coast Navy.While the advanced European naval countries—such as the Kingdom of England—are still desperately studying how to solve the problems arising from the use of marine steam engines, the people on the east coast have entered another leading level.There is no doubt that this will be a generational difference, a military generation that makes the English, the Dutch, the French despair.

"Commander, all ships have been repaired. The weather station has also sent news that according to their years of experience, the nearby ocean will be relatively calm in the future, which is just conducive to the navigation of the large fleet." The highest point of the Huaiyuan Harbor Fort, the first Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, commander of the Caribbean Squadron and captain of the "Liberator", came over to report to his commander, Colonel Moreel.

Morley Eel was called back from his position as the commander of the Second Fleet, and was then appointed as the commander of the Portuguese Task Force of the East Coast Navy, responsible for leading the largest naval expedition fleet on the East Coast in history to Europe.According to the plan of the Ministry of the Navy, in addition to the ships dispatched from the mainland, the task force will also join the main force of the Caribbean Sea Squadron and the Cape Verde Squadron to go north together, go to the Portuguese offshore port to anchor and anchor, and be ready to interfere with the European continent at any time. situation.

Such an appointment basically shows that Colonel Morie Eel is already No. 1 in the Navy except Li Zemin, and his ranking in the system is quite high. In the future, he will be promoted to the Minister of the Navy and even the Chief of the General Staff of the Joint Staff Headquarters It is also a certainty, provided that this time he can lead the team to complete the task relatively well.

"The scale of the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base is still not large enough, especially the serious shortage of docks and repair workers, which limits the docking, supply and maintenance of the large fleet. It needs to be improved in the future." Turning around, I looked at my deputy. Ding Zhen, Mo Lieel sighed and said: "In the future, we need to increase investment and expand. The Caribbean Sea is a sea of ​​abundance. All countries have established colonies here, plantations and factories. We cannot take it lightly."

"There is no way to keep people here." Speaking of this, Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, who has served in Huaiyuan Island for many years, poured out bitter water. He only heard him say: "Huaiyuan Island is located in the tropics, and it is humid and hot all year round. Incomparably, the disease is high, the environment is harsh, and many people are unwilling to live here. We have only a few thousand residents here, except for more than 2000 people who immigrated in the early days. They are all non-citizens and exiled prisoners. It is very difficult. I once talked with the county magistrate. He said that the trend of outflow of local elites is very obvious. Some of them prefer to work in Port Mobile, the headquarters of Air Canada. The standard of living there is said to be higher than here. There is no way. Of course, this is not the most hateful thing. To help the lawless pirates, they even took up the idea of ​​Huaiyuan Island, and sent people to the local area several times, and they poached some craftsmen with professional ship repair skills, which made everyone in the county grit their teeth in anger. "

What Ding Zhen said is actually true, the environment of Huaiyuan Island is really too bad.Not to mention that it is extremely hot and humid all year round, and there are actually no special products on the island (except asphalt and wood). The only industrial economy is maintained by the supply and maintenance of passing ships. Most of the residents are actually engaged in agricultural activities.Therefore, living in such a place does require a certain amount of courage, and it is understandable for many people to leave.

As for the people from Sioux City, the pirate city in Texas that Ding Zhen mentioned just now, coming to poach corners, it is true.The main reason is that there are more and more elderly and disabled pirates who have settled there in recent years. They married wives and had children there, and reproduced. So far, eight natural villages have been developed, with a total of more than [-] residents. In fact, the largest colonial port in Texas has more people than the Spanish Kingdom under the rule of the Texas general Joaquin, which is considered an anomaly.

As the population increases, Sioux City Port naturally needs all kinds of talents.The pirates may be able to fight and kill, but if you let them do construction and craftsmanship, it will be a little difficult.That is not their strong point, and in the end they can only turn to outsiders for help. It is one of their efforts to come to Huaiyuan Island to recruit professionals with a lot of money.

The National Intelligence Agency is very satisfied that the pirates in Sioux City Harbor are so "knowledgeable and interesting".They are the nails that the East Coast people wedged into the vast Texas. The Spanish colonization activities in this land were half-hearted and feeble. Then don’t blame the East Coast people for further colonial expansion in the future and compete with them. territory.This world is like this, if you don't want it, don't you allow others?

In short, Sioux City Port and Mobile Port are two pawns directly controlled by the East Coast people on the North American continent. In the past, due to the insufficient population size of the local area, no large-scale colonial settlement activities have been carried out. , just engage in some local business activities (if pirate robbery counts), but this situation will definitely change in the future.Regarding this point, both Morie Eel and Ding Zhen are very clear about it.

"Huaiyuan Island's inability to retain people is indeed a problem. But don't worry, the central government will definitely think of countermeasures. But before that, Huaiyuan Island itself must first do a good job. If I remember correctly, the central and eastern regions of the island are still Are there a lot of aboriginal Indians who are settling? This is a bit outrageous. I hope it will change in the future. Those aboriginal Indians should all be exiled to the yellow-black dividing line in southern Africa. This island will be clean The land is left for us people on the east coast to settle." Morley Eel said, looking at the tall and continuous mountains in the middle of the island.

"Okay, don't talk about these things, go down and organize the fleet. Four 'Executive Committee' class ships, fifteen 'Ji Qi' class ships, twenty 'Star' class ships and some logistics ships. Check the ammunition and military supplies again to make sure there are no omissions. I am worried that there is not enough supplies in the material reserve on the Cape Verde Islands. The large fleet is dispatched, and all kinds of consumption will be huge. It is better to bring enough in advance. " Mo Lie eel ordered to Ding Zhen.

If there is no accident, their task force will set off for the Eastern Cape Verde Islands in the next few days, and then deploy some main warships there to supplement them, and set off to Portugal together.The East Coast Navy has not shown its muscles in Europe for many years, and this time is indeed a good opportunity.

(End of this chapter)