European Financial Emperor

054 Advance into North America (2)

a few days later.

East Stella finally succeeded in inventing the internal combustion engine and commercializing it.

It is now possible to run an internal combustion engine vehicle instead of a wagon, and a diesel engine can be used instead of a steam engine for a train.

Taken from readwn.com

Most crucially, the good news was that diesel could now be used instead of heavy coal as the power unit for ironclad ships.

Lee Hwan is once again rearranging the army.

He received good news from the Dutch royal family.

While Lee Hwan was actively developing weapons, the Dutch royal family succeeded in purchasing 500 acres of real estate in western North America.

A messenger from the royal family informed Lee Hwan of the progress of the real estate purchase.

“We have succeeded in purchasing 500 acres of real estate in western California. We will be able to legally settle there in the future.”

“Thanks for the news.”

“When are you planning to depart?”

It seemed that the lion was going to report Yi Hwan’s departure to the royal family.

Lee Hwan gave a simple answer.

“I will leave in exactly one month.”

“All right. I will tell you that.”

It was as if the preparations were over.

Now, Lee Hwan just has to go on an expedition that will create the heyday of East Stella.

Shortly after the death of the lion, Lee Hwan installed a diesel engine on the ironclad West Stella, which had not yet been powered.

Compared to the steam engine, the size of the engine did not change much, but the speed was incomparable because the difference in horsepower was almost double.

The engine was mounted using two diesel tows, which would become the center of the artillery force in the future.

A week later, Lee Hwan received an engine installation report for 20 ironclad ships, including West Stella.

“We installed engines for all fleets, including the flagship. There are last minute facility adjustments going on, but it won’t be a big deal.”

“How does the diesel tow truck perform?”

“It is incomparable to a wagon or a horse-drawn carriage. Even artillery rides and runs faster than wagons.”

“Are you going about 15km in an hour?”

“If you increase the output to the maximum, you can go 25km smoothly.”

The diesel tractor developed by East Stella looked like a modern cultivator, with an internal combustion engine about half the size of any wagon.

Nevertheless, it was one of the things that emitted 15 horsepower.

Of course, if you look at the future knowledge, you might laugh at the size of this size and only 15 horsepower and 25 km/h with this amount of development funds.

But, wasn’t this an era where there were no cars with even 1 horsepower?

“From now on, let’s make a carriage that rolls on its own based on this.”

“I will do my best.”

“Current tow trucks have only one pair of wheels, but future vehicles will have two pairs of wheels, so they will roll on their own without the need for a wheeled tow truck. I’ll give you a blueprint, so please work hard on it.”

“all right.”

The development of the internal combustion engine immediately after Yi Hwan broke through the altitude was truly a godsend.

If a means of transportation that was faster and easier than canals became deeply entrenched in daily life, a revolution in transportation would occur.

He decided to set off with 30 tow guns.

“Attach one retractor to each tow gun door, and make it into a squad of six. So, let’s move in the same way.”

“all right.”

Lee Hwan reorganized the mercenary corps into a modern organization and established a firm command system different from before.

The Dutch fleet was left in its worst condition during the 18th century, and has maintained its existence as a chaos without even a proper headquarters.

Such a rotten legacy was being advanced through Rietterkirk’s systematic military training.

In a word, Lee Hwan was also innovating in the military organization.

***

After repeating preparations for sailing for a month, Lee Hwan was able to maintain the fleet in the perfect shape he had envisioned.

The East Stella Fleet, loaded with ten battleships full of diesel and shells, held a launch ceremony.

About 20,000 settlers who were going to North America were also present at the expedition ceremony, and they will be boarding 40 merchant ships and heading to North America.

Among the settlers, there were children and their livestock, such as horses, pigs, and chickens, so there was literally no market.

Despite this, the 3,000 elite troops were closely guarded.

“We have the shortest voyage to North America. If we encounter pirates or privateers trying to loot us along the way, we will beat them mercilessly. Do you understand?”

“Yes!”

“Get on board!”

Lee Hwan has modernized East Stella’s military uniform.

It was a departure from the ridiculous military uniform with white tights and a vest, and borrowed the combat uniform of the future army.

chuck! chuck! chuck!

Although it smells a bit, the soles of the boots made by compressing rubber imported from South America are comfortable and add a sense of moderation to the ceremony.

Behind the procession of soldiers who were so modest as to cause a shudder, the settlers, under the leadership of the officers, boarded the wooden merchant ships.

East Stellar was not going to use any more wooden boats after this move, and was going to sell or dispose of all of them.

This is because repairing the wooden ship required not only a lot of manpower, but also the cost of maintaining it.

In addition, the biggest problem was that it could not keep up with ironclad ships in terms of durability.

Therefore, only the minimum repair materials necessary for the voyage were loaded, and no timber to be used locally was loaded.

Immediately after departure, Lee Hwan discussed the route with his staff on the flagship West Stella.

Based on the previous two expeditions, Lee Hwan devised the shortest route to the destination.

He named this route the V route.

This long journey from Europe to Africa, South America, and North America was almost the only route since the Panama Canal had not yet been developed.

“In order to minimize the supply of goods, prepare foods with the longest shelf life as possible, and make sure you have lemons with you.”

“Yes, Commander. But I have one question.”

“Say it.”

“The place we’re going to is on the property of East Stella, but whose land is it originally?”

“Whose land is it?”

“Isn’t that originally Spanish land? However, I heard that Mexico recently declared an empire with independence. So who owns the roads and ports that Spain had built before?”

Who is the owner of the land is a very important issue.

It would be a big deal if the Mexican Empire tried to nationalize port facilities by imposing excessive taxes on undeveloped California and by national law.

Conversely, if they claim the rights to the facilities they originally built in Spain, it would be a headache in its own right.

However, Lee Hwan didn’t think it was difficult.

“It is our land. If there is a force that wants to invade, we will kill it.”

“Is that even the Mexican Empire?”

“Even if the Spanish fleet, not the Mexican Empire, invades, we will fight. We now have that much power.”

No matter how much Mexico and Spain invaded with tens of thousands of troops, they would not be able to easily break through Yi Hwan’s fortress.

This is because Lee Hwan now had a weapon system capable of defeating dozens of soldiers with one soldier.

“Where we are going is our land. If anyone tries to invade our land, it will be very premature.”

“iced coffee… … !”

“What does oppression mean to us going to North America for freedom?”

The morale of the soldiers is sometimes more important than the international situation.

If there is a commander who is taken away from what he asks, will the settlers and soldiers be able to follow him?

The soldiers gained confidence in Lee Hwan’s cool answer.

Perhaps they were carrying the burden and pressure of going to a new place, but Lee Hwan’s ambitious ambition blew it away neatly.

That evening.

After eating, Lee Hwan went down to the basement to look at the soldiers resting on the ship.

As always, the cabins where the soldiers ate and rested were narrow and stuffy, and there was no place for them to be damp and hot.

However, compared to the past, life was definitely better than before because there was a wind-up ventilation fan.

As many as a dozen people slept close to each other in a narrow cabin, but each bed was divided, and personal items and firearms could be stored under the bed.

Above all, flush toilets were installed at both ends of the cabin, so there was almost no smell of feces.

“Ah, Admiral!”

A huge salute with respect for the Admiral occurred like a wave along the way Lee Hwan went.

Lee Hwan looked at them and put on a gentle smile.

He sometimes approached familiar faces when he saw them.

“Is it worth it?”

“Yes, it is. It’s almost heaven compared to what it used to be when you roll up on a merchant ship.”

“Good luck. Where is your cat now?”

“It’s great. They are probably still hunting mice somewhere.”

The soldiers would sometimes keep a cat to catch mice, but Yi Hwan actively encouraged it.

For some reason, the rats of this bastard continued to spread no matter how many times they were caught, so they often became the cause of various diseases.

So Lee Hwan gave permission to bring the cats that sailors had raised to catch mice in the past.

However, reckless reproduction is difficult, so I was only asking people to pay attention to population control.

After scanning the cabin once, Lee Hwan went straight down to the engine room.

The engine room had a particularly large number of hand-wound fans, but it was still hot.

Engineers who were fighting the sweltering heat gave a salute to Lee Hwan’s appearance.

“There is nothing special about working.”

“Yeah, you’re doing well. Are you getting enough rest?”

“The facilities are so well-equipped that there are no major problems. Isn’t this an engine that has been tested and perfected for years?”

The engineers were very proud of the researchers because they were directly involved in developing the engine.

The pride of such engineers has been a great asset to Lee Hwan.

Time passed and it was that night.

Lee Hwan wrote a voyage log with a glass of cognac.

With the idea of keeping a voyage log instead of a black box, he made it a habit to write a handwritten log.

Lieutenant Arnis pretended to be popular to Lee Hwan, who was writing a diary.

smart.

“Commander.”

“What’s going on?”

“Are you free?”

Lee Hwan, who got up from his seat wondering what was going on, approached Arnis, who was waiting at the entrance of the cabin.

At best, it was only a few steps away, but Arnis didn’t come in and was waiting in the hallway.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“no. After delivering this, I was just about to go back.”

He handed Lee Hwan a piece of parchment with a gold seal with the wheel of a wagon drawn on it.

The words ‘Goldman Company’ were embroidered on the outside of the parchment.

“… … Goldman?”

“The Lady of the Golden Child family asked me to hand it over right after leaving the port.”

“Rachel?”

“Yes, then.”

Arnis salutes and returns home.

Lee Hwan tilted his head and unsealed the parchment.

Then, the opened writing made Lee Hwan’s eyes widen.