Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 24

2021-01-23

Chapter 24 Inland Sea
After Taneria was loaded with sugar and tobacco, the Skua She is sailing towards Veneta, her bow creates a huge splash, the waves split to the sides of the ship, leaving a faint trace at the stern, it seems that there is only this lone ship left between Heaven and Earth
The entire hull of the Skua swayed left and right with the rhythm of the sea, and the higher the height, the greater the swing. At the top of the mast, the sway even exceeded the width of the hull.

Winters looked up at the sailor who had been begging him for a drink the other day, climbing the rigging up the mast. The sailor had no protection, but was as agile as a monkey, and climbed to the top in a few strokes. at the sail.

"It seems that I don't have the talent to work on the ship. I can't do this job." Andre said, looking at the sailor working at heights, in a panic.

"I don't have this ability either." Winters watched the sailor climb to such a height that his hands and feet were numb: "What are you doing up here?"

"Tie all the sails. Get up, we have to go against the wind for the next route, using only jibs and bowsails." The first mate of the Skua enthusiastically gave Andre and Winters a little sailing knowledge.

Sinas Bay is embraced by land on the west side and sheltered by the Tani Islands on the east side, so it has a gentle temperament and usually has no winds and waves.

The terrain of the entire Confederate country is high in the west and low in the east, and the river flowing down from the highlands in the west flows into the sea from here, forming many flat and fertile estuary deltas on the coastline. Guitu City and Hailan City are located on typical alluvial plains.

Therefore, ships sailing in this Sea Territory generally do not have a deep draft in order to be able to enter shallow seas and estuaries.

The Skua is neither an ocean-going vessel nor an offshore vessel. She belongs to a "hybrid" breed, receiving and using for oneself whatever it is designed for, which is a typical pragmatism product.

Although the Skua has a shallow bottom like an offshore vessel, it has a keel that can withstand the wind and waves. In pursuit of speed, the Skua installed three masts on the small ship, and greedily equipped both square sails and jibs.

"Upwind means we're going against the wind?" Winters just had a question he wanted to ask while a sailing expert was nearby.

"The boat doesn't say that it is against the wind or against the wind. We call this situation the wind, and the next step is to go against the wind." The chief mate reminded the language taboo on the boat.

"Okay, upwind. But I don't understand why the boat can go upwind?" This question puzzled Winters.

"It's actually very simple." The first mate gestured to Winters: "Turn the boat to the wind and the sail to the wind, and the boat will go forward diagonally."

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"Then why on earth is it possible to move the boat and sails diagonally to the wind?" That's what Winters really wanted to know.

"Uh..." This question really caught the first officer: "This... I don't know about this, I just know that doing this can make you walk diagonally into the wind, but why do I really I don't know, and I didn't think about it."

"It looks like you're a sorcerer too." Winters smiled and said, "You can also use a power that you can't explain yourself."

The few passengers who took the boat from Guitu to Hailan were also on deck, standing behind Winters. Hearing what Winters said, one of the men secretly looked Winters up and down.

"What is a sorcerer?"

"It's a magician."

"Haha, if I'm a magician, I'll conjure myself the life I've spent in my life. Gold is finished."

"If you can make gold at will, the gold will be worthless."

A rush of bells interrupted the chat between the two, and the top of the mast The lookout announced loudly "Forty degrees to port! Sails! Forty degrees to port! Sails!"

The chief mate heard a boat on the port side and ran to the forecastle, and Winters followed. .

"I didn't see anything." Winters squinted and saw only the sea and the sky.

"When the lookout on the mast can see the other's mast, we can't see anything from this position. We can't see the other's mast until the lookout can see the hull." Chief Mate He added another sentence: "It's a good thing that we can't see it, it means that the other party is also walking around us."

The captain of the Skua also arrived at the forecastle at this time. The captain is a rich middle- Aged man, it is rare for a man at sea to have such a round face.

"Forty degrees to port, the lookout saw the sails." The chief mate briefly reported the situation.

"The other party gained the upper hand." The fat captain didn't hesitate, and immediately ordered the helmsman: "Turn to the wind! Adjust the jib!"

The helmsman immediately steered to the right, the thief The hull of the Gull began to lean to the left, and the hull made a crunching sound of wood under pressure. An arcing track was left on the water, and the Skua turned to a downwind course.

"Let's give up a little position first, then return to the original course, and keep a little distance from the other side." The fat captain respected these army officers, and seeing that Winters and Andre were unclear, he casually said Explained: "If the other party is not malicious, they will also keep their distance from us because of our intentions."

This makes both Winters and Andre look sideways.

"Malignant? is it possible that there are still pirates in the inner sea?" Andre felt unbelievable. Cenas Bay can be said to be the alliance's bath tub, fish pond, and back garden, commonly known as "" Inland Sea", could there be pirates in such a place?

"It's not necessarily a pirate, after all, this is a very busy route." The fat captain's tone sounded quite relaxed: "But pirates always exist, and it is precisely because of inland shipping Prosperity, so there are still a lot of pirates."

He laughed: "Besides, isn't the Alliance Navy originally a group of pirates? If you help me to rob other people's ships, the Skua is also a pirate ship."

“Are small boats like the Skua robbed?”

“The Skua is not small, and even smaller boats are robbed. Pirates are robbing light boats. Big boats are robbed. There are many sailors, and it is not easy for pirates to start, but it is safer."

"But there must be naval battleships patrolling the inland sea, right?"

"The navy does not have a few pure warships. It's a merchant ship like the Skua, and the shipbuilding has to pay for itself!" The fat captain began to talk to Winters and Andre about business: "A ship earns back the cost of building the ship, and the owner is not a loss. It has to be the net profit after deduction of wages and maintenance. The money after the capital is recovered is the real money earned by the shipowner. To build a warship that cannot transport cargo is a pure investment, an iron-clad loss-making business.”

"Doesn't the navy not suppress pirates?" In Winters' view, if there are robbers, will the suppression be over? The army's standing army is not much, but it does not delay the army's fight against organized robbery gangs.

"A merchant ship has weapons on it, an armed merchant ship is a pirate with evil thoughts, and a merchant who runs the ship honestly is a businessman." The fat captain likes these fledgling young men very much, and takes the trouble to explain: " If you want to completely eliminate pirates, you must start with selling stolen goods, the alliance cannot control it."

"The alliance also allows pirates to sell stolen goods in the mainland?" The news is really exciting.

"It's not in the Alliance, it's in Taniria. Pirates rob things and sell the stolen goods in Taniria. This is already a very mature process." The fat captain showed a meaningful smile. : "There may be stolen goods in my cargo, who knows? Only pirates can have cheap sources of goods, right?
"Then... what if you are robbed?" Winters and Andre were stunned by the idea of symbiosis with pirates.

The fat captain replied calmly, "It's okay if you don't get robbed. Don't worry too much, it's not that easy to encounter pirates. "

"When! when! when! The lookout rang the bell again, and announced hoarsely: "The direction of the stern!" Hull! ”

The people on deck rushed to the poop again, this time, they saw the sail.

(End of this chapter)