Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 70

2022-01-09

Chapter 70 The Golden Lion Galley

At the same time the person outside the cabin opened the door, the steel The cone left Winters' hand.

No one didn't expect someone to open the door at this time, Winters and Bud shouted at the same time.

If you dodge after hearing their reminder, it will be too late. The people outside the door took action before the two of them made a sound, and their bodies avoided the flying sharp weapon and resolved the danger.

The sharp little thing flew out the door and nailed it to the wooden partition opposite the hatch. The person outside the door reached out and pulled it off, took it into the cabin, and said with a smile, "What? You landlubbers want to fight with our navy?"

Winters jumped out of bed and stepped over Go to the other side, hold the other person's shoulder, and say in fear: "Fortunately you responded quickly, Cage, fortunately. It's really good that you didn't hurt you. I'll never play like this in the cabin again."

Glory apprentice Cage returned the steel cone to Winters and said with a smile, "If you want to hurt a naval officer, you can't rely on this little toy."

"Okay, what do you say it is, It's what it is." Winters also smiled and lay back on the bed.

After greeting Bud and Cage, he asked, "You don't have to be on duty?"

"The anchor is down for a shift, now it's my turn to rest." Cage was tired. With a yawn, he lay back on the bunk below Bud.

This room has a total of four beds, in addition to Winters, Bud and Andre three Warrant Officers, there is also a Navy trainee officer.

However, a Navy trainee officer and an Army trainee officer like Winters are not the same thing. Cage is far more senior than the three roommates.

Winters, Bud and Andre are still freshmen out of academy, while Cage was a midshipman on the Glory at the age of twelve and has spent eight years on board. Army officers with the same qualifications have long been promoted to lieutenant, but Cage is only one of the eleven apprentice officers on board.

This is because the officer systems of the navy and the army are basically two systems and do not correspond.

Compared to the strict ladder structure of the rank system of the Union Army, the rank system of the Union Navy is very flat. The officer class on a ship is only Level 3: Captain [Captain], Adjutant [Lieutenant] and Officer Candidate [Midshipman].

Among the regular officers, there are only captains and adjutants, and midshipmen are the same as those of Winters, which are higher than sailors and soldiers, but lower than regular officers.

In the Army, both Captain and Lieutenant are just lieutenants. The former is the Lieutenant's Level 3, and the latter is the Lieutenant's Level 2. These two levels of officers command a maximum of eighty-person Hundred Men Squad.

But in the navy, the Captain is the captain, the supreme authority on a warship. Lieutenant is the captain's adjutant, under one person and above all others.

The power that the captain can command depends on the ship. The Glory has thirty guns and a crew of more than 500 people. Her captain is at least a colonel in the army.

And the fatty captain on the Skua is also a Captain. The Skua has only 20 trifling sailors, and the fatty captain is not even a warrant officer in the army.

However, in the view of the Navy, the captain of the Glory and the captain of the Skua theoretically belong to the same captain class, and no one needs to salute the other first.

Because of this huge difference, the Veneta Army and Navy simply ignore each other's rank, and everyone goes their own way. Warrant officers like Winters don't need to salute even when they see a Navy admiral, and the same goes for the Navy.

To be an officer in the Veneta Navy, you must first have a good background, and second, have a sponsorship. With these two, you can get on the ship and become an officer candidate. After that, they have to work hard to get their qualifications until the Naval Headquarters approves them as warrant officers. When can you be a captain? That would have to start with a ship without a captain.

Although the seniority of Officer Cage is much older than the three Warrant Officers, he never puts on the air of Old Senior, and his personality is very easy-going. In addition, the four of them were of similar age, so they quickly became acquainted and got along very happily.

"By the way, starting from this anchorage, you should have a day off at Lighthouse Harbor next time. When the time comes, you can also take a rest." Cage covered his head with a pillow and said listlessly.

"What?" Winters sat up all of a sudden: "Get off the boat?"

Life on board was like being in prison and getting seasick. But there was no joy in Winters' tone when he heard that he was about to disembark.

"Yeah, disembark and rest, it is estimated that it will be docked for a day or two."

"Just two days after departure and will dock to rest?" Bud stretched out from the upper bunk After shaking his head, he asked inexplicably: "Aren't we going to go straight to the Taniria Islands without stopping?"

Winters also jokedly said: "We landluckers haven't complained yet, why are you navy first? Going to the shore to rest?"

"Where are you guys living in the officer's cabin?" Cage couldn't sleep either, didn't know whether to cry or laugh and sat up: "And still Is it hard to eat hot food?”

“We didn’t take a day off on the boat from Jade City back to Veneta.”

“ What kind of boat are you on?"

"Well, I don't know what kind of boat it is." Winters asked, thinking back to the Skua and saying, "It's the Skua, it's not a big one. The ship has three masts."

"I know, how many people are there on the Skua?"

"The crew is about 20 people, plus more than 50 people after us. ."

"If there is only one ship, the Glory, the Glory can go straight to the islands without landing a single time. Galleons can do this, but galleys can't." Cage lay back weakly again. On the bed: "If you want to know why, when the ships behind you arrive, I will show you a look when I go to deliver the chart, and you will understand."

——Cut——

p>

The navy's carefully selected anchorages are shaded by an unnamed island, and ships of the fleet keep a safe distance and spread their anchors in this natural haven.

A boat was brought to the surface from the Glory and Winters followed Cage down the rope ladder to the boat.

Cage clutched a wooden box in both hands, which contained the chart and the fleet's next destination.

In order to ensure that the fleet's course is not leaked, the captains of other ships, except for the high-level officers on the flagship Glorious, are only given the location of the next anchorage each time they regroup. This way even if individual ships are captured, the enemy does not know the route of the entire fleet.

Although the Vengeance Fleet has a huge target, it is not so easy to accurately intercept this fleet in the vast ocean.

Four sailors paddle hard, accompanied by the sound of the oars slapping the water. The boat turned away from the Glory and slid in the rolling waves towards another galley, the Golden Lion.

In the twilight of the setting sun, Winters surveyed the galley in front of him.

The Golden Lion is not a pure paddle boat, nor a pure sailboat, but a product of pragmatism. I want both oars and sails.

The Golden Lion's hull is slimmer and narrower in order to accommodate more paddlers than the "shoulders and big shoulders" Glory. The whole ship is relatively low, with only one deck, and only one floor at the bow and stern.

There are no gun ports on the sides of the hull, only dense oars. Recalling the arrangement of the Lucky, Winters speculated that the guns of the Golden Lion should have been arranged in the bow and stern along the hull.

"Why is the freeboard of this ship so low?" Winters patted Cage's shoulder from behind and asked, "Isn't it a loss in war?"

Although only A naval battle experience, but it also made Winters understand a truth: the side with the higher ship naturally has an advantage.

Because of this, the building of the warship will be built higher and higher, and finally it will look like a castle on a deck.

The Glory not only has a higher freeboard than the Golden Lion, but also has three floors. Sailors of the Golden Lion face the Glory, which is equivalent to facing a city wall. To attack the Glory from the Golden Lion, they must attack from the back, but the Glory can easily deal with the Golden Lion from a high position.

"Of course it's a disadvantage, so the newly built warships are round ships. The Golden Lion is an old ship built more than ten years ago." Cage turned around and explained to Winters patiently: " Moreover, the Golden Lion also has its own advantages. Although it suffers from a loss in the pick-up battle, it is not to the point of being unusable. The Golden Lion is very flexible."

"It is true that the sailboat will not be able to use it when there is no wind. Just be in a hurry." Winters said, recalling the naval battle he experienced.

"Actually, I think the current design of warships is too extreme, just like those cavalrymen who wrapped their horses and men in iron plates at the end." Talking about his favorite topic, Cage suddenly Interested, he pointed to the Glory and Winters and commented: "The Glory looks mighty, but it is actually very bulky. The ship building is too high, so the center of gravity is unstable, and I dare not place too many artillery pieces in the ship building. The height of the building also has a disadvantage, the windward side is large, and it is difficult to turn..."

"But isn't it an advantage in naval battles because of the height of the ship?" Winters asked weakly, which he did not understand. field, so his speech is very unconvincing.

Cage slapped his thigh: "That's why I said extreme, just like those Knights with full body plate armor. In hand-to-hand combat, the stronger the armor, the better the advantage, so in the end those nobles wrapped themselves in the whole body. Inside the iron plate. But what if the enemy fought hand-to-hand and turned to muskets? The same is true for naval battles. In order to have an advantage in the battle, the ship building has been built higher and higher. The Glory is the ultimate battle ship, but What if the enemy doesn't pick up the boat?"

"If you don't have a pick up battle...how can you fight a naval battle?"

I never pretend to understand, but just ask if I don't understand. , which is one of the good habits Winters learned from Antonio. Collision tactics have gradually declined. For nearly a thousand years, the way of naval warfare has been that two ships approach each other first, sailors shoot each other with bows and muskets, and finally the jumping gang battle is finalized. Winters really couldn't think of any other way.

"With artillery." Cage replied confidently: "Sink these bulky ships directly from a long distance."

Winters laughed: "Isn't there any artillery on the ship now? And just relying on the accuracy of the artillery, on the turbulent sea, not to mention long distances, it would be difficult to hit other ships at a distance of fifty meters."

"The artillery on the ship is rotating except for the large-caliber short-barreled cannon. Cannons can only be used at close range." Cage explained eagerly: "Think about it, use a nimble and nimble ship with long-barreled guns, and only shoot at long distances without touching the side. A big ship like the Glory If you can't catch up or hit, you can only be beaten. It's a pity that the navy's bosses are old and stubborn, and they don't want to make progress at all. They just like the mighty ship like the Glory, and all the funds are used to build such a high-rise round ship. !"

Cage indignantly punched his thigh angrily.

"I don't know about naval battles, but there was a similar battle on land. In the Battle of Kalai, the infantry of the ancient empire couldn't catch up with the cavalry of Paraty, and were demoralized by bows and arrows, and finally they were overwhelmed. The cavalry harvests." Winters joked: "If I become a military governor in the future, I will use all the military expenses of the navy to build you the boat you want."

Cage was also laughed at. Now, he smiled and said: "If I become a military governor in the future, I will use your army's military expenses to build ships for our navy."

Winters laughed heartily: "it's a deal ... actually I have always admired people like you who have new ideas. I can't, I will only learn from you."

Cage shook his head repeatedly, waved his hands and said, "no no no, I didn't come up with it. These are Captain Speyer's theories, I'm just parroting... Captain Speyer is the Captain of the Golden Lion, and you're here with me just in time to meet him."

During the conversation, the boat Row to the side of the Golden Lion. A rope ladder was dropped from the boat, and Winters followed Cage onto the Golden Lion.

The chatting on the road made him almost forget what he was here for. But after boarding the ship, Winters immediately remembered what he was doing on the Golden Lion.

He immediately understood why Cage said: "The galley must be docked every two days. You can see it when you go to the boat."

Golden in front of him On the open deck of the Lion, the densely packed seats were full of people, and there was not even a place to sit.

The open deck is divided into two levels, roughly convex. In the middle is the upper platform, which is obviously the soldiers of the navy, there is no space for them to lie down, they can only rest on each other.

The decks on both sides near the sides of the boat are the lower layers of the convex structure, and the deck here is more than a meter lower than the middle deck, which is where the paddlers sit. This construction allows the rower to be positioned lower than the soldier in the middle so that it does not prevent the soldiers from using ranged weapons.

The unkempt, sallow-faced oarsmen were chained to the sides of the oars, each driven by three or four oarsmen. The paddlers didn't even have room to move, and they didn't look any different from the slave paddlers on the Good Luck.

Even when the deck is open, Winters can still smell a stench. The Golden Lion, packed with people, is like a transport ship that is transporting livestock. People are crowded together like livestock, impossible to move even a little bit. There is no human dignity on this ship.

With Winters in a place like this, he wouldn't last an hour.

“Why so many people? How many people are on this ship?” Winters asked Cage in shock.

Cage asked back, "How many people were on the Glory?"

"About two or three hundred people?" Winters wasn't sure.

Cage said blankly: "The Glory used to have more than 500 crew members. In order to make your stay comfortable, now there are less than 400 people including you. The people on the Golden Lion It's about the same as the people on the Glory now, about 400 people."

"This...this ship is so much smaller than the Glory, and it actually holds 400 people? How can these people bear it? ?" Winters were shocked by the harsh living conditions of the crew of the Golden Lion, which is not only larger in size than the Golden Lion, but also has multiple decks. On the Golden Lion, the overwhelming majority crowded on the open deck.

Cage seems to have long been accustomed to the cruelty of life at sea, and said indifferently: "They are not people, they are sailors. But even sailors can't last a few days on this kind of boat, so every other We will go ashore for a rest in two days. The galley is essentially a fortress floating on the sea, and its self-sustaining power is extremely poor. More than half of the warships in our fleet are such galleys. For us, it is important to seize the transit port. Sex is far greater than destroying the enemy's warship."

"What if it rains? There isn't even anything to cover my head."

"Hold it up."

"What about these rowers? Why lock them up?"

"They're all criminals, and no free man wants to be a rower." Cage walked ahead without looking back He replied: "There is no need to pity them. They have committed crimes and ended up like this. And after the battle, they can be forgiven before they die. It's better than dying in prison, right?"

Winters was silent, he followed Cage to find a place to settle between the oars' limbs, moved towards the poop, which should be the best place for the ship, the captain always lived in the best environment nice place.

Suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around Winters' calf, a rower who seemed to be delirious, begged in a vague voice: "Be kind, give me some water, please."

Cage, who was walking in front, turned around and saw a oarsman grabbing Winters' legs.

Speaking, he pulled out his navy machete and turned back. The rower in front of him desperately avoided him, giving Cage a way out.

Others around were also alerted. The navy soldiers stuck their heads out from the high platform in the middle to watch, whispering to each other, but no one came to stop them. Under such poor living conditions, the only reason the people on board did not mutiny was military law. As a prisoner, the paddlers attacked the officer, and Cage could behead him.

"Don't..." Winters raised his hand to stop Cage, who was carrying a machete to help him out of the siege: "This man... I know."

Cage was stunned. in situ.

Winters looked at the rower's face and asked uncertainly, "Gold, Good Luck Gold, Captain Luck, is that you?"

Gold, who was knocked out by Layton with the hilt of his sword, shuddered when he heard the words "Captain of the Good Luck" and burst into tears.

Although other new types of ships have appeared, the galley was the main battleship of the Mediterranean until the sixteenth century. The main reason is that this inland sea environment is more suitable for the use of galleys, and there is historical inertia. The life of the oarsmen was very hard, and all countries were criminals or slaves, except Venice, which was mainly free men. In 1522, the Venetians openly recruited 6,000 oarsmen, and the treatment was: lifelong exemption from poll tax, provision of firearms training, permission to carry weapons in Venice, and service on galleys during and after Do not have to be enforced for six months.

Thanks for the time: Thanks to the book friends who have voted for the recommendation before, thank you. Thanks to the book friend Yuan Hongjian for the recommendation ticket, thanks to the book friend writersblock for the recommendation ticket, thanks to the book friend 161120205836216 for the recommendation ticket, thanks to the book friend Kekkkk for the recommendation ticket, thanks to the book friend for the recommendation ticket that I don’t know what it is called, thank you everyone.

(end of this chapter)