I Am Louis XIV

It has been ten years since Princess Henrietta of England became the Duchess of Orleans. When the wedding was held, Charles II was still a puppet king who was constrained by Congress and the Protestants. Although he fought hard, Princess Henrietta's dowry was not enough. It was still so shabby that it raised eyebrows. In order to appease the dissatisfaction of the French, Charles II proposed to bring to France the thirty Calais ships ordered by his father Charles I from the Venetians as a dowry.

These thirty Calais ships, to be precise, should be the Calais ships, which are enhanced versions of the Calais ships.

The Calais ship was originally a commercial galley built by the Republic of Venice to carry cargo. Since it was built to carry cargo, this kind of ship must pursue the maximum cargo capacity, so the Calais ship is short and wide. In the sixteenth century, there were frequent wars between the Venetians and the Turks, and wars broke out on the calm waterways. So the Venetians transformed the vacant Calais ship into a warship. This kind of warship can still move freely in a windless environment. , so in closed sea areas such as the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Baltic Sea, it can be said to be a victorious general.

The problem is that after the use of hot weapons in naval battles gradually surpassed that of cold weapons, and the waterways fought over by various countries began to shift from the inland sea to the open sea, and no longer even the offshore sea, but the deep sea, the Calais ship revealed its two biggest problems. Disadvantages - first: because its power comes more from the rowers rather than the sails, the three-three-one arrangement inherited from the Greek-Persian War period has thirty seat panels fixed on each side of the bottom bin. There are three oarsmen on the seat board, and three oarsmen are responsible for one oar. In other words, excluding sailors and soldiers, there are one hundred and eighty oarsmen alone. Even in the later period, these oarsmen were not convicts. Even for the pagans, the captain had to provide enough food to ensure that they had the strength to paddle, so in order to ensure supplies, the Calais ships could sail and fight along the coast; second: the Calais ship's hull was too low, After muskets and artillery were transferred from land to ships, the original boarding tactics became a thing of the past. Even pirates used artillery more to destroy the power systems of merchant ships and then plundered them - in naval battles The tall Spanish galleon, that is, the Galen ship equipped with heavy artillery, was like a giant teasing several dwarfs when fighting against the Calais ship.

But the builders of the Calais ship (mainly Venetians) did not give up. In the late 16th century and the early 17th century, they built a Calais ship as a model, but it was larger than the Calais ship. A heavier Calais racing boat, it is a galley driven by a combination of sail and oar. The bow and stern of the ship can be equipped with up to forty guns, and it can also carry hundreds or thousands of sailors and soldiers.

In addition, its huge size and terrible weight are also one of its trump cards. In naval battles, the Calais ships will first use artillery to bombard them, and then use huge metal rams to ram the opponent's hull. If they are still defeated, they can still use Traditional boarding tactics.

Of course, when Princess Henrietta was about to become the Duchess of Orleans, the Galais warship that Charles I ordered from the Venetians was also on the verge of being eliminated, so Charles II behaved like a rogue (he was determined not to follow his own He took out money from his pocket to make Princess Henrietta's trousseau look better). And with the encouragement of the French Ambassador - although that gentleman didn't quite understand why Louis XIV wanted to take over this hot potato, the British Parliament finally agreed to transfer these thirty Calais ships to Princess Henrietta as her dowry. France.

In fact, there were quite a few British people who laughed at the French whose eyes lit up when they saw the ship. They even looked at the king with a kind of pity, thinking that he was mad because of the weak French navy.

Is it pitiful? Of course it is pitiful. Before Louis came to power, the national navy founded by Cardinal Richelieu only had an annual military expenditure of 500,000 livres. The ships were in decay and could not be repaired. After Louis took office, France only had 30 ships that were barely operational. Battleships, only three of which were equipped with more than 60 cannons - in the war to conquer the Netherlands, the scale and power displayed by the French fleet can be seen at a glance. No one knows what Louis XIV's true strength was. The trump card lay not in Dunkirk or Calais, but in Nantes.

The thirty Calais galleys that were part of Princess Henrietta's trousseau were not, as one might imagine, resold or used as merchant ships after the French king was deeply disappointed. They had been sold to the Saint-Nazaire shipyard a few years earlier. After it was dismantled, the king needed its keel, centerline trusses, beams, decks and outer plating - the secret agent's reward was that, in view of Charles I's generosity, the Venetians used the best oak and teak to make the hull keel and beams, decks The outer panels are made of beech wood. Most importantly, these woods do not need to be processed and processed again.

The displacement of the Calais racing ships built by the Venetians is about one thousand tons, with high sides, wide hulls, and deep drafts. For the British or Spanish, the decoration of such large warships is better than practicality. The nature of the ship is in line with Louis XIV's wishes - the wider the hull, the smoother the sailing, and the higher the accuracy of the artillery; the deep draft is more suitable for installing paddle wheels; the high side of the ship, Louis XIV is preparing to put the firing port of the artillery Move up to avoid making the same mistake as the British warships - French naval admiral Victor Mali de Estress carefully observed the situation of the fighting between the two sides (British and Dutch), and said in the report he submitted, In order to load more artillery on the ship, the British lowered the firing port at the bottom to less than four feet from the sea. This height often made it impossible for the artillery on this floor to fire. Louis XIV certainly learned this lesson. Although his ship is also pre-installed with three levels of gun ports, the lowest port is at least six feet away from the sea.

After all the above advantages, there is the biggest disadvantage. After installing an iron plate about three inches thick on the outer plate with a thickness of more than one foot, this ship... is just as some people suspected - it is not at all It can be driven by pure manpower and wind... Of course, the reason why Mr. Denis Papin was able to participate in this extremely important project as a Huguenot was not because he built a machine that could A pressure cooker for cooking gourmet meals (although that’s true).

Previously, a priest had led two deacons to kneel and pray at the bow of the ship for an hour, and touched all the masts, sails and other important places with his hands, and sprinkled holy water in every corner, except for the heart of the giant ship—— The boiler room, where the eight boilers will provide ample power for the giant, the king exercised this power on his behalf. After all, at the time of the coronation, the Holy Spirit and the king became one - and then they raised the king and France flag and later asked the king to name it.

"The Royal Power," said Louis.

A few minutes later, all members of the royal family except Louis got off the boat. They were led by the Duke of Orleans to a high place. From here, workers could be seen running from everywhere. There was a huge collision, and the eldest princess looked worriedly at her father who was still on the boat, and then turned to look at the Duke of Orleans.

"Don't be afraid, child," the Duke of Orleans said, stroking the eldest princess's hair: "You should be proud, Your Highness, for your father and the king."

Louis took the golden cup offered by the Marquis de Seigneret. The bright red wine inside kept swaying with the movement of this behemoth. It was very slow at first, so slow that it was almost invisible, but as if in an instant, The bow of the ship where the king was sitting suddenly moved from the shadow of the ceiling to the dazzling sunlight. The king only had time to hold the cup when he felt a violent vibration. He was first pushed back, and then was thrown high. Amid Tang's screams, the king actually remembered to drink all the wine in the golden cup and then throw it into the air with all his strength.

Before the golden cup even landed, the "King Power" rushing toward the sea along the lowered chute had completely gotten rid of the shackles of its creator. The scorching light immediately enveloped the king tightly, and the terrible inertia pushed him down heavily. On the ground, Bangtang grabbed the rope hanging down from somewhere and staggered to help the king. However, he saw the king turned over and lay on his back on the deck, laughing happily without any manners. !

————

According to tradition, the fallen golden cup belongs to whoever snatched it, so almost all the workers from the shipyard came. Even Mr. Papin was a little moved when he saw it. The golden cup weighed at least two pounds, and it almost fell. In the water, a brave young man rushed forward desperately and took the risk of being almost smashed by the ship. Senele looked at his ecstatic expression and the people around him were envious and jealous. With a look in his eyes, his heart moved, he walked over and bought the gold cup for three times the price.

The Duke of Orleans looked at him and smiled. He was indeed the son of Colbert, who was as cunning as a fox. If the king knew that the golden cup he threw down to bless the ship actually brought death to the lucky person, He will be very unhappy. Senele put the gold cup into his pocket with a calm expression. "We have prepared the boat," he said. "Please allow me to take you to the King's Power, Your Highness."

In fact, the only person who could stay with the king on the King Power was the Duke of Orleans. Because the upcoming drill was dangerous, the children only had to watch from a distance.

"It doesn't look good." The princess said.

"I think it is very beautiful." The Grand Duke presided over the objection, and the boys all agreed. Of course, the beauty of an iron-clad ship can never be compared with that of a wooden ship. In addition to the original color and texture of the wood, there are also Even at this time, warships were decorated with beautiful carvings, and sometimes were plated with gold and silver foil. Although the armor plates of the ironclad ships had not had time to rust, they were unusable in terms of color and shape. To describe it, it is beautiful, and because it is all connected and fixed by riveting, it looks like a big ship suffering from leprosy.

But the eldest princess and the boys have different views. In their eyes, this is like a strong knight wearing heavy armor and a helmet, holding a heavy lance, even with the The war horses were all wrapped in chain armor, so majestic and arrogant. They watched it move forward slowly and came to the vast sea. As strange smoke rushed into the sky, its speed became faster and faster. Faster, faster and faster... "How many knots do we have now?" Duke Colonna asked.

"Six knots," replied the captain.

"Not the fastest." Little Eugen said intently, as if the telescope was stuck to his face and couldn't be moved away.

"But it's very dangerous." The captain of this ship is also a naval officer. Of course he can see at a glance how dangerous this big ship is. Its speed may not be as fast as that of a light ship, but its weight and volume are like a ship. Insurmountable mountains - just think of such a towering mountain coming straight towards you...

The King Power was indeed rushing towards a target ship. This target ship was also a Calais ship and was only one-third smaller than the King Power. But before the black iron of the King Power hit the corner, it was as fragile as A toy ship made of thick paper - the King Power rode directly over its wreckage. Although the King Power was unavoidable and bumped violently for a while, and there were scars all over the ship, it was the kind that could crush the enemy directly into the sea. The feeling made everyone on the boat couldn't help but cheer.

The children were also shouting loudly, and even the eldest princess did not think the dark ship was ugly.

Afterwards, the king ordered the King Power to bombard another target ship. This target ship was even more miserable than its companions. After a fierce and intensive bombardment, the sea was full of pieces of wood and rags with blackened edges. If this was In a real battlefield, there should be sharks coming - those torn bodies and blood will stain large areas of sea water red.

"What is this?" the Duke of Orleans asked curiously. The excitement had not yet passed from his eyes, but he did not understand why a cannonball had to be brought over to show the king.

"You'll find out later," Louis said gently.

The third target ship appeared, and the gunner loaded the shell into the cannon and fired it out. This shelling may have only eight or nine rounds, but they were not solid shells. As soon as they landed on the mast, forecastle, poop, or deck A small explosion occurred, and dozens of white smoke rose into the sky with long tails. Wherever they landed, fires would ignite.

"What is that?" asked the Duke of Orleans in astonishment.

"White phosphorus." Louis replied. In fact, the Duke of Orleans also thought of it. He put down the telescope and asked hesitantly: "Yes..."

"No," said Louis, "it's Charles II."

The Duke of Orleans was silent for a while: "Oh," he turned to the big ship that had turned into a torch: "It's British."

"The English, the craftsmen, the scholars, and their wizards."

"Hell!"

The childish answer of the Duke of Orleans made Louis laugh: "You can't just let me use wizards. Any king, as long as he has such a heart and courage, can use everyone he is willing and willing to use for him. "

The Duke of Orleans took a deep breath: "Our enemies will become more difficult."

"Although this is not what I hoped for," Louis looked at the burning ship, the fire in his eyes: "but there is only one way to defeat the enemy."

"That is to make yourself stronger and always stronger."