The Prosperous Era of Longwan

When the bird ship was sailing at a slow speed, its hit rate still met Yu Dayou's requirements.

As the ship speed increases, the hit rate naturally decreases. When the bird ship reaches high speed, only a few shells are left to land near the reef.

Deng Zilong not only fired on one side, but also performed a figure-8 maneuver after circling, and also conducted two rounds of shelling on the other side of the ship. This shooting drill was considered over.

"Admiral, the artillery drill is over."

Deng Zilong returned to Yu Dayou, clasped his fists and reported the report.

Although the hit rate of subsequent shots dropped sharply, Yu Dayou did not blame anyone.

Speaking of which, this is also the first time that the Ming Dynasty Navy has conducted such a drill. It is understandable that the gunners are unfamiliar with their aim.

𝟲𝟵𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘅.𝗻𝗲𝘁】

"It's okay. The hit rate is too low when sailing at high speed. We need to continue practicing."

Yu Dayou glanced at the crowded cabin and said.

"Yes, the general will definitely urge the gunners to practice more frequently, not to dissatisfy adults' expectations."

Deng Zilong immediately clasped his fists and said.

Yu Dayou nodded slightly, but his eyes still fell on the cabin.

"Sir, what's wrong with the cabin?"

Seeing Yu Dayou's appearance, Deng Zilong took a step forward and asked in confusion.

Yu Dayou pointed to the cabin and said helplessly: "At the beginning, Mr. Wei Ge insisted on using the barbarian warships and learning their artillery skills. You have also seen the previous situation.

Such a strategy of arranging a large number of artillery pieces on the sides is truly astonishingly powerful.

You may have heard that the barbarian warships have at most fifty or sixty cannons on one side. Their two ships have the firepower of ten of our ships. "

"There's nothing we can do about it, the cabin is just like that."

Deng Zilong understood Yu Dayou's thoughts, but there was no way to solve it because it involved issues with the hull structure.

China's shipbuilding technology and navigation technology have a long history and are technologically advanced. In ancient times, they were in a leading position in the world.

In ancient times, China had developed foreign transportation. Starting from the famous Maritime Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, China's shipbuilding and navigation technology continued to develop. The Sui and Tang Dynasties, as well as the Song and Yuan Dynasties were important periods for the development of China's maritime transportation and trade. Compasses were used for navigation.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Maritime Silk Road entered its heyday.

In the early Ming Dynasty, China's shipbuilding and navigation technology was also in a leading position in the world. The most famous one was Zheng He's voyages to the West, which demonstrated the naval power of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty inherited and developed the shipbuilding technology of the previous dynasty. Zheng He made seven voyages, with a fleet of more than 200 ships and a maximum of 27,800 people.

The largest ship among them is called the "Treasure Ship", which is 44 feet long by 18 feet long, with a length-to-width ratio of 2.43. The anchor weighs several thousand kilograms. It is as high as nine masts, can carry a thousand people, and has a tonnage of about 5,000 tons. The largest and most advanced seagoing ship in the world at the time.

At the same time, the number of masts of European ships was generally three or four masts. Not only the tonnage and size of the ships were far greater than those of European ships of the same period.

The more masts, the larger the warship, the more sails it can hang, the greater the wind it can borrow, and the faster the ship can go.

Unfortunately, after Zheng He, the once powerful navy of the Ming Dynasty also shrunk. The Ming Navy said goodbye to giant ships and oceans, waiting for Western warships to catch up.

There are many countries in the West, and wars often break out between them.

The development of the navy is obviously faster than that of the Ming Dynasty in the East, which has always been a super leader. Their navy is almost entirely built for the purpose of war, and even merchant ships can be used as warships.

One is resting on its laurels, perhaps making small improvements through repairs and improvements, while the other is making rapid progress, and its ship construction technology and naval tactics are naturally far superior to those of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the surprise that the hull structure affects Eastern and Western naval warfare ideas, it actually has something to do with the lavish watertight cabins that later generations of Chinese people boasted about.

The structure of the Western-style sailing ship is a human rib, and the interior is hollow, which results in a huge internal space. Huge artillery can be arranged on the middle and lower decks for naval battles, and the cargo loading is not affected at all.

The structure of a Chinese sailing ship is a square frame. The hull is separated by sections of transverse partitions. In addition to forming a watertight compartment, the transverse partitions are also the structure that supports the Chinese sailing ship. Often a ship has as many as a dozen Watertight compartment.

Although the watertight cabin helps make the ship less likely to sink, it also limits the size of the cabin. Materials and personnel in each cabin cannot be moved. People have to climb from the watertight cabin to the deck to get to the next cabin, which is very inconvenient for living. .

Furthermore, the length of each watertight compartment is too short, so the ship cannot load cargo that is too large or too long, which limits the types of cargo it can carry.

Take the Ming Dynasty's most advanced and largest Fuchuan as an example. Due to the watertight compartment structure of the Fuchuan, in addition to the fully accessible deck, the lower multi-layer decks are divided into several small rooms by wooden boards.

Since these partitions involve the overall structure of the ship, they are not simply "watertight compartments".

That is to say, these partitions are necessary, so most Fuchuan warships only have one gun deck on the ship deck. In order to prevent the ship's center of gravity from being too high, the artillery on the ship deck except the bow and stern guns, the side guns can only Choose small artillery.

In addition to the ship surface, it is impossible to install artillery on the lower deck. Due to the limitations of the "watertight compartment" partition, it is impossible to place, operate, and direct the artillery, so only one gun deck can be set up on the ship surface.

However, some large-tonnage warships are equipped with double-layer gun decks, but this is limited by the distance between the ship's partitions. In order to ensure the strength of the ship, the distance between the partitions cannot be too large, and the number of guns on the lower deck is limited.

In fact, in order to build a batch of warships with the needs of Western-style artillery warfare as soon as possible, Yu Dayou also took great pains to select the barely usable bird ships among the many ship types of the Ming Dynasty and tried to convert them into gun ships.

The main reason is of course not that it does not have a watertight cabin design, or that the watertight cabin is relatively large, but because its side is low.

If you compare the bird ship with the big lucky ship, you will find that the upper deck of the bird ship is approximately at the position of the middle cabin of the lucky ship.

The low center of gravity means that the bird ship can place some slightly heavier firearms on the sides without capsizing during navigation and artillery salvoes due to the high center of gravity of the ship.

Even if the bird ship is built larger, another deck can be added above the deck to arrange some artillery.

However, such changes still need to be tested first, including whether the single-deck gunboat can meet the needs of navigation.

When a boat is on the water, safety always comes first.

After these bird boats have been repeatedly tested and can meet the safety requirements, Yu Dayou will make the next attempt.

However, when Deng Zilong asked about it, Yu Dayou pointed to the cabin and said: "I felt that the hull was quite stable due to high-speed sailing and shelling before.

However, the weather is good today, so we cannot fully test the performance of the bird boat.

It is necessary to choose to go to sea in rough weather and conduct sailing and bombardment tests to finally determine whether such changes are appropriate.

If the hull is still stable, I plan to build another deck above the deck.

The lower deck is equipped with eight to ten Hongyi cannons, and the upper deck is also equipped with ten cannons.

In this way, this gunboat transformed from a bird ship can barely compete with the armed merchant ships of the barbarians. "

Deng Zilong was surprised when he heard Yu Dayou's thoughts, but he soon understood.

The Hongyi cannon is larger and heavier than the Fuji. It can be installed on the lower deck to appropriately lower the center of gravity of the ship.

Maybe Deng Zilong couldn't understand it before, but after contacting the shipbuilders, he absorbed a lot of knowledge that he didn't know before.

"If you want to add a deck, it is best to arrange eight Hongyi cannons on the lower deck. The space is wider to ensure the loading speed.

There are also ten cannons at the bow and stern of the ship. For side bombardment, six cannons can be used at a time.

In addition, there are ten guns on the upper deck, and five or six guns can be concentrated on one side, which should ensure safe navigation. "

Deng Zilong suggested.

"This is something I care deeply about. We need to try more navigation and bombardment in different celestial environments.

In addition, you ask the craftsmen to make a model of this gunboat, and also make a model of my previous proposal. "

Yu Dayou continued.

"Model?"

Deng Zilong asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's a model. It should be the same as a ship. The upper deck of the latter type should be removable, allowing people to see the layout of the lower deck."

Yu Dayou said with a smile on his lips.

"Sir, this boat is just a child's plaything. What is it used for?"

Deng Zilong asked puzzledly.

"This is something that Mr. Wei Ge wants. For His Majesty's birthday this year, Mr. Wei Ge plans to use this gunboat model as a gift to His Majesty."

Yu Dayou smiled.

He could more or less guess what Wei Guangde meant.

The development of the navy will definitely not support the civil servants, but if the emperor likes it, then that is a different matter.

In the imperial court, there will be no shortage of officials who like to flatter the emperor, although more people will pretend to be literati and disdain to flatter and please his majesty.

“Remember, in addition to everything that should be on a ship, it also has to be equipped with cannons.

All are in the style of Hongyi cannons and painted on the outside to make them look like real cannons. "

Yu Dayou reminded again.

Now that His Majesty is young, giving other things may not be as discerning as his. In other words, giving toys like this to older children may be able to please him.

If His Majesty is the center of the warship, it will not be easier to ask for money, food and salary from the court in the future. At least the one on the throne who supports it, and the civil servants below must take the emperor's attitude into consideration.

"I will definitely let the craftsmen build the gunship model carefully."

Deng Zilong couldn't figure out the reason for a while, but as a soldier, he must obey orders, not to mention that this was Wei Guangde's wish.

For Deng Zilong, his future is in the hands of this man.

Otherwise, it is not known whether he was serving as a garrison general in Guangxi or Yunnan at this time, and how could he travel around in a warship.

"Admiral, do you want to transfer to the Dafu ship?"

After mentioning the points, Yu Dayou had already walked to the bow of the ship and looked at the boundless sea in front of him.

Deng Zilong stood half a step behind him and asked in a low voice.

"No."

Yu Dayou waved his hand and said: "Anyway, it won't be long before we arrive in Beigang, so I'll just be on the bird boat.

After the fleet arrives at North Port and unloads the supplies, you will lead the fleet to conduct another inspection around the island, focusing on whether there is a suitable port in the east.

Now that Dongfan Island has been allocated to our Navy, it is natural that we must build it with care.

If there is really no good harbor, it would be fine to find a decent place and build a small camp. "

After Yu Dayou said this, he said no more and just looked into the distance, not knowing what he was thinking.

In the cabin of a lucky ship in the South China Sea, Lin Feng stared dumbly at the boxes in front of him. At this time, the lids of the boxes had been opened, revealing the silver coins inside.

Boxes full of Spanish silver dollars.

After a long while, Lin Fengcai said to Zhuang Da beside him: "Let me ask clearly, is this ship sailing from Manila and going to Yuegang for trade?"

"Don't worry, Boss, I will interrogate you personally. I guarantee there will be no problem."

Zhuang Da slapped his chest loudly and replied loudly: "The Spanish occupied Manila not long ago and were still building various defense facilities. Their few people either came out by boat to make money, or they were He was sent out to capture the natives of Luzon and help them build the city.

Now, there are no more than 300 Spaniards left in Manila.

As long as our thousands of troops come ashore, we will definitely be able to capture this city easily.

When we have this big city, we might as well learn from the Spaniards. Now that Luzon has established its footing, let the natives be our slaves, and the Spaniards we capture can be sold to them at a good price.

I heard that in Manila, there was some kind of governor appointed by their king, and I think it was worth a lot of money. "

The pirates have had many contacts with the Yi people, so they naturally know that the captured Yi people can be sold to them, because there are too few of them who can come to the East by ship, so every Yi people is very important to them.

Among them, the price of ordinary Yi people is low, but for some officials, especially those with noble titles, the price can be as much as the price of hundreds of ordinary Yi people.

Pirates are naturally born to make money.

They can trade with the barbarians and exchange the stolen materials for money, food and weapons, and they will never be merciful when encountering them at sea.

In fact, the Yi people's style was the same as theirs. Even the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty followed a similar approach after they went to sea.

Wherever there is any order on the sea, everything is bigger than a fist. Whoever is stronger can do whatever they want on the sea.

When the armed merchant ships of the Yi people encountered oriental ships that were weaker and more isolated than them, most of them would rob them and would not show mercy at all.

"That's it, let's do it."

At this time, Lin Feng finally made up his mind to attack Manila, expel the Spaniards in Luzon, and become king and hegemon there.

As for whether the Spaniards would retaliate afterwards, as a local leader in East Asia, he would still be afraid of them.

The Ming court may not know, but Lin Feng and others know that after searching all of East Asia, it is difficult to say whether the Spaniards can gather a thousand people.

As for the firearms they used to attack the natives, they were not without them in his fleet.

In fact, the pirates at this time were also equipped with a large number of Western-style firearms, and even iron cannons from the Japanese country.

If compared to the firepower of a single ship, it would definitely not be as good as the barbarian merchant ships, but they had more ships and approached the barbarian ships from the front and rear.

As long as they get on the side, they have a good chance of seizing the ship, and then the weapons on the ship will become theirs.

"There should be a lot of barbarian firearms in Manila city. When my fleet becomes stronger again, we will fight back to Dongfan Island to seek revenge on Yu Dayou."

Lin Feng said fiercely at this time.

"Revenge. Revenge"

I don’t know who shouted first in the cabin. His shout quickly infected the others, and then the whole ship of pirates followed suit.