The Rise of the European Emperor

Marin didn't know much about the origin of the tactics of the Calais ship and France's escape from the wind. In the past, he was just a European player, not a big sailing fan. So, in some cases, he really doesn't know. So much so that in the early 16th century, the Calais ship of the French navy played with Britain for decades, he didn't know. As for Bidusi, of course, he is not clear.

It's no wonder that later generations of Huaxia did not describe European history in detail. When it comes to naval battles, they often start after the British-Spanish naval battle. As for the naval battles before the British-Spanish naval battle, there are often very few descriptions. Only the most die-hard sailing fans will know those secrets.

Therefore, when John Lafite sent back the news of Biduth's appearance and Calais's battle tactics to Aurich, Marin did not pay much attention to it. However, after careful consideration, Marin had to admit that this tactic might really make England suffer.

After all, the warships in England now are all original Kirk sailing ships conscripted from the people, with relatively thin hulls. It is also very difficult to bear a 50-pound stone bullet.

Then, he became very interested in the Venetian Basilisk Cannon...

The Venetian basilisk cannon, largely a Turkish imitation, weighed 7,000 pounds and was made of bronze. The shells it fired were stone shells weighing 50 pounds. Although the defense-breaking ability cannot keep up with the iron ball shell, but the weight is there, whoever hits it will be unlucky. In particular, warships in this era with thin sides are not smashed at all.

The Basilisk Cannon is called the Basilisk Cannon because it is ugly, thick and short, and the body of the cannon is deliberately made to look like a lizard opening its mouth. In other words, it is a mortar, the predecessor of the mortar. In Russia, this basilisk gun also has a famous name-the unicorn gun.

In this era, due to the limitation of the casting process, almost all large-caliber artillery were short and thick mortars. Because, large-caliber artillery with long barrels cannot be manufactured in this era.

Marin had seen the pictures sent back from Italy, and was shocked by the ugly appearance of the Lizard Cannon—Nimma, this is a gasoline barrel with a much thicker wall!

Its caliber is not much different from that of a gasoline barrel, but the pipe wall is much, much thicker than that of a gasoline barrel. But the length of the two is somewhat similar, both are short and thick.

But this kind of artillery is all cast in bronze, which is much less difficult to cast than iron cannons. In short, as long as the tube wall is made thick enough, a large-caliber mortar can be cast.

However, the range of this kind of mortar is generally relatively short, only a few hundred meters. In general naval battles, after you need to get close to the enemy ship, give it a sudden shot.

However, because the recoil of large-caliber artillery is very large. In order to prevent the ship from falling apart, this kind of large-caliber mortar can only be placed in the strongest part of the bow structure.

If it is placed on the side, it is easy to capsize the ship or make the ship fall apart.

Moreover, because copper tends to soften when overheated. If forced to shoot continuously, the gun barrel is easily deformed when it is overheated. Therefore, the bronze mortar can not fire continuously. After each shooting, if the gun body feels hot, it will first use a damp mop to cool down the gun body to avoid firing when it is overheated, which will cause the barrel to deform.

Therefore, the firing speed of this bronze mortar is very impressive. It usually takes several minutes to fire one shot, and there is usually only one lizard cannon in the whole ship...

Therefore, the efficiency of Basilisk Cannon is generally not high. But if you get hit once, it will be uncomfortable...

With the current structural strength of the ships of various countries, if they were hit by a 50-pound stone bullet, the ships almost fell apart. A better ship can also be seriously injured. If you get hit on the side, you will basically leak... a real leak...

Marin deduced it again and found that although the design efficiency of this lizard cannon is low, the effect is better. If it can hit the enemy ship, the effect is absolutely leveraged.

Even a Class 250 armed merchant ship from the North Sea Kingdom may not be able to withstand the attack of a 50-pound stone bullet. Only the 500-ton warship of Beihai State, which has been specially reinforced and wrapped with iron skin on the side, can withstand the attack of 50-pound stone bullets without leaking.

In other words, this lizard cannon is very effective in naval battles. Although it is ugly, although it takes several minutes to reload. However, it is so powerful. As long as it hits, there will be results.

The only problem, probably, is that the mortars are projectiles, making it extremely difficult to aim. If you want to hit the enemy ship with a projectile, you need a high level of shooting.

Fortunately, the basilisk cannons are usually placed on the bow of the ship, facing the front. Because the ship can only swing from side to side, not back and forth, it provides a lot of convenience for the lizard cannon to aim. For naval battles, the aiming of the side guns is the most difficult, because the hull will swing from side to side, which provides too much difficulty for aiming.

The main gun aiming at the bow is much simpler, and the ship will not swing back and forth. But the problem is that the mortar is a projectile, not a flat shot, and it is really difficult for ordinary people to aim and shoot...

But this problem can't trouble Marin-Venice, as the birthplace of the lizard cannon, must have masters who are proficient in aiming and shooting the lizard cannon. At that time, the high salary will be recruited to teach the gunners of Beihai...

...

Right now, the research and development of the Pexan gun is still in progress, and the North Sea country lacks super-large caliber main guns. If this kind of basilisk cannon can be introduced, it is estimated that the results will be very brilliant...

Think about it, how exciting it would be if a 50-pound shell hit the Portuguese warship...

Therefore, Marin immediately ordered to import 20 lizard guns from Venice to equip the bows of 20 500-ton warships.

Once the battle starts, the basilisk guns on the 20 warships will fire together. As long as the accuracy is not too bad, one or two Portuguese warships can always be destroyed...

As for why the Lizard Cannon shoots stone balls instead of iron balls, Marin also understands very well. Because steel production is extremely low this year. It is simply extravagant to use steel to make shells that sink to the bottom of the sea as soon as they are fired! You know, 50 pounds of iron can make dozens of steel farm tools...

Therefore, under the premise that the steel output is impressive, it is understandable for everyone to choose stone bombs. After all, even if a 50-pound rock sinks to the bottom of the sea after a miss, everyone is not so distressed. What if a 50-pound iron ball sank to the bottom of the sea?

In the final analysis, it is still a question of cost. Because it is a naval battle, the possibility of the shell being recovered becomes infinitely small, and the possibility of sinking to the bottom of the sea is very high. If it is replaced with a 50-pound iron ball, and one falls into the sea, the user will feel distressed...

Moreover, if the North Sea country uses the lizard cannon, it can be made simpler-casting the cannonball with cement!

Fifty-pound stone balls may be difficult to process and transport, but cement balls are much easier...

Pure Who You Beg is definitely too loose and easily broken. Therefore, before casting a 50-pound cement ball, it is completely possible to fill the cement ball with some steel bars or something. Not only can it increase the strength of the cement ball, but it will also be more powerful when smashing the boat...

Therefore, while Marin ordered the introduction of 20 7,000-pound lizard guns, he also ordered the craftsmen to study the use of reinforced concrete to pour 50-pound concrete shells for naval warfare.

As for iron balls and shells, it's not that the Beihai country can't afford them. But if the shells are changed suddenly, the artillery itself needs to be modified. Marin has no time to modify the lizard cannon now, so he can only use reinforced concrete with a density similar to stone as shells. As for the heavy artillery using iron ball shells, I am afraid that it needs to be improved by professionals...