The Rise of the European Emperor

Just as the rumors and rumors were spreading, an important piece of information was put in front of people, that is - the way of naval warfare has been changed...

Before, in Europe, only the Portuguese were the first to equip a large number of artillery on warships, and they were ahead of the world in this regard. Portugal's neighboring country, Spain, is on the edge of Portugal. Naturally, they have to follow the example and copy the Portuguese practices. And France, because of the European leader in artillery technology, is also equipped with artillery on warships. However, the French did not pay attention to the sea, and the number of warships was pitiful. Therefore, even if it is equipped with artillery, the navy will not be able to take the stage.

Therefore, in addition to East Friesland, Europe is now equipped with artillery on a large scale by the two maritime powers of Portugal and Spain. Other maritime powers, such as Denmark, such as the Republic of Venice, or the Hanseatic League, are still in the era of war.

And Britain, the later maritime hegemon, does not yet have a fleet. The main thing is that the King of England is too poor to have the money to equip the fleet, let alone the expensive bronze artillery on the ship. It was not until Henry VIII took the opportunity of the Reformation to confiscate Catholic property in England, and then he had a lot of money and started to build a war ship equipped with hundreds of artillery pieces...

Of course, in the original history, all of this happened after the Battle of Diu in 1509. Because the Portuguese used only 19 warships equipped with artillery to defeat the combined Indian fleet with 2,000 large and small warships, which shocked the world. Since then, European countries have also begun to equip their warships with artillery.

Moreover, the reason why the caliber of the early artillery was small, the mainstream was the 6-pounder, was not that a larger gun could not be made, but the cost was too high. Because, right now, the price ratio of silver and copper is 1 to 15. A six-pounder cannon has a total weight of thousands of pounds. Thousands of pounds of copper are worth 66.7 pounds of silver, which is equivalent to 5.56 pounds of gold, or 708 gold coins.

If it is a 12-pound bronze gun, the cost is doubled. Therefore, countries with poor finances cannot afford to equip them at all. Moreover, before seeing tangible benefits, most countries are reluctant to invest so much.

In fact, the Portuguese have only now tried to promote the 10-pounder and 12-pounder rear-mounted bronze guns. However, due to financial constraints, it has not been able to be promoted on a large scale. But since Da Gama opened up the Indian route, the Portuguese have also benefited a lot, earning hundreds of thousands of gold coins. You know, the Portuguese have been trading on the coast of Africa for decades, and they can only bring back half a ton of gold every year, which is about 140,000 gold coins. And Da Gama's income from a voyage to India was several times more than the trade on the West Coast of Africa, which made the money bags of grapes and the royal family immediately bulge.

The Portuguese were very dissatisfied with Spain's "grabbing" behavior, and even threatened to wipe out the Spanish fleet. However, the Spanish Kings are not vegetarian, and they have received Marin's on-demand. So, the two kings of Spain threatened in turn - if you hit my fleet, I will surround Lisbon from the land, and even destroy Portugal...

So Portugal choked - Nima, can you tell me some rules? I talk to you about the hegemony at sea, why did you talk about the land? Isn't this ridiculous...

However, the Portuguese had no choice but to succumb. After all, Portugal is a scumbag on land...

It is certain that the Portuguese royal family, taking advantage of the profits of Da Gama's Indian trade, replaced a batch of larger artillery on the warships. During the Battle of Diu, these artillery pieces played a huge role...

But it's only 1503, and the Battle of Diu has not yet happened. In the Battle of Jutland here, Marin used artillery first, and he made an extraordinary shot. When he used it, he used more than 300 heavy artillery, which sank many Danish battles. ferry……

You know, the Danish warships are not the small ships of the Indian Combined Fleet. Many small boats in the Indian Combined Fleet are basically large boats rowed by manpower. Even a 6-pound gun can sink them steadily. The Danes' ships, compared with the ships of the Indian Combined Fleet,

But they are big ships, and they are more difficult to break. Therefore, dozens of ships were sunk at once, which absolutely shocked Europe.

In the past, in European naval battles, the sign of victory was generally that sailors wiped out the enemy on the opponent's ship through a ship-to-ship battle, or simply burned the opponent's ship with rockets. However, the number of enemy ships destroyed is very small. When Marin's East Frisian fleet sank dozens of Danish warships, it was completely beyond the expectations of the Europeans...

As a result, this tactic of bombarding enemy ships with heavy artillery became popular... The artillery also became popular...

Now, many discerning people in the tavern are discussing one thing, and that is-whether future naval warfare has fully entered the artillery era...

Debates unfolded in various taverns, and many alcoholics who knew or did not know, had a heated debate on whether artillery warfare would replace the side-by-side battle. Because of drinking, everyone was inevitably emotional when arguing, and there were even fights because of different ideas... After all, it is not so easy for a new thing to replace the old thing, and there are always diehards who will resist...

However, in the Hamburg parliament and the Lübeck parliament, the Hanseatic parliamentarians here have reached a consensus-the Hanseatic League will also be equipped with a large number of artillery in the future...

Because the Hanseatic League was developed by trade, and maritime trade was their lifeline, especially the "one king and one queen" in the two Hanseatic Leagues of Lübeck and Hamburg.

If their navy is behind the times, it is easy to be beaten. Once the maritime power is lost, the interests of the maritime trade between the two cities cannot be preserved. It is even said that the two Hanseatic cities will be in a desperate situation.

Therefore, the two Hanseatic core cities are the most sensitive to changes in naval warfare, for fear of falling behind the times. Before, in fact, the councils of the two cities had also heard the news that the Portuguese were heavily armed with artillery on their warships. But at that time, people in both cities didn't care much. After all, the Portuguese equipped their warships with artillery, but they did not prove that the use of artillery was necessarily better than traditional naval warfare.

But this time was different. The Hamburgers saw with their own eyes Marin's East Frisian fleet, using rows of heavy artillery to sink dozens of Danish warships in the vast sea, giving them a great visual impact.

Therefore, the Hamburg Parliament took the lead in making a decision - to equip artillery on ships on a large scale in the future. Moreover, in the future of warships, the broadsides must be reinforced to avoid being easily penetrated by enemy artillery...

As for Lubeck's side, the relationship with Hamburg is already very close, and the distance between them is not far. After learning that Hamburg made such a decision, they quickly made the same decision - gradually install artillery in the navy, and in the future of new warships, focus on strengthening the broadside to avoid being easily hit by artillery shells Put on……

As for how the warships were built, it is clear that the counties of East Friesland had ready experience. As a result, Hamburg immediately, in the name of an ally, made a request to Marin, who was still in Glückstadt, the capital of the Principality of Holstein, to trim and digest the results of the war - hoping to obtain the blueprint of the warship of the Counties of East Friesland... …

Where would Marin give them the battleship blueprints? That's the housekeeper of the East Frisian Navy. So, after thinking it over and over again, Marin ordered - hand over the blueprint of the 250-class armed merchant ship to Hamburg. Anyway, this kind of ship is also more advanced than Kirk sailboat...

In this way, through an earth-shattering naval battle, Marin successfully influenced the Europeans' choice of naval warfare. Hamburg, which also participated in the naval battle of Jutland, took the lead in choosing to change, and Lübeck followed closely... Moreover, as the news of the naval battle spread, more and more European countries would choose to follow. Development of guns and new ships with reinforced broadsides...

History has been changed, and the way the Europeans fought at sea will also be greatly changed. From now on, the first naval battle in which artillery became the main weapon of naval warfare will change from the battle of Diu to the battle of Jutland involving East Friesland, Hamburg and Denmark...