Chapter 691 The era of heavy artillery giant ships!

(0691)

"Where are samples from the red cannons sent over to Sun Qinkai?"

Zhang Zhun asked suddenly with concern as he walked.

He saw workers in the dock installing flying dragon cannons on the sword-tooth ship in an orderly manner. These flying dragon cannons were all produced by the artillery factory and should have been transported not long ago. The butter outside the barrel had not been completely wiped clean, and all kinds of accessories had not been unboxed.

Looking around, all the docks are densely packed with gantry cranes and pulley sets. This is something other shipyards do not have. Before Zhang Zhun traveled, no one knew the huge role of gantry cranes and pulley sets. Almost all heavy-duty accessories are completed by manual and rolling wood. Not only is there low efficiency, it is also very dangerous.

With the help of the gantry crane and pulley set, the flying dragon cannons were installed on the gun position in an orderly manner and then carefully fixed. In the past, such a work took a full day. Now, with the gantry crane and pulley set, it can be done in just one hour, and the work efficiency has undoubtedly been greatly improved.

Because of the use of a number of advanced cross-era technology, the construction progress of the battleships of the Queqiao Bay Shipyard will be so fast. The Hu Ben Navy can receive so many warships in such a short time. Compared with other forces, such an advantage is very obvious. As long as time goes by, the Hu Ben Navy will make a great leap in the quantity and quality of warships.

"not yet."

Xue Zhidie shook her head and replied.

"Hurt him, hurry up!"

Zhang Zhun said with a cautious expression.

He knew that Sun Qinkai had worked very hard and was constantly trialing various materials day and night in order to develop red cannons with better performance as much as possible. However, red cannons cannot be copied just by wanting to copy them, and there are many specific issues involved.

From the quality of steel, to the quality of gunpowder, and aerodynamics, it is quite complicated. Even if Sun Qinkai is a genius, he cannot complete all the research work in one go. This requires the cooperation of all military departments of the Hu Ben Army and the hard work of a team. Of course, it also requires a lot of financial support.

However, no matter how difficult it is, the red-clothed cannon must be copied and the performance must be improved. Because, in naval battles, if there is no red-clothed cannon, there is no way to fight against the enemy. To put it simply, if you are not equipped with the red-clothed cannon, you will be embarrassed to say hello to others on the sea.

The difference between naval warfare and land warfare is too big. The tactical strategy, conspiracy and conspiracy have almost slight roles on the sea. Naval warfare focuses on the battle between the hard power of both sides, and there is no falsehood at all. Either the cannons directly bombard the other side and force the other side to retreat. Or after the cannons bombard the two sides, the two sides engage in a gang battle, jump to fight until one side is completely destroyed.

At this stage, cannons are constantly replacing the gang fight and jump gang fight, and beginning to occupy the mainstream of naval battles. Although the final solution to the battle, the gang fight and jump gang fights still have to rely on the gang fights, the psychological deterrence effect of cannons on bombing will have a huge impact on future hand-to-hand combat. At this starting line, the Hu Ben Navy must not lose.

The biggest difference between the Dragon God Ship and the Sword Tooth Ship is that it is equipped with a red-clothed cannon. This leads to an essential difference between the combat power of the two. The red-clothed cannon with a caliber of 130 mm has a range of more than ten miles, which is much further away than the flying dragon cannon. The grape bullet (that is, the shotgun) fired by the red-clothed cannon can directly block the flying dragon cannon from the range. Although the solid bullet of the flying dragon cannon can be fired, its accuracy and power are simply a tragedy.

In real naval battles, long-distance artillery bombardment has almost no effect. It is useless to hit or not, and ammunition is wasted. The main types of ammunition used in naval battles are shotguns and chain bombs. Shotguns are mainly used to kill enemy personnel, but chain bombs are used to break the masts and tear the sails. Therefore, the longer the range of these two shells, the better. The advantages of the red-clothed cannon in this regard are much stronger than the flying dragon cannon.

In fact, when fighting at sea, the range is important, but the power is even more important. The solid bullet of the flying dragon cannon cannot directly smash the enemy ship's side even if it hits the enemy ship's side. However, the red-clothed cannon is different. The huge solid bullet of the red-clothed cannon can directly smash the ship's side. If it is hit, a single shot can make the sea water continue to swarm in. Perhaps, the hit ship is very likely to sink.

Therefore, the design of the Dragon God Ship must not only be equipped with a stronger red cannon, but also with a more defensive deck and ship side. For example, raw cowhide should be used as a mezzanine at the key parts of the ship's side, especially near the mast. When necessary, steel plates and key positions on the deck are even embedded. Practice has proved that these are effective means to prevent solid bombardment.

The development of naval warships was originally a constant swaying between giant cannons and heavy armor, constantly improving together. Spears and shields have always been one foot taller and one foot taller. No one is convinced by any other. With a sharper spear, there will be a stronger shield. The same goes for the same. In the end, a super monster like Yamato appeared, with a displacement of more than 60,000 tons and a caliber of 460 mm, claiming to be the number one battleship.

There is no doubt that Zhang Zhun also had a plot of heavy artillery giant ships, and this plot is very strong, which is also the reason why he kept spending money on the navy. Later China was always beaten in the era of heavy artillery giant ships, and countless tragic blood and tears were born. Finally, it was not easy to kill, and there was no aircraft carrier, and on the sea, there was basically no position to speak, and could only endure desperately. As a Chinese, he was indeed very depressed.

Now, he traveled four hundred years ago, and it was the year when the great era began to leap. The era of heavy artillery and giant ships had not yet fully begun. The Chinese still have the opportunity to catch up with the pace of the world. If he does not seize the opportunity, he will be at risk of being eliminated by the sea. On the contrary, if he firmly grasps the tide of the times, he will become the master of the world.

Shipbuilding in the late Ming Dynasty was indeed a tragedy compared to its previous prosperity. In the 17th century, the era of maritime hegemony began in full swing. Western shipbuilding and naval forces continued to develop, but China was increasingly backward. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was simply terrible. Warships with displacements of more than 400 tons were very few. Warships with displacements of more than 600 tons could be called giants.

In fact, after Zheng He voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty mistakenly implemented a policy of banning seas, and no sails were allowed to go into the sea. As a result, shipbuilding technology has not fallen since then, and it has been shrinking and eventually almost disappeared. But at this time, it was the golden period when the Western powers began their era of sailing. Their shipbuilding capabilities and shipbuilding technology have all achieved leaps and bounds.

In the early 15th century, Prince Henry created the Portuguese brisk sailing for the exploration of the Eastern Airlines. After that, Columbus landed on the American continent, Magellan's global sailing, and Dagama's Eastern Airlines India and other global sailing adventures, which led to a great geographical discovery after the 16th century. The long-term practice of ocean navigation, Western sailing performance and navigation technology have made great progress on the basis of comprehensively surpassing China.

The cannons were a leap in the history of naval weapons development. Although China first used firearms on ships, that's all. The cannons have always been fixed at the bow and stern of the ship, and cannot be flexibly aimed and fired. The development of naval gun technology has been stagnant. Many cannons on ships have made the stability of the ship worse. Moreover, once fired, their recoil makes the ship more dangerous.

There are two solutions: one is to improve the accuracy of the casting of the naval gun and the strength of the casting gun material; the other is to invent the ship's side gun door. This golden idea was thought of by a British man, named James Baker. He installed the gun on the lower deck and opened the gun door on both sides of the hull to enable the gun to fire. When not in use, the gun door is closed with a hinged gun door cover to prevent sea water from splashing in.

In 1512 AD, the "Great Harry" was built in Woolitch with this design, which was the flagship of the naval forces of King Henry VIII of England. The huge "Great Harry" had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and still retained the traditional appearance of the medieval period: it was equipped with 4 masts, with the foremast and mainmast hanging across the cross sail, and the rearmast and tailmast hanging on the large triangular sail.

The most eye-catching thing about the "Da Harry" is its towering head and tail building. The ship's military equipment also shows the remains of the past cold weapons era. The cannons have a small caliber, but there are many, with 122 gates (128 gates). There are 1,200 bows and 750 arrow pouches on the warship. Unfortunately, the design drawings of the "Da Harry" were not passed down. At that time, the shipbuilders only taught their sons the secrets of designing and building ships, usually not to outsiders.

But no matter what, at this time, the true "warship" was born. Because, in the era of cold weapons, the method of naval combat was mainly due to the sideline fighting, and the warships at that time played more of the role of a troop transport ship. The large-scale use of artillery made the basic mode of naval combat revolutionary changes. The invention of the ship's side artillery door made this ship a "professional household" for specialized operations. This means that warships have become a professional and sacred noun, and not any ship can make guest appearances.

In 1546 AD, Henry VIII divided his royal fleet into four categories: full-sail loading, sail gunboats, three-masted small sailboats and barges. A total of 20 full-sail loading ships ranging from 60 to 1,000 tons, and heavy artillery fired through the gun holes located at the lower side. At that time, China had not adopted such artillery arrangement.

By the 16th century, European countries such as Spain, France, the Netherlands and Sweden had built large sailing warships to protect their maritime rights, but these warships looked similar to British ships, and were armed with naval guns that opened fire from the inside of the dizzy gun door.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the "Galene" warship built by Spain had a displacement of up to 1,600 tons, 56.5 meters long, 15.2 meters wide, 4 masts and 7 sails. It was equipped with 100 artillery pieces of various calibers, which were arranged on the three decks. Note that this is the foundation of the Spanish Invincible Fleet.

In 1514, the flagship "Torrek" built by France had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, a length of more than 51 meters, and was equipped with 5 masts. It was equipped with 180 artillery pieces of various calibers and a crew of 700 (400 of which were army). Compared with other countries, France at that time, the sea water was relatively weak, the displacement of warships was not very good at all, and the number of cannons was just a substitute. Many cannons had small cannons of about 40 mm.

In 1571 AD, Venice first used a large sailing warship in the naval battle near Lebanto, with a length of more than 80 meters, three masts and a row of oars. Each oar was equipped with 9 to 10 oarsmen, carrying 800 people, equipped with 70 artillery of various calibers, and rushing angles. This was the first attempt of a hybrid sailing battleship. Obviously, man-made oars could not drive such a heavy battleship. In the end, this design was eliminated by history.

When history entered 1588 AD, the maritime powers of the Western powers had become very powerful. At that time, Spain's "Invincible Fleet" was the strongest navy in Europe. It had a total of 130 ships, including 20 four-masted large ships, 44 armed merchant ships, 23 round ships, 22 poor ships, 13 light sailing ships, 4 medium ships and 4 long ships (including about 60 to 70 real warships), a total tonnage of 57,868 tons, a total of 2,431 artillery pieces, and 8,051 seamen. The ship carried a total of 19,000 troops, plus other personnel, a total of more than 60,000 people.

By 1637 AD (the tenth year of Chongzhen), the Netherlands had the ability to manufacture the warship "Sea Monarch" with a large-scale displacement of up to 1,500 tons and a three-deck deck with 100 cannons. Note that it was built in large quantities, that is, the construction of assembly lines, rather than special design construction. This was the basis for the rise of the Dutch Navy. In the following decades, the flying Dutch people would dominate the sea, including the Taiwan Island in East Asia.

In fact, by 1644 (the seventeenth year of Chongzhen), the Netherlands had more than 1,000 ships of various types as warships to protect smooth business, more than 1,000 large merchant ships engaged in maritime trade, more than 6,000 small merchant ships were used in the fishing industry and inland transportation industry, and had more than 80,000 best sailors in the world. In East Asia, the number of Dutch warships increased greatly.

If there was no major deviation in the trajectory of historical development, then, in the following year, in September of 1639 AD (the eleventh year of Chongzhen), the Spanish fleet would attack Britain under the leadership of Admiral Oqueto (the flagship was the "San Diego". The strength of this fleet was about 70 ships, of which 12 had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons (such as the "San Tresa" was 2,400 tons). The purpose of the Spanish fleet was of course to avenge the failure of that year.

There is no need to elaborate on the maritime grievances between Britain and Spain. In short, in the battle between these two countries, the navies of both countries continued to grow. The large battleships owned by the British navy soared from 39 in 1649 to 80 in 1651, most of which were second-decks and giant warships with 60 to 80 guns.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the British "King of the Sea" built in 1637 AD (the tenth year of Chongzhen), was the first large warship with a three-layer long deck built in the British Navy built during the reign of Charles I of James. This battleship began to be designed in January 1636 AD and was built at the Wollyches Shipyard on January 16 until it was launched in October 1637 AD. The total cost was more than 40,000 pounds (half of which was paid to the shipbuilder).

[Author’s note: The ratio between pound and silver at that time was difficult to calculate. The amount of silver at that time was not large, and pounds were also very valuable. It is estimated that 1 tael of silver is about 10 pounds. Forty thousand pounds is estimated to be 4,000 taels of silver.]

The main designer Pette originally thought that the ship only needed to be equipped with 90 cannons, but Charles I insisted on increasing the number of cannons to 104 (a total weight of 153 tons), making it the largest warship at that time. The ship's keel was 39 meters long, with a total length of 51 meters, a width of 14.7 meters, a depth of 23.17 meters, and a draft of 6.8 meters. The ship weighed 1,683 tons and had 4 decks. The ship was erected with 3 masts, and a crown sail was hung on the main mast and foremast.

The ship is equipped with 102-104 guns, 30 guns are mounted on the low deck and main deck, and 26 guns are mounted on the upper deck. There are 12 guns on the first floor, 14 guns on the half deck, and 10 bow guns and several tail guns. The fleet has 11 anchors, each weighing 2 tons.

The ship is equipped with more than 800 sailors, the largest shell weighs 60 pounds, and the shells in one volley weigh one ton. The ship has participated in six and seven naval battles against the Netherlands, and the French Navy has been used for more than 60 years in a row. Finally, it was accidentally destroyed by the French Navy in Chatham waters.

Although there are more and more giant cannon ships in Western maritime powers, the main ship as the standard for maritime force is still a second-deck, equipped with 50 to 80 artillery pieces and a warship with a drainage of about 1,000 tons. In addition, fast sailboats equipped with cannons have also begun to be built, with a generally displacement of about 400 tons and a 30 to 40 cannons. This ship has a strong structure, flexible operation and powerful firepower.

At that time, China's largest warship with the same displacement could only accommodate two cannons and several small cannons, and the firepower of the two was simply incomparable. Taking the Qi Jiguang Navy recorded in "Ji Xiao New Book - The Scene of the Water Reinforcement" as an example, in a naval barracks, there were 4 Fu ships, 2 Haicang ships and 4 Cangshan ships, and the main weapons they equipped together had only 40 to 70 artillery pieces, which could barely be compared with a small-tonnage fast sailboat in the West.
Chapter completed!