Chapter 489 The Deterrent Power of Battleships

The Executive Committee and the military have placed great expectations on the navy, and have spared no effort to invest a large amount of money and various resources. The purpose is to expect the navy's combat effectiveness to grow rapidly, and to control the waters around Qiongzhou Island, Beibu Gulf, and South China.

Effective actual control can be formed along the coast and even along the coast of Indochina. Flagship warships that use many "new technologies" are exactly the tools used to achieve these strategic goals.

However, the practical difficulties that Yan Chujie just mentioned will inevitably affect the planning process of the Executive Committee and the military. Although steam power cannot be used, the "Majestic" still has almost unrivaled capabilities in the Far East.

Maritime combat effectiveness, but after all, there is a certain gap with the expectations of the top management. So many circulation coupons are not just used to create a concept. If this matter is known by those good people in the civil service system, who is in charge of related work

Everyone will definitely be sprayed with blood.

But the difficulties we are encountering now cannot be solved by holding individuals or units accountable. Behind the simple problem of human resource allocation, there are also a series of other problems hidden. There are so many industries and units involved that even the Executive Committee cannot

The law was coordinated in a short period of time. If there were elite public intellectuals in this era, they would skillfully classify all of them as "system problems" and then jump up and down to criticize the incompetence of those in power.

Of course no one in Sanya would dare to jump out and criticize the supreme executive committee. Those who do so will most likely end up in a hard labor camp. The executive committee is very strict in supervising public opinion. I was responsible back then.

Meng He, who was involved in propaganda work, only served as an executive committee member for one year before he lost the re-election. This was somewhat related to his unstable position in the field of public opinion and propaganda at the time. Moreover, based on the local people's attitude toward the executive committee,

In terms of awe, even if there are any negative remarks, it is difficult to gain the trust of the public. On the contrary, there is a high possibility of being reported for spreading rumors.

As for the possibility of a large-scale naval battle breaking out in the near future, Yan Chujie is actually just talking about it. Not to mention that the possibility is very slim. Even if someone does not dare to provoke Haihan, the existing two basically formed fleets can still resist it.

foreign enemy.

Tao Donglai pondered: "Even if the steam engine cannot be used temporarily, the training of this new ship cannot be stopped. Are the other crew members in place?"

"This is no problem. The crew and combat personnel are selected two or three months in advance. I have also seen Wang Tom's training plan. The formal sea training will begin tomorrow." Yan Chujie paused and said:

"If the steam engine operators can be in place in two or three months, then the crew training will almost come to an end. By then, the establishment of the first fleet will be announced, which will be a matter of course!"

"When the second ship enters the queue, this situation cannot happen again!" Tao Donglai said solemnly: "It should be two or three months later, right?"

"This matter has been discussed with Ning Qi and will be coordinated by the human resources department." Yan Chujie would not take the initiative to take this troublesome matter on himself.

"March...the construction period of the new port on Hong Kong Island is almost until March...well, let's wait and see first!" After Tao Dong said this, he stood up: "You keep an eye on the navy side, I'm here

I’ve been busy dealing with matters at the Ministry of Construction for a while, so I can’t get involved in the work of the military for the time being.”

"I know, don't worry, it won't affect our five-year plan." Yan Chujie stood up to see him off.

The so-called five-year plan is a rough time plan for the territory expansion of the preparatory committee before the crossing. That is, after five years of crossing, it is necessary to control the entire Qiongzhou Island and surrounding waters, especially the Qiongzhou Strait, Beibu Gulf, and the Pearl River.

The sea areas in key areas such as the mouth of the country and the Indo-China Peninsula must be brought under Haihan's control. This plan places extremely high demands on Haihan's naval strength. Such a vast sea area cannot be covered by ten or eight warships.

If you can take care of it, at least no one among the maritime armed forces in the Far East can accomplish such a task.

If Haihan wants to complete this plan, he must also invest millions of funds in the navy. Such a large expenditure is definitely a heavy burden for Haihan in the early stages of development. Therefore, all development plans for the navy must be carried out by the executive committee.

The Hui Hui and the military were almost under great pressure to promote it. Fortunately, in the first half of the year, the militia attacked Hue City and took advantage of the situation to make a lot of money back. Otherwise, the launch of the two main flagships would not have been scheduled.

Due to the cost, it will have to be postponed for at least one or two years.

Due to the huge investment, this plan basically cannot fail. Even if it is delayed for a few months, it will affect the nerves of countless people. Although the crew of the new ship cannot be completely kept secret, the military

It is not difficult for Fang to fool outsiders. He only needs to claim that the training process is to first master the combat method under pure wind propulsion. After a few months, the personnel department solves the shortage of technical personnel before using hybrid power.

Just training.

So starting from the beginning of 1630, Ming merchant ships entering and leaving Sanya would often see a huge Haihan warship passing by near the coast. When the 400-ton Guangzhou ship passed by this ship, it seemed like it was passing by a

It's like a hill, and the densely packed gun windows on the ship's side make people shudder.

However, the local people in Sanya are generally proud of the existence of this large ship. They believe that with the protection of this large ship, the two ports and the tens of thousands of people living here will have a greater sense of security. Foreigners

Although the maritime merchants who come here will be amazed by this, they all know that the Haihan Militia has always been willing to protect the safety of maritime merchants, and they do not feel fear because of this. Whenever the "Majesty" sails back to victory in the evening

When it was in port, the crew members of the ships passing by it would temporarily put down their work and pay attention to the warship.

However, the situation on the "Majesty" is far less beautiful than outsiders imagined. For the hundreds of people who were selected to serve on this ship, the training intensity on this ship was far more intense than what they had experienced in the past.

Place. Even experienced people selected from "exploration-class" and "exploration-class" warships still have many things that need to be adapted to and adjusted after arriving on this ship.

Wang Tom stood on the slipway at the middle and rear of the hull, using a telescope to check the situation ahead, and then ordered in a deep voice: "Left rudder ten!"

"Left rudder ten!" Wu Sen, who was in charge of steering, responded loudly, and at the same time, he turned the steering wheel ten degrees to the left.

Wu Sen had never seen this kind of steering wheel device before when he served in Annan. However, after arriving in Sanya, he had already seen this convenient device on the "Lightning", which requires very little effort.

With enough strength, he can easily control the direction of the ship. Just by seeing this thing, Wu Sen already understood that it was impossible for the South Vietnamese navy he led to defeat the Haihan militia at sea. There was a gap in shipbuilding technology between the two sides.

, making it impossible for the South Vietnamese Navy to fight the Haihan people on a fair starting point. From this, Wu Sen understood why the Yazhou Navy was so obedient and chose to cooperate with the Haihan people instead of resisting.

Wu Sen is only acting as a temporary helmsman now, which does not mean that this will be his future position. In fact, Wang Tom personally admires this clever and quick-witted Admiral Annan. With Wu Sen’s professional foundation, he is learning

Haihan style navigation technology far exceeds that of ordinary sailors. Even devices like the steering wheel, which Wang Tom only gave a brief explanation for a few minutes, Wu Sen already understood the skills and immediately started to use them at a glance.

to operate.

There is no doubt that Wu Sen is more useful than most of the naturalized soldiers and grassroots officers in the current navy. Putting aside military command ability, at least in terms of mastering navigation skills, Wang Tom has not yet naturalized.

He wanted to find someone among the people who could defeat Wu Sen. And this kind of professional talent is what is most lacking in the current naval establishment. Therefore, after Wu Sen boarded the ship, Wang Tom also entrusted him with important tasks, first assigning him to command.

Operating the steering wheel on the platform - in fact, he was teaching him the skills of driving such a large warship through words and deeds.

Of course, even as Tom Wang himself, although he has rich sailing experience, he has no experience in driving a large sailing ship of this tonnage, so commanding the "Majesty" is also a new experience for him. However,

Tom Wang doesn't feel any pressure about this. For him, sailing itself is the greatest pleasure, and being able to drive a new ship out to sea is like getting a new toy, and it is more exciting than ever.

feel.

However, apart from the command department, the crew members in other positions on the ship are not so relaxed. The crew members on the deck have to use manpower to repeatedly raise and lower the sails on three masts more than 50 meters high. This is definitely a very time-consuming exercise.

Physical drudgery. The lower-level combatants are not much better. They must operate the artillery on the low and crowded combat deck and practice shooting processes such as loading, aiming, clearing, and reset.

Although almost all the gun positions on this ship are equipped with a new generation of mechanical braking devices developed this year, its effect is still limited. It only shortens the distance the artillery must retreat due to recoil when firing. The gunners often still need to use

It takes manpower to reset the artillery to a more accurate shooting position. It is also quite laborious to repeatedly push hundreds or even thousands of artillery pieces and pick up iron bullets weighing more than ten kilograms and stuff them into the gun barrels. But fortunately, the Navy's treatment is extremely good.

Well, we have three full meals a day, two of which include meat and fish, to ensure that the crew's physical strength can keep up with the training requirements to the greatest extent.

Wu Sen's salary has also increased, and he is fortunate to be able to enjoy a special officer package with the naturalized civilian officers. Although his appointment order has not yet been finalized, his colleagues all know that this person is highly regarded by Commander Wang, so they do not

There will be some people who don't have the foresight to try to show off to him or something like that.

"Complete one more cruise between the two ports today, and it will be over!" Wang Tom's order made all the crew members feel their hearts sinking, but there were so many military orders, no matter how tired they were, they had to try their best to complete the orders first, so

Under the command of Wang Tom, the "Majesty" slowly turned around Yulinjiao and headed to the southwest sea.

"Oh my God! What is that? I saw a large warship!" On a merchant ship that was about to sail into the Port of Victory, Portuguese Thomas exclaimed in an almost broken voice.

Thomas has settled in Sanya for a long time since he was appointed by the Macau Council as the envoy to Sanya. The affairs he is responsible for are not only commercial trade, but also the secret trade of Portugal's import of arms from Sanya to Europe.

Handled by him.

In the process of dealing with Haihan, Thomas also gradually realized that the rise of this force was impossible to contain. Instead of fighting against Haihan to compete for the existing interests, it would be better to cooperate comprehensively with them and use Portugal's

People are good at maritime trade to obtain more profits.

Although the Portuguese chose to withdraw from South Vietnam under the military pressure of Hai Han, the subsequent trade cooperation between the two sides actually made the Portuguese gain a lot. Now with the Hai Han people as a medium, the Portuguese

, Portugal's channels for obtaining various commodities from the Ming Dynasty have also been greatly increased - although the Ming government restricted the scope and quantity of trade between private merchants and Portugal, it did not restrict the trade channels with the Haihan people. Therefore, a large number of Ming merchants wanted to obtain

Those Haihan products that are exclusively distributed sell the tea, porcelain, silk and other goods needed by the Portuguese to Haihan first, and then Haihan resells them to the Portuguese who have been waiting eagerly. Although this process involves one more step

hand, but everyone can get what they need, and it is still a good deal for Portugal.

Thomas received a notice from the Macau Council a month ago, asking him to go back to report on his work after nearly a year. So when Thomas rushed back to Macau to report on his work, he happened to miss the grand commissioning ceremony of the "Majesty".

Thomas has lived in Sanya for a long time, and he also knows that the shipyard in Port Victory has been secretly building some kind of large ship. However, the news he has found out is that this new ship is a cargo ship used for maritime trade, and he broke the news

The reporter also said that the cargo carrying capacity of this new ship has nearly doubled compared to the current best "Exploration Class" civilian version, and the seaworthiness at sea has also been greatly improved. He also said

The Ministry of Shipping wants to separate this new ship into two different models: cargo and passenger, so that it can transport immigrants back from the mainland more efficiently.

The whistleblower was so knowledgeable that Thomas later believed this statement and believed that the Haihan people were really preparing to vigorously develop maritime trade like the Dutch. However, the reality was not what he thought. When he saw

The moment he arrived on the warship, he knew he had been fooled.

"These Haihan people are all actors and liars!" Thomas complained angrily as he looked at the huge "Majesty".
Chapter completed!