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 surrounding 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 purposes.
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 between this and 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 has no The method was coordinated within a short period of time. If there were such things as elites and intellectuals in this era, they would skillfully classify them all 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. Menghe, who was responsible for part of the propaganda work at the time, lost the re-election after only serving as an executive committee member for one year. This was somewhat related to his unstable position in the field of public opinion and propaganda at the time. Moreover, given the reverence of the local people for the Executive Committee, even if there are any negative remarks, it will be difficult to gain the trust of the people. 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 extremely slim. Even if someone does not dare to provoke Haihan, the existing two basically formed fleets are enough to 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 it will be coordinated by the human resources department." Yan Chujie would not take the trouble to 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 military’s work 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 action planning committee before the time travel. That is to say, after five years of traveling, in order to achieve control over the entire Qiongzhou Island and surrounding waters, especially the Qiongzhou Strait, Beibu Gulf, Pearl River Estuary and Indochina Peninsula, these key areas and waters must be brought under Haihan's control. This plan puts forward extremely high requirements for Haihan's naval strength. Such a vast sea area cannot be guarded by ten or eight warships. At least no one in the Far East's maritime armed forces can accomplish this. 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 plans for the development of the navy must be carried out by the executive committee. The parliament and the military are almost always pushing forward under great pressure. Fortunately, in the first half of the year, the militia defeated Hue City and took advantage of the situation to make a lot of money. Otherwise, the launch of the two main flagships would have to be postponed for at least one or two years due to the cost.
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 irregularity of the crew of the new ship cannot be completely kept secret from the outside world, it is not difficult for the military to fool outsiders. It only needs to claim that the training process is to first master the combat method under pure wind propulsion. After a few months, the human resources department will solve the problem of technical staff shortage, and then we can conduct training on the use of hybrid power.
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-material Guangzhou ship passed by this ship, it was like passing a hill, and the densely packed gun windows on the ship's side made people shudder.
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. Although the maritime merchants from other places will be surprised by this, they all know that the Haihan Militia has always been willing to protect the safety of maritime merchants, and they have no fear because of this. Whenever the "Majesty" sails back to Port Victory in the evening, the crew members of the ships passing by it will temporarily put down their work and pay attention to the warship.
However, the situation on board the Majestic is far less beautiful than outsiders imagined. For the hundreds of men selected to serve on the ship, training aboard the ship was far more intense than any they had been used to. Even experienced people selected from "exploration-class" and "exploration-class" warships still have many things that need to be adapted to and adjusted when they arrive on this ship.
Tom Wang stood on the slipway at the middle and rear of the ship, using a telescope to check the situation ahead, and then ordered in a deep voice: "Left rudder ten!"
"Ten left rudder!" 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 could easily control the direction of the ship with very little effort. Just by seeing this thing, Wu Sen already understood that it was impossible for the South Vietnamese Navy led by him to defeat the Haihan militia at sea. The gap in shipbuilding technology between the two sides made it impossible for the South Vietnamese Navy to compete with the Haihan people. A fair starting point for the fight. From this, Wu Sen also understood why the Yazhou Navy was so obedient and chose to cooperate with Haihan 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 far better than ordinary sailors in learning Haihan-style navigation skills. Even for devices like the steering wheel, Wang Tom only gave a brief explanation of it for a few minutes, but Wu Sen already understood the techniques and immediately started operating it in a precise manner.
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. Find someone among the people who can 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 operate the steering wheel on the command platform - in fact, he was teaching him the skills of driving such a large warship by precepts 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 does not 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 more is still filling his mind. A sense of excitement.
However, apart from the command department, the crew in other positions on the ship are not so relaxed. The crew on the deck have to use manpower to repeatedly raise and lower the sail on the three masts more than 50 meters high. This is definitely a very time-consuming exercise. Physical drudgery. The combatants at the lower level 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 the barrel, 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 Manpower resets the artillery to a more accurate firing 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 barrels. Fortunately, the navy's treatment is excellent. They provide three meals a day, two of which include meat and fish, which ensures 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 the final order for his appointment has not yet been issued, his colleagues all know that this person is highly regarded by Commander Wang, so there will be no one who is not cautious about trying to get ahead of him.
"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 the military orders were like a mountain. 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 certain merchant ship that was about to sail into the Port of Victory, Portuguese Thomas exclaimed loudly in an accent that was almost breaking.
Since Thomas was appointed as the envoy to Sanya by the Macau Council, he has settled in Sanya for a long time. The affairs he is responsible for are not only commercial trade, but also the secret business of Portugal importing arms from Sanya and shipping them to Europe.
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 with them comprehensively and use Portugal People are good at maritime trade to obtain more profits.
Although the Portuguese chose to withdraw from South Vietnam under Hai Han's military pressure, the subsequent trade cooperation between the two sides allowed the Portuguese to gain substantial gains. Now with the Haihan people as a medium, 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, in order to obtain those exclusive Haihan products, a large number of Ming merchants sold the tea, porcelain, silk and other goods needed by the Portuguese to Haihan, and then Haihan resold them to the Portuguese who had been waiting eagerly. Although this process involves an extra hand, 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 his work nearly a year ago. So when Thomas rushed back to Macau to report 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 some kind of large ship has been secretly being built in the shipyard in Port Victory. But the information he heard all claimed that this new ship was a cargo ship used for maritime trade, and the whistleblower was also very precise, saying that the cargo capacity of this new ship was greater than the current best "exploration-class" civilian The version has been nearly doubled, and the seaworthiness at sea has also been greatly improved. It is also said that the Ministry of Maritime Transport will 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. The moment he saw the warship, he knew that he had been fooled.
"These Haihan people are all actors and liars!" Thomas complained angrily as he looked at the huge Majesty.
(End of chapter)