Chapter 1299 Iron-clad Monster Ship
Although Liu Shang doesn't know much about military affairs, he can still understand whether the naval gun can hit the target quickly and accurately. In addition, he has a good memory, so he has memorized all the shooting results of the warships that appeared on the scene, and silently compared and analyzed them while reading them.
The Haihan Navy is undoubtedly the first-tier team. Except for one ship that hit five out of seven targets, almost all other ships hit six or even all of them. In terms of time, it is also significantly better than warships from other countries. Portugal and the Netherlands are closely followed. Although each of these two countries only has one ship participating in this military exercise, it can be seen from this target shooting project that their strength is indeed extraordinary. It is no wonder that in the early years, they only relied on a small number of warships. The ship can open up the situation on the southeastern coast of Ming Dynasty.
The navies of the Ming Dynasty, Annan, and Champa are obviously slightly inferior, but to be serious, these participating troops, including the so-called Guangxi Navy, can actually be said to be Haihan people. With his own training, if a large-scale war breaks out in the South China Sea, these naval forces will probably fight together as Haihan's allies. Even if they are slightly inferior in strength, they are better because they have more ships and more guns. Even Portugal and the Netherlands, which are stronger than them, will find it difficult to compete with them.
Liu Shang thought about the Daming Navy he knew and silently placed it in a lower gear. The navy that can still take orders from the imperial court and the Ministry of War is probably mainly deployed in the area north of the Fujian Strait. After Haihan occupied Zhoushan Island in Zhejiang, the naval forces in the Qiantang River and Yangtze River were quietly restricted in their scope of activities.
Haihan had already demonstrated his strength during his march north to attack the Zhoushan Islands. The local navy in Zhejiang also understood that its equipment level and combat capabilities were not at the same level as Haihan's navy, so they did not dare to actively provoke Haihan. After the fire at Tongsheng Wharf in Hangzhou at the beginning of this year, Haihan sent troops to Hangzhou Bay to blockade the Qiantang River. A series of actions to demonstrate force completely dispelled the idea of the local garrison using force against Haihan.
As for the navy north of the Yangtze River, to put it more exaggeratedly, they can only manage the fishermen. There is no good way to deal with the Haihan Navy with strong ships and guns. Last year, Haihan sent his troops north to establish a stronghold in Dengzhou, Shandong. The local government could only watch helplessly as Haihan's army easily captured Zhifu Island. It seems unrealistic to expect the Northland Navy to restore dignity for the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Shang didn't understand why the navy in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty had nothing to do with the Haihan people. Didn't the Dutch who made trouble in the Fujian Strait in the early years also be repelled by the Fujian navy and returned to Taiwan Island? The Portuguese, who also have maritime weapons, have been doing business in Macau and have been relatively quiet in recent years. How could it be that while the Han people were scurrying up and down the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the officials at all levels pretended to be deaf and mute, watching from the sidelines without taking any serious measures to suppress them.
Now that he has come to Hainan Island and witnessed various scenes, Liu Shang gradually understands the difficulties of these local officials. They want to use force to deal with the Haihan people, but they are not willing to do so. With the equipment of Haihan Haihan, the Ming Dynasty navy cannot defeat, catch up with or escape. This battle is simply unwinnable. Rather than losing the battle and being condemned by the court, it would be better to maintain the superficial peace like this. Anyway, the man in the Forbidden City doesn't know the real situation in the south at all. As long as he reports the good news and not the bad news, he can keep his official position firmly.
How to defeat such a powerful army, Liu Shang watched the exercise while silently calculating various possibilities in his heart. But unfortunately, after much thought, he could not think of any effective way to curb Haihan's military expansion. Is it really possible to watch Haihan continue to develop without any hindrance, and wait until twenty or thirty years later to turn Ming into a vassal state like Annan?
Liu Shang was naturally unwilling to give in, and he believed that among the onlookers present, he was not the only one who was unwilling to give in. Will those people from the West be willing to submit to Haihan? But it is a pity that Liu Shang does not speak Spanish at all. Even if he has the opportunity to contact those foreigners, he seems to have no way to communicate in depth.
Finally, the Haihan battleship, the last one to appear, ended this sea target shooting competition with a score of six out of seven. There is no doubt that Haihan Fleet's results have filled the top ten, and it is definitely the big winner in this maritime competition. However, for other countries, there is nothing to regret losing to Haihan in such a competition. After all, the gap in strength between the two sides exists objectively. The actual significance of completing this military exercise is to be able to find the gap between ourselves and the Haihan Navy during the competition.
The reluctance Liu Shang believed was of course an objective reality, but for countries outside the region such as Portugal and the Netherlands, Haihan's strength would not directly affect the security of their motherland, which was completely different from the Ming Dynasty's situation. Moreover, Western colonial countries have a far more comprehensive understanding of the world than the Ming Dynasty. It is clear that Haihan's current influence is mainly concentrated in a corner of the South China Sea. Outside this area, Haihan's presence is actually far inferior to those of other countries that have colonized the world.
The conflicts between these countries and Haihan are mainly related to commercial interests, but force has been proven to be not the best way to resolve conflicts. In the face of Haihan's powerful strength, they can only choose cooperation rather than confrontation to ensure that His business share in the Far East will not be completely taken away - at least not to his competitors who are also from Europe. As for continuing the armed confrontation with Haihan, this is neither rational nor in line with their respective business interests. Probably only new players like the British guys who have never dealt with the Haihan people will lose their ambition and challenge this big devil. The result is naturally self-evident.
Haihan has been publicizing the results of the Battle of Star Island for nearly a month, and in recent days, some British officers have been escorted back to Sanya for trial. These signs are all warning Portugal and the Netherlands, who are also from Europe, that there are some distortions. The brain cannot be used casually. Liu Shang wanted to instigate these two countries to confront Haihan, but he really thought too much.
However, seeing that the firing of the last ship had been completed, but no one announced the end of today's military exercise, Liu Shang couldn't help but wonder, could there be other arrangements for the exercise?
He was not the only one who had the same doubts. Someone took the initiative to ask the accompanying officer responsible for explaining the military exercise about the next arrangements. The officer responded: "The military exercise is not over yet, please be patient." But he didn't mention a word about what happened next. It was obviously something like "restricted by confidentiality regulations" reason.
Liu Shang has been following the inspection team for so many days, and he has somewhat understood some of the rules in Haihan officialdom, especially when it comes to military secrets. If the relevant people don't take the initiative to talk about it, they can't get to the bottom of it. What's more, Yu Xiaobao is also present. If it is really confidential information, he should be the one to inquire about it. It is not the turn of a small person like himself to speak.
But seeing that Yu Xiaobao looked like an old god, he must have gotten some inside information before that. Liu Shang thought to himself that it was impossible to drive him away at this time anyway, so he would just settle down and wait to see what other tricks Haihan could come up with.
Not long after, he heard a commotion coming from the ship next to him. Liu Shang stood up and looked around, only to see a ship on the south sea heading towards Xieyang Island quickly. Judging from the smoke rising above its hull, this is also a warship that uses a steam propulsion system as auxiliary power. The reason why Liu Shang is certain that this is a battleship is because Haihan has only installed steam engines on battleships and a small number of inland river transport ships. When the military exercise is about to end, the ship is scheduled to appear alone. Obviously, it will not be an ordinary sailing ship.
After the ship got closer, Liu Shang noticed that the size of the ship should be between the majestic class and the expedition class. The steam engine was located in the middle of the hull, and there was a mast at the front and rear of the chimney, which supported the front and rear main sails of the ship. . However, the deck gun positions and lower gun windows that the Haihan battleship should have were not seen on the side of the ship. Liu Shang couldn't help but wonder, is this really not a ship used for combat?
Liu Shang slowly moved the telescope in his hand and pointed it at the hull. He suddenly discovered that the hull of the ship did not seem to be the usual wooden hull, but an iron shell spliced together by rivets.
Ironclad ship? Liu Shang seemed to have only heard of this kind of thing in rumors. Both Japan and North Korea had built ironclad ships decades ago, but their combat effectiveness was relatively limited and they could only operate in offshore waters. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to Korea, he failed to bring an iron-clad ship for this reason. As a result, he was defeated locally by a turtle ship commanded by the Korean general Yi Sun-shin. This turtle ship is said to have iron armor covering its hull. , it can also be regarded as a kind of armored ship with a relatively unusual appearance.
However, the Ming Dynasty was not interested in this kind of ship, thinking that it was bulky and not suitable for going to sea too far, and it was subject to too many objective conditions. Before Liu Shang came to Hainan Island, he had heard that the Haihan people had built iron-clad ships as big as hills. However, after seeing it from a distance in Sanya, he thought that the ship might just be an empty shell made by the Haihan people and parked in the port. Just to scare people.
Liu Shang believes that if this kind of iron ship can really cross the ocean as the Haihan people said, then they have been in Hainan Island for eight years. Why have these ships been docked in the harbor and never left? Why did the Haihan people no longer build iron ships, but instead turned to producing wooden sailing ships? This may explain that the various rumors about iron ships are just stories made up by the Haihan people. Like other stories they made up, they were all meant to scare the ignorant people and consolidate their rule.
But the ship that appeared in front of us at this time was obviously an iron-clad ship. Although it might be an ordinary wooden sailing ship under the iron armor, the purpose of the Haihan people in building this ship was probably not just to build the hull of the ship. Is it covered with a layer of cool-looking iron armor?
Where are the cannons on the ship? Liu Shang knew in his heart that the Haihan people would never do some useless work. Such a warship equipped with steam engines and iron armor could not be unarmed. There would definitely be powerful naval guns on the ship. But if the artillery is not deployed on the side where it is most convenient for shooting, where can it be placed?
Liu Shang looked back and forth from the bow to the stern twice before finally confirming that the ship's artillery settings were very different from his previous knowledge. There were two flat ridges on the deck, one behind the other, that could rotate slowly. When they turned to a certain angle, Liu Shang finally saw the gun barrels protruding from them, two at the front and one at the front. Although they were not eye-catching, they were From its appearance, it can be determined that it is the barrel of a gun.
Judging from the trajectory of its rotation, the combined range of these movable turrets should be able to cover the entire perimeter of the ship, and there should also be a large area of overlap. The protruding bridge, mast and chimney on the deck are all located between the two turrets, and will not block the view within its firing range at all. Although this ship seems to have only four cannons, its firing range is no smaller than that of the Majesty-class battleship equipped with more than fifty cannons. Of course, since the number of naval guns between the two is so different, the frequency and intensity of firepower output are probably incomparable.
Although Liu Shang understood the general structure of this strange iron-clad ship, he still didn't understand Haihan's purpose in building such a ship. If a dense artillery deployment method is used on this ship, wouldn't it be much better than sparsely deploying four gun barrels? Even if the fort is well-conceived and can rotate with the two naval guns in the gun position, after all, the number of guns is too small. How can it compare with other warships that often have dozens of naval guns? Could it be that the Haihan people planned to rely on the iron armor on the outside of the ship's hull to withstand the opponent's artillery fire during the battle?
Liu Shang thought about it carefully, and this inference seemed unreasonable. Even if he could withstand the bombardment of enemy ships, he still had to rely on the firepower output of his own ship to severely damage the enemy. After thinking about it, the only four guns were an obvious shortcoming.
Unless...these four cannons are different from the cannons on these Haihan battleships that I have seen before? This thought flashed through Liu Shang's mind, but he immediately shook his head, trying to expel the thought from his mind - the Haihan warships were already so powerful, so there was no need to continue to upgrade the guns.
Even so, Liu Shang had a strong premonition in his heart that the Haihan military specially arranged for the ship to appear here and now, probably not just to attract attention with its strange appearance. Watching the boat sailing towards the shooting area on the west coast of Xieyang Island, Liu Shang thought to himself that this boat came here specially for shooting?
Sure enough, it was only at this time that the accompanying officers explained to them the last element of the military exercise, which was that the armored warship named "Warrior" would perform the task of shelling and target shooting on the opposite shore. This ship is not owned by the Navy. It is an experimental warship jointly built by Haihan Ordnance and Shengli Port Shipyard.
(End of chapter)