Chapter 371: Strong Ships and Sharp Guns, Fleet Convergence
Liu Guangsheng stood at the Guangzhou Shipyard, looking at the latest model of battleship that had returned from sea trials.
It is undergoing detailed inspection by craftsmen on the slipway.
This battleship was his brainchild.
At this time, the warship was named the Kwangmu Emperor battleship.
It was during this time that Liu Guangsheng learned about the urgent need for naval naval warfare.
The latest model of battleship carefully designed.
Liu Guangsheng became a senior member of the Navy, not for the purpose of developing into the military.
Choosing the profession of Master Zhu does not require military talent.
Liu Guangsheng's main purpose in joining the army was to understand what kind of warships the navy needed.
Which type of warship can stand out in a naval battle?
Liu Guangsheng has personally experienced naval battles, so he has a thorough understanding of the navy's requirements.
As Li Qingmu was promoted to the capital, Liu Guangsheng chose to retire and concentrate on designing ships.
As an officer, he has no way to lead the navy further.
But as a shipbuilder, Liu Guangsheng was able to design the most powerful warship in the world.
Liu Guangsheng not only designed a new generation of battleships, he also had some ideas for the future development of battleships in the navy.
Some of the technologies in this battleship Guangwu Emperor are the exploration of the next stage of technology.
Liu Guangsheng experienced brutal naval battles, through his observations and interactions with frontline officers.
Liu Guangsheng has discovered which warship can play the greatest role in naval battles.
In naval battles, only the most powerful battleships have a dominant position.
Longer warships can accommodate stronger naval guns.
Strong ships and powerful guns are the development direction of the navy.
Liu Guangsheng looked at the battleships returning from sea trials.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor is 20% larger than the battleship Qin Shihuang.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor uses ten 205 naval guns, which has extremely strong firepower.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor uses a fully riveted steel keel, and is covered with a layer of steel plates outside the main compartments such as the ammunition compartment.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor can withstand powerful naval gun recoil and enemy artillery strikes.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor has powerful naval guns and armor.
It is precisely because of these characteristics that the battleship Guangwu Emperor is slower with full sail.
Lu Yuanshan, the governor of the First Fleet, stepped off the battleship Guangwu Emperor.
He came to Liu Guangsheng's side, gave a thumbs up, and said happily: "Master Liu, the battleship Guangwu Emperor is really powerful.
The sails and rudder have been improved, and the maneuverability is much smoother than previous battleships.
Warships are larger in size and less difficult to operate. They also become more stable when sailing on the sea.
Even if huge waves hit the warship, it can still sail steadily on the sea.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor can withstand the salvo fire of five 205mm naval guns and more than fifty 150mm naval guns.
Now my flagship, the battleship Qin Shihuang, can only withstand the salvo fire of two 205 naval guns. The gap is really too big.
I even want to transfer my flagship from the battleship Qin Shihuang to this new battleship.
After our testing, this battleship competed with the Qin Shihuang battleship.
The battleship Qin Shihuang could only escape, with no hope of winning.
The new Guangwu Emperor battleship has a steel-clad hull that can withstand multiple salvos from the Qin Shihuang battleship.
However, the battleship Qin Shihuang could not withstand a salvo of fire from the new battleship.
Its only shortcoming is that its speed is relatively slow."
Liu Guangsheng was very happy when he heard Lu Yuanshan's praise.
It is the happiest thing for a battleship designed by oneself to be recognized by the navy.
Liu Guangsheng said modestly: "The battleships designed before were mostly experimental.
Many technologies are immature. His Majesty gave me certain guidance before I could design a battleship.
After this period of exploration, I have figured out how a battleship should be designed.
Improvements have been made to the previous deficiencies.
Starting from the battleship Guangwu Emperor, some problems encountered by previous warships will be corrected."
Liu Guangsheng did not discuss whether Lu Yuanshan would change his flagship.
This kind of thing has little to do with him.
After the battleship Qin Shihuang is decommissioned, this name will be revived.
Based on the knowledge he had, Liu Guangsheng waited until the newly restarted battleship Qin Shihuang was launched.
It will definitely open a new era just like it opened the era of sailing battleships.
Lu Yuanshan explained to Liu Guangsheng in detail the situation of the sea trial of the battleship Guangwu Emperor.
Liu Guangsheng asked the craftsmen around him to carefully record the problems encountered by the navy.
After Lu Yuanshan finished speaking, he asked anxiously: "Master Liu, the order from Your Majesty and the Navy Department has arrived in Guangzhou.
Our South China Sea Fleet was reorganized into the First Fleet.
I will take the main force of the First Fleet to cooperate with the Third Fleet to implement the southern expedition plan.
We must drive the Dutch completely out of Southeast Asia.
The battleship Guangwu Emperor will be the main warship in this war.
Its sea trial revealed some minor problems.
The Third Fleet is about to arrive in Guangzhou, do we still have time for the battleship Guangwu Emperor to complete its sea trials?"
When Liu Guangsheng heard Lu Yuanshan's question, he replied confidently: "Governor Lu, don't worry!
The problems currently encountered by the battleship Guangwu Emperor are all minor problems.
Our craftsmen at the Guangzhou Shipyard will be able to solve these problems very quickly.
It will not delay the departure of your first fleet."
Lu Yuanshan felt relieved after receiving Liu Guangsheng's guarantee.
In the upcoming sea battle, the addition of an advanced battleship will affect the outcome of the battle.
From the moment their first fleet received the imperial edict, they had already entered a state of preparation for war.
All the warships of the First Fleet can set off from Guangzhou Port to fight with just one order.
The reason why they are so well prepared is mainly due to the high efficiency of Dahua Dynasty's logistics department.
The purchase order from the Logistics Department came with the imperial edict.
With the existence of banks, large-scale transactions are very convenient.
The First Fleet immediately bought out the inventory of Foshan Arsenal and many other factories.
The First Fleet has completed preparations for war, and is only waiting for the Third Fleet to rendezvous before they will set out to conquer the South Seas.
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March 25, 4335 (1638 AD).
With thousands of guns firing at the Guangzhou Shipyard, the first fleet held a grand commissioning ceremony for the battleship Guangwu Emperor, which was completed with everyone's joy.
The battleship Yue Fei, the battleship Qin Shi Huang, and the battleship Guang Wu Emperor are all sailing battleships.
However, within the navy, they have been artificially divided into three different grades: Guangwu level, First Emperor level, and General level.
Lu Yuanshan looked at his two first-class battleships, the battleship Qin Shihuang and the battleship Guangwu Emperor.
Three second-level battleships: Zhuge Liang battleship, Wen Tianxiang battleship, and Zheng He battleship.
The First Fleet has five battleships and one Guangwu-class battleship. They are the most powerful fleet of the Great China Navy.
The navy had no objection to the naming of these two battleships, Zhuge Liang and Wen Tianxiang.
Second-class battleships are named after outstanding ministers or generals.
Zhuge Liang is an example of civil servants. He became very famous through the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Wen Tianxiang would rather die than surrender, and his reputation is also very high.
Zheng He was a eunuch and used it to name the navy's most powerful battleship.
Many soldiers were not satisfied, especially those on the battleship Zheng He, who wanted to change the name.
His Majesty personally drafted the name, so there was no way to change it. Lu Yuanshan and the others spent a lot of effort telling the story of Zheng He's achievements to appease the soldiers.
Their first fleet consisted of five battleships and 13 cruisers, but the number of cruisers was not full.
With only this fleet, Lu Yuanshan was confident that he could capture Batavia.
In order to exert absolute suppression, the Navy deployed the Third Fleet to assist them in attacking Batavia.
Lu Yuanshan saw a slender small warship sailing quickly towards Guangzhou Port through wind and waves.
The overall shape of this ship is streamlined, the bow is tilted upward, and the sails on the ship are also very unique.
When Liu Guangsheng saw the ship, he introduced happily: "This is a flying shear ship jointly designed by me and Academician Li Wenda of the Academy of Sciences.
This kind of ship effectively utilizes the principle of fluid mechanics and has extremely low resistance in the sea, allowing it to move very fast.
This is just a test ship, and now it seems that the results are very good. The speed of the clipper ship can be applied to other ships.
The hull of the clipper boat is more narrow and elongated, with the bow pointed upward and extending, and the bottom of the boat is designed into a sharp blade shape to facilitate cutting through waves.
The shape of the bow of the ship and the sea surface is like a big scissors, so we named it a clipper ship.
Its boat speed can reach 30 kilometers per hour.
I have collected information on all ships at home and abroad. It is the fastest sailing ship known in the world.
Compared with the paddle steamers running on the beach, the paddle steamers can travel faster and there is no need to worry about headwinds.
I really hope that paddle steamer technology can mature quickly and be applied to warships."
Soldiers on the clipper ship soon came over to report.
"My Lord Governor, Mr. Zhang Wanfeng of the Third Fleet, has arrived off the coast of Guangzhou."
When Lu Yuanshan heard the news, he was extremely excited and felt a little lucky.
Fortunately, the battleship Guangwu Emperor conducted sea trials relatively quickly.
Only then can we officially enter the battle ranks when the Third Fleet arrives.
Liu Guangsheng saw that Lu Yuanshan was eager to try and was ready to let the fleet set sail.
He immediately stopped Lu Yuanshan and said: "Governor Lu, please notify Zhang Wanfeng and ask the Third Fleet to come to the Guangzhou Shipyard to conduct a detailed inspection of the warships.
Many of our early warships were manufactured by me and led by me.
The wood used in warships is not slowly dried in the shade, but directly dried with coal.
Drying wood has a short service life and the hull is prone to cracking.
If something happens to the ship during the march, the craftsmen can still repair it.
If something happens to the ship during the war, he will be a living target."
When Lu Yuanshan heard what Liu Guangsheng said, he was immediately frightened and broke into a cold sweat.
He didn't know before that there were so many warships under the First Fleet, and many of them had hidden dangers.
Lu Yuanshan asked with some concern: "Master Liu, do you need to inspect the warships of our first fleet again?"
"No need, your First Fleet is so close to the Guangzhou Shipyard, and the warships need to be maintained every time.
We have inspected the condition of the ships in detail, and the damaged warships have been overhauled."
Liu Guangsheng refused directly. The warships of the First Fleet were all in very good condition and there was no need for major repairs.
These ships often go to the Guangzhou Shipyard to repair minor problems, and many faults can be discovered in advance.
When Lu Yuanshan heard Liu Guangsheng's words, he felt relieved, as long as there was no problem with the warships of the First Fleet.
He immediately sent someone to notify Zhang Wanfeng, the governor of the Third Fleet, and asked the warships of the Third Fleet to go to the Guangzhou Shipyard for maintenance.
Lu Yuanshan soon saw a relatively large fleet, lined up in a neat queue, heading directly to the dock of the Guangzhou Shipyard.
He saw that the Third Fleet only had two battleships, but there were many cruisers, twenty-nine, and only one was short of full strength.
A small boat broke away from the fleet and headed straight for them.
Zhang Wanfeng, Governor of the Third Fleet, boarded the battleship Guangwu Emperor.
He looked at this huge battleship and said with envy: "This is the Guangwu-class battleship that is widely rumored in the military.
It looks very majestic. This thick naval gun must be very powerful.
In this southern expedition, with this battleship as our escort, we will definitely win."
Zhang Wanfeng looked at the battleship Guangwu Emperor. He also wanted to obtain such a battleship very much.
If there is no chance now, there will be a chance in the future.
The previous three major fleets had different positionings, and the Northern Fleet had no strong opponents.
His Majesty and the Admiralty allotted him only one newly launched battleship.
The overall strength of the Third Fleet is relatively weak among the navy.
Both the First Fleet and the Second Fleet had five battleships.
There is only the Third Fleet, not even a first-class battleship, only two second-class battleships.
The Third Fleet has the largest number of cruisers in the Navy, with a full complement of thirty cruisers.
Among them, the cruiser Xi'an suffered a serious water leak near the Zhoushan Islands.
In order not to waste time, Zhang Wanfeng had no choice but to let him leave the team and go to a nearby shipyard for repairs.
It was precisely because of this accident that Zhang Wanfeng heard the notice sent by Lu Yuanshan.
He did not hesitate and directly asked the fleet to drive the warship into the Guangzhou Shipyard for a detailed inspection of the warship.
If problems arise on the warship during the march, there is still a chance to make amends.
Once on the battlefield, after being bombarded by the enemy, the warship has a major problem, leading to the failure of the war, then it will be too late to regret it.
Lu Yuanshan and Zhang Wanfeng discussed with each other what happened after they parted, telling each other about their friendship as comrades-in-arms.
Liu Guangsheng led skilled craftsmen to conduct a thorough inspection of the warships of the Third Fleet.
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Liu Guangsheng frowned and said to Zhang Wanfeng: "Most of the Third Fleet are new ships. They are not rush-built warships, so there is no problem.
Many older ships have minor problems that are easily repairable.
Among them, the two old ships Huizhou and Nanning were too seriously damaged and had problems with their keels. It will take a very long time to repair them.
I suggest that these two warships stay at the Guangzhou Shipyard and undergo major repairs."
When Zhang Wanfeng heard this situation, he could only agree to Liu Guangsheng's arrangement and not allow the warship to go to the battlefield while sick.
Guangzhou Shipyard is repairing some problematic warships.
Lu Yuanshan and Zhang Wanfeng were also discussing the southern expedition plan.
His Majesty and the Governor-General have given them sufficient autonomy.
The chiefs of staff of their two fleets led the staff to formulate multiple plans based on various situations.
When naval battles encounter various problems, they have plans to solve them in time.