"The outcome of a war is determined by God, but it also depends on troops, training, morale and intelligence, as well as health and logistics, etc.

"Therefore, I ask everyone, after becoming a captain in the future, every battle must be with a positive and progressive attitude, prepare for battle, meet the battle with the best posture, and fight to the death with my invincible!" Yan Changwu was sonorous and powerful.

It was a command, and all of them answered, "Yes!" ”

The practice of artillery battles took most of the afternoon, and as an officer, it was not as simple as igniting the fire and firing the artillery, but he also had to be familiar with every battle position.

A gun crew has at least six people, and the reality is ten to twelve people to operate, because it is rare for both guns to be used together, and the main work is that the same gun commander is responsible for firing the guns and directing the gun crew members, and then one is the loader, and the other ten people are responsible for moving the guns back to their original positions after firing.

The artillery of that period belonged to the rack back gun, and it would be fierce after firing. The guns retreated for several meters before they were stopped by cables, chains and sandbags, and before the smoke cleared, well-trained sailors swarmed up, cleaned the chambers, reloaded the gunpowder and projectiles, and then a dozen or so men worked together to push the heavy guns back into place to aim and fire.

In battle, explosions are frequent... At that time, the quality of the artillery was not high, every time the bore was blown up, there was a pool of blood around the naval guns, even if the artillery did not explode, firing heavy naval guns was also full of danger, if the sailors stood in the wrong position when the artillery fired, then when the artillery recoiled, nearly 3 tons of gun body and iron chain would mercilessly run over the body of the sailors, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

During the artillery practice, the cadets were a little scattered, they were given a new order, and the senior officers tried not to be next to each other, so as not to give a pot to the end!

Next to a 24-pounder gun, Yan Changwu carefully adjusted the pitch angle of the gun through the steps of the gun mount, and when he was satisfied, he personally lit the fuse, which burned out in the sizzling sound, and then the gun roared to the ground!

The 24-pounder cannon is not small, and it sent out a shock wave in the cabin, which was shocking!

The recoil retreated, and everyone stopped the cannon with all their hands, reloaded it, and pushed it back to the muzzle again.

Everyone practiced in turn, familiarized themselves with each battle position, and trained the speed of artillery firing and the feel of shooting.

By the time dinner came in the evening, everyone had a smell of gunsmoke, and the luxurious officers' cafeteria was filled with this smell, which really looked like a warship.

Before the meal, everyone prayed to Mazu, thanking her for making everything go well on the boat today, and thanking her for her blessing!

After eating, everyone drank tea, Yan Changwu instructed: "Strengthen training, once it sails, the warship trains every day, and it must not be stopped, and all people must be familiar with their combat positions!" There will be a reward for good training, and punishment for poor training!

Buy more wooden boats and use them as targets for shelling and sailing practice.

Don't be afraid to waste gunpowder and artillery, shoot more when you come, and shed less blood in wartime!

For the purpose of actual combat, no child's play!

In the future, the sailors will not generally be punished with corporal punishment unless they are deliberately wronged, but will be punished for wages, labor, and food, and you will draw up a charter.

The army has taken the road of specialization, and we have a small number of personnel, and important deck non-commissioned officers and sailors generally do not engage in hand-to-hand combat in battle, but mostly use firearms to attack, while those who do hand-to-hand combat are specially trained. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, when a warship sails, the crew's allowance will be increased by 30 percent!" He declared, "All rejoice!"

Yan Changwu has a lot of benefits, likes to be paid according to work, and treats everyone well, which is deeply praised.

"One more thing, sell the small boats and small sailboats to the residents of the Southeast Military Government at cost price, and we don't have to worry about the fish they get for their own consumption, and we have to pay taxes to sell them, expand the residents' docks, and release boats for them! Gratis! In addition, the administrative center has strengthened their management and services! "Yan Changwu has made a far-reaching decision!

At that time, the high-ranking officials only carried it out, but after a few years, they realized how wise and powerful this decision was!

Due to the abundance of seafood, the people are enthusiastic to go to sea, they drive small boats and sailboats, familiar with swimming, boat driving, many boys have a good water nature at a young age, driving sailboats are not ambiguous, as a result, the southeast military government does not spend much, but has established a large number of training and reserve navigators reserve system, once the military government issued a call, immediately have a large number of seafarers come in handy!

This terrible reserve system is also expanding rapidly with the expansion of the southeast military government, a large number of ships are in service, a large number of sailors are on board the battleship, and they can fight and win when they are recruited, and it has become a nightmare for any enemy country!

……

After dinner, and before sunset, the ship's Marine drummers will beat the drum of "All Ready for Battle", all the sailors will urgently assemble and take their positions, the officers will check in their own areas, and the sailors who make mistakes will be noted and wait for the next day's punishment.

After some tossing, the sailors began to untie the canvas hammocks and prepare for bedtime, and the sailors who were not on duty could also use this time to rest and entertain on the deck, blowing the sea breeze (especially those on the gun deck), which was also the happiest time of the day.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the sailors on duty on the first shift entered their posts, and the rest of them fell asleep, and there was silence on the ship, except for the half-hour bell and the footsteps of the sentries on duty accompanied by the night light, the waves, and the wind. The shift changed again at 12 midnight until 4 a.m., and then it was a cycle again, day after day, year after year. For the sailors on the Aketo battleships who entered the Age of Sail, this was their life until the sailors grew old, or died.

……

On Yan Changwu's warship, the duty shift is set at 12 noon every day as the start and end time, and the day and night are divided into seven duty shifts, four hours at a time. Sailors, non-commissioned officers and officers are divided into two groups, the port and starboard squads, according to their living positions, and they are on duty in turn. Usually sailors do not sleep for more than 4 hours at a time, and they can take time to catch up on sleep when they are not on duty, but such opportunities are rare.

Although mechanical clocks have been invented, the shaking of warships has an effect on the pendulum, so hourglasses are still used for timekeeping. The fine sand runs out every 30 minutes and needs to be turned over to continue the timer.

There is a special timekeeper, and the sailor on duty will ring the deck bell, twelve times at midnight, one at one o'clock, two at two o'clock, and so on.

……

The training continued uninterruptedly, and it was not until the 28th of the year, which was almost close to the Spring Festival, that the battleship returned to Tainan.