"Don't need it?!" Many people looked disappointed. The gorgeous ironclad multi-turret ironclad battleship just disappeared?

"Weishenme wants to sit on the beach?" Some people objected, "Once the ship runs aground on the beach, isn't it difficult to float again?" There are not enough crew members now, and if you can't drive it for the time being, doesn't it mean that you can't use it in the future? ”

"Just wear it and use it as a hotel? What a waste! If we don't have invincible ships, how can we fight the pirates? ”

"With this ship, what Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are all scum!"

"Can you not sit on the beach?" Wen Desi asked, "There are many good ports in the western part of Hainan, and there are several deep-water port development zones in Lingao alone. It's called Gold Medal Port, right? He also engaged in investment promotion in Guangzhou. There should be enough deep-water berths there. ”

"It's not that simple."

Mondstadt knew that there was basically no knowledge of maritime and port facilities, so he explained this a little

Before modern times, except for a very small number of ports with particularly superior geographical and hydrological conditions, large ships could directly berth on the shore, most of the ports on Shijie, large ships had to anchor in the deep water in the port, and then use barges and small boats to transfer the goods and passengers on board to the shore one by one. Until modern times, many large ports were equipped with in-port ferries and cargo barges for passengers to get on and off large cruise ships. Such an efficiency is, of course, low. Therefore, all kinds of wharf supporting facilities should be built in modern ports, even the simplest equipment, there must be several trestle bridges.

Passing through Lingao, which is planned to land, it is located in the northern area of Hainan Island, the port of Qiongbei area, starting from Mulantou in the east, reaching Terracotta Kok in the west, there is a series of harbor shore sections that are recessed inland along the coast, and there are Puqian Bay, Haikou Bay, Chengmai Bay, Dongshui Port, Huachang Port, Mayuan Port, Hongpai Port and Houshui Bay from east to west.

Along these bays, there are countless ports, large and small. However, most of them belong to small natural ports, only some fishing boats are moored, although Hainan Island in the Ming Dynasty is an important stopover of Chinese and foreign maritime trade, many merchant ships will dock here to shelter from the wind and replenish fresh water, but its own maritime trade is not developed, and mainly concentrated in Shenying Port in Qiongshan. Almost all the harbors in Lingao retain their original appearance.

"There would not have been any port facilities in these Hainan harbors in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the water depth of the ports in the northern part of Qiongbei is generally not large. Mr. Wen said that the gold medal port development zone, in fact, is the red card port, the port area after the first phase of development and dredging, but also just formed a 5,000 tons of general cargo ship berthing capacity. ”

The remarks caused a whisper from everyone, and many people have always thought that the red card was a natural harbor. This is not the case. The Hongpai Peninsula protrudes northward in the open sea, and the shore section of the headland is strongly eroded by wind and waves all year round, forming wave erosion cliffs and sea erosion platforms. The eroded lava debris moved to the west side of the peninsula to form a gravel flat, while the finer sediment was transported to the Hongpai Harbor, and the bay became a beach with medium and coarse sand accumulation. The Hongpai Island on the west side of the peninsula is a basalt sea erosion platform, and the water depth conditions of its front sea area are relatively good, mostly in the sea area below 5 meters deep. The sand drifting along the coast of Hongpai Port is shallow, and the water depth is only 2-4 meters.

Originally, the Executive Committee Jihua chose the Golden Port (i.e., the Red Card Port) as the port of berth, but Mondstadt's remarks completely discouraged their Jihua. The water depth conditions of 2-4 meters, not to mention 10,000-ton ships, are very difficult for ships of 2 or 3,000 tons.

"And the large amount of beach that has formed in the harbor will make it difficult for us to unload the cargo."

"Among these ports in Lingao, the most hydrological conditions are in the Houshuiwan area. In the bay, there is a deep trough with a depth of 10 meters on the east and west sides of Chang Island, and the wave shadow area in the southern part of the island is a shallow mud and sediment accumulation, and the water depth is still 7-8 meters deep. The coast is full of coral reefs, which have strong resistance to erosion, and there are few sources of sediment in the bay, and the scouring and silting of the shore and beach has tended to be stable. It should be said that the Houshuiwan area is the most haode natural deep-water port in Lingao. For the traverser, Houshui Bay has Linchang Island as a natural harbor barrier, and the construction of forts on it can effectively defend against sea attacks, which is much stronger than small reefs such as Hongpai Island. ”

What is a profession, this is a profession! Regardless of whether it is an excellent military organization or a highly efficient social production organization, a rational division of labor -- the allocation of specialized personnel at work posts is the foundation and premise. The Executive Committee is well aware of this. There was an awe-inspiring atmosphere in the conference room.

"It seems that this shijie can't be taken for granted!" Ma Qianzhu sighed.

"We chose the port base in Houshuiwan? Since the conditions of this place are excellent. ”

"No, no," Wen Deji shook his head repeatedly, "Houshui Bay is good as a port, but the conditions are not suitable as a landing base - there is no water. ”

In ancient times, there was no large natural river in the Houshuiwan area of Lingao, and it was a relatively arid area in the county, and the villages near the area were plagued by water shortage for a long time, until after the liberation, deep wells were drilled and a number of irrigation channels were dug to solve the problem of water shortage in the place.

There is not enough fresh water, and it is inconvenient to do anything. Moreover, this place is too far from the county seat of Lingao and the main foundation of the future traverser. It is not very convenient to contact and transport.

"And what about your proposal?" The tone of the inquiry has changed from casual to respectful.

"Where is the future main base?"

"Bairentan. In the lower reaches of the Wenlan River. ”

"If you want to be close, it's Bopu Port." Mondstadt thought for a moment, "Bopu Port is actually the estuary of the Wenlan River, and in terms of port classification, it is an estuary port, which has long been the key point for Hainan Island and the mainland to enter and exit, and is also a natural haven. The central deep tank of the harbor is 6-7 meters deep, but the sandbar in the harbor is vertical and horizontal, and the anchorage is small. ”

"That's enough depth for 10,000 tons, right? I remember the draft was about 7 meters. ”

"That's right, if it's a shallow draft, a coastal grocery ship can be a little shallower. The problem is that I don't have local hydrological data - no, there is no hydrological data from the Ming Dynasty. And even if there is no pilot, if the engineer is improvised, even a modern port will not be able to dock - when many modern ships enter the port and dock, they also use the push ship to 'push' it up. ”

"Ships are tens of millions of words. Spend tens of millions to build a Yamato Hotel? ”

"Actually, my suggestion is to use barges. Flat deck or open barge are available. Mondstadt boldly made a suggestion that was not at all flashy and was unanimously despised by all. But he turned a blind eye. At least in his professional field, he has not found anyone who is an expert, which greatly strengthens his courage - he will not be slapped if he says anything wrong.

"Dragged on a tugboat? Isn't that running in the river? ”

"I'm talking about marine barges, which are generally used in coastal areas, and have deadweight between 1,500 and 8,500 tons, and some barges are powered for short coastal voyages. The draft of this type of ship is very shallow, with a draft of only 2 meters for 1,500 tons. ”

A typical self-propelled deck barge performs as follows:

Actual load: 1500 tons

Gross tonnage: 1411 tons

Net tonnage: 342 tonnes

Overall length: 61 meters

Breadth: 13.6 meters

Depth: 3.2 meters

Draft: 1.832 m

Seaworthiness area: coastal navigation area

Main engine power: 330KW

It is no problem to transport all kinds of dry groceries and containers, but the disadvantages are that the speed is very slow, the endurance is short, the seakeeping is poor, and it can only be used for short-distance coastal freight. Of course, this is not a problem for the traversal.

However, after comprehensive consideration, it was decided to take general cargo ships as the main choice object, and only purchase self-propelled barges as a standby if the budget is not enough. The reason is simple, self-propelled barges do not have lifting and handling equipment - they are completely dependent on the handling equipment in the port. For the traversers, it is basically a myth to unload thousands of tons of materials with their bare hands, not to mention some things that are tens of tons or hundreds of tons, and no matter how many people can't carry them. Whereas, general cargo ships are generally equipped with booms and various loading and unloading equipment.

"I have an idea." Zhao De of the sports group also participated in the ship selection meeting because he had served in the Marine Police District and belonged to the navy team that traveled through the future.

"Even if the cargo ship doesn't run aground. It is also not practical to use a cargo ship as a warship. Zhao De dusted off his sleeves, "Large cargo ships have a deep draft, and the operation of the ship is complicated, and turning around may not be much faster than that of a sailboat." No matter how powerful the ship is, will the opponent come to fight with you head-on if he suffers once? They have numerical superiority, and they can completely carry out naval raids and disturbance battles on the shipping routes and along the coast. Even if you go out to sea and kill a few of them, and the rest scatter and flee to shallow water, what can you do with him? Do you want to hang a lifeboat to chase it? What we want is sea dominance, and such a lonely, fuel-intensive and labor-intensive ship is too wasteful. ”

Everyone was saddened by the criticism of the ornate ironclad multi-turret battleship, but the former naval officer was right.

"I'm a fisherman myself, and I used to drive fishing boats in the production team. When I was serving in the army, I saw that the navy also used fishing boats, 200-400 ton ships, which have a large endurance and are resistant to wind and waves. If nothing else, the speed of light is much faster, and it uses less oil. ”

"You can still fish!"

"Yes, you can also fish, and these boats are generally trawlers, and they are very useful."

"Fishing boats are not easy to buy." Mondstadt objected, "The procedures for fishery administration are too complicated. ”

"It doesn't matter, we don't have to declare the use of fisheries after we buy it, anyway, we can wear it and do anything with it."

There were different views on this issue in the Executive Committee; It is considered in vain to increase the complexity of the operation. However, the majority of the Executive Committee still expressed their support for the development of Hainan, which is a base for development, and the surrounding waters are very rich in fishery resources -- and the Beibu Gulf is still an important fishing ground, where fishing disputes occur every year between Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. The 17th century was only more abundant, and one or several fishing boats could enrich the protein sources of the traversers. Modern fishing boats are light, agile and easy to operate. It can be used as an early nearshore sea liliang for crossing the crowd - you must know that the narrowest point of the Qiongzhou Strait is less than 18 kilometers, and even a very small ship can easily pass through. There are no ships at sea to provide early warning, and I am afraid that the enemy will not be detected until he enters the shore view, which is very passive.

So the plan was decided. Zhao De was entrusted with the selection of fishing vessels, and at the same time proposed the relevant spare parts and material procurement list. At the end of the meeting, at Mondstadt's suggestion, a group of people who were in good physical condition and had a certain interest in sailing were selected to participate in the training.