In that year (1627), England was not the strongest, with the old Spain not yet falling, and the latter being "a group of heroes", with the Netherlands on the left and France on the right, all of which were strong opponents for England to challenge the new supremacy of the sea.

In addition to having colonies in Africa, Britain had the "East India Company" in the Indian Ocean, which was busy controlling the Bengal region of India, the world was too big, there were too few people and ships, its headquarters was Calcutta, India, and the main forces were in India.

Like all maritime powers, Britain came to Asia primarily for trade, not for war.

This is the same as the Dutch known as the "sea coachman", the Dutch go to Asia unless the other party is very fleshy or can't wait to fight, after all, the center of the red hair fan is in Europa, can not put too many resources overseas, the reason why the red hair fan in Asia to war, is because of the uneven distribution of spoils or the red eye.

At present, Spain has not been completely defeated, there is a common enemy, the Dutch and the British still maintain a superficial friendship, and the British four warships can freely pass through the Dutch-controlled Strait of Malacca.

Even better, Southeast Asia is the territory of the Dutch (Spain is only satisfied with holding Luzon as a foothold), and the British want to challenge the Dutch to get more trade profits, and the Southeast Province has already passed with the Dutch, and the Southeast Province has a lot of room for cooperation with the British.

Both sides have their own ghosts, and both want to use each other to achieve their own ends.

"What we need is more trade to enhance our friendship!" Keppel is drunk and smoky.

"What can you give us?" Yan Changwu asked soberly.

"Battleships, artillery, saltpeter, copper, medicinal herbs, machinery, spices, gold, silver, jewelry, and more!" Keppel gushed out.

"What do you need me to give you?" Yan Changwu asked again.

"Tea, silk! And sugar! Keppel said slyly.

"Your information is accurate!" Yan Changwu approvingly.

"Will you cooperate with us in Great Britain?" Keppel held out his hand.

"Of course, there's no one who can't get along with money!" Yan Changwu stretched out his hand to shake him.

The superiors set the tone, and the matter was handed over to the people below, and the leaders only cared about drinking and talking.

Keppel talked about their journey at sea, as they set out from England and went south along the coast of Africa, past the Cape of Good Hope, and when they talked about the Cape of Good Hope, it was a turbid wave that pierced the air, and the ship tilted so much that it almost sank!

When Yan Changwu talked about the situation in the southeast mansion, he said that there were hundreds of thousands of acres of sugarcane land, and Kepel said that he must sell sugar to him through wine, and Yan Changwu said that he must be.

The next day, Yan Changwu went to visit Sir Simon Fox on the Cambridge and had a great conversation.

Sir Simon Fox greeted him on deck, a gray-haired soldier, but his hair was neatly combed, his waist was straight, his face was resolute, he was dressed in a well-dressed military uniform---- a blue coat with white lapels, a white waistcoat, black breeches and stockings, and a large gold medal on his placket.

Sir Simon Fox was very pleased to hear that Yan Changwu spoke fluent English and invited him to visit the British battleship.

"Oh! What a mighty battleship! ”

“Beautiful！” Yan Changwu did not hesitate to praise him.

The Cambridge is a heavy sail warship with 70 guns, equivalent to the standard of a third-class battleship, its main material is wood, the main structure is made of fine oak, so that it can withstand the wind and waves of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, because to welcome distinguished guests, it raids the night to carry out sanitation and cleaning (this is the case everywhere to welcome the inspection of leaders), dressed up and down, the handrails are polished, the floor is extremely clean, and the light can shine on people.

"A 6-pounder gun?" Yan Changwu looked at the cannon path on the open-air deck.

"Yes!" The Englishman replied,

On the top floor of the aft of the Cambridge there are special cabins for Fleet Commander Sir Simon Fox and Captain Hagen, and there are also several cabins for senior officers: Deputy Captain, Communications Officer, Cable Commander, etc., the Communications Officer walks from the stern to the deck to convey information to nearby ships most conveniently, and the captain can also come to the deck as quickly as possible to direct navigation or operations.

They descended to the middle gun deck, which was also where the sailors ate and slept, and where the ship's cooking room was located.

The lower gun deck was the lowest porthole deck on the ship, with a total of 26 24-pounder guns, 13 on each side.

The projectile of a 12-pounder cannon is about the size of an orange, while the projectile of a 24-pounder cannon is the size of a grapefruit, and the weight and recoil of the cannon are much greater than that of a 12-pounder gun.

Artillery was what Yan Changwu was most interested in, and he observed carefully and found that the British artillery was exquisitely made, and the cables and chains on the guns were reasonably set, which could allow the artillery to stop quickly.

"This is ......," Yan Changwu asked.

"It's a chain bomb and a shotgun!" The gunnery officer on board replied.

In addition to the usual solid shells, there were also several types of shells such as shotguns and chain shells. The shotgun is actually a tin bucket filled with dozens of lead bullets, which disintegrate when the barrel is discharged, so dozens of lead bullets fly forward in a fan. The main role of shotguns is to kill people. Chain bombs are two solid bullets connected by iron chains, which are mainly used to destroy masts and sails.

After introducing the shells, the British officers introduced their bronze cannons, which did not have a long range, for example, a 24-pounder or 32-pounder gun, which could reach a range of 1,350 meters at an angle of 4 degrees; When the angle of fire is raised to 8 degrees, it can reach 2,250 meters. At a distance of 100 meters, a solid shell fired from a 24-pounder gun was able to penetrate 5 feet of oak.

"In a real naval battle, the two sides often fire quickly at a horizontal angle of fire at a distance of one or two hundred meters, when the rate of fire is much more important than the range." The young officer, William, was enthusiastic and took the initiative to introduce.

He proudly said: "We in the Royal Navy attach great importance to the training of gunners, and require that the rate of fire of naval guns can reach one shot a minute, which is faster than that of gunners in other countries." In melee combat, gunners tend to fire two or three projectiles at a time, or solid shells and shotguns, for maximum damage. ”

Yan Changwu wrote it down with Li Ying, who was traveling with him, and ordered: "The rate of fire of our gunners in the southeast province should also reach one shot a minute!" ”

Whether it is the British or the people of the southeastern province, they all think that he is filling his head and hardening his head.

He asked William again, "Don't you have a 32-pounder cannon?" Why haven't you seen it here? ”

William explained: "It was not easy to sail long distances, and the cannons carried were too heavy, which made the ship too slow for navigation. ”

The 12-pounder, 24-pounder and 32-pounder guns were similar in length, all around 2.7 meters, but the weight varied greatly, with the 12-pounder gun weighing one and a half tons, the 24-pounder gun weighing two and a half tons, and the 32-pounder gun weighing two and a half tons.

Some people may say that 26 tons more is nothing, but you have to understand that this is a sail battleship, it weighs only a few hundred tons, and the more is only a thousand tons, and the redundant buoyancy is not much, and it is not a trivial matter to add more gunpowder and shells.

There are two floors under the gun deck, the lower one is the storage deck, which is relatively low, mainly used to store the materials needed for the ocean, such as food, wine and various maintenance equipment, and the next floor is the bilge, which contains ballast stones, shells and powder kegs.

Yan Changwu looked very carefully, went down to the storage deck, and looked at the entrance of the bilge (it was dark inside, and someone lit him).

Seeing that Yan Changwu was satisfied, all the British people who accompanied him were overjoyed, and they followed behind them with a smile, quite proud of their own country's warship.

As everyone knows, Yan Changwu has a few BS British: "They don't have watertight compartments!" ”