The first day of the Free Trade Ship into the Port of London was not exactly as open as the British. This is also natural, because when the ship arrives in London, there is always something going on. And something did go wrong. For example, a French naval chaplain who left the warship and went ashore met a reporter as soon as he came ashore, and then the reporter asked: "Priest, what do you think of the French street girls on the streets of London******** there are French street girls in London?" The pastor was taken aback.

Then, in the afternoon of the same day, an evening newspaper published the following news: "As soon as the French Navy chaplain came ashore, he was anxious to ask if there were any street girls in London." ”

Of course, no one cares what this kind of tabloid says, and besides, it is also a good thing for the Shunjun priest to find a street girl, give her funding and save her soul, no big deal.

Although the "Free Trade Ship" was not officially open to people to visit that day, if you get close to see it, as long as you don't board the ship, no one will care. So, some people gathered around to observe the boat.

In this way, a question about the "Free Trade Number" was solved at once, that is, why the Free Trade Number has such outstanding defensive power. Although the steel plates attached to the "Free Trade" are painted with a black-brown paint, making it look very similar to the wooden planks from a distance, it is still easy to see the difference between the external steel plates and the ship planks at such a close distance, so close that you can almost reach out your hand.

"It turned out that it was really an iron plate." An agent of the Sixth Investigation Section couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the "Free Trade" that was close at hand. In order to understand the secrets of the ship's defense, the Sixth Investigation Section has sacrificed several colleagues. The secrets that they have not been able to get at the cost of their lives are now placed in front of them, and they can get them without paying any price, which is really ...... It's really doubtful about life.

"Considering the superiority of the French in steelmaking, these are probably steel plates, right?" An officer of the British Navy also thought to himself while watching the "Free Trade".

Of course, on the first day, there was only so much that the British could learn. The next day, the first guests were on the deck of the Free Trade, and this group was almost all British naval officers, including both command officers and many technical officers.

The officers, on the whole, were very, very well-behaved, and basically did not stretch out their white-gloved hands and grope around the French warships without the permission of their masters. Although some of the British newspapers later appeared in the newspapers of the British, such as "I felt the dust of my hand on the cannon when I stretched out my hand", in order to belittle the French and encourage themselves, to be honest, the British did not stretch out their hands indiscriminately.

But when it comes to asking questions, the British are just unceremonious, asking any question, and they don't suffer a loss if they ask anyway. To their surprise, the Frenchman who accompanied them answered most of these questions.

"Captain Zola, I noticed that the 'Free Trade' has external armor plates hanging on the outside, and I would like to ask, are these armor plates wrought iron plates or steel plates?" A British officer with the rank of major on his shoulder asked.

"It's a steel plate." Captain Zola replied.

"Can I then ask about their thickness, and how do you make sure they don't have serious rust problems when sailing?" The British major then asked.

"I can tell you about 20 millimeters of steel plate thickness, and as for rust prevention, this belongs to the technical secret of 'Lorraine Steel'. We don't know, but if you want to know about these things, you can go and ask them. ”

Then, led by the French, they walked into the gun bay of the "Free Trade".

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the gun compartment of the 'Free Trade', our ship is a steam-powered warship, therefore, compared to ordinary warships, we have two more parts of the power room and coal tank, which occupy a lot of space, which makes our gun bay relatively small, because the number of cannons that can be equipped is relatively small." "But that's not a problem, because we're armed with the most advanced and powerful breezed rifled steel guns in the world, which makes our firepower actually stronger than a normal warship of the same tonnage." ”

"Captain, you just introduced that you are using breech guns?" Another technical officer of the British Navy hastened to ask.

"Yes, breech guns, which makes the rate of fire of our cannons several times higher than that of ordinary front-loading guns." Captain Adrian replied.

"So, can I get a closer look at this cannon?" The technical officer asked again.

"Absolutely, we French people don't have to keep secrets from our friends. Even if you're interested, you can simulate the process of firing a cannon under the guidance of Captain Adrian. Captain Zola said, as if France and England were really friends.

Naturally, the British would not let go of such an opportunity, so several British officers hurriedly asked: "How to simulate?" ”

"I need ten people to form a makeshift artillery crew." Captain Adrian said, "Then I'll guide you through the whole move." ”

The British got together and discussed it a little, and then ten men were put out.

"Captain, now we're all your subordinates. You can give us orders. A British lieutenant colonel said to Captain Adrian.

The gun crew in front of him was definitely the highest-ranking gun group Adrian had ever seen, and there was not a single officer below the rank of colonel in the entire gun crew. Adrian felt that after going back this time, he had new material to brag about.

Adrian called these "cannon crews" over, took them to the cannon, and gave them a brief explanation of the structure of the cannon, the way of loading. He found that these guys understood quite well, almost immediately after hearing it, and they didn't know how much better than the lads under him.

However, when it came time to put it into practice, Adrian immediately decided to retract his previous thoughts, because there was one thing that was too far behind the British officers and the boys under him, and that was muscle strength and coordination of movements. The British officers who gave him temporary gunners were technical officers who knew all about artillery and were experts. But they were experts at studying cannons, not at operating them, so breech-loading guns, which were supposed to have a faster rate of fire, were even slower than breech-loading guns under their operation.

However, everyone knows the reason for this result. The British officers present also came to the conclusion in their hearts: it may be a little more to say that it can be accelerated by four or five times, but it is really possible to speed up by three or four times.

When the "gunners" had finally loaded the training ammunition into the shells, closed the bolts, completed the simulated firing, and then returned to the queue of visitors, a colonel whispered to a "gunner": "Do you see the structure of the rear-loading gun?" ”

"I can see clearly, the structure is not too complicated, but the process may be difficult, and the cost will be much higher." The "gunner" replied, "But considering that one cannon can be used as three guns, I think it's worth it." ”

"Considering the space saved, even if it can only be used as 1.5 guns, and the price will be three or four times more expensive, it is worth it." Another "gunner" also interjected.

Of course, the reason why the British thought that the rate of fire increased by four or five times was bragging, and the reason was simple - the training shells that the French gave them were divided into separate packs. But in fact, these guns can use fixed ammunition that reloads faster.

After visiting the cannons, the French led them to the lowest level of the warship, which was actually below the waterline. There is also something to show off to the British here - the steel keel of the "Free Trade".

The Englishmen who came to visit were connoisseurs, and when they saw the steel keel, they immediately came to the conclusion: "It is very easy for the French to blow up the fleet as long as the steel production is enough." Because the limits of the most critical materials have been breached. ”

This was the last thing the Brits visited. Another British officer asked if he could let them see the steam engine, but this request was immediately rejected by Captain Zola: "No, there are many secrets in the steam engine." ”

"Doesn't it mean that we are friends, and there should be no secrets between friends?" An Englishman quipped.

"Ah, that's true in theory." Captain Zola replied, "If there is only naval stuff in there, that's true, but there are also trade secrets of our private enterprises, for whom everyone but customers may be future competitors." So ......"

So the British shrugged their shoulders and the matter passed. In fact, the British have seen enough today, a little more than they expected.

"The French aren't really good. The key is that there is a lot of steel. When he got off the ship, a British technical officer couldn't help but say, "Really, how much steel does this ship TMD use?" They don't treat steel as steel at all, it's wrought iron, and it's too extravagant to use it like this! ”

"Which of you understands the anti-rust technology of their steel?" Someone asked.

"Seems to be painting?"

"Those armor plates on the outside are probably because those armor plates are obviously replaceable. But what about her keel? Can paint alone prevent rust? ”

"We're going to step up our research on this."