In the early summer of that year, a small earthquake struck the north of England and some monasteries and old castles collapsed, but a strong westerly wind blowing from the sea brought unexpected good news to the southerners, and the whale-watching tower guards learned from many sheltered ships that the unexpectedly huge school of fish had just passed through the Oldney Islands the night before. Thus the inhabitants of the fishing villages from Pevensey to the shores of Brighton immediately boiled over, and women and children joined the logistics of preparing to set sail, helping to pull the tents and open the boats, and the cheerful fishermen tightened the sails on the masts and loaded the oars, spare masts and pennies onto the boats, in a literal "preparation for war" for the people of Sussex.

Fishing for the wealth that flowed across the ocean was a must-do for any fisherman, and in pursuit of the many balls and weddings that had been suspended, the seafarers of England would sail in oak boats all the way to the cold and treacherous Icelandic seas, deep into the great northern glaciers.

When Edgar arrived in Sussex, he saw the emptiness created by the fish flood, the pale sunlight in which there were few people in the villages of the counties, and the workshops behind a black granite gable where workers from Cornwall and Wales were busy producing iron nails for the shipyard with new machinery. As orders from ordnance factories and shipyards increased, Sussex's metal industries such as cast iron and steelmaking flourished, and large quantities of charcoal and coking coal were transported down the River Thames to the counties, and it is no exaggeration to say that fishermen sailing off the coast of Normandy could even see the rising black smoke from the headland of Cotentin.

"What's the news from Hastings' fleet command?" Sniffing the scent of honeysuckle on the walls and the smell of seaweed wafting in the air, the king asked a noble lord behind him.

This man was Ansgar, the commander of the Strait Fleet, the king's most trusted old department. He was wounded in Hastings and later led his butescarles to support Edgar, and after the Normans were expelled, the once-cavalry Ansgar Warden (Staller) restored his territory in Hertfordshire, and was later appointed Commander of the Royal Fleet for his exploits in overseas territory, across Sussex and Kent.

Ansgar was a hot-tempered old man, as a top lord with seven hundred and forty Hyde estates, he was dressed quite plainly, with almost no ornamentation on his body except for a special medal symbolizing the conquest of the Berbers, he was a direct vassal of the king, and only obeyed the king's orders, and his other duties were to be responsible for the education of Prince Edmund, and to manage the defense of Kent and the Five Ports Alliance on behalf of the king and the Earl of Kent himself.

Upon hearing the King's question, he first took a torn parchment from his Thorn of Middlesex, and then replied: "Since the beginning of this year, the pressure on maritime defense has been very heavy, and our fort garrisons on the Isle of Wight and Sussex are at least one-third short, and the fleet is currently anchored in the harbor, but the number of sailors is too small for many rowing boats to go out to sea to carry out patrols. ”

"What's going on in Normandy?"

"There was no movement, and after Madame Maude's death, her Flemish fleet seemed to have been taken over by Duke Wilhelm, but the other ships built in Normandy were of poor quality, and most of them are now anchored in Havreux Harbour."

Edgar thought for a long time, many of the current ships will be eliminated in a few years, since there are not many large warships that can be used in the near future, it is better to build some small ships for the time being.

With the current cannon casting technology, the only reliable thing is the mortar gun, so he planned to build some brig mortar gunboats for harassing enemy ships or attacking harbors and coastal forts, this equipment is relatively easy to make, and it does not require too many sailors and gunners, it can throw two hundred pounds of shells to a distance of two or three thousand yards, and it can be used as an assault ship, enough to make the Normandy and Flemish coasts eroded.

One of the more dangerous weapons of naval warfare was the arsonist or powder ship, which Edgar had been familiar with in his previous life as an Englishman, and who could even destroy huge battleships if used correctly.

The dry oak that had been stockpiled was to be used to build larger warship hulls, and the navy stockpiled large quantities of twine, tar, and bitumen, which came mainly from the port of Lübeck in eastern Saxony, and which English merchants exchanged for iron and wool from the pagans on the Baltic coast, and then paid a tax to the Duke of Saxony and the Danish court in Roskild before they could be shipped back home.

Once large-scale construction begins, the navy must maintain an adequate supply of all kinds of supplies, because most ships are not destroyed in battle, but sink in harbors, and a poorly maintained warship can last up to five years at most, while a well-built and regularly maintained warship can be safely used for more than 50 years.

"We must ensure the security of the south, for most of the kingdom's ordnance and ship production is concentrated in Sussex, and our navy is always on the coast from Kent to the Humber River, and now that Cnut of Denmark has married the daughter of the Count of Flanders, our alliance is no longer necessary for him." Edgar reminded Ansgar that he knew what the king was planning to do next, that the war in Saxony was about to rekindle, and that the eyes of the entire navy would be turned to the eastern seas for a long time to come, and that the king had warned him to be careful of the Count of Flanders and the King of Denmark, which meant that he was not satisfied with the current size of the fleet.

"Your Majesty, our dry dock in Portsmouth is still under construction, and it will not be available for a short time, but it will take up most of the manpower, and if part of this project is taken out of the construction of ships, we can add a hundred ships in six months."

Edgar did not hesitate to reject the offer: "We can't transfer manpower, that's our future, and even if we don't need a single ship from Portsmouth in this war, we can't slow down the project!" ”

Ansgar had no choice but to give up, he was a man of the old times, and could not understand many of the king's actions, but once the king made up his mind, he would carry out the king's will. In his day, the navy was often on land, and ships were more of a means of transport, which is why sailors were often used as fortress garrisons and security forces—they were a standing force that was easier to muster than royal guards. However, the navy is now moving towards independence, and after the advent of gunpowder, the war at sea is about to undergo major changes, and the ships themselves will become attack weapons, and the sailors will only be used as vassals of armed warships, rather than dragon-headed knights across the battlefield.

Most of the naval officers of the new era were required to receive a complete education in the Seven Arts, especially astronomy, and the thick books and intricate sextants made them look more like clerics than traditional shield warriors. Among these young men was Ansgar's own heir, Harding, who had never fought a single land battle, but was fond of dueling with knives and having dinner with ladies. Ansgar's view of his son is simple: not a good king, Than, but more of an outlaw pirate. However, the sailors trained by this kid were quite light and brave, and were especially adept at stabbing with thick boar spears, which were often extremely powerful in jumping gangs, and if they were caught in a scuffle, the sailors could each draw their slightly curved scimitars to create a killing panic in the crowd.

Perhaps when the new ship is launched, it will be time for him to retire and return to his ash manor to do what any old lord would do: reminisce about the glory of the past.