Let's rewind the clock to more than a month.

In late June 1688, the military dock of Huaiyuan Island was crowded with naval warships on the east coast. Among them, the most conspicuous are the four three-deck battleships "Liberator", "Milestone", "Scavenger", and "East Coaster". The ships sailed along the coast of Brazil and Guyana, and finally settled at the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base.

Because of the storm experienced on the way, these ships were more or less damaged, so they were repaired at the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base, which cost a total of more than 30,000 yuan, which is also amazing. In fact, this is also an important reason why many people in the navy point out that this kind of super-large warship is cost-effective, with large tonnage, high center of gravity, many personnel, and the structure is also relatively easy to damage, so the maintenance cost is very high, and it will be more dangerous than ordinary ships in the event of a storm, in short, it is a high-end toy that only rich people can afford.

Therefore, after building six such powerful warships, the East Coast Navy no longer plans to build more three-deck warships, but instead invests limited funds in the research and development and manufacturing of ironclad ships and rifled guns (solid cone-shaped shells fired), and has already achieved certain results.

This latest warship was entrusted to the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard for research and development. The plant has strong technical strength, and a special research group was set up a few years ago to dispatch elite troops to formally tackle key problems on ironclad ships and marine rifled guns at the inaccessible Hailinggang Naval Base. Thanks to the breakthrough made in the technology of high-horsepower marine steam engines in China, Dayuhe Plant worked closely with Montenegro Industrial Company to successfully complete the development of the marine power system "Popeye-1687". In addition, they worked with experts from the Tieling Heavy Industries Consortium to determine which key parts of the vessel should be fitted with hot-rolled sheets, which could then be used to recalculate the ship's center of gravity and forces to further optimize the design of the ship – a task that required the help of researchers from the Institute of Mathematics of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

In short, this is a "conference battle" type project that mobilizes more than 20 enterprises and research institutions. In the past, the people on the east coast did not have much demand for ironclad ships, so they were not very active in research and development, but now with the crazy investment in the navy of the European continent and the substantial increase in strength, the people on the east coast also feel the need to invest in the construction of a new type of warship that is different from any previous style, so that the navy of the East Coast Republic of China can once again lead the group and conquer thousands of miles of waves.

Oh, by the way, and the development of rifled guns. To be honest, the development of this weapon has been the talk of the East Coast for a long time, but it has not received enough attention. The idea of carving rifling into the inner wall of the cannon and firing a solid metal conical projectile was not at all popular with the army. This kind of shell has too close range, does not explode, and does not bounce off on the ground, which simply does not arouse the slightest desire of the army to invest.

Compared with the Army, the Navy was more interested in this new weapon, and felt that it could be an effective way to increase the power of the East Coast naval guns. Because of the conical shells it fires, the penetration is very good when bombarding the side hull of the enemy warship, and it is easy to make a small bullet hole, which is very obvious. And if this bullet hole happens to be located in the waterline part or even under the waterline, then the cabin of the enemy battleship will be slowly flooded by the influx of seawater, and it is not known that it will have to withdraw from the battle to repair or even sink on the spot.

As for the problem that this artillery has a too short firing range due to its poor airtightness, it is not a big problem in naval battles. After all, the battle of the battle line bombardment mostly takes place at a close distance of two or three hundred meters, and the conical gun has enough kinetic energy to ensure that it can fly to the target for destruction, so this kind of artillery has received a lot of investment from the navy, and finally came up with the real thing at the end of last year.

This time, the main force of the East Coast Navy gathered in the Caribbean Sea, and more than 40 of these cannons were brought with them, which were stored in the cabins of four "Executive Committee" class three-deck battleships in case of emergency. The commander of the task force, Admiral Mo Liee, who led the task force, had already planned to replace some of the old guns with rifled guns in the future if there was a conflict with the enemy at sea to see how effective it would be in actual combat. At the same time, they can also feedback the usage to the Big Fish River Arsenal (the manufacturer of this type of gun) for further improvement.

Ironclad ships with rifled artillery, this is the next development direction of the East Coast Navy. While Europe's advanced navies, such as the Kingdom of England, were still desperately trying to figure out how to solve the problems that arose in the use of the marine steam engine, the East Coasters had entered another level of leadership. There is no doubt that it will be a generational difference, a military generational difference that makes the English, the Dutch, the French despair.

"Commander, all ships have been repaired. The weather station also came with news that, based on their years of experience, the nearby ocean would be relatively calm for a period of time in the future, which was just conducive to the navigation of the Grand Fleet. At the top of the Huaiyuan Port Battery, Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, commander of the Caribbean Detachment of the First Fleet and captain of the "Liberator", came over and reported to his commander, Admiral Mo Liee.

He was called back from his position as Commander of the Second Fleet and then appointed to the position of Commander of the Portuguese Task Force of the East Coast Navy, responsible for leading the largest naval expeditionary fleet ever to Europe. According to the Admiralty's plan, in addition to the ships transferred from the mainland, the task force will also join the main force of the Caribbean Fleet and the main force of the Cape Verde Squadron to go north and anchor at the Portuguese offshore ports, ready to intervene in the European situation at any time.

Such an appointment basically shows that Colonel Mo Liege is the first person in the navy other than Li Zemin, and his ranking within the system is quite high, and his future promotion to the post of chief of the Navy or even chief of the general staff of the Joint Staff Headquarters is also a sure thing, provided that he can lead the team to complete the task relatively well this time.

"The scale of the Huaiyuan Island Naval Base is still not large enough, especially the number of docks and repair workers is seriously insufficient, which restricts the docking, replenishment and maintenance of the Grand Fleet, and it needs to be improved urgently in the future." Turning around and looking at his deputy Ding Zhen, Mo Lieqian sighed and said, "In the future, we need to increase investment and expand." The Caribbean is a sea of bounty, with colonies, plantations and factories in the Caribbean, and we cannot afford to take it lightly. ”

"You can't keep people locally, there's no way to do it." As soon as he said this, Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, who had served on Huaiyuan Island for many years, poured bitter water, and only heard him say: "Huaiyuan Island is located in the tropics, with extremely hot humidity all year round, high incidence of diseases, and harsh environment, and many people are unwilling to live here. The few thousand inhabitants we have here, except for the more than 2,000 who came from the early emigration, are all non-nationals and exiles, and there is a great shortage of skilled personnel of all kinds, and it is really too difficult. I talked to the county magistrate and he said that there is a clear exodus of the local elite, and that many people are trying to run back to their home country to work after learning some skills. Even if it is inferior, they prefer to go to work at Port Mobile, the headquarters of Air Canada, where the standard of living is said to be higher than here, and there is no way. Of course, that's not the most hateful. The most hateful thing is the lawless pirates in Texas, they even took the idea of Huaiyuan Island, and sent people to the local area several times one after another, and they poached some craftsmen with professional ship repair skills, which made the county grit their teeth in anger. ”

What Ding Zhen said is actually true, the environment of Huaiyuan Island is too bad. Not to mention the heat and humidity throughout the year, the island has few specialties (other than asphalt and timber), the only industrial economy is maintained by the supply and maintenance of passing ships, and most of the inhabitants are actually engaged in agricultural activities. Therefore, it does take a certain amount of courage to live in such a place, and many people can understand that they are leaving.

As for the people from Sioux City Harbor, the pirate city of Texas, whom Ding Zhen mentioned just now, came to poach him, it is indeed true. The main reason is that in recent years, the number of old and disabled pirates who have settled in the area has increased, and they have married and had children in the local area, and have produced offspring, so far eight natural villages have developed, with a total of more than 2,000 inhabitants, and have become the de facto largest colonial port in Texas, more than the people under the Texas general Joaquín in the Kingdom of Spain, which is also an outlier.

And the population has increased, and the port of Sioux City naturally needs all kinds of talents. Pirates may be able to fight and kill, but if you let them build and do craft, it's a bit difficult. That's not their strong point, and in the end, they can only turn to outsiders for help, and it is one of their efforts to recruit professionals to Huaiyuan Island.

The General Intelligence Service was very pleased with the fact that the pirates of Sioux City Harbor were so "informed". They are the East Coast wedged into the vast Texas nail, and the Spanish colonization activities on this land are carried out half-heartedly and weakly, so don't blame the East Coast people for further colonial expansion in the future and compete with them for territory. This world is like this, if you don't want it, don't you allow others either?

In short, the port of Sioux City and the port of Mobile are the pawns of the East Coasters on the North American continent, and they have not carried out large-scale colonial settlement activities due to the lack of population size in the past, and have only engaged in some commercial activities in the local area (if pirate robbery is also counted), but this situation will definitely change in the future. For this point, whether it is Mo Lieeel or Ding Zhen, they are actually very clear.

"Huaiyuan Island can't keep people, it's really a problem. But don't worry, the central government will definitely think of countermeasures. But before that, Huaiyuan Island itself must first do a good job. If I'm not mistaken, there are still a lot of indigenous Indians living in the east-central part of the island, right? That's a bit of a problem, and hopefully that will change in the future. All the aborigines of the Indians were exiled to the Yellow and Black Boundary of Southern Africa, and the island was left clean for us to settle on the east coast. Moree said as he looked at the tall mountains in the middle of the island.

"Okay, don't talk about what you have or don't have, go down and organize a fleet. The draft, water, ammunition, and military supplies of the four 'Executive Committee' class, 15 'Temperary' and 20 'Star' class vessels, as well as some logistics vessels, were checked again to ensure that there were no gaps. I'm worried that there are not enough supplies in the material reserve on the Cape Verde Islands, and the large fleet is dispatched, and all kinds of consumption are massive, so it's better to bring enough in advance. Mo Lie Eel ordered Ding Zhen.

If there are no accidents, their task force will depart for the eastern Cape Verde Islands in the next few days, and then draw some capital warships to replenish them, and set off for Portugal together. The East Coast Navy hasn't shown its muscles in Europe for several years, and this is indeed a good opportunity.