"Artillery?"

With a smile, De Mons said, "I've got two guns at the head and tail, a twelve-pounder gun, and the other two guns, you just need to equip some two-pounder guns and four-pounderers!" ”

Such a red single ship can be armed with a twelve-pounder gun? These aren't those Western sailing ships, are they? A lot of the word twelve pounds must be equipped on those battleships with double gun decks, and not on red single ships of this transport nature. Such a red single ship, the structure is not stable enough, and the armament of a six-pounder naval gun is already the limit.

But De Mons soon took the initiative to unravel the mystery by providing Liu Chang with two twelve-pounder Cullen guns, which could be used on very small warships, but at the expense of range, which was all the rage before 1812.

However, in the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy inflicted heavy losses on the British Navy, which was equipped with a large number of Cullen guns, and they took advantage of the range of long-barreled guns to fire completely outside the range of the British Navy.

Since then, the long-barreled cannon has become the mainstream artillery again, and the Cullen cannon can only be a very useful supplement, and now Dermons provides Liu Chang with these two twelve-pound Cullen guns.

Their maximum range is only 500 meters, and they cannot be loaded with more gunpowder, but for a low-intensity naval battle off the coast of China by the Red Dan Boat, such a range and disadvantages are irrelevant.

Liu Chang thought it was a good idea: "Your Excellency De Mons, I like your gift, I accepted it for my wife, and I would like to express my gratitude!" ”

can let Liu Chang, who has always been very demanding, accept this gift. Then all was fine, a smile appeared on Demons' face.

In order to buy this red single boat as a gift. He put a lot of thought into it, and at first the gift he wanted to buy was not a Chinese sailboat, but a decommissioned 44-gun super frigate of the US Navy.

In his imagination, such a frigate could completely move sideways off the coast of China, and no warships or civilian ships were its opponents except for the regular navies of Britain and France, but he soon despaired of buying a 44-gun super frigate.

It was the Crimean War, and the fierce fighting between Britain and France and the Russian Empire had reached its limit, so the great powers were tightly controlling the outflow of powerful second-hand weapons such as the 44-gun super frigate. Not only in the Far Eastern market, but even in the entire world market. It's hard to buy a forty-four-gun super frigate.

He had no choice but to settle for a lighter 5th or 6th ship, only to find that the Chinese sailors were completely unfit for Western-style soft sails, and that a warship like the 44-gun super frigate needed a surprisingly large number of men, and a 44-gun super frigate would have to occupy 250 or more sailors.

In the end, he could only retreat again and buy a second-hand red single boat that was most suitable for China's national conditions and handed it to Liu Chang, but he didn't expect Liu Chang and Ye Yudie to like such a gift.

For Liu Chang. It's just a warship in the transition period. It only serves the role of a trainer to protect the sea routes, and the sailors he can use now are the sailors of the millet boats.

Instead, Ye Yudie asked a little more: "Do you have a two-pound to four-pound cannon?" ”。

Red single ship for Western-style warships. It is not worth mentioning at all, the hundreds of catties to 1,000 catties of artillery equipped on their ships, converted into Western-style naval guns, are only at the level of Western two-pounder guns to four-pounder guns, and no matter how powerful the artillery is equipped with this kind of civilian transport ship, it is very likely to cause the entire red single ship to fall apart when it is fired.

Even if these two-pounder and four-pounder guns were to be loaded onto the Red Tank, they would have to undergo a major overhaul every six months or so, and as for the installation of the twelve-pounder Cullen with light recoil, not only did they need a special gun mount, but they also had to be specially reinforced. …,

In his eyes, it was as if he was fighting to the death with a pistol on the sea, and the main naval guns of the Western world were already more than thirty pounder guns.

Therefore, he told Ye Yudie: "Mrs. Liu, you can let General Liu's artillery factory cast two- to four-pound cannons by itself, I have seen many copper cannons that are quite poorly made, as long as you melt them down and rebuild them, you can make a large number of two-pounder cannons and four-pounder cannons." ”

The Karen cannon played the role of a secondary cannon in the navies of the great powers, but in the water battles in the eastern world, it became a crucial main gun, Ye Yudie agreed with Demons's suggestion: "So, when will this warship be fully armed?" ”

"Right now!" De Mons replied to her: "This red single ship has undergone a major overhaul in Shanghai, it is very well maintained, and it is ready to go to sea to fight!" ”

Over there, Duncan also saw the twelve-pounder Cullen cannon that the red single boat was matching with the bow and stern: "I thought that His Highness De Mmons was a gift of a steam warship, but it was actually a traditional Chinese sailing ship, which is really disappointing...... But ......"

He obviously paused, and then made his request to Liu Chang: "Can I become the captain of this Chinese red single ship?" I can forge some four-pounder cannons for you, my skills are top-notch! ”

Liu Chang had already thought that Duncan now had to undertake many tasks, not only that he would be responsible for transforming the flintlock pistol into a musket, but that he would also be responsible for assisting Wash Na to establish the entire military industrial system of the Rainbow Army, and now the large-scale industrial production of sulfuric acid had not been completed, not to mention that Duncan was also responsible for the management of a military shoe factory.

"Lord Duncan, I don't think anyone has so much time on this ship, right? Quite a few words"

Duncan did not hesitate to spare his passion for the sea: "Your Excellency, you should know that I have an extreme passion for the sea, and becoming the captain of this red single ship is of great significance to me, and now that I am familiar with this red single ship, I can be familiar with your steam warship even earlier in the future." ”

Next to her, Ye Yudie was interested in this foreigner, and she felt that it was not bad to have a foreigner helper: "Then can I command you?" I'm General Liu's wife, and I'm a female pirate! ”

Duncan didn't know how much he had heard about the legend of the female pirate since he was a child, and he immediately took off his cylinder hat: "Your Excellency the Commander of the Navy, I, Duncan, am honored to accept your command!" ”

"Then I want to drive this ship back to Yuhuan Island now!" Ye Yudie already had a new idea: "It's enough to have this ship!" ”

"Don't you need me to send the dragon spear battalion to the Jade Ring Island?"

"No, you don't!" Ye Yudie has already given the answer: "My dear husband, you only need to lend a platoon among the infantry in Panshi Village!" ”

With the two twelve-pounder Karen cannons in the bow and stern, Ye Yudie has a considerable advantage, although it is still possible to lose when she encounters Jin Baochang, but ordinary warships are no longer in her eyes.

As for the rest of the artillery needed for this ship, Ye Niangzi only selected a dozen or so from the light brass artillery in the Panshi Village inventory as the artillery on both sides, after all, the level of Chinese naval warfare and water warfare in this time and space is very low, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Navy Division lost 4,000 ships in one breath in the battle of Tianjia Town, but it can be imagined that they are all small civilian ships and warships.

As for the sailors of this ship, Liu Chang could only be transferred from the millet boat that Shi Yunqing had offered, and recruited more than a dozen former sailors from the defenders of Panshi Village, plus a reinforced infantry platoon transferred from Panshi Village, to form the earliest surface force of the Hong Army.

That's right, although the commander of this ship is Ye Yudie, but it is actually the internal strength of the Hongjun, Liu Chang can be like an arm to this red single boat, he asked Ye Yudie what to do next, Ye Niangzi gave an answer out of his expectations: "Pull my people and the boat out first, go back to Taiping for training, and then go back to Yuhuan!" ”…,

She continued: "I heard that there is a Taiping ** Company and a Huangyan ** Company, so there should also be a Yuhuan ** Company in Yuhuan Island, and the dispatch and personnel of this company will be handed over to you, and the people and ships I brought over will also obey your command and dispatch." ”

Such an action can only be described as Gao Feng Liangjie, but Liu Chang understood her thoughts for the first time: "You want that steam battleship?" Well, it's up to you to do the next thing! ”

In this matter, he can't easily promise, although the two are already a family, but sometimes they must prove everything with actions.

All he cared about was how much control he had over this sailor, and he continued, "I must send someone in to intervene in the people and boats you brought here!" ”

Although he doesn't have many officers who know how to fight in water, he can't let such a sailor be completely commanded by Ye Niangzi alone, which will be the journey of the entire Hong Navy.

Ye Yudie nodded: "This is as it should be!" Don't worry, I'm already your man, and my ship is your ship! ”

Over there, Duncan couldn't wait to say, "When", I, the captain, are waiting for Ms. Ye's order. ”

Liu Chang said: "You can't leave now, when will you take out the sulfuric acid, and when will you make all the four-pounder guns on this red single boat, so that I can let you board the ship and go to sea." ”

"No problem! No problem! Duncan already had an endless amount of motivation: "I'm going to finish the job at hand as soon as possible, and then become a glorious captain of the Navy, right, what's the name of this ship?" ”

This is a second-hand red single boat, the original name is no longer testable, and Liu Chang hesitated for a moment, and handed over the power of this naming to Ye Yudie, Ye Yudie thought for a while, and finally replied: "It's called Ziwei Star!" ”

Ziwei Star has a special meaning in the traditional Chinese understanding, which started the practice of naming warships with stars for many periods of time, she raised her head, boldly printed a kiss on Liu Chang's face, and ordered loudly: "Ziwei Star, set sail!" ”……，