Leaning against the street-facing windows and admiring Plymouth at night, the glittering lights or candlelight on several nearby streets give this port town a seductive charm in the dark. There is no modern traffic, no blooming neon signs, but the aroma of wine and malt wine from France, Spain or England wafting from afar, and the occasional seductive, bohemian laughter of young women and men, weaves a fragrant picture of unleashing desire.

Those weren't things she could do at will, and those places weren't places she could come and go as she pleased. The aura of the aristocratic class that shrouded her constantly reminded her that she was the daughter of a nobleman who was respected and praised by countless people. Gently shaking the Venetian glass in her hand, she leaned her neck and drank a sip of Bordeaux from the Gascony region of Europe.

Looking around, attracted by the night, she thought to herself, "The trade route has been determined, first through the Spanish-owned Canary Islands, and then to the northwest coast of Africa." ”

"The coast of northwestern Africa? Coast? I remember having a very special name. ”

"Let me think about it. Well, in the summer of the following year, when I was training at sea with the 2nd Fleet of the Atlantic Fleet, I learned about the Republic of Ghana on the northwest coast of Africa. ”

The eldest daughter of Baron Walton I turned her back to the windowsill and played with her glasses with her arms folded around her chest, "When the Portuguese invaded the coast of Ghana in 1471, they found that it was rich in gold sand. In 1482 the first colonial fortress Ermina was built. Other forts were built, gold and ivory were plundered, and slaves were traded. ”

"That's right, Gold Coast! The first colonial fortress was only more than 50 years old from its foundation, and it should have been only the Portuguese there. ”

"Well, after arriving on the northwest coast of Africa, after robbing the black slaves, if it is a tailwind, you may go to the Gold Coast to rob the Portuguese once."

Thinking of this, the baron's daughter turned again and quietly watched the town at night, "The firepower of the armed merchant ships has been replaced by bronze front-loading guns and wrought-iron breech-loading guns. Routes, firepower allocation, and logistical issues. ”

"Now it's time to go buy a boat, buy a boat!"

"There have now been early Galen ships, which also served only as escorts in the Spanish fleet. The tactical thinking of the Spaniards was still stuck in the era of hand-to-hand combat on the side of the Clark ship. ”

"When you buy the boat, you don't have to do too many modifications. However, the wall panels of the lower hull had to be opened so that the bronze front-loading guns could be placed on top of the lower decks, and the opening and closing doors had to be repurposed. ”

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Shortly after 8 a.m. the next morning, Captain Hawkins and his brother Richard accompanied the Baron's daughter and led a procession of attendants to the docks near the village of Devonport, south of the Royal Shipyard. With Captain Hawkins' prestige and prestige in the hearts of Plymouth locals, Isabel soon purchased a small second-hand galleon for commercial transport at a very good price.

It was a small 3-masted galleon 70 feet long, 20 feet wide, 9 feet draft, and a displacement of approximately 150 tons. It was equipped with seven wrought-iron breech guns on each side of the ship, and two small guns also made of wrought iron at the bow and stern gun emplacements.

Its bow has been lowered and moved back, and the bow tower no longer has the turret function of a Clark ship, but has been converted into living and breeding quarters. In addition, the bow extends under the bow mast with a platform on which the toilet can be located. The rounded stern has been changed to a narrow, long, square-flat stern. This not only increases the speed of the ship, but also supports a larger stern. In addition, an open platform was added to the stern that wraps around the entire stern, the distinctive aft lookout, which is also part of the captain's cabin.

Stepping on a gangplank with rope fences on both sides, Isabel Walton saw a mainmast with a spinnaker hanging from it. With a burst of ecstasy, he hurried to the commander's deck under the mainmast. As she jumped onto deck, she looked around the hull and glanced to the left to see the beautiful aft lookout.

At this time, Isabel looked back at the people who followed her on the sailboat very excitedly, "Captain Hawkins, come over here." ”

"Yes, miss." The captain walked on the gangplank as if he were walking on the ground, smiling calmly.

Touching the wooden handrails that had been unusually smooth by the sea breeze and seawater, and walking up the small wooden staircase in the middle of the stern, Isabel was so excited that she no longer wanted to describe her feelings in any words. Walk up to the aft lookout and gracefully turn around and look down at the masts, sails, decks, guns, and so on. When she looked up at the mainmast, she saw the small observation deck set on the middle crossbar of the mainmast, and she remembered what she had seen when she had climbed the mast on the sail training ship at the Naval Academy.

"Miss, what do you think of this merchant ship?" Captain Hawkins' words were blown into her ears by a gust of sea breeze.

"Well, that's pretty good." Isabel held the rudder of the sea ship on the lookout and gently swung the rudder with a satisfied smile on her face.

With his hands behind his back, Captain Hawkins glanced at several of the guns on the main deck below the lookout, and turned to stare at her, "Miss, the Spaniards are still very sensible and understand the dangers posed by the Clark ship when sailing. ”

Isabel turned to look at the captain's cabin behind her, then at Captain Hawkins, "Captain, the front building of Clark's ship is too tall, which will limit the use of sails. ”

"Well, that's right. Still, the Spaniards had their eyes on the Clark sailboat. ”

Isabel smiled lightly, and turned the conversation to equipping the ship with firepower, turning the rudder of the sea ship very casually, and calmly looking at the Taima River to the left of the sailboat, "Captain, you know that artillery guns have iron hooks under their barrels, and the guns need to hook the iron hooks to the fence of the open deck before firing, so as to withstand the force brought by firing. ”

Captain Hawkins walked leisurely over the lookout and nodded, "Yes, Miss. So, what is your opinion...? ”

"Captain, I intend to set up another gun deck under the open deck, and to set up corresponding gun holes on the side of the ship, in accordance with the arrangement of the Mary Rose of the Royal Navy."

"Miss, if you place a gun on the lower deck, then the deck should be reinforced to bear the weight of the gun when it fires."

"Captain, you're right, I think we should also add a four-wheeled gun carriage to each gun, so that the hull will bear a lot less weight."