Although I don't want to admit it, but throughout history, I have to say that after the 16th century, the superior position of Eastern and Western navigation technology has been completely reversed, and Westerners have the upper hand in an all-round way.

Their shipbuilding technology has survived the change from quantitative to qualitative.

Although the Zheng family father and son at the end of the Ming Dynasty were very horizontal, and the pirates in the south seemed to be very good, but if they were really awesome, Spain and the Netherlands would not have invaded Bay Island successively, and the Netherlands occupied Penghu for two years, although the Ming Dynasty at the end of its life drove the Netherlands away, and then the Battle of Liuluo Bay also made the Dutch completely cut off the idea of invading China. But this does not mean that China's navigation is really better than that of Europeans, and China has been left far behind by Europe.

In the category of sail warships, China lags behind Europe by much. It's like the Industrial Revolution, the outbreak of the first industrial revolution allowed the British to dominate the world, and the French just caught up with the tail of the first industrial revolution, but what about the Germans and the lighthouse countries? Their rise was even more due to the outbreak of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Since China is always the catch-up of Europe on the sail warship, China is always the laggard.

Chen Han's national strength is so strong, and he also made a flying scissor bow ship, but Chen Ming never thought of fighting with the British with a sail warship on the vast sea. It's too risky.

If in the battle on land, Chen Ming was sure to push the British lobster soldiers to the ground and rub and rub, then in the Sino-British battle at sea, the Chinese sailors could have half of the victory rate, and it was all gold on his face.

Chen Ming did not intend to completely overwhelm the Europeans in the sail fleet, in terms of accumulation in this regard, the strength of the Europeans was too strong, and the foundation was too deep.

It is better to use a steam ship with a hard sail and a steam engine, which can not only reduce the number of sailors who operate the sails and manipulate the ropes, but also avoid the restriction of the firing angle of the ship's guns on the Western-style soft sail. The mast of the hard sail is erected in the form of 'splicing', although the area is not small, but it is too small compared to the soft sail. To a certain extent, it can liberate the firing boundaries of the bow and stern turrets.

Yes, on the new hard-sail paddle steamer, Chen Han's military/civilian ships all used a sturdy large shell to protect the paddle wheel, the military one is thick iron plate and cork, and the civilian one uses thin iron sheet and soft and hard wood, which covers the paddle wheel and blocks the impact of foreign objects on the paddle wheel, which has a certain effect. And the fire in the bow and stern is completely turret-like. Although the turret size required for the front-loading gun was large, like a sturdy little house, making the ship very ugly, it was powerful enough.

Now with the paddle wheel high-level propellers, these sailboats can rush to the front of the fleet with impunity.

This era is an era of great change, the old rules and methods have been abandoned and overwritten in time, and naval warfare has transitioned from the sail to the new era of the steam engine. Just as European shipping transitioned from oars to sailboats.

Now Chen Han is one step ahead on the steamship, but Chen Ming believes that with the accumulation of Europeans in hull construction and the rudimentary means of preventing leakage in this era, maybe three or five years, maybe ten years or eight years, the Europeans will not be too far behind Chen Han, not to mention that they have come to the same level as Chen Han.

The British are now very slippery in making sailboats. The French have grown from small to large, and like the British, they have moved from the near sea to the far sea.

This time is really Chen Han's best chance.

Chen Ding glanced at Ye Guoguo, this person was Ye Tingyang's second son, but he did not serve in the Nanyang Fleet, he belonged to the General Staff Department under the Metropolitan Governor, and was a naval staff officer. But he is different from his father, Ye Guoguo pursues big ships and cannons. This time Chen Ding went to the south to inspect, Ye Guoguo was one of the entourage, and on the way, he expressed to Chen Ding more than once the idea of a big iron ship.

Heavy armor can completely negate the power of rockets, and even solid shells can't penetrate solid armor.

Now there is a large number of people among the sailors, and they see the possibility of the navy completely freeing itself from the "fear of being dominated by rockets" from the idea of "ironclad ships". So these people are working hard to wave the flag and shout for the big iron ship. Ye Guoguo is a naval admiral and one of the cadres of the Great Iron Ship faction.

Compared with the war now, the big iron ship faction disagreed, and they felt that the naval battle could be postponed until 'next year'. Now that the shipyards have already started producing ironclads, why not wait until the ironclads are completely launched before settling accounts with the Europeans?

The 'next year' in their mouth is completely a conceptual word, and it can't really be next year, but only next year and next year, and there will be so many next year. If you want to build an ironclad ship forty years earlier, you also need to have a certain practicality, which is not something that can be done in one or two years. Don't look at the success of Chengtian's experiment, it is only a small crack in the wall, and it will take a long time to completely pull out a large hole in the wall.

But Ye Tingyang disagreed, because his age was already at the point, and in a few years, he would have to count the days and wait for retirement. At that time, no matter what Chen Han did, it was impossible for him to lead troops to the east coast of the Americas. And it is precisely because of this reason that Ye Tingyang can't generously say that he supports the fight, in that case, someone should scold him for abolishing the public for his own selfishness, and his selfishness is too heavy.

Chen Ding smiled, he was very clear about the contradiction between Ye Tingyang and Ye Guoguo, father and son: "Don't worry, don't worry." There will be big iron ships, and with my Chen Han's national strength, a hundred big iron ships will also be built. But in order for the Great Iron Ship to become more suitable for military use, it must now be built slowly. Moreover, there is still a shortage of mechanics for the manufacture of large iron ships in China. The training of human resources and the construction of warships echo each other. ”

"You can't just have a big iron ship, and you can't do it without a repairman." It really takes time for the latter to officially become an army, and it really takes time to form combat effectiveness, and now. "The situation waits for no one. The Europeans are provoking the dignity of our empire, and they must be completely slapped to the ground, so that they can really taste defeat, so that these barbarians will not dare to provoke the majesty of the empire again and again. ”

Ye Guoguo didn't expect that he could hear such decisive words from the prince's mouth, his expression was stunned, and then he was very sad.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said very much. This European barbarian is the wolf of the steppe, and if he doesn't fight hard, he will only make them think that the empire is weak, and then he will provoke again even harder. It's time to slap them out completely. ”

"Of course, this battle is also a test for the steamships of the center, and if they can't even beat the sail warships, then there is no future." Chen Ding is not a traverser like his father, Chen Ming can give a hundred or a thousand confidence in the steamship, because history proves the grandeur of the steamship. But Chen Ding and the others didn't have such strong confidence.

"If you don't want to go to the General Staff to sit in the office, then you can also be transferred to the expeditionary fleet. In a few years, a group of veterans will retire from the water division, and the center needs to promote a group of 'young Zhuang faction'. As for you, you have served in the navy for many years, and you have enough qualifications and prestige, and you are the 'Young Zhuang faction' valued by the Metropolitan Governor's Office. If you are sent to the expeditionary fleet for training, the Metropolitan Governor's Office will agree. ”

Ye Tingyang felt a little excited, Chen Ding's words were tantamount to clearly saying that the expeditionary fleet was undoubted. And Chen Ding finally held Ye Guoguo. To tell the truth, if the Naval Division wants to be promoted, it is of course a good way to mix with the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion. But if you want to maintain your prestige, maintain the lintel of the Ye family, and sail out to sea in the fleet, this is the real way.

Ye Guoguo had been in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion for three and a half years, and in contrast, he preferred to serve in the naval combat unit rather than socialize with people from all walks of life in the Metropolitan Governor's Palace.

"Of course, I want to command the formation of large iron ships to fight." Ye Guoguo's spirit was shocked, and he secretly made a decision in his heart.

The next day, Chen Ding stood on a huge first-class sail battleship, watching several sailing ships pass in front of the sail battleship at a speed beyond one class. He slapped the side of the battleship with his palm, and the hard teak was very strong, but no matter how strong the wood was, it was no match for steel.

A 75mm hexagonal cannon can easily penetrate a foot of oak and teak 'armor' at a distance of 1,000 meters.

[The Victory is a first-class sail battleship and a representative of the pinnacle of wooden sailboats, with a side thickness of 40cm. This thickness was enough to withstand an 18-pounder gun at a general distance. But the real "lethality" of solid shells is not the shells that pierce the side of the ship, but the wooden spikes and fragments flying around the side of the ship, the cabin, the wall of the ship, and the back of the deck, and they will take your life mercilessly! 】

But what is the weight of a 75mm hexagonal shell?

You must know that even the 45mm hexagonal cannon weighs 4 pounds less, and the 75mm hexagonal shell definitely weighs more than 20 pounds.

In terms of penetration, the smoothbore gun is simply not comparable to the hexagonal gun. The ship's side could withstand the bombardment of the 18-pounder guns at a certain distance, but even if the hexagonal guns extended the distance to 1,000 meters, the 75 guns could easily penetrate the Victory.

But what about when the 75 gun faced a cork-lined iron armor?

In the face of the iron armor after three inches, let alone the 75 gun, even the 120 hexagonal gun, which is now the largest caliber, cannot be penetrated 1000 meters away.

"It's just a pity for these big guys......" Chen Ding knew very well how much money and effort Chen Han had paid for these huge sail battleships, but the idleness had become a pile of rags.

Don't look at a first-class sail battleship with a displacement of close to 3,000 tons, but if the ironclad ship is really manufactured, a thousand-ton ironclad ship will take on the first-class sail battleship, whoever wins and who loses, Chen Ding will definitely suppress the latter.

This first-class sail battleship is the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, two Western-style first-class sail battleships will join the expeditionary fleet, plus the Tang Taizong and Han Guangwu, as well as the Ming Chengzu and Song Taizu owned by the American Fleet itself, in this expeditionary fleet, there are as many as six first-class sail battleships alone.

These things are falling behind anyway, so let's let them 'die as they deserve'. Otherwise, if a huge amount of sail battleships are built, but there is no real war in 'life', it will be a dead end.