Hope for life!

The birth of a child represents a new beginning, which is a very auspicious omen. A few big men couldn't help but wipe their eyes a few times, and they cursed in their mouths: Damn, the wind is so strong!

How big is a ship of 500 tons, seventeen zhang and five long, four zhang and three wide, and three zhang and seven high.

At the bottom of the ship, there is a keel that now sticks out, and this part of the ship is two feet at the front, and the thickest and longest at the stern reaches about five feet. The design of the sea ship is naturally protected against wind and waves, and the keel stretched down is to maintain balance.

Because the Datang ship had no sails, this alone was more than a zhang lower than the center of gravity of the Spanish galleon of the same size, so the counterweight stones in the bottom compartment of the ship were much less.

The second generation design of the five-hundred-ton sea vessel of the Tempest.

On deck, the aft bridge is designed to be two and a half stories smaller. The deck is only seven and a half feet high, equivalent to two meters. It was the boatman's main activity room, as well as a small weapons storehouse, and a tail gun. The second room, which is also equivalent to two meters high, is the captain's room.

Then the top half of the floor is the wheelhouse, or control room, of the ship.

Below deck is also a three-and-a-half-story design. On the ground floor are small rooms, which are the living quarters of the boatmen. Each room can accommodate up to eight people and live in bunk beds. There is only three feet of space between the beds on either side, and there are four beds on each side. It's all fixed to the wall.

The full crew of the Tempest was one hundred and twenty-eight.

(The Spanish galleon, of the same tonnage, was three hundred.) Of course, Spanish galleons need to sail)

The full length of the first floor is more than fifty meters by modern calculations. The actual width of each room is only about 2.6 to 2.7 meters. There are forty rooms on the first floor, only twenty of which are equipped with beds, ten beds that can be folded up, eight rooms that are completely empty, and two are storage rooms for the boatman's personal belongings, which are designed with small cabinets.

In addition to this, there was a large bay that was completely empty in the bow direction, equivalent to the size of four rooms, or fifty square meters according to later calculations. It is okay to drink alcohol. You can also drink rice. You can even play mahjong.

The second floor of the deck is still above the waterline. There is a large warehouse door at the stern of the ship, which is a cargo hold. Each door can be closed very tightly, and it can also be stuck outside the door with a wooden bar. Even if there is wind and waves, the attitude of the hull will not be affected by the slippery cargo.

Deck minus three floors. In the case of a full warehouse. Half of them are already below the waterline.

The stern of the ship is not allowed to be approached casually. There were steam engines, as well as huge water tanks. There is also a silo room dedicated to loading coal. The rest of the ship was still a cargo hold, except for the place in the bow where gunpowder and shells were placed. There are also warehouses of weapons. and the food needed by the boatmen, as well as water.

The bottom half of the layer is the heavy stuff.

Canned food, grain, water. There are also ballast stones, especially when the ship is empty, you must hold some stones and put them in, and the Storm is almost never empty, so in addition to the standard long stone originally equipped with the ship, the bottom is only less than a meter high in the half-layer, and the iron cans become ballast stones.

All three captains were sitting in the captain's quarters, which were not allowed in, and there was too much confidential information here.

"It's almost four hundred, and that's the limit of our ship. The warehouses are full of people, and if this continues, even those who have nothing to do will get sick. We need to call at the port. The second officer spoke.

Originally, a pair should have gone to rest, but this meeting was afraid to leave.

"Docking? Hit it ther! After the first pair said helplessly, he handed over more than a dozen telegrams in his hand to the second officer.

Those telegrams were the ones that communicated with some of the state towns, where there were no more ports to use, because the largest ports had been closed because of the floods. Even if the port of the surrounding small river is not flooded, such a 500-ton ship will not be able to stop.

"Right now, there are two roads, one is to turn around and go back to Huating, and the other is to go to Jingzhou!" Su Sango kept looking down at the map, and the two methods she said were also the two most suitable methods.

One said again: "No, the rain is still falling, what should I do if the water rises again in Jingzhou." ”

"You go to rest, let's turn around and go back to Huating." The captain made up his mind.

"Report, I saw another person trapped on a mound." The guards at the gate sent back the information from the observation tower.

Su Shan said to a pair very seriously: "Go to bed immediately, order the ship to start changing shifts in turn, and order the people on patrol to protect the quiet and safety of the lounge." ”

With a lot to keep busy, one went into the back room of the captain's quarters, where there were only two beds. They are all four-foot wide beds, but they are also two-tiered, and if you can save space on board, you will definitely save space.

For the three captains, this is already the tightest arrangement in the regulations. Everyone slept for four hours and worked for eight hours, and for them, they did not dare to relax a little, knowing that the carelessness of the captain of the ship was likely to cause the ship to be destroyed and killed, and the rules must be followed.

Four hours is more unbearable than four days for those who are waiting for help.

But for those who are already very tired physically and mentally, it passes in the blink of an eye. When I woke up, it was already afternoon. Su Shan didn't say a word before going to sleep, just fell asleep on the bed.

The boat seemed to stop moving, and it looked like it wanted to ask something, but Su Sango was already asleep, and he didn't even take off his shoes, and he didn't have the strength to climb to the bed on the upper floor, which made a pair of clothes that didn't even have time to take off the bed.

helped take off his shoes, turned over, and then took away his military uniform that was pressed by Su Sango. Dressing neatly is the law of the Tang Dynasty soldiers, no matter what time it is, the military uniform cannot be messy.

On the deck, looking at the scene in front of me, I was really startled.

The stakes used for mooring, the hinges of the anchors, and the flagpoles were all tied with thick hemp ropes. On both sides of the ship, there are already dozens of rafts in the back, as well as bamboo rafts. The old and infirm were transferred to the boats, and the rafts or rafts were filled with young people.

Many others are tied to new rafts.

"The water is still rising. About three miles from here, the mound would be submerged in an hour at most. So we have to pass. The second mate stood beside him and whispered.

One didn't answer immediately, just crawled to the side to take a look at the water level.

"Seven inches from the highest water line!" Obviously, the second officer is also very concerned about this issue, how many people are on board, and there is no way to count it now, this rescue, in addition to food, water, and medicine on board. Nothing could be thrown away, and coal and water for steam engines were not on the list of items that could be discarded.

The two vice-captains looked at each other, almost at the same time, with a resolute look in their eyes.

The first sentence of the Datang military regulations is: no complaints, no expectations, and no despair.

Especially the Navy. On the vast sea. When a single boat moves, it is impossible to face the stormy sea without strong mental strength.

"Summons, check the cable one more time. Thirty on the starboard side. ”

At this time. Huating Port.

Wind and rain still surround the entire port. Having just finished the shipment of a batch of relief supplies, the person in charge of the port returned to his office, picked up a large bucket of herbal tea on the table and poured it into his mouth.

A herald rushed in as if flying.

"At sea. Your Highness's military insignia! ”

"At sea?" This official from Wupin almost threw the small wooden barrel in his hand, you want to know how strong the wind and waves are and how heavy the rain is at this time, did His Royal Highness King Qin come from the sea?

Pick up the binoculars and look out the window, there is only a 2,000-ton ship on the sea.

This boat was going to the South Seas to load rice, so it was definitely not this one, and when I looked around, there was nothing.

The herald's words could not have been fake, and there were large ultra-long-range telescopes on the observation tower, so it was impossible to be mistaken. The person in charge of the port hurriedly grabbed a raincoat and ran to the observation tower.

On the surface of the sea was a small boat, silver, only about three zhang long, one zhang wide, and no more than a shuttle high.

One after another huge waves hit, and the boat broke through the waves and came rapidly towards Huating.

"So fast!" The person in charge of the port said with emotion.

"Visually at least five times faster than a big ship." The sentry in charge of observation also replied.

In the blink of an eye, the ship was already close to Huating, and the person in charge of the port shouted: "Go and inform the wolf general!" His Royal Highness the King of Qin arrived. ”

But the ship did not enter the harbor in the slightest, and entered the mouth of the river without the slightest slowdown from the harbor. Only at a distance of less than five miles can you see the ship more clearly.

It is completely different from any kind of ship in Datang.

All of Datang's sea ships are larger and heavier in the back half, and the bow is slightly pressed.

The bow was big, and the stern was almost empty.

There was no flag on the ship, as long as there was the insignia of the guards of the Qin Palace, and at the top of the ship, Li Yuanxing, the king of Qin, who was wearing big goggles, tied himself to an iron pillar and held a disc tightly with both hands. It can be seen clearly from the telescope that Li Yuanxing, the king of Qin, has been clenching his teeth, and the green tendons on his hands have flare up.

The speed is so fast, at least 200 miles per hour.

In the blink of an eye, the boat disappeared from sight and sailed up the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River in the wind and rain is turbulent. In less than half an hour, Li Yuanxing caught up with the fleet that was sailing against the current from Huating Port. Li Yuanxing did not slow down, his target was Suzhou City.

Pei Xi walked to the deck with difficulty, first tied himself to the pillar with a rope, and then took out two flags and waved them vigorously.

Two thousand three hundred tons, on the real ocean-going warship of Datang, someone has already discovered this ship.

The soldier in charge of the flag read it three times before he could see the content of the flag, and shouted at the iron pipe of the internal communication: "That small boat is His Royal Highness King Qin, and the flag is the army flag." It means that the big boat walks ahead and beware of the huge injurious floats in the current. ”

"Reply......" Before the captain could finish speaking, the second mate next to him said, "Your Highness has already surpassed our head ship three miles away. ”

The captain put down his binoculars: "That should be the rumored speedboat, the hull of pure steel!" I heard that General Wang Ba may get the first one. (To be continued......)