At the end of the slipway are two trestles jutting into the sea in parallel, and after sliding into the sea, the test boat is in the middle of the two trestles, balanced by several towing ropes and cables. This was done because the final gun arrangement was relatively hasty, and the design department was worried that the ship's center of gravity would be unstable, so they gave it an extra layer of insurance. However, judging from the launching process, the stability of the hull has basically met the design requirements, and there is no imbalance in the center of gravity.

After Sun Changmi and Yue Zhiyun completed the ribbon-cutting ceremony, they immediately walked briskly onto the trestle bridge. The task they need to accomplish today is not only to cut the ribbon, but also to take on the task of commanding the inaugural voyage of the test ship, which was named "Exploration" by the Executive Committee. Under the watchful eyes of many eager eyes, the significance of this sea trial is no longer just a scientific research activity, but no less than an armed military parade to show foreign strength.

The sailors and crew members used on the "Discovery" are all capable personnel selected in advance from hundreds of naturalized crew members, and only a few technical positions on the ship, such as captain, chief mate, and navigator, are filled by the traversers. After Captain Sun Changmi and First Officer Yue Zhiyun boarded the ship, the crew began to untie the cables and tow lines that were fastened to the sides of the ship on both sides.

"All departments check the equipment and prepare to go!" Sun Changmi ordered loudly: "The observer immediately reports the wind direction and sea surface conditions!"

"At present, the wind is level three, the wind is northeast, and the channel ahead is unobstructed!"

"The deck inspection is complete, one qiē is normal!" "The lower cabin inspection is complete, one qiē is normal!" "The tail rudder inspection is complete......"

After the information from various departments came back, Sun Changmi ordered the sails to be hoisted. The sailors on deck shouted trumpets and began to push the winch with all their might, slowly raising the sails. The new sail designed by the shipyard is much lighter than the traditional Chinese hard sail because of the soft canvas for the main body, but because it does not use the fixed mast of a Western-style sailing ship, but the curved arched bamboo and wood spokes combined with the sail, its weight is slightly heavier than that of the Western-style soft sail. However, the lifting method used in the new sail is the integrated lifting of the Chinese hard sail, which is much more convenient than the Western soft sail in operation.

The Discovery has a layout of two masts, the foremast is slightly shorter, the rear mast is slightly longer, and there is a spinnaker between the bow and foremast. After the sails are slowly raised, the crew immediately adjusts the direction of the sails according to the command to allow the sails to get the maximum wind push. The crew had already undergone special training on pre-built boats to learn how to use the new sails. Although the crew did not understand what the "Bernoulli effect" was, the efficiency and convenience of using the wind power of this new type of sail was easily felt in practice, and the crew privately called this magical new sail "Haihan Sail" to show their approval of this kind of sail.

The first time to see the complete posture of this ship, several foreign guests were a little dazzled, saying that it is a Chinese-style ship, it is a soft sail, and the tall mast of a Western-style sailing ship is used, saying that it is a Western-style sailing ship, this ship type obviously has the flavor of a lucky ship and a wide ship, and the way of lifting the sail and handling the sail is obviously still Chinese.

"Everyone, why don't we go to sea together to have a look?" Tao Donglai came to the guest seat to personally invite, and the two catamarans moored on the shore had also untied their cables and hoisted their sails and were ready to set off. Their mission is to escort the "Discovery" on its first voyage, and by the way, it also allows the leaders of various departments to observe the navigation capabilities of the new ship from the sea at close range, and further confirm the superiority of the ship's seaworthiness at sea.

"Okay, good!" Zhan Gui, who was a maritime merchant, was the first to stand up, he was really curious about what kind of appearance this strange-looking sailing ship of the Haihan people would have on the sea.

Li Nai and Luo Shengdong, as stakeholders with Haihan, naturally would not refuse Tao Donglai's invitation. Tao Donglai saw Wei Ping, who was looking at him next to him, nodded and said, "If Wei Patrol is free, then come along!"

"It's free, it's free!" Inspector Wei responded again and again, happily following behind.

After leaving the dock of the shipyard, the "Discovery" first went windward to the northeast and briskly circled along the coastline in the harbor, causing a cheer from the onlookers on the shore. Although the vast majority of these people do not understand the great skills of this new ship, today the Executive Committee has given a half-day off for this purpose, and everyone can get a special meal, which is already very worthy of everyone's joy.

"The current speed is nine nautical miles. Yue Zhiyun excitedly reported to the two escort ships via the walkie-talkie: "The speed is still rising!"

The "Discovery" took the lead, with two escort ships following behind, one left and one right, and after the three ships circled the harbor, they quickly headed for the southern outlet to the sea. When sailing past the Yulinjiao outpost, the speed of the "Exploration" was already close to ten nautical miles, far exceeding the ordinary Fuchuan Guangchuan, if it were not for the speed of the two catamarans themselves, which would really not be able to keep up with the "Exploration" in an ordinary ship.

Zhan Gui has been begging for a living at sea since he was a child, and he is naturally extremely sensitive to the speed of sailing, so he couldn't help but ask Tao Donglai: "Mr. Tao, the sailboat in front of you is so fast, but it has something to do with the sail style it uses?"

Tao Donglai nodded and said, "There is indeed a certain relationship, but it is not the whole reason. In the process of building this ship, we used a lot of new technologies that Daming does not have, so as to achieve the effect you see now. ”

The phrase "new technology that the Ming Dynasty does not have" undoubtedly pierced the hearts of these Ming people, but they could not deny Tao Donglai's statement, because even the kind of sail they saw in front of them had never appeared in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. And the speed shown by this ship is indeed something that the Daming sea ship cannot easily achieve.

"This ship...... I'm afraid it's already over the upper limit of four hundred materials, right?" Zhan Gui's eyes were also poisonous enough, although the Haihan people claimed that this was only a sea ship of four hundred materials, but in his opinion, the actual size of this ship was more than what the Haihan people said.

Tao Donglai didn't answer his question directly this time, but just smiled and said: "Maybe it's a little exceeding, but it's not much, Boss Zhan who has been running on the sea for a long time should also know that there are many civilian ships now, but there are actually more than four hundred materials." ”

400 materials is the upper limit of the tonnage stipulated by the Ming Dynasty for civilian sea vessels, and the displacement is roughly about 150 to 180 tons, but there are also many ships with a displacement of 200 tons. Among the second-hand ships bought by the crossing group in the early stage, there are also a few that have obviously exceeded the upper limit of 400 materials, and the largest one has exceeded 200 tons according to the estimation of the Ministry of Shipping.

At this time, the tonnage regulations of the 400 materials for civilian ships have actually existed in name only, and the relevant departments of the Ming Dynasty are not strict in supervising this. Of course, if there is a guy who doesn't know what to do, he really builds a ship bigger than the sailor's Daifuku ship, it is asking for trouble.

At the beginning of the design, the "Exploration" was indeed designed according to the size of the displacement of 400 materials or 200 tons, but the problems encountered in the design process and the new requirements put forward by various departments also prompted the tonnage of the ship to become larger and larger. For example, the use of stainless steel hollow masts and the arrangement of more than ten guns on the second deck all require that the entire ship must be strengthened step by step in the hull structure, and the direct consequence of this strengthening is the increase in displacement. So by the time the keel was laid, the design displacement of the entire ship actually exceeded 300 tons.

Judging from the appearance alone, it is really not much bigger than an ordinary sea ship with 400 materials, at least a half-hanger like Li Nai can't see any flaws. But professionals like Zhan Gui and Luo Shengdong naturally saw that the Haihan people claimed that there was a lot of money in the numbers. Even if Luo Shengdong sees it, he must be confused in this kind of public and will not say anything. But Zhan Gui didn't have been dealing with the Haihan people for a long time, and he didn't have as many scruples as Luo Shengdong had in his heart, so he asked directly at the moment. Although Tao Donglai's answer was a little vague, it undoubtedly confirmed his guess.

Of course, the Ministry of Shipping will not be satisfied with the tonnage of the "Discovery", although the trial voyage of this ship has only just begun, but the shipbuilding plan of the Ministry of Shipping has already been listed until next year, and the larger displacement of the 500-ton cargo ship has also entered the design stage. However, it is obviously not convenient for such a large cargo ship to sail to the commercial port of the mainland, after all, this head is too conspicuous, for practical considerations, so the construction of the "Exploration" tonnage sailing ship will not stop here. After a trial period, this tonnage class will be used as the main capacity of the Transit Group's sea routes to the mainland for years to come.

Of course, the follow-up shipbuilding time can not be delayed for more than half a year like the "Discovery", and after the finalization, the ships of this tonnage class will enter the stage of mass production. The Ministry of Shipping believes that as long as manpower and shipbuilding materials can be sufficiently supplied, it is expected that the construction time of such a ship will be shortened from the current nearly seven months to three months, and with the current scale of the Shengli Port Shipyard, it is not a big problem to build two or even three seagoing ships of this tonnage at the same time, and it will definitely surpass the Ming counterparts in terms of construction speed.

However, even so, the Executive Committee will not be satisfied with the speed of construction of new ships at the Port Victory Shipyard, and this kind of small ship of several hundred tons should only be a short-distance ship in the future Haihan Republic, and how can it engage in ocean transportation without a displacement of several thousand tons, and how can it crush the artillery fleet of Westerners? You must know that the "king of the sea" built in 1637 under King Charles I of England The displacement of the battleship has reached 1,500 tons, and the ship is equipped with as many as 104 guns, of which 60 are more than 18-pound heavy guns, and even 60-pound heavy guns! The main firepower output on the "Discovery" only relies on 10 small-caliber 6-pounder guns on both sides, and it is simply a beggar's outfit compared to its opponents.

Do not think that there will be no chance of a confrontation between this kind of gunboat and the crossing group that has not yet appeared in history, in fact, the "king of the sea" participated in several naval battles after being launched, and was not destroyed by the French navy until the dawn of the new century, and its service life was long enough to last until the day when it met the warships of the crossing group at sea.

This kind of heavy firepower gunboat is still the unattainable target of the crossing group, and it is also a stumbling block for the crossing group to compete for maritime supremacy in the future, in order to defeat such an opponent, it is not a lot of time left for the development of the crossing group, after all, the real displacement of thousands of tons of large ships, especially warships, the time required to build is often amazing, such as this "king of the sea" warship, from laying the keel to launching, it takes up to a year and ten months. Even if the large seagoing vessels to be built by the Crossing Group in the future can be built with a shorter construction period and better artillery equipment, it will not be easy to catch up with and surpass the strength of its contemporaries in a few years.

After the "Discovery" sailed out of the harbor, the wind on the sea surface increased significantly compared to before, and the cooperation of the ship's commander and crew began to gradually become proficient, and the speed soon exceeded ten knots, and it quickly headed south. In addition to constantly observing the wind direction, wind strength, sea surface conditions and speed, they must also monitor whether there are changes in the hull structure in real time, especially the reinforcement around the steel mast, which is an important part of the entire hull balance. In addition, whether the operation process of the ship is smooth and what links are worth improving during the navigation process are also the focus of scientific researchers.

Compared with traditional Chinese sailing ships, the "Exploration" requires much fewer deck crews than Chinese sailing ships of the same tonnage due to its lighter sails and easier handling, and the rated crew is only more than 10 people, less than one-third of the rated number of gunners on board. And thanks to the steering wheel system operated by the aft deck, the captain can carry out real-time command and operation of the boat, and the operation efficiency is much higher than that of a Chinese sailing ship.

After traveling south for about 20 minutes, the Explorer turned east and headed for Yalong Bay according to its scheduled itinerary. After approaching the two small islands at the eastern end of Yalong Bay, Sun Changmi ordered the artillery on the second deck to prepare for firing. For this sea trial mission, the Military Police Department did not hesitate to send all the more than 30 naturalized civilian artillery soldiers who had just finished their courses a few days ago to the ship.

Designed as a maritime defense force, the "Discovery" is also an important performance indicator of its firepower strike capability at sea. Although it is only equipped with a few small-caliber guns, it is already a very powerful gunboat in East Asia. Of course, whether the design indicators can be achieved or not must be tested through practice.

Due to the structural problems of the hull, the decks of traditional Chinese sailing ships could not withstand the recoil of large guns, and as a result, it was impossible to equip a large number of guns on board. In order to equip the ship with artillery, the "Exploration" made a lot of structural improvements, and used many steel structural parts to reinforce the hull to withstand the recoil when the guns fired.

The two ships behind saw the "Discovery" slowly decelerate into the waterway between the two small islands in the east and west, so they also slowed down, maintaining a distance of 100 meters. Just when Zhan Gui and the others didn't know what they meant, they saw that the windows on the side of the "Exploration" in front of them were opened one after another, and the muzzles of black holes stretched out one after another.

"It's coming, it's finally here......" Luo Shengdong, the only one who knew the mystery, turned pale, and secretly said in his heart. He had visited the construction of the ship almost the whole way, and of course he knew early on that there were big killers hidden behind these portholes, and the Haihan people had loaded so many guns on the ship for the sake of looking good.

"Prepare on the port side, enter the firing range and open fire immediately!" Sun Changmi's order was quickly transmitted to the second deck through the microphone on the stern floor, and the gunners had already completed loading at this time, and after hearing the order, the gun commanders of each gun position carried out the final calibration and aiming.

"Fire!" With the commander's order, the five gunners on the port side pulled the ignition rope in their hands in turn, and the huge roar ended at 0. Five-second intervals rang out continuously, and the smoke and dust from the burning of the propellant immediately filled the cabin on the second deck.

The reason why they did not fire at the same time was also to minimize the negative effects of the shock caused by the recoil of the guns on the load-bearing ship board and hull structure. Even in the later era when the multi-turret god cult dominated naval warfare, the firing time of multiple main guns on the same turret was still a small interval, and it was also for the same reason.

Zhan Gui opened his mouth and was about to ask Tao Donglai, when there was a continuous roar of artillery fire in his ears. Rao had heard of it several times in Victory Harbor these days, but it was the first time he felt the power of artillery at this close range, and he fell to the deck as soon as his legs were weak.

Five shells whizzed through the air and landed on a small island less than three hundred meters from the port side. The sea test did not set up an obvious target on the island in advance, because the people of the military police department also knew very well that these gunners trained on land had to practice again at sea, and even if they set up a target, it would be difficult for them to hit it, and this would definitely hit their self-confidence.

After three rounds of live firing on the port side, the Discovery turned to approach the island on the right, where five guns on the starboard side fired at close range. The Discovery then redirected itself so that the two 12-pounder guns in the bow and stern also fired a few rounds each.

After seeing the hedgehog-like all-round firepower display, several guests on the catamaran behind them were as pale as Luo Shengdong, and they couldn't speak at all for a while.