Although it can be put in the author's words, I know that there are many adults who don't look at the ground and don't look at the ground, and this chapter has additions anyway, so I put it in front unceremoniously.

There is a question about whether a steam-driven steamer will be able to stop and retreat as described in the previous chapter.

Absolutely!

First of all, the tonnage of French Calais steam ironclad ships such as the Monarch is probably similar to that of the Sea King, about 1,500 tons, not a 10,000-ton giant ship.

In addition, it is not fixed with anchors like sails and paddle ships, they use propellers - propellers did not appear as late as we think, and in parallel history in 1752, scientists believed that propellers were more advanced than open-pitch wheels, and were installed on ships. The propeller can be modified to be mechanically controlled to keep the ship suspended (i.e., stay in place) or reversed to set the ship back. And whether it is the Kingpower or the Sun King, the speed of their retreat is not as fast as what you usually see a boat or a car, which can be completed in a second or two, the speed is indeed very slow, there may be 8 to 10 knots when moving forward with all your strength, and there may only be 2-3 knots when retreating (this is what the author has verified).

As for how scholars and craftsmen would have thought of it...... It wasn't they who thought of it, but the king and the generals asked for it!

Just as Party A will demand colorful blacks and colorful whites for Party B, when the ship is still being renovated, the king, especially the generals, will make all kinds of demands according to their experience - the best thing about steam-powered ships is that they don't have to rely entirely on sails and manpower, and of course they will also put forward some ambitions accumulated in battle - everyone knows what an advantage it would be to be "strong and flexible" in naval warfare.

In addition, when the Sun King hit the Sea King, the Sea King was already on fire, which meant that the sails were no longer usable and could only be driven by human paddle wheels, so the speed was very slow, and after being knocked through the cabin, the bottom oarsmen drowned or died from the impact, and the Sea King was almost equivalent to losing power, and could only stay where it was, and then there were two and three impacts - the whole process lasted for a long time, not a matter of minutes!

It should also be noted that because Louis XIV and the wizards were "widely used", the development of science and technology in France and other countries in the book may be about a hundred years older than in parallel eras, after all, many inventions are invented and have not been given a good opportunity to be promoted, or they have been hidden like forceps, or they have been destroyed by people in high positions and powers out of selfish desires, or they may have been unexpected—many inventions are sparked, and they do not have to have a strong foundation to achieve.

Above, thank you for your support, monthly passes and recommended tickets!

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By the time Barr put down his binoculars, he was numb and unable to move, and he had to ask for help to get back to standing from his half-bent knees—he grinned ugly, rubbing his elbows, knees, and face vigorously, and his face was numb for a while, and he was so excited!

In a naval battle, unless the overwhelming pirate fleet encounters unprepared and unprotected merchant ships, it is difficult to be completely wiped out, especially on the vast sea. Even countries such as Britain and the Netherlands, which rely mainly on maritime power, cannot completely annihilate each other's fleets. Taking the First Anglo-Dutch War as a chestnut, the two countries fought a total of nine naval battles, the Battle of Plymouth, in which the ships dispatched by both sides were about half a hundred, but only the British lost one arsonist ship; in the Battle of Kentisnooker, the Netherlands lost two ships; in the Battle of Dagnes, the British sank three ships, captured two, and one Dutch ship was destroyed because of an accidental explosion; in the Battle of Portland, the British lost three, and the Dutch suffered a relatively serious loss, with losses of about eight or nine ships...... The Battle of Schwiningen was the most important battle, with the Dutch losing eleven ships and the British losing thirty-five, but this number can only be said to have caused them all to suffer when compared to the total number of hundreds of ships they had sorted.

The British raid on Dunkirk this time can be said to have sent a small and strong army, and Charles II and the English Parliament were not too much - although it is difficult to say whether they were deliberately colluding with Leopold I, but it was normal for Louis XIV to be negligent in the seemingly calm Dunkirk at a time when the undercurrents were surging in France and the occupied territories - William Payne Jr. also agreed with his father that he would "revolt" At the same time, it will shake people's hearts, create chaos, destroy Dunkirk's access to the outside world, look for opportunities to infiltrate Dunkirk City, destroy the dockyard or force the ships anchored here to avoid other ports, and even oppose the French government that occupies Dunkirk first, and use the Duke of Vendôme to threaten and subdue the garrison here.

William the Younger probably did not expect that even if he had not been recklessly denounced by his neglected wife, his every move would have fallen into the eyes of the spies and the Duke of Vendôme, and Louis XIV had long expected that when he and France were less and less helpful to Charles II, Charles II's balance would tilt in favor of the enemy, and what did the British desire most? Calais and Dunkirk, of course, and especially the latter, for the French, it was a good thing for their king to redeem the city, but for the British it was a shame they will never forget.

Personal feelings will never be put before the interests of the country, then the next question is which of them will go to war first and in what name.

In the name of the House of Orange, an attack on France was also within the calculations of Louis and the generals, because everyone from the Duke of Luxembourg and the Viscount of Tillenne to Colbert and the Marquis of Roise, they all thought that France still needed time to digest the previous spoils, so Louis could not let this war be delayed or expanded - then he would either negotiate or punch the British in the face, so that they would be dizzy and lose the courage to confront France.

That's why the king is willing to put his latest secret weapon out there.

Jean Barr's joy was palpable, as were the others—the Frenchman alone, William Payne Jr., who had gone mad when he saw the Sea King stopped and sank, and he was escorted back to his cell. The Duke of Vendôme, while sipping a soothing rosemary, used the defeat of the English as a snack—as I had said before, the battlefield was so small that the Calais were faster (both forward and turning) than the English galleys, and after sinking their opponents, they did not hesitate to open an encirclement and encircle the other enemy ships—and when they could not match the French in numbers and firepower, and could not escape, the English surrendered.

Marshal Estères and General Duqueena were not the kind of vicious people, they allowed the British to surrender, and the surrendered crew and officers were transferred to small boats one by one, and dragged away by the big ships, they thought that the French would capture the remaining one first and two second class battleships, but after General Duqueiner ran to the throne and consulted with the marshal, a horrific scene occurred.

The French sank all the British ships.

Even if it can't be compared with the ironclad ships loaded with steam-driven paddle wheels, this is a first- and second-class battleship! Don't look at the British who claim that their ships are as dense and numerous as the stars, but they still have only a handful of first- and second-class battleships, most of them are third-class battleships, or cruisers, or arsonist ships— Charles II also had some luck and ostentatious elements for this recapture war, perhaps he was still doing all the ships in Hampton Court Palace just for an armed cruise, and not even a piece of paint would fall off and return to his arms.

The British, and even some of the French, watched in amazement at the golden-red flames that lit up half of the sea and the sky, and the sound of the explosion of the ship's ammunition depot made even the houses of the residents of Dunkirk tremble, and they ran out, looking left and right but finding nothing—the gray tower where Barr and Duke Vendôme were also swaying, dust and debris falling all over their heads, and Barr heard Duke Vendôme muttering to himself in some distraction, "One hundred thousand pounds, one hundred hundred thousand pounds, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds...... He didn't understand what the Duke was talking about at first. But it soon occurred to him that at this time, with the exception of Charles I, who insisted on building the immaculate King of the Seas, the average first-class battleship cost around 100,000 pounds, and the second-class battleship was around 60,000 to 70,000 pounds, and the Duke of Vendôme was calculating how much Louis XIV's generals were throwing into the English Channel.

As the son of a pirate, he certainly knew how important a ship was to the crew and the captain, but at the same time, there was another strange thrill in his heart, like a miser who had finally been given the opportunity to squander without any psychological burden—the scene of France being ridiculed by the other countries of Europa as "no navy" was still vivid, and now they had no pity to throw all the enemy ships into the sea!

Perhaps Monsieur Colbert is still carefully balancing the expenses and revenues of France, perhaps the French maritime army is not yet so strong and fearless, and perhaps they will face greater and more trials and trials, but at this moment, whoever he is, as long as he is French, his mood has been swept up into the sky like a flying flag, and he cannot fall for a long time.

With tears in his eyes, Barr raised his hand to the officer beside him, and they hugged tightly and kissed each other on the cheek, they both had a lot to say, but they were all stuck in their throats, and the Duke of Vendôme swallowed the wine in one gulp, until the last drop, and then slammed the empty bottle against the wall.

Fragments are scattered!

"Let's go back!" said the duke, "we have a great feast to-night!"

The triumphant return of the fleet was of course warmly welcomed by the Dunkirks, but the five Calais, as they had come, did not appear in the eyes of the many more, and they might continue to hide in the harbors of Calais or Nantes, waiting for another order from the king, and their companions, of course, no doubt would continue to increase in the future—and those who had hesitated because of the high cost of these ironclad ships need not continue to worry, for nothing could show their worth better than this real exercise.

The Duke of Vendôme also questioned that most of the steel produced in France was sent to Nantes to meet the needs of casting ship armor and accessories, as it not only appropriated a lot of labor and financial resources, but also affected the construction of muskets and cannons.

In writing to the king, the Duke of Vendôme described in great detail what he had seen, and the more he wrote, the more enthusiastic he became, and he was about to ask the king to make him captain of one of the ships, but fortunately he was about to write when his attendant knocked at the door.

"What's the matter?" Duke Vendôme's mind finally calmed down a little, "I said don't disturb me, before the banquet begins?"

"Sorry, sir," said his attendant, "but Mr. William Payne Jr. has asked to see his wife. ”

"That brave girl?" said Duke Vendôme laughed, "well, you go and ask her, and she will go if she wants to, and if she doesn't, there's nothing to say." ”

The Duke's attendant had been with him for decades, and when he had received an answer, he stood there and thought, "Do you want to tell her about that?"

"What...... Oh, are you saying that I'm going to cut off little Mr. William's head after the feast? Tell her, she should have expected it. ”

The duke's personal attendant nodded, and withdrew.

————

William Payne Jr. sat in the room, the French did not treat him very harshly, this room originally belonged to an officer, neat, but also comfortable, even a little luxurious, because Louis XIV was always very close to his soldiers, generals, so if you are in the army, in addition to salary, there will always be various benefits and even free supplies, so soft sheets and blankets, ceramic tea sets and cutlery, large armchairs, do not need to be spent by the owner.

On the windowsill there is also a jar of alocasia flowers, which are very common on the seaside, with beautiful shapes and white flowers, which remind little William of his wife.

It's ridiculous, when he was with his wife, he only thought about his country and his father, and now that he has lost his country and father, he only thinks of his wife.

He already knew that Eva had agreed to come to see him, so it wasn't a surprise when the door was pushed open.

Eva was carried in, and she was lucky not to have a fever, but the blood loss made her unusually weak, and her father, brother and friends did not approve of letting her come to see William Jr., but she came anyway.