I Am Louis XIV

Iron mines in Britain are not only scarce, but also of poor quality, so when Charles II insisted on building an iron-clad fleet, he was sad for a while. He could not buy black iron from Lorraine or Austria, and there was not enough iron ore. Fortunately, he followed the example of Louis XIV and continued to recruit experienced and far-sighted scholars and even craftsmen from all over the place. They helped him find iron ore from India.

India's iron ore is just the opposite of Britain's. It has large reserves, is easy to mine, and is of high quality. In addition, Britain's rich coal resources are a match made in heaven. However, to build such a fleet in just a few years, the British people are still being held back Several heavy taxes were raised in succession, and members of Congress were also very annoyed, but none of them dared to talk too much in the face of the red-eyed king-of course, Cunningham thought, these high-ranking officials were probably waiting, if the king Being able to win the war with the French, they can also get a lot of war dividends as people who are attached to the horse, just like the people in the current Versailles court; conversely, if Charles II fails in the end, then They can also send him to the guillotine to quell the anger of the people and regain power just like they did with Charles I.

Anyway, this deal is not at a loss.

Please forgive Lord Cunningham for using such a vulgar term. In fact, whether it is now or hundreds of years later, the so-called gentlemanly demeanor is nothing more than the hypocrisy of a carnivore, let alone Cunningham. As Gott guessed, it was just an upstart with a family history of less than 300 years. Even if it was Charles II, when he got angry, he would make people think that he was in a dirty tavern, facing a person who had never touched An old sailor with books.

Although Cunningham is loyal to the king, he also has two or three different masters... Multiple bets are inevitable, and he is also worthy of being bet by them. In the king's Admiralty, the combined fleet he is in is all the fleets The most powerful among them is like a well-trained hunting dog, which can bring back boat after boat of rich spoils for its master every time it goes out to battle. If this situation continues, perhaps Britain can really teach the French a lesson at sea...

Cunningham pressed his chest. For some reason, he always felt a little uneasy. He remembered that his grandfather once told him that after fighting at sea for a long time, you will have a premonition that is beyond ordinary people. Let you avoid hurricanes, rainstorms and traps, he walked to the table again, staring at the chart on the table, they are scheduled to do it when the caravan ships enter the Strait of La Manche, which is still some distance from Dunkirk The distance, when the navy stationed there is long overdue, they have already left with a huge harvest, the only thing to worry about is that there is also a smaller French fleet stationed in Brest, but they can wait until the merchant fleet Sailing past Plymouth, where they were separated from Brest by a headland, the French fleet had to turn a wide bend to reach the battlefield.

As for Gott and van Basten, he can be said to have hung a carrot in front of the heads of the two donkeys, hoping that this will make them temporarily forget the gap between them... "But it's an ironclad ship... "While he was praying, he suddenly heard someone beside him say——a young servant, he saw Cunningham cast his gaze, and his face flushed immediately. Cunningham was a little angry at first, but then he thought that this servant was him. The nephew of one of his "masters" who was sent to the navy to seek a promotion, immediately suppressed his anger. Maybe in a few years, this young man will have a higher military rank than him: "Are you here?" Worried about my promise to them?" He walked over and patted the other person's shoulder tolerantly.

"Good boy," he said, "I understand your concern, but you should know that I only promised the qualification of a custom-made ironclad ship, well, even if they can afford that cost, I didn't promise it and it will be accompanied by license to purchase steam engines and boilers."

"Steam engine, and... boiler?"

"That's right," Cunningham said, "Come on, I'll take you to see it, you probably haven't seen it before, that kind of scary big monster." As he spoke, he held the young man's arm intimately, Take him off deck.

Although this young attendant has been on the ship for several months, but in view of his status, without the captain's leadership, according to the military regulations, he is not qualified to witness the metal giants below the deck that are constantly roaring day and night—— On any iron-clad ship, the boiler room and steam engine room are important organs, and idlers are not allowed to enter easily.

He has only seen the chimney standing between the masts on the deck. Compared with the thin and long masts, it is a short and fat black boy, solid and inconspicuous. Even so, the guards around it Not too many people are allowed to get close to it, although not many people are willing to do so. Regardless of other things, the chimney is always steaming with heat and fog 24 hours a day, making it look like an entrance to hell.

Following Cunningham down the deck, through the dark narrow passage, and when passing through several doors, the attendant's heart beat uncontrollably. Unknown sailors called the chimney the entrance to hell, and now they are like Walking on the road to hell, the surroundings are getting darker and hotter, and waves of vibrations and drums come from under their feet through the thick wooden boards.

They walked to the end of the corridor. In a small room, a soldier opened a circular wooden door on the ground. They climbed down the ladder under the wooden door one by one. After landing, the attendant smelled a strong and pungent kerosene smell. This smell was not uncommon on ships at sea, but it was not as strong. He couldn't help sighing, and Cunningham smiled, "You don't know, boy, when we used pork and butter, the smell was even more disgusting!"

The army has always had a tradition of buying large quantities of animal fat. In fact, unlike what people think, these fats did not enter the mouths of soldiers. Most of them were used to lubricate and remove rust from metal utensils and weapons. The army is even more amazing, because apart from metal items such as cannons, guns, anchor bearing chains, etc., there are many important devices on sea ships that are also made of brass or black iron. Parts can sometimes control the life and death of hundreds of people, so the navy uses grease, only more and more frequently than the army.

This situation was greatly alleviated after the bachelors of Louis XIV analyzed and distilled kerosene. Compared with the thick and foul smell of animal fat after heating and decay, the smell of kerosene is bearable even if it is a little pungent. Others find the smell quite appetizing—Cunningham is one of those people, and he took a few deep breaths. The air was hot and humid, mixed with the smell of kerosene, and it was like hell, but... Refreshing!

In front of them is a huge steam engine, how huge is it, they can walk through it, wait and see, the attendants can't understand and can't tell what is a flywheel, what is a speed control gear, what is a connecting rod, what is a crankshaft , but every time the cylinder pulled the piston, the loud bang made him dizzy. He saw the captain in front of him talking to someone, but he couldn't hear anything clearly—although they were shouting Yelling, but all he hears is "Bump! Bump! Bump!" or humming, nothing else.

Workers walk up and down the narrow passages, watching what looks like a clock but is much larger, big enough to fit a child's pressure gauge, turning the wheel, pulling the valve, lifting the lever, they In doing so, there was a tinkling sound each time, and the squire was able to hear a word or two now and then, but he couldn't understand it.

The light under his feet, the mist emanating from the cracks, the scorching metal and the dark floor all made him feel unreal. He followed the captain all the way forward and walked through the entire large cabin, feeling like It was like being scorched by the fire. "This is the boiler room." Cunningham said.

They stood in a place similar to a springboard but with a fence. Below them were piles of coal and one, two, three, four... six large boilers, and workers were putting coal into them.

The cabin of the steam engine reminded the attendants of the stomach of the monster, the entangled slide valve mechanism was its throat, the cylinders were its lungs, the rotating flywheel and crankshaft were the pulsating muscles, and the boiler room, it should be the monster's. In the heart, countless fresh blood is pumped out of it, and sent to the place where it is needed along the blood vessel-like intake pipe.

"The only bad thing about this thing is that it can't stop. It's greedy and can't stop devouring it for a moment." Cunningham said, watching the bright red flame.

The squire didn't know how he climbed the ladder and returned to the deck, but once he was on the deck, he took a few deep breaths and Cunningham offered him a glass of rum, which he took It was only when I realized that my hands were shaking non-stop. "It's nothing," Cunningham reassured him. "It's the first time I've seen this big guy, and he's not much better than you."

The attendant collected himself and let out an incomprehensible sigh. While thanking Cunningham for his generosity, he looked around to make sure that there was no one else around them and asked, "That's why you said that even if there is an ironclad ship , no steam engine..."

"You can't say that," Cunningham took a sip of wine, "Look at the masts and sails above our heads. Ironclad ships can also rely on wind power to navigate."

"So……"

"Speed, boy, speed," Cunningham explained with a smile: "Did Louis XIV only think of covering the deck and sides with iron plates for more than a thousand years? Someone has done this before, but what happened next The problem is that the speed of the ship is greatly slowed down, and almost all ships with such defense needs are warships. Isn’t a slow or even unable to move a warship a knight stuck in the mud? So until the power is not resolved, ironclad ships have always been people’s choice fantasy."

He refrained from saying the following. Although he has always expressed his satisfaction with his warship, he hopes to capture an ironclad ship converted from thirty Calais ships in this war. In addition to their firepower In addition to the tonnage, the steam engine they are equipped with consumes less power than their steam engine and has more power... When the sail and steam drive are shared, their speed is already as high as eleven knots, and their best result here is also There are only nine verses.

But this was enough for the young attendant, he stroked the cold side of the ship with joy, and no longer had any doubts about the captain agreeing to make a statement for the Dutch and the pirates and obtain a letter of permission for them. Bad luck, Cunningham told him to go back to his cabin, there were still two or three hours before the attack, and he should make sure he was refreshed.

Cunningham watched him go below the deck, and shook his head involuntarily. The little bastard should be glad that he is the son of a member of parliament, otherwise he would have been tied to the mast and bloodied by the nine-tailed cat—who Let him easily question the captain's decision? But it would be good for Cunningham to be able to explain it. At least he would have evidence of this matter when he wrote to that Congressman.

He looked up at the sky, the night was drawing to a close.

Today, as the British expected, the sea was filled with fog before dawn, and they set sail silently, like a pack of wolves hiding in the wild grass, and surrounded their prey.

—————

When the fleet met the fleet, the fog had begun to dissipate, but it didn't matter to the British anymore. The distance between them was so close that they could count each other's numbers without a telescope. What Cunningham was worried about was whether the other party listened. There was some wind, so they changed their course or moved separately, but, thirty-five ships, one ship is not too many!

These merchant ships are all Calais ships with large hulls and tall masts. The speed is so slow that they even sway a little. There will be some lighter goods, such as coffee beans and wool, but even if it is wool, this volume means a lot of value. As the captain of the British Navy, let alone the treasures below decks... Cunningham couldn't help but feel excited, let alone the pirate Gott and the Dutchman Van Basten!

This is another form of feeding on the enemy. Their plunder will cause huge losses to French merchants or foreign merchants who do things for the French. These losses will also cause great losses to the French king in the form of taxes and bribes. As for them, their trophies will quickly be turned into gold in the auction venue in London. They can use the gold to customize ships, buy weapons, and further make themselves stronger. This cycle will eventually lead to victory!

Cunningham took one last look through the binoculars, and the merchant ships saw them too, and were frantically trying to turn around and get out of course, but they were trapped and there was no chance of escape.