Water Margin people

The smart ones had already started to snicker, because they naturally understood what it meant to learn a foreign language.

But no one was worried that Sun Lei was really addicted to women. Sun Lei was the emperor, rich in the world, what kind of beauty could he not get? Even these exotic beauties, he could easily pick them if he conquered their country.

Leaving these behind now is nothing more than to paralyze the enemy and make them think that the Emperor of Qi is a lustful man. Exposing a flaw is to make it easier for the enemy to be deceived.

"Write me a letter and tell him that these beauties are of average quality and ask him to be more careful. What I give him are all panaceas. Also, I like gold and silver jewelry, too!"

Sun Lei looked at Li Zhu and said, "Can those who want to bribe him be smarter and send some hard currency in addition to women?"

"I understand!"

Li Zhu replied immediately.

"Let's go and take a look at the new ironclad ship. I didn't expect it to be able to sail so far!"

Sun Lei opened his mouth and spoke to the generals.

They soon arrived at the dock, where the ships were docked neatly in the harbor.

In the middle are four silver ironclad warships. The thick chimneys emitting white smoke in the middle of the warships indicate that they are steam ironclad warships.

“It looks good!”

Sun Lei looked at the four ironclad ships and said that the appearance of the ships he designed was almost exactly the same.

"Your Majesty, I didn't intend to bring ironclad ships this time, but the shipyard knew that I was going to fight in the open sea, so they insisted on trying out these four ironclad ships. They have already tested them in the near sea, so it won't be a problem for them to sail continuously for a month!"

Ruan Xiaoer said.

"Well, what about the speed?"

Sun Lei asked.

"At present, the speed is almost comparable to our most advanced sailing battleships, and this is still the case with a tailwind. Your Majesty also knows that if there is no wind, the speed of the sailing battleship will be very slow, but these iron-horned ships are different. They are not affected by the wind."

Ruan Xiaoer said excitedly that this was what he was most satisfied with. The most frightening thing about sailing on the open sea was not the wind and waves.

But there are areas in the sea where there is no wind. Without wind, the sails are useless. There are even areas in the sea where it is completely still, and the boat has to rely entirely on oars, and the speed is quite slow.

"Let's go aboard and take a look!"

Sun Lei nodded and led everyone on board.

The feeling of an ironclad ship is completely different from that of a wooden battleship. The touch of steel gives people a great sense of reliability.

Sun Lei first entered the ship and checked the most important steam engine.

It was the first time for all the generals to see an ironclad ship. They were extremely curious and marveled at the touch of the steel. They never thought that an iron ship could sail on the water.

"Your Majesty, the biggest problem with this ironclad ship is coal, but we have built ports and set up coal bureaus along the way, so we can resupply it at any time!"

Ruan Xiaoer introduced them.

“How much coal do you burn in a day?”

Sun Lei asked while looking at the soldier next to the boiler. When he came in just now, the soldier was shoveling coal into the boiler.

"Your Majesty, the ship is not in operation now, we just need to maintain the temperature and pressure. One ton of coal a day is enough. At full speed, we will use about ten tons of coal a day!"

The leading officer spoke.

"How much coal can be carried on board?"

Sun Lei nodded and continued to ask.

"The coal bunker of this ship can hold 300 tons! It is enough to cope with one month's consumption. In order to prevent the shortage of coal and the inability to replenish it overseas, there are several supply ships following with coal!" The officer replied. They are exploring overseas this time, and coal may be difficult to replenish in unknown waters, so they will carry some with them, and supply ships will deliver coal later.

"Yeah, not bad, very good!"

Sun Lei was very satisfied with the coal consumption. Such ironclad warships could already become the main force of the Qi State Navy.

"Is there any problem or malfunction with the steam engine?"

Sun Lei looked at the soldiers and mechanics in the cabin. These people were dealing with the steam engine in the cabin almost all day long.

Everyone was a little hesitant, but seeing Sun Lei's serious eyes, they still expressed some of their ideas. The steam engine had just been developed and there were many problems, big and small, and some design problems and deficiencies were also discovered.

"Very good, write down all your ideas and submit them when you get back. If they are indeed effective, you will be rewarded handsomely!"

Sun Lei looked at the crowd and said that things must be constantly improved to get better, and those who discover problems are usually the front-line staff.

The other generals gathered around the boiler curiously. In their eyes, it was just a coal-fired hot water boiler. How could such a thing allow such a huge ironclad ship to sail on the sea?

"Your Majesty, is this the furnace they have been studying?"

Sun Li looked at the boiler curiously. He wanted to touch it, but the soldier told him that he would get burned.

"This thing can't be explained in just a few words. You can study it slowly later!"

Sun Lei led everyone out of the cabin.

There was a gentle sea breeze on the deck. Sun Lei looked at the thick gun barrel and was very satisfied. In addition to steam power, the ironclad ship could also use a larger caliber gun.

“If we were to start it now, how long would it take?”

Sun Lei looked at the captain of the ironclad ship and asked.

"In reply to your Majesty, we can sail within two hours and reach maximum speed within four hours!"

The captain spoke.

“A little slow!”

Sun Lei frowned, he was somewhat dissatisfied with this. If he couldn't start quickly, he wouldn't be able to respond quickly to various battle situations, and the enemy wouldn't give them several hours to prepare.

However, Sun Lei also knew that these problems could not be solved. After all, the steam engine relies on steam to drive gas, and it takes time to start, heat and increase the pressure. This is an unchangeable law.

After looking at one ironclad ship, Sun Lei went to look at the other three ironclad ships, and the conditions were similar.

"What is the actual combat capability of the ironclad ship?"

Sun Lei looked at Ruan Xiaoer and asked.

"Very good. Because it is an ironclad ship, we tried to ram it directly. Your Majesty can see that the ironclad ship was intact, while the enemy ship was directly sunk."

Ruan Xiaoer said proudly that ironclad ships had completely changed the navy's tactics. If they had previously relied on the size of the ship and artillery to fight, now they were using dimensionality reduction attacks. They were fully armed and holding magical weapons that could cut through iron like mud, while the enemy was unarmed and wrapped in animal skins.

"The artillery is even more invincible, because the ironclad ship can be equipped with larger caliber artillery and the attack range is longer!"

Ruan Xiaoer introduced them.

"The combat effectiveness is not bad! In the future, these ironclad ships will need to form a fleet to set out. In addition to battleships, there should also be supply ships and frigates, etc. You should study these!"

Sun Lei looked at the three Ruan brothers. He didn't say much because he knew they could understand.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The three of them clasped their fists together and said that after this battle, they also understood the shortcomings of the ironclad warships. A real battle requires the formation of a complete fleet. If the enemy cannot defeat them head-on, they will resort to all kinds of conspiracies and tricks. (End of this chapter)