unclear

Chapter 1311 Troop Transport Ship 2
European leaders wanted to break the Ming Empire's monopoly on Asian goods and lower their purchase costs. The Ming Empire not only wanted to maintain its monopoly, but also wanted to get a piece of the pie in the New World. It was that simple.

But most of the time, simple things are often not simple to handle. One person wants to lower the price, the other wants to maintain the original price or even increase the price. After talking for a long time, they still can't reach an agreement, and they end up getting angry.

But since they are all for the sake of profit, it is unlikely that they will fight to the death. It is like two businessmen bargaining. No matter how fierce the argument is, it is for the sake of buying and selling. In the end, no matter who gives in, the business will continue.

"So which side do you think is more likely to win?"

Although William had been a mercenary, he had not experienced much combat and did not know much about military issues. Compared to fighting and killing, he preferred the idyllic life of a wife and children.

I had almost saved enough money and found a partner. I planned to buy a plantation outside Manila and bring my family over. When I retire in a few years, I will get a compensation from the company, and with the income from the plantation, it will be enough to live comfortably.

Fortunately, he did not buy it, otherwise he would have faced huge losses and at least ten years of work would have been in vain. But he never woke up from his dream of buying a piece of land and becoming a plantation owner. He always hoped that the war would end soon so that he could return to Batavia one day.

"You've been to Manila a lot. Do they have any advantages over the Marines there?"

In fact, William was not the only one who had this idea. Dutch merchants and captains had done so several years ago, and Cohen also planned to move his family to Luzon or Annan after retirement. Compared with the Ming mainland, these two special zones were more open to foreigners and had a more pleasant climate.

If possible, he also wanted his youngest son to go to the new school of Ming Dynasty and try to get into the Imperial Academy in the future. It was not for the purpose of becoming an official in Ming Dynasty, but simply to give his son more choices.

However, all plans were interrupted by the war. Glancing at the coalition soldiers crowded behind the masts and pointing fingers at Istanbul, he felt a little frustrated.

Although I have worked and lived in Batavia for more than 20 years, much longer than I have spent in Europe, and I am more accustomed to and like Asian food and life, when my motherland joined the war, I still hope from the bottom of my heart that my country will win.

But emotions cannot replace reason, and there is no need to answer William's question. All we need to do is compare the organization, personal qualities, weapons and equipment, and combat experience of the soldiers on both sides, and the answer will be almost there.

The Ming army was not common in Southeast Asia, but the navy was everywhere, including the Land War Command. They also had holidays, and as long as it was not too far, they would usually choose to go to Manila to spend money.

Over the years, there have been very few reports of scandals involving drinking and causing trouble in the Ming Navy. Instead, merchants and sailors from Europe were more likely to cause public security incidents.

If the European coalition forces were put into Paris or Seville, the entire city would probably be reduced to ruins. Especially the mercenaries from Germany, they were simply a group of bandits. They would plunder even the poor and remote areas of Germany, not to mention the prosperous big cities.

Good discipline does not necessarily mean high combat effectiveness, and the difference in quality is even greater. Except for officers, almost all the officers in the European coalition forces are illiterate. Some officers who are not of noble birth are almost as illiterate as them. They have to ask their adjutants to write letters for them.

It is not clear what the level of the Ming army is, but every soldier in the Ming navy can speak and write fluent Latin, and at least has the education level of a fresh graduate. Even if they have never been to school before joining the army, they have to study every day from the recruit reserve stage until they retire, from the simple to the complex, and it covers everything. I don't know where there are so many things to learn.

This is the minimum requirement for Marines, and the Navy standard is even higher. Even sailors are required to master the most basic navigation, ship repair, naval gun firing and formation sailing techniques.

No matter which position loses a soldier in battle, there will be someone to take over immediately and ensure that the basic operations are correct, so as not to have much impact on combat effectiveness.

I had secretly questioned the necessity of doing so before, but now it seems that I was too superficial. When I went to the palace to say goodbye, the Ming Emperor said bluntly that if war required it, the Ming Empire could double the number of warships within one to two years.

If these words were told to any European politician or naval commander, they would be regarded as unfounded boasting, because building a main sailing warship was much more troublesome than building a merchant ship. Not only did it require enough skilled craftsmen, but it also required qualified wood.

Freshly felled trees cannot be used to build warships. They must be soaked in salt water for at least a few months and then placed on the shore to dry for a few months before they can be used. If conditions permit, it is best to store them for a few more years, so that the warships built will be more durable and their service life can be doubled.

The wood used to build European warships mainly came from oak, pine, spruce and fir in northwestern and central Europe. Due to labor, transportation costs and strategic planning constraints, countries basically did not have large reserves.

The types of wood used to build warships of the Ming Empire were mostly teak and pine, which had a wide range of sources. There were considerable reserves of teak in Southeast Asia and the Indian Peninsula, while there were large quantities of pine in the northern part of the empire and the Korean Peninsula.

Soon after taking office as the governor of Batavia, Cohen discovered that there were large quantities of felled teak and pine trees in Manila and Da Nang. On his first trip to Beijing, he saw the same scene in many port cities along the way: a large number of very thick whole logs tied together with ropes and floating in the sea water near the shore.

Later, after making inquiries from many sources, I learned that these thick timbers were all purchased by the Ming Navy from various places. After being transported back, they were stored in seawater near various shipyards and soaked for 1-3 years. They could only be used after they had fully absorbed water.

Over the years, the number of Ming Dynasty naval shipyards has increased from 3 to 11, including one in Enniao Port thousands of miles away. However, the amount of soaked wood has not decreased but increased.

Once when a hurricane hit, the wood in the Manila Bay was not firmly fixed and was pushed everywhere by the waves, causing the civilian port to be closed for three whole days.

Three naval officers were arrested for this. It is unclear how they were convicted, but it can be seen that the Manila Naval Shipyard alone stored a large amount of timber that could block the Manila Bay shipping routes.

If the navy needs to be expanded quickly, the 11 naval shipyards can work overtime day and night with sufficient raw materials, and launching a batch of Qin-class warships in three months is definitely not a problem. At least 40 ships a year, if civilian shipyards are involved, hundreds of ships a year are not too outrageous.

But can the size of the navy be expanded rapidly with just wood? The answer must be no. No matter how well a ship is built, it still needs qualified sailors and officers to drive it, and it also needs experienced gunners to cooperate with it to form combat effectiveness.

(End of this chapter)