The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 118 "Dragon-Slaying Plan"

October 1725, 10, Portsmouth.

An English fleet that was about to set off raised its sails one after another and slowly sailed out of the harbor.They will stop at the Isle of Wight not far from the harbor, join another fleet from London, and then sail together to the gray and cold sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean.

This fleet has a total of 32 warships and four small supply ships, with a crew of 760.It also carries 530 Army soldiers.On the day of sailing, the "Naseby" equipped with [-] guns sailed out of Spithead Bay, flying the flag of the Royal Navy Admiral and veteran William Penn.

The fleet's mission was extremely secret, so it was only given the codename: "Dragon Slaying Plan."This code name hints at some hidden secret.Although the season was unfavorable to the entire fleet, the Royal Navy was still sailing across the Atlantic to the West Indies.The fleet went there not to attack the Spanish West Indies and American possessions, but to "kill" the Eastern dragon hidden deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

This operational plan has been prepared since a month ago, and with the unanimous efforts of the Royal Navy, it was implemented in such a short period of time.Moreover, two fleets of almost the same size were carrying out this task, heading to the North Atlantic and the North Sea respectively, waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the Qi fleet wandering in these two waters.

But the Royal Navy and Army had some difficulty recruiting enough soldiers.More than six months after the war began, it is not surprising that there are so few volunteers when the Navy is still unable to pay the salaries of its officers and soldiers.

Even William Penn himself, before sailing, had to write to the gentlemen of the Naval Committee to "make a note to pay my salary from the day of sailing. Because I am not sure whether I will live to see you again."

At the same time, sailors, facing the same suspicions and the same long voyage, presented petitions to Parliament and the Navy Committee, demanding that six months' pay each be delivered to impartial counsel so that their families could collect it.

More than 20 years ago, the Kingdom of England participated in the War of Spanish Succession. This was the first time in centuries that England was involved in such a costly continental war.By 1713, when this vast war finally ended, property taxes, which accounted for 42% of government revenue, had increased significantly.However, most people in England believed that the economic rewards afforded England by the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the war, did not justify participating in the war.

From then on, the political leaders who came to power regularly assured the domestic parliament and many lords and merchants that their foreign policies would try their best to avoid involving England in the affairs of European countries and the costs incurred by these countries. high wars, so the tax burden on lords and merchants would remain low.

However, this war with Qi suddenly raised the government's expenditure budget to a very high level, which forced the government to violate its previous commitments and begin to levy additional land taxes and commercial taxes on domestic lords and merchants. taxes to raise necessary war funds.During the months-long political tug-of-war, military salaries have not been guaranteed for the time being.

However, in view of Admiral William Penn's prestige and the sacred responsibility he shouldered, Congress appropriated funds and promptly paid the old general's salary.

Although Penn's request was settled, the sailors' petition failed.Not only is the salary issue worrying the officers and soldiers, but there is also the possibility of illness.

Due to the secrecy of the operation, the officers and soldiers of the sailing fleet were only informed before departure that they were merchant ships heading to the West Indies to provide escort.Therefore, this caused various concerns among officers and soldiers.That warm and humid sea area is a breeding ground for all kinds of strange diseases.Often after a voyage, at least a quarter of the people on a ship will die.

Salaries were withheld, and their lives were not adequately protected. All the soldiers were filled with resentment and curses deep in their hearts. As a result, the morale of the entire fleet was not high, and there was no selfless willingness to devote oneself to the Kingdom of England.

Admiral William Penn, commander of the fleet, also understood that the main reason for Navy morale was too many people on board the ships.He ordered the captains of each ship to "take great care when carrying army soldiers to prevent the occurrence of disease. Therefore, the number of personnel should be determined according to the different situations of the personnel and distributed reasonably to all ships. No ship should be allowed to Carrying too many people may cause infectious diseases.”

But the captains were apparently casual and unfazed by the incident.When the fleet left Portsmouth, in order to ensure the effective operation of the warships and the combat effectiveness of the sailors, the larger ships, including the flagship "Nasby" in the Civil War, each carried only more than 30 soldiers.Most of the army officers and soldiers were crowded on smaller ships.

On the "Katherine" with a displacement of more than 600 tons and the "Anxin" with a displacement of 160 tons, each ship can only have ninety crew members under normal circumstances, including the gunners and artillerymen of forty guns.This time, the "Katherine" carried 25 soldiers, and the "Anxin" carried 25 soldiers.The twenty smaller ships used for transportation carried a total of [-] soldiers.Many of them did not want to sail, so much so that they had to be herded together and driven aboard by soldiers with bayonets and cavalry wielding swords.Naval ships have always been overcrowded, even according to normal crew configuration: the number of sailors required on the ship is far more than that of merchant ships, so that they can operate guns and guns in battle and exert their due combat effectiveness.For example, under normal circumstances, the "Catherine" should have [-] watch personnel, and the other [-] non-shift personnel should have room and board in the cabin.The remaining forty were professionals - gunners, carpenters, bosuns and their assistants - who were not on duty but slept at night and worked during the day.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, there are about 65 beds in the cabin of a ship of this tonnage.This time, we suddenly need to provide beds for more than 100 people, and most of them will almost certainly get seasick.Sailors didn't mind seasickness, and they didn't suffer from it.But for these army soldiers who had never been to sea during the "Dragon-Slaying Plan", seasickness was a kind of torture that could not be expressed in words.

First, they were not allowed to go to the open upper decks, which would hinder the crew's work, and they were kept in the worst place designed for seasickness patients - in the most rocking and bumpy position below the gun deck.

There was no air circulation there, and there were only a few candles burning on the side.The only toilet and toilet area on the ship is located above the bow, on both sides of the first sprit, with the sky above and the sea below.The exhausted seasick man had neither the strength nor the inclination to climb up there.If you want to solve the problem of personal convenience, you can only look for utensils that are not filled with things, such as using buckets to fill them.If they can't find one, they relieve themselves in the corner of the deck where they sleep.They haven't been able to take a shower or take off their clothes.

The only way to clean the deck on the ship was to use a bucket to hit the seawater to wash it. The seawater pushed the dirt down into the cargo hold, where their food was stored, and then the dirty water flowed into the bilge and the curved part of the ship's side.

Therefore, they are almost living in a cesspool, lying in their own vomit and urine, and inevitably, they will be infected by the intestinal diseases brought aboard the ship.

Of course, soldiers are not very particular about their living environment and food, but it is impossible for them to live like pigs under such conditions and be as strong and lively as they are.They themselves still hope to be healthy and fully prepared so that when the time comes to fight, they can immediately rush to the battlefield with weapons in hand.

"Our fleet should be equipped with more experienced doctors." Fleet Commander William Penn said worriedly: "Children resting in cabins with such a terrible environment will inevitably breed various diseases over time. I I don’t want to be unable to hold the musket firmly when engaging in a boarding battle with the Qi people or landing on an island.”

"General, we have tried every means to bring on board all the doctors we can recruit in the city." The adjutant, Major Tommy Lawson, had a look of helplessness on his face. "However, this move was opposed by the city officials. The censure of the doctors and congressmen also aroused protests from local residents. Those doctors who are particularly experienced are very prestigious gentlemen, and we cannot take coercive measures."

"Don't they know that an experienced doctor can save the lives of dozens or hundreds of soldiers in battle?" Payne sighed and said: "You know, on the battlefield, every soldier, every A sailor is extremely valuable. They are protecting our kingdom of England and our sacred faith."

"..." Major Lawson listened and remained silent.

"We in England should learn from the people of Qi, establish necessary medical and health systems in the army, train specialized military doctors, and provide adequate health and life protection for our soldiers."

"General, this kind of move will cost additional government budget." Major Lawson reminded in a low voice.

"Yes, in order to save government expenses, there is a high probability that the Parliament will not agree to implement such measures in the military." Payne shook his head and said helplessly: "Everyone is complaining that the government taxes are too high. They do not want to contribute financial funds to this country from their pockets. They would rather spend large sums of money to build luxurious manors, import fragrant tea, taste rich coffee, and hold endless dance parties..."

"General!" the chief mate of the Nasby reported standing at the door of the cabin. "The Speke sent a message that the steam engine has malfunctioned and needs time to repair. Please return to the port."

"Haha, we have just left the port, and there is a problem with the steam engine of the Speke?" Payne heard this and smiled bitterly, "In that case, order them to return to the port to repair the ship's fault. Originally, we expected the three accompanying ships to Steam warships can produce unexpected attack effects, but I didn’t expect them to be so unreliable. This time we implemented the dragon-slaying plan, it was really a bit...a bad start!"

(End of this chapter)