Two days had passed since the accident in the excavation of the sunken ship treasure.
Everything was normal on the island.
Although Elvin often communicated with Major General Edmond Brand, his senior in Fort Dearborn, according to the intelligence he sent back, the frontline had been in a stalemate. Also, as the winter weather got worse and worse, Shilius was quickly losing his advantage.
Sark and Atlan's commanders were even optimistic that they could delay the battle until next spring, when the local reinforcements arrived.
That way, they would really have made a great contribution to their country!
Elvin didn't think too much about it since he had always received such intelligence. Although his strength was no longer the same as before, in a large-scale war, the impact he could make was still limited.
Moreover, the reinforcements that the major general had promised had yet to be seen, so Elvin was happy to have some free time.
After all, he had too many research projects on hand.
For example:
The "Totem Warrior Training Method" that was related to the Knight's future, the "Adventurer's Blood" suppression plan, the "Spirit World Exploration" for the first time after becoming an official wizard, the "Ocean Current Horn" run-in, the "Seabird Reconnaissance Network" replacement, the "Activated Beast Skin" for all the crew members who fought bravely, dealing with the old guy in the "Cursed Oil Painting" …
There were so many things that others couldn't replace. Sometimes, Elvin even wondered if he should bring Angel over to assist him in his research.
She could also help him guide his second apprentice.
Other than that.
Because he wasn't sure how long they would stay in Hatrapha Port, Elvin didn't let the soldiers who had fully recovered idle while he was busy.
In addition to normal training, they also needed to cut down trees, build houses, port facilities, cultivate wasteland, and grow vegetables.
Now, the people on the island were:
Storm Horn originally had a full crew of 350 people. Excluding the casualties and those who couldn't return to their combat positions due to disability, there were 209 people left.
Endeavour was in a slightly better situation. There were originally 352 people, but now there were 268 people left.
Shilius's captives were 623 people. Oh, one was eaten, so there were only 622 people left.
A total of more than a thousand adult men could only leave and not enter the island, which was also a huge expenditure.
Elvin simply found something for them to do. Not only did he help Donglun Zhi build this excellent hidden private port, but he also solved the problem of them not having a place to vent their energy.
After all, Faletis was not as wealthy as Shilius. The number of military bases in the entire new continent that could provide logistical support for battleships was in the single digits.
As a qualified captain, it was not as simple as fighting and killing. Having a friendly private port would give him more protection and a higher chance of survival for his warship and subordinates.
The best news in the past few days was that, with the help of a ship engineer sent by Dirben Castle, "Storm Horn" was finally repaired earlier than expected.
Returning to the sea.
Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Elvin still took the time to personally head to the port to preside over the re-launching of the battleship.
"Captain! Do you need a trial run? I can go with you and do some debugging for this beautiful battleship. It should be able to reach the best state of its service life. "
Watching the "Storm Horn" re-enter the water, the skilled engineer, Mr. Oakley Jeffery, was very confident in his skills.
Indeed, as a senior engineer who had once presided over the construction of a new battleship, this kind of small project was not difficult at all.
At this time, the right rear of the level four battleship's aft tower was repaired with white oak produced in the colony, and the balance had also been corrected.
The crew also cleaned the copper-clad bottom of the ship and did a major maintenance for it.
Without needing to do a trial run himself, just by looking at its sailing posture, Elvin knew that "Storm Horn" was in excellent condition and could enter another battle at any time.
He nodded with satisfaction and acknowledged the skills of this senior engineer.
"But, is the repair progress of the Starden Castle this slow?"
Moving his gaze away from "Storm Horn", Elvin looked at the level three battleship that was still lying in the dock and frowned slightly. Although he did not dare to openly show off for the time being, not operating it and not being able to operate it were two completely different concepts.
"Captain, the main problem is that the materials can't keep up. The hull and ribs of this battleship are severely damaged.
The damaged part is the thickest part of the hull. The hull, ribs, and lining of a level three battleship add up to 60 centimeters.
It's too difficult to find suitable materials to use on this kind of battleship. The ones from Eastern Lunzhi have long been used up.
It seems that they had a ship of high-quality teak before, but the people from the Trade Department acted too quickly, and it was already snatched away at a high price. "
In fact, this engineer was mainly here for "Starden Castle". There were not many opportunities to capture a level three battleship of Shilius in its entirety.
Although he believed that his shipbuilding skills had surpassed the "crude, clumsy, and large" design concept of Shilius, as a ship engineer, he naturally did not want to let go of this opportunity to learn from others.
However, no matter how superb his skills were, he could not make bricks without straw. The repair of the level three battleship had always been intermittent because of the lack of raw materials, which greatly slowed down the progress of the project.
As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed, feeling pity for the ship of high-quality teak that he did not know where it would be used in the end.
"Ahem …"
Elvin heard Oakley's words and coughed twice to hide his awkwardness. After so many twists and turns, it was still his fault.
But at that time, who would have thought that he would have a level three battleship to repair in the future? Of course, the Gold Lion that he had obtained was more practical.
However, as he looked at the level three battleship that was now lying in the dock, Elvin suddenly had a good idea in his mind. And the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. In the end, his eyes were shining.
He turned to look at the engineer beside him and said with slight excitement, "Mr. Jeffery, let's go.
"Mr. Jeffery, why don't we modify this warship?"
"Modify?!"
Oakley Jeffery doubted if he had heard wrongly. Battleships were the pinnacle of human military power in this era, but it was also a complex assembly that could affect the whole situation.
Currently, the ship models of various countries were the crystallization of hundreds of years of experience from countless ship engineers and high-level craftsmen. If they were carelessly modified, it was not impossible for them to sink into the sea immediately, let alone battle.
"That's right, modify. Modify this level three battleship into a heavy-armored cruiser! A one-on-one invincible … heavy-armored cruiser! "
At this moment, as he listened to Elvin speak these words word by word, Oakley felt like he was about to be pierced by the light in Elvin's eyes. At the same time, his attention was attracted by a term that he had never heard of before.
That term seemed to be innately magical, causing him to murmur, "Heavy-armored … cruiser!"
In reality.
Although it had been two hundred years since the start of the great voyage, various aspects of navigation technology had been greatly improved.
But in this era, people's concept was still stuck at the level where more cannons meant more strength. Build the battleship bigger, have more decks, and then install more cannons!
Then, in the battleship version of the 'line of battle', take the lead in using superior firepower to send the opponent into the sea.
Of course, no invention or tactic could be separated from the background of the era. Tactics that seemed laughable to modern people were the best choice in a specific era.
In a large-scale war where no one could escape from the 'line of battle' tactic, this idea was not wrong at all.
But what if they jumped out of this category? Or jumped out of the limitations of this era?
From Elvin's perspective that surpassed most people, other than the legendary battleships with extraordinary powers, the Blue Planet's sail battleship era was a big step ahead of this world in terms of battleship design, concept, and tactics.
Especially before the ironclads were launched, during the last and most glorious years of the sail battleship era, humans had undoubtedly developed this technology to a certain extent to the peak.
Just like the difference engine that was eventually replaced by computers, the sail battleship that was replaced by the ironclads, if it continued to develop, no one could predict what it would be like in the end.
And during that glorious era.
It was hard to say which famous sail battleship was the strongest, because there were all kinds of "best", such as the largest, the most cannons, and the fastest.
But the most legendary battleship, the most suitable for the current situation, was the 'Constitution' of the 'Bald Eagle'.
During its service, it experienced more than 40 naval battles, in exchange for the reputation of "undefeated and invincible"!
However, it wasn't a battleship that was claimed to rule the era. It was a cruiser, more accurately, a "heavy cruiser" with a unique design.
< Specifications > Hull length 62.2 meters, width 13.6 meters, depth 6.85 meters, displacement 2,200 tons, speed 13 nautical miles per hour, fixed crew of 400, forecastle and stern removed.
< Armament > Double deck artillery: 30 24-pound cannons, 20 32-pound cannons, 2 24-pound bow and stern cannons (after many reoutfitting, data of the peak firepower in 1812)
< Sail > Full sail, inclined jib at the bow, inclined longitudinal sail at the stern.
Compared with the battleships of the same era, this enhanced version of the super cruiser had many advantages:
First, the heavy cruiser with a lower center of gravity could be equipped with more heavy cannons than a third-level battleship. It could even use a full configuration of heavy cannons, so its firepower in naval battles was almost not inferior to a third-level battleship.
Second, the forecastle and stern were removed for the same tonnage, so it could be equipped with a thicker hull. The "Constitution" even had the reputation of "Old Iron Armor".
Third, lowering the height close to the water surface, increasing the length to width ratio, and faster speed (of course, the length to width ratio of 6: 1 was faster, but it lacked stability and strength, so it couldn't be equipped with heavy cannons).
The design concept was to give up large-scale fleet battles.
Creating a situation where those who could beat it couldn't outrun it, and those who could outrun it couldn't beat it. Of course, most of the time, they couldn't outrun it!
With its powerful firepower and excellent speed, this kind of heavy cruiser dared to compete with any battleship on the Blue Planet at that time.
In fact, from the perspective of displacement and specifications, this kind of cruiser was a third-level battleship in the battleship sequence. Using a third-level battleship that just happened to be "lacking weight" was just right for the transformation.
And Elvin's idea wasn't whimsical or even original.
In order to deal with the constant trouble caused by the 'Bald Eagle's' heavy cruisers, such as forming a formation to hunt down their own warships and merchant ships, John Bull once came up with the design of cutting the deck and transforming a third-level battleship into a heavy cruiser.
Wasn't this situation similar to the combat power of Faletis and Cirrius today?
"So, Mr. Jeffery, how about we give it a try together?"
Elvin extended his right hand to the ship engineer next to him.
Oakley Jeffery was already encouraged by Elvin's words. He was almost boiling with excitement, and he didn't hesitate to high-five Elvin.
If it failed, it would be the captain's trophy anyway, but if it succeeded, it would leave a heavy mark in the history of the kingdom's battleship development.
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