Chapter 890 We are not the same Quan Xu is really not bragging, the current British Empire is still a child who has not grown up, and with the strength of the whole country, he can barely gather more than a hundred thousand-ton warships and gather tens of thousands of naval guns.If the original Zhu Daming is no longer able to climb high.But for the whole clan's Daming, this bit of strength is just to see, don't look at the fact that he only retains a pocket fleet in the Mediterranean, there are only eight main warships, two of which are overhauled, and forty-eight Exocet battleships, according to the establishment, it is just a small comprehensive strike fleet.But the problem is that this pocket fleet, whether it is Spain, the hegemon of the Mediterranean, or the barbarian Ottoman Empire in Europe, including the new small power of the Dutch, at sea, does not dare to underestimate it.With such a pocket fleet, the Ming can also split into sixteen.The Dutch, in particular, have a first-hand experience.Different from the same period in history, because the Ming Dynasty began to fight for the sea, the scale of the warships of the Dutch East India Company was larger than in history, with as many as 200 main warships alone, plus more than 400 armed commercial equipment, a total of more than 5,600 large and small naval guns.Such a force, even the Spanish Invincible Armada at its peak, did not dare to defeat lightly, but the problem is that because it angered the Ming Dynasty in India, under the order of Quan Xu, the main force of the First Fleet and the main force of the Second Fleet of the Ming Royal Navy, including the main force of the Third Fleet, exceeded 1,000 warships, including more than 100 main warships, but the number of guns of the Ming warships exceeded 30,000, and more than two-thirds of them were 130 mm 28 times the diameter of the rear-loading rifled guns, with an extreme range of 8,800 meters.In just three months, more than 200 warships and more than 400 armed merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company were sunk and 143 surrendered, including 89 warships.Three months later, the Dutch East India Company, not to mention the warships and armed merchant ships, they didn't even have small fishing boats, and the news reached the Netherlands mainland, and some ministers clamored to take revenge on the Ming Dynasty.But the problem is that instead of being discriminated against or targeted by the Ming merchant ships in the Netherlands, some merchants began to seek cooperation with the Ming merchants, and they usually took the form of joint stock cooperation, ordering merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty under the banner of the Ming Dynasty.This is not only the average pirate does not dare to start, but also safe, belonging to the Ming local transport and trading company, is required to pay taxes to the Ming court, that is, the tax is paid, it will naturally be protected by the Ming Royal Navy.In particular, the Dutch East India Company was beaten to the name of the extinction, and the Dutch ordered 177 2,000-ton transport ships and 327 1,000-ton transport ships to the shipyards in Dengzhou, Lushun, Jiangnan, Guangzhou, and Quanzhou in the Ming Dynasty.In fact, it was not only the Dutch who ordered transport ships from the Ming Dynasty, but also the British, Spaniards, and even the Ottomans, and there were no restrictions on this normal commercial industry.Unlike those armed merchant ships in Europe, although the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty are sturdy and can reach the level of warships, the problem is that the speed of the transport ships is slow, and even if they are converted into warships, they will only become targets.With the strength of Quanxu's expedition to Europe this time, in fact, it is to take the first, second, and third fleets with two comprehensive strike fleets each, with 48 main warships and more than 300 Exocet warships.However, this time in order to show off its muscles, the main battleship is the Sea Shark V, which is also the last type of ship of the Sea Shark class, and the future Daming will build an ironclad ship, and now the Jiangnan Shipyard has successfully transplanted the steam engine to the eight-hundred-ton ironclad battleship, and can run out of fourteen knots.The only disadvantage of this kind of warship is that its self-sufficiency is extremely short, it can only have a range of 1,200 kilometers, and it must be replenished with coal and fresh water, which means that the expeditionary force of the Ming Dynasty needs a long supply line.In the South China Sea, the East China Sea is not a problem, the Ming Dynasty has established enough, naval military bases, out of the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean waters, for the time being, a sound supply line has not been established.Of course, there is still time, even if it is the Flywheel No. 6 of the Jiangnan Shipyard, that is, the 800-ton ironclad ship, Quan Xu did not order mass production, but let them continue to improve, at least to ensure that the cruising speed can exceed 16 knots, the maximum speed can reach 20 knots, and the combat radius can reach 1,000 kilometers before being allowed to enter small batch production.The Woman Hao slowly stopped in the port of Ceylon on the island of Ceylon, which had become the official territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the governor of Ceylon City was Major Ma Chenggong.This is the smallest capital of the Ming Dynasty so far, although Ma Chenggong is a major of the Ming Royal Army, in fact, there are only more than 450 troops stationed in Ceylon, of which 180 are subordinate to the navy, with three Exocet warships and six centipede-type patrol ships.The centipede ship was the smallest warship of the Ming Dynasty, similar to the assault boat of later generations, and could carry twelve soldiers to land on the beach, or to carry out daily patrol missions.Ma Chenggong introduced the situation of Ceylon City to Quan Xu: "Since the Ming Dynasty recovered Ceylon City, it has become the most important supply base in the Indian Ocean, and now there are about 1,000 residents living in Ceylon City, of which more than 80% are the soldiers and their families, and the remaining 20% are supply base staff. ”One hundred thousand taels of silver Quan Xu did not see the eyes, the key is to see the changes in Ceylon City, the port has built a warehouse to store high-quality thermal coal and fuel oil, and now although the steam engine ship has not yet been realized, this base has begun to prepare.In the future, as the technology of long-distance navigation improves, more and more ships will choose to dock here to replenish supplies, and there is a small hospital and a primary school in Ceylon City.Valley< /span&gt; However, this is due to the fact that the families of the garrison have not yet migrated their children and wives, you know, a thousand people, nearly half of which are soldiers.Ma Chenggong applied to build a middle school in Ceylon City last year, but due to a lack of teachers, the middle school has not yet been built.The coconut crabs in Ceylon City, the big ones can grow to three or four catties, and they are very appetizing to Quan Xu.Helena's worries are not something that can be relieved by a few words from Quan Xu.Sanniang was very excited, and took Su Yin and other female soldiers to hunt in the depths of the woods.When the expeditionary force entered the port of Ceylon, it was instantly overcrowded, and in order to replenish the manpower of the port of Ceylon, Ma Chenggong hired some Tamil indigenous women to come and wash the clothes of the soldiers and earn a certain amount of living expenses.The biggest advantage of entering the port is that you can take a bath.The most painful thing at sea is not being able to take a bath, which is not like later generations, there is not only a personal independent toilet in the cabin of the ocean transport ship, the shower room, the current Ming soldiers on the warship, can barely do a cabin within a range of about twenty square meters, live eight soldiers, each soldier can have a bed of his own and a storage compartment alone, about fifty liters.That is, people like Quan Xu, Sanniang, and Helena can enjoy the privilege of bathing on the ship, and even Su Yin can only wipe his body with a towel.For three days, almost every soldier had four to six hours of vacation, where they could eat fresh fruits, delicious food, bubble baths, wash their clothes, and enjoy the soft sand.The pleasant time was very short, and when it was time to set sail, thousands of Ceylon garrisons and their families came to give gifts, which made the sailors and guards around Helena very depressed.Sailing is very hard, crossing the ocean once, can eat up the hardships of three lifetimes, and it is very dangerous, you don't know if you can come back when you go out, in addition to navigators, you can choose this kind of life in addition to those poor people who have a way to go, people who have a decent job, ghosts are willing to be sailors!
Therefore, being a sailor is not an enviable profession in Europe, on the contrary, it is often despised.However, whether it is in the Ming Dynasty or any port, the people worship these ocean-going sailors and soldiers very much, especially looking at the current posture, where is there any contempt?"
These Ming sailors seem to be very respected!"
A Venetian sailor whispered: "This is different from Europe, where sailors are the embodiment of dirty, gamblers, outlaws, and the vast majority of people will only fear us, despise us, and never respect us!"
”"Our peers are different from us!"
Another Venetian sailor said: "Their treatment is so good that people are jealous!"
”A clever sailor laughed: "When they return to Daming empty-handed from the wasteland where they can't find any gold and silver, I don't know if they can still be so respected?"
”Many sailors laughed: "I'm afraid that no one will pay attention to them anymore, just like what happened to Captain Columbus at the beginning!"
”Throughout his life, Christopher Columbus was determined to open a new route to the East, bypassing the barbarian Turks and establishing a maritime Silk Road with the rich East.It took him years to win the trust of the King of Spain, who put together a fleet of ships for him out of his own pocket, personally escorted him aboard, and promised to bring back a shipload of gold for the king when he returned.The rest of the story is known, Columbus discovered the American continent and opened a new page in world history, but he failed to bring back the gold and silver that the Spanish king craved most, and was thrown into prison by the angry king.A young officer, who understood Italian, patted his chest and replied in Italian: "We are different, we are soldiers, even if we do not have military exploits and gold, as long as we return home safely, we will be treated like heroes!"
”The sailors of the city of Venice looked at the military medals on the young officer and looked envious.This kind of silver military merit medal represents honor, this is a second-class merit, and it is not an easy thing to be able to get a second-class merit with a whole body.Amid the loud shouts of the sailors, the anchors were pulled up, and one by one the ships sailed out of the harbor and sailed out of the ocean.