Kays Translations

Chapter 114: Actually it is called “Ironclad Ship”

Responsible for shipbuilding, “Wan Sheng” was covered in oil stains, with several smudges on his face. Despite this, he still greeted Xia Qingqing, Xu Ren, and others with great enthusiasm. His dirty appearance gave him a unique kind of radiance.

Xu Ren looked at the ironclad ship, which was clearly more than fifty meters long, and said, “Wan Sheng, what’s the displacement of this iron-hulled ship? It can’t be just five hundred tons! I remember the young master’s plan was for five hundred tons.”

Wan Sheng burst into laughter, “Sir, you don’t know that later, the young master and I discussed quite a bit, and his idea was— the bigger, the better! Of course, it has to be sturdy enough, powerful enough, and fast enough.

In fact, this is no longer just an iron-hulled ship; its real name should be the ironclad warship!

Come on, let’s go to the deck and take a look. Haha, the ironclad warship belongs to our Anyang’s war machinery!”

Hearing that they could go up and take a look, everyone couldn’t wait to walk up the stairs and instead used a small spell to fly directly onto the deck. Standing on the deck, they instantly turned into curious children.

Xia Qingqing stepped on the deck and said, “This seems to be all sandalwood? That’s so luxurious!”

Sandalwood is considered a “precious” wood, and it’s only used for the flooring in places like the Cheng Tian Hall, where ministers are usually received, the emperor’s study, and the Temple of Heaven where the nation holds sacrifices.

Upon hearing Xia Qingqing’s inquiry, which seemed to carry a hint of reproach, Wan Sheng immediately explained, “Madam, we tested many kinds of wood, and only sandalwood can withstand the harsh environmental tests. When this ship is at sea, it’s not just about humidity; there are also salt and other factors that would cause ordinary wood to rot too quickly.”

“Oh…” Xia Qingqing responded, then looked away.

On the other side, Yan Zean was the first to notice the gun turrets, especially those at the bow of the ship. The long, thick cannon barrel, nearly as thick as his waist and about ten meters long, firmly captured Yan Zean’s attention. “Is this also artillery?”

“Yes, it’s a cannon with a caliber of about 240 millimeters, with a barrel length of 45 times the caliber. This allows the cannon to shoot farther and more accurately.

In comparison, the cannons currently used on land are 150 millimeters in caliber, while those on war machines are 105 millimeters in caliber. Both types have a barrel length of only 20 times their caliber.

So, because the ironclad warship is easier to move, the barrel ratio is over half longer than those on land!” Wan Sheng said proudly.

Yan Zhengqing, however, was drawn to the large gun fixed to the ship’s railing—during the previous battle with Anyang, he had been shot five times by a sniper rifle and nearly lost his life, leaving a deep impression; now, seeing this seemingly fearsome gun made him even more curious.

“This is an automatic cannon!” Wan Sheng explained, “After this period of research, we finally developed a rapid-fire machine gun; however, this is a large-caliber machine gun, exceeding the power of regular firearms, so we call it an automatic cannon. It has a caliber of 30 millimeters and a firing rate of 120 bullets per minute.

As for the power of the automatic cannon, it is twice as powerful as a regular sniper rifle, enough to easily kill a small expert in the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Yan Zhengqing took a sharp breath; he had nearly been killed by a sniper rifle before, and the fact that this automatic cannon was twice as powerful made his pupils contract sharply.

Everyone else was expressing their amazement, but Xu Ren stepped into the cabin. Wan Sheng instructed a regular engineer to accompany the others while he personally followed Xu Ren into the cabin.

“Where’s the power room?”

“Please follow me, sir.” Wan Sheng led the way forward, and after pushing open a large steel door, a cabin about seven or eight meters long and wide appeared. The most eye-catching feature in this cabin was the four engines—what kind of engines were they?

First, they were large; the engines were nearly a person’s height and over three meters long. In front of the four engines, a steel crankshaft, about a foot in diameter, connected through a complex arrangement of gears and linkages.

Seeing such a machine, Xu Ren felt a mix of emotions—nostalgia, strangeness, and shock.

“Please introduce this ship; I want to understand the details. The young master has ordered me to start the naval construction,” Xu Ren said, pulling out a letter from Li Xian.

After reading it, Wan Sheng immediately took out a notebook. “Let me first explain the engines and the power system; this is the biggest challenge in ship production research.”

 

The four engines are no longer encased in jade, but instead are formed from two iron plates. The stator, or the outer casing, is created by placing an array of dark iron wires on the first iron plate, which is then covered by the second iron plate. After that, the iron plates are melted to seal the array formed by the dark iron wires.

The rotor, or the rotating shaft part, is more difficult. We used dark iron to forge two sets of bearings that can transmit spiritual energy to connect to the wires on the rotor.

Additionally, on the outside of the engine, there are coils made of ‘high-resistance dark iron wires.’ By using a sliding handle, we can control the engine’s output power.

The engine can reach a maximum power of 1000 horsepower, with the lowest power controllable at 100 horsepower. The maximum output power of the four engines is 3800 horsepower, with some energy dissipating during transmission.

Furthermore, due to the high power of the engines, the spirit-gathering formation can no longer provide sufficient energy. Therefore, we simply abolished the spirit-gathering formation and completely relied on spirit stones for power. A thousand spirit stones can only sustain operation for one day. Fortunately, we have now resolved the issue of charging spirit stones, so we are not worried about wasting them.”

Xu Ren nodded and asked a few more questions, after which Wan Sheng continued to explain. “We are using a three-blade propeller for propulsion, and the current maximum speed of the ironclad ship is about 40 kilometers per hour.

In addition, the approximate data for the ironclad ship is as follows: length of 52 meters, width of 14 meters, maximum draft of 3 meters, and a narrow arrangement. The total displacement is 1200 tons, the weight of the hull is 220 tons, and the empty weight is 400 tons, including basic living supplies and personnel. The standard load, which is the safe load, is 600 tons, and the maximum load is 800 tons.

The maximum sailing speed is 40 kilometers, with a one-day endurance time, which translates to a sailing distance of 960 kilometers, and a ‘combat radius’ of 480 kilometers.

The minimum sailing speed is 12 kilometers, with an endurance time of up to 8 days, which translates to a sailing distance of 2300 kilometers; the ‘patrol radius’ is 1150 kilometers.”

Listening attentively, Xu Ren suddenly asked, “Is this sailing distance related to the amount of spirit stones?”

“Yes. It’s just that spirit stones are currently scarce, and the technology for charging spirit stones has only just begun. We have only obtained a quota of 1000 spirit stones. These 1000 spirit stones are actually the empty shells of spirit stones that were depleted in the previous war.”

Xu Ren picked up a charged spirit stone to examine it. Compared to normal spirit stones, this charged spirit stone not only has positive and negative poles marked but also has chaotic and violent spiritual energy, making it unsuitable for cultivation. “Indeed, the spiritual energy is chaotic and violent, making it impossible for cultivation, but it can be sold externally without causing trouble.”

Wan Sheng also nodded in agreement: “Yes! Although it’s a pity that it can’t be used for cultivation, this also puts my mind at ease, so there’s no need to worry about soldiers stealing it for practice. Haha…

Let me talk about the weapon system. There is one main gun, a 240-millimeter caliber artillery piece with a 45-caliber barrel. It takes three minutes to complete a single shot, and the estimated shooting range can reach five kilometers; this has yet to be tested in practice.

There are ten secondary guns, using a 150-millimeter caliber, which is the caliber used for land artillery. However, the barrel length has been doubled, increasing the projectile range by about two-thirds.

There are 20 machine guns for close-range sweeping attacks.

The ship can accommodate a full crew of 120 people.

Mr. Xu, once the ironclad ship is completed, I must admire the young master’s vision. Just this one ironclad ship is worth ten thousand elite soldiers. Its deterrent power is absolutely unimaginable!

Furthermore, the hull is covered with a true essence shield made of dark iron wires. This true essence shield can defend against foundational stage attacks but requires a massive amount of spirit stones to maintain.

Sir, I can’t wait any longer; let’s hurry and give the order for a test voyage! The true power needs to be verified in practice!”

Xu Ren’s expression became serious again as he pulled out a command paper: “Wan Sheng, the young master is giving you a choice. Do you want to be a general in the navy, or do you want to be the director of the shipyard?

Starting with the navy, Anyang is looking to try military-civilian separation. Now, you have a choice!”

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter