Chapter 954 Other Blueprints
After the procession passed, the road was finally open. The excited citizens discussed the event, feeling they had gained much knowledge and seen many weapons they’d never heard of before. They also marveled at the power of the Holy Roman Empire, wondering if their own army’s equipment was inferior.
“Older Brother Jayad, put me down. I have something to discuss with Mr. Zhang. You and Miss Leo Man can chat for now.” I asked Older Brother Jayad to set me down. It was quite comfortable being carried after getting used to it.
I followed Mr. Zhang upstairs. He solemnly handed me the blueprints. Instead of looking at the Strategic Transport Ship, I seriously asked him, “Are you really planning to buy those small gunboats from Britain? And those ramming cruisers?”
“What? Is there a problem?” Mr. Zhang asked, surprised. He had actually noticed our strange expressions just now.
“I’ll tell you directly, they’re a bunch of trash. Don’t buy them,” I said.
“You can’t be serious. The British and the Minister as well as the other officials have explained the benefits of these ships in detail. They can carry a small number of experts to suppress enemy projectiles, approach at high speed, and after ramming, engage in boarding combat. Crucially, they are very cheap,” Mr. Zhang explained.
As I talked with him, I discovered that there were even more bizarre ideas in this world. They intended to have a Knight stand on a small boat, using their martial arts and swordplay to suppress enemy cannonballs, and then boarding the enemy ship upon approach.
This was even more anachronistic than the ramming tactics I had previously considered. It was akin to pirate tactics. The advantage of such small boats was a smaller target area. An expert could protect the entire boat, ignoring projectiles that missed and deflecting those that hit with their swords.
This was truly a unique style of this world, and it made my blood pressure rise. Wasn’t this just like aerial combat? Emphasizing individual prowess, with the ship merely serving as a mount, as long as it was fast.
“The problem is, these are flat-bottomed boats. Even if they aren’t hit directly, they could capsize if struck on the side. As for the unprotected cruisers, they’d sink with a single hit. Knights, being in these tin cans, would just sink to the bottom and feed the fish. What else could you call this if not a trap?” I pointed out some blind spots to him.
“These drawbacks were also mentioned during discussions before the procurement. However, martial arts experts from the East can walk on water, and even if the ship is sunk, they can board the enemy vessel,” Mr. Zhang said.
“Then what’s the difference between that and buying a speedboat? If the goal is just to send strong individuals to the enemy ship, is there any need to spend a fortune buying cruisers and gunboats?” I asked, puzzled.
“This…” Mr. Zhang hesitated. In the navy’s plans, there were other tactical combinations, such as aerial cover, strong individuals boarding to distract the enemy, and gunboats providing support. However, he seemed unsure how to articulate it.
Indeed, having speedboats carrying experts to charge forward seemed similar. But what was the difference between that and not buying any ships? Without tonnage and large cannons, how could they report back to the higher-ups?
I could see what he was agonizing over at a glance and said directly, “Your thinking is flawed from the start, and the British are also wrong. Regarding experts, which country doesn’t have a few? Didn’t the Eastern Ying people used to like boarding ships when they were pirates? Why don’t they use such tactics anymore? Of course, it’s because they know it’s useless. They’d definitely die from concentrated gunfire.”
I had witnessed it that night when the Chief Knight sent people to ambush me. A very powerful expert was killed by a crossfire of machine guns, and even Lavias, who was so strong, was severely wounded by a group of Priests.
That night, I was also quite harassed by snipers. Even Older Brother Jayad, who was unafraid of bullets, was pinned down by grenades this morning, unable to move.
Therefore, I understood that even powerful individuals would still die miserably when cornered and attacked. War would never be decided by the martial prowess of a few strong individuals. Strong individuals could be added as a trump card, but the battle’s outcome could not solely depend on them.
I explained these principles to Mr. Zhang, but he said with a wry smile, “What you’re telling me is useless. I’m just a supervisor for the Iberian Empire and can’t control matters concerning Great Britain. Even if the British Minister listened to my advice, the orders for those ships have already been placed, and they’ve even given us the blueprints. It’s impossible to cancel them.”
As he spoke, he took out several more design drawings for me to look at. To my shock, these blueprints were actually for warships delivered by Britain, France, and Germany. I asked in astonishment, “You, you brought the warship blueprints from the other three countries too?!”
Mr. Zhang smiled awkwardly and said, “Originally, I was considering bringing them as comparative references when discussing specific parameters for the ships with you. You’ll understand why I could bring them out after flipping through them.”
I casually flipped through them and understood. These were not detailed design blueprints, but rather conceptual sketches with performance parameters and general layouts of the warships, unlike the detailed design blueprints for the Strategic Transport Ship that depicted every aspect of its construction.
“You should have shown me this earlier,” I said. This was quite interesting, and I flipped through several pages.
“These are the bidding blueprints given to us when each country was bidding and placing orders. Every country’s delegation was given a copy for mutual reference of other countries’ warship performance indicators. However, even showing such blueprints is taboo,” Mr. Zhang said.
So that’s how it was. His initial intention wasn’t to let me see them, but only as a contingency. It seemed he was still holding back somewhat, but that was understandable. It was impossible to trust me completely.
However, even though these blueprints were merely bidding and conceptual drawings, they were enough for me. Countless pieces of knowledge flooded my mind, and I began to deduce the shortcomings and development paths of these warships.
After reviewing the warships from various countries, I saw that the warships in this world had undergone some changes. For instance, the dreadnoughts ordered from the Holy Roman Empire already showed traces of the dual-gun turrets characteristic of battleships.
Simultaneously, the British gunboats, by adopting steam cannons, had more power than conventional artillery, but they were still single-shot affairs. The ramming cruisers also had a special function of steam jet acceleration, seemingly venturing further down a misguided path.
“If canceling the order is not an option, I can help you modify the blueprints. However, it will only be minor repairs and adjustments. Performance might improve somewhat, but it’s unlikely to be of great use,” I said, rubbing my head. The rapid deduction had given me a headache.
Mr. Zhang looked at me with some hesitation. On the one hand, he wasn’t sure if I could truly design warships. On the other hand, even if I did make modifications, he didn’t have much reward to offer me.
Most importantly, even if I could significantly improve the warships’ performance, how could he translate it into practical application? Demanding the factory to build according to my modifications would be overstepping bounds and offending foreigners.
Taking them back to modify myself—forget about having the technology and conditions—modification would incur more costs, and securing funding would be difficult.
But in the end, Mr. Zhang nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll trouble you with this.”
