Chapter 218: Bombardment training on large ships
The training in the afternoon left everyone out of breath—not just tired, but the gunpowder was the main reason. They were conducting artillery training.
The current position of the fleet is the shooting range in Penghu, which is good for supplies, good for Xuanwei, and shows the passing ships around.
Training is combat. For the purpose of actual combat, all officers and soldiers entered combat positions at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The training subjects included simulation and live ammunition training.
Simulation is the training of cannon propulsion, which is of great value, but after all, it is not as good as the real cannon.
Yan Changwu determined that in order to prepare the sailors for combat, nothing can compare to the explosion of a real shell, let alone teach them to aim the muzzle in the right direction.
The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold, only to keep shooting! Fight! Fight!
Let the officers and soldiers form a "conditional reflex", let everyone move their hands and feet faster than their heads, and hit the enemy's vital points in a shelling, and then there is a chance of victory!
Otherwise, when the battle is in the battle, it will be a very important round, and what is missing is the shell. You are still thinking about the past and the future in the gun position, thinking about how to fight this gun, then you will undoubtedly lose!
Artillery is practiced!
He believes in this theory very much. In order to allow his artillery team to have sufficient training, he did not hesitate to import a large amount of gunpowder and homemade gunpowder, and set up huge ammunition depots in Kaohsiung, Taipei and other places. Most of his money was spent. As far as armaments are concerned, every shelling shot turns silver dollars into blue smoke.
Others are heartbroken, but Yan Changwu thinks it is worth it.
After training, some officers and soldiers of the Fujian Navy thought that the amount of guns fired by the Southeast Fleet in one month of training was equal to the amount of guns fired by the Fujian Navy... in ten years!
The shelling training in the afternoon gave everyone a disarm, training from two o'clock to eight o'clock in the evening!
The continuous sound of cannons is not a trivial matter. The well-fighted artillery squad has officers’ food, while the inferior artillery squad is responsible for cleaning the deck and washing the bathroom the next morning!
No one wants to smell the "tempting" smell of Yoneda Ko.
Sea allowance will be deducted again!
Everyone is very earnestly firing every cannon. During the day, they hit the red circles drawn on the rocks in the sea, and at night they lit up a pool of bonfires on the rocks.
……
The artillery blasted, and the officers headed by Yan Changwu patrolled the upper and lower gun decks, paying particular attention to the bulwark planks on both sides.
During the bombardment, the entire weight of the cannon body was retracted sharply, and then the shell was launched with a whistling sound from the tail. The recoil was great, and the retreat distance of the gun body was several meters. In order to reduce the recoil distance of the cannon, a cable must be used. , Chains and sandbags. Among them, a reset cable passes through the ring behind the gun body and is connected to the bulwark planks.
Such a wooden board is pulled by recoil, and if it is not strong, it will tear the bulwark.
The 24-pounder gun is very powerful, with a range of 1,350 meters when the firing angle is 4 degrees; when the firing angle is raised to 8 degrees, it can reach 2,250 meters. At a distance of 100 meters, a solid shell fired by a 24-pound gun can penetrate 5 feet of oak, and the pieces of wood broken by it are enough to kill people and cause great damage.
penetrates 1.5 meters of oak! (1 foot = 0.3048 meters)
The world is fair. The greater the power, the greater the force that pulls the wooden wall of one's own house. Maybe the wooden wall will crack once it is shot down.
The power of the 18-pounder gun is not small. Yan Changwu pursues fierce firepower, and the Fukien fir used in the Southeast Fleet’s shipbuilding is known to be no different from oak, but it is also known as it. It is still a little bit behind the durability of oak. And this distance is probably the last straw that overwhelms the camel's back.
Therefore, the engineers at Kaohsiung Shipyard used enhanced technology. First, nailed a large metal plate to the wooden wall, and then fixed the reset cable to the metal plate. In this way, the recoil of the gun was dispersed by the metal plate, and the engineer was afraid that it would not be strong enough. In addition, two more vertical woods were nailed to the metal plate to act as stiffeners. Both sides of the muzzle were treated in this way, which was ugly as patched, but it ensured the firmness of the wooden wall.
So, many aspects of the Nanhai first level are ideal, but there are also many aspects that are simple and simple. After all, it is the first time, and it is a rush to work. It is quite an urgent matter.
After many rounds of shelling, the joints on the wooden wall seemed unbreakable and withstood the test.
"Awesome!" Yan Changwu said joyfully.
……
For a while, the fleet has been soaking in the Penghu Islands, where a living base has been established. The warships do not dock, and the supply ships are constantly sending live livestock and poultry plus fresh fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh water to the warships. Officers and soldiers Tired is a little tired, but living conditions are good.
In the oncoming swells and waves, the warships bumped up and down, their seaworthiness was quite good, they were relaxed and in first-class condition.
In the wind and waves, they opened the gun door on the lower gun deck for bombardment training. The waves sprayed in through the gun door, making the officers and soldiers embarrassed!
The conditions are full. The sea water makes the deck smooth. People passing by will slip and fall. The sea water is still wet with gunpowder, so I have to carry new gunpowder to the battle position as soon as possible.
The sea water rushed in more and more, and it flowed everywhere along the cracks. The sea water under the bilge had not passed the feet, so I started pumping water and got busy.
clamor, curse, curse and complain everywhere!
The results of the bombardment that day were very unsatisfactory. The fight was slow and not counted. The fight seemed like sleepwalking. The shells were all hitting the plane!
Yan Changwu looked at the statistics table and didn't curse, but ordered to follow the rules: good fights get rewards, bad fights clean the toilet.
After all, there is progress compared with before. When the four Southeast-class battleships encountered big storms, they had no results!
Their artillery doors were low from the sea, and they did not dare to open the artillery doors to avoid flooding. As a result, the main guns on the lower gun deck could not be fired, and the battleship's firepower was suddenly downgraded to become a cruise ship. (Although the army’s dogma says to fight the enemy, even if there are strong winds and waves, you must open the cannon door to fight, but just talk about it. It depends on what the wind and waves are. When the strong wind and waves surging through the cannon door, you can’t even shoot the artillery. , How to fight?)
The South China Sea level is different~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The guns on the lower gun deck are higher from the sea, with better seaworthiness and strong pumping capacity, which significantly improves its combat performance. As long as it is not excessively large waves, it still dares to open. The artillery port on the gun deck engages in battle.
After everyone left, he looked at the statistics table and thought that everything would happen. The deck was smooth. It would be nice if there were rubber soles, but this was a new topic.
……
During their continuous training, Yan Changwu felt that he was constantly improving and becoming a real seaman by performing his duties as a captain. He could sensitively feel where the land is, where the water is deep and shallow, and know the direction of the wind every day. Rules, know how to get the upper hand, know how to deal with various sea conditions.
In the past, he had to think and calculate, but now he almost pointed out the right course without thinking. He saw Mr. David’s relieved gaze. He is the captain of the voyage. He taught Yan Changwu what he knew, so he could be proud of himself in the future. I taught the sailing skills of "Today"!
It takes training and constant training to form a conditioned reflex. Only when we have a chance to win against those old pirates who are born in the red hair fan.
Now they are approaching the mainland. Behind his right shoulder, you can see the black land that is fading to the sea level and appearing occasionally. The big ship is not slow to move. They are driving against the wind and walking in a zigzag pattern. They have repeatedly grabbed The speed of the wind adjustment, the big ship's turning speed is much faster than the previous flagship, the sailing speed has been above six knots, which is very remarkable, considering that this is a large battleship!
Follow this route for several hours, then let the fleet almost face the wind and deviate one or two compass points to the left from the current direction to reach the destination.
Xiamen!
It's time to come out for a stroll and let Governor Zou see our battleship!
