Chapter 414

The night wind is gentle and the shallow waves are long.

The sea of Muscat has a warm and humid climate. Even in the cold winter, you can't feel the sting of the winter night. Everything is so pleasant.

A gentleman's evening tea party is being held on the varkiri. More than a dozen wind lights illuminate an inch of the bow of the ship, and several sofas are placed in a semicircle, facing the lightless and flameless Matola harbor.

Lorraine poured tea for manager Baker and raised her hand.

"The ship is simple and crude. Although the matching proportion is no problem, the matching people are sailors with thick hands and feet. I often say that they even have sea salt seeping through their fingers, and everything they do is a little salty. I hope they can bear the burden."

Manager Baker took a nice drink, tasted it for a long time, and let out a long, Frank breath.

"It's the taste of the south of the motherland. It's fascinating calm and tranquility. The president's requirements for tea are too harsh."

"English people can't make do with tea and breakfast."

"Indeed."

In the other corner, Carmen was holding a tea cup in a reserved manner. Behind him stood little Sharon with a lady's swallow tail, and next to her was her hometown of Spain, Mr. mobadi.

Mr. mumbardi sighed: "manager Xavier's situation is really enviable. He is in charge of the steering wheel in a super chamber of Commerce like Drake at a young age, not to mention that you are so beautiful."

"I often wonder how much the Lord's preference for people can reach? It's hard to surpass your degree."

"That's because I met a president who doesn't talk about men and women, Mr. mobadi." Carmen smiled and put down his tea cup. "You should know that if I were in Spain, I couldn't do anything except being the ornament of a gentleman's social field."

"The same is true in France," interrupted Mr. Illich.

At this time, medori suddenly laughed three times with complacency: "that's why Mr. Drake should be born in Holland. It is well known that Holland is the beacon of freedom!"

"I think the Netherlands is a self righteous light..." Illich muttered and faced Carmen. "Manager Xavier, the evening tea in England is delicious, but I want to know the reason why Mr. Drake is generous."

"You don't look like a French gentleman at all, old friend." it was medori again, whose big belly never seemed to hide his words, "Tonight, there are the richest young people in the world, the most powerful Spanish beauty in the world, the financial agent of the British king in Africa, and our friends. Do we have to have a clear theme? No, we just need to enjoy it!"

Illich would especially like to tear up the smelly mouth in meledo, but his cultivation made him resist.

He smiled awkwardly: "Mr. medori spoke my heart. Unfortunately, I still have the expectations of my employer. Manager Xavier, if it's convenient..."

"In fact, I'm also curious about how the ibasta chamber of Commerce sent Mr. medori to participate in this delegation. His character is very forthright. He should be more suitable to become a supervisor, and he will certainly become an excellent supervisor."

Carmen covered his mouth and bent his eyes.

"However, there is really no clear theme tonight, but Muscat has arranged a performance. The president knows that you will be awakened. In that case, it's better for everyone to get together and talk about leisure. When the performance is over, it will be particularly sweet when you go to sleep."

"Performance?" mumbadi frowned. "Is the Sultan going to abandon his capital? Or are the omanians ready to die? I remember their fleet has sunk into the sea? Even their navy Marshal has become a slave of your Chamber of Commerce..."

"The show doesn't stop at sea, maybe on land?" asked Carmen.

"Land?"

The three gentlemen just wanted to get to the bottom of the matter. Little Sharon snapped her pocket watch, leaned close to Carmen's ear and whispered a few words.

Carmen nodded to Lorraine and stood up: "gentlemen, Muscat's performance is about to begin. Please move the side of the ship, where the vision is better..."

……

The top floor of Milani castle.

Acharin drew a complicated curve on the drawing board with a wind lamp.

"Wind direction."

"The wind direction is northwest and the wind speed is 3.5 knots. It's OK."

"Weather."

"Shaoyun, there is no risk of rainfall in two hours."

"It seems that God intervened tonight, and the scheduled rainfall was cancelled." acharin sneered. "Order, all guns ready, solid ammunition loaded, firing angle 25 to 30 degrees of freedom, heading due west."

"Angle 25 to 30 degrees of freedom, due west, distance 2000 to 3000. Target Matola port wharf, berth and coastal fort, no differential coverage."

"Lift the gun coat!"

"Debug the gun!"

"Artillery order, cancel the test firing, three rapid shots from the whole artillery!"

"After rapid shooting, turn to suppression according to the prior grouping. The shooting sequence is group 1, group 2, group 3 and group 4! The shooting interval within the group is 2 minutes and the shooting interval between groups is 30 seconds."

"The scheduled artillery time is three hours, and each artillery has a designated rotation sequence!"

"Ready!"

Acharin snapped open his pocket watch. Beside him, deputy gun Kerry and the heralds also opened their pocket watches at the same time.

The pocket watch in this period is far from accurate timing, and the error of more than ten minutes a day is a normal phenomenon.

But they also have their own means, that is, setting benchmarks and using pocket watches as stopwatches.

Just listen to acharin say, "based on my time, gentlemen, three minutes countdown."

His orders quickly reached the whole roof.

Seeing that the instructions had been issued, the Kerry thief came up with a smile: "gunner, don't you tell us about today?"

"Today?"

"You taught us that uninspired operations are mediocre and boring. Such Gunners can't attack people's souls directly, and they will be replaced by machines sooner or later."

"I even heard the chief officer say that the maritime group has begun to study semi-automatic steam gun operation devices, such as ammunition supply, debugging, firing and cleaning. Once they are on board..."

"Are you worried?" acharin lifted his eyes and glanced at his deputy. "Technicians are really not suitable for staying with the crew."

As he spoke, he stood up, put aside his drawing board and went straight to the west edge of the castle.

"The steam gun was suggested by the commander, but it has never been applied to the front chamber plan. It is matched with the rear chamber gun which is also in the research and development stage. They also have a common premise, the steam warship plan."

"This plan is the future research focus of the Miami center and involves a lot of human and material resources of the whole chamber of Commerce. Because it has not been officially launched, many members have not even been notified."

"For example, you." acharin deflated. "You belong to the fire control project. When you start to build the theory, you will be notified."

"Reason... Theory what?" Kerry blinked innocent big eyes. "Gunner, I was on a warship when I was young. I started to learn theory from the butterfly flower. Theory..."

"Know nothing, or start from scratch." today's acharin is rarely serious. "When the governor put forward this plan, he told us that the future merchant ships and warships will become two distinct species."

"Just like our proud valkiri, he can easily challenge Portuguese navigators just by wearing iron armor."

"Future warships will completely abandon wood, iron floating islands will float on the sea, steam opportunity will replace wind as the source of power, and the current artillery will pose no threat to them."

"Merchant ships are not like this. The cost of steam iron ships is too high, but their carrying capacity will not be improved qualitatively. They will still be wood. In order to protect themselves at sea, they can only be fast and faster, so fast that they can't even catch up with the current fleet directly under them!"

"That may be a hundred years later. But who knows? It may only take 50 or 30 years..."

He turned around and stared at Kerry like a beast.

"Know nothing, or start from scratch!"

"The governor has passed a resolution in the board of directors. Drake must become the first chamber of commerce with corresponding technology in the world, whether it is a speeding merchant ship, a steam driven iron Island, or a new type of artillery that can capture a spaceship and sink an iron island."

"That will bring us inexhaustible resources and money, as well as honor and status comparable to the king."

"But it can't be done by those shipbuilders and nerds alone. They don't know the ocean, so we can understand it."

"Know nothing or learn from scratch, Kerry, you have been destroyed by the steam engine once in your life. If you don't want to be destroyed a second time, join in..."

"Report! The five minute clock is over and all are ready!"

Not far away, the herald screamed.

With a sneer, acharin put aside the broken hair in front of his forehead and ordered to the night wind: "the covering shelling of Matola port begins. Gentlemen, the Omani people need to know that the times are changing."