Chapter 434 Britain plays the French card (Second update, please subscribe)
Military weapon!
No other type of gun has ever been so highly praised. In the Battle of Paraná, or river battle, the performance of the Type 68 20mm Gatling machine gun simply dazzled everyone.
In this era when the firing rate of recoil guns was only 1 to 3 rounds per minute, the hand-cranked Gatling machine gun had a firing rate of 150 to 200 rounds. Although the 20mm shells were not very powerful, they were definitely handy for attacking wooden-hulled ships.
For this reason, after the Battle of Paraná, the Navy immediately placed a new order with the arsenal to develop a more powerful Gatling gun, with a caliber of about 40 mm and a range of 2,500 meters. It can penetrate a 40 mm to 50 mm thick steel plate at a distance of 300 meters...
Although the requirements put forward by the Navy seem very demanding, everyone knows what kind of changes such weapons will bring to naval warfare once they appear on the sea.
In fact, after the Battle of Paraná, the Type 68 Gatling machine gun became famous overnight, and Nanhua's gunboats attracted the attention of navies of various countries almost immediately.
"It has an extremely high speed, which is said to be able to reach over 20 knots. Speed itself is its weapon. This high-speed boat is very difficult to hit. Even if it is hit with a shotgun, it is difficult to cause a fatal blow. However, it also has an extremely deadly weapon - the Gatling gun!"
"We have reason to believe that the caliber of Nanhua's Gatling machine gun is about 20 mm, and its shells should weigh more than 150 grams. It is believed that this type of shells using the same fuse is the source of its power!"
"With the help of the released Brazilian naval officers, we learned that this large artillery shell uses an impact fuse, which can easily blow a hole as small as a book under the wooden hull of a warship. The most deadly thing is that it can fire hundreds of shells in a minute!"
…
Almost immediately, naval attachés from Britain, France and other countries stationed in Brazil or Buenos Aires learned about this weak artillery through various channels.
They understand and it works!
In 1870, the total tonnage of the British Royal Navy was 630,000 tons, but the non-armored ships were as little as 300,000 tons. The French Navy had 457,000 tons of ships, half of which were non-armored ships. As for the Russian Navy, less than 80% of its warships were non-armored ships.
What is a non-armored ship?
Yes, it’s a wooden warship.
The Battle of Paraná proved that wooden-hulled warships were completely vulnerable to the attack of Gatling machine guns!
However, the navies of various countries have a large number of wooden-hulled warships, ranging from half to 10% to 40%. How could they care about this "underwater assassin" that can easily send wooden-hulled warships back to the bottom of the sea?
In those European naval annals, when a small amount of text was used to describe that magical weapon, the naval attachés of European countries in South China tried hard to learn about that weapon through various channels.
Of course, it would be better if we could buy that kind of weapon. But, this is obviously a possible thing. How can we show military weapons to others?
Philippe's Restaurant in Buenos Aires is a low-end French restaurant. Officials from the small embassy have always been frequent customers here. After all, the British and French embassies are just far away, and this is also a place where diplomatic officials from the two countries communicate privately.
"Want to try the wine of failure?"
Yan Yi asked while looking at the menu.
"I heard that it is the liquor that the South Chinese hate the most."
"Let's drink red wine. The taste of failed wine is much worse than cheap corn whiskey. It's hard for Europeans to get used to that taste."
Yan Yi shook his head and said that he had tasted that kind of wine at a reception held by the South China Army. Until now, he finally understood why the South China people hated such strong liquor.
Although they represent two different countries, they act like friends when they sit at the dining table and chat. In fact, they are truly friends, and their military identity does not hinder their friendship.
Before ordering, Marty craned his neck to look around, then he said.
"Bell, you must have asked me to come here for that thing this time!"
"That's for sure. We all know that it, like the flying boat, has fundamentally changed the rules of war. Of course, it may have no effect on armored ships, but both the Royal Navy and the French Navy have a large number of wooden warships, and other countries are even more so."
"That's true. Before the armored ships appeared, all wooden ships became obsolete overnight. But before it appeared, all wooden ships were eliminated!"
Yan Yi nodded repeatedly in agreement. Then the waiter brought the wine over and poured them some. They toasted each other and tasted the red wine. Bell glanced at him.
"I asked you to come this time because you know what I am thinking. I hope that we can jointly make a request to South China."
Bell continued,
"We can all make it, but we're all vague. They only have a new large artillery fuse and some kind of weaker explosive."
Bell, the British naval attaché in Buenos Aires, made this judgment based entirely on some speculation.
"We all know that Nanhua's chemical industry is very developed. As early as ten years ago, they had already produced new explosives. It is also very unusual that they can produce new explosives now."
Marty took a bite of steak and continued.
"But, we all know that this is just speculation! They are very secretive!"
"Yes, Nanhua is a place that pays great attention to confidentiality. I've been there. In that place, they will only show you what they want you to see. You don't know anything else. What's it called? Even if you want to know through some people, you can only know the confidentiality level? Is that what you mean? It means that everyone can access those secrets, just like the airship. Even if we purchased the airship, we can only send our engineers to supervise the manufacturing. Because of the confidentiality level, at most we can only know the degree of confidentiality."
While complaining about Nanhua's confidentiality system, Bell was complaining in his heart. According to the practice of various countries, before customizing weapons, they can send people to the factory to visit the manufacturing process, which is actually an opportunity to steal the skills. However, it is the same here in Nanhua. It is just for you to see.
At the very least, the buyer will be invited to visit a few times during the manufacturing process to see the manufacturing progress of the ordered airship.
As for visiting other places, it is possible. Of course, the manufacturing process and the whole process supervision are also possible.
"But yes, it's the same for us."
In this regard, Nanhua is still very fair and treats the French and the British equally.
"But you can buy what you need from them!"
Bell couldn't help but complain. Compared with France, they were less wary of Britain. Very few things were shared with Britain.
"Yes,"
Marty leaned back in his comfortable chair, looked at Bell with a smile on his face and said.
"After all, we are closer to them."
"So, I want to ask you for a favor."
Bell looked at him and said,
"You know, we all need that thing, but you can get it more difficult. I hope that before you get it, you can share some with us. Of course, I will definitely return your friendship. After all, this is for the friendship between us."
When Bell said the word "friendship", he emphasized it. No one was very clear about what he meant by friendship.
"For our friendship, huh?"
Yan Yi said with a smile.
"Yes, I know. How much do you think our friendship is worth?"
Everyone is realistic, and Marty is no exception. Even though he is a French officer, so what? He also thinks that selling some things is nothing big, and besides, it is not selling any French secrets, but taking out some of the things that France bought from South China.
This is not a betrayal of France. At the very least, it is a betrayal of South China. Of course, this betrayal must be free of charge, and the British must pay for what they get.
"10,000 pounds!"
Bale directly made an offer that no one could agree to.
"Ten thousand..."
Marty looked at Bell in surprise. He was silent for a long time before speaking.
"Okay, but I need time. I need time to convince the South Chinese to sell those weapons to us."
Today is the fourth update. Yesterday was delayed by something. I will continue to update four more tomorrow... Please subscribe, please bookmark, please reward, please do whatever you want. I have set up a book friend group: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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