Chapter 560: The Sunken Paddle Steamer
The days at sea were extremely boring. When Khedira and Kassin were so bored that they were competing to see who could pee the farthest, they finally heard the "sound of nature" and Xiao Peng decided to return home.
However, they were not going to Dunkirk but to Norderney Island, which meant they had to sail on the sea for two more days. However, they had been drifting for so long that they certainly didn't care about these two days.
After Xiao Peng reported the sailing route to the Norderney Island Port and submitted the port entry application, he handed the ship over to Walter and others, and returned to the cabin to start organizing the information.
The ship Friedrich mentioned was found, but the result did not satisfy Xiao Peng.
I don't know what William I was thinking at the time, but he actually used a "paddle steamer" to transport gold and jewelry. The "paddle steamer" probably disintegrated due to a storm or other reasons during transportation. The wreckage of the ship and the cargo distribution area under the sea are at least as large as two football fields. Xiao Peng did find gold, but it would be a time-consuming and laborious project to unearth them. After all, many things have been covered by sea sand, and salvage is quite difficult.
Xiao Peng couldn't understand why the Germans, who had defeated the French with ease, would use a paddle steamer to transport their property. This was not in line with the Germans' "rigorous" style at all.
Didn't the Germans at that time start to be "rigorous"?
The earliest ships did not have propellers and were all paddle steamers, which had two large wheels like "water wheels" installed in the middle of the ship or on both sides of the stern for propulsion. Part of these "large wheels" was exposed above the water surface, so they were called "paddle steamers."
This type of paddle steamer was the mainstream of early steamships.
In fact, when the steamship was first invented, the inventors were "walking on two legs", one group researched paddle steamers and the other group researched propeller steamers. However, due to the technical limitations at the time, the speed of the steam engine that drove the propeller was too slow, so it was generally recognized at the time that paddle steamers were much better than propeller steamers.
So for the next half century or so, paddle steamers dominated the world.
But paddle steamers have so many problems! The first is their bulky and inefficient structure. Furthermore, since part of their wheel blades are exposed above the water, the stability of the ship is extremely poor. If they encounter wind and waves, they are prone to problems. The ship currently on the seabed is a good example of this.
So in the 1860s, the "propeller steamer", which once again stood on the podium of victory, began to gradually replace the paddle steamer.
When William I ascended the throne in Paris, it was already the 1880s, but he was still using old-fashioned paddle steamers to transport goods. It has to be said that this is a common problem in agricultural countries that do not attach importance to the ocean.
Although France and Germany are both European powers and have coastal areas, they have never been maritime powers. Like China, they are traditional agricultural countries.
What was the state of global shipping when William I ascended the throne? Just before his ascension, a batch of ironclad warships ordered by the Qing Dynasty from Britain were launched. These were the ships of the Beiyang Fleet.
Their old neighbors had started building propeller warships and selling them to other countries, while Germany was still using paddle steamers at that time. This indeed illustrates the gap between the two countries.
Although Germany defeated France at that time, it could only be regarded as a "little brother" in front of Britain at that time.
Frankly speaking, Germany's rise owes much to William I. He and Bismarck transformed Germany's destiny. They recognized their own shortcomings and began to address them. While developing Germany, they never considered France their primary rival. Their primary perceived enemy wasn't their neighbor, France, but rather Britain, the world's most powerful nation at the time.
Facts have proven that they were right to do so. The 38-day occupation of France during World War II is still a pain that the French can never get over.
In fact, the situation in France during World War I was similar to that during World War II. The Germans also attacked Paris. And what saved Paris at that time was...
Taxi driver!
Taxis transported soldiers from Paris to the battlefield outside Paris, resisting the German attack, which led to France's victory in World War I.
Of course, these taxis were not free. Later, these taxi drivers asked the French government at that time for a large rental fee.
If there is any problem with France as a country, in Xiao Peng's eyes the biggest problem is "monopoly". There is a saying: "There is only one city in France and that is Paris." France's population, politics, and economy are all concentrated in Paris. It is no exaggeration to say that occupying Paris is equivalent to occupying France.
The Germans knew this very well, so whether it was World War I or World War II, they would attack Paris first. Especially in World War II, France even built a "Maginot Line" to resist the Germans. As a result, the Germans did not fight you at all, but directly bypassed the Maginot Line and rushed towards Paris. Once Paris fell, France fell directly.
However, no matter how powerful Germany became later, Germany before William I came to power could only be described as "the tallest among the short ones". It is not difficult to understand why it used a "paddle steamer" that was eliminated by the times to transport wealth: at worst, it would just sink like it is now.
Xiao Peng didn't care what ship they used to transport the wealth. He was concerned about the difficulty of salvaging such a sunken ship. Did they have to turn over all the sand in such a large sea area? Or else, they could use a dredger to pump away all the sand in that area of the sea?
No matter which method is unrealistic, Xiao Peng still has to find a way.
This time he returned to Germany to discuss this matter with Friedrich again.
Originally, he planned to secretly go find Friedrich after arriving at Norderney Island. However, when their ship arrived at Norderney Island, the situation at the dock scared Xiao Peng.
As Aunt Baiyun put it, it was "a sea of people, with gongs and drums blaring, firecrackers blasting, red flags waving." Thousands of people gathered at the dock. Xiao Peng initially thought some kind of celebration was underway on Norderney Island, but after seeing the signs held by some of the people involved, he realized they were coming for him. Many media personnel had also arrived, and before their boats even docked, the camera flashes nearly blinded Xiao Peng.
"Damn it!" Xiao Peng cursed. "How did they know we were back?"
Walter thought for a moment and said, “Boss, is it through the dock?”
Xiao Peng thought about it and looked helpless. This should be the biggest possibility!
In fact, Walter was not wrong!
Don’t underestimate the power of these media people. They have visited almost all the docks along the coast. As long as there is news that Xiao Peng has arrived at the port, they will be notified directly!
These reporters will definitely do anything to get the news!
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