Open Day

The Free Trade's first day in Port of London wasn't entirely open to the Britain. This was natural, as there's always some commotion when a ship first arrives in London. And indeed, some things did happen. For example, a French Navy chaplain who had disembarked from the warship encountered a reporter, who asked, "Chaplain, what are your thoughts on the France prostitutes on the streets of London?"

"What? France prostitutes in London?" the priest exclaimed in surprise.

Then that afternoon, an evening paper published the following news. "The French Navy chaplain, upon landing, immediately inquired about streetwalkers in London."

Of course, nobody cares what these tabloids say. Besides, it's a good thing that an army chaplain finds a prostitute, provides her with financial assistance, and tries to save her soul. It's nothing serious.

Although the "Free Trade" was not officially open to the public that day, as long as people didn't board the ship, no one would bother them if they got close. So, some people gathered around to observe the ship.

This immediately resolved a key question about the Free Trade ": why did it possess such outstanding defensive capabilities? Although the "Free Trade 'Free Trade " external steel plates were coated with a dark brown paint, making it appear similar to wooden planks from a distance, at such close range—close enough to almost touch—the differences between the external steel plates and the ship's planks were easily discernible.

"So it really really does have an external iron plate." An agent from the Sixth Investigation Section couldn't help but sigh as he gazed at the Free Trade " so close at hand. Several colleagues from the Sixth Investigation Section had already sacrificed their lives to uncover the secrets of this ship's defenses. Now, the secrets they hadn't been able to obtain even with their lives were right in front of them, available to them without paying any price. This was truly... truly made one question the meaning of life.

"Given the France advantage in steelmaking, these are probably steel plates," a British Navy officer thought to himself, watching the Free Trade.

Of course, that was all the secrets the Britain could learn on the first day. On the second day, the first group of guests boarded the deck of the Free Trade, almost all of whom were officers of the British Navy, including both commanding officers and many technical officers.

These officers were generally very disciplined; they wouldn't reach out their gloved hands to grope around on the France warships without their masters' permission. Although some Britain newspapers later published absurd stories like "reaching out and touching a handful of dust on the cannons" to belittle the France and embolden themselves, the truth is, the Britain really didn't grope indiscriminately.

However, the Britain were quite blunt when it came to asking questions, asking all sorts of things, since they wouldn't lose anything by asking. To their surprise, the France accompanying them actually answered most of the questions.

"Captain Zola, I've noticed that the 'Free Trade' has external armor plates hanging on its exterior. I'd like to ask if these armor plates are made of wrought iron or steel?" asked a Britain officer with the rank of major on his shoulder.

"It's steel plate," Captain Zola replied.

"Then may I ask about its thickness, and how do you ensure that they don't suffer from serious corrosion during voyages?" the British Army major then asked.

"I can tell you the thickness of the steel plate; it's about 20 millimeters. As for rust prevention, that's a trade secret of 'Lorraine Steel Company.' We don't know anything about it. If you want to know about these things, you can ask them."

Then, led by the France, they entered the gun bay of the Free Trade ".

"Gentlemen, this is the gun bay of the Free Trade '. Our ship is a steam-powered warship, so compared to ordinary warships, we have an additional engine room and coal bunker, which take up a lot of space. This makes our gun bay relatively small, as the number of cannons we can equip is relatively much smaller," explained Lieutenant Adrian, the gunnery officer in charge of the introduction. "However, this is not a problem, because we are equipped with the world's most advanced and powerful breech-loading rifled steel guns, which makes our firepower actually stronger than that of ordinary warships of the same tonnage."

"Captain, you just mentioned that you're using breech-loading cannons?" another British Navy technical officer quickly asked.

"Yes, it's a breech-loading cannon, which makes our cannons fire at a rate several times higher than that of a regular muzzle-loading cannon," Captain Adrian replied.

"Then, may I take a closer look at this cannon?" the technical officer asked again.

"Absolutely. We France have no need to keep secrets from our friends. In fact, if you're interested, you can even simulate the firing procedure yourself under the guidance of Captain Adrian," Captain Zola said, his tone so sincere that it seemed as if France and Britain were truly friends.

The Britain, of course, wouldn't let such an opportunity pass, so several Britain officers quickly asked, "How do we simulate it?"

"I need ten men to form a makeshift gun crew," Captain Adrian said. "Then I'll guide you through the entire operation."

The Britain gathered together and discussed it briefly before electing ten people.

"Captain, we are now your subordinates. You can give us orders now," a British Army lieutenant colonel said to Captain Adrian.

The artillery crew before him was definitely the highest-ranking artillery crew Adrian had ever seen; there wasn't a single officer in the entire crew below the rank of colonel. Adrian felt that he would have new material to brag about when he returned.

Adrian called these "cannon crew members" over, led them to the cannon, and briefly explained its structure and loading method. He found that these guys had a very good understanding; they understood almost immediately, far surpassing the young men under his command.

However, when it came to actual operation, Adrian immediately decided to retract his earlier idea, because these Britain officers were far inferior to his young men in one aspect: muscle strength and coordination. These Britain officers who temporarily served as his gunners were technical officials; they were experts in cannons. But they were experts in researching cannons, not experts in operating them. So, what should have been a faster rate of fire for breech-loading cannons was, under their operation, slower than a muzzle-loading cannon.

However, everyone was well aware of the reasons for this result. The Britain officers present also came to the conclusion that saying it could be four or five times faster might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was indeed possible to be three or four times faster.

After the "gun crew members" finally loaded the training ammunition into the shells, closed the breech, and completed the simulated firing, they returned to the line of visitors. A colonel quietly asked one of the "gunners," "Did you get a clear look at the structure of the breech-loading gun?"

"I see, the structure isn't too complicated, but the manufacturing process might be somewhat difficult, and the cost will be considerably higher," the gunner replied. "However, considering that one cannon can roughly function as three, I think it's still worthwhile."

"Considering the space saved, even if it can only be used as 1.5 cannons, and the price will be three or four times higher, it's still worth it," another "gunner" chimed in.

Of course, the reason the Britain thought the claim of a four- or five-fold increase in rate of fire was exaggerated was quite simple— the France were using separate-loading training rounds. In reality, however, these guns could use fixed-load rounds that loaded much faster.

After touring the cannons, the France led them to the lowest deck of the warship, which was actually below the waterline. Here, there was something else they could boast about to the Britain —the steel keel of the "Free Trade."

The visiting Britain were all experts, and when they saw the steel keel, they immediately concluded. "If the France have enough steel production, launching a fleet would be incredibly easy. The most crucial material limitation has been overcome."

This was also the last item on the itinerary for these Britain. A Britain officer even asked if they could see the steam engine, but Captain Zola immediately refused. "No, the steam engine holds many secrets."

"Didn't we say we're friends? Shouldn't friends have secrets?" a Britain joked.

"Ah, theoretically that's true," Captain Zola replied. "If it only contained naval materials, that would be fine. But it also contains trade secrets of our civilian companies. For them, everyone except their customers could be a future competitor. So..."

So the Britain shrugged, and the matter was dropped. In fact, the Britain had seen enough today, far more than they had anticipated.

"The France aren't really that great. Their key is having a lot of steel." A Britain technical officer couldn't help but blurt out after disembarking. "Seriously, how much steel did this ship use? They're practically treating steel like wrought iron! This is incredibly wasteful!"

"Who among you understands their rust-proofing technology for steel?" someone asked.

"It seems to be just painting?"

"Those outer armor plates might be, since they're clearly removable and replaceable. But what about her keel? Can paint alone prevent rust?"

"We need to expedite our research on this."