After dinner, Vitus returned to the study and wrote a letter to his eldest son, informing him to come back and get married as soon as possible.
Things have been busy recently, so Vitus left the wedding-related matters to Agnes, "It's up to you. If you have any doubts about a certain link, you can seek help from the Queen Mother. Also, don't spend too much money, just meet the normal standards."
Early the next morning, Vitus left the palace and happened to meet Thomas near the palace gate, "Are you going to go hunting again?"
Thomas was fixing the saddles for the horses and looked at his brother with confusion, "I'm not going hunting today. I plan to inspect various industries in the city and suburbs to prevent the stewards from fooling me. Why are you going out so early? Today's Imperial Council is cancelled?"
"I'm not dealing with government affairs today. I'm going out of the city to visit a newly launched warship."
After saying that, Vitus mounted the white horse Arabian horse and left with his two hundred entourage.
Leaving Constantinople, the cavalry marched north along the wide and flat main road.
Scattered farmhouses and workshops have been built on both sides of the road. Some fields are abandoned, and some fields are sown with winter wheat.
The terrain is gradually getting higher, and Vineyard is spread out in layers on the undulating gentle slope. The picking season has passed, and there are still some shriveled fruits hanging on the vines. Some farmers are plowing the land between the grape trellises.
Suddenly, the guard told the emperor, "There are more than ten riders following, it seems to be His Highness Thomas."
Vitus gently lifted the reins. The horse noticed the owner's intention and stopped meekly on the roadside, lowering its head to touch the golden wild flowers on the roadside8
Vitus turned around and observed, and saw a group of riders approaching from far away. The horse in the front was very fast, running like an erratic black shadow. The rider on the horse was wearing a fancy coat, which looked like Thomas's style at first glance.
Soon, Thomas came to his brother and asked excitedly, "I know, the shipyard built a Triple-Deck Warship, so you put aside government affairs and went to check it out, is that right?"
Vitus's tone was helpless. "If you insist on following me, remember to keep it a secret afterwards and don't reveal the specific size of the battleship and the number of guns."
After traveling a certain distance, there is Royal Hunting Grounds on the side of the road.
It is late autumn. The leaves of oak trees and Beech are changing colors, with golden yellow, ocher red and dark brown mixed together. The sun shines slanting through the gaps in the canopy, casting moving light spots on the forest floor. Squirrels drag their fluffy tails and jump on the branches to store acorns for the winter. When they hear the sound of horse hooves, they stop, their heads turn warily, and then disappear deep into the shadow of the trees.
Recently, John converted to the church, Vitus is busy dealing with government affairs, and the remaining brothers are in other places. Only Thomas has nothing to do and spends most of his time in the forest hunting.
"The wild deer I hunted last time was very big, especially the pair of antlers..." As Thomas muttered, the group walked around the vast hunting ground.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Vitus climbed a gentle slope, and in the distance was the endless Black Sea.
During this season, the wind and waves in this sea area have become increasingly fierce, making it no longer suitable for small and medium-sized fishing boats to go fishing. The route planning of large merchant ships is more conservative and they try to sail in shallow waters along the coast.
On the shore is a medium-sized military port with treadmill cranes, warehouses, Dry Dock and other facilities. The outermost perimeter is a wooden wall.
Thomas looked around with the telescope, but did not see Triple-Deck Warship as expected.
After complaining for a while, he followed his brother to the dock area, entered Dry Dock, and found a huge warship parked here, which exceeded all the ships in his memory.
"What a strange shape."
This warship is nearly thirty steps long and twelve steps wide. Compared with conventional warships, its length-to-width ratio is smaller and it looks "short and fat".
The warship's artillery deck has only two layers, with twenty-four gun positions on the sides. Each gun position is widely spaced and can accommodate twelve-pound naval guns and the larger Eighteen-Pounder Cannon.
Thomas walked closer to observe and found that the hull of the warship Oak was extremely thick, at least one step thicker, and its protective performance far exceeded that of the original Double-Deck Warship.
Thomas recalled his past sailing experience and commented, "The firepower and defense indicators are excellent, but the hull is too heavy and the length-to-width ratio is insufficient. The speed will definitely be affected and it will be impossible to catch up with the enemy.
This battleship has no naval combat value. I think we should enlarge the original Double-Deck Warship and build Triple-Deck Warship to crush the enemy with absolute firepower superiority."
Vitus asked the shipyard supervisor for the design drawings, and then answered Thomas's question, "The Triple-Deck Warship project is at a standstill. One of the warships built has defects, and the shipyard is improving the design.
It is expected that the delay from technical verification to the official commissioning of the battleship will be until 1447, or even longer.
Alas, there is no time. The navy temporarily builds this type of warship. Its primary function is to defend Dardanelles Strait, or sail to the enemy's port and block the opposing warships inside."
Firepower, speed, defense, and resistance to wind and waves - these are the four core indicators of a ship. When technology is lagging behind, designers must make choices.
This ship "Smyrna" has chosen the ultimate in firepower and defense. Its resistance to wind and waves is acceptable, and it can sail in moderately windy waters. Its biggest weakness is its speed, which can only reach six knots under full sail.
In Vitus's memory, during the North American War of Independence period of the eighteenth century, France and Spain declared war on Britain. In order to recapture Gibraltar Fortress, Spain designed a more extreme battleship, or Floating Gun Platform.
This kind of fort completely gave up mobility, had a thick hull, and was equipped with a fire extinguishing system consisting of water pipes and water pumps. They were designed with only one goal: to shoot at the British fortress of Gibraltar.
Unfortunately, the wooden hull was no match for the stone fortress. These Floating Gun Platform, which had high hopes, were all destroyed, and Spain's plan to regain Gibraltar failed.
"Unless there is a huge difference in firepower between the two sides, naval guns cannot defeat coastal defense guns. We can build fortresses at Dardanelles Strait, and Venice can also build fortresses at key ports. This is really difficult."
Venice is in a semi-enclosed Lagoon, and ships must pass through several key entrances in and out.
If the Eastern Roman Empire fleet wants to break into the interior of Lagoon and capture the main island, the first thing to do is to capture the fortresses outside Lagoon, such as Chioggia Fortress at the southern entrance.
"To completely defeat Venice, three steps are needed: defeat Mediterranean Sea's largest fleet, capture the outer fortress, and seize the main island.
The original War of Chioggia, Genoa, and Hungary alliance achieved the first two steps, but fell short in the end, allowing Venice to win the final victory. I wonder how far Eastern Roman Empire can advance in this war?"