Steam Engine and Carronade

Joseph looked the Minister of the Navy in the eye and said earnestly, "I assure you, in as little as half a year or at most a year, this imagined warship can begin construction."

Castries was stunned. "Y-you mean it? How is that possible...?"

Joseph took a sip of tea and confirmed once again, "It's true. I have every confidence."

So do not keep wasting money building the current warships. In no more than a year, they will all be scrap!

I will not make you wait long. In a while, I will make a trip to the Port of Brest. Then you will understand everything.

He dared to be so certain because the Steam Engine had already been invented. The craftsmen and techniques were quite mature; all that was lacking was power, which had been crippled by poor design. But that was no problem at all for Joseph. Forget Watt's minor improvements—he even had the structures of more refined Steam Engines from later generations stored in his head.

Castries felt utterly dazed, his mind bouncing between doubt, excitement, and wild imaginings. For a moment, he did not know what to say.

Joseph added, "First, coordinate with the Shipbuilding Bureau and have them begin preparing craftsmen and raw materials. The trial production of the new ship will be a complicated process."

"All right." Castries realized that he was beginning to believe the Crown Prince. After all, that dreamlike warship was simply too enticing. "I'll go to the Shipbuilding Bureau at once."

He suddenly fixed Joseph with an intense stare, his voice trembling slightly. "Your Highness, you must keep your word!"

"Please rest assured." As Joseph spoke, he recalled something else. "Oh, yes. After you return, you can gather craftsmen to manufacture a short-barreled, large-caliber cannon."

"Ah?"

"Simply lengthen the existing Mortar," Joseph said. "It should fire shells of over sixty pounds, but its barrel and powder charge will be less than half those of a cannon, so it will be very light and not too difficult to manufacture."

Castries said in surprise, "Your Highness, this cannon should be extremely powerful, but its range will certainly be very short. What use would that be?"

Joseph smiled faintly at him. "I'll tell you when I reach the Brest Shipyard."

In fact, this was the Carronade that would later make the French Navy suffer bitterly in the Battle of Trafalgar.

The French Navy currently had a persistent misconception: it blindly emphasized range.

Under the ideal scenario, if my range is greater, I can hit you while you cannot hit me. Wouldn't that make victory a sure thing?

Yet this was precisely where French naval theory had drifted away from reality. In the age of Sailing Warships, ships were not very maneuverable. It was difficult to keep both sides constantly at your maximum range.

Moreover, Solid Shot lacked sufficient power. A hit at long range could hardly cripple an enemy ship.

In actual naval battles, most warships went face-to-face, practically wishing they could shove their muzzles into the other side's captain's cabin and blast away at each other.

At that point, range meant nothing. Whoever had the larger caliber was king!

The British had noticed this very point. They directly abandoned range and developed a large-caliber, short-barreled heavy cannon—the Carronade.

But in this life, it would be the French Navy that equipped this great killer first!

Joseph discussed matters repeatedly with the Minister of the Navy. After confirming that he had no objections to his plans, he personally saw him out of the bedchamber.

Before Joseph could even catch his breath, Eman hurried over and bowed. "Your Highness, Marquis of Saint-Priest requests an audience."

Joseph had not expected the Minister of War to be so impatient, but that was fine. It saved him from having to write that document.