My British Empire

Chapter 165 Preparation

The first update, I don’t know if everyone doesn’t like it, the subscriptions are getting less and less, and the same is true for recommendation tickets, alas!

The city of Le Havre was founded in 1517 and was called "Fran?ois City" at the time. It was named after the French King Fran?ois I who ordered the construction of the city. "Le Havre" means "Port of Grace", and "Le Havre" means port or wharf.

The geographical location of Le Havre is very important. It is the mouth of the Seine River, on the verge of the English Channel, 200 kilometers away from Paris, and is the maritime gateway of the capital Paris.

Due to geographical factors and its own good conditions, it soon became the number one port in France, and it was also the port of call for the French expeditionary force from afar.

On June 5, 1549, after eight days of sailing and two days of repairs, the total size of the fleet reached more than 150 ships, and the number of people reached more than 5,000. It can be said that the French army at this time was stronger than England. Quite a lot.

Some private single-masted trading ships confiscated from France, as well as the single-masted Kirk ships and two-masted Carrack ships brought by the Venetians from the Mediterranean, these constitute the majority of the French army.

And the real main force in the army comes from the Galen ship, this huge monster.

After Spain established its colonies in the Americas, it needed to carry a large number of goods and soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean. The main seagoing ships at that time—the houseboats and the caravels—were no longer up to such heavy tasks.

So the Spaniards combined the advantages of these two types of ships and invented the Galen ship. Because the Galen ship can not only be used as a battleship during wars, but also as a cargo ship in peacetime, it can be said to serve multiple purposes! Therefore, it became the mainstream of Western ships in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Galen ships generally have 4 masts, the front two masts are hung with rail sails, and the rear two masts are hung with triangular sails. The standard length is 46m-55m, and the displacement is 300-1000 tons.

As the expedition fleet to Edinburgh, there are about ten Galen ships of 800 tons in the French army, and three main warships of more than 1,000 tons, namely the 1,300-ton "Rose" and the 1,000-ton "Sea Ship". Princess', and the largest 1,500-ton 'Hunter', these are the main forces in the decisive battle.

As for why the tonnage of the Venetian ships is small, it’s not because Venice’s ability to build ships is not good, but because it’s unnecessary. The French’s employment costs can only be worth so much, and this is because the Venetian Parliament sees it in the face of the French king. serving size.

Wearing a white shirt inside, a blue cape on the outside, a monocular telescope on his waist, and a black gold-plated chic navy cap on his head, the commander of the navy, Renardo Ferdi, looked The spirit is very good.

Starting today, he will have a naval war with those Englishmen. This is also the first time that the Venetians have fought a war with a country other than the Mediterranean.

Due to the need to face the aggression of the Ottoman Empire, Venetian merchants generally would not let the navy leave the Mediterranean. Who knows if the Ottomans will take the opportunity to attack.

So, even though Venice has more than 3,000 ships and more than 30,000 sailors, he still has not led the navy to the Mediterranean Sea. This is a rare experience.

Regarding the difference between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Renardo felt it immediately after entering the Atlantic Ocean.

If the Mediterranean is a calm middle-aged man, except for losing his temper from time to time, the rest of the time is calm.

The Atlantic Ocean is like a teenager, emotionally unstable, big waves are commonplace, and typhoons come from time to time, so the level of danger is much higher.

Therefore, facing such an unfamiliar sea area at this time, Renado is still a little uncomfortable, and what worries him even more is that those Kirk ships and Karak ships brought from the Mediterranean Sea are all sailing ships. Unable to cope with Atlantic winds.

Fortunately, according to his observations, the sailors are currently adapting well to the Atlantic Ocean and can fight.

So, at his order, more than 150 ships put on their sails, and under the agitation of the sea wind, they slowly headed for Edinburgh.

At this time, Major James, the naval commander, was not idle at this time. At his request, Edward, in the name of himself and Mary, asked the Scottish Navy and civilian ships to join the English Navy and resist the French fleet from afar. .

As a country bordering the sea, Scotland also has a navy. With the encouragement of James IV and James V, Scotland aggressively expanded its navy. At its largest, it had thirty-eight ships of various types, the largest of which had reached Fifteen hundred tons.

But now everything has become history. There are currently more than 30 ships of various types in the Scottish Navy, but most of them are backward Kirk ships, and the largest scale has reached 800 tons, at most as auxiliary ships. .

Major James doesn't care about these things. At this time, the more strength, the more certainty of victory.

Moreover, under Edward's command and Major James' persuasion, more than 20 merchant ships from Scotland and 50 merchant ships from England joined the battle.

So, the English navy is currently expanding rapidly, with more than 130 ships of various types, comparable to the French.

Unlike most of the Venetians are galleys, most of England's ships are sailing warships, that is to say, the wind is the main force, the sails are the auxiliary, and the maneuverability is stronger.

Because most of them are wind-powered warships, the total number of combatants in England has also climbed to more than 3,000, which is almost double the number, but the number of direct combat is about the same.

After doing all this, Major James was relieved until June 6th, and brought his fleet to the agreed place, waiting quietly in front of the port of Edinburgh, ready to have a battle with the French Naval battle.

Of course, there are still reasons for changing the shrinkage plan formulated in the early stage.

After calculation and investigation, most of the Galen ships of the French expeditionary fleet that came from afar have not been modified, that is, the ram in front of the ship has been changed to a cannon.

Moreover, I don’t know if the Venetians fought more wars with the Ottoman Empire. The firepower on their ships is not strong, and they are better at ship landing operations, that is, direct collisions and attacks between ships.

In this way, the advantage of England's naval artillery is much greater.

After thinking for a while, suddenly, Major James saw a large number of fleets slowly appearing on the horizon like dark clouds, which gave people a strong sense of depression.

"Notify all captains, get ready, the Venetians are coming!" After saying a word to the orderly beside him, James saw a small black dot running over.

Taking a closer look, a frigate with the French flag appeared in the distance.

(end of this chapter)

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