The Flying Zealander. This ship taken from Ivar is undoubtedly the largest warship in the world today. Its huge hull is like a fortress, and its deck is wide enough to accommodate dozens of carriages running parallel to it. It has nine masts, twelve sails, and sixty-eight pairs of oars that require ten people to row. Just to make it sail normally on the sea, it requires nearly a thousand sailors.
A total of eight counterweight trebuchets are equipped on both sides of the deck. Their power is far greater than ordinary trebuchets. Even the flying Zealander will shake violently due to the recoil of the stone projectiles. Ella found a device designed by Archimedes to reduce recoil in ancient books and applied it to this trebuchet, which allowed it to be used on ships. And taking down any one of them can allow the army to quickly attack a fortress known for its strength.
In the middle of these eight trebuchets, a total of sixteen giant crossbows are now added. Its ammunition is not a common crossbow bolt, but a specially made spear. This is the crystallization of the engineering of the Seven Hills Empire. The troops of the Seven Hills Empire would use this huge weapon to nail their spears to the enemy's city walls, and then climb the enemy's walls on the spears.
There are still huge gaps between the trebuchets, giant crossbows and masts. When the sails are furled, these places become places for flying hot air balloons - if the sails are not furled, they can also be released on the bow, but the number It will be much less. When the wind direction is correct, hot-air balloons can be used for reconnaissance; even if the wind direction is wrong, they can be used as watchtowers after being tied up with ropes and raised high; during naval battles, hot-air balloons can also be loaded with ocean fire to attack enemy targets from the air. Fleet raids have many uses. The only problem is that the hot air balloon never returns to the deck accurately. Every time the hot air balloon is released, Ella always has to send out a small boat to search and salvage the crew members who have fallen into the water.
The bow of the ship was originally a place where ocean fire was sprayed, but now it has become a statue of Amy, used to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters during voyages. Amy on the statue holds a book in her right hand and holds a torch in her left hand to light the ship at night.
There are four levels below deck. The right cabin on the first floor closest to the bow is the ship's commander's room, but the person living in it is not Ella, but a general promoted by Ella. Commanding the navigation of such a large ship is a very complicated and heavy task, and requires considerable navigation experience. Ella lacks sailing experience and is unable to undertake the task. Moreover, Ella lives here as a house, and she doesn't want to get up to direct the navigation of the ship when she sleeps at night.
The second cabin on the right side of the first floor is the largest on the entire ship, but it is empty. This was originally Ivar's room, and later Andrea also lived there. The contents inside have not changed much. Ayla left it empty to show the most basic respect for the original owner of the ship. In any case, it was he, not Ayla, who gave Ragnar the fatal blow in the end. La or Amy.
Ella's room is the third one on the right side of the first floor, and it is filled with documents. There is also a wooden window that can be pushed horizontally. Ivar uses it to display green will-o'-the-wisps, while Ella is equipped with a small Eye of Hermes beside the window. The lens is a little green and not transparent enough. Transparent lenses are very rare and are used by Ella in more important places, but she can still observe distant situations through the Eye of Hermes.
Most of the cabins on the first floor are used by important personnel such as officers, while the remaining cabins are used as cargo warehouses. Among them, Amy's room is at the stern of the first floor. In this way, there are people at the bow and stern of the ship who can give orders in emergencies, and the people reporting the situation do not have to rush to the bow.
The second floor is the sailor's room, which is the residence of the soldiers. It is mainly the deck crew who live on this level. In addition to the sleeping cabin, there is also a larger cabin on this floor for soldiers to gamble, play chess, and drink in their free time. This cabin was always full and smelled of alcohol when the ship was moored. However, once the ships started sailing, there were only a few soldiers coming here - ocean sailing was a hard job, and soldiers needed to work day and night. Lack of sleep was common, and it was difficult to have free time. But the smell of alcohol is still there. After months of sailing on the sea, if there is no alcohol to relieve worries and boredom, the soldiers will soon become riotous. Moreover, wine, like water, was an important source of hydration for soldiers.
The infirmary and kitchen are also on this second floor, equipped with specialized doctors and chefs, all of whom are hired at a high cost. Originally, Ella wanted Paracelsus to serve as a doctor, but unfortunately Paracelsus was busy dealing with the Black Death epidemic in England and had no intention of going to sea. There is also a warehouse dedicated to storing wood for emergency ship repairs, and of course carpenters are equipped accordingly.
The third floor is also the sailor's room. The sixty-eight pairs of oars on the Flying Zealander are on this floor, and the soldiers responsible for rowing live here. In addition, there are free cabins, which are used as warehouses.
As for the fourth floor, it is the material warehouse. Because of its vital importance, it was placed at the bottom where it would not be easily damaged even in a naval battle. It stores food and water that the soldiers rely on for survival, as well as a storage room where some sheep and cattle are raised to improve the soldiers' food. The grizzly bear that Gan gave away and the captured Ippolita were both imprisoned here.
"Your Majesty, although you said that Lubeck's merchant ship was loaded with cargo, this mobile fortress... even without cargo is much heavier than the opposite!"
After the ship left the port, Amy was still worried.
"How about, Your Majesty, we return to Hong Kong first and remove a few of the stones before pursuing us?"
"How can that be done! We are going to sea to deal with the evil dragon this time, how can we reduce long-range firepower for Lubeck!"
Amy looked at the sky worriedly.
"But your Majesty, look, we are facing a headwind, and the fleet can only use oars. If this continues, let alone dealing with the dragon, the crew will be exhausted just by rowing the boat in front of the dragon!"
"Headwind? So what?" Ella raised her head proudly, "Amy, didn't you notice? There are several sails on the ship that have changed from square to triangular!"
"Attention, I noticed it...isn't it for the sake of beauty?"
Ella glanced at a pirate next to her, so the pirate stood up and explained, "This is a technique we learned from near the red sea that is not red at all on the way to Isfahan! Use this Plant a sail and you can sail even if the wind is against you!"
"Sail against the wind with a sail?" Amy's mouth closed in shock, "How... is this possible?"
"It has been tested on a small boat, so it was installed on the Flying Zealander. Amy, look, I haven't ordered the use of oars yet, but isn't our ship sailing forward now?"
When Ella said this, Amy noticed that although the speed was a little slower than the square sail, and the sailing direction was also left and right, which was crooked. But there is no doubt that the Flying Sealander is moving against the wind, propelled by the sails!
"So I said there's no need to worry. We are heading against the wind, and Lübeck's fleet is the same, but we use sails and they use oars, so the speed is not of the same order!"
"And the technology of the hull is also different. Our ship has a keel, but theirs doesn't." The pirates next to him also imitated Ella and added proudly, "As for Alemanni's shipbuilding skills, their ship It would be nice if it doesn’t fall over halfway!”
"That's right, if you don't turn it over, then...wait a minute, what did you say? Turn it over?"
Ella, who was not in a hurry at first, became anxious again by these words:
"How can it be flipped over? That's all my goods! Why are you still stunned! Use the paddle together, hurry up and catch up!"
(End of chapter)
