When he thought about this question, although he didn't want to admit it, the answer he finally got made him shudder!
At this moment, the head shipwright summoned by Cromwell came over. After hearing the description of Robert and others, he immediately shouted: "It's ridiculous. Could it be that you are looking for an excuse for your defeat? Where can there be such a battleship!"
At this point, he looked at Cromwell and said: "If the outer shell is covered with iron, there is really no problem. However, the maneuverability of the battleship will be lost. But what he described is that the entire battleship is made of iron. The mast is broken. They are all faster than sail warships, unless they are driven by manpower, but how is this possible! Not to mention, warships are most afraid of lighting fires on board. If there is an accident during a battle, they will burn to the ground without using enemy artillery bombardment... "
The more he talked about it later, the more confident the head shipbuilder became. The meaning behind the words was absolutely a lie that accused Robert and others.
Cromwell almost believed it when he heard it.
Fortunately, there is still a situation on the Persian Gulf, so he waved his hand to interrupt the shipbuilding craftsman leader, and said a little impatiently: "If you say it is false, then why does this kind of thing also appear in the Persian fleet?" Iron-clad, smoking battleship? It’s impossible for both of them to lie, and they’re still telling the same lie, right?”
Hearing this, the leader of the shipbuilders couldn't help but be very surprised, and turned to look at the two sailors.
"Yes, there really is such an iron-clad smoking battleship!" The young sailor hurriedly swore and assured again, and then added after hesitating for a moment, "There are also iron-clad battleships, but they are not smoking. The iron-clad smoking battleship is only One ship.”
No matter how many, as long as there is, it means that the accusation of the head shipbuilder is unfounded.
After listening, he fell into deep thought and racked his brains to think about the possibility of this armored and smoking battleship!
Cromwell and others listened, but none of them spoke, for fear of interrupting his thoughts. Everyone has placed their hope, hoping that this professional can find the answer.
However, after thinking for a long time, the leader of the shipbuilding craftsmen still looked puzzled, shook his head and said: "I didn't hear any news about this beforehand, and I really can't figure out how on earth this iron-clad, smoking warship was built? "
That's for sure. In Europe, the advent of the steam engine is still early! And the train from Daming Dynasty didn’t arrive either. The one closest to Europe was built from Tianshan Luntai to Mingwei Fort. However, this line is still under construction and has not been opened.
Besides, Britain is an island country after all, so it is even more secluded in terms of information. Unless they know that there is a smoking guy who can pull a long carriage, then they can possibly think of what the smoking thing is on the ship?
It can be said that at this time, Ming's warship technology was a century ahead of European countries! If you include propellers, it is more than a century ahead.
Unable to figure it out, the leader of the shipbuilding craftsmen immediately came up with an idea: "Then send someone to find out what's going on? Or you can use various methods to find out the matter from their shipyard!"
Among the European countries, as long as one country is a little ahead of the others, it will be immediately caught up by the other countries. In fact, these countries are intertwined with each other, including their kings and queens, who are all related to each other.
After hearing this, Cromwell nodded at first, which was all he could do, but then he shook his head and said: "We don't even know where the Ming Dynasty can build such a warship? And it's too far away. , even if there are no accidents on the way, the time spent going back and forth is too much!"
Upon hearing this, the head shipbuilder spread his hands and said, "What should we do?"
It means that there is nothing I can do!
Cromwell thought for a while, but couldn't think of any solution, so he had to say: "Send someone immediately to contact other countries in the Netherlands to see, your side..."
When he said this, he said to the leader of the shipbuilding craftsmen: "Go and contact their shipyard and see if they can find anything? If we can decipher the armored and smoking battleship, no matter what the cost, we must know."
Seeing the head shipbuilder nodding in agreement, he turned to Robert and William and said, "You go to various European countries and tell them about the power of the Chinese fleet and see what their reaction is? If you can get other news, that is The best."
"Okay, we'll go immediately." Robert heard this and quickly replied, "There are ships from many countries returning to Europe this time. I believe they also know about the Ming Dynasty's armored and smoking warships."
After hearing this, Cromwell nodded and said: "But their king may not believe it, so I still need you to go and make a trip!"
If the sailors from the fleet in the Persian Gulf hadn't happened to escape and reported that there were also armored and smoking warships, he wouldn't have believed it. It can be deduced from this that even if pirates from other countries fled back and told them, not many people would believe it.
In order to prove this, Cromwell immediately wrote a certificate proving the existence of the armored and smoking battleship, and gave it to Robert and William respectively, so as to convince the kings of Europe.
When he saw Robert and others about to leave, Cromwell thought of something again, so he stopped them and said to them: "Our biggest enemy in Britain now is likely to be the Ming Dynasty in the Far East in the future. As for Spain, The Ming Dynasty captured America, and it must be a mortal enemy. You also want to contact Philip IV and see what news he has?"
Compared with Europeans, they can fight with each other, but once they encounter foreign enemies, such as the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty, and they feel the danger, they will often put down their relationship with each other first. unite on the issue.
Likewise, in the upcoming Battle of Vienna in history, several other countries rushed to the rescue to interrupt the Ottoman Empire's army.
Robert and others nodded immediately after hearing this. Among them, Robert hesitated for a while and said to Cromwell: "From what I saw, I feel that Spain should not dare to go to America to seek revenge from the Ming Dynasty. At least not in a short time!"
It is impossible for Spain not to know how powerful the Ming fleet was. Unless Spain is sure of defeating the Ming fleet, they will take the initiative to seek revenge from the Ming army in America.
"Don't worry about this. What we need is news from Spain to see if they have any news that we don't know." Cromwell heard this and immediately said to him.
After hearing this, Robert felt it made sense and had nothing else to do, so he was ready to leave.
But before they could go out, there were hurried footsteps again outside the palace, and a messenger hurriedly appeared at the door of the palace.
Seeing this situation, Cromwell couldn't help but have a headache. What happened?
To be honest, he felt that the current situation was bad enough, what else could happen?
"Spain sent troops to Portugal and captured Lisbon. João IV and his family were wiped out!"
"What?" Cromwell couldn't help but confirm in surprise when he heard this.
Although he also looked down upon Portugal, because Portugal hosted British royalists and was in a hostile relationship with Portugal. But he was still very surprised when he heard the news.
When the messenger asked, he explained the situation in more detail.
"So that's it!" Cromwell couldn't help feeling a little after hearing this, and he was more gloating, "I took in those royalists, but got bitten by them. I really deserve it!"
Otherwise, he would be a little surprised, how could Joao IV's family be wiped out? If that doesn't work, he can also escape to other countries by boat, or even to the colonies in the Americas.
Just when he thought of this, he was suddenly startled. He was a little afraid to confirm, so he asked others: "Did Joao IV have a daughter who married to the Ming Dynasty?"
After hearing this, several people looked at each other and nodded in unison.
The Portuguese became the exclusive agent of the Ming Dynasty. They have been selling Far Eastern specialties for many years and made an unknown amount of money. As a result, they attracted a lot of attention. Of course, the news about the alliance between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty and Catherine's marriage to the Ming Dynasty prince also spread.
Proving that the news he heard was correct, Cromwell immediately clapped his hands and shouted: "Now the Spanish are in trouble. Regardless of the relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty, Spain will definitely bear the wrath of the Ming Dynasty!"
Before this news, the Spaniards would not have gone to the Ming Dynasty to seek revenge, but now the situation has changed. The Spaniards will not be able to act like cowards. The Ming Dynasty will probably take the initiative to come to the Spaniards and avenge Portugal!
In this way, if the British come to visit, they will definitely be able to cooperate with each other based on the common enemy.
After hearing this, Robert, William and others immediately left with Cromwell's letter of guarantee without any further hesitation.
Facing a behemoth like the Ming Dynasty, they were under great pressure.
……………………
The Spanish side captured Lisbon. For them, it suppressed the rebellion and gained Portugal's wealth, which made Philip IV happy for many days.
Seriously, this significantly eases Spain's fiscal crisis. This allowed Spain to replenish the deficit incurred by the war for many years to a certain extent.
Philip IV even felt a little regretful about this. It would be a long-term solution if we keep the fat sheep of Portugal and go over there from time to time to shave off the wool. Nowadays, it is a one-time deal, and it will never happen in the future. It is really a pity!
Back in Madrid, Philip IV felt very good when he saw that there were many Ming Dynasty specialties, beautiful silks, and exquisite porcelain in the palace.
But at this moment, Robert Cromwell's messenger from England arrived.
After hearing the news, Philip IV was a little confused and asked coldly: "The rebel who killed Charles I still has the nerve to send people here?"
