Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Why does this boat seem a little tilted?

During the interval between the second round of firing on the Kaiyuan (the intervals between target practice sessions are usually much longer), more and more people noticed the abnormality of the target ship. After confirming that the target ship was gradually listing, Li Che was the first to react: "Quickly send the damage control team up! Suspend the firing test! The underwater part of our target ship is estimated to be severely damaged!"

Meanwhile, the Longyuan battleship, which was already sharpening its swords and ready to demonstrate the extraordinary power of its 420mm guns, was looking at the somewhat chaotic test site with a bit of a daze.

what's up?

Everything was fine just now, wasn't it? These 330mm shells can't penetrate the armor of our Longyuan, right? So why is the ship starting to tilt now?

"What happened?" Sa Dingming put down his binoculars in a daze. At his age and with his current mental capacity, he was indeed not quick enough to react to what had just happened.

"This is the power of underwater shells." Li Che pointed to the target ship in the distance with a rather refreshed expression: "After the shell enters the water, it travels straight forward like a torpedo after reaching a certain depth. Even after traveling more than 20 meters underwater, it still maintains considerable kinetic energy and can penetrate the ship's underwater TDS protection. One shell is enough to cause thousands of tons of water to enter a super battleship. This is the power of underwater shells!"

Li Che spoke as if he had already seen how the shell hit the target. He wasn't Superman, so of course his eyes couldn't see these things, but that didn't stop it from being true.

The 330mm armor-piercing round took down the Longyuan's sister units!

PS: Damn it, my buddy, a civil servant, really didn't have time these past few days, so he asked me to play for him today. It was Super Shanghai, and I'd never played it before. I was totally stuck filling in the lines.

Chapter 361 The Ladies' Song During Childbirth.mp3

This live-fire test brought an unprecedented shock to the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty. The 330mm naval gun, which was previously thought to be insufficient to pose a serious threat to the new generation of super battleships, actually caused serious damage to the Longyuan-class battleship with a single shot. A single shot destroyed a 4-ton battleship. Who could have imagined such an outcome before?

Because there was no one on board, by the time the damage control personnel boarded the target ship to begin managing the damage, the ship had already taken on more than 6000 tons of water. This caused the target ship to list noticeably. Although a target ship's displacement is certainly not in the 4-ton range, the uneven 6000 tons of water intake made the ship's tilt even more pronounced.

For any battleship, taking on several thousand tons of water represents extremely serious damage. If such a situation occurs during intense combat, unless other friendly ships can defeat the opposing fleet, it is almost impossible for such a ship to return to port.

Even the legendary battleship Seydlitz, hailed as an unsinkable ship, actually "sank" once. During its return voyage, due to severe bow listing, the hull of the Seydlitz had touched the bottom of a shoal in the North Sea.

If it weren't for that shallow shoal that gave the sailors on the battlecruiser Seydlitz a much-needed boost, allowing them to quickly carry out final damage control efforts, this legendary unsinkable ship would have been doomed in deeper waters.

It can be said that the first appearance of the underwater missile shocked the high-ranking officers of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. The effect of this thing was simply too good.

Although a careful exploration of the target ship after it was towed back showed that the underwater shell did indeed cause very serious damage, it traveled steadily for nearly 30 meters after entering the water before plunging headfirst into the bottom of the target ship's hull. After penetrating the hull and the last 30mm of anti-torpedo armor behind the TDS structure, the shell exploded, creating a hole in the underwater part and causing damage similar to a torpedo explosion.

Moreover, because the explosion occurred on the TDS's anti-torpedo armor, it was essentially an explosion inside the hull. The damage caused by the small amount of explosive charge in the armor-piercing shell was no less than that caused by a torpedo warhead weighing hundreds of kilograms exploding underwater—after all, many torpedo warheads from the last World War would have had a hard time penetrating the new generation of TDS for super battleships.

However, the technicians also pointed out that if this were a battleship with full combat capability and actual sailors operating it, this shell would cause serious damage, but not 6000 tons of water ingress.

The large amount of water ingress was mainly due to the lack of damage control personnel on board. The watertight doors and some watertight compartments inside the hull had been damaged during last year's testing. Even so, technicians speculated that the shell would have caused thousands of tons of water ingress under normal circumstances, with an estimated amount of around 1500 tons, which is not a negligible number.

Such damage to the underwater parts, coupled with 1500 tons of water entering the ship, was enough to reduce the speed of the Longyuan-class battleship from a maximum of 27 knots back to below 23 knots.

Furthermore, the technicians noticed that the shell exploded on the last layer of mine-resistant armor and successfully blew through it.

This is a terrible thing.

If the hit area is the engine room, it almost certainly means that the capital ship will lose all the machinery inside one engine room compartment. Many of the Royal Navy's warships built before the outbreak of World War II had only two crudely constructed engine rooms, one on each side. One shot could cause a ship to lose half of its power.

If such a shell were equipped with a fuse that has a longer delay, and if more tests were conducted to optimize the shell's shape for underwater use... then such a shell, if it were to hit the ammunition magazine section, could very well penetrate the battleship's weak underwater protection and then strike the ship's ammunition magazine, which is considered to be in a relatively safe underwater position, under the protection of the battleship's armor!

"Wouldn't our most powerful battleship be in grave danger? If even a 2-ton Kaiyuan could be severely damaged, or even a warship like the Longyuan, in battle using underwater missiles, what about the Longyuan, which we've built with so many resources?"

After learning about the power of the underwater shells, the navy was both surprised and delighted. They were delighted by the extraordinary power of these shells, but surprised that their power was even more terrifying than they had imagined.

If this thing were to spread.........

"The situation isn't as bad as it seems." Facing the overly worried naval high-ranking officers, Cheng Mingna showed them a diagram she had drawn of the underwater trajectory of a ballistic missile: "Generals, we should see that the target ship in this test had a shallower draft. Traditionally, for ease of testing, the target ship's draft was controlled so that almost the entire thickness of the main armor belt was above water. However, we know that in normal combat, ships have a much deeper draft. Therefore, if such an underwater missile were fired at the target ship in actual combat, the impact point would actually look like this—"

Cheng Mingna took out another diagram and used a magnet to stick it on the blackboard: "The biggest difference between the Longyuan-class battleships we have built and these target ships converted from Longyuan hulls is that the target ships are not yet completed. For example, in the underwater parts, the underwater section of the engine room below the main armor belt of the Longyuan has two layers of 30 mm high-elasticity steel for anti-torpedo armor, and the ammunition magazine section has two layers of 40 mm high-elasticity steel. That is to say, the actual thickness of the underwater anti-torpedo armor in the engine room section and the ammunition magazine section is 60 mm and 80 mm, respectively."

While HT steel's ballistic resistance to armor-piercing projectiles is certainly not as good as that of homogeneous steel or hardened steel armor, we have reason to believe that this thickness is not so easy for a 330mm armor-piercing projectile to penetrate after traveling more than 20 meters underwater and passing through the hull and TDS layers.

Moreover, behind the mine-resistant armor, we have a 20mm high-elasticity steel transverse diaphragm, which can also block some fragments and limit water ingress if the mine-resistant armor is breached. Therefore, our Longyuan is not so vulnerable to 330mm underwater bullets.

Several high-ranking naval officers who had just been worried about the situation in Longyuan looked at each other. It seemed that the underwater missiles were no longer such a big threat to Longyuan. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

"Of course, sirs, I am only talking about the situation of Longyuan facing 330mm armor-piercing shells. The mass and kinetic energy limit of the shells fired by 330mm naval guns is limited. If larger caliber guns are used, the shells will lose less kinetic energy underwater, and the threat they pose will naturally be greater."

"What if it's a 420mm underwater bullet? Or what if it's a 16-inch underwater bullet?"

Immediately, someone asked impatiently. Cheng Mingna recognized that the person was the captain of the Longyuan, who was probably one of the officers most concerned about the effectiveness of underwater missiles.

"Of course it can't be stopped. In fact, based on our current rough estimate, a 14-inch underwater bullet might be able to threaten the Longyuan's power compartment, and a 15-inch underwater bullet would almost certainly be able to penetrate the Longyuan's power compartment. Whether it can threaten the ammunition depot section still needs further testing."

There is currently no precise value for the thickness of the underwater armor belt required to defend against water-based heavy shells of different calibers. This will likely require long-term simulated firing tests to determine. However, His Highness the Crown Prince once chatted with me before leaving... According to His Highness, we should not expect too much from a warship's underwater protection to withstand water-based shells from its own artillery of the same level, because the weight cost would be somewhat outweighed.

His Highness the Crown Prince… or perhaps in a dream presented to him by the goddess Mazu, it was believed that a warship would be virtually defenseless against underwater projectiles fired from cannons of equal strength.

If Li Che were here now, he would definitely be speechless. These guys in the navy seem to be taking the goddess Mazu, who is "proficient in modern naval weapons and equipment," seriously.

This sounds ridiculous, but in the navy... sorry, that's just how superstitious and feudal we are.

These words made the captain of the Longyuan battleship lean back in his chair, feeling somewhat helpless. These words were indeed a bit painful for him, since the Longyuan had always allowed him to confidently face any enemy at sea thanks to its excellent defensive capabilities.

甚至哪怕未来对上拥有18英寸舰炮的纳尔逊，他从内心里也不是非常惧怕，哪怕是18英寸的穿甲弹想要打穿305mm/15°的主装之后再击穿后面110mm（前两艘龙渊）／130mm（后两艘龙渊）的穹甲，在如今的常见交战距离当中似乎也不太可能，而龙渊的炮塔和炮座这些地方的装甲防护也丝毫不弱——410毫米的炮座和450毫米的炮塔正面又不是假的！

However, after the water bullet appeared, Longyuan's protection, which he thought was almost invincible, didn't seem so reassuring anymore.

What's the use of being able to stop your own 330mm underwater bullets? What if the enemy also develops something like that...?

"There's no need for you all to worry too much about this. At least for now, other countries' navies haven't discovered such amazing properties as underwater missiles. As long as we take good security measures, this weapon will remain our unique weapon for quite some time to come."

Cheng Mingna noticed that many people on the navy's side did not look well, so our beautiful designer could only reassure them: "In addition, we are also considering strengthening the underwater protection of our existing warships during the mid-term renovation process, while comprehensively upgrading the protection of these warships. Our goal is to enable our navy's warships to at least withstand the threat posed by underwater bullets fired by secondary naval guns."

These words were actually what Li Che had revealed in his conversation with the beautiful designer before his departure. After all, the draft of the underwater part of a battleship can reach 10 meters, and even the shallower ones are seven or eight meters. Although the penetration ability of underwater bullets is already reduced due to the weakening effect of seawater and underwater torpedo protection belts, generally speaking, a certain thickness of armor can withstand underwater bullets from naval guns of the same level.

The problem is that you would need to deploy an underwater armor belt that is over 100 meters long, about 7 meters high, and about 150 millimeters thick to have any hope of stopping a 420mm underwater bullet... Just these two underwater armor belts alone could cost you 3000 tons of weight.

It sounds like for a 4-ton ship, the cost of 3000 tons isn't unacceptable.

The problem is, after using 3000 tons of weight in the underwater section, how much weight is left for upgrading the horizontal armor during the mid-cycle remodel? How much weight is left for adding new anti-aircraft guns in the future?

The difference in weight between the fragile reputation in another world and the heavy armor reputation in this world, which is almost a complete superposition of enhancements, is only about 5000 tons.

Therefore, in Li Che's view, it is more rational to pursue protection against underwater shells in a moderate way. According to the experience of another world, although Western countries will also recognize the existence of underwater shells in the future, they have not developed and optimized ammunition specifically for underwater shells. Although shells with increased length-to-diameter ratio will increase the stability of underwater ballistics, there is still a significant gap compared to professional underwater shells.

For Tang Dynasty warships, if the target is to defend against underwater bullets of a smaller caliber, then in practice there should be a chance that they can withstand these "unorthodox" underwater bullets.

Although our Crown Prince actually has a lot of experience and wants to communicate with this beautiful designer and other naval designers, he really has to rush back to Yingtianfu immediately.

because.........

Ah!

My wife is about to give birth...

P.S.: My buddy seems to be quite disappointed with Super Earth. Those idiots in Sweden probably still think the player retention rate is a bit too high. It was originally a great opportunity to bring back many old players and attract new players, but it turned out like this.

To cheer up my brother who's been feeling down these past couple of days, I suggested he try a different game to clear his head.

So today I recommended War Thunder, an excellent military simulation game, and introduced him to the MBT2000, a tank with outstanding performance. As of now, he is already using the MBT2000 and the VT5, which he obtained directly through in-game purchases, to start a new game.

So far, his evaluation of Zhan Lei is quite good.

I believe our friendship will become even stronger and more unbreakable from now on.

Chapter 362 Twins (Brother and Sister)

Li Che had heard many stories about the difficulties women face in childbirth, both in this world and in another. Especially now, although human technology is capable of building massive steel ships weighing tens of thousands of tons, current medical standards are still far inferior to those of the future.

Zhu Miaoyun was pregnant with twins, which made childbirth much more difficult than for ordinary pregnant women. It's no exaggeration to say that childbirth is like passing through the gates of hell for women. It's worth noting that surgical sterilization has only become a standard procedure in surgical medicine worldwide in the last few decades.

In another world, while reading a time-travel novel, he learned that 19th-century Western medicine was still "murdering" pregnant women and infants on a large scale.

Due to the lack of necessary surgical sterilization, even among women who gave birth vaginally in the last century, about 10% died from puerperal fever or other bacterial infections! Cesarean section was unthinkable, so difficult labor was basically a matter of life and death for pregnant women.

Even now, the greatest progress in medical technology is probably in sterilization, while the progress in the surgery itself is quite limited.

So when Zhu Miaoyun discovered that her water had broken that morning, Li Che was even more anxious than his wife.

As the Crown Prince's consort, and one who was pregnant with twins, she naturally had the best obstetricians and most experienced nurses in the country ready. Zhu Miaoyun herself was even more composed. Since her water broke early in the morning, in order to prevent herself from being too weak to give birth, Zhu Miaoyun drank brown sugar water as she walked into a room in the mansion that had been prepared and converted into an operating room.

When the door closed, Li Che began pacing back and forth in the courtyard. It was only after Tokugawa Akiko reminded him that he should send someone to inform his parents and grandfather.

Tokugawa Akiko could see the undisguised worry in Li Che's eyes. She couldn't help but think that the usually composed and calm Crown Prince only showed this side of himself when facing Princess Yongning.

The relationship between these two... no wonder the one in the Song Prince's mansion only wanted to cultivate a good relationship with Princess Yongning, not to climb the social ladder but to curry favor. Even his own father had previously hinted that he should compete with Princess Yongning for the emperor's favor...

It seems no wonder her father lost the entire Yingzhou; he really had no sense of propriety whatsoever.

“Your Highness, Princess Yongning has always been in good health, and both babies have been checked and are in the correct position. I think my sister will be fine.”

Looking at the Japanese girl comforting him, Li Che could only helplessly pat her head and mutter to himself, "What do you know, you Japanese girl?"

Even in the 21st century, when medicine is highly advanced, there are times when even the most advanced modern medicine cannot save a person during childbirth. This has nothing to do with status or wealth. For example, amniotic fluid embolism occurred when Dong Ge's sister was giving birth. With Dong Ge's resources, couldn't he have access to top experts and the best medical conditions?

But his sister couldn't be saved. If a hospital can save a pregnant woman with amniotic fluid embolism, then this feat is guaranteed to be brought up again at the hospital's anniversary celebration ten years later.

Although his rational mind told him that the possibility of Zhu Miaoyun encountering such extreme situations was indeed unlikely, his emotional mind couldn't help but think about these possibilities.

At this moment, Zhu Miaoyun inside the house began to scream in agony. Li Che, gritting his teeth, paced back and forth in the yard with his eyes closed. At this moment, he wished he could share some of Zhu Miaoyun's pain with her. A series of scenarios flashed through his mind—

For example, if the baby's head is too large, it may become stuck in the pelvic area and cannot be delivered vaginally, ultimately requiring a cesarean section.

For example, although the baby was born, the delivery process caused severe bleeding...

For example, a voice suddenly rushed out and asked him, "Your Highness, are you going to save the mother or the child...?"

Hey!

Why am I thinking about such unlucky things at a time like this? Li Che knew he shouldn't be thinking about these things right now, but it was like having an MP3 player suddenly pop up in your head during an exam—you can't answer the questions, but the music just won't stop!

Li Renchi and the Crown Princess arrived very quickly. They were just about to have breakfast when their son sent someone to inform them that their daughter-in-law's water had broken that morning and she was about to give birth.

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Not to mention the Crown Princess, even His Highness the Crown Prince, who is usually busier than the Emperor (this is not an exaggeration) and has countless affairs to attend to, rushed over immediately. You know what the Li family is most criticized for.

The three brothers have few male offspring; the two younger brothers have only daughters so far, while the eldest brother has a son, but the problem is that he and his wife only have this one son.

From the perspective of Eastern tradition, that means you didn't have enough children.

Because of this, Li Renchi and his two brothers were scolded by their father many times. As for the two who only had daughters, it was understandable. In the old man's eyes, these two were like students in school who were abandoned by teachers because of their poor grades. Since they couldn't have sons anyway, the old man had given up on them.

But since you were able to have a son, why did you stop having children after having just one?

The phrase they used to say was, "If you don't have a son, who will inherit the throne of our royal family?"

Now this issue has escalated to the point of royal succession. Fortunately, Li Che is quite capable; he and his wife conceived soon after getting married, and they were even expecting twins, which can be considered an overachievement.

The two of them naturally rushed over to check on their daughter-in-law's condition and, like waiting for a lottery draw, eagerly awaited to find out whether the two children in her womb were boys or girls.

As luck would have it, just as the two of them arrived in Li Che's courtyard, a baby's cry suddenly rang out from inside the house, accompanied by Zhu Miaoyun's tearing wail and long, drawn-out gasps.

Li Che glanced at his watch in surprise—this woman had only been inside for about 20 minutes, right?

Did you give birth to the baby so easily?

My wife is a superwoman!

Upon hearing the baby's cry, Li Renchi immediately burst into hearty laughter, then patted his eldest son's shoulder forcefully: "Yongning is a great hero to our family now, you little rascal, you'd better..."

"Dad, stop talking nonsense. Even if she can't have children, I will still treat her well as always." He silently took two steps to the side. His father's "Iron Palm" technique was becoming more and more skillful. He was sure that when he got back, as long as he took off his clothes, this spot on his shoulder would definitely be red.

As they were talking, the operating room door opened, and a doctor poked his head out and said to Li Che and the others who were waiting outside: "Your Highness, Your Highness, the Crown Prince's Consort has just given birth to a baby girl, weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is very healthy. The Crown Prince's Consort will rest for a while before continuing the delivery."

After hearing that his first child had been safely delivered, all the random thoughts that had been swirling in Li Che's mind seemed to have been taken away by the baby. The baby was still inside and hadn't come out yet, but Li Che was already thinking about how he would hold his child next.

“Daughter…” A hint of disappointment appeared on Li Renchi’s face. Only after the Crown Princess nudged his stomach with her elbow did he manage to hide this slight emotion.

However, Li Che saw the whole scene. As for the slight sexist sentiments his father had just revealed, Li Che believed that if this happened in another world, such as on Xiaohongshu, his father would probably have been criticized and labeled as a "lower-class man" by XXN in the square.

Oh, probably not. After all, given his father's status and position, XXN should be able to flexibly apply his boxing standards.

The desire for male offspring is, in fact, a very real issue of succession. Although there have been many queens in Western history, these Western countries will definitely choose a male heir to inherit the throne whenever possible.

If possible, Li Che also hoped that Zhu Miaoyun's first child would be a boy, but based on his knowledge of medical matters in another world, most twins are identical twins. Children born from identical twins not only look alike, but are also the same gender.

So if the first child is a girl, then the next one...

However, fate just likes to play tricks on these kinds of issues.

After the sound of another baby crying came from inside the house, it turned out that the second child to emerge from Zhu Miaoyun's belly was a boy. When the doctor came out of the operating room to announce this good news to Li Che, Li Renchi, and the others, Li Che noticed that his father's expression was visibly becoming increasingly excited.

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The birth of both children went very smoothly. The twins, a boy and a girl, were more than expected. Looking at the two ugly newborn babies in the cradle, he couldn't help but occasionally reach out and tease the two little ones who still couldn't open their eyes.

This strange feeling of blood connection made Li Che think of many things in an instant, but in the end it only turned into boundless gratitude towards Zhu Miaoyun. It was only now that Li Che felt he was somewhat of a father that he had to be more composed. If it were before, Li Che would probably have already stood at attention by Zhu Miaoyun's bedside and was about to give a sharp salute: "Loyalty! Sincerity!"

"What kind of nonsense are you thinking about?" Zhu Miaoyun's sharp gaze fell upon him. Li Che quickly waved his hand, "Right now, my heart is filled only with boundless loyalty to Princess Yongning! There can only be one sun in the sky, and you are me..."

"Shut up!" Zhu Miaoyun resisted the urge to throw the pillow at him. "If you have the energy right now, you'd better think of a name for the child."