The Fox of France

Chapter 312: Open Day

On the very first day when the "Free Trade" entered the port of London, it wasn't entirely open to the British public. That's quite natural considering the ship had just arrived; there's always a bit of chaos and busyness in such situations. And indeed, there was a bit of an incident. It involved a French naval chaplain who disembarked from the ship and immediately encountered a journalist. The journalist asked, "Chaplain, what do you think of those French streetwalkers on the streets of London?"

"What? There are French streetwalkers in London?" The chaplain was taken aback.

Later that afternoon, a certain evening paper carried this headline: "French naval chaplain in a rush to inquire about streetwalkers in London upon arrival."

Of course, what such tabloids say hardly concerns anyone. Moreover, a chaplain accompanying the troops, assisting and rescuing the souls of streetwalkers, is a noble deed, nothing substantial to fret about.

Though the "Free Trade" wasn't officially open for public visits that day, people could still come close and observe as long as they didn't board. Some individuals gathered around to get a glimpse of the ship.

This brought an immediate answer to a puzzling question about the "Free Trade" — why it possessed such outstanding defensive capabilities. Despite the black-brown paint coating the steel plates affixed to the ship's exterior, making it resemble wooden planks from afar, at such close proximity where one could almost touch, the distinction between the steel plates and wooden boards was quite evident.

"So, they really did outfit it with iron plates," a special agent from the Sixth Investigation Division remarked, marveling at the close proximity of the "Free Trade." The Sixth Investigation Division had sacrificed several colleagues just to unravel the secrets behind this ship's defenses. Now, here it was, presented before them without any cost — it was perplexing and almost made one question the meaning of life.

"Considering the French expertise in steelmaking, these are likely steel plates, aren't they?" remarked a British naval officer while observing the "Free Trade."

That day, these were the only secrets the British managed to uncover. On the following day, the first batch of visitors stepped onto the deck of the "Free Trade." These were mostly British naval officers, ranging from commanding officers to various technical personnel.

Overall, these officers were quite disciplined. They refrained from touching anything without the host's permission on the French warship. Although later, in some British newspapers, stories emerged about "reaching out and finding dust on cannons," aiming to denigrate the French, in reality, the British behaved themselves.

However, when it came to questioning, the British were forthright. They asked any and every question, knowing there would be no harm in doing so. Surprisingly, most of their inquiries were met with responses from the accompanying French.

"Captain Lefebvre, I've noticed the 'Free Trade' is fitted with external armor plates. I wanted to ask if these plates are wrought iron or steel?" inquired a British military officer with the rank of major on his shoulder.

"They are steel plates," Captain Lefebvre replied.

"May I ask about their thickness and how you ensure they don't suffer severe corrosion during voyages?" continued the British major.

"I can tell you about the thickness, roughly around 20 millimeters. As for the rust prevention, that falls under the technical secret of the Lorraine Steel Company. We're not privy to it. If you wish to know more, you should approach them."

Under the guidance of the French, they proceeded to the "Free Trade's" gun deck.

"Gentlemen, this is the gun deck of the 'Free Trade.' Our ship is a steam-powered warship, thus, compared to conventional warships, we have additional space occupied by the engine room and coal bunker. Consequently, our gun deck is relatively smaller, allowing for fewer cannons. However, this isn't an issue because we are equipped with the world's most advanced and powerful breech-loading rifled steel cannons, giving us superior firepower compared to ships of similar tonnage," explained Captain Adrian, responsible for the artillery.

"Captain, you mentioned using breech-loading cannons?" another British naval technical officer hastily inquired.

"Yes, breech-loading cannons. This enables our cannons to have a firing rate several times higher than conventional muzzle-loading ones," Captain Adrian responded.

"May I have a close look at these cannons?" the technical officer asked.

"Absolutely. We French have nothing to hide from our friends. Moreover, if you're interested, under Captain Adrian's guidance, you can even simulate the firing process," Captain Lefebvre said, genuine in his tone, as if France and Britain were indeed close friends.

Naturally, the British didn't let this opportunity slip away. Several British officers quickly inquired, "How do we simulate it?"

"I need ten individuals to form a temporary gun crew," Captain Adrian stated. "Then, I'll guide you through the entire process."

The British huddled together briefly and selected ten people.

"Captain, we're at your service. You can give us instructions," a British lieutenant colonel said to Captain Adrian.

This gun crew was undoubtedly the highest-ranking one Captain Adrian had ever seen. There wasn't a single officer in the crew below the rank of colonel. Adrian felt that after this visit, he'd have some impressive tales to boast about.

Adrian gathered the "gun crew members," led them to the cannons, and gave them a brief explanation of the cannon's structure and loading procedure. He noticed their exceptional understanding; they grasped almost everything at once, surpassing even his subordinates.

However, when it came to actual operations, Adrian swiftly revised his initial thoughts. These British officers had a significant gap in muscular strength and coordination compared to his subordinates. These temporary gunners were technical officers, knowledgeable about cannons, but they were experts in studying cannons, not operating them. Hence, despite having breech-loading cannons that were supposed to fire faster, they ended up slower than muzzle-loading ones under their operation.

Everyone understood the reason behind this outcome. Even the British officers present had a conclusion: claiming a four to five times increase in speed might be an exaggeration, but a three to four times enhancement was indeed possible.

Once these "gun crew members" loaded training ammunition into the cannon, secured the breech, and simulated the firing, then returned to the queue of visitors, a colonel quietly asked one of the "gunners," "Did you get a clear understanding of the structure of the breech-loading cannon?"

"I did. The structure isn't overly complicated, but there might be some difficulty in craftsmanship, leading to higher costs," the "gunner" replied. "But considering one cannon can function as three, I believe it's worth it."

"Given the space saved, even if it's just equivalent to 1.5 cannons and the price triples or quadruples, it's still worthwhile," another "gunner" chimed in.

However, the British thought claiming a four to five times increase in firing speed was an exaggeration because the French provided them with sectional ammunition for training. In reality, these cannons could utilize fixed ammunition for faster loading.

After exploring the cannons, the French took the visitors to the lowest level of the warship, situated below the waterline. Here was something else worthy of showcasing to the British — the "Free Trade's" steel

keel.

As experts, when they saw the steel keel, the British visitors immediately reached a conclusion: "As long as the French steel production is sufficient, it's incredibly easy to disrupt the enemy fleet. The critical material restriction has been surpassed."

This marked the final part of the British visit. Some British officers requested to see the steam engine, but Captain Lefebvre promptly refused, stating, "No, there are many secrets with the steam engine."

"Isn't it said that we are friends, and friends shouldn't have secrets?" jestingly remarked a British person.

"Well, theoretically, that's true," Captain Lefebvre replied. "If it were solely naval matters, it would be possible, but within that space, there are also commercial secrets of our civilian enterprises. For them, aside from customers, everyone else could potentially become future competitors. So..."

The British shrugged, and that was the end of it. In truth, the British had seen more than enough that day, perhaps even exceeding their expectations.

"The French aren't really that impressive. It's all about having an abundance of steel," remarked a British technical officer upon disembarking. "Honestly, how much steel did this ship use? They're not treating steel as steel; it's almost like wrought iron. It's extravagant!"

"Did anyone understand their steel's rust prevention technology?" someone asked.

"It seems like just painting it?"

"The exterior armor plates might be because those are clearly detachable. But what about their keel? Can it be rust-proofed just by paint?"

"We really need to intensify our research on this."