Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

After hearing that the brothers were behaving themselves, Chi Honghai calmed down and let Ai Si continue to talk about the situation over the past two days.

"Master, when Brother Qingjiang brought back a boatload of wounded brothers, the people on the island were in complete chaos when they saw the scene. Many of the injured family members rushed up and wailed."

"It was Madam who took charge of the situation when you were away, and had Brother Qingjiang lead the men to control the situation. Then Madam led the doctors she had trained to treat the wounded according to the severity of their injuries."

Chi Honghai listened to Ai Si's words with a puzzled look on his face, and he took Wu Wanruo's hand.

"Madam, what is the doctor you train with? I don't know anything about that."

"Sir, you were busy going out to sea, going up the mountain and training before, so naturally you didn't see it."

Sometimes, the lady would bring some women and a small group of brothers who were responsible for farming and construction, and she would teach them medical skills, such as bandaging, medicine, and cleaning. In short, the lady taught them a lot.

"If it weren't for the people my wife trained, I don't know what would have happened to these wounded soldiers."

Chi Honghai waved his hand: "Alright, you've worked hard these past two days. Now you can go."

"Then I'll take my leave now, sir. Please take good care of yourself."

After Ai Si left, Chi Honghai took Wu Wanruo's hand, gently lifted it into the air, and pressed his forehead against the back of her hand.

"Madam, we owe you so much this time. Even if I were here, I wouldn't have known how to treat this doctor. How can I possibly thank you enough?"

Wu Wanruo used her other hand to protect the back of Chi Honghai's head: "We're family, we can't speak like outsiders. Although I'm not in charge of things on this island, I still have to worry about you a bit when you're not around."

Chi Honghai raised his head, looked at the woman in front of him, and was speechless.

Three days later.

The situation on the island has basically stabilized and is running smoothly again.

Chi Honghai first went to the carpenter's shed.

He walked up to the carpenters and asked bluntly, "How's it going?"

The carpenters looked grim, fearing punishment if they couldn't produce something to their master's satisfaction in a short time.

But Chi Honghai knew in his heart that shipbuilding was not like building toys. If he could really master it so quickly, the technological gap in weaponry would not be so obvious.

Led by the craftsmen, Chi Honghai entered a makeshift shed.

The shed was empty except for a large pit dug in the middle, where wooden planks were placed. Some other things were scattered on the planks, making it look like the prototype of the keel inside a ship. But overall, it didn't even look like a third or a fifth of the whole thing!

"Sir, we've been pondering the ship's structure for the past few days, but we've only managed to figure this out so far. And as you can see, the skeleton inside—the brothers haven't fully understood it yet. Sir, please give us some more time, and we'll definitely..."

Chi Honghai raised his hand, interrupting them: "You've put in a lot of effort. I know how difficult it is to build a ship from scratch, so you don't need to worry. You were able to come up with these in such a short time."

After saying that, Chi Honghai noticed that there was another compartment inside the shed.

He then asked the craftsman what was going on in that compartment, and as he said he was asking, he walked directly over there.

After listening to Master Chi's question, the craftsmen snapped out of their nervousness and accompanied Chi Honghai to the private room.

"Sir, this is a small replica of the Ming Dynasty ship that we built together with the guidance of a few other brothers who have some ship repair experience. However, we haven't fully mastered the construction method yet, but it will be done soon, sir, please rest assured."

Chi Honghai carefully examined the small boat. From its appearance, it was as tall as a building, with a pointed bottom and a wide top, basically the same as the Fujian ships used by the Ming Dynasty at that time.

Having been a merchant for many years and having connections with government officials, Chi Honghai was quite knowledgeable about Fujianese ships.

Its main advantages are good speed under normal conditions, it is not easy to capsize, it is safe, and it can carry a certain amount of firearms. In combat, thanks to its relatively high hull, it can dive down to attack enemy ships that are not tall, while the enemy has to attack from above.

However, this Fujian-style ship was not without its drawbacks. The first was that the rigid sail design limited the use of rigging, resulting in insufficient mast strength and the inability to use multi-section masts, which in turn affected the mast height and sail area, thus limiting the speed of the sailboat.

The second point is that the navigation of Fujian ships mostly depended on the weather. Without wind, they were like logs on the sea, drifting with the waves.

As a commonly used vessel in the Ming Dynasty, it performed remarkably well in both commercial and military applications, such as Qi Jiguang's resistance against Japanese pirates, for short and medium-distance voyages.

However, during this period, the shortcomings of Fujian ships were not limited to this.

Ships are not only a means of transportation, but also a weapon of war.

In terms of transportation, safety, seaworthiness, and speed were not major issues for Fujian-made ships.

However, when it comes to the equipment used in warfare, the shortcomings of the Fujian ships become apparent.

Firstly, at this time, the main structure of the Fujian ship still used bulkheads, which together with the keel and main beams formed a stable hull.

This structure reduced the requirements for the keel, allowing Ming Dynasty sailing ships to use multi-section spliced ​​keels, thereby reducing the weight of the hull and lowering manufacturing costs.

However, due to the lack of strong ribs, the ship's bulkheads are relatively thin and cannot withstand strong impacts.

Even more critically, the presence of bulkheads meant that sailing ships lacked an overall lower deck, especially multi-layered, full-length gun decks, which severely limited the artillery configuration of Chinese warships.

Secondly, suspended rudders were already outdated at this time. Compared to Western-style sternpost rudders, suspended rudders were not mounted on a sturdy sternpost, thus requiring a large rudder stock for stability. This design was particularly vulnerable in rough seas, easily damaged or lost.

However, it also has the advantage of being able to rise and fall, making it convenient for navigation in coastal waters and inland waterways.

Although Chi Honghai was not entirely clear about the differences in quality between Fujian ships and Western galleons at that time.

But he could tell from the model of the Fujian ship that this was not the warship he was looking for.

So, after looking around the model of the Fujian ship for a long time, he did not clap his hands and say that future warships should be made in the style of the Fujian ship.

Even if we did build them, the artillery we've bought so far can't be installed. If we actually engage in a firefight, we won't have much of an advantage, and the casualties might end up being even greater than they are now.

He turned to the carpenters and said to them, "You've all worked hard these past few days. The Fujian ship is good, but we can't use it as our lifeline. We still need to trouble you all to think of a way to find a sailboat that's moored on the shore."

Although the Caravel was not large, it was not actually used entirely for combat.

However, in terms of structure, personnel, and artillery, it is quite suitable for Chi Honghai's needs at this time.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered the blank scroll in front of the Portuguese man that day.

He then turned and went to the warehouse, where he carried the fur-wrapped box back into the house by himself.