Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Whether they were sailors or marines, these people traveled thousands of miles to the East for the same purpose—to make money.

People may die for money, but not in this way, because this way of dying means dying before even making any money, and they certainly wouldn't be that foolish.

So when the translator conveyed Chi Honghai's words, these people agreed to Chi Honghai's proposal without much hesitation, and of course, without any room for hesitation.

Chi Honghai then told the translator in Chinese that their future task was to teach their brothers various skills for sailing overseas, including what items to carry, emergency procedures for encountering storms, and the various geographical conditions overseas. In short, they had to teach their brothers everything they knew.

After explaining how to survive here and what specific tasks were required to do to survive, Chi Honghai assigned two translators to them. In addition to the usual translation needs, they were also to give extra lessons to gradually teach them Chinese, starting with the simplest communication and responses.

"Guards, take these people away. There aren't enough houses to go around, so set up a few more wooden plank beds in the shacks and let them stay there temporarily."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll have to trouble you two to translate from now on," Chi Honghai said, turning to look at the translators.

"To serve you, sir."

After explaining things here, what follows is far more important.

The newly brought-back ships, especially the one that had been bombarded by three cannons in turn, need to be repaired.

Shipbuilding is too much work right now. We finally have a ready-made Western sailing ship. As long as it hasn't sunk in the sea, we have to find a way to repair it.

Not only does the bombed sailing ship need major repairs, but the other ships also need careful maintenance. After all, they have been to sea and fought in battles, and being prepared is the best way to avoid trouble.

Chi Honghai gathered the craftsmen on the island together and told them the focus of their next task: to put aside the newly erected keels in the shipyard and to inspect the six ships from the inside out.

After receiving their new assignments, the craftsmen, along with their apprentices, tools, and materials, headed towards the most badly damaged sailboat.

"God, I hope this hole won't make me fall into the sea while I'm repairing the boat."

The apprentice next to him looked up at the hull and sighed deeply: "Good heavens, Master just taught me how to repair the cannon craters not long ago, why did he have to do this to me today?"

After the craftsmen boarded the ship and examined it carefully, they all frowned, and the tools in their hands suddenly felt weak.

"This ship is badly damaged, buddy. Come with me downstairs and check on the keel."

The group went down below deck to inspect the interior and breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, God spared this ship. The keel doesn't seem to be seriously damaged, and the core structure is still intact." Then their tone turned somber: "However, these few large wounds mean that without replacing ribs and patching the planks, it won't work."

"Master, how long will it take you to patch such a big hole?"

"The materials are all ready. It will take two months just to repair the exterior. We will also need to check for any hidden damage inside. If there are any undiscovered defects, we will suffer when we set sail."

After inspecting the ship, the craftsmen disembarked and reported to Master Chi what they had seen. Hearing their descriptions, Chi Honghai felt a pang of heartache.

"Don't you know to go easy on me? Don't you know the cargo on the ship is mine, and the ship itself is mine too?"

"Sir, what are you saying?"

Chi Honghai snapped out of his daze: "Oh, it's nothing. I'll leave this to you. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, sir, let's get started."

Chi Honghai nodded, indicating his final permission.

The craftsmen first set up a simple pulley system, and then used manpower to pull the nearly two hundred-ton empty boat onto a pre-laid log slide.

This project is not simply about brute force. The ship they are facing is already badly damaged. If they use too much force at this point, it could cause secondary damage. That's not the worst part. If they don't adjust the angle and force properly during the pulling process, the whole ship could capsize.

Then we won't need to repair the boat; it'll be Master Chi's turn to repair the people.

Once the boat was secured, the real repair work had just begun.

The craftsmen first used crowbars and axes to carefully remove the completely shattered and irreparable wooden planks around the wound.

The repair crew swallowed hard when they saw the exposed internal structure.

When a ship is hit by a shell, the wood not only breaks, but also develops hidden cracks due to the enormous impact. If these cracks are not treated, the ship's ability to withstand attacks will be greatly reduced.

It's not just shelling; if this continues for years, even a slightly larger storm could cause the ship to take on water and sink.

Experienced craftsmen would carefully tap the surrounding wooden planks and ribs with a small hammer, judging the extent of internal damage by the sound. If a hollow or muffled sound was heard during the tapping, it meant that there was internal decay or cracks, and it had to be treated.

The most troublesome thing to do is to deal with broken hull ribs (and ribs). If it is just a crack, it can be forcibly locked by using iron "claw studs" (large saddle studs) to bridge the crack.

However, if it is completely broken, the only option is to saw off the broken section, select a piece of hardwood with a similar curvature and thickness from the spare timber, and splice it together using traditional mortise and tenon joints, then secure the joint with iron hoops.

This process, known as "rib replacement," is one of the most technically demanding skills in ship repair.

The frame problem has been resolved, but the problems on the hull still need to be investigated and repaired.

Depending on the shape of the wound, a pre-treated thick wooden board (usually teak or camphor wood, which is highly resistant to corrosion) is selected and carefully cut so that it can fit into the gap perfectly.

The joints between the wooden planks and the original hull, as well as the internal ribs, all have hidden tenons or pre-drilled holes, which are then secured with wooden or iron nails.

The most important step in this process is "twisting," as the word "twisting" in the picture suggests. This process requires mixing different materials together.

At the seams where all the old and new wooden planks are joined, the craftsmen would use chisels to forcefully pound a mixture of tung oil, lime, hemp fibers, or bamboo fibers into the seams, just like loading cargo into a modern box truck. They would continuously stomp and kick the seams to compress the internal space until they were completely filled and the surface was smooth.

The skill of "seaming" directly determines the watertightness of the hull. Well-made seams are very hard after drying and will not leak a drop of water.

Meanwhile, maintenance is also being carried out on other vessels.

However, their work is much easier than this.

For masts or sails damaged by wind and waves, craftsmen can process the logs into the required size by measuring, marking, splitting with an axe, and planing.

As for the cables and rigging, they were all inspected one by one. Those that were old or severely worn were replaced immediately. Some of the metal parts on the ship that could be disassembled were removed for inspection and maintenance, rust was removed, wear was repaired, and animal fat was applied.

Every part of the boat that was going to be submerged was repainted with tung oil.

The repair work was in full swing, and Chi Honghai couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as he watched the hundred or so people working up and down.

Last year I was a fugitive on a wrecked ship, but now I have six ships carrying cannons.

He watched all this until his gaze fell on the Union Jack still hanging at the stern of the ship, as if he had just remembered something.

Although the Dutch and English were at odds, why would the Dutch be willing to pay such a high price to destroy the English fleet when there was no war? There must be something going on.