The Norfolk Shipyard, which has expanded many times over the past ten years, is now more than ten times larger than it was ten years ago. The entire shipyard plus the surrounding steel plants, processing plants, foundries and other supporting factories , It has completely turned into a large-scale industrial base larger than the Shangjing Industrial Base and Daqingshan Industrial Base.

　　 On the river wharf outside the shipyard, there are eight awe-inspiring steel warships docked. On the northernmost side of these eight warships, is the dock where the Carlos is docked.

These nine Carlos-class warships are named after the surname of the shipyard chief designer Adria Carlos, and the other eight warships are named after several large tribes within the Yanhuang tribe. .

　　 Cherokee, Osage, Seven-Colored Flame, Shawnee, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Choctaw, and Crick are the names of these eight warships.

　　 These eight warships are basically the same as the Carlos. They were all outfitted in accordance with the continuous improvement of the Carlos after the hull was built.

　　Like the last Cherokee launched, its displacement, firepower and speed are even more fierce than Carlos.

Except for the Cherokee, the other eight warships are equipped with four improved 105mm guns on the stern and bow, a total of eight main guns, and twelve improved 76mm guns as secondary guns. There are also sixteen 76mm mortars as rapid-fire guns.

　　 The double diameter of the improved 105mm gun and 76mm gun has been increased to forty times the diameter. This double diameter cannon is already a standard cannon. The double diameter is enlarged, which can make the range of the artillery longer and higher accuracy.

Moreover, the 105 cannon is installed in two units. Counting the weight of the turret, mount and barrel, the weight of such a dual-mounted main gun has reached 12 tons. There are a total of four dual-mounted main guns on the entire battleship. The weight of the main gun is close to fifty tons.

The weight of twelve tons is far from the weight of the main guns on later battleships. For example, the twin 381mm main gun turrets used on the Bismarck-class battleships during World War II weighed 1,100 tons. Carlos The twin main guns on the number can't even keep up with the fraction of the fifteen-inch twin main guns, but in this era, such artillery is extremely amazing.

　　Well, those large-caliber fortress guns are also heavier than a single 105mm main gun, but can that kind of mortar guns be compared with 105 guns?

　　 If you compare the large-caliber fortress guns of this era to a matchlock gun, then the dual 105mm cannon equipped on the Carlos is equivalent to a 12.7mm heavy machine gun. There is such a big gap between the two...

　　 The 76mm cannon is also dual-mounted. There are a total of six 76mm dual-mounted turrets on the Carlos.

　　 The most fierce firepower of the Cherokee is equipped with six double 105mm cannons and eight 76mm double turrets, in addition to a full 24 76 mortars.

　　 In fact, although the Cherokee was placed in the ranks of the Carlos-class warships, this ship is actually a new type of warship.

Once the Cherokee can perform its designed functions in naval battles, this warship will become the standard for the next-level steel warships of the Yanhuang tribal navy. By then, this class of warships will be named the Cherokee class. Battleship.

　　Just looking at the appearance, the Cherokee is a circle larger than the other eight warships. If the Carlos class is built on the template of later small destroyers, then the Cherokee build template is the later medium-sized destroyer.

　　 These nine warships have all gone through long sea trials. Although they have not participated in actual combat, Carlos is deeply satisfied with the performance of these nine warships in the sea trials.

　　 The final formation of the Carlos is a major event for the Yanhuang tribe. This is related to the Yanhuang tribe’s future struggle for sea power, and Shi Xiong cannot attach too much importance to it.

　　 Standing on the bridge of the Carlos, Shixiong gave an order to leave the port with great enthusiasm. After that, the nine steel warships slowly sailed out of the dock and entered the wide Elizabeth River.

　　 In these ten years, especially in the six years after 1779, in addition to the usual tests, as long as a new ship comes out of the dock, the Chesapeake Bay will be sealed off.

Now neither the British nor the Continental Army dare to express any objections to this. Just kidding, this powerful Indian tribe can just send an inland armed transport ship and can single out a sailing battleship, or it is a crushing one, who Dare to trouble the Yanhuang tribe?

　　 So, as the bay was blocked again and again, both the British troops in Jamestown and Yorktown and the guerrillas of the Continental Army were numb.

Since we were going out to sea this time, the Chesapeake Bay was naturally blocked again, especially on both sides of the Elizabeth River estuary, hot air balloons were raised for warning, and a large number of elite scouts and soldiers from the Fourth Division were also thrown out. Then, they will cooperate with the hot air balloon in the sky to block the area three kilometers beyond the mouth of the river on the ground. Even the British soldiers in the observation post set up by the British on Fisherman's Island were invited away by the soldiers of the Fourth Division.

　　 The steel battleship, like the rigid airship, cannot yet appear in the eyes of Europeans. Therefore, once the steel battleship goes to sea, all-round blockade is inevitable.

Nine steel battleships lined up in a long snake formation, swiftly sailed into the Chesapeake Bay along the Elizabeth River, then turned east, and exited the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay about two kilometers from the coast ~lightnovelpub.net~ entered the Atlantic Ocean.

　　 This is the first time Shi Xiong has taken a boat out to sea in his life, especially now that he is riding a steel battleship. This is something that Shi Xiong has never experienced before and in two lifetimes, so Shi Xiong seemed very excited.

　　 As the heir of the first order of the tribe, Hekal has been with Shixiong. For this kind of steel battleship, the eighteen-year-old Hekal is also very interested.

　　 But he showed enough calmness, and he already had a kind of general demeanor.

After 　　 went to sea, the speed of the battleship immediately increased to the highest. Today, the gods are enjoying the face, the wind is not strong, so the sea conditions are not bad.

　　 The speed of the ship quickly increased to about fifteen knots, which is also the fastest speed currently achieved by the Carlos-class warship.

　　 Although this speed is not much higher than that of ten years ago, it is enough to deal with sailing battleships of this era. With the current sailing battleship generally having a maximum speed of only nine knots and a maximum of less than ten knots, a speed of fifteen knots is enough to hit any sailing battleship in the world.

　　 When the speed of the battleship stabilized to fifteen knots, Ishikuma and Hekal began to disembark and inspect the ship. By the time the two men turned around in the cabin and returned to the bridge, the fleet had already sailed out of the bay for nearly fifty kilometers.

　　 And at this moment, the observation post between the bridge and the boiler chimney suddenly heard a message-about fifteen kilometers northeast of the sea, a fleet was found...

　　:. :