Episode 21: Increasing Perverted Sailing Ships
Following the flagship ＜Paraiso＞, the second and third ships rolled out.
“Since no structural problems occurred during the ＜Paraiso＞’s voyage, the design is almost identical. The third ship is equipped with a multi-barreled 20mm Autocannon instead of the 150mm Smoothbore Cannon. As far as we’ve confirmed on-site, this may be a more useful armament.”
“Hee… How valiant…!”
Seeing the two ships floating side by side, she made no attempt to hide her excitement, leaning over the railing. In a hurry, the Communicator Doll controlled by ＜Ringo＞ grabbed her waist.
“Ma’am, that’s dangerous.”
“It’s okay~”
She thought it was still overprotective. Below was a well-maintained pier, about 2m high. Even if she fell, it would be into the sea, and even if she fainted, she would be rescued immediately. She wished they would let her do as she pleased to that extent.
From an outsider’s perspective, she didn’t realize she was being too boisterous and reckless.
“Well, with this, we can finally start trading in earnest.”
“Yes, Ma’am. If we can procure iron products on a regular basis, we’ll be much more stable. It will also be possible to manufacture large ships.”
At the mention of large ships, she turned her face towards the offing. There, a large sailing ship was under construction, and work was still in progress.
“In the end, we didn’t have enough steel, so we’re using Duralumin for aircraft, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The main structural members are designed with Duralumin or steel, and the basic structural material is Cellulose, but Duralumin is still used where strength is required. Eventually, once we have secured the necessary iron, we plan to dismantle it and recover the Duralumin.”
“Ideally, we’d like to use Duralumin for aircraft.”
“Yes. If we can operate large flying boats, we can greatly increase our deployment speed.”
Currently, the only runway available at Fortress The Tree is a short-range runway that runs through the Fortress. Because it uses a catapult launch system, it can only operate planes that are compatible with it, and of course, the runway itself is small, so it cannot operate large aircraft.
In that respect, a flying boat capable of taking off and landing on the sea surface can be made larger. A pier for cargo transport is necessary, but it is more realistic than building a runway. However, even constructing that structure presents resource problems.
“Well, for now, let’s wait until we have a stable supply of iron…”
If transactions in ton units become possible, steel structures can be built. If a large general-purpose machine tool (printer) for shipbuilding can be installed, the construction speed will also increase dramatically.
“We are prioritizing the acquisition of iron and collecting information, so I think we will be able to make some kind of report in the near future.”
“I’m not worried about that, so it’s okay.”
As Commander, she also tries to keep track of what ＜Ringo＞ is doing by looking at the Action Log from time to time. Recently, it seems that she has mainly been scanning for iron oxide exposed on the ground. If there is a place where open-pit mining can be done on the coast, a fleet can be dispatched for mining instead of trade.
“Also, we will be pulling up the ＜Paraiso＞ soon. We were able to advance trade negotiations favorably, and we also obtained various spices and foods.”
“Oh, is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”
After the ＜Paraiso＞ attack incident, it seems that a fairly large-scale mopping-up operation was carried out in that port city. The group of merchants who had messed with ＜Paraiso＞ were wiped out completely. According to ＜Ringo＞, she could have argued, but she accepted their sincerity because it was the first transaction. She was apparently thanked considerably.
However, as a show of force, the “enemy” merchant’s building was blown away with a 150mm Smoothbore Cannon. ＜Ringo＞ calculated with all her might, and the bursting Cannon Shell, aimed precisely, pulverized only the target building as calculated. She had warned them in advance, so there were no casualties other than the enemy merchant’s chairman.
Seeing that, she thought it was too much, but she was swayed by ＜Ringo＞’s boastful appearance and decided to forget about it immediately.
The chairman of the merchants who governs that Telek Port City, probably in a position like a lord, promised that he would definitely prepare the required amount of iron ingots by the next trade. After all, Cannon diplomacy is the most effective. Next time, they will be even more surprised. After all, the number of ships will increase to three.
“If we can deploy a large ship, the transport volume will be three times the total of these three ships.”
The large transport ship emphasizes loading capacity and stability, and the bottom of the ship is shallow and wide. The power source will also be equipped with screws instead of paddle wheels. The main means of transportation will be wind power for the time being, but when the materials are available, it will be replaced with a hydrogen gas turbine. The hydrogen fuel will be stored by electrolyzing seawater with photovoltaic panels.
“Forming a trade fleet… I want to build a Battleship someday.”
“Battleship? What class in meters?”
“Hmm… I don’t know much about it, but about 300m?”
＜Ringo＞ pondered for a while at her casual answer.
“Understood. Let’s advance the Tree so that we can build a Battleship.”
“Is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”
Incorporating a giant Battleship into the fleet has become the goal.
About 10 days passed as it was.
＜Paraiso＞ returned safely.
Although not fully loaded, it is loaded with many iron products, preserved foods, seasonings, various crafts, and precious metals.
“The iron is only about 1 ton, so it’s not even enough for one ship.”
“It’s better than just decreasing. It looks like we can increase it more from next time, right?”
“Yes. I have made the request. This time it was plain yarn and cloth, but next time let’s add dyed ones to the list. I also got some patterns, so I’d like to put out some clothing samples.”
Perhaps because of the constant wars, it seems that they are culturally immature. She was able to hear that there was demand for cloth products in the Royal Capital area.
While thinking about useless things like whether this was cultural invasion, she looked at the list of clothes and crafts. She doesn’t have any design sense, so she doesn’t have anything to criticize in particular.
“Also, weapons seem to have a relatively high exchange rate. I also obtained weapons from there, so I will adjust the quality we put out based on the results. I told them that the ones we put out this time are of the highest quality, so there shouldn’t be any problem with mass-produced items being of slightly better quality.”
“That’s right. Just do it appropriately.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Currently, she is sitting at a table set up on the observation deck, being served by ＜Ringo＞. Several newly born (rolled out) Communicator Dolls are taking care of her. It’s a scene that she once feared, where she’s heading straight for becoming a useless person, but fortunately, she’s not aware of that fact.
While watching the Communicator Dolls moving around to unload the cargo, she sipped the carbonated water prepared by ＜Ringo＞ through a straw.
“…Delicious!”
“I refined the sugar I obtained and made cider.”
“……… The taste of civilization…”
While recommending candied fruit to her (Ma’am), who was muttering something appropriate again, ＜Ringo＞ was working hard to collect information from the bots she had infiltrated in order to further enhance the meal.
◇◇◇◇
A survey fleet departed from the fortified Northern Islands.
Their destination is the yet unseen Southern Continent.
Although they are wooden sailing ships, they are probably the most suitable structural material for ocean voyages. Although they are equipped with the latest magic paddle wheels as auxiliary power, they are basically sailing ships. Three large ships were built with the best of technology. As escort ships, 2 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, a total of 9 ships, slowly slid out into the open sea.
The purpose is to scout the hegemonic nation of the Southern Continent, as heard from the castaways from the Southern Continent. If possible, to explore peaceful exchanges. From the investigation of the seized large ships, it was judged that the technical level was not so far apart. The only concern is that the main Battleship cannot be dispatched due to the problem of cruising range.