Chapter 386 - The Patrol Boats

"Eating crayfish when we have sea lobsters?" Wu Nanhai expressed disdain. "If you really miss them, Australia has freshwater crayfish too. Go eat those later. But I still prefer proper sea lobster."

The discussion turned to mariculture. Lingao possessed extensive tidal flats, especially at Bo-pu, Ma-miu, and Hongpai ports—all featuring large tidal zones that would become the main areas for modern Lingao's coastal farming. These three regions were now under direct or indirect transmigrator collective control, providing a foundation for mariculture development.

"We know nothing about mariculture. No one studied it, no one has practical experience," Wu Nanhai admitted. "We'd have to find reference materials and self-study first. Besides, at this time-space's fishing productivity level, expanding the fishing fleet is far more meaningful than developing mariculture."

"Let the fishermen handle it. Early mariculture was developed by fishermen themselves through trial and error. Oyster and kelp farming mainly involves seedling cultivation and creating artificial environments—minimal feed investment with considerable output."

No concrete conclusions emerged on mariculture since it technically fell under fisheries, requiring Naval Command coordination. After considerable thought, Wu Nanhai decided it was preferable for Naval Command to collect more "fishing tax." If feasible, organizing a fishing cooperative for collective offshore operations would also help.

But just then, the situation in the Qiongzhou Strait was growing turbulent.

Naval People's Commissar Chen Haiyang sat in Fengcheng's captain's cabin, studying the charts spread across the table. This giant vessel had been anchored here for nearly a year—from the beginning, a symbol of transmigrator collective power. Even when they'd huddled within Bo-pu's earthen fortifications, Fengcheng had intimidated everyone in the region.

For over half a year, besides the attacks by Zhu Cailao and Liu Xiang, no one had dared challenge their presence in the Qiongzhou Strait. Small pirate bands that once frequented Lingao waters had long been eliminated.

But now, Fengcheng's naval personnel were feeling mounting pressure.

Small pirate groups were increasingly appearing in the Qiongzhou Strait—robbing ships indiscriminately, frequently landing to harass and plunder coastal villages.

Not that such incidents hadn't occurred before, but never with this frequency. Salt Village now faced one or two invasion alerts weekly, with twenty to fifty attackers landing each time. The village was constantly running ragged; the militia had to maintain full-time alert, seriously disrupting production. To protect the salt workers, the Army had dispatched a platoon to garrison Salt Village. Salt transport ships to Bo-pu were also threatened. Naval Command had lost a salt transport in early June—thousands of jin of sea salt gone, plus five or six casualties. By June, attacks had grown even more frequent. Naval Command began stationing marines on every salt ship and adopting convoy systems. Ma-miu to Bo-pu transports now used ten-ship formations with armed sailing escorts. Finally they'd suppressed pirates' salt-ship robbery attempts.

Escort battles weren't particularly intense—often the escorts' gunfire alone made attackers flee. But when attackers mustered four or five ships, they might press determined attacks, especially against valuable salt convoys. For safety, escort ships had upgraded to cannon armament—without canister shot, these starving, desperate, red-eyed pirates couldn't be reliably repelled.

Chen Haiyang quickly recognized that Naval Command lacked sufficient forces for maintaining sea dominance around Lingao. Naval Command possessed considerable ship numbers, but these were a hodgepodge of Guangdong coast vessels—generally small, fifteen to one hundred tons displacement, with varying conditions. Most handled transport duties without cannon installations. Those qualifying as actual warships numbered only four, constituting the naval core forces: the 8154 fishing trawlers, the self-modified lateen fishing boat Dengyingzhou, the first self-built fast sailing ship Zhenhai, and the two-masted captured-pirate-then-refitted Fubo. The latter three had all been equipped with diesel engines.

Chen Haiyang had concentrated main forces for several patrol sweeps and multiple entrapment operations, sinking and capturing over twenty various vessels, killing or capturing hundreds. Prisoner interrogations revealed: most came from various Fujian coast sea gangs, unable to withstand the combined Imperial-Zheng Zhilong suppression, scattering southward to Guangdong waters. Since the Pearl River estuary was also a suppression priority—and the Portuguese feared shipping lane disruptions, deploying large warships for Pearl River patrols—many small pirate bands couldn't establish footholds and continued westward toward lower-pressure waters.

From the prisoners, the Executive Committee learned the latest maritime developments: confirmation that after Zheng Zhilong's surrender, Xu Xinsu and Yang Liu had been killed by late 1628. As for Chen Shengyu, Zhou San, and other medium-small pirates—most had been eliminated or absorbed by Zheng. Li Kuiqi's battles with Zheng Zhilong continued. The transmigrator collective's most closely watched figure, Zhu Cailao, had gone to Fujian fishing in troubled waters, repeatedly attacking Tong'an, apparently hoping to profit from the Fujian coast chaos. According to prisoners, Zhu Cailao had been absorbing scattered forces from various factions, substantially expanding his strength, seizing opportunities to plunder foreign ships in Fujian waters—quite profitably.

Chen Haiyang concluded this was probably a chain-reaction effect. Zheng Zhilong's ongoing battles against various maritime groups in Fujian waters would inevitably drive increasing numbers of scattered vessels to flee to the Qiongzhou Strait as he progressively eliminated and absorbed these bands.

Actually an excellent opportunity—a chance to absorb these people and ships. Chen Haiyang was already calculating possibilities. He wasn't particularly impressed by their vessels, but these experienced sailors would make excellent naval personnel. Training land-recruited farmers into sailors couldn't compare to these native-born seafarers.

As for whether these pirates could become qualified naval fighters, Chen Haiyang wasn't concerned. That was Political Department Officer Wei Aiwen's responsibility. This brand-new organization had been proposed by Ma Qianzhu, operating under General Staff jurisdiction, specifically handling military political work. Wei Aiwen had been nominated for this new position based on his excellent political propaganda work at the Instructional Battalion. He simultaneously served as commander of the General Staff's direct recruit training camp. After enlistment, recruits first received ninety days of basic training and political education there.

But to achieve this goal, he needed to strengthen Lingao waters patrol forces. Zhenhai and Fubo originally handled long-range armed transport runs to Changhua and Yulin. Diverting them to security patrols caused no short-term problems, but prolonged diversion would affect island-circuit shipping—especially coconut and timber supplies.

"What we need now isn't a fleet, but sufficient patrol vessels for Lingao coastal security duties."

"Select some better-condition ships from our miscellaneous vessels, add cannons for patrol use." This was essentially the current armed sailing ship format. "Add diesel engines for increased mobility."

"No—those ships are too small. Installing diesel engines would be wasteful—I don't even want to spare cannons for them." Chen Haiyang quickly rejected this suggestion. Shipyard equipment upgrades, increasingly skilled workers, and the machinery shop providing ever more equipment had greatly inflated his ambitions.

"I want a small but professional standing patrol flotilla." He stated his requirements clearly at the Executive Committee meeting. "The current hodgepodge navy in the Qiongzhou Strait only has deterrent power, not enforcement capability."

Because these miscellaneous ships possessed no performance advantages, and experienced helmsmen were fewer than their opponents had, they relied solely on firearm superiority to offset enemy advantages. But these ships weren't designed for cannon installation—mounting multiple cannons proved difficult and extremely inconvenient.

Finally the Executive Committee approved an emergency shipbuilding project, ordering Bo-pu Shipyard to concentrate all resources and immediately construct five lateen patrol vessels. This ship type drew inspiration from the anti-piracy cutters built by the British Royal Navy from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Using single-masted lateen sails with shallow-draft hull design, they were ideal for combat in rugged coastal terrain and shallow waters. For rapid maneuvering in calm or unfavorable wind conditions, multiple pairs of oars were also installed.

British anti-piracy cutters could reach one hundred thirteen tons displacement, but Wen Desi's design specified half that standard displacement—borrowing the concept rather than replicating it. After all, these ships would serve only in the Qiongzhou Strait, at most around Hainan Island's coasts. Oceangoing performance needed little consideration.

The new patrol boat's displacement was set at sixty tons to accelerate construction. The single-masted lateen design was retained for its suitability to coastal regions' variable winds. The sail rigging system was entirely copied from the North American branch's yacht—except hand-crank windlasses replaced electric motors. The ship also featured three pairs of long oars for additional propulsion and accelerated turning.

The ship employed midship island layout. Fore and aft decks each mounted one twelve-pound M1857 smoothbore naval cannon in open casemate installations identical to Zhenhai's. According to Wen Desi's calculations, even with not-fully-trained gunners, each gun could fire once per minute. Ammunition configuration, based on several battle experiences, emphasized incendiary, explosive, and canister rounds, plus chain shot for targeting masts.

Since pirates facing patrol boats preferred boarding as their primary combat method, and small ships faced crew disadvantages, the vessels also mounted a devastating close-combat weapon: multi-barrel guns.

Multi-barrel guns weren't machine guns. Though capable of brief continuous fire, they possessed no automatic mechanisms. Essentially they integrated many rifle barrels firing sequentially to achieve a continuous-fire effect. This peculiar weapon had once been popular in Europe.

Li Yunxing's design basically replicated the original structure: sixteen barrels. To reduce manufacturing costs, barrels were made from seamless steel tubes pulled by the rolling mill, then rifled. They fired Minié paper cartridges with percussion cap ignition. Caliber was fourteen millimeters—inherited from the seamless boiler tubes brought from modern times, which served as Minié rifle barrels. Maximum range was four hundred meters; effective range one hundred meters.

The major drawback of multi-barrel guns was difficult reloading—nearly impossible during combat. So they developed an integral ammunition system. The gun body split into barrel unit and cartridge drum, with interchangeable drums. This allowed rapid reloading—similar to replacing revolver cylinders.

The result was extremely heavy—anyone hoping to deploy this as infantry "machine gun" saw its massive bulk and realized army deployment was impractical. Historically, such multi-barrel guns required two-wheeled gun carriages for land mobility, weighing nearly as much as light artillery but with inferior range and power. So they were quickly phased out of field forces.

Naval vessels were relatively insensitive to weight. Multi-barrel guns on ship decks used universal-joint mounts allowing convenient all-direction fire. Mounts featured sliding rails, using travel to absorb some recoil. They also incorporated improved firing mechanisms: a typewriter-keyboard-like hammer-striking device let shooters control firing rate. After Li Yunxing practiced several times, he could actually achieve controllable burst fire. This weapon earned the nickname "typewriter." Each multi-barrel gun crew carried twelve drums as standard ammunition load. For shooter protection, multi-barrel guns featured iron gun shields.

Besides this fearsome close-combat weapon, patrol boats employed an ancient but effective anti-boarding measure: protective nets along both gunwales. The handheld shotgun cannons that had proven effective in bandit suppression were also standard equipment for deck melee combat.

The ships temporarily lacked engines, but with future upgrade needs in mind, construction left installation space and structural provisions. Planned engines would use single or twin-cylinder diesels—quick-starting, suitable for patrol boat requirements.

Some questioned these ships' effectiveness given their small size—only thirty total crew. But Chen Haiyang maintained they were fully adequate for escort and patrol security duties in the Qiongzhou Strait—no one should expect fleet engagements from them.

In early June 1629, Bo-pu Naval Shipyard laid five iron keels on slipways, beginning simultaneous construction. The patrol boats pioneered iron-framed wooden-hulled construction. Keels and ribs all used rolled iron. The steel plant produced keels and ribs in batches according to blueprints. The entire construction schedule was reduced by over two-thirds compared to traditional wooden keels and ribs.

Patrol boat construction introduced many modern design concepts. Hull forms were completed on computer by Wen Desi and several ship-model enthusiasts using virtual shipbuilding software and extensive fluid dynamics databases. The Industrial Committee attempted standardized construction. Various wooden planking was unified in dimensions and shapes, batch-produced in workshops using woodworking machinery. Wen Desi even preliminarily attempted modular construction—certain large components were built on ground then hoisted aboard for installation. Lateen sails were custom-ordered in Macao through Jesuit connections. The Jesuits had written that the sailmakers they needed were en route from Europe to Macao; if all went well—no storms, disease, or pirates—they'd arrive in a year and a half.

Naval Command built ships and prepared for battle. Chen Haiyang intensively conducted training through operations, sending naval cadets, petty officers, and recruits aboard armed sailing ships. Short-term voyages didn't require worrying about provisions—cramming extra personnel aboard was acceptable. Zhenhai and Fubo maintained combat readiness, daily patrolling the Lingao-Xuwen strait zone. Suddenly Lingao's coast was thick with masts—quite an impressive martial display.

Soon the first five patrol boats launched. Total construction time was under twenty days. Wen Desi ordered concentrating resources to outfit one vessel first as a verification ship, deploying to combat as soon as possible to discover problems for further improvement.

Yue Lin now sat on this brand-new patrol boat's bridge. Under the awning was a rattan high-backed captain's chair fixed to the deck—and it rotated. This was a gift Wu Kuangming had carefully designed for Naval Command, also part of shipbuilding standardization measures. The chair, extremely comfortable in Lingao's climate, quickly became a symbol of naval authority. "Sitting the rattan chair" would later become transmigrator-nation navy slang—meaning becoming captain.

His command flag flew from the mast. The newly-completed Patrol Boat 101 was this patrol formation's flagship. Beautiful lateen sails billowed full with wind. On deck duty stood marines newly issued naval-model Minié rifles—the naval variant featuring shorter barrels suited for deck use. Fore and aft open casemates identical to Zhenhai's protruded black cannon muzzles.

Behind the bridge sat an experimental weapon—Li Yunxing's "machine gun." Several "typewriters" had been manufactured and were being tested aboard various vessels. Patrol Boat 101 was honored as the first to mount this weapon.

"Finally looks like a proper warship." Yue Lin said with evident satisfaction. His gaze shifted from the cannons to the ships flanking him. Though somewhat worn fishing boats with patched hardtop sails, this three-ship formation spread across the sea still conveyed the bearing of a naval squadron. In his imagination he saw himself in white gold-trimmed Grand Admiral uniform, chest covered with medals, standing on a battleship bridge. Beside him across the sea, battleships spread in wedge formation, riding wind and waves under the morning sun...

(End of Chapter)