Chapter 119: , Flying shears and the saint of Toulon

Watching Joseph and his party leave, Lucien let out a long sigh. He patted his chest and said, "Fortunately, Joseph is in a hurry, okay, it's time for a holiday, it's dawn!"

After saying this, he suddenly turned his head and asked Napoleon, "Napoleon, you said that Joseph arrived in Toulon... The thing about Polina in Toulon, the people in Toulon don’t know, will it... "

Polina became nervous when she heard it.

"It's okay," Napoleon said. "Joseph is a prudent man. He is responsible for highly confidential matters, which in itself means that he can't casually communicate with the locals. The only person who can deal with him is the research institute. The researchers inside and the soldiers in charge of security. Those researchers are all outsiders, and they don’t know about this. As for the soldiers, I have ordered them not to speak anything non-work to anyone engaged in research. In addition, , I also talked to Joseph. On Toulon’s side, there are many hidden dangers in safety because of Couton’s inability to do things well. Therefore, it is better not to leave the institute if he is fine. You also know how cautious Joseph is... , This adds another layer of insurance. Besides, his research institute is not even in the real city of Toulon..."

"Napoleon, you are amazing!" Lucien gave Napoleon a thumbs up sincerely, "Now I can sleep at ease."

"Me too..." Napoleon said, "but Lucien, don't be too relaxed. According to the current system, Joseph will take a day off every ten days. Toulon and Marseille are so close, maybe he will Suddenly came back to check your homework."

Lucien shivered, and then said, "At least not today, ah, I'm going back to sleep..."

As Napoleon expected, Joseph actually had little chance of dealing with the locals in Toulon. He didn't even enter the city, but went straight to a manor on the outskirts of the city.

The original owner of this manor had been sent by Kudong to meet God, and his manor was naturally confiscated by the government of the Republic. There are many manor houses like this in Toulon. When the "Naval Research Institute" needed a place, the manor was selected because of the most suitable conditions.

The so-called conditions are suitable, including these points.

First of all, this manor doesn't have much output, so using it as a laboratory will not damage production. And this manor is not only close to the sea, but there is also a nearly closed bay next to it, where a small pier was built, which is convenient for experimentation and confidentiality.

After determining the location, all that was left was to rebuild this manor, surround it with a high wall, and prepare various materials. All these things were prepared before Joseph arrived. Joseph's task now is to get this organization up and running as soon as possible, and quickly bring out one or two useful smuggling boats.

As soon as Joseph arrived, he immediately put into work. It took only a week to complete the first model of the world's first flying shear ship. After this model was tested in a tank, it was unanimously praised by the Navy's engineers.

This model is obviously different from other ships of this era. The first difference is that this ship is extremely slender. The aspect ratio of ships in this era is generally around 4. For example, the British Royal Navy's "Victory" battleship has an aspect ratio of only about 43. If the aspect ratio of the waterline part is counted, it is even only 38. Even for cruisers that pursue high speeds, the aspect ratio is generally only about 46. However, the length-to-width ratio of the waterline part of Joseph's model of this ship reached an astonishing 65.

Because according to the empirical formula obtained by Joseph in the experiment, this aspect ratio can greatly reduce the resistance; at the same time, the longer length means that the ship can accommodate more masts and hang more sails. And more sailing means more motivation.

Less resistance, coupled with greater power, naturally means higher speed. If Joseph’s calculations are not problematic, this ship should be at least one third faster than the British cruiser under the same wind, which makes it almost impossible to capture such a ship at sea.

Of course, in order to achieve such performance, this boat has done very extreme and has paid a huge price in many other aspects.

The first is volume. Anyone who has learned a little geometry knows that the slender the hull, the smaller the ratio of its volume to the surface area, that is to say, under the same displacement, the volume of such a ship is much smaller and can be loaded. The cargo is much less.

This kind of ship is equipped with more masts and more sails, which will increase the center of gravity of the ship and decrease its stability. To put it more clearly, it is easy to turn over. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to lower the height of other parts of the ship and adopt a deep v bottom, which makes the draft deeper on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also makes this kind of ship definitely get serious waves-its deck must be all The wettest in the boat. At the same time, it is necessary to add extra-large sway fins to this boat, and this thing will also bring another kind of extreme deterioration in performance, that is the flexibility of this boat.

The large aspect ratio of this ship would have caused steering difficulties. Coupled with the huge sway fins, its steering performance would have to drop again. As a result, the ship would appear to be turning when turning. Extraordinarily clumsy. These defects have also been verified in the pool experiment. In short, this is an extreme design with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

But, "Anyway, this thing is not for fighting. It doesn't matter if the steering is not good. As long as it can run at high speeds, things that are one-third slower than it can stop it?"

So, at least for now, if this kind of ship can really achieve the performance that the model shows in the pool, then it is the ship most needed in France. Because it can easily get rid of the interception of the British and Spanish, and quickly smuggle in the things that the Republic needs most.

The model of the ship is completed, and then the actual shipbuilding is completed. The first ship is certainly not too big, only about two hundred tons. The carrying capacity is even more pitiful, only a mere one hundred tons. Considering that people and living supplies must be installed on it, the actual load capacity is even smaller.

In order to test and finalize the shape as soon as possible, the ship was inevitably a bit shoddy when it was built. But even so, within a month, this boat is not well built.

Joseph really didn't know much about shipbuilding. So at this time, Joseph was idle.

Although there are many rebellious things hiding in the vicinity of Toulon, Joseph is a little scared, and he does not dare to go into the city to relax.

On this day, the weather suddenly became clear. In rainy months, especially near the Mediterranean Sea, such a sunny day is quite rare. Watching the rising sun, Joseph suddenly wanted to walk outside in particular. He thought, if he can't go to the city, then walk around the place where the army is stationed and relax. It should be good. So he remembered that when he and Napoleon came to France together, they used to take a boat to the sea near Mulgrave fortress. The scenery there was very good, and it was now a military restricted zone, and no one else could enter. Come, take a rest there, and go fishing in the bay full of rocks, isn't it great?

Thinking of this, Joseph couldn’t stay awake. He had a pass signed by Fouché, Napoleon and Davout, and he could go anywhere in Toulon. So he took a few people, using the terrain as an excuse to take the The carriage, under the of a team of cavalry, went to Mulgrave fortress to fish.

From the "Naval Institute" to Mulgrave Fortress is very close, but about half an hour away. When Joseph came near Mulgrave fortress, he encountered a flag-raising ceremony there.

The flag-raising ceremony at Mulgrave Fortress is different from other places. At the highest point of the fortress, a high flagpole, and then a soldier dressed in civilian male clothes with a long lady’s wig, is standing at the soldiers. Under his watch, a tricolor flag was raised.

"Huh? Why is the flag raised like this here?" Looking at the scene from a distance, Joseph couldn't help but feel a little surprised. But now, no one beside him can answer him.

When the carriage arrived outside the fortress, Joseph's orderly showed his pass to the soldier guarding the gate. After a while, the horse was turned away, and then a major greeted him.

Joseph got out of the car and walked inside accompanied by the major named Andre. As he walked, he asked, "Ah, major, I just saw your flag raising ceremony. It seems to be different from other places. , Can you tell me why there is such a flag-raising ceremony here?"

The major was stunned, and then replied, "Mr. Brigadier General, General Bonaparte has given an order. He said that all your work is top secret. For the sake of confidentiality, we are not allowed to talk to you. I can only take you. Come in ~EbookFREE.me~ and you will close your mouth."

Joseph listened, and was stunned for a moment. Suddenly a thought came into his mind, "Napoleon's order is very wrong. It is full of fake public interest. What is he doing?"

But he knew that he couldn't ask anything directly, so he stopped talking.

After walking around in the fortress, Joseph told the major that he did not need to accompany him. Then, when the major left, he asked his orderly soldiers to find out what was going on with that strange flag-raising ceremony. Then he took his fishing gear, sat down on a large rock behind the fort, and caught the fish.