In addition to the mast itself, the sails and ropes on the mast also gave Cixi a considerable shock.

The sails on the masts were rolled up, but Cixi could roughly imagine how they were obscured by the clouds when they were opened.

Above the mast, between the mast and the mast, the extremely thick and long cables, you come and go, criss-crossed, and there is another amazing momentum.

Sister Yu was deeply impressed by these two things, first of course, because of their huge size, and then, she also realized: these two things, in the current China, can not be made.

The sails and cables used in the "Champion" were the products of the development of the modern textile industry and the chemical industry, and China at that time was indeed not capable of doing it.

And those two huge chimneys—the largest chimneys the royal sister has ever seen—I'm afraid ten people won't be able to hold them together, right? How much coal does this ship have to eat to need such a big chimney?

But the most "shocking" thing is still the black cannon.

On the "Champion", there are no bronze cannons, all of them are cast iron cannons, so all of them are black and shiny.

For the Queen Mother, color is not the point, where the bronze and cast iron are, it is not clear for a while, what women care about is-why is it so thick? So big?

This "Armstrong" cannon, Guan Zhuofan told Sister Sù, is "one hundred and ten pounds". The royal sister already knew that this was the weight of the cannon. What "Napoleon" gun was used in the previous artillery was "twelve pounds". That is, this "Armstrong" cannon is almost ten times more than that "Napoleon" cannon.

The royal sister also knows that the "twelve-pound" cannon. In the infantry. It can already be considered a "heavy artillery". There are also "eight-pounder", "six-pounder", "four-pounder" cannons below.

What a small thing! I don't know how to describe it?!

The "Napoleon" cannon was fired, and the royal sister already had a sense of "earth-shattering"; What kind of majesty is this "Armstrong" cannon firing? It's unimaginable!

Guan Zhuofan said that one "pound" is about the same as our pound. Our Lady of the Queen Mother quickly converted in her head: "One hundred and ten pounds" - isn't that just as heavy as me?

When the woman imagined it for a while, she couldn't help but feel slightly dizzy in her head and weak under her feet.

What kind of power. Can an adult be projected miles away with that lightning speed?!

In addition, although the Queen Mother is "military blind", she can also see that there is a clear difference in structure between this "Armstrong" cannon and the "Napoleon" cannon: the "Napoleon" cannon has a bare tail; "Armstrong" cannon with a large hole in the tail. There are a lot of complicated-looking, "tall" parts around.

Guan Zhuofan said, this big hole. It was used to load the cannon -- this "Armstrong" cannon was called a "breech gun"; That "Napoleon" cannon is called a "breech gun". As the name suggests, the cannon of the "breech cannon" is loaded from the muzzle of the cannon - the Queen Mother has seen it; "breech guns", the guns are loaded from the tail of the guns.

Guan Zhuofan stressed: The "Napoleon" is already a first-class militaristic weapon, but the "breech gun" is more sophisticated, the gun is more convenient to load, the firing range is longer, it is more accurate, and it is more "advanced" than the "breech gun" -- the most "advanced" in the world at present.

"'Advanced'?"

"Well, that's it...... Newer, sharper. ”

The Queen Mother nodded and said, "I think so." You see, the cannons on the side of the ship, the muzzles of the guns are sticking out of the openings on the side of the ship, and it is not too inconvenient to load the cannons from the muzzles? If you are not careful, you will accidentally drop the cannon into the sea, but it will not be good. ”

"Uh, Queen Mother...... Shengming. ”

What did the royal sister say...... Actually, it makes sense. But the words of the Queen Mother, which interpreter dared to translate it to foreign devils, Lao Tzu immediately fired him.

In any case, the impression of "military technology is being upgraded and changing with each passing day" has been engraved in Cixi's mind, and she already has a vague consciousness of "not being able to catch up with one step, not being able to catch up with each step".

Then ask the Queen Mother to move the artillery deck.

The gun deck was below the upper deck and ran from the bow to the stern in one breath. In terms of space, the top and bottom are low, the left and right are wide, and a long cannon is laid on each side, and in front of the muzzle, there is a cannon window in each. Looking from the bow entrance of the gun deck to the stern exit, there is a feeling of "not being able to see the edge at a glance", and it is really "magnificent".

Finally, the Queen Mother was invited to "inspect" the engine room.

For most of the morning, after a series of shocks and shocks, Cixi had gained a certain "immunity" to "new things" -- she herself thought so. But as soon as she entered the engine room, the Queen Mother was immediately dizzy, and her heart pounded again.

On this boat, there are still sights and things beyond her imagination.

This place, it's really ...... The lair of the behemoth.

Whew, at least ...... Three-storey ...... So...... Deep.

Standing at the entrance, through the faint smoke, the royal sister saw that the huge bodies of the machine, some of which were several people tall, were like monsters with hideous shapes, squatting in complex pipelines of different thicknesses. The thickest of these tubes is impossible for one person to hold. The boiler was turned off, but there was still a hissing sound in the air, like the heavy snort of a giant beast when it was silent.

A horizontal reciprocating steam engine, ten coal-fired boilers, that's the heart of the Champion - yes, we are in the heart of one of the fiercest beasts in the world.

Kwan Zhuofan said that the "power" of the champion is "5,770 horsepower", which means, "5,770 horses pulling at the same time".

Five thousand seven hundred and seventy horses pulled at the same time?! - The royal sister sighed softly in her heart, this is really not the power she can imagine.

One horsepower directly corresponds to the power of a horse, which is of course very unscientific. On average, the horses do less than a horsepower for a long period of time, but when they are pulled out of a car stuck in the mud, the power can be close to ten horsepower. However, it is not impossible to give an intuitive explanation to the royal sister who does not have any knowledge of modern mechanics.

This place did not dare to stay long.

Of course, soot and water vapor are permeated, and they can't stay for long.

Returning to the upper deck and looking at the clear blue sky, Cixi let out a long sigh of relief.

That kind of semi-trance state turned around for a while, and it was quite unreal.

That's when she saw the colorful flags. These flags, the royal sister had noticed before, but she had no time to take care of them.

"These flags are pretty good."

Guan Zhuofan said: "Back to the Queen Mother, each of these flags has a specific meaning. When sailing on the sea, the ships are in contact with each other, and the 'flagship' commands the battle, and shouting at the top of their voices is inaudible, all by waving different flags and expressing different meanings, which is called 'flag language'. ”

After a pause, he said: "However, the situation today is that all the flags have been hung out, which is called 'full flag'. It is a common practice for the navies of various countries to greet the most important figures on the most critical occasions before hoisting the 'full flag'. Our Lady of the Queen Mother came to inspect the "Champion" at the Dagukou Wharf in Tianjin, and all the ships of the Chinese and American fleets hoisted the "full flag". ”

A smile appeared on the royal sister's face: "I see. Well, that's a lot of fun. ”

*(To be continued......)