Chapter 48: Are You Sure It

In the early morning, the Persian Gulf was shrouded in a thin golden mist. At the newly built deep‑water pier of Dubai Port, a French delegation of seven stood in the dawn breeze, all eyes fixed on the gray outline slowly emerging on the horizon.

God…

Lu Yi Mo Luo muttered to himself, the telescope in his hand trembling slightly. As a senior engineer at the French Navy Shipbuilding Bureau, he had seen every shipyard in Europe and had witnessed the launch of the "Intrepid," yet the scene before him still exceeded his frame of reference.

That was not a mere outline.

It was a mountain.

A moving, steel‑clad, heavily armed metal mountain.

"General," Mo Luo turned to Du Bu Wa, his voice hoarse, "I take back what I said last night. This isn't just possibly stronger than the Westphalia class; this is… this is something from another dimension."

Du Bu Wa gave no answer. The veteran stood at the foremost edge of the pier, the sea wind ruffling the lower hem of his uniform, yet he remained motionless like a statue. Only his clenched fists betrayed his inner shock.

The gray behemoth ship slowly entered the harbor, its bow cleaving the calm sea and leaving a broad white wake. Sunlight struck the slanted armor plates, reflecting a cold metallic sheen. Three towering smokestacks emitted faint coal smoke, and four twin‑turret gun barrels angled toward the sky, each bore so wide a person could be jammed inside.

"Length exceeds 260 meters," Pi Ai Er Du Lan De quickly estimated, his small notebook already filled with data. "Freeboard… at least fifteen meters. The Main Gun caliber is definitely over 380 mm, possibly in the 400 mm class. Look at the size of those turrets!"

Hen Li Le Fei Fu's focus was on the details: "The hull welding technique, not riveting. See those seams? Smooth as a single steel plate. And the layout of the superstructure—so streamlined, almost no unnecessary protrusions—they've maximized drag reduction and ballistic protection."

The giant ship slowly turned about five hundred meters from the pier, its massive hull tracing a graceful arc across the water. That distance allowed the French to see the details while still delivering a perfectly calibrated deterrent effect.

A small boat was lowered from the ship's side and headed toward the pier.

Fifteen minutes later, Li Te stood on the pier and rendered a standard military salute to Du Bu Wa. The young captain wore a deep‑blue Lanfang Navy uniform, the shoulder boards embroidered with a yellow dragon emblem, his posture as upright as a spear. (Comrades, suggestions on the uniform?)

"General Du Bu Wa, on behalf of the Lanfang Navy, I welcome you all aboard for a tour,"

His French carried a slight accent, yet it was fluently spoken to everyone's surprise.

Du Bu Wa returned the salute, his gaze lingering on Li Te's face for a moment: "Captain, could you first tell us the ship's name and basic specifications?"

Li Te smiled faintly: "The 'Restoration', standard displacement 38,000 tons, full load 41,000 tons. Armed with eight 381 mm main guns of 45 calibers, mounted in four twin turrets. The propulsion system comprises four steam turbines and twenty‑four oil‑fired boilers, with a designed speed of 31 knots."

With each figure he uttered, the French experts' breathing grew a beat faster.

"Three… thirty‑eight thousand tons?" Mo Luo's voice shifted, "Are you sure it's ten‑thousand tons, not thousand?"

"Confirmed," Li Te replied calmly and confidently, "You can verify it with your own eyes once aboard."

The very act of boarding was itself a shock.

The gangway was wide enough for four people side by side, the steps made of non‑slip steel plates, the handrails polished stainless steel. Upon stepping onto the deck, the first visual impact was the openness—unlike European battleships crowded with gear and personnel, the Restoration's deck was as clean as a parade ground, every piece of equipment had a fixed storage slot, and pipelines ran neatly along the hull's edge.

"What is the deck crew complement?" Du Bu Wa asked.

"Standard combat complement is 1,200, but thanks to automation, 800 can sustain full combat power," Li Te answered, "That's a third to half fewer than European battleships of comparable tonnage."

"How is that achieved?"

"Follow me."

Li Te led the group toward the bridge. Every watertight door they passed was so heavy that two people were needed to push it open, its frame fitted with rubber seals. Along the corridor, the bulkhead walls displayed complex pipes and cables neatly bundled, with clear signage at regular intervals.

"This is the damage control system," Li Te said, pointing to a row of red valves, "The ship is divided into twenty‑eight independent watertight compartments; any compartment hit and flooded can be isolated within thirty seconds."

Du Lan De examined the valves closely: "Electric control? Not manual?"

"Primarily electric, with manual backup. Our power generation is sufficient to run all ship systems simultaneously,"

Reaching the bridge, a massive observation window offered a 270‑degree view. The consoles displayed an orderly array of gauges, dials, and levers; several young operators on duty rose to salute the visiting party, their movements perfectly synchronized.

"The fire control room is one level down," Li Te said, pushing open an armored door.

Then the French saw a sight they would never forget.

It resembled not a battleship compartment but a scientific laboratory. Rows of mechanical calculators emitted faint gear‑turning sounds, a massive Optical Rangefinder linked via drive mechanisms to the computing apparatus, and the walls were lined with charts and solution tables.

"This is the central fire control system," Li Te said, standing before a complex machine, "After inputting target distance, heading, speed, wind speed, wind direction, shell type… the computer automatically calculates the firing solution and transmits it via circuitry to each turret in sync."

He motioned for an operator to demonstrate.

The young operator moved a lever, and the needles on the gauge began to sweep. Another turned a knob, a third pulled a lever. After three minutes, a row of indicator lights illuminated.

"Solution complete. Elevation 12.7°, azimuth 034°, fuze set to an 8.5‑second delay," the operator reported, "Data synchronized. Now each turret only needs to adjust its angle according to the indicator lights and await the fire command."

Mo Luo crowded around the machine, eyes wide, "Error rate?"

"The system's intrinsic error is under three‑tenths of a percent. Actual Hit Rate depends on range‑finding accuracy and sea state—but at twenty‑thousand yards, our hit rate against a ten‑thousand‑ton target exceeds twenty percent."

"Twenty‑thousand yards…" Du Lan De inhaled sharply, "Our current warships' maximum Effective Range is only twelve‑thousand yards, and at that distance the hit rate is under five percent."

"Times are advancing," Li Te said lightly.

The next stop, the engine room, brought the awe to its peak.

Four massive steam turbines hummed at low pitch; through the observation window one could see the blades whirling at high speed. There was no violent vibration or clamor of a compound engine, only a steady, powerful drone, like the breathing of a sleeping beast.

"Output power?" Du Lan De asked.

"During sea trials we reached 140,000 shaft horsepower," Li Te's answer left all French experts speechless.

"140,000… God, our latest design is only 60,000!"

"Hence we can achieve 31 knots," Li Te moved to the other side, "This is the oil‑fired boiler system. Heavy‑oil injection combustion yields forty percent higher thermal efficiency than coal‑fired boilers and reduces boiler crew by two‑thirds. Our five‑thousand‑ton fuel load suffices to cruise 10,000 nautical miles at an economical 18 knots."

Hen Li Le Fei Fu perched before a boiler's observation window, lingering, "We're still at the laboratory stage with oil‑boiler technology, yet you've already installed it on a battleship…"

"Technology always matures through application," Li Te glanced at his pocket watch, "Everyone, if the tour is nearly finished, we will proceed to a sea‑borne demonstration. Please proceed to the upper observation deck."