Chapter 50: Heading North

Although Christine has recruited shipwrights since inheriting the title, they can only build dhows, coastal freighters, and fishing boats, let alone warships. For now, all they can do is cut down as many of the giant trees suitable for shipbuilding as they can, and then dry them to store materials for building larger ships in the future.

The three-masted sailing ship in their hands can sail as far as the Principality of Wendel, but it is not safe because it is a merchant ship.

There are fundamental differences between the design and structure of warships and merchant ships.

The former are sturdy and can withstand minor collisions, while the latter have more space and can carry more cargo. The former emphasize maneuverability and mobility, while the latter can be controlled with a minimum crew. In other words, for ships with the same three masts, warships can sail much faster than merchant ships. That is why Christine hopes to find a warship, so that if they encounter danger at sea, they can escape with their speed.

In this world, naval battles are basically fought by boarding parties. In direct combat, no strategy is of any use. It all depends on the quality and number of fighters. Christine has knights under her command, so she believes that even if she encounters a large pirate group with several ships, she will not be afraid.

However, if the other party does not want to capture the ship, but rather sink it, then no one on the ship will survive except Christine, who can fly. Besides, it is easy to meet Orcs in the Øresund, where the Wendish Duchy is located, so it is still safer to have a warship.

It is winter now, and there are many ice floes in the sea on the Wendish side, so there is no rush. Christine then wrote to the elves to buy a three-masted warship.

It didn't take long for the elves to reply that the warship was for sale, but the price would have to be raised by 30%. Christian immediately agreed.

Warships in the mainland navy are divided by tonnage into single-masted destroyers, which can carry up to 50 people for coastal defense and smuggling inspections. Double-masted light cruisers, which can carry 100 people, are the main warships of various countries' navies. Triple-masted heavy cruisers, which can carry 150 people, are generally the flagships of small nations' navies. A four-masted battlecruiser can carry 300 people and is equipped with ten large bed guns for long-range attacks. A four-masted battleship can carry 400 people, is heavily armored, and is equipped with twenty large bed cannons, a long-range teleportation array, and a fifth-level mage.

A warship costs 10,000 gold coins to build, and a battleship costs 20,000 gold coins to build. They are complex to build, take a long time to build, and require 10% of annual maintenance costs. This does not include the cost of sailors and mages, so even a large country like the Frank Kingdom cannot afford to have many of these two types of warships.

Apart from the kingdom's navy, the navies of the coastal nobles all use ordinary merchant ships, as long as they can defend themselves against pirates. In this case, the elves would be very generous to sell a three-masted heavy cruiser.

Half a month later, the three-masted warship Surrey, sold to Christine, arrived at the port of Dominaria with the merchant ships.

It had to be admitted that the elves' shipbuilding technology was indeed superior to that of the humans. Not only were they more beautiful to look at, but they were also stronger and faster than comparable human warships.

Of course, to improve the comfort of sailors and soldiers, the three-mast warships of the elven navy carried nearly fifty fewer people than human warships. However, the average elven soldier is of the third rank, so even though there are fewer people, it does not affect combat effectiveness.

This was exactly what Christine wanted. She personally led the people to the Principality of Wendel, hoping to rest comfortably along the way.

Thirty sailors were chosen, and the original pirate leader, Red Beard Hel, was also brought along, as it was said that they would need to borrow each other's sailing experience halfway. Choosing a suitable time, Christine set sail with Elena and the Fox Sisters, protected by Erik Bernard's seven fourth-order professionals, led by a seventh-order knight and thirty guards. Considering that the lab would definitely be in a hidden location in the wilderness, Ronnie St., a first order druid, had to be brought along as well.

The reason for not being fully staffed is to carry more supplies. Even though there is a map, it will take a long time to find it, and the group may be in the wilderness for several months.

To prepare for this journey, all the sailors and soldiers trained for more than a month in advance, so the journey went very smoothly. However, the view of the sea was quite fresh at first, but after a few days everyone got bored of it.

Especially the damp sea breeze made everyone feel sticky and uncomfortable, and fresh water was such a precious resource that they couldn't bathe. So basically no one went out of the cabin unless they absolutely had to. Fortunately, Christine was a wizard, and the zero-level spell "Magic Trick" could be used to clean herself and the three women, which was relatively better.

With more supplies, they did not skimp on food, of course. The baked white bread was compressed and placed in a wooden bucket, then sealed with wax. It could be opened and heated as needed. There are also sausages, bacon, smoked meats, and a variety of fresh seafood caught by the sailors. There are vegetables that are dried and stored in clay pots, and when they are eaten, they are put in a pot with water and boiled to make vegetable soup. As for the traditional prevention of scurvy, lemons and light beer as an alternative to drinking water, there is plenty of it.

This is just the food for ordinary sailors and soldiers. However, what Christine, Elena, the Fox Sisters, Knight Eric and the rune druid eat is freshly baked bread by the chef, fresh vegetables grown on the ship, meat and other vegetables frozen in a magic circle, and they drink high-quality red wine and tea. In particular, the use of spices is even better than what some nobles eat on a daily basis.

However, the ship was no match for the land, so the battleship Surrey basically docked at every port it encountered so that everyone on board could rest and, most importantly, take a bath.

Although Redbeard Hel was now a slave, he was treated the same as any other sailor, since his sailing skills were needed. Still, the food and living conditions of these common sailors had already surpassed those of his time as pirate leader, which made him secretly feel that his years as leader were probably in vain.

These small ports along the way were nothing like the current port of Dominaria, let alone the former port of Salzo. Although hygiene was taken seriously due to the requirements of the lords and the Church, it was inevitable that there would be a mixture of all kinds of people and random buildings.

However, this had nothing to do with Christine and her party. One seventh-level knight, seven fourth-level professionals, and thirty elite soldiers were enough to sweep the harbor, not to mention Christine, a third-level mage, and Loni, a first-level druid.

When they docked at the port of Calais in the Kingdom of France, the large number of trestles, wide streets, neat houses, high city walls, and especially the standing Wizards' Tower gave the appearance of a large port city.

The group stayed here for a few days, and Christine took the opportunity to study the construction and operation of the port.