Chapter 91: The European Blockade Operation.


    Time flew by like an arrow.


    It shouldnt be long now.


    Kim Ki-woo looked at the calendar and sank into his thoughts.


    It was the year 1492.


    And it was already the end of the hot summer.


    In other words, it was the time when Columbus would arrive at the Wakan Tanka continent, ording to the pre-arrival history.


    He did not remember exactly, but he knew that Columbus had arrived at the Bahamas around autumn.


    But he could not be sure that everything would go the same as before.


    Anything could happen because of the butterfly effect.


    It was something that had never happened before the arrival, that the imperial expeditionary force had visited Europe.


    In other words, the imperial vanguard could have changed the history of Europe.


    There was a possibility that the timing and location of Columbuss arrival would be different.


    Lets just wait and see.


    He had been preparing for a long time for Columbus and the Old World.


    What was a few months of waitingpared to that?


    Kim Ki-woo decided to wait quietly until the results came out.


    ***


    Contrary to Kim Ki-woos worries, Columbus was living almost the same life as before.


    Columbus was born in Italy, but moved to Portugal for his goal.


    He longed for Zipangu, the golden country that appeared in Marco Polos Travels, and nurtured his dream of exploring the East.


    And around 1484.


    Columbus asked Joo II of Portugal for support for his Antic exploration.


    But Joo II tly refused Columbuss request.


    Columbuss im sounded absurd, and more importantly, he was preparing for an exploration in the direction of Cape of Good Hope.


    Damn it. Why wont they believe me?


    Columbus felt very bitter about Joo II, who rejected his proposal.


    But he did not think he could change Joo IIs mind.


    To make matters worse, he lost his wife during this time.


    As a result, despair crept into his heart, but he did not give up here.


    He had spent his whole life researching and nning, and it was too precious to give up.


    After that, Columbus went to Spain with his son Diego.


    He arrived at Palos de Frontera and went to La Rbida Monastery with his son.


    There he met Juan Prez, the abbot of La Rbida Monastery.


    And he enthusiastically exined his grand n to him.


    Hmm. Thats a very interesting story.


    Prezs reaction waspletely different from Joo IIs.


    Coincidentally, Prez was also the confessor of Isabe I of Castile.


    Thanks to that, Columbus got a chance to meet Isabe, the queen of Castile.


    This time


    He checked his sailing n with the monks of the monastery and prepared everything to persuade Isabe.


    And finally in 1486, he met Isabe and Ferdinand II of Aragon.


    This meeting was different from Joo II of Portugal.


    Isabe was deeply interested in Columbuss story, thanks to his thorough preparation.


    Is there India beyond that sea?


    Yes. The earth is round, isnt it? If you support me, I will bring you a lot of gold across the sea.


    They had many more conversations after that.


    But this time too, Columbus ended up failing.


    It was because he demanded knighthood and admiralship, as well as governorship over thends he discovered, and finally one-tenth of the total revenue he obtained.


    This was a very unreasonable condition.


    Moreover, at this time, thest Reconquista against Granada was in full swing, so theycked the resources to support him.


    Ah, is it really impossible?


    Columbus was desperate.


    However, at this time, the Spanish Church wanted a wider missionary field, and supported his im after having a deep conversation with him.


    The clergy of the Church persuaded Queen Isabe to ept Columbuss argument.


    If that is what you think


    Eventually, Queen Isabe listened to the priests request and appointed Columbus.


    Of course, even after his appointment, Queen Isabe dyed her support, so he actually set sail in 1492.


    Thus, in August, two ships given by Queen Isabe and one ship from Captain Pinzon, a total of three ships, began to head towards the vast sea.


    ***


    Huaaam!


    The sea was bathed in warm sunlight.


    The green-eyed man yawned and stretched.


    Ugh. This is hard work too.


    It was physicallyfortable to be anchored in the middle of the sea and scout around.


    But it was boring to see the same scenery every time.


    So the green-eyed man wanted to do the transport work instead.


    I should ask for a transfer when I go back.


    There were many sailors who liked easy work, so it wouldnt be too hard.


    As the green-eyed man was thinking leisurely,


    Hm? What is that?


    Something faint entered his sight.


    Could it be?


    The green-eyed man was startled and quickly grabbed a telescope and raised it towards there.


    Gasp!


    And he saw it.


    A ship, a ship?


    And it was not a ship he had ever seen before, not one made in the continent of Wakan Tanka.


    There was no way a sailor who had seen countless ships for a long time would not know this.


    This is not the time!


    The green-eyed man snapped out of it and


    Ding, ding, ding.


    He rang the bell with the designated signal.


    Then the sailors who were waiting ran towards the green-eyed man.


    The green-eyed man shouted loudly at one of them, Red Rock, who was the captain.


    There is a shiping from the northeast!


    Telescope!


    At Red Rocks shout, one of the sailors handed him a telescope.


    Then, Red Rock confirmed the ship that the green-eyed man had seen.


    It seems to be a ship from Europe.


    It does look like that.


    What shall we do?


    What can we do? Our mission is only scouting. Lets keep a certain distance from that fleet and send a discovery signal.


    Of course, this ship also had firearms such as cannons and guns, but it was not something they could attack without any orders.


    After that, they sent a hand signal to the distant ship and kept their distance from the unfamiliar ship.


    As time passed, the imperial fleet that received the signal gathered one by one.


    Among them was also the gship of the imperial fleet.


    Heh. I didnt expect European ships to reallye.


    Themander of the fleet, Broken de, smiled as he checked the three ships.


    When it was concluded that the exchange with other continents was still dangerous, the current surveince system was activated.


    In other words, the goal of the Broken de was to annihte anything that came from other continents.


    Tsk tsk. They must have had a big dream and came here with great difficulty. But they had toe at this time.


    The Broken de clicked his tongue in pity.


    However, he could not neglect his duty because they were pitiful.


    The Broken de gave an order as amander.


    Intercept all three ships.


    Yes!


    With the salute of his subordinate, the death of Columbus and his party from Europe was confirmed.


    After that, the imperial fleet formed a siege around Columbuss fleet.


    The white g fluttered over the ships from Europe in a threatening formation, but there was no imperial sailor who cared about it.


    And then.


    p!


    The red g of firing fluttered,


    Boom boom boom boom!


    The cannons began to spit fire.


    ***


    The news of the shooting down of the ships from Europe was discussed at the imperial conference.


    I never thought that Europeans from the New World would sail to the Wakan Tanka continent.


    Neither did I. It would have been a disaster if we hadnt prepared in advance.


    Do you think they learned about the existence of the Wakan Tanka continent from our previous expedition to Europe?


    Hmm. Thats very likely. The timing is too coincidental.


    Kim Ki-woo chuckled at thest guess of the health director.


    Coincidental indeed. Its exactly as it was in the original history.


    He couldnt tell for sure if Columbus was on board one of the three ships that were sunk before they approached the Bahamas.


    But judging by the timing, it must have been Columbuss fleet.


    With this, the huge history that started with Columbuss discovery of America waspletely reversed.


    Kim Ki-woo was reminiscing about this while the meeting continued.


    If what the health director said is right, there might be more shipsing from the New World. So we should take this as a lesson and expand our reconnaissance range.


    I agree with the health director.


    Me too.


    The opinions of the directors were unanimous.


    Once they realized the danger of the enormous infectious diseases on the other side of the wide continent, this was a natural choice.


    I ept your opinions. From now on, we will steadily expand our surveince range to the south. At the same time, we will develop the areas adjacent to the eastern sea of the southern continent and use them as advance bases for surveince.


    As your majesty wishes!


    With this, the scale of the operation to block Europeans increased.


    I cant let my guard down after trading with Europe once.


    There was another incident in 1500 AD, when a Portuguese navigator named Pedro lvares Cabralnded in Brazil due to a storm.


    Also, although Columbuss expedition was the same as in the original history, he didnt know what kind of butterfly effect would ur due to trading with Europe.


    Above all, as trade in the Mediterranean became difficult due to the rise of Imic forces, European countries had no choice but to continue exploring new routes.


    Columbus couldnt return to Spain, but he couldnt becent yet.


    Anyway, as long as the operation to block Europeans was activated, there would probably be no major disasters for a while.


    ***


    Meanwhile, a huge change was taking ce on the maind.


    Many power lines that had been painstakingly built began to operate.


    The impact of power lines was beyond imagination.


    Is this all steel?


    I heard about it, but I cant believe it


    As many st furnaces were activated at the same time, the production of steel increased to an iparable level with the past.


    This was enough to meet and exceed the demand for steel that had beencking until now.


    There was no longer a need to operate the difficult crucible steelmaking nts, and the price of steel also dropped to a level that could not bepared with before.


    As a result, the production of steel products became much easier.


    The one that benefited the most from this situation was none other than the steam engine.


    The steam engine required a lot of steel, so there had been difficulties in mass production, but as steel becamemon, it became easier to produce inrge quantities.


    Kim Ki-woo also contributed to the mass production of steam engines.


    Thanks to the supply of st furnaces, the empires industry has risen rapidly. However, I am confident that the steam engine will have a greater impact than the st furnace. Therefore, I will devote myself to spreading the steam engine widely throughout the empires industry, and continue to improve its performance.


    Yes, Your Majesty!


    After the imperial decree was issued, many craftsmen participated in the production of steam engines.


    Thanks to this, as time passed, the number of steam engines increased explosively, and this became the basis for many craftsmen to try various experiments using steam engines.


    They began to use the powerful power of steam engines in earnest.