afterglow

Chapter 416: Must be strictly disciplined; Bucket No. [-] Reactor?

"Well, there's one more thing I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with."

"Senior, please speak."

Yan Zhong said helplessly: "For some reason, Uncle Pingdu's younger brother decided to join the army and insisted on joining the Marine Corps. Uncle Pingdu couldn't resist, so he asked me to inquire about it."

"Is that kid serious? He doesn't have anything in his stomach, right?" Zhou Changfeng asked casually.

"I was originally studying mathematics at Imperial Gezhi University, but I won't graduate until next year, so I ended up going to the artillery academy's short-term training class. He's not bad, but he's a little too arrogant. You can probably guess it, Ke Xing, Pindu Bo. You may be petty, but when it comes to protecting your own people, you are really unrivaled."

Pingdu Bo Yu Yongyu can be said to be retributive, but he has always been kind to his own people. I am afraid that his younger brother has become accustomed to arrogance under his protection.

To be honest, Zhou was not happy at all and wanted to refuse immediately.

"Well, that's a bit tricky indeed."

Seeing Zhou Changfeng's reluctance, Yan Zhong sighed: "I wanted to send him to Chen Wu, but he didn't agree. He said that this kind of people are really difficult to manage, and you are the only one who has the ability to manage them well."

Good guy, that guy Yan Chenwu actually tricked me!
"This... can be managed." Zhou Changfeng said with a headache: "But as you know, senior, this is simply thankless. If it is not something very necessary, I am not willing to offend others."

"Uncle Pingdu happens to be attending someone's birthday party in Hangzhou these days. You might as well explain it clearly to him - do you want to be disciplined severely? If you don't want to, don't talk about it."

Yan Zhong deeply agrees with this point. There are many descendants of nobles in the Ming Dynasty Navy. Although there are some people in this group who are law-abiding and conscientious, it is not uncommon for them to be arrogant and domineering.

Small ships with harsh living conditions are naturally not their favorite place. They basically serve on capital ships such as battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers.

When he was the commander-in-chief of the battle fleet, Yan Zhong also had a big headache in disciplining this group of people.

"Yes, I am leading the [-]st Marine Brigade very well now, and Yan Chenwu's [-]nd Brigade is also pretty good." Zhou Changfeng shrugged, "It is easy for bad people to come in and mess around and spoil the atmosphere."

In fact, there are [-]rd Marine Brigade and [-]th Marine Brigade to choose from, but Ping Dubo seems unwilling to do so. Perhaps he feels that only [-]st Marine Brigade and [-]nd Marine Brigade are worthy of his young brother?
So after settling the matter at the naval base, Zhou Changfeng made a special call to contact Pingdu Bo Yu Yongyu.

The latter was also unambiguous, saying generously that he wanted to have a special banquet for Mr. Zhou at the West Lake Hotel.

At noon the next day, Zhou Changfeng met the earl who was famous for his pettiness in the Ming Dynasty.

Uncle Pingdu died of illness in middle age and was not yet 60 years old at the time, so Yu Yongyu hastily ascended the throne in his thirties and has been busy running the uncle's property ever since.

Similar to what he had seen before, Yu Yongyu was still the elegant and easy-going man. Based on his appearance alone, it was hard to imagine that he would be associated with the idiom "Jiju must retaliate".

"I'm really sorry to trouble you, Zhou Daizhao. My young brother is very stubborn and believes in whatever he thinks. Back then he had to study mathematics, but now he wants to join the army."

The maid present came slowly, bowed, and poured the wine carefully.Purple red wine fills the cup, and the fragrance exudes is particularly attractive.

Zhou Changfeng smiled and said: "It's understandable that young people are passionate, but the military is an unusual place. No matter who you are, you have to follow orders and don't allow yourself to talk to yourself. I'm afraid my brother must be strictly disciplined to be qualified for military duties. I don't know. Uncle Pingdu, are you willing?"

"It is said that an elder brother is like a father, but after my father passed away, I was busy with the affairs of the uncle's house, and I really neglected to discipline him... It would be great if I can correct it now." Yu Yongyu said.

"Strict discipline is no joke, Uncle Pingdu. I'm afraid you will blame me later." Zhou Changfeng, holding a cup, said half-jokingly: "I don't like to be resented for being thankless for my hard work."

"Only those who can fight are those who can fight with strict military laws and discipline. My young brother will be disciplined by you, Zhou Daizhao, as long as he is not crippled or dead." Looking at the worried Yu Yongyu, he sighed slightly, "I don't expect him to do anything for me. The family brings honor to the country, and it would be great if it doesn’t hold back.”

"Okay, I still have confidence in teaching such an arrogant noble son a lesson."

Yu Yongyu's words are half true and half false. The true part is that there is no need to worry about strict discipline, and the false part is that he does not expect to achieve meritorious service and glory.

If you really don't expect to achieve meritorious service and win glory, why can't the [-]rd, [-]th, and [-]th Marine Brigades go?

The reason why he did not forcefully interfere with his half-brother was because Yu Yongyu also had the intention to diversify his investments. It would be great for the family if his younger brother could earn some meritorious service in the military.

Because he has been obsessed with the staffing and actual testing of the Lu Xun in the past two days, Zhou Changfeng, who has limited energy, has no time to follow up on some military intelligence information in real time.

Marshal Mai’s application to strengthen Philippine defense was rejected?This is something new.

Once war breaks out between Ming and the United States, the Philippines will naturally bear the brunt, so Marshal Mai is also working hard to strengthen the strength of his three-acre territory. It is a pity that the federal government of the United States has treated the Philippines as an abandoned child.

The significance of the Philippines is to provide a departure base for the submarines of the Asian fleet, and at the same time use the Bataan Fortress to do its best to delay the Ming army.

The Americans believe that the current Bataan Fortress Area can already meet basic needs, and pouring resources there all the way there is a waste with poor returns.

所以麦大帅申请的200辆坦克、400门反坦克炮、400架飞机、50艘鱼雷艇毫无悬念地都被拒绝了，华盛顿方面仅仅只考虑再提供120门37㎜反坦克炮——刚好可以装备10个反坦克连。

As for tanks and torpedo boats, please, I don’t expect you to launch a counterattack against the Ming army that has landed. What do you want them to do?Just rely on the ever-prepared fortifications to defend and defend to the death. Taking the initiative will not only be futile but also cause the loss of unnecessary troops.

This is the case in history. Marshal Mai hoped to establish a rapid offshore defense force composed of torpedo boats in the Philippines, but ultimately failed to obtain approval.

What's interesting is that although the United States is a leader in small racing boats, and the world rowing champion in the 20s was a rowing boat named Miss America, the U.S. Navy is not interested in small things like torpedo boats.

It was not until 1500 that the U.S. Navy, which realized the tactical value of torpedo boats, applied to Congress for a funding of US$[-] million specifically for the development of torpedo boats.As a result, because major U.S. shipyards had no previous experience in designing military torpedo boats, the trial torpedo boats produced by several manufacturers were unsatisfactory.

In order not to lag behind European technology, the Assistant to the Navy suggested that the President directly introduce British technology, and the latter agreed. Then the American Elko Electric Marine Company purchased the MTB torpedo boat from the United Kingdom and referenced and absorbed its design. The final result is The famous PT torpedo boat.

The news that Marshal Mai’s application was unsuccessful further confirmed the status and role of the Philippines in the minds of the upper echelons of the United States.

The torpedo boats among them caught Zhou Changfeng's attention. He found that he had been too immersed in the current situation of the Ming Navy's powerful surface fleet and had not thought about these inconspicuous little things.

In the future, when fighting in places with densely populated islands such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, even destroyers will not be flexible enough, let alone larger warships.

Considering that the German S boats, the American PT boats, and the Russian G-5 boats have all performed actively and had excellent records in history, it is indeed necessary for the Ming army to deploy torpedo boat units against the complex terrain in the South Pacific. 【Picture】

"By the way, I see that both the Southeast and Southeast Ocean Fleets have lightning strike boat units. What models are currently in service?"

Faced with his inquiry, a civilian major at the naval base thought for a moment, clasped his fists and replied: "Sir, there are only two types. There are about 50 characters for the Zhen character, and more than 20 characters for the character Xun [xùn]."

The Ming Navy, which loves small ships, naturally did not leave behind flexible and powerful weapons such as torpedo boats. Its development has been uninterrupted for decades. Qian, Kan, Gen... So far, the fourth and fifth types are in service.

A long time ago, torpedo boats were developed and manufactured by government-owned shipyards. However, with the rapid development of private enterprises, the design and manufacturing of some less important small ships gradually turned to bidding.

Both the Zhen-shaped and Sunda-shaped torpedo boats are designed by the team of Jiangzhe Shipbuilding Group, and both are pointed-bottom planing boat configurations.

The former has a standard displacement of 30 tons, a wooden hull, is equipped with two 650-horsepower aviation radial engines, is equipped with two 512mm torpedo launch tubes and two twin 12.8mm machine guns, and has a maximum speed of 41 knots.

The latter is larger, with a displacement of 44 tons, a steel hull, equipped with two 800-horsepower radial engines, two 512mm torpedo launch tubes, a 20.8mm anti-aircraft gun, and two twin 12.8mm machine guns. The largest The speed is 39 knots.

During the Nanyang Campaign, some torpedo boats participated in the battle, but because the battle went smoothly, they had no chance to perform.

With the existence of these little things, you don’t have to worry about being disturbed by American PT boats when you go to Papua New Guinea, Solomon and other places in the future.

"As soon as the command ship's personnel are in place, training must begin immediately. Time waits for no one, and no day can be wasted."

"Yes!"

After the warning, Zhou Changfeng left Hangzhou with satisfaction, preparing to rush to another key place without stopping.

He took a Youyun II passenger plane and flew straight to Yanjing. The plane landed in Jinan to refuel, then took off again, and finally landed at the airport in the suburbs of Yanjing that afternoon.

As part of the Golden Crow Project, Sunchon Institute of Technology and Imperial Gezhi University were ordered to form a joint team, led by Zhao Zhansheng, to design and build an experimental nuclear reactor.

This experimental reactor has no other function except to demonstrate the chain reaction, and it aims to complete it quickly, so a group of professors and students are busy from morning to night.

The first design draft was completed late last month, and workers were hired to build it.

Different from the historical CP-1 graphite reactor of the Fermi team at the University of Chicago, Zhao's experimental reactor uses light water as a neutron moderator, so the appearance is not "one graphite brick after another", but " A big bucket made of cement."

[picture]

People call this circular pool with a concrete outer wall a bathtub. There are twelve erected steel grilles inside, and inside are stacked layers of preliminarily concentrated chocolate-shaped uranium.

These strip-shaped uranium blocks were initially enriched, and the U-235 content was increased to about 2.5% - there was not enough time to continue to use cumbersome processes to further enrich.

"My grass?"

Zhou Changfeng blurted out when he saw this crude nuclear reactor.

He subconsciously took a step back and asked in surprise: "Huh? Hiss... didn't you take protective measures? Where's the lead, lead?"

The teachers and students present wondered why he was so surprised... even terrified.

Zhao Zhansheng, who was not sure why, said: "Why is Zhou Taizhao doing this? It's just a few rays, just don't touch or inhale nuclear materials."

This reactor is open-air, open-air, open-air, without any radiation protection measures.

Zhou Changfeng pointed to two open iron barrels and a long fire tongs in the corner of the room and asked, "What are those two barrels filled with? Why are there fire tongs here?"

"Boric acid powder." A professor replied: "The long pliers are used to add and subtract uranium blocks. Control the reaction. Add from less to more and gradually start the chain reaction. If you make a mistake or something is wrong, add the boric acid Pour the powder in to block the reaction immediately."

Outrageous!This is too crude!

Zhou Changfeng was greatly shocked. Even if the neutron radiation and gamma radiation during the operation of the reactor were not particularly strong, they could not be approached directly without protection.

All safety rules are based on blood and tears. What he didn't know was that in this era of the initial stage of nuclear energy, people did not pay much attention to protective measures.

The same was true for the CP-1 reactor built by Fermi's team at the University of Chicago. Most of those scholars and experts eventually died young because of this. Fermi died of cancer at the age of only 53.

So Zhou Changfeng didn't dare to stay here anymore, so he turned around and left.

"Xiao Li, bring everyone out and seal this place temporarily!"

"Order!"

Several guards who came with Mr. Zhou immediately greeted the teachers and students in the factory and drove them out.

Everyone was very confused - didn't they say they were going to inspect the progress of the reactor today?Why did you suddenly change your mind?
Zhou Changfeng, with a look of helplessness on his face, shook his head, glanced around them, and said solemnly: "In view of the unpredictable and serious harm to body safety caused by rays, you can't act so boldly. Starting today, we will build structures around the reactor. The compartments were at least one inch thick, and participants in the study were required to wear lead-lined vests.”

The teachers and students looked at each other, and everyone felt puzzled. How can you, a general, know more about nuclear weapons than we do?

"But Zhou is waiting for the imperial edict, and the time given by the court is tight, so this will have to be delayed for a long time."

"If it doesn't work, it won't work. I have the right to veto this matter."

Zhao Zhansheng sighed and said: "And it's too late to report. I'm afraid this reactor will not be successful, and the chain reaction will not be able to sustain itself for a long time... It seems that light water is not suitable for use as a neutron decelerator."

(End of this chapter)