The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 132
  The people of Qi have been researching ironclad ships for almost twenty or thirty years. That is, after the initial application of steam-powered ships, they began to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to conduct feasibility studies on this.

It is said that the idea of ​​researching and manufacturing ironclad ships originated from several prospects and assumptions about future science and technology at a Royal Academy of Sciences conference attended by Emperor Taizu in the ninth year of Hanxing (1679).

His Majesty Emperor Taizu said that although steel has less buoyancy than wood, it will sink when it enters water. But if the steel is built into a hollow structure with a hollow inside, its weight will be much less than that of solid iron of the same volume, and the buoyancy will increase. It should be noted that any object in water will be subject to the buoyancy force of the water. The buoyancy force increases as the volume of the object immersed in the water increases. According to the buoyancy principle summarized over the years, it can be concluded that the buoyant force experienced by an object in water is equal to the gravity of the water it displaces.

If the gravity of the water displaced by a ship made of steel is enough to balance its own gravity, then, in theory, a ship made of steel can float on the water.

In order to verify this statement, His Majesty Emperor Taizu also had a tin can made on site and successfully made it float in the basin.

In the 1680th year of the Han Dynasty (8), an 2-meter-long barge "Iron Shark No. [-]" made of all iron plates was lowered on the Daxing River (today's Brisbane River, Australia). It was successfully dragged by a steam tugboat. Sailed more than ten kilometers.

In the sixth year of Shaoning (1691), an iron ship "Iron Shark No. 70" with a displacement of 9 tons and equipped with steam power was launched at Daxing Military Port. It sailed smoothly along the coastline to Yingzhou (now Newcastle, Australia) in the south. City), heralding a new chapter in the history of human ship development.

Subsequently, the tonnage of the steel ships launched in the experiment gradually increased, 200 tons, 500 tons, 800 tons... By the 1702th year of Shaoning (1100), Daxing Special Shipyard had successfully built a "ship" with a displacement of [-] tons. big guy".

However, at this time, the lack of steam power affected the continued increase in the tonnage of iron ships. There is no way, things made of steel are not light in weight. If it is filled with cargo, it will be a bit difficult for the steam engine with not enough power.

The earliest steam engines used in Qi were atmospheric piston engines, but they had a fatal flaw, that is, their efficiency was too low.

A little analysis can reveal that when the atmospheric piston steam engine ends a power stroke, the temperature of the cylinder wall still remains at a relatively low level. When the next stroke begins, a large amount of high-temperature steam pours into the cylinder, but the first thing they do is not push the piston upward, but condense on the cold cylinder wall and heat up the cylinder wall at the same time. So, such a big Part of the hard-earned heat from coal is not used to do work, but is wasted in the form of heating the cylinder wall. And this also determines that the efficiency of atmospheric piston steam engines will not be too high.

Later, through continuous improvement and redesign by engineers, they tried to separate the cylinder from the condenser, and connected the two with a pipe with a valve. When the piston moves to its highest point, the valve will also open, but the subsequent process is completely different from what happens in an atmospheric piston steam engine: the expanded steam will flow into the condenser, where it will cool down and condense, creating a huge negative pressure. ——And this negative pressure will cause the remaining steam in the cylinder to be drawn into the condenser.

As a result, a partial vacuum will also be formed in the cylinder, and the piston will also move downward under the action of atmospheric pressure. However, since the cylinder wall is not sprinkled with cold water, the steam that rushes into the cylinder does not need to condense on the cylinder wall at all, and only needs to concentrate on pushing the piston. In this way, the efficiency of the steam engine was tripled.

However, the efficiency is still too low.

Even though the steam engine was further improved later, so that the up and down movements of the piston were driven by steam, the efficiency of the steam engine still could not increase. Not only is the power insufficient, but it also consumes a lot of coal.

Experts and technicians from the Institute of Dynamics of the Royal Academy of Sciences wondered whether the problem lay in the steam flowing into the condenser.

Let's imagine that if the condenser of the steam engine is removed and the expanded steam is discharged directly into the atmosphere, what kind of picture will we see?

In fact, this picture is not difficult to imagine.

Old steam locomotives do not have a condenser, so the steam flowing out of the cylinder is sprayed directly towards the sides of the car. Therefore, we can see on the railway, a huge locomotive roaring towards the railway track, wheezing and wheezing while it roars across the railway track, dragging two lines of white mist far away on both sides of the locomotive.

Note that this is a long way out. Sometimes it even sprays onto the bushes on both sides of the railway, like water jets shot from a sprinkler to both sides.

Obviously, after passing through the steam engine, the energy of the steam has not been completely squeezed out. This energy flows into the condenser along with the steam rushing out of the cylinder, that is, "runs away." And this part of the energy that ran away could have continued to push the engine and generate power.

Thinking of this, I finally got to the point.

Since the steam rushing out of the cylinder still contains energy, then we can naturally let this steam continue to push the engine and flow through one cylinder, two cylinders, and three cylinders until the energy contained inside is infinitely close to the initial energy of water.

Well, this is the working principle of the triple expansion machine in later generations.

In a triple-expansion steam engine, steam flows through not one but three or four cylinders. After three stages of expansion work, the energy in the steam has obviously been further effectively utilized. To put it simply, the steam flowing into the condenser is squeezed out even more, and it cannot even chirp through the pipes like in a single-cylinder steam engine.

Of course, if you want to continue to squeeze the remaining energy of the steam, you can connect another engine behind the low-pressure cylinder. However, since the pressure of the steam is already quite low at this time, it is unlikely to effectively push the piston, so the usual choice is to connect it in series. A steam turbine doesn't require much steam pressure to rotate.

As a result, the application of steam engines in Qi has risen to a new level. In this context, the real ironclad ship came into being.

In the decade of peace (1715), technological progress and the development of steam power gave birth to the navy's newer and more powerful war weapon - the launch of the pure steel warship "Zhongshan" with a displacement of 1800 tons.

This ironclad ship was designed as a steam propeller battleship, with a length of 32.5 meters, a hull width of 9.2 meters, and an armor plate thickness of 255 mm on both sides. This armor thickness could withstand the 50-pound guns and 68-pound guns of European navies during this period. Cannon strikes, it can also resist explosive ammunition very well.

In addition, a 180 mm thick armor plate is also arranged around the command tower for protection. In terms of protection alone, it is definitely the first-class level in the world today.

Although armor improves defense, it brings a huge weight and changes the center of gravity, which makes the battleship unable to arrange artillery on multiple decks like previous sail battleships. Therefore, the "Zhongshan" simply canceled the artillery on the multi-deck, and initially installed a total of 18 150mm front-loaded artillery on both sides.

The steam engine on the ship adopts single-shaft propulsion, has an installed power of 1200 horsepower, and has 4 boilers. At the same time, there are two auxiliary sails on the ship, and the designed maximum speed exceeds 16 knots - which has never been reached in fact. During sea trials, it only reached a maximum speed of 11 knots.

After more than two years of continuous experimental voyages, this true ironclad ship made many improvements to the entire hull, and then officially entered service in the twelfth year of Taiping in the Han Dynasty (1717) and became part of the local fleet. .

In the following two years, the Qi Navy placed an order for two more ironclads from Daxing Special Shipyard. One of the ironclads, named "Sushen", had a displacement of an astonishing 4000 tons.

In terms of tonnage alone, this armored ship can defeat all warships from all over the world. After all, even at this time, England, France and Spain had just begun to study how to produce large warships of more than 2000 tons. They were also worried about ship materials and had to go to the New World to find a way.

During this period, wooden ships within 3000 tons were basically the limit. If they were larger, there would be more than two difficulties. One is that it is difficult to find wood that is transparent and has suitable strength in nature. Even if it is found, it may not be long enough to build a large wooden boat. The second is the problem of structural strength, which is even more unsolvable. After all, the strength of wood cannot be compared with steel. When a large ship sails in the sea, the force on each part is very large. If the strength is not good, the ship structure will be easily damaged. , even falling apart on the spot in bad weather.

These two difficulties basically determined that the displacement of more than 2000 tons was the limit of wooden ships in this period. No matter how big it is, it is neither safe nor economical - the daily maintenance costs are too high, so it is better to use steel!

The people of Qi realized this after successively building several thousand-ton iron ships. Therefore, even though they had long had the technology to build large wooden ships with iron ribs and wooden hulls, they had not built them on a large scale. They would rather build medium-sized wooden ships of more than 3000-1000 tons. Ships of this size are the most economical and reasonable in Qi State, which is extremely rich in wood resources (Weiyuan Island and Dongzhou area have a large amount of high-quality ship materials). The ships are equipped with steam. As for the power system, the number of operators has also been reduced by several percent. It is basically the favorite model of many major domestic maritime transportation companies. After the Qi-British War broke out, the Qi Navy already had three ironclad ships under its command, but none of them were sent to Europe with the expedition fleet.

Because the Navy still has some debate on whether to send ironclad ships to the expedition. Many naval generals believe that if the ironclad ships cross the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and sail all the way to such a distant theater to perform combat missions, they are worried that the ironclad ships will suffer unpredictable malfunctions, causing certain difficulties in maintenance, or if the war situation is unfavorable. , risking capture by the English navy and thus losing the secrets of the ironclads.

Furthermore, the large number of sail warships alone is enough to constitute an overwhelming technical advantage over the English Navy, and there is no need to send out these "big killers" at sea.

The other side believes that whether it is a sail battleship or an armored battleship, so much national money has been spent. If it cannot fight the enemy and prove its actual combat effectiveness, but it is only a "big toy" for the navy to show off, then it is useless to create another What's the point? Should it be used as a strategic deterrent?

This kind of weapon at sea should be sent out to the battlefield to withstand the test of actual combat. Although these ironclad ships have fully demonstrated their tremendous power in previous maritime exercises, after all, those are not data obtained on real battlefields and lack sufficient convincing power.

In April last year, Prince Qi Weiyuan, on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, reviewed the navy at the Jianye Military Port. He was full of praise for the performance of several ironclad ships and even mentioned this sentence, "A powerful weapon for a great country should be deployed all over the world to frighten the barbarians and make them fearful." And be virtuous”.

The navy chief and hussar general (admiral) Lu Zongxuan who was accompanying him heard this and looked at each other with several navy generals, and they all nodded in agreement.

By August last year, the Navy established the Second Task Force Expeditionary Fleet and prepared to sail to Europe to support the First Task Force Expeditionary Fleet dispatched earlier. The entire fleet consists of 12 main battleships, 1 water supply ship, 1 ammunition supply ship, and 1 coal ship. In the combat sequence, there is the ironclad "Liying" with a displacement of 2500 tons.

After the fleet assembled in Guizhou (now Perth, Australia) in October last year, it took a short rest and then sailed straight across the Indian Ocean. On November 10 last year, it arrived in Changning, Qianzhou (now Durban, South Africa).

The fleet stayed in Changnyeong Port for more than a month, and after conducting the most comprehensive maintenance on all ships, including the ironclad "Liying", it set sail on January 1 this year and embarked on the voyage. Journey to Europe. Accompanying the fleet were three armed transport ships, carrying 15 Indian servants and Qianzhou armed rural soldiers.

The fleet moved north along the west coast of Africa, and on February 2, arrived in Portuguese Angola.

Under the strong force of Qi, the Portuguese colonial authorities in Angola announced that they would give up resistance, allowing the Qi people to control the two important ports of Luanda and Bengola, and accept the temporary rule of the Qi people in the area.

After staying in Angola for more than a month, after the local situation stabilized slightly, the fleet continued northward to sweep the trading stations and slave camps set up by Portugal and England on the west coast of Africa.

On April 4, a light cruiser patrolling ahead reported that a medium-sized English fleet was sighted at sea. After receiving the news, Qi's Second Task Force Expeditionary Fleet immediately formed a battle formation, briefly estimated the opponent's speed and course, left several supply ships and transport ships behind, and pounced directly on them.

Although the ironclad "Liying" is larger in tonnage and does not have the assistance of sails, its speed is no less than that of the accompanying sail warships. After firing three consecutive rounds of artillery shells, it had sailed to a position roughly parallel to the British battleship "St. George". The six side guns had entered the firing range. The soldiers had loaded the ammunition and were waiting for the gunner's command to fire. .

"Fire!" After the gunnery commander saw that the command platform had issued a free-fire signal, he immediately waved his arm and ordered the gunner to shoot at the enemy ship.

Soon, the six broadside guns opened fire one after another. They did not use explosive shells, but solid conical shells. After this kind of artillery shell is fired from the rifled gun, it spins forward at high speed, carrying a sharp and ear-piercing whistling sound.

Four of the six shells missed, passing by the deck and falling into the sea on the other side. One shot hit one of the opponent's gun windows, destroying one of their guns. Another shell hit the side and opened a large hole in the hull. The cannonball that drilled the big hole continued unabated. After wiping half of an unlucky sailor's body, it finally plunged into the reserve supplies in the cabin. Only then did it consume all its kinetic energy and became completely motionless.

The English looked at everything in disbelief. They couldn't believe that the side hull was penetrated so easily. You know, the thickness of the side hull of this battleship is 16 inches (about 32 centimeters). How could it be penetrated so easily? It was no different than paper.

Is this still a solid bullet?
  How can a solid bullet be so powerful?
  The hearts of the English were filled with fear.

The "Liying"'s baptism of fire continues. I saw another six rounds of artillery shells coming, this time only two missed. One shot hit the superstructure at the bow of the ship, still penetrated the wall cleanly, and then destroyed several pieces of furniture in the room. Only then did he run out of kinetic energy and hit the wall on the other side hard. One shell hit the deck, knocking down two sailors in a row, and then fell into the sea on the other side. The other two shells hit the side of the hull, creating two terrifying holes. Unfortunately, one of the holes is located near the waterline.

The English sailors in the hold rushed over frantically, sealing the breach with whatever they could get their hands on. The salty seawater poured in crazily, wetting everything nearby. A large amount of cargo was soaked in the water, but no one felt sorry for it anymore. Everyone's attention was attracted by the crack in the waterline, and they tried every means to get it out. Block.

Another sharp roar came, and a 120mm cone-shaped shell tore through the hull and penetrated into the bottom cabin. The seawater surged in, seeming to annihilate everything here, whether it was people or goods.

Another group of English sailors rushed over, carrying cotton, skins and even spare sails to seal the huge hole. The manual water pump also started operating, and the sailors tried their best to slowly drain the seawater that poured into the bottom cabin outwards.

"Haha, it seems that against wooden ships without any armor protection, the power of linear cannons and solid conical bullets is indeed huge, and the effect is no worse than explosive bombs." After seeing the results of the battle through the telescope, the captain of the "Liying" and Colonel Linghui Lieutenant Colonel Xiong Jichang said with emotion.

That's right, after the pointed warhead is fired from the rifled cannon, it rotates at high speed and generates huge kinetic energy. When it hits the wooden hull, it can break a gap almost easily, which is much better than breaking the gap completely by brute force of kinetic energy. Spherical bullets are much more powerful and efficient.

This is the power of rifled guns!
  "In the future, smoothbore cannons should be eliminated." First mate and Xuangjie Colonel (Major) Yin Yanjun said softly.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

While talking, the "St. George" launched a fierce counterattack, and at least six shells hit the side of the "Liying". However, the thick armor gently bounced the incoming shells away, except for leaving behind Apart from a few bullet marks, there was almost no damage to the hull.

According to the navy's perverted requirements, the "Liying", which is equipped with iron armor on important parts, has the ability to protect the enemy's turrets from close range. Therefore, it is even more fearless when facing the counterattack of artillery fire from English warships.

The "Liying", relying on its rough skin and thick flesh, was only more than a hundred meters away from the "Saint George", almost in the position where the battleship was fighting with its bayonet. After withstanding two rounds of counterattacks from the opponent's artillery fire, he seemed to be enraged. When the ship was about to miss the "St. George", it fired another salvo. This time they all hit, and one shot hit the bridge. I don't know. Whether there were casualties or not, the remaining rounds all hit the side hull, creating two holes above the waterline and two holes below, making the influx of seawater even more turbulent.

The "St. George" had numerous holes on one side of its hull, and the water at the bottom of the cabin was up to people's knees. The wine barrels destroyed by Qi's artillery shells also fell to the ground, floating and rolling on the water, making the sailors who were busy in the rescue even worse.

Finally, they realized that they could no longer save the ship, so everyone dispersed and rushed to the deck, hurriedly untying the lifeboat, putting it into the sea, or throwing down the barrels, and then one after another One jumped into the sea.

The speed of the "St. George" was already very slow at this time, and it might not take a few minutes for the ship to sink completely to the bottom of the sea.

The "Liying" abandoned the English warship that was about to sink, spitting out thick smoke, and rushed towards its next target.

(End of this chapter)