Daming Military Empire

Chapter 475
It is not very difficult to realize the idea of ​​armored combat vehicles, but it is almost impossible to achieve the effect of tanks of later generations, because the armor that can be made at this time is comparable to that of later generations in terms of speed, flexibility, defense power, and main gun power. Tanks are not a concept.

For example, speed, without a powerful engine and only relying on a steam engine, it is not bad for a heavy armored tank to reach the walking speed of a normal person. The earliest tanks in the world have a speed of less than four kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to the walking speed of a normal person. Still kind of slow.

Another example is flexibility. The tank propulsion system of later generations has an engine with mechanical transmission, hydraulic transmission, electric transmission and a complex spring damping system. In this era, only mechanical transmission can be made, and even the spring damping system has to be slowed down. groping.

There is also defense. If the defense is strong, the armor must be thickened, and the steam engine cannot be moved if the armor is thickened. In this era, this is an unsolvable endless loop. Fortunately, there are no high-explosive or armor-piercing bombs at this time. There are no anti-tank missiles, and the power of artillery basically depends on smashing. It does not need too thick armor to prevent ordinary shells.

As for the power of the main gun, let alone the artillery of this era is not the same concept as the artillery of later generations.

Of course, this era does not need such advanced tanks as the later generations. With the level of weapons in this era, even a movable iron bump to block the infantry can determine the outcome of the battle.

Therefore, Zhu Cijiong is still very concerned about the development of armored combat vehicles. He specially designated Sun Yuanhua, Minister of the Ministry of War, as the project leader, and selected Song Yingxing and Wang Zheng's favorite disciples to form the first project team, specializing in armored warfare. car.

In the afternoon, Zhu Cijiong called Sun Yuanhua and the project team members to discuss the specific progress.

According to his idea, the research and development and testing of the armored combat vehicle should be completed within half a year, because in the next year's war, he will face the great powers that also have muskets and artillery. He really does not want the soldiers of the Ming army to suffer too many casualties.

After the armored combat vehicle project was arranged, the next step was the car. The seminar continued at si o'clock the next day. Zhu Cijiong didn't say anything at the beginning, but drew a drawing of the same shape as yesterday.

Now everyone is muttering, what does the emperor mean by this?

Zhu Cijiong didn't let everyone think for too long. After finishing the painting, he explained: "Yesterday I talked about an armored chariot that integrates defense and offense. Today I'm going to talk about a pure means of transportation, just like a train. , is not directly put into the battlefield, but it can transport food, supplies and soldiers, and it can also be used as a civilian transportation tool."

Everyone can understand what he said, but walking on the road with such a heavy thing, no matter whether it is a stone road or a cement road, can't bear it. If it is rolled back and forth a few times, the road will be completely rotten, so it is like a digging dragon. They are not allowed to go on stone roads or cement roads, in order to protect the roads, why does the emperor want to let the earth-moving dragon go on the roads now?

Of course Zhu Cijiong knew what everyone was wondering about. He turned around directly, wiped off the crawler's tracks and the row of plows at the back, drew two rows of rubber tires, and explained: "If the hard tracks hit the road, it will definitely It will crush the road, so you need to replace it with a rubber wheel similar to a wagon wheel."

Speaking of this, he stopped suddenly. It wasn't that he didn't know much about cars, and he had nothing to say, but that he wanted to change the way to let everyone use their brains to think actively. After all, after thinking, ask questions, and then Getting an answer has a much more profound impact than listening to someone else's lecture.

After stopping for a while, he said again: "I have also thought about the name of this means of transportation. A horse-drawn cart is called a carriage, and a cart driven by a steam engine is called a car. You can ask any questions about cars. If I mention it, I have to appoint someone to do it."

His trick really worked. The people below were afraid that they would be appointed by the emperor to be in charge of this project. If they couldn't do it by then, it would be troublesome. So, everyone started to ask questions enthusiastically.

The first person to ask the question was Bi Maokang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry. He coughed as if he was in the early morning, reminding everyone that he was going to talk, and then he stood up and cupped his hands and said, "My lord, please forgive my stupidity. When the rubber is thin It’s very soft, but a wheel as big as the one drawn by the emperor is still very hard, plus the weight of the entire car, the stone road and cement road can’t bear it, right?”

Zhu Cijiong waved his hand to signal him to sit down, and then praised: "Mr. Meng asked a good question. If this rubber wheel is made into a solid piece, it will naturally be too hard, but what if it is made into a hollow one? For example Make two layers, the outer layer is about an inch thick, and a thin rubber airbag is made inside, and then the airbag is filled with air to support the entire wheel, so that it will not crush the road. "

Everyone has never seen a rubber tire, so everyone heard it in a cloud of fog. Seeing this, Zhu Cijiong had to pick up the chalk and draw a simple tire shape and a sketch of the inner tube, and then explained: " That’s it, this placenta-like rubber airbag is stuffed in to prop up the shell, so it’s a bit inappropriate to call this thing a wheel, but it should be called a tire, a rubber tire.”

Now most people understood, especially Bi Maokang, who looked eager to try, as if he wanted to make this tire.

However, immediately after, Wang Zheng coughed again, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being stupid. According to the weight of the current steam engine, plus the water tank, coal tank, frame, and casing, even if it is not installed Anything that goes up has a weight of several thousand catties. In this case, the speed of the car will be extremely slow, even much slower than that of a horse-drawn cart. Isn't this suitable for transporting food, supplies, and even soldiers?"

What he said was only euphemistic. If it is really slower than a horse-drawn carriage, then what's the point? It's better to use a horse-drawn carriage. After all, raising more horses is much easier than developing a car!
Zhu Cijiong waved for him to sit down again, and then praised him equally: "Well, Liangfu also asked this question well, everything must be practical, if the car is not as fast as a horse-drawn carriage, then it is better to use a horse-drawn carriage, or even build a railway. It is more convenient to use a train than to develop a car. Therefore, the weight of this car must be reduced as much as possible, and the speed must be increased as much as possible.”

These are basically nonsense, everyone is still at a loss, who doesn't know how to reduce weight and speed up, the question is how to reduce weight and speed up?
After giving everyone a little time to think, Zhu Cijiong continued to explain: "To reduce weight, it is natural to make a fuss about the steam engine. We can consider developing a steam engine with better sealing, greater power, and smaller volume. You can also consider replacing steam with other power sources. Power, such as oil, can also push up the piston when the oil is lit. Of course, the research of this lightweight power unit is very time-consuming. It may take several years, ten years, or even a few years for the car to be developed and put into use. For decades, however, once it succeeds, the convenience it brings will even surpass that of trains, because cars don’t need to walk on rails, they can go everywhere. Think about it, if there is a car, how convenient it will be for the common people to travel No matter how much time it takes, we must do this kind of thing that benefits the common people and future generations!"

(End of this chapter)