Feeling proud, Zhu Xianhai jumped onto the armored train with great interest.
In fact, the so-called armored train is to add steel armor, artillery and machine guns to an ordinary train. To put it bluntly, this is entirely a matter of concept.
In the past, the steam tractor, the first hero of Nanhua's fight against foreign enemies, was just covered with a thick layer of wood, and it could play an unexpected role. Now, it is just a similar concept applied to trains. Compared with bulky steam tractors, armored trains
It is larger and can carry more weapons.
In fact, armored trains have long been used in the United States. In order to protect road construction workers and block Confederate cavalry attacks, Northern soldiers installed artillery on the trains, thus starting the era of armored trains.
In the combat compartment, Zhu Xianhai smiled as he looked at the four 3-inch Albanian field guns in the compartment. They were installed on naval gun-style revolving gun mounts and looked no different from the cabins of warships.
"These screw cannons have been eliminated and can be used on armored trains. Four cannons can be installed in one carriage. Six carriages have twenty-four cannons. It is almost a small cruiser. There is also a cannon on its roof.
The turret, the Gatling gun mounted on the turret... In a word, the armored train's firepower must be powerful, the machine gun and artillery must cover a 360-degree omnidirectional range, and the body must be covered with heavy armor. This is enough to adapt to fierce wars."
Passing through a carriage, what came into view was a semi-open carriage. In the semi-open carriage, a huge cannon was pointed directly at the front door.
"This is……"
Eyes widening in horror, Sun Hu said in an incredible tone.
"This, this is... a 180mm coastal defense gun?"
In fact, it is the 110-pound Armstrong cannon that Nanhua imitated in the early days. Now they have been replaced by the Krug cannon with a threaded breech block. However, because a suitable seller has not been found yet, it will be used in armor for the time being.
On the train, wait until you find a new home, then put on the Krupp cannon.
"Yes, but when placed on a train, it is a train cannon. With this train cannon, the so-called fortresses are also vulnerable!"
Zhu Xianhai proudly patted the cannonball as thick as a thigh next to the side wall of the carriage. This was a 100-kilogram cannonball!
With his lips raised proudly and his eyes narrowed slightly, he seemed to see the scene of thousands of Chileans falling in front of this armored train. Yes, when the last tunnel in the Andes Mountains was opened, the railway was completed.
After that, this armored train will drive to Shanxi, and then it will blast along the railway all the way to... San Diego.
In the past few years, in order to defeat the provisional government in the south, the Chileans built the railway to the front line. There were still dozens of kilometers in between. They just worked hard to build it by themselves, and then just used armored trains to bombard the gate of Santiago!
"It's a pity that armored trains have too many limitations. As for steam tractors..."
The coal and water carried by the steam tractor can only travel dozens of kilometers, which is completely insufficient. It would be different if there were armored vehicles.
Armored car!
Zhu Xianhai naturally thought of the "Maxima sedan" in his garage. That sedan was completely his private toy and had not yet played any role.
"Otto..."
On the way back, sitting in the carriage, Zhu Xianhai muttered this name silently.
Ross August Otto's arrival in Nanhua was a complete unexpected gain. Zuo Zongtang's visit to Europe introduced many technical personnel to Nanhua. Otto brought his gas machine. Although it was a
It is an old-fashioned vertical single-cylinder free-piston engine, but the gas engine is light, has a thermal efficiency of about 15%, and uses less steel, so it is still very popular in the market. As early as a few months ago, Otto Gas Engine Company's
The product has been exported to Britain, France and other countries. It uses lighting gas as fuel and has been very popular in Britain and France as soon as it was launched.
"For four-stroke internal combustion engines, we can provide them with some information first and let them study it..."
The so-called technical information is actually just a few books that explain the principles of internal combustion engines ordered from the system. Don’t underestimate these few books. They may not seem like much, but in the hands of a machinist, they can be easily manufactured.
Similar products have not yet been produced. Moreover, Otto has already invented the four-stroke gas engine, but the ignition problem has not been solved yet.
"Otherwise, how about direct imitation?"
Sending that "Maxima" over... This seems to be a good choice. With an internal combustion engine, even a gasoline engine with dozens of horsepower, the changes brought about are subversive. Moreover, although there are no coal mines in Nanhua, there are
Oil!
Of course, what's more important is that oil prices are cheap now - oil has been exploited on a large scale in the United States. The purpose of extracting oil is to extract kerosene. After extracting kerosene, a large amount of "waste oil" will be left.
The oil contains a large amount of gasoline and diesel.
Why Zhu Xianhai knows this is because when Nanhua imports oil to extract kerosene, it also imports a lot of "waste oil". Those "waste oil" are real "waste oil" - it doesn't cost a penny.
All it takes is the barrel money and freight. The reason why Nanhua purchases "waste oil" is entirely based on military needs, in order to extract gasoline to make incendiary bombs.
"This is millions of barrels of waste oil..."
While talking to himself, Zhu Xianhai suddenly became a little uneasy. How much "waste oil" will be left in the United States now? More than two million barrels. Their only use is to extract kerosene fuel. Two million barrels of "waste oil" said
It’s not too much. If you say less, it’s really a lot!
"This business is going to work!"
Zhu Xianhai pursed his lips and chuckled.
"In this era, there are really business opportunities everywhere."
In this era, business opportunities are everywhere. Take the simplest steel as an example. The cost of producing a ton of open-hearth steel in Nanhua is only 10 yuan, but the price on the market is as high as 160 yuan per ton. Now Nanhua
Every ton of steel sold here can earn a huge profit of more than ten times. In the past few years, Nanhua Iron and Steel Company has made a lot of money just by exporting steel.
The profits of crude steel are even higher than those of merchants. It is only in this era that jade can have such huge profits. Of course it would be impossible in another era. This is completely a monopoly advantage in technology!
In order to maintain this monopoly, Zhu Xianhai even took the initiative to reduce the use of "expensive steel" and imported wrought iron manufacturing machines from the UK. On the one hand, it was cheap, and on the other hand, of course it was to keep it secret. Who is going to use steel these days?
Build railroad tracks.
How expensive is steel?
Good steel must be used on the cutting edge. Export expensive steel and import cheap wrought rails. Although the life of the rails is much shorter, it is still extremely cost-effective. After all, Nanhua has indeed obtained extremely generous profits by exporting steel.
profit.
"It's a pity that such a profitable business won't last long..."
The reason for this is that Nanhua's technology monopoly is about to be broken, and European scientists will soon "invent" open-hearth steelmaking. As a result, the price of steel will naturally plummet. Of course, this requires a process...
