The previous chapter number was wrong. After calculation, it should be chapter 898 now, so this chapter has been changed to the correct chapter number.
In fact, after the bicycle was invented, it was widely used for military purposes.
As early as 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian messengers began to use bicycles. The British were the first to form bicycle troops. In the Boer War and the Spanish-American War, the bicycles of the British Army were at the forefront, and they could
It is said that he has made great contributions.
During the subsequent World War I and World War II, bicycles were widely used by armies of various countries.
In rugged and mountainous Asia, bicycles also showed their talents on the battlefield. In December 1941, Japanese troops riding bicycles launched a blitzkrieg in Malaysia and Singapore, and captured the Malay Peninsula and Singapore in just two months.
At that time, the British army was rushing through the Malay Peninsula, and the only option was to escape or surrender. "Tens of thousands of wheels of the Japanese bicycles merged into a noisy mess. The retreating British troops were terrified, thinking that tanks were chasing them."
"
Even on the rugged Malay Peninsula, the bicycle can run rampant, which shows that this equipment has great adaptability, so galloping on the plains is not a problem.
In fact, Li Zhi's rubber laboratory is affiliated with the arsenal and is managed according to military establishment.
Li Zhi asked Cao Yu, who was in charge of the Tianjin Arsenal: "Mr. Cao, how many bicycle tires can our rubber produce now?"
Cao Yu cupped his hands and said, "To return to the Lord, this time the three steamships brought back fifty tons of natural rubber. This rubber can produce tires for 60,000 bicycles."
Li Zhi thought for a while and said: "Bicycle tires, especially inner tubes, are consumables. We need to prepare a spare tire for each bicycle. Therefore, these 60,000 sets of bicycle tires can only be equipped for 30,000 bicycles."
Cao Yu cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Sheng Ming!"
Li Zhi said: "Let the lathe factory start mass production of bicycles, and strive to produce 30,000 bicycles within half a year." Turning around and looking at Lu Hu, Li Zhi said: "At the same time, our navy will continue to go to Brazil.
Go there to purchase natural rubber from the indigenous people and continuously transport rubber back.”
Lu Hu cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty Mingjian, the third batch of steamships sent to Brazil set off two months ago. Those Brazilian natives used rubber to exchange a lot of goods and have already tasted the sweetness. I estimate that this time the steamship can transport more
Rubber back!”
Li Zhi nodded and said with a smile: "Okay! When we attack the new enemy, I hope the soldiers of the Huben Army will advance quickly on bicycles!"
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The Dutch Governor of Batavia, Kuhn, stood on the training ground and looked at the latest product of the Slant Gun Factory: a front-loading rifled gun.
The gunners operated the rifled cannon in the same way as the smoothbore cannon, loaded the ammunition and charges, and finally shot the steel-cased target five miles away with great preparation, penetrating the five-centimetre-thick steel armor.
The rotating steel-core lead-cased cone-shaped projectile broke through the armor while spinning, wringing a hideous wound like a twist on the armor. The projectile did not lose force after it penetrated the armor, and sank deeply into the mound behind it.
Witnessing the powerful armor-breaking ability of this artillery piece, the officers around Kuhn beamed with joy and applauded one after another.
Even the Han slaves around the target were full of panic, astonished by the power of this new type of artillery shell.
A battleship captain who had just been transferred from India grabbed his telescope and looked at the target in the distance, his eyes full of excitement, and said: "Well done, Slant, this is the most powerful artillery I have ever seen. The accuracy is also excellent.
"
Slant, the director of the Slant Artillery Factory, smiled and said: "Captain, this is what we learned from the Ming Dynasty's artillery shells, front-loading rifled guns. The core of this kind of shell is a steel core, and a layer of lead is cast on the outside.
, the tail is hollow, the same principle as the Formosa rifle. The process is very simple, but the lethality is astonishing."
The captain was stunned and asked: "Is this cannon also rifled?"
Slant smiled and said: "It is very simple to install rifling on a cannon. Our cannons are all made of copper. It is easy to pull rifling on it, which is much easier than pulling rifling on an iron rifle. You just need to use it more when casting.
Using some materials and casting the cannon barrel thicker, the resulting front-loading rifled gun can be used."
The captain nodded and praised: "Slant, you are the best gunsmith I have ever seen. You should return to Europe immediately and teach your skills to all Dutch gunsmiths. God,
This will greatly increase the combat effectiveness of our Dutch Navy."
Slant smiled and said: "Thank you, captain. This kind of artillery is very advanced in concept, but as long as you understand the principle, the technical difficulty is very low. In fact, I have written down the manufacturing tips of this new type of artillery in a small paper.
The brochure was sent back to the Netherlands. Soon, all our Dutch battleships will use this new type of artillery, which can easily penetrate the enemy's thick armor from several miles away."
The captain nodded, looked at the target in the distance with the binoculars, and shook his head with emotion.
However, watching Slant talk eloquently, Batavia Governor Kuhn had a sullen face, seemingly unable to be happy at all.
Kuhn had no reason to be happy. The Anglo-Dutch fleet he organized could be said to have used all the power of the Dutch and British in Southeast Asia, but they all surrendered to Li Zhi's fleet in the first battle. It is said that all the tens of thousands of European sailors on the fleet were
He was sent by Li Zhi to the Shilu Iron Mine in Qiongzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty to work as a slave, working in the mines to dig stones every day.
This defeat wiped out all the Dutch maritime power in the Far East, and Kuhn was under great pressure. If Kuhn could not do anything anymore, the Dutch Parliament might take away his official position or even imprison him.
.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Kuhn obtained Li Zhi's shells and discovered the secret of the front-loaded rifled gun.
However, what Kuhn could obtain was only a front-loaded rifled gun. However, he could not copy the cone-shaped explosive bullets produced by Li Zhi using super-era machines in Fanjiazhuang.
Kuhn asked Slant: "Mr. Slant, can't we imitate the Ming Dynasty's explosive bombs?"
Slant curtsied to Kuhn and said: "Your Excellency, Governor, unfortunately, with our technology, we cannot produce explosive bombs anyway."
Slant waved his hand, and the worker next to him took out the unexploded cone-shaped explosive bomb from the box.
The shell has been cut open.
"Your Excellency, Governor, you see, the internal structure of this kind of explosive bomb is complex, including a powder chamber, a fuse chamber, and a steel slag chamber. However, I really don't understand what kind of machine is used to process such a complicated internal structure. If we use manual methods to build it,
The artillery shells we produce with this kind of cone-shaped projectile cannot withstand the chamber pressure when the cannon is fired."
Kuhn took a breath and didn't speak for a long time.
Li Zhi is a devil, Kuhn can only think so.
Originally, in Kuhn's concept, the Han people were just lowly slaves. Batavia was full of slaves captured by the Dutch from the coast of the Ming Dynasty. Kuhn never respected a yellow person. But why can the inferior yellow people make
To produce such an advanced artillery shell that the Dutch cannot even imitate it?
After thinking for a long time, Kuhn said: "Immediately write a letter to the Congress and ask all the battleships sent by the Congress to the Far East to be equipped with rifled cannons. Damn it! Without rifled cannons, we can't even penetrate Li Zhi's armored ship, and we will die if we come.
