When he first saw this steam chariot, Holy Emperor Li Xuan almost didn't recognize it because it was so different from what he imagined.
Ever since the Tang Empire developed the steam engine, the army has always wanted to use the steam engine to create a chariot capable of charging into battle to attack the enemy's defense lines and perform critical tasks.
Li Xuan did not stop or encourage this.
Based on the knowledge of later generations, he did not think that steam chariots had any future. In previous lives, steam-powered mechanical vehicles had long been available and were widely used for transportation, farming, etc. in the mid-to-late 19th century.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, especially in the decades after the Civil War, the development of steam vehicles was quite rapid. In 1900, more than 30 companies in the United States produced a total of more than 5,000 steam engine tractors.
But steam-powered tanks have never appeared on the battlefield, and there is a reason for this.
It’s not that people haven’t tried, it’s that they’ve never succeeded!
Because the thermal efficiency of the steam engine is too small, its power is limited under a certain weight and volume. It is barely able to drive the steam engine mechanism and the basic structure of the car body. It is impossible to install thick armor and heavy artillery. At the same time, it is not possible to install thick armor and heavy artillery.
Battery life cannot be guaranteed because steam engines have relatively large demands for coal and water. To ensure battery life, a large amount of coal and fresh water must be brought, which further squeezes the already low power of the steam engine.
Therefore, even though the power of steam engines could be very high during World War I, and even if they could be miniaturized, they were still difficult to survive on the steam battlefield.
During World War I, the Americans also thought about designing and manufacturing tanks powered by steam engines, but they still failed.
Because if it were really designed and manufactured, the steam battlefield would have very poor survivability and attack capabilities on the battlefield due to its huge size, slow movement, almost zero armor, and weak firepower.
Not to mention the period of World War I, even after the Franco-Prussian War, the firepower on the battlefield before World War I was very fierce. All kinds of rifled guns, high-explosive bombs, and machine guns appeared one after another. There was no room for survival on the steam battlefield.
Tanks and other armored or unarmored wheels appeared on the battlefield and were used on a large scale. They were the product of the mature development of the internal combustion engine and had nothing to do with the steam engine.
Judging from the development history of steam vehicles and tanks in the original time and space, steam chariots are undoubtedly a failed product.
Based on this fact, Li Xuan has always been unfavorable to steam chariots.
However, he did not object to the Army's pursuit of steam chariots.
How should I put it? For Datang, it is actually not important whether various new weapons can be used or whether they are easy to use. What is important is to maintain this spirit of continuous research and development and continuous innovation.
For example, the battleships that the Navy worked so hard to build!
is that useful?
What a waste!
Even the most arrogant naval admirals do not believe that those battleships of more than 10,000 tons can play a big role in the war.
It's not that the battleships are not strong, it's that the enemy is too bad to use these battleships of more than 10,000 tons. A frigate of one or two thousand tons can defeat the world.
However, the Navy is still unswervingly developing and building large-tonnage battleships. Although the construction speed has slowed down, the Navy has always maintained the research and development and production of battleships.
At most, they are developing and building one ship after another, rather than building multiple ships at once.
The same is true for armored cruisers, which can only maintain the construction progress of one ship after another.
The purpose of developing and building armored cruisers and battleships is not essentially to improve the navy's combat effectiveness. It is mainly for the sake of the navy's face. It is also to maintain the R&D and production capabilities of Hong Kong's Dingsheng Shipyard and a large number of subsequent defense companies.
It doesn't matter whether it can be used now or not. What matters is that it must be able to be built and used on a large scale when needed in the future.
The navy is like this, and the army is pretty much the same.
Although the Army's focus in recent years has been on rifled weapons equipment, the Army's many research and development plans have not stopped.
For example, the Army has been working on large-caliber train guns!
There are also armored trains.
Not to mention steam chariots, the Army has never given up.
No, after years of hard work, the Army finally came up with a steam chariot that they thought was acceptable, and then they couldn't wait to put it out for a performance. It would be even better if it could win a word or two of praise from the Holy Emperor.
At this time, General Wang Haoji, Director of the Ordnance Department of the Army Privy Council, confidently explained to Li Xuan:
"Look, Your Majesty, this is the prototype of our army's future self-propelled firepower integrated combat system!"
“Since Xuan Ping Thirty Years and listened to Your Majesty’s vision for the future war, my colleagues in the army have deeply agreed. They believe that in the future battlefield, in order to break through the enemy’s defense line and cover the advance of the infantry line, we need a weapon that can be used on the battlefield.
It is a weapon that can walk independently without being restricted by terrain, and at the same time has excellent protection capabilities and firepower."
"We were inspired by armored trains, because armored trains have perfect protection, firepower and even maneuverability, but they are limited by railways and cannot travel in the wild!"
"So our research and development focus was to design a system that can travel in the wild, and in the end we chose a crawler system!"
"Finally, after years of design and development, we have finally completed this self-propelled fire integrated combat system for future battlefields!"
While Li Xuan was listening, he was a little confused. What else did I say about the future self-propelled fire integrated combat system? Why didn't I know?
He had talked about the concept of future war before, not to mention modern war, and even the more distant concept of three-dimensional war on land, sea and air. But he swore that he was definitely not talking about steam chariots, he was just talking about a war concept.
, believes that future wars will transform from two-dimensional wars on the ground or sea to three-dimensional wars on land, sea, under the sea, and in the sky.
For contemporary people, this theory is basically no different from science fiction.
However, he has never advocated steam chariots in formal meetings!
At this time, General Wang Haoji continued: "This is one of the prototype vehicles we have manufactured. The theoretical requirements were put forward by the Ministry of Ordnance. The Zhenjiang Weapon Design Institute, a subsidiary of Jiangnan Weapon Company, is responsible for the design. The specific production process involves more than 20 related parties.
The company is directly involved, and Liaodong Machinery Company is ultimately responsible for the final assembly."
"The combat vehicle includes a front locomotive, a tender tanker at the rear, a 30mm short-barreled gun and steel plate armor. The total combat weight is 42 tons. It uses a horizontal steam engine with a power of 64 horsepower!"
"The steam engine in the chariot is the latest product of Zhaoqing Machinery Company. It is small in size and powerful enough to provide the chariot with a speed of four kilometers per hour and can cross most terrains!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, the steam chariot that was slowly advancing with white smoke in front of him trembled for a while and then stopped. After a while, even the white smoke stopped coming out...