This thing will not be made well for a while, not to mention that tungsten steel is very troublesome to process due to its physical properties; and as an ornament, it must be polished after being formed.
After agreeing to come back to pick up the items in three days, Zhou Changfeng left the arsenal and returned to the station without stopping for long.
At half time, when he rushed to the Jiangpan Pier and took the transportation boat, he could already see the transport ship anchored at Jiangxinzhou Pier and unloading from a distance.
Amidst the roar of the engine, the traffic boat dragged a trail of white waves straight across the Yangtze River.
When you get closer, you can see that tanks are being lifted and unloaded to the dock by the ship's straight-arm crane of the transport ship.
Xie Wancheng is leading people here to count and receive equipment at the moment. Two quartermasters are writing and drawing with pens, making circles or crosses from time to time.
Seeing him coming, everyone stood up straight, touched their chests and saluted.
"Commander, are you back? Look, this is a little kid from the Navy. It only weighs more than four tons and can only seat two people." Xie Wancheng said as he patted a tank. "It has guns and cannons, but how can we use them?" Not convenient."
The official model name of the Type 35 amphibious tank is the "Type 35 floating combat vehicle". It is very small, with a length of 4.1m, a width of 2m, a height of 2.05m, an empty weight of 4.0 tons, and a total combat weight of 4.6 tons. It has a leaf spring balanced suspension. It is equipped with a 38.4mm short-barreled gun and a 7.36mm machine gun, and is equipped with an 85-horsepower six-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine.
The engine is the same as the Army's older Type 26 guerrilla fighting vehicle, allowing it to utilize off-the-shelf inventory from existing inventories, thereby reducing production costs.
The two-person crew is naturally not good. One person is the driver, and the other person has to serve as the machine gunner, gunner, loader, and commander. The efficiency in actual combat is very low.
In fact, in this era, it is reasonable to have at least a four-person crew. It is naturally better to perform their own duties than to wear multiple hats. But for an interwar light amphibious tank, there seems to be nothing wrong with it?
The Ministry of War allocated a total of 20 tanks. The number of tanks on the establishment list should be 18. The extra 2 tanks were reserved for inventory backup. In addition, there were many backup parts.
Zhou Changfeng walked around it. The body and turret were all riveted. Finally, he saw a propeller at the bottom of the rear of the vehicle. "Crawler paddling plus propeller assistance, not bad."
Many armored vehicles with floating capabilities only use crawlers to paddle the water, but with propellers, the speed of traveling on the water can be greatly accelerated.
He opened the hatch and sat in. The interior bulkhead of the car was painted with off-white paint, giving it a soft and neat feel. What surprised him next was—the seat was actually made of leather? Is there a small electric fan next to the seat? Is this simplicity on the outside and luxury on the inside?
Regardless of the purchase cost, this leather seat feels very comfortable and will not be uncomfortable even if you sit for a long time. It can also be regarded as a disguised improvement in combat effectiveness.
Zhou Changfeng, who was very interested, asked someone to add two barrels of gasoline to the car and start it with a crank.
He discovered that this car actually used a pneumatic auxiliary shifting mechanism. Is this... so user-friendly?
Obviously, the companies participating in the bidding will not add this design without any trouble, so I am afraid this is a requirement of the Navy.
With pneumatically assisted shifting, the driver can more easily control the entire tank, but the requirements for his own technical level are higher; at the same time, maintenance is also more difficult.
Zhou Changfeng's evaluation of it is relatively fair - this is a worthy attempt, hoping to improve the combat environment from all aspects to increase combat effectiveness. However, it is unreasonable to apply this design to a light tank with a small two-man crew. The idea is more suitable for tanks with more people.
It can be said that during the interwar period, tank designs in various countries around the world were groping forward, and everyone was constantly making trial and error. If you go the right way, everyone will be happy; if you go the wrong way, you will get water from a bamboo basket.
When Zhou Changfeng was personally experiencing the amphibious tanks produced by the Yanjing Swift Company of the Ming Dynasty, a bright yellow car, escorted by four black cars in front and behind, stopped outside Xi'an.
Zhu Lingjing, white on top and green on the bottom, wearing a velvet jacket and skirt, walked quickly into the city gate cave, where she waited for the scooter while avoiding the cold wind.
In ancient times, it was of course impossible for people to enter the Forbidden City on horseback and in sedans. There was a dismounting monument at the entrance to the imperial city that read, "Officials have been waiting here to dismount in sedans." This rule still exists today, but it has been modified so that people are not allowed to ride in their own cars. Take the palace's special mobility scooter.
Later, the car took her through Xihua Gate, then crossed the bridge next to Wuying Hall, and finally stopped after going straight for a few hundred meters.
The two palace maids waiting here immediately led her through the Qianqing Gate and then to the Hongde Hall next to the Qianqing Palace.
When she entered, the emperor had just hung up the phone.
Seeing his daughter arriving, he raised his head while dealing with government affairs and said, "I haven't been to the palace for a long time. Do you have something to do today?"
Zhu Shiyan knew very well that his daughter was a master who never came to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. She hadn't been here for more than half a month, so there was a high probability that she wanted something this time.
"I have met my father." Zhu Lingjing, with a smile on her face, saluted and said with a smile: "I can't hide anything from you."
"Say it."
"Well...I heard that Gu diseases have been rampant in Jiujiang recently, and the government has sent additional doctors twice to help..."
When saying this, Zhu Lingjing carefully observed the changes in the emperor's expression.
"The situation must be bad, and a high-ranking officer must be in charge. The emperor had already gone, but you summoned him back. I would like to give it a try."
"You? Why?" Zhu Shiyan couldn't help but find it a bit funny.
"My son knows a little bit about medicine, so he should be more suitable for this situation than ordinary officials." Zhu Lingjing, who looked as usual, answered very calmly, "I just hope that the local people will be stabilized as soon as possible."
Zhu Shiyan glanced at her, lowered his head and started reading the memorial.
It is known that this daughter is very thoughtful, and she seems to have made more and more attempts to enter the political arena in the past two years. Now she has volunteered to go to the epidemic area to take charge.
Isn’t this purpose obvious? You don't even need to guess to know her intentions.
Zhu Shiyan, who remained calm, continued to read the memorial, and occasionally picked up a pen to comment on a few words. After dozens of seconds like this, he finally said: "Pay attention to yourself, don't get carried away."
Is this your approval?
Zhu Lingjing felt uneasy in her heart during these dozens of seconds, never expecting that it would suddenly happen in the end.
She was secretly happy in her heart and said: "Thank you, father, I will do my best."
Next, the two chatted a few more words, but the topic was very down-to-earth, just like an ordinary father and daughter.
After a while, Zhu Lingjing left, while Zhu Shiyan stared at the imperial pen on the table and fell into deep thought.
Nowadays, it is no longer necessary to be wary of foreign relatives interfering in politics. The current political structure of the Ming Dynasty is fundamentally different from that of the classical era. The rules and techniques of its power game have also been gradually explored over the past few decades.
Putting aside the relationship between father and daughter, and simply considering politics, he felt that it would be beneficial for the royal family to have another person who could win over the people and have a place in the political arena.
Under such circumstances, Zhu Lingjing's political achievements were to subsidize the royal family; of course, doing the opposite would be to attract evil.
(End of chapter)
