Today, both sides of the Dawen River have become large-scale industrial areas, with an employed population of more than 400,000.
Zuo Mengeng can proudly say that this is definitely the largest industrial cluster in the world today.
In addition, the resident population of nearby Dongping County has exceeded 700,000, and all walks of life are extremely prosperous.
There are two supervisors in the entire industrial area.
One is Jiang Wei, and the other is Zuo Dai.
Both are responsible for industry, but their division of labor is clear.
Jiang Wei focused on civil industry and regional administration.
Zuo Dai focused on the military industry.
Arriving at the military industrial area, Zuo Mengeng was invited to the Weapons Research Institute.
"Look at our newly designed artillery."
Sun Yuanhua went to Jiaozhou Bay to improve naval guns. The research and development of artillery here was temporarily managed by Bi Maokang.
The old man was completely rejuvenated, and he was very happy all day long as he watched the weapons he imagined becoming reality one after another.
"This cannon..."
Placed in the small square of the Military Research Institute is an artillery piece that is very similar to an infantry artillery piece. But Zuo Mengeng had a keen eye and immediately noticed the difference.
"Mr. Dongjiao, did you use wrought iron casings?"
Bi Maokang was filled with emotion.
"No wonder everyone says you are the best military strategist in the world. This cannot be hidden from your eyes."
Looking back, Zuodai explained why the Military Research Institute developed artillery in this way.
"After our army's artillery adopted new gunpowder, the frontline troops responded that the chamber explosion rate became higher. After thorough research, we found that it was because the current rifle barrel was too thin."
Zuo Mengeng understood it as soon as he heard it.
The earliest rifles used black powder. Because the material is steel, the barrel can be cast very thin.
However, when the gunpowder was replaced with collodion, the rifle barrel could no longer support the same amount of powder.
Zuoda added: "We originally planned to thicken the barrel, but found that if we did that, the weight of the entire artillery would increase by more than half. In this case, it would not be in line with the positioning of the rifle. After everyone brainstormed, we finally decided to use familiar Iron makes a sleeve outside the steel barrel."
The Wuhan Research Institute plans to surprise Zuo Mengeng with a new type of artillery. Unfortunately, what has Zuo Mengeng not seen before?
He was afraid that all of it would be shaken out and frighten these talented people who had worked so hard to cultivate.
It's just a matter of tightening the barrel. This is the only way in the history of artillery development.
The famous Armstrong gun uses this barrel technology.
But even so, this new infantry gun still gave Zuo Mengeng a lot of relief.
Because the open breech behind the gun barrel has been eliminated.
Instead……
It's the breech block.
In other words, this is a veritable breech-loading gun.
"Following your design, we worked on it for a long time and finally came up with this threaded breech block."
Zuo Mengeng squatted behind the gun, pushed the breech to fit it into the barrel, and then turned the handle. In the crisp and smooth clicking sound of the gears, it was obvious that the breech block and the breech were tightly combined.
"What about the cannonballs? Have you made an integrated cannonball?"
Everyone looked embarrassed and their eyes wandered.
It was Bi Maokang who exposed the truth.
"There's no progress on the forging machine, so don't think about integrated artillery shells. However, we have come up with separate ammunition, which can be used."
When the new ammunition was brought up, Zuo Mengeng understood.
Bi Maokang and the others separated the cannonballs that originally needed to be loaded into one body.
A warhead is a warhead and a cartridge is a cartridge.
Unlike the metal cartridge of the original rifle, this time the new cartridge is made of paper.
"We took inspiration from the striker gun and came up with this individually charged paper cartridge. When you shoot, you insert the slug first, then the cartridge. Close the breech, and then fire."
Separate artillery shells are not unusual at all, and they are still popular in later generations even in the 21st century.
Zuo Mengeng is concerned about three issues.
"How's the range?"
It seems that Zuo Dai and the others have done experiments.
"If gunpowder is used, the range can reach 2,300 meters, far exceeding the original rifle."
Zuo Mengeng couldn't help but nod, he couldn't be more satisfied with this data.
As a battalion-level infantry support artillery, it has such a range in this era, which is absolutely unbelievable.
second question.
"After firing, how do you deal with the debris in the barrel?"
For paper medicine cartridges, no matter how high the temperature of the gunpowder is after deflagration, he believes that there will be paper scraps that cannot be burned cleanly.
And these things remaining in the barrel are definitely hidden dangers.
Zuo Dai seeks truth from facts.
"We plan to develop a brush. We only need to use the brush to clean the barrel after each firing. It should not be a big problem."
Zuo Mengeng looked strange.
Unexpectedly, they just ordered to collect pig bristles and make brushes, and the Wuyan Institute came up with the idea.
When he told his order, everyone was overjoyed.
"This is called coincidence, and the new cannon should come out."
Zuo Mengeng asked the last question.
"This medicine cartridge is made of paper. It is afraid of water and damage. How do you plan to deal with it during normal transportation and storage?"
This Wuhan Academy really has a solution.
"We made a bamboo tube with a shape that fits the medicine cartridge. Each bamboo tube can store one medicine cartridge daily. When using it, just take the medicine cartridge out of the bamboo tube. The bamboo tube has a cover, which is both waterproof and No need to worry about breakage.”
This is equivalent to adding a protective film to the drug cartridge. Although it will increase a lot of weight, it is also the best way at present.
Bamboo is everywhere, and weaving bamboo tubes is an ancient craft that has been passed down from generation to generation, so it is naturally very good to use it in this way.
Zuo Mengeng thought for a while, pointed to the increasingly prosperous Dongping County in the north and said: "I suggest that the equipment department can leave the production of bamboo tubes to the private sector. It can not only save costs, but also help the private sector generate income. Kill two birds with one stone."
The current industrial development is obviously military-first.
This is a situation that is inevitable.
But Zuo Menggeng always kept in mind the outcome of a disintegrated superpower in later generations, knowing that if he only considered military affairs, the consequences would be very serious.
Using the military to drive civilian use and develop the economy in an all-round way is the correct line.
The shell sleeve of the cartridge does not have any technical content, but it can be seen that the demand of the new army must be great.
Giving orders for this thing to the private sector will definitely improve the livelihood of a large number of people.
After Zuo Dai thought about it for a while, he understood.
"It's still your foresight."
The Wuyan Institute gave Zuo Mengeng a good gift with a new type of artillery, and Zuo Menggeng also had an idea and needed help from the Wuyan Institute.
"Mr. Dongjiao, after several battles, this junior discovered a problem. That is, there is still a huge gap in our army's field firepower."
Bi Maokang is a weapons expert, but not a military expert. He has never been on the battlefield and does not know the situation on the battlefield.
Hearing Zuo Mengeng mention the problem, he immediately got into the mood.
"Our army's weapons, whether they are muskets or artillery, are far more powerful than those of today. But in order to be effective in the wild, especially when facing large-scale cavalry, barbed wire and trenches are still needed. But juniors Thinking about it, our enemies are not stupid, and they cannot wait for us to repair our fortifications before attacking every time. If our infantry encounters a cavalry surprise attack in an open area in the wild, even if we can win, I am afraid it will be a tragic victory. So I The army also needs a weapon that can produce a large-scale killing effect in a short period of time to make up for the shortcomings of field operations."
