"Get up, get up, get up...Okay, stop! Just put it here!"
Orange, who was wearing a safety helmet, held a blueprint in his hand. He looked up at the giant machine that was ten stories high when fully opened in front of him, and waved to signal the engineering staff to stop operating.
This is a crane equipped with a huge chassis, and a cab with a crane operating function is installed at the bottom of the crane.
However, due to engineering design problems at the beginning, the visibility in the cab was not very good, and the steering was not very convenient. Someone needed to be guided at all times for micro-operation.
Although this is indeed very troublesome, considering the speed of this soul guidance crane, it doesn't matter.
Huo Yuhao followed Xuan Ziwen and looked at the crane, which was usually kept in Dongyang City to transport mechanical supplies when defending against sea soul beasts. It was rarely used once, and he felt quite complicated.
It is obvious that the Sun and Moon Empire has been able to develop an all-terrain detection soul guide that "runs on a ball with eight legs". Even from Huo Yuhao's point of view, it is a bit science fiction, but its ground vehicles are common transportation methods. It’s really hard to put into words.
There is inexhaustible soul power available anytime, anywhere. The Sun and Moon Empire does not rely on coal and oil for energy, and no one is building steam engines or internal combustion engines. This is normal.
But some things at the mechanical application level are really a bit weird. For example, they mix unreasonably advanced and backward technology trees, making the entire Sun and Moon Empire sometimes even look like a wasteland punk...
For example, behind a carriage for wealthy people on the road, a tracked vehicle may suddenly appear...
The crane with a huge chassis in front of me is equipped with tracks at the bottom that reduce pressure and improve terrain passability. It is said that for such a huge machine with a very complex internal structure, the team of soul engineers who originally designed it spent a lot of energy just on the drive system.
It uses soul power and is a machine, so it meets the definition of a "soul guidance device". The designer is naturally also a soul guidance device.
The application of tracks on Douluo Continent is not new. Even the Zhuge Shen crossbow used by Huo Gua to defend the city in the original work was equipped with tracks on the bottom.
Due to the good and bad road conditions in the Sun and Moon Empire, the journey was more than 200 kilometers. In order to prevent the excessive weight from collapsing certain sections of the road, this steel giant and the transportation vehicle that followed it left. A full ten days.
Fortunately, the journey finally came to an end, and Huo Yuhao and his party finally arrived at the scheduled exercise area - this area is controlled by the military and is generally used for small and medium-sized exercises.
This time so many people from all walks of life were invited, even the auditorium had to be improvised.
"I said, Teacher Xuan...haven't you tried to find a more convenient transportation method to mobilize large-scale supplies?"
Huo Yuhao looked at the transport track trucks behind him that had been repaired many times in the past few days, and asked Xuan Ziwen beside him.
"More convenient? Which one are you talking about?" Xuan Ziwen glanced at the surrounding environment.
"That is to lay a section of gravel sleepers between two locations with a large transportation volume, and build a special track on it... At that time, the two power units at the front and rear will be used to pull the unpowered cargo compartment connected in the middle, turning it into a train to achieve long-distance transportation.”
In Huo Yuhao's impression, road transportation does have unique advantages over railway transportation, but it has obvious disadvantages in large-volume transportation over long distances, and rails must be used in conjunction with trains to fully demonstrate the advantages in transportation capacity.
Faced with the transportation needs of such a large amount of military supplies, it would be extremely frustrating to rely solely on mules, horses or relatively primitive tracked vehicles.
Xuan Ziwen said "hmm" first and continued to look at his scenery, but then he lowered his head and said nothing for a while, and said with some confusion:
"To be honest, I don't quite understand the difference between this and our current transportation methods."
Tracks are nothing new. There are several vertical track transportation systems in Mingdetang.
The city walls of Xingluo City are also equipped with short-distance tracks and supporting winches for transportation - otherwise, it would be impossible for a city wall with a height of hundreds of meters and a terrifying length to rely on manpower to transport supplies every day, right?
However, the difference between the original track and the I-shaped track that was later improved to accommodate trains and stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers is still very different. Not to mention that "railway" is a systematic project. If you want to run well, It is far from just laying gravel on the ground with sleepers and then building rails.
Huo Yuhao pointed to the tracked vehicles behind him that were all busy in maintenance: "Teacher Xuan, do you still remember how many times these things had problems, big and small, along the way?"
"I don't know the specifics, but basically every car will have some minor problems every two days. The road conditions on this road are too bad. If it is used in Dongyang City, there will be no serious problems. It can be repaired once a week. about there."
As Xuan Ziwen said this, he turned his attention to the "soul mentors" who were responsible for driving with the army. At this time, they took out wrenches and other maintenance tools to inspect transmission rods and other components. If Huo Yuhao defines it, they should actually be considered to have soul power. A current mechanic and driver.
Except for some of these mechanics who are members of the Soul Engineer Group who personally go into battle, the others are not included in the official combat establishment of the Soul Engineer Group and belong to the logistics force. After all, it is impossible for the Soul Engineer Group to have the ability to dominate the outcome of a battle with only three soldiers in the entire army. Five hundred people—unless all services are outsourced, non-combat personnel are dismissed.
As we all know, the number of ground crews who repair aircraft is many times greater than the number of pilots who fly the aircraft. Counting other miscellaneous personnel, the number is ten times less.
“Mr.
"Teacher Xuan, you also know how wide these roads are. Excluding the main roads around big cities like Mingdu and Dongyang City, ordinary wild roads can only accommodate two cars passing side by side at most - most of the time only one."
"As long as one car has a problem, the cars behind it will have to stay there and wait for it to be repaired before they can continue on the road."
"Indeed." Xuan Ziwen nodded slightly, as if he had tasted something: "Keep talking."
Huo Yuhao put his hands on his hips and looked at the sweating mechanics and said: "In the final analysis, each car has an independent power system - and these systems are not particularly reliable on bad roads. It doesn't matter if you have one or two cars. If there are dozens or hundreds of vehicles...then on average there will be several accidents every hour, and the overall transportation efficiency may not be better than that of mules and horses."
"If the main power systems that need maintenance can be simplified to one or two sets, the overall failure frequency can be greatly reduced, and some maintenance personnel can also be released."
Xuan Ziwen, who followed the team up and down the road, and from time to time had to personally repair those precious little things, fully understood and agreed with this.
A soul master's personal belongings can be carried around with a storage soul guide, but how can the baggage of hundreds of thousands of troops be solved by this method?
The special mineral resources needed for the storage soul guide are only produced in a small amount every year, and the pitiful reserves are mined less and less. Not to mention that the crane currently being transported by Orange is commanding a ten-story-high crane. Not going in.
"That makes sense. The higher-ups haven't held such a large-scale event for at least hundreds of years. Normal material transportation is handled by mules and horses. This time, the transportation pressure was too great and so many tracked vehicles were mobilized. The result was as expected. Something is terribly wrong.”
Wang Yiheng, who had just inspected the troops, said that he came over. This time, the number of tracked vehicles allocated by the Sun and Moon Empire from Dongyang City and even Mingdu totaled three digits. It could be said that they were showing off their wealth to others.
Fortunately, no one has been invited to enter the venue during this early stage of preparations, otherwise the underwear would have been exposed before the real estate was revealed to scare people. It would inevitably make people think that "the sun-moon empire's soul guide is just like this if it breaks down all the way." ".
Although no matter how many problems there are, a mechanical transportation vehicle driven by soul power that consumes two and a half milk bottles per 100 kilometers is more appropriate than an animal-powered transportation vehicle that eats all the way, but the journey must be long enough. Only under such circumstances can the advantages be fully realized.
Huo Yuhao even felt that if the technical level of Douluo Continent was higher and the mechanical failure rate was low enough to be acceptable, letting them drive tracked vehicles on the plains might be more terrifying than the mechanized troops in his impression - using the omnipotent Vehicles driven by soul power are not restricted by oil transportation at all.
Wang Yiheng looked at the construction site, which was basically empty at present, but was operated under the personal command of teacher Xuan Ziwen's disciple Ju Zi, and asked:
"I understand what Yuhao said about streamlining the number of power units. It's not difficult to do. As for connecting the carriages of unpowered workshops in the middle... that's a way. As long as the power supplied by the milk bottles reaches the standard, you can tow a convoy at a time. It can also flexibly control the number of carriages.”
It is basically impossible to rely on mass-produced resident soul masters to supply energy for a train that can pull many carriages. Now it seems that it can only rely on milk bottles.
A smaller traction force is also acceptable. Loosely speaking, as long as the initial friction and air resistance can be overcome to move the train, it will not lengthen the acceleration period.
"We have a ready-made carriage. You can dismantle it and modify it for experiments. The power system... is not a problem. It is easier to modify."
It's really simple, as long as it can be pulled up, Wang Yiheng doesn't care what the "front of the car" looks like. At the worst, he can find a few soul mentors to stand on the front of the car and pull the rope to push it manually to verify it.
"The main thing is why does this thing need to be equipped with tracks? You want the power system and carriage to be simple. I now have the authority to dismantle a few cars and piece together the parts for you."
"But for such a big guy to accelerate to cruising speed, the track required cannot be short. I don't have the right to lay tracks everywhere."
The right of way is indeed a very sensitive thing. If Huo Yuhao remembers correctly, the early railway system could be called an independent kingdom. Even if the rights were later taken away, it still had a subordinate railway police force, which was very majestic.
Even in the Empire of the Sun and Moon, dirt roads cannot be built casually in the name of private individuals - I am not afraid of road paving, but if there is no distinction between official roads and private roads, if the road rights are built below, there is no doubt that there will definitely be people who "can't tell the difference". dismantle.
Huo Yuhao organized his thoughts and was about to elaborate when Teacher Xuan adjusted his glasses - the reflection on the glasses looked like a sudden flash of light at the crime scene.
"Commander Wang, regarding why tracks are needed, do you still remember why we installed tracks under heavy machinery before?"
"Of course, if only the wheels are installed, the road surface will collapse... Oh, I understand, what Teacher Xuan said is right."
Wang Yiheng looked like he had "enlightened", while Xuan Ziwen continued:
"Even if crawlers are installed, the safe load capacity is not that satisfactory. The purpose of laying some gravel sleepers to pad the track should be similar... Since this rail vehicle is designed to be used for transportation, naturally it is necessary to try to improve each carriage as much as possible. The weight limit. Yuhao, am I right?"
"With the whip inside, you are worthy of being Teacher Xuan."
Huo Yuhao skillfully flattered him.
"Also, Commander Wang, have you noticed how long our convoy is this time?" Xuan Ziwen continued.
Wang Yiheng looked back and said, "It's true that I haven't checked this carefully... We need to keep a safe distance between vehicles. If there are more cars, it can only be said that there is no end in sight."
Xuan Ziwen took a long breath and said slowly:
"It eliminates the need for the front of each vehicle and the need for a safe distance. The close connection between the cargo containers can greatly reduce the length of the transportation team, but in this case... Commander Wang, how do you think this car should turn?"
"If there are more than a dozen cargo boxes, if the space is narrow, even the most skilled driver will be unable to ensure that there will be no collision or even rollover when turning. It is really inconvenient to observe. We have arranged an observation for that crane alone. Hands, we can’t have several people on each train to observe the cargo boxes, right?”
"If we don't install tracks to forcefully regulate the train's trajectory, I'm afraid all the materials will be dumped on the road before the train arrives. It's inevitable to build a special road for it."
Orange, who was directing the start of the construction site, came over without knowing when, but the movements of his hands and mouth were not affected at all.
"Yu Hao, what you said made me excited. We have suffered enough from the pain of repairing the car along the way. But there is still the same problem. Neither Commander Wang nor Teacher Xuan has the power to approve the experiment of building a long road! "
When Xuan Ziwen heard Orange's voice, a surprised expression appeared on his face. He didn't notice at all when the student came over.
Huo Yuhao rubbed his temples: "Senior Orange, you don't mean to ask me to apply to Master Hongchen, do you?"
Xuan Ziwen shook his head: "The hall master doesn't have that power...but the person who has the power to approve has to listen to him. I'll report it to him when the time comes. I think it's worth trying."
"Indeed, it may be a way to transport military supplies. In the past, when there was no major war, it was enough to use livestock to deal with it. But if it is needed to transport large armies over long distances in the future, how can it be sustained?" Wang Yiheng said softly, his eyes were a little lost, and he didn't know what he was thinking. What.
And after hearing Wang Yiheng's words, "Just use animals to deal with it when there is no serious war." Huo Yuhao found that he seemed to understand why no one in the Sun and Moon Empire had built a complete train until now.
Although for Huo Yuhao now, it seems that the audit risk is more serious than the technical difficulties, this is not the reason why no one has come up with a finished product to test the water.
Although the Sun and Moon Empire seems to have a pretty good level of technology, most of its areas are still in the mode of small-scale peasant economy - urban agricultural products and raw materials can basically meet the demand by being supplied from nearby rural areas, and there is no need for large-scale long-distance transportation. .
As for Mingdu, a super city, its material needs can only rely on water transportation and surrounding satellite cities. The entire Sun and Moon Empire has not formed a stable supply chain across the country. Therefore, there is a nationwide transportation demand for the minerals needed by the soul master, but The total amount is really not that much.
To put it bluntly, the current productivity is not yet in urgent need of more powerful transportation capabilities.
Even for military supplies, the demand for transportation capacity suddenly increased only when the Sun and Moon Empire mobilized a large number of troops.
Orange stood aside and listened to their conversation. No matter what Mingdetang decided, she planned to mention this idea to the prince when she returned - as long as she could effectively support the war and support his idea of "one emperor through the ages" Xu Tianran always devotes himself to dreams.
While several people were having their own thoughts, another crane of the same type as the crane that was transporting building materials on the construction site made an ear-splitting roar, and the transmission device drove the crawler tracks slowly towards them.
"Teacher Xuan, it's almost time. How about we test the results of the first experiment now?"
Wang Yiheng glanced at the crane that was extending its boom and suggested to Xuan Ziwen.
"I'll take a look, Yuhao, prepare to record it."
Xuan Ziwen nodded, while Huo Yuhao on the other side took out a memorandum from the storage soul guide-it recorded many requirements and review standards for various experiments in this trip.
After Xuan Ziwen said hello to the driver, he jumped onto the chassis that was nearly two people tall. Although he was a scientific researcher, he was still an eight-ring Soul Douluo. Ordinary people are much stronger.
Huo Yuhao followed closely, standing next to Xuan Ziwen, watching him operate the mechanical switch and then open the gate of the "engine room".
Although other parts of the crane driven by soul power must abide by basic mechanical principles, it obviously does not have the "engine" that converts chemical energy into mechanical energy as Huo Yuhao understands - there is a very large crane inside. Rectangular parallelepiped chassis.
On the chassis, except for the bottom surface welded to the bottom of the chassis, the remaining five sides have neatly arranged black holes. At this time, each black hole is connected to a milk bottle, which looks like a light bulb. These are It is a level four milk bottle that Ziwen used for comparative experiments and is reasonably economical.
Each bottle has a black block-shaped reading recorder the size of a fingernail. Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen each took a small box to collect these recorders.
Recording the collected results one by one on the memo, Xuan Ziwen looked at the numbers above, calculated and verified them with paper and pen, and then ordered:
"Yu Hao, record, the sealed bottle group traveled 260 kilometers, took ten days, and the soul power loss ratio was 67%."
(End of chapter)
