Author: Xiaoyaohu

At noon in September and April of the fifteenth year of Tianxuan, at the dock of Fucun Shipyard on the outlying island of the Holy Land of Emperor Yi, Qu Mao and Kong Ming were holding a lunch box and standing at the dock to pull it.

As for what food to eat now and how it tastes, Qu Mao doesn't care at all. After all, the armored ship is right in front of him. If not for the super warship returning to the Holy Land, Qu Mao hasn't eaten anything. Now Qu Mao really doesn't want to eat.

Of course, the soldiers on the super warship would not be short of Qu Mao's food. On the contrary, they provided him with rich and delicious food. However, the super warship was drifting in the sea, and Qu Mao's appetite was not very good despite the bumps.

So I didn't eat anything.

The entire meal took less than ten minutes, but the person in charge of the ironclad research and development project needed to prepare a series of things such as refueling the ironclad and contacting the navy for escort, so it took nearly an hour to prepare for the trial voyage.

All matters before.

Kong Ming was extremely resentful because when Qu Mao finished eating his lunch box in ten minutes, Kong Ming's lunch box was only half eaten. Qu Mao thought that he could test sail on the ship anytime and anywhere, so he forced Kong Ming to throw away the half-eaten lunch box.

It turned out that as soon as Kong Ming threw away the lunch box, the person in charge of the armored ship research and development project told Qu Mao that it would take an hour to prepare for adding fuel and gasoline to the armored ship.

Kong Ming had lost all his lunch boxes, so he couldn't let the people from the Fucun Shipyard get another one so that he could keep a half-full stomach and wait with Qu Mao.

Fortunately, the waiting time was not long, and Qu Mao and Kong Ming were able to board the armored ship and take a closer look at the exterior and appearance of the armored ship. Even Qu Mao, the gun room officer, ran over to take a look.

When Qu Mao and Kong Ming looked at the ironclad ship inside and out and returned to the deck, the person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project came over and told Qu Mao that the ironclad ship was ready and could be tested anytime and anywhere.

Yu Fouqumao stood on the deck and ordered the person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project to lift the anchor and drive the ironclad ship out of the dock to execute the trial order.

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project was responsible for the safety of Qu Mao and Kong Ming, so he delayed for ten minutes before ordering the ironclad ship to lift anchor and sail because he invited a nearby naval hero to serve as the captain of the ironclad ship during the trial.

Christine Silian, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, sent a long-distance communication, hoping that Christine Silian would dispatch naval warships to conduct escort navigation in the waters where Qu Maoqiu was conducting trial voyages.

When the ironclad ship started, the engine made a huge roar, and the entire ironclad ship began to tremble. Qu Mao had to grab the railing with his legs and said helplessly: "Damn it! Kong Ming, the ironclad ship made so much noise when it started. Please use the ironclad ship to conduct a sneak attack."

Neither can be done.”

Kong Ming shook his goose feather fan, rolled his red eyes, and said: "Sir, such a heavy steel warship can float on the sea and can sail at the speed of a traditional small warship. What do you want to do?

Today's ocean is in an era where even artillery with solid iron bullets can rule the roost. Suddenly you build an armored ship that is afraid of solid artillery shells. It wants to be silent. Do you want to let others make a living on the sea?

Are the forces going east?

We have a warship made of pure steel, and it is equipped with seven warships that can fire explosive rounds, solid rounds, and artillery shells of different calibers. What are you not satisfied with?

As for the ship-borne ballistae of traditional warships, do you think that hitting the hull of their ironclad ship can cause any damage to their ironclad ship?

Even if it’s slower, clumsier, and carries fewer artillery pieces, what does it matter? Is it okay to just go ahead and ram and sink the enemy’s traditional warships?”

Qu Mao nodded and said, "That's not bad."

Soon the ironclad ship sailed out of the dock of Fukumura Shipyard on the outlying island and entered the vast sea. When it was about three kilometers away from the coastline, the ironclad ship began to accelerate. Facing the sea breeze, the cloak that Qu Mao was holding began to flutter in the wind.

Qu Mao looked back at the angle at which his cloak was raised, and said to Kong Ming: "Kong Ming, the speed of that armored ship is very good. He feels that it is not on par with the speed of traditional small warships, but is slightly faster than traditional small warships."

small warship."

Kong Ming shook his goose feather fan and said: "Sir, is your feeling right now? After the ironclad ship Pi Nao is put into battle, please carry 50 more soldiers and 20 logistic support personnel, as well as food and fresh water.

Artillery shells and other supplies weigh about 20 tons.

Therefore, during combat, including those 20 tons of supplies and personnel, the speed should be almost the same as that of a traditional small warship. According to the person in charge of the Dongxiang ironclad ship research and development project, has that factor been taken into consideration?"

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project who was just walking on the deck heard what Kong Ming said and quickly answered: "No, sir, Master Kong Ming is wrong. That ironclad ship has undergone three trials, so what about the fourth trial?

It has been tested previously and when fully loaded, the speed is almost the same as that of a traditional small warship."

Qu Mao nodded, patted the railing on the deck of the armored ship, and said, "Has the turning ability of that armored ship been tested?"

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project said: "Sir, I have tested it before and found that the speed when turning is also very fast, but the turning radius is slightly larger than that of traditional warships."

Then, the person in charge of the ironclad research and development project waved the pennant in his leg behind him, and the ironclad soon began to turn rapidly in the ocean.

Just after turning half a corner, Qu Mao saw the silhouette of a warship appearing on the sea in the distance.

Seeing the puzzled expression on Qu Mao's face, the person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project said: "Sir, before Zhu Dong came out for the trial voyage, he used the magic communication crystal to contact the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Christine Silian, and told him that you

I'm trying out the ironclad ship with Lord Kong Ming, so I asked him to send out naval warships to escort it."

Qu Mao then nodded and said, "Well, let's inform Kristine via flag, let's go to Fucun Shipyard for a chat later."

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project nodded, and then notified the messenger in the ship tower to send a semaphore to Christian Silian's traditional warship. There was no need to worry about the distance being too far. After all, the military heroes of Emperor Yi's territory were basically in the city.

No one needs at least a telescope.

Later, the person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project said bitterly: "Sir, I'm afraid they need to return home, otherwise they will have to dispatch naval warships to tow them home, and the fuel will be exhausted soon."

Qu Mao was taken aback, then frowned, and said after a while: "Let's return to the ship and inform Christine to dock at the Fucun Shipyard together.

Their trial voyage took less than half an hour, and they didn't even arrive at the Nakashima Naval Fortress. I told him that they were out of fuel.

The fuel consumption rate is too fast. Such fuel consumption will basically be of no use in a naval battle. It will soon run out of fuel before reaching the battlefield."

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project said seriously: "Sir, because you are not allowed to conduct a trial voyage, they are accelerating as soon as they leave the dock. During normal sailing, they will accelerate gently. In this way, the fuel consumption will be smaller and the voyage distance can be increased by about 50%.

In addition, the gasoline barrels produced by the Shacheng Steelmaking Plant can hold 100 liters of gasoline in one barrel, and 99,900 liters of gasoline in one bag. The fuel tank of their ironclad ship can only hold 1,000 liters of gasoline.

If an ironclad ship is equipped with three naval heroes, and each naval hero reserves 10 backpack slots for gasoline in the packing bag, it can sustain operations for at least four months.

Generally, an ironclad ship equipped with a naval hero can sustain operations for at least about a month. Zhu Dong thinks it is about the same.

The fuel itself also has weight, so when they designed the ironclad, the fuel capacity had to be calculated.

Is the ironclad ship itself too heavy? If compared with traditional warships, 10 super warships tied together are not as heavy as a single ironclad ship.

Sir, you have to think this way: traditional warships are completely vulnerable to being beaten by ironclads. Therefore, ironclads have perfect berths and super strong defense can make up for its shortcomings. As Mr. Kong Ming just said, it is really impossible for us to fire a cannonball.

Without it, there will be no problem in directly ramming and sinking the enemy ship."

Qu Mao nodded and said, "Well, he is very satisfied with how the first ironclad ship can be made.

The subsequent production of ironclads must also continue to be optimized. After all, the construction cycle of an ironclad is as long as three and a half years. It is already too late to optimize after a batch of production is completed.

The minimum optimization direction can be to find ways to reduce the weight of the ironclad ship. He feels that there are many places that can be considered."

As he spoke, Qu Mao patted the steel railing on the deck in front of him and said, "For example, the railing there, he saw that it was all made of welded steel plates.

In that aspect, they can reduce a lot of weight. For example, by replacing the iron plate with iron bars, using the smallest caliber of the artillery shell, and leaving a gap as big as the East, they can at least reduce the weight of the railing by half.

?

It can even be made with steel pipes one by one, leaving a gap of 20 centimeters between the steel pipes. Even the steel pipes can be made of hollow steel pipes. He roughly estimated that if the guardrails on the deck were not included, at least two artillery pieces could be saved.

the weight of."

The person in charge of the ironclad ship research and development project's eyes lit up. While the ironclad ship was already slowing down and rushing towards the Fukumura Shipyard, he quickly took out a piece of paper and pen to record Qu Mao's suggestion.

On the way back, Qu Mao communicated with the person in charge of the armored ship research and development project on the improvement direction of the armored ship, and soon the armored ship returned to the dock at Fukumura Shipyard.

Christine Silian's warship has been parked in advance. When she saw Qu Maodong's ship, Christian Silian greeted her excitedly and asked: "Sir, when will the ironclad ship be commissioned into the navy?"

Qu Mao rolled his eyes and said: "We will have no samples soon. I would like to ask Xuande if the shipyard built in advance can produce them immediately.

Even if production starts now, it will probably take three and a half years before it can be commissioned into the navy, and the production cycle takes three and a half years."
Chapter completed!