Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 531 Infantry Artillery Vehicle
Early the next morning, the Daming Navy fleet set off with more than 40 Spanish merchant ships and several building gunboats.

The entire fleet is only 20 Aegis ships and more than 40 building gunboats, plus more than [-] armed merchant ships and [-] Spike warships.

This strength is stronger than the current British navy and French navy, but it seems to be a little worse than the prosperous Dutch navy.

Although the Spaniard was a little worried, he didn't dare to say anything more.

No way, the strength of the Ming Empire is at stake, what dare they say?
Besides, they protect them for free, can they ask them to go all out?
Even, they didn't have time to send someone to report to Vice King Cordoba.

Because the monsoon and ocean currents wait for no one, if they wait for a few more days, they may not be able to take advantage of the monsoon and ocean currents to return to mainland Spain.

Either way, this time it's better than ever.

You must know that since the destruction of their invincible fleet, they have been able to send at most a dozen buildings and gunboats to protect the merchant ships each time.

At that time, even the British and French dared to rob them.

It was different now, with the protection of the Daming Fleet, at least the British and French would not dare to rob them.

As for the Dutch, they can't do it without gathering hundreds of ships and gunboats.

Anyway, this time they were much stronger than before, and they felt more at ease when they were on the road.

After Taichang watched the fleet leave the port, he brought a group of civil servants and generals to the newly built artillery factory.

At this moment, the Artillery Factory has already started producing artillery, and the scene in the workshop is like a replica of the Artillery Factory in Wubei City.

Towering furnaces, neat sand fields, rows of hoists, various machine tools, etc., are all available.

However, it seems that the artillery factory here can only produce [-]-jin Thor cannons.

Taichang led a group of civil servants and generals around, but didn't say anything, he just frowned slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing this, Sun Chuanting hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, a cannon weighing more than [-] catties must have a special machine tool. The machine tool that was sent over last time did not have such a large machine tool. I have already ordered people to go back to Wubei City. pulled."

Taichang heard the words, nodded slowly and said: "Well, there is no rush, I am thinking about the issue of infantry artillery vehicles.

After all, we're next to help the Apache, Cherokee, and Iroquois reclaim their land.

This time we are not facing the Spaniards.

The Dutch, British, and French will certainly not retreat obediently and return their territories to these tribes obediently.

This siege battle is definitely inevitable, and we can't just remove the cannons from the Dragon Tooth gunship and attack the city, it would be too troublesome.

Moreover, the artillery carts used on the Longya battleship can only be pushed on flat roads, and even traps will be caught on flat grass, which is not suitable for infantry combat at all.

We'll have to build a fleet of infantry artillery vehicles. "

Infantry artillery?

When everyone heard this, they all involuntarily looked at Peng Bin and several officials from the Ministry of Industry who were in charge of building the gun factory.

Seeing this, Peng Bin quickly discussed with his officials in a low voice.

He discussed with his officials for a while, and then carefully cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, we have actually made artillery vehicles for infantry, but they are not very ideal. Because the weight of the artillery vehicle plus the weight of the artillery is the same The carriage of the steam train is almost heavy, unless there are rails or thick stone slabs underneath, ordinary dirt roads will not be able to carry such a heavy cannon carriage.”

Hearing this, Taichang said thoughtfully, "You mean the wheels will sink, right?"

Peng Bin nodded repeatedly: "Yes, your majesty, whether we use wooden wheels or iron wheels, the wheels will sink."

This is simple.

Without hesitation, Taichang said: "With rubber tires on the outside, it won't sink."

Rubber tires?

Hearing this, Peng Bin was immediately stunned.

He was stunned for a while, and then carefully asked: "Your Majesty, my humble minister is dull, what are rubber tires?"

Well, he hasn't told his staff about rubber tires yet, and these people haven't seen any rubber tires, so it's normal not to know.

In the past, rubber was a scarce commodity in Daming, even if it was used to make hoses for machine tools, it was a bit reluctant, let alone used to make tires.

This time is different.

Daming has already cultivated rubber trees, and the production of rubber will definitely increase steadily.

Moreover, the price of rubber they purchased from the Americas increased by a hundredfold after the price reduction and increase.

In short, at this moment, Daming no longer lacks rubber, and there is still rubber for tires.

Taichang directly led everyone to the drawing room of the Artillery Factory, picked up a brush and was about to draw.

However, when he thought about it, he was stunned.

Because it seems to be a bit difficult to make an inflated inner tube at the moment, and they don't have an air pump or an air compressor.

If it is designed and manufactured together with the pump, it is estimated that the delay will be more, and the small inflation port of the inner tube may not be able to make it leak-proof.

If the inner tube made leaks, it is better not to use the inner tube.

Forget it, let’s keep it simple, let’s make a solid rubber tire first.

Thinking of this, he roughly drew a wheel, added a circle around the wheel, and then pointed to the outer circle and introduced: "Yanru, look, this is a rubber tire. We only need to make a wooden or iron wheel With such a layer of rubber on the outside, the wheels are not easy to sink into the ground."

This one.

Peng Bin thought for a while, and then asked: "Your Majesty, is this rubber tire made of raw rubber or vulcanized rubber? If raw rubber is used, it seems too soft, and it cannot bear the weight of the artillery and cannon carriages. If vulcanized rubber is used, It seems to be too hard, and the grass will probably sink in."

Well, raw rubber is actually similar to a rubber band. It is very soft. Although it is elastic, it is not hard. Hundreds of kilograms of artillery and cannon carriages may really crush it.

The tires of later generations are made of vulcanized rubber, but the inner tube is filled with air, so it is not so hard.

Taichang thought about it again, and then explained while drawing: "Well, use vulcanized rubber, but don't make both sides smooth.

Grooves similar to tofu blocks should be made on the inside, so that the rubber tires will not be as hard as wood and iron blocks.

A circle of grooves should also be pressed out on the outside, which will not only prevent slipping, but also make the rubber tire softer. "

Hearing this, Peng Bin thought about it carefully, then cupped his hands with a little excitement and said, "I understand."

Apparently, he had understood it, and couldn't wait to try it.

Next is trial production.

At this moment, Daming can even process the sealing ring, so the rubber tires are naturally not a big problem.

To put it bluntly, a rubber tire without an inner tube is about the same as a large seal.

Just make a bigger mold for this thing.

Now Daming is no longer short of copper, and directly uses pure copper to make molds, and the speed is simply not too fast.

It took Peng Bin less than three days to make the rubber tire.

As for the infantry artillery vehicles, the wheels should be larger than those of the building gunboats.

Because of the small internal space and the flat deck of the building boat gunboat, the wheels are small and the chassis is low, so it is impossible to push it on uneven ground, let alone on soft grass.

After the wheels are enlarged and rubber tires are added, it is not the same, and it is no problem to push it directly on the grass.

Taichang couldn't help laughing and crying when he saw the finished product.

The infantry artillery vehicle designed by Peng Bin turned out to have four wheels!
This is completely different from the infantry artillery vehicle in his impression.

However, the four wheels seem to be no problem.

At least it is easier to walk with a horse than two wheels, and it is also very stable when firing the cannon. As long as the rear feet are smashed down, the cannon cart will not move at all when the cannon is fired.

Well, no one has stipulated that infantry artillery vehicles can only have two wheels, as long as it is easy to use, it doesn't matter how many wheels it has.

(End of this chapter)